Sesshomaru's new name sat ill with him, it was uncouth and lacked the ostentatious number of letters in his actual name. To hear a mortal speak the word 'Hakai' in relation to him made his lip curl; but the smell of so many humans made him truly reel inwardly with disgust. There was such an unholy smell of death about them that he did all he could to stop from gagging in front of them all. Hearing with clarity each of their awed whispers about him, Sesshomaru was repulsed; that they should even be let to gawk at him like a thing on display.
The teacher had pointed him to a seat next to one of the human creatures and it took the invisible strong hand holding an unseen sharp blade to his lower back to force him forward to go and take the seat like a whipped pup.
When he was back in the other realm and he found out who this unseen presence was, he was going to slash them to pieces with his poison whips and send them in to eternal darkness.

Rin took a deep inward breath when she realised the new guy really was making his way toward her in order to sit at the table that now seemed suffocatingly close to her side. Damn Hitoshi for being sick today! He was the one who usually sat there.
Shifting in her seat to edge away as subtly as possible, Rin caught a glance Kohaku threw at her over his shoulder. There was an evil glint to his eye that Rin didn't like, and if Kohaku planned to embarrass her more than she was already likely to do herself in front of this angel in human form, he had another thing coming.
As if on cue, Kohaku leaned back in his chair and while doing so knocked some of Rin's text books off her desk, causing Hakai to stop momentarily. Rin immediately dropped to the floor to pick up the fallen books, glancing upwards at the new guy as she rose, bowing in apology. All he cast her was an annoyed look with beautiful hazel eyes.

Who did he think he was, looking at her like dirt on his shoe? But she was sure as hell going to get her friend back.

Kohaku looked back at her with a small smile and Rin refused to react. She knew he was going to love it when he found his bento box sabotaged with way too much wasabi at lunch time.

Rin snuck a furtive glance at Hakai, freezing when she encountered his eyes on her, quickly averting her own gaze.

There was something off-putting about his expression. Rin made a mental note to avoid looking his way from now on.

This whole time, while the class all stared at Hakai, the teacher had continued with the first lesson, of which contents Rin only became aware of when she heard the words:

'Pair up' and she watched as the teacher made a closing together motion with his hands, signifying the joining of desks.

Rin immediately thought: Well this high and mighty Hakai would have to move his desk, not the other way around.

When it seemed that the new guy was just as determined to be deaf to the instructions, and all other students had complied to the teachers request, Rin heaved a belligerent sigh and dragged her desk to close the space between them.

'Open to page 109 in your 'Social History' text books please'

Rin saw that Hakai did not have anything out on his desk, so she reluctantly and shyly shifted her book across for him to look at. Being so close to him, Rin felt a strange lack of warmth. Maybe it was her own nerves that made her imagine things. The teacher began:

'In 1582 Portuguese missionaries came to Japan to spread Catholicism, but by 1596 this resulted in the martyrdom of 26 missionaries via crucifixion and Christianity was banned by an edict from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. We are going to explore the reasons for the failure of this evangelical attempt'

'It wasn't crucifixion that killed those martyrs' a smooth voice interjected before the teacher could continue.

Everyone including the sensei looked wide eyed at Hakai, the one who had spoken.

'Oh? And why do you know better than all the historical records and all of our text books?' Asked the teacher, wanting to continue the lesson.

Sesshomaru realised what he had just said, and quickly back tracked mentally to try and downplay the meaning of his words. He couldn't tell the truth, after all, and say 'because it was I who killed them'. He'd be sent straight to an institution.

'I – I just mean, it was the shogun, not the crosses themselves, that actually caused their deaths'

'Ah, right. Well of course it was by order of the shogun. I am glad to have you in my class to clear up these minor historical details, Hakai-san' the teacher sounded rather sarcastic and Sesshomaru breathed a sigh of relief. He'd looked like an idiot to get out of the hole he'd involuntarily put himself in, but at least he didn't tell the truth.

The real truth in this moment, however, was that he wanted to get as far away from this farce as possible. Being at gross proximity with one of mortal kind, while being mocked by another, was almost more than he could bear. The girl next to him had no idea how fortunate she was to be so close to a Royal demon. He pondered showing his power to scare them all away from him and escape this damned trial; but try as he might, he could not express his fullness of power in any way. It seemed all he had retained was his sense of hearing and his lively disgust of anything human.

Rin had blushed when Hakai spoke – it was a very velvety tone, almost hypnotic. But she was piqued by his words and what they might mean; he didn't seem the type to blurt out anything for no reason and give such a weak explanation for it. There was certainly something curious about this person and despite herself, Rin felt a definite twinge of interest in wanting to discover a few things about him. The thought quickly left her as she accidentally brushed her fingers against his hand in turning the text book page, and he recoiled as though he'd been touched by a leper. Well! Hakai was evidently fully aware of his charms, and a cretin like herself was not worth his time or space. Rin suppressed her curiosity and promised herself to never show interest in this person. While Rin made this vow she silently glared back at Rika, one of the popular girls in class, who was throwing daggers at her for sitting next to the new boy. Rin would not be seen as a competitor in a race she had no desire to be a part of – that of chasing after the 'hot new guy'.

