Her statement was followed by a long silence on the new kids' part. They either didn't understand what the co-principal was trying to say, or they knew and were choosing to keep quiet. Luna waited for a few seconds, letting the information sink in, before she kept going:

"Every student here has one, or several abilities you could qualify as "supernatural". I know it seems crazy, but this is how things are. Those abilities generally show themselves around puberty, which is why we have created this boarding school, to help you live with it since, if misused, those abilities can be as dangerous for you as they'd be for others. I'm certain some of you have noticed strange things around them these days. Would one of you wish to talk about it?"

Nobody moved and Luna sighed. Every year, she hoped for a volunteer among the new kids, and every year, nobody would help. Eventually, she turned to the rest of the students and a hand raised before she even opened her mouth.

"Me! Me! I'm the hero! I'll show them!"

"No, thank you Alfred but we'll let someone else do it, alright?"

Said Alfred pouted and Luna scanned the rest of the students. She knew the American wanted well but he was notorious for overdoing everything, and she didn't want to spend more money on reparations. The choice was difficult. She needed something visual, impressive enough for them to understand how far it could go…

"Gilbert! Since you want to get some attention, show us what you can do!"

An albino from fourth year (the same that had yelled something in German ten minutes earlier), sitting in the last row between a blond guy and a brunet, openly grinning, stood up saying with a loud voice that the "AWESOME GILBERT" was going to show the wideness of his power. He closed his eyes and suddenly… Disappeared.

There was a silence.

And the ten students from first year screamed from panic altogether when they saw him reappearing on stage. Satisfied, Gilbert bowed to the crowd and winked at his two friends. And the show wasn't over.

The albino's skin grew puffy white fur in a few seconds. His eyes darkened, his ears grew longer, his bones morphed quickly and, a few seconds later, it wasn't a young boy standing on stage but a tall white wolf that howled the most courageous into fear. Scared cries bounced off the first year section as all the other students cheered for their classmate. Luna waited for the noise to settle down a little before speaking again.

"Thank you, Gilbert, you impressed them well. You can go sit."

From the tone she had used, it was more of an order than a permission. The wolf looked at her for a few moments in the eye before turning back and walking back to his friends who congratulated him with a pat in the back. Luna turned to the new kids who now all seemed absolutely terrified.

"Well, after this beautiful act, what can I say? Don't worry, all "powers" aren't as spectacular. Some or more mental. You all have at least one of these abilities in you.

A long silence followed. The first year students looked down in the dumps. One of the girls even seemed as if she was going to burst into tears. Luna never liked that part of the meeting. Last year, a little Latvian guy shaking at the mere thought of entering an international school had simply fainted when he heard about the school's true nature. She knew learning their abilities all at once was very scary for the new kids. This was one of the reasons why she explained in presence of the entire school. They needed to feel surrounded, to understand they were many to share this particularity.

Luna waited for one or two more minutes until the most shaken were a bit calmer. The other classes were growing impatient but she didn't care. She scanned the first year section and her gaze stopped on the Asian statue.

"Say, you? Do you like origami?"

"I do like it a lot, Luna-sensei," he answered politely, more or less hiding how embarrassed he was.

"Call me Luna. Say, do you make a lot of them?"

"Y-yes, Luna-sen… Luna."

"Ah, and do they seem… different to you, these days?"

He gazed at here for a while before reaching down into his pocket and taking out a tiny origami frog. He barely had it in hand that it started to jump by itself on his knees and shoulders. Luna saw this display with a little smile as all the other students and teachers struggled on their seats to see what was happening.

"It's been like this for three weeks now," the boy explained with a hint of worry in his voice. "I was on the computer, and it started to jump to me."

The Italian boy next to him threw a fit of laughter, claiming it was adorable and very nicely done. As if it had heard him, the frog climbed on his head and everybody laughed.

"Have you tried to control it?" Luna asked.

"Uh… Well uh… I…"

And the Japanese boy started an inaudible ramble as if talking with himself. He obviously hated talking in front of everyone, moreover explaining whether or not he had tried to control a frog-shaped piece of folded paper. Not to mention at that time, he thought it was cursed or something, not that it moved thanks, or rather because of him.

Luna winked at him.

"Try communicating what you want from it without words."

After a moment of doubt, the Japanese boy held out his hand for the origami bouncing on his neighbor's head. The frog docilely came in his palm and calmed down. The other students from the first section were fighting to see the little miracle. Embarrassed by so much attention, the boy put his creation back in his pocket and slipped back into his statue-sona. In the meantime, Luna had walked towards the little boy sitting next to Tino, the one that didn't seem older than seven of eight.

"Peter, right?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"How old are you?"

