Me: Good morning! Or afternoon. Or whatever time it is. Anyway, welcome to Chapter Two of One-Winged Angel! And I know I'm gonna have to put that damn disclaimer up next, so...

:takes a deep breath:

Me: I do not own Final Fantasy or Square Enix. Sora: Aren't we missing something?

Me: N-no...

Sora: I think we are...

Me: Uhmm... :anime sweatdrop:

Sora: Say it, damn you!

Me: Argh! I don't own Kingdom Hearts either.

Sora: Which means you don't own me.

Me:thinks: Damn you, copyright laws!

Kairi slowly walked down the stairs, wincing slightly as pain shot through her injured leg. The battle with the mystery assassin the other night had certainly left its mark on her. Her lip was swollen and had bled like crazy, her face had a large bruise on the side and she had a gash on her forehead, which had been bandaged up. Her left leg had multiple bruises running down her shin, and she had a small graze on her arm.

"You're looking a bit beat up, Kairi!" grinned Yuffie as she skulked down the stairs. Kairi shot her a death glare - she was not in the mood.

"Where's Yuki?" came Tifa's inquiring voice. Kairi walked into the lounge to see her sprawled out in the reclining chair, a can of unopened beer clutched in her left hand.

"She's shut herself in her room." replied Kairi wearily, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to her. "She's still upset about last night, I guess."

"They were her best friends, huh?" said Rikku quietly. Kairi nodded.

"You were really going all out with that guy the other night." said Tifa, raising an eyebrow at Kairi, looking at the bruises and cuts on her body. Rikku sniggered, and Tifa threw a cushion at her.

"Not like that, pervert!" she groaned, as Kairi blushed.

"Just kidding!" she grinned. "You got beat up pretty bad."

"Yuffie got knocked out cold, though." said Kairi, trying to shift the sense of failure away from herself.

"That guy couldn't have been human…" groaned Rikku, shaking her head.

"Keiko's doing a scan at the minute. She's trying to find out records of him." pointed out Tifa. Kairi stood up, and gave a quiet whine as pain shot through her leg.

"I'm gonna go see how she's doing." she declared, and limped over to the other side of the room. Keiko was bent over her laptop, the blue glow of the screen faintly illuminating her face. Kairi thought she looked like some sort of hacker. Well, she was some sort of hacker. She, Rikku, Tifa and Yuffie had been taught how to hack top-secret databases by Keiko herself. Keiko looked up as she approached.

"How's it going?" asked Kairi, leaning over. The page was covered in HTML coding that she couldn't understand.

"Look at this." said Keiko, and opened one of the minimized tabs at the bottom of the screen. A web page came up, which was filled with slightly blurry photos. Kairi squinted harder at the pictures on the screen. They were all similar, and showed hazy pictures of what looked like a winged figure flying near a building, which was the same in every photograph.

"That's--!" she began.

"Yeah, it's the same guy." said Keiko. "We don't know his real name, but he's been nicknamed the 'angel of death', because he goes around killing assassins."

She clicked on the photo and a new page came up, displaying the larger version of the picture. In text, underneath, it read, This photograph was taken outside of the Kurama High Boarding School on January 13th, 2006.

"January…" thought Kairi aloud. "That was only a few months ago!"

Keiko nodded.

"Before we saw him, he had no wings, right? That means they're not permanently out. And from the build of the body, I'd guess he was about your age, probably a year or so older." she said.

"So you think he goes to that school?" said Kairi, her eyes widening. Keiko nodded again.

"But, we have no idea what he looks like, or his age." she sighed. "He could be 13 to 18, we just don't know."

"Where's the school?" asked Kairi.

"About 10 miles south of here." said Keiko. Then she paused.

"Kairi…" she said. "I've been thinking, and I've come up with an idea."

"Yeah?" she replied, brushing her auburn hair out of her eyes.

"I'd like to enrol you in that school, and send you to investigate the area at night." she declared.

"Me?" asked Kairi, stunned. Keiko nodded her head.