They were handed a worksheet as the teacher concluded his introduction to the double lesson, and Rin only got the briefest glimpse of the 20 questions outlined on it before Hakai had swiped it from under her nose and began writing.

Immediately feeling annoyed, Rin inwardly scolded herself and also decided she wasn't going to let this person's obvious autocratic complex affect her so arbitrarily.

Sesshomaru could of course fill out the answers so carelessly because he had been at the events the teacher had been rambling on about this whole time. Of course, the history books did not record his killing of the martyrs because the writer of the day simply didn't know the truth and had recorded his information via hearsay.
What Sesshomaru remembered as actual history was this: a powerful foreign God used his human followers to try and take over the demon territory in Japan. Sesshomaru had gone out with other neighbouring rulers and slain every last trace of them, chasing away the strange God. Yes – Sesshomaru and his acolytes had nailed the corpses to crosses in mockery, but the holy men had not died by the hand of humans.

Many of the victories claimed by humanity were in fact executed by the protective force of the Demons. If it had not been for the prayers and offerings to the Dog clan after the missionaries were chased away and killed, the Demon's anger would have turned to its own people also.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were interrupted by the cold aura coming from the human next to him. She reminded him of the monks that had often attempted to vanquish creatures of his kind for centuries. It returned the unwelcome reminder that he would have to wash his hand thoroughly after she had touched him just a moment before when turning the page of the text book.

Sesshomaru roughly pushed the work sheet back to Rin and said brusquely: 'done'

Rin looked at the paper like it was a filthy rag.

'Thanks' she said dully, entirely unimpressed by his behaviour. She hated that his closeness to her caused her body to feel a bit too warm and her head a little dizzy; she couldn't be too angry at herself for that – after all beautiful people no matter their disposition threw off the most uninterested of people purely because of the rarity of their appearance.

It was human nature to be drawn to beautiful things, wasn't it?

Rin rolled her eyes as she caught Rika glaring at her again. For goodness sake, the last thing Rin wanted was all this attention; as soon as the work sheets were collected Rin moved her desk right back to where it was and didn't even glance at Hakai. The teacher rustled the papers together so that they all aligned and cleared his throat to say:

'The answers on this sheet will determine if the pairs you just worked in will become a partnership for an assignment that will be worth 40% of your final year grade. I want you to have the best chance at getting excellent marks, so if you've done well on this worksheet, it should bode well for your assignment results. I will let you know your pairings tomorrow afternoon'

Rin thought she could feel her spine turn to a tube of solid steel. All she could do was pray Hakai's confidence in his own knowledge was merely a façade, and she refused to meet Kohaku's eyes as she knew he had turned to glance at her, no doubt with an evil look to his eye.

Hakai could forget being shown around the school, so Rin decided to scuttle out of the room as soon as the sensei had closed the lesson. As she went past the teachers' desk, she cringed to hear the teacher call her name.

'You looked like you worked well with our new student Rin-san! If you please, could you show him around the school as much as possible now? Hakai-san!' Rin had to suppress a shudder.

Sesshomaru was himself finding it difficult beyond compare to suppress a vicious snarl in response to the meddling old fool of a human.

Rin felt the presence of the new student behind her and she felt as though her spine had now morphed to ice.

'Rin will take you around the school now to show you all the relevant areas. You should have received your time table in the mail, so she can show you the buildings you'll need to go to for each lesson. I am always open for any questions you may have, Hakai. Thank you for working well today'

The teacher was soon drowned out by all the students that surrounded Sesshomaru. Rika was at the forefront of the quickly forming fan club, and she batted her lashes up at him saying 'What is Tokyo like, Hakai-san?'

The subject of her query merely looked at her with ill veiled disgust. Rin actually felt sorry for Rika and thought it would be best for her to try and escape while the crowd barraged Hakai with questions. As Rin turned to exit the class room, she bumped right in to Kohaku.

'Where are you going?' He asked with a raised eyebrow.

'Let me past' Rin whispered harshly.

'Don't you have a date with new boy?' Kohaku inquired cheerfully.

'I will kill you' Rin seethed between her teeth.

'Well, have fun! Don't forget to show him the old locker rooms' Kohaku winked at Rin and she almost slapped him. The old locker rooms were rather notorious for nefarious actions such as smoking and girl and boy meetings.

Rin remembered her need to sabotage Kohaku's lunch, but she thought her revenge would have to be more elaborate now that he was so quick to tease her about Hakai, within just a few hours of the insufferable beautiful boy entering her life.

'Oh, Kohaku, while I wait for Hakai's fan club to disperse, would you mind giving this to Rika? She borrowed it off me yesterday, and seeing as how busy I'll be with showing the new guy around the entire universe I won't be able to talk to her'

Kohaku went bright red.

'Ah – haha, can't that wait? Surely you can just put it in her locker or something?'

'You know what? Great idea! You can put it in her locker!' Rin's plan was working. 'Just give me a minute while I go and get it from my desk, I left it there.'

Rin grinned evilly to herself and scurried back to her desk, which was hidden behind the throng of students assailing Hakai.
She quickly ripped out a piece of paper and wrote 'I love you Rika. From Kohaku' on it, and slid it inside a text book, walking back to her friend.