"T-thirteen, miss."

Half the students shouted from surprise. The other half burst into laughter, thinking it was a joke. Peter blushed shamefully and retreated into his chair.

"Why do you look so young?

"I… I don't know…"

Luna was staring at him, silently inviting him to continue.

"Last year, I woke up like this. And I… don't know how to go back to normal.

Peter looked about to cry and Tino, right next to him, didn't resist more than three seconds before throwing his arms around him and hugging him close to comfort him. The little one didn't move away. Luna compassionately ruffled his hair before walking back on stage to finish the meeting.

"See? Everyone here has one or several "powers". Some of you probably haven't even noticed yet. For those of you in this case, do not worry. You'll very soon find out what makes you so special."

She let them a few seconds to meditate on this as the rest of the assembly was waiting, more or less patiently.

"This is the purpose of the CDP class: Control and Development of Powers. I'll be there at every step to help you live with your waking abilities. If you have questions, I'm all ears."

Several hands raised among the new kids.

"Why is the school closed from the outside?" said a brunet in the last row.

"Ah, here's someone who reads the pamphlets! That's because, around puberty, most powers are instable and uncontrollable. They can be triggered by the slightest fit of emotion and this can be very dangerous. That is why it is forbidden to leave the school until the end of your curriculum. We may organize trips, from times to times, for the ones most able to control themselves, but generally, we are separated from the rest of the world. However, the campus includes many structures that compare to a real city! There are shops, cafes, a cinema, a ballroom, a theater and even a thermal station in the mountain, not far."

"There are people in this town?" said the talkative Italian.

"Yes, mostly former students who chose to stay after the end of their curriculum."

"So… everyone inside the campus has a power?" shyly asked the blond girl sitting next to her brother.

"Yes, even teachers."

"What about you, miss? Like, what's your power?"

Luna want quiet for a second. She tried to choose her words wisely. Most students needed time to understand the complexity of some abilities.

"I am a detector." She finally said. "I know who has a power and what it does. By the way, Feliks, would you mind telling me why you are wearing this?"

Everybody turned to Feliks most had confused for a girl because of the feminine uniform he was wearing. Some laughed.

"The boys' uniform is, like, totally not cute!"

"Never mind, we'll talk about it later."

She sighed, checked nobody was raising their hand anymore, took a look at the notes she had prepared and continued:

"So that's that for our school's presentation. I am now going to present the few life rules you'll have to follow here, so that the new ones are aware and the regulars' memories are refreshed.

A bored sigh ran through the amphitheater.

"I know, I know, trust me, nobody likes that but that's how things are. Now please listen, kids." She smiled.

Silence settled. Everyone was at least trying to pretend they were listening, and everything stayed calm. Many took out their phones to pass the time.

"Alright. First rule: it is absolutely forbidden to use your power to hurt someone. This applies to the entire campus and even outside the school. If you want to fight, please do it the old way, preferably where there will be no casualties, thank you. The best would be not to fight at all, but we are realistic, here."

She gave a warning glare to a fifth year student, a tall guy with hair so pale it seemed grey, and sitting between two girls that appeared to be his sisters. He replied with an innocent smile, meaning you can look at me like that as much as you want, it won't change anything.

"Second rule!" she continued. "No drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, or weapons allowed, no exception. Ivan, put your hand down. Yes, object you can hit people with are considered weapons, faucet included. And no, for the last to, neither you nor your sister will get the pick or knife back, am I clear?"

She sighed tiredly when the student she was talking to, Ivan apparently, lowered his hand and made a weird noise that sounded like "kol kol kol".

"This is a smoking-free place, everyone is supposed to be independent on that subject. At your age, you're not supposed to take anything anyway. We've had hardcore cases, but the nurse knows how to deal with detox cures. Go see her about any medical problem. None of these products are sold on the campus, so there should be no problem. Normally."

She insisted on that last word, glaring at Gilbert and his two friends giggling in the last row, and glanced knowingly at another fifth year boy with sparky hair, a striped scarf and a scar on his forehead. He didn't exactly look like a troublemaker but the co-principal didn't buy it. She had found this guy selling weed to his classmates once, and if she hadn't caught him at it again, she was still suspicious.

"Third rule: after 10pm, you are ALL supposed to be in your rooms. I don't care what you do in them, but don't let me find you in the corridors after lights are out. One more thing: you are supposed to sleep in your own room. No slumber party, or shady businesses.

The woman's tone suddenly became softer and she continued with a little wink.