"You'd be the best to do it. Out of everyone that's the right age to attend the school, you're the most skilled." she said, and Kairi blushed.

"Wh…What's the school called, again?" she asked.

"Kurama High." replied Keiko. "Its…"

She stopped.

"Yes…?" asked Kairi, intrigued.

"It's an all-guys boarding school."

"WHAT!"

Kairi reeled backwards in shock, and Yuffie, Rikku and Tifa glanced across the room at her quizzically. She ignored them, and glared daggers at Keiko.

"All guys?" she spat. "How the hell can I get into an all guys boarding school?"

"I was thinking, we could cut your hair short, and…"

"You are NOT cutting my hair off!" she snapped, instinctively raising her hands to her head. She loved her hair, with its silky, auburn sheen and soft texture.

"Okay, okay…calm down…" winced Keiko. "Maybe we could tie it back or something, or style it, or hide it under a cap…"

Kairi calmed down a little.

"I still don't see why I have to do this." she growled.

"There's something in it for you." she said. "If you do this, you'll get to take Ikioi-kujiku with you."

Kairi gasped. Ikioi-kujiku…the most powerful sword she'd ever laid eyes on. It hadn't ever been used, because of it's fearsome power and beautiful design. It was rumoured to even be able to grant the rightful owner the power of reincarnation…though she knew that was just a tale.

"Ikioi-kujiku…" she breathed.

"Yeah." nodded Keiko. "So, will you do it?"

Kairi paused, and pondered the question for a moment. She still felt uncomfortable with the idea of dressing as a guy.

"What will I have to do?" she asked.

"You'll have to keep an eye on anything suspicious, and at night you leave the building and watch for our 'angel of death'." she said. "That's why you're taking Ikioi-kujiku. So you can kill him the second you see him."

Kairi entered a train of thought. She never thought she'd ever have the chance to wield Ikioi-kujiku…but was it worth dressing and acting as a guy? When she worded it like that, the answer was a definite yes…though the thought of having to hang around hundreds of guys 24/7 and having to constantly act like one…

"Make your mind up, Kairi, I need a definite answer." said Keiko impatiently.

"I…" said Kairi, pausing again. "I'll do it."

"Yes!" cried Keiko, leaping up and embracing her in a tight hug. "Oh, thank you Kairi!"

"It's…no problem." she lied.

"Yuff! Rikku! Tifa! Kairi's accepted the assignment!" she cried.

"What assignment?" frowned Yuffie, furrowing her brow.

"The one with the boarding school, dumbass." groaned Tifa.

"Y-You knew?" cried Kairi in disbelief.

"Yeah, but we didn't wanna tell ya 'cos we knew we'd have a hard time getting you to say yes." shrugged Rikku.

"You should have told me!" she cried.

"Hey, no use complaining, you're doing it now." said Keiko. Kairi frowned and remained silent.

"Can we go practise making her look like a guy?" asked Yuffie eagerly. Kairi gulped and shrank backwards. Keiko nodded.

"Keiko!" yelped Kairi in disbelief.

"We need to find out what will make you look most like a guy." she declared. "And you can practise doing it yourself, too, instead of leaving it 'til the last minute."

Kairi blushed furiously, feeling like some kind of cross-dresser. She knew that there was no point in arguing, as it would only make them more adamant. This she'd learnt from trying.

"C'mon, then!" cried Rikku, grabbing her by the arm. Kairi gave a confused yelp.

"Wh-what?" she squeaked, and Tifa grabbed the other. They both pulled her backwards and started dragging her up the stairs, Keiko and Yuffie tagging along behind.

"L-Let me go!" she cried.

"Quit whinging, we know you'll run away if we drop you." sighed Tifa. They hauled her into her bedroom and dropped her on the floor. Disgruntled, Kairi stood up and rubbed her arms tentatively.

"That was a bit harsh." she growled. There was a scuffing sound, and Kairi turned around to see Keiko dragging in a huge standing mirror, helped by Yuki. She watched obediently as Keiko shoved it against the wall parallel to her.