'Here, this is Rika's. Thanks, Kohaku'

'A-alright. No worries. See you next lesson?'

'Sure, see you' Rin smiled and waved as Kohaku left and Rin felt herself holding back a satisfied chuckle, which might have actually come out slightly had not the mirth turned to a shocked cough as her upper arm was grabbed and she found herself dragged bodily from the room.

Hakai had her arm in an iron grip and she looked up at his face with widened eyes. She forgot how tall he was, especially in comparison to her quite short stature, and felt her neck muscle twinge in objection to the angle her head was forced in to look up at him. His face was paler than before, and his eyes seemed dark.

'E-excuse me!' Rin began, trying to sound outraged, but her voice came out in a breathy weak way that aggravated her.

'Get me away from them' she heard him mutter, or – growl? With such a hatred that she actually felt scared.

Much to spectators' interest and delight, (especially Kohaku's who had just returned from his small errand to Rika's locker), Hakai unceremoniously man handled Rin past everyone in the hall way and outside to the court yard, past everyone there and toward the empty sporting ground which was essentially a large grassed area.

'What the HELL!' Rin finally found her voice and had jerked her arm from the new guy's grip.

Sesshomaru looked at his hand, realising he had almost killed this girl, so furious was he. That swarm of humans closing in around him like a swamp of death had made him see red, being assaulted by their obnoxious questions and blasphemies – never had a Royal Demon Prince been treated so by mere mortals, their eyes allowed to look at him as though they were equals! He had indeed almost allowed his temper to get the better of him and throw this small human across the field they now stood in, intending to break her neck.

'Leave me' he barked rudely to Rin, who took no time in obeying him, after shaking her head in antipathy at him and looking him up and down with a scathing glare.

'Find your own way around this damn school' she threw over her shoulder as she very much looked forward to returning to Kohaku. Not quite surprised to find a small gathering of people watching her with the new boy, Rin shouldered through them angrily and went to find her friend in the spot they usually sat.

'Don't' Rin held up a hand as she went to sit next to her friend.

'Don't what?' Kohaku asked, with feigned innocence.

'Don't ask or mention anything about that person'

'Geez, Rin-san he's only been at school for what – four hours now and you're already like this?'

'I'm not even talking about it - all I know is he's a delinquent and bad news'

'Who's this?' Chimed in Ayami.

'The new guy Hakai' Kohaku replied. 'Rin just had to take him around the school for a bit, but she should've taken a lot longer than she has'

'Oh – is he mean?' Ayami looked wide eyed at Rin. This was when Rin realised that she couldn't get out of talking about the damned man.

'You could say that' Rin muttered ominously.

'He looks like an idol' Kohaku elaborated to Ayami, who obviously wanted more information than Rin was willing to offer. 'But he has a bit of a rough manner from what I could tell this morning'

'So he's in your class?'

'In our social history one at least' Kohaku mumbled between bites of his lunch.

'I'm intrigued' Ayami mused 'can you point him out to me if he walks past us?'

'No' Rin re-joined quickly.

'So did he tell you you're short or something?' Ayami ventured, trying to pick her words carefully. Calling Rin 'short' was taboo.
Ayami was awarded with a withering look and Rin sighed.

'Alright, Aya, I'll tell you. He scared the heck out of me by saying he hated all the people in our class for asking the new kid questions – then proceeded to man handle me'

'Eek!' Ayami squealed, obviously way more delighted that the story was juicier than she'd imagined.

'And he looks like an idol you said?' the excited girl asked Kohaku rhetorically. 'Oh how romantic, Rinny! You always wanted an intense romance with a hot guy!' Ayami clapped her hands together in delight.

Kohaku spluttered and Rin's eye twitched.

'Aya-chan.' Rin's voice was sickly sweet. 'If you say that sentence again, I'll leave the coop door and the yard gate open for your beloved chickens next time I'm over your house'

'I didn't mean it!' Ayami exclaimed quickly. 'It did just sound so romantic though' she whispered.

'Don't look now, but – ' Kohaku was looking over toward an undercover walkway just across from where they were seated.

Ayami's gaze followed her friend's line of sight to witness a vision in human form walking toward the science lab, followed by a small bevvy of students.

'I-is that him?' Ayami gawked.

'Stop gaping, yes it is' Rin mumbled, annoyed.

'Damn! And he man handled you?'

'Ayami' Rin's tone effectively shut her friend up.

'Rin if you're not careful you'll get too focused on him' Kohaku said.

'What?' the two girls looked confused.

'When you hate someone, it's almost as intense an energy as love, and you often end up thinking about more often than not. To hate someone takes a lot of energy'

'You're right' Rin mused, sucking on her drink straw. 'Let me just cool off after this morning, and as long as I have no more classes with him, I'll be fine and not think about it anymore'

Ayami pursed her lips, holding in a smirk.
'Ah, Rin. Wasn't he just going to the science lab?'

Rin looked up at Ayami with a refreshed expression, only for it to quickly dissipate to a deep frown again. Kohaku was giggling.

She had science next.