"However, as I said earlier, we are realistic here. You are teens, most of you have your hormones all over the place, so I am aware many will break this rule during the year. This is why we do not inspect the rooms at night. I'll just ask you to pretend nothing happened. If you want to sleep with someone, that's your problem, don't go telling your personal achievements to everyone. And please let the others sleep in peace. Also, rape is a crime, we have a zero tolerance policy about this. This is no joke, I am warning you."

The raising giggles and laughs that started with the tirade calmed down with those words…

"Oh, I almost forgot. The nurse prescribes birth control pills to all the girls who'll ask for them. And she gives condoms. For free."

… Before starting again in a huge burst of laughter. The shyest ones just blushed up to the root of their hair. Luna waited for silence to come back and continued.

"Alright, those were the three most important rules. We also have all the classic rules of a school: no skipping class, wear your uniform at school, no wandering on the campus during school days, and no walking around naked outside the showers. Francis, that was about you."

Francis, the blond boy from the trio the young woman targeted earlier, shrugged coolly before paying attention again to his right neighbor's cleavage under the amused look of his two friends. Said neighbor, a pretty redhead from fifth year, noticing what he was doing, slapped him immediately and switched seats with a boy sited next to her, probably her brother according to the flaming hair color they shared. Francis rubbed his cheek with a cringe as another boy, a ruffled blond with at least four rows of eyebrows that had had the idea to wear a black cape around his uniform, spat two or three insults at him with a pure British accent.

That sort of scene must have been the usual for Luna didn't even intervene and just looked at her watch.

"Well… It's thirty past eleven and… I suppose we're done. You can now go visit a little, see the building and meet your new classmates. You're not allowed to go in town yet but you can visit the playground, the library and the study room. The cafeteria is opened at noon and you'll meet with your main teachers at two. The list of rooms for that meeting will be in the playground as well as on the doors, you shouldn't have any troubles finding your way. Thank you for listening, I wish to all of you an enjoyable school year here at Hetako academy!

"Luna! Luna: Signorita Luna! Wait for me!"

The co-principal turned around to see a certain Italian teacher running after her. She paused for a few moments to let him catch up to her, hiding a smile behind her hand.

"Yes? Mr. Vargas? Is something wrong?"

"No, I'm just running after you because I love to exercise," he ironized, trying to catch his breath. "Seriously," he continued, "I feel like you forgot to mention some information in the job offer you've sent to me…"

"Oh, and what would that be?"

Romulus sent her an annoyed look as she bit her lips not to laugh.

"I was expecting to work in a famous high school, not at the X-men academy."

"I never said we were the X-men. They probably have better funding than we do."

Romulus did not comment. Luna smiled at him. She had become quite a talented psychologist after working with teens and definitely knew the man in front of her was trying to hide his fear behind his annoyed glare.

"I never noticed anything strange around myself, nor around my twins. In other words, we have nothing to do here."

"Are you quitting before even starting class?"

He didn't answer but his look spoke for him.

"Alright, you're free."

She turned around and kept walking, leaving him behind, puzzled by her sudden permission. He caught up to her again, uncertain.

"Uh… What do you mean?"

"You're free. You can leave whenever you wish. However, your sons will stay here."

"What?" he exclaimed, offended.

She stopped and turned to him, her almond-shaped eyes diving into his amber gaze.

"Let me be honest with you," she said softly, gently. "Even though it would pain me to call our last history teacher back, since she literally adores her job at the café she opened in town, you are not necessary to the well-being of our school. Your power is far from dangerous, actually this is why you didn't notice it all this time. You could leave and live your life without ever noticing anything out of the ordinary. Your sons, however, both possess two powers that could cause havoc if they came to use them in public, not to mention the choc of discovering them with no preparation. They need to stay here."

"You don't have the right to keep us from leaving."

"Perhaps. But if you do love your children, you'll understand they belong here more than anywhere else. Besides, I believe you have had difficulties to find a stable job, right? It would be terrible if you and your sons were to live in the streets…"

Romulus didn't answer, troubled. He thought about the numerous debts he had hidden from the twins, about the apartments that became smaller and smaller every time they moved, about all the times he was fired. A few years with this job would let him repay everything. He was afraid of this place and of the surprises it might hold, but maybe it was best to stay, at least until he could get rid of a few problems. Luna took his silence for a yes.

"I assume the discussion is over?" she said.

"Well… I suppose."

"Good."

She started to walk away but the professor ran after her once more.

"May I just ask one more question, mia bella?"

"Go on."

"What is this power you were talking about?"

"It's more of an ability than a power."

"Still."

"We call that being a "sex-god"."

"What?"

"It basically means you're better in bed than normal for no reason in particular."

"Seriously? Hey, would you care to check that with…"

And one slap for Mr. Vargas!