"There." she said proudly. 'Now Kairi, how can we make you more of a guy?"

Yuffie, Tifa, Keiko, Rikku and Yuki all stared at her quizzically, pondering. Kairi blushed--she hated people staring at her.

"We need to do something with her hair." said Rikku finally.

'We could cut it short, that'd help." suggested Tifa. Kairi's eyes widened in shock.

"NO!" she yelled, wrapping her arms over her head. "You are NOT touching my hair!"

"We won't do all of it!" said Keiko pleading.

"Don't you dare come near me." she growled, raising her fists defensively.

"We'll only cut it off to your chin, like you used to wear it." begged Rikku.

"No way!" she said firmly.

"Fine, fine." sighed Keiko. "You two, leave her. We'll do something else."

Kairi breathed a huge sigh of relief and relaxed, letting her arms drop to her sides.

"We could gel her hair up." suggested Yuffie. "Her hair's long, so we could make it really spiky."

"I suppose that'll do…" she sighed. Keiko's face lit up, and she instantly dashed out of the room, returning shortly with a tub of hair gel.

"We have hair gel?" frowned Tifa.

"Yeah." replied Keiko, unscrewing the lid.

"Why the hell do you have guy's hair gel?" asked Kairi.

"Long story." grinned Keiko, and dipped her hand into the thick, clear blue substance. She scooped out a bit on her fingertips and began coaxing Kairi's hair into spikes. Kairi shuddered as she felt her hair being tugged into loose tufts. She detested the feeling of her hair being upright…it felt extremely uncomfortable, and she was fighting the urge to swat her friends away and pull her hair down. She shuddered as Yuffie started styling the back.

''

After about half an hour, Yuffie, Rikku and Keiko stepped backwards. Tifa and Yuki studied her, nodding her head.

"What do I look like?" groaned Kairi. She turned towards the mirror, but Yuffie leapt up behind her and clapped her hands over her eyes.

"No looking until we've done!" she said, struggling to keep Kairi under her grip as she tried to wrestle away from her. Keiko sprang up and turned the mirror so it was facing the wall, just as Kairi squirmed out of her arms. Kairi groaned and patted her spiky hair.

"Ohh…you've wrecked my hair…" she groaned, trying to fluff it out. Rikku and Yuki burst out laughing.

"She's getting into character already!" she sniggered. Kairi grinned.

"Practise your guy voice." ordered Keiko.

"Wh-what?" she stammered.

"You can't go around talking like you do now. They'll know you're not a guy."

"B-but…" she whimpered, blushing. She would be so embarrassed.

"Would you rather lose your pride or your life?" she asked.

"C-Can't I save it 'til the day? It's not that hard to deepen your voice." she whined. Keiko pondered for a moment.

"Okay, okay." she sighed. Kairi gave a silent cheer of happiness.

"Right, now we need the guy clothes!" grinned Keiko, rubbing her hands together.

"Don't tell me you've got them as well." groaned Yuffie.

"No, but we can go and buy some." beamed Keiko.

"Whaat?" groaned Kairi. "I am NOT going out like this."

"Don't panic, me and Tifa'll go." said Keiko. "We'll only take 10 minutes. The shop's just up the road, and we'll get loads of different outfits, and your school uniform."

Kairi could just imagine what they'd come back with. Keiko and Tifa we shopaholics, but at least she knew she'd get fashionable clothes by sending them out.

"Going now?" asked Yuki. Keiko nodded, and sprinted out of the room with Tifa. Kairi groaned and gingerly touched her hair. It felt weird all spiked up…but they hadn't used much gel, so it was still soft. She doubted if she would ever look like a guy.

''

"We're back!" came Keiko's chirpy voice as the front door opened. Kairi, who was laid out on her bed, sat up. It had only been about a quarter of an hour since they left.

"Already?" she asked, as she heard two pairs of footsteps pounding up the stairs. Keiko and Tifa both had a carrier bag full of clothing in each hand. Kairi stared at them.