The half-hour passed very quickly, and the new kids, sticking to each other like rice in an onigiri, didn't visit much. The group had just settled in the playground, near the cafeteria doors, and waited for their opening in an almost religious silence, barely troubled by the repetitive "vee~" of a certain Italian boy. As if being new in a school wasn't enough, it had to be a school for freaks. The principal's speech had put a heavy apprehension upon their shoulders, and none of them dared to move away from their classmates. Most of them, if they were well-aware of the numerous looks sent their way, were pretending not to see anything. The joys of integration…

In the playground, they played the "who judges best" game. In groups of two to six, students didn't look away from their new mates. There were bets on what kind of power each would have, on the exact origin or previous grade. The "shipping club" girls were frenetically doodling, wondering with who each one would go best with. And some were evaluating the beauty/accessibility rate in their new potential targets. Assumptions were doing well, but not necessarily in the best way…

The Bad Touch Trio was in the middle of examining the new class, standing against a wall. Ludwig was with them, he had nothing better to do before lunch. Beside, after his morning bad mood, he had to admit it was funny to passively listen his brother looking for an acceptable girlfriend for him in the group

"The little blond. Yes. Come on, she's cute! Tiny and shy, like a little princess."

"Too young," Francis answered. "And seeing how that guy over there is looking at her, she's probably not all that naïve.

"But she definitely is muy linda," agreed Antonio after checking Bella was too far to hear him.

"Ok fine… The Asian, then? The pretty one with the pink flowers."

"There is only one Asian girl in the group…"

"True she isn't bad…" admitted Francis. "But she could use some curves. What do you think, Lulu?"

Ludwig emitted a growl-like sound to show he didn't care.

"See, he thinks so too!"

"Bullshit."

"Okay, okay, okay… How about the Latino? She's young but she has the right body. And I like her tan."

"Hum? ... Espera, chicos! I think I know her…"

"Was?"

"Yes, yes, wait, I know I already saw her… Yes! I remember, she's my cousin, Faustina, the one I told you about, that lives in Brazil!"

"Oh, right! The kid on the picture from when you were little, you and your brother? Damn, she's changed!"

"Yeah, that's why I hadn't recognize her!"

"So she has a power too?"

"Well it's common after all for member of the same family. With the number of siblings around here…"

"Anyway, come along! I'll introduce you!"

And so they did right away. The four boys casually walked up to the group of new kids, all shyness destroyed by the family bond. Antonio walked ahead and caught his cousin from behind as she tried to establish a hint of communication with the little blond girl's brother. She screamed and threw her foot in her aggressor's private parts (purely feminine reflex), he let her go with a growl of pain and fell to the ground (a minute of silence for the loss of his virility, may it rest in peace…). He whined for a while, bent in half, before struggling to get back up so he could explain himself. There were two or three exchanges of shouts, both in Spanish and Portuguese, and suddenly the cousins fell into each other's arms, laughing joyfully. They hadn't seen each other for about six years, I suppose we can all understand!

The crowd's opinion was torn. Some gave as much shit as a rock, others were visibly questioning themselves way too much, and a last category seemed to wish to partake in the celebration, even though they didn't understand a word of what was being said. Ludwig was just waiting for things to happen when a hand grabbed his shirt to catch his attention. He turned around, looked down… and stopped.

Two huge golden eyes were fixed on him, overflowing with innocence and love for life…

Auburn hair, soft and smooth, from which stood out a single lock that turned into an adorable curl on the left side of her head…

A creamy skin slightly tanned by the sun…

Smiling pinkish lips…

It was Her.

The perfect replica of the little girl on the picture he'd kept.

One second later, the charm broke. Ludwig noticed quickly this person still clinging to his shirt wasn't a girl. It wasn't Her… It was a young boy. From the first year. Who looked like her a lot. That's all. Nothing more. He really had to calm down…

But those eyes, this hair, this curl, anyone couldn't have the same!

But… There was the proof, right in front of him…

Maybe she was actually a girl?

No, he was obviously a boy.

But, what if he was liking to her somehow? It was possible after all! They looked so much alike!

No, there were probably tons of Italians with golden eyes and hair like this. He was no ethnic specialist after all.

But… But…

"But what, damn it!" growled the blond boy just like he did every time he'd get lost in thoughts.

His face had become so scary the small brunet immediately let go of his shirt, eyes shining with terror.

"S-sorryyyyyy! I didn't mean to! It's not my fault! I confused you for someone else! Sorry! Sorryyyyy!"

Ludwig needed a few seconds to understand he was the one scaring the little Italian like that and quickly composed a normal face again to try and calm him, which mildly worked.

"Sorry, it's not your fault. I thought… Huh? Aren't you one of the new history teacher's sons?"

"Ah? Yes, yes, that's me. I'm Feliciano. P-piacere di conoscerti!" the youngest smiled in spite of a few remaining shivers who didn't last very long.

"Uh… Ok, whatever you say… I'm Ludwig."

"Ludwig…" the Italian boy repeated softly.

His smile appeared to grow more sincere as the fear he had felt at first was fading away.

"Ludwig," he said again. "That's a nice name!"

"Ah, uh, thanks."

They both stopped talking. They were watching each other, scanning each other, some sort of uneasiness and a light blush comfortably settled on both their faces. They could have stayed like that for a while if Romano hadn't seen them. A warning signal loudly bursted into the eldest twin's brain.

"Feli! Vieni qui, adesso!"

"Ah? Si, fratello?"

Feliciano quickly raced back to his brother who gripped his arm firmly, as if keeping him from going back.

"Don't get near him, dummy."

"Ve? Why? He didn't do anything? He does yell a little but…"

"I don't care, don't get near him. I don't trust him at all."

Feliciano didn't answer. Further away, Ludwig was talking with his brother, eyes a little lost. A nostalgic smile drew itself on the Italian's face again…

"Hey guyyyyys!"

The group turned around like one man toward the newcomer. He was a young American with hair hesitating between blond and light brown and who seemed to hold something invisible in his hand. This invisible thing actually seemed like it was struggling to get away, but he didn't appear to care.

"I'm Alfred Jones," he declared in a clear voice, "and I am the HERO of this school, so if you have any problem, you have to come and see me, okay?"

Slight nod from the group. Satisfied, Alfred caught with his free hand the invisible thing that was still struggling and pushed it in front of him. The closest students could hear a barely audible whisper that didn't seem to belong to the American, saying:

"Please, Alfred, let me go!"

But he didn't seem to hear and just threw a fit of laughter with no reason whatsoever.

"So that thing you can't see, right here, is my bro. Say hi, Matthew!"

"Alfred, there's no use…"

"Come on!"

Sigh from the invisible thing. A shape slowly appeared in the air, barely visible. A young boy that looked a lot like Alfred waved a transparent hand at them.

"Hi, and welcome in our school," he said softly. "I hope we'll get along…"

He barely finished his sentence before turning invisible again. His brother frowned for a few seconds but let go of him. They could hear footsteps, than nothing.

"Matty is a lil' shy," Alfred explained with an idiot smile plastered on his face. "Not like me! Good thing he has his heroic big brother to help him, huh! Well, anyway… As super-president of the super-solidarity super-club, I want to be sure all of you will make friends. And the first step is… scatter! Go see the others and make friends! I don't want to see anyone alone!"

There was a few hesitating seconds. The students had just seen an invisible and shy guy welcoming them so making friend, for now… Eventually, some decided to move: Antonio took Faustina by the hand to go introduce her to his girlfriend, soon followed by his two friends and Ludwig. Feliciano followed them without paying attention to his brother who protested and came along just to make sure he wouldn't get too close to the tall blond. Mei looked around for Elizaveta so they could talk about yaoi. Vash and Lily walking in the direction of a guys with brown hair, glasses, a cowlick, and a beauty spot on his cheek, quietly reading on a bench a few steps away, and pretended to say hello. Feliks spotted his new roommate from afar and raced to him. Tino and Peter walked away, telling jokes. As for Kiku… Well, he had just stayed in place hoping the American wouldn't notice him. No luck.

"Hey, you, what's your… Hold on, aren't you the frog guy from earlier? Nice show!"

"It is I, indeed. Hajimemashite, Arufuredo-kun."

"Huh? Yeah, whatever you say… Didn't you hear me? Go make some friends!"

"Hum…" Kiku hesitated. "It's just that I would wish to stay alone…"

"What? You don't want to make friends?"

"Well certainly… but… I'd rather not… Be a burden?"

"Hold on, hold on! If you don't assert yourself a little, how do you expect to make friends? It will take forever, no one will notice you and you'll end up like Matty! 'sides, I bet you're all alone here since you're new! You must be so lonely…"

"Uh, that isn't really the case, actually… And I'm not…"

"It's settled then! I'll be your first friend!"

"Eh?"

"Well duh, you need company, you need help! It's the job of a hero to help those alone and in need!"

"Ah, but I assure you this is not necessary! As I said…"

"Whatever! You'll see, I'll be your hero! With me you'll make friends in a split second!"

And Alfred threw a fit of laughter, grabbing Kiku by the shoulder. He tensed up because of the physical contact he wasn't used to. Well, this school year was going to be… At the very least… special.