"How much?" she said in disbelief.

"Not that much!" grinned Keiko, emptying the bags onto the floor. Kairi looked as Yuffie dove in and began picking out outfits.

"Try this first." said Keiko, holding up the school uniform. It was sailor fuku, with a dark blue edge on the collar, and came with a pair of dark grey trousers.

"Is this the uniform?" she asked.

"Yes! Yes!" she grinned, thrusting the outfit at her. "Now, go and get changed."

Kairi reluctantly trudged out into the bathroom and began getting changed. She pulled on the new uniform and shuddered. Guys uniforms somehow felt more uncomfortable than girls. She adjusted the collar of her uniform and fastened her necktie. She shyly shuffled into her bedroom again. She blushed as Yuffie and Rikku stifled giggles.

"Don't patronize me." she growled.

"Sorry, no offence." grinned Rikku. "Just that with your hair and whatnot, you look just like a guy!"

Kairi frowned, but then felt relieved, as that was what she was supposed to look like.

"Can I look in the mirror now?" she begged, desperate to see herself.

"Fine." shrugged Keiko, and signalled for Tifa to turn around the big mirror. There was a dragging noise as its heavy wooden feet slid across the carpet. Kairi caught sight of herself in the mirror and cried out loud.

"Oh my god!" she cried. "What the hell have you done to me!"

Her hair had been spiked up all over the place, which, surprisingly, contributed hugely to her male appearance. She'd already seen her uniform when she tried it on, though she didn't expect to look quite so masculine in it. She shuffled uncomfortably as she saw her appearance in the mirror and fought back the urge to dash back into the bathroom and change back into her girl's clothes.

"I look awful." sighed Kairi.

"You look like a guy!" replied Rikku.

"Exactly." she groaned.

"At least no-one'll suspect you." shrugged Yuki.

"I'm still not happy with the idea of going to a guy's school…" she grumbled, flicking one of the tufty spikes on her head.

"It won't be that bad!" shrugged Tifa.

"Yeah, and you'll get to hang out with fit guys 24/7!" grinned Keiko impishly. "And share rooms with them!"

"Keiko, you know I'd rather kill a guy than sleep with them." smirked Kairi. Keiko laughed.

"Yeah, I'd better watch you don't go around at night killing all the guys you don't like." she grinned.

"If you ask me, the guys at Kurama High had better watch out!" smirked Rikku.

"Damn right!" said Kairi, clenching her fists into balls and jabbing punches in the air. Keiko laughed and playfully smacked her in the side. Kairi retaliated with a soft side-kick, catching her in the shin. Keiko cursed and ruffled her spiky hair just to piss her off.

"Get off!" she whined, swatting her away. Keiko just laughed.

"Better get your stuff packed." she grinned. Kairi raised an eyebrow.

"Why?" she asked suspiciously.

"School starts tomorrow."

Well, it's finally done. I've been a lazy ass, and it's taken me ages...but somehow it's shorter than the first chapter. Chapters are meant to get longer, not shorter. Shorter makes it boring. Oh well.

Here's a sneak preview of what's to come...

IN THE NEXT CHAPTER:
It's Kairi's first day at her new school, and with Keiko delivering Ikioi-kujiku in the night, she's constantly on the lookout for anybody suspicious. She falls into a friendship circle with two gays and a pervert, and isn't very happy with who she's sharing her room with. Will Kairi ever find her foe? And how will she manage to hide a 3 foot long katana? All will be revealed...but only if you review! No reviews, no story...

So review, dammit!

Characters to come:
Riku!
Sora!
Kadaj!
Yazoo!
Reno!
Sephiroth!
And more of my own characters!
(Characters may not all be introduced in next chapter)

INTERESTING FACT 2.
All of my own characters are real people. Yupyup, they're all my school friends, apart from Keiko, who lives in Japan. They've had their names changed though...well, apart from Keiko. Yuki is me!