(A/Ns: I apologise for this taking so long. I had to finish the writing project I did for November. But ay, that's done. I'm on Christmas break soon, so hopefully I can get one more chapter up before Christmas, but no promises. I did finish this a few days ago but I was just reading through it, since I'm quite proud of my plans and I really wonna make this one good!

Thanks to the one person who favorited! I'm not particularly expecting many reviews or anything for this one, but if you are following and get a moment, be sure to give me a shout! All feedback is welcome :) But if you're gonna give me constructive criticism then please provide an example of where I'm going wrong or otherwise I won't know and I do want to make this good! No CW for this chapter, apart from some mild expletives.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pandora Hearts or any of the characters)

Chapter 2

"Hey! Elliot! Wait up!"

Of course he's following…

Elliot sighed, rolling his eyes and doing the exact opposite of what the blonde chasing him had asked him to do. Speeding up, he continued down the corridor to the principal's office, shutting his ears to the irritating blonde he so reluctantly dubbed as an 'acquaintance' who was still trying to catch up with him.

And, much to Elliot's dismay, he succeeded a couple of seconds later.

"Oz…" he grunted, although with the extra irritation added to his voice it ended up sounding more like a whine than anything else. Hopefully, Oz would get the hint from that. "Why are you following me here?"

"Don't be mean, Elliot~!" Oz scolded teasingly, flapping his arms around in some sort of attempt to validate his point. "I'm in your next class, right? We have Literature together!"

Internally, Elliot groaned; his excitability really did put his nerves on the edge. "I'm not going to class. I was called to the principal's office."

"Oh, I totally forgot! Congratulations on getting senior prefect, by the way." Oz beamed. "Haah… I tried sooo hard to get it. I'm happy Ada got the role too though! I can't wait to see you two working together."

I still can't believe that airhead's sister managed to get such a position… Elliot thought with yet another fed up roll of the eyes. There was a short break in the conversation, and the idea of having silence until he reached his destination was beginning to seem like it might happen.

Of course, when you were stuck with a cliché extrovert, it would never happen, and after a few seconds, Oz personally took it upon himself to bring an end to the brief moment tranquillity. "Do you know what you and Ada are doing there?"

"Not yet," Elliot replied nonchalantly, breathing out a sigh of relief once he noticed the principal's office up ahead. Unfortunately, half of his relief was killed once the realisation that Ada – the other Vessalius sibling – was already there hit him like a brick.

"I've heard rumours that there's a new student coming."

"Wouldn't that be great…" Elliot muttered sarcastically under his breath. "Alright, shorty, get lost. I have work to do."

"Have fun!" Oz waved him off, turning into the classroom just to their left. "Say hi to Ada for me!"

"Whatever," Elliot murmured, continuing down the corridor until finally, he reached the principal's office. Hoping he could go unnoticed, he simply leant against the doorframe, peering through the office window but being unable to see anything of significance at first glance.

Apparently, his hopes were in vain yet again.

"Oh, Elliot!" the other blonde, Ada, and none other than Oz's older sister who had gotten the other senior prefect position, squealed The same, irritating smile donning her lips and she took a step closer to him. "So, why do you think we're here?"

They think alike as well… Elliot thought, his annoyance explicitly showing as a frown crept onto his face, followed by his more-often-than-not furrowed eyebrows. Wordlessly, he shrugged, running his fingers through his dark-ish blonde, slightly dirty coloured hair as he let out another deep sigh. Sitting in his classroom all day doing nothing except listening to the teacher drone on and on about Shakespeare seemed more preferable than whatever this was for a Friday afternoon – even if Oz was in said class.

After another couple of minutes of silence, their attendance was finally noticed by someone. It wasn't their principal – he was just unobservant altogether – but the deputy head instead. There was a brief sound of a muffled conversation between the two teachers in there, before finally, the door clicked open, and sure enough, the deputy head stepped out, his stoic and nonchalant gaze switching between Ada and Elliot for a few moments. Then, he shut the door behind him, keeping his hand on the door handle and almost waiting for either one of the students to make the first move.

Elliot had always wondered how the current head and the deputy head came to know each other, and get their respective roles. Their deputy head, who was commonly known as Oswald – or, 'Mr Baskerville' (although, admittedly, no one called him that) – was firm, focused, and somewhat strict. He was professional, though; the complete opposite of their principal, Levi. Levi was unprofessional, sarcastic, but somehow, incredibly good at what he did.

The awkward pause lingering amongst them initiated by Oswald continued for another 10 seconds or so, before suddenly, Ada interjected the silence. "U-um, so… what are we doing here?"

Immediately, Oswald's sharp, interrogative gaze landed on Ada, before quietly, he responded, "There's a new student enrolling today. He's on a scholarship. Levi ordered me to introduce you to him."

So the rumours were true, huh… Elliot through with another roll of the eyes. He couldn't be bothered with this on a Friday afternoon.

"I'll take you in now," Oswald declared, scanning their uniforms with the usual cold eyes before turning his back to them. With his hand on the door handle, he glanced through the small window and then proceeded to push it open, leading Elliot and Ada in behind him.

Sure enough, at Levi's desk was a student; one Elliot had never seen before in his life. The moment they walked in, Levi stopped talking, giving a brief smile in the two students' direction. The boy opposite him froze as well, following Levi's line of vision and turning around.

Then, for a brief second, his and Elliot's gazes met.

Or at least, he presumed that was where he was looking, since his eyes were covered up entirely by a large and thick-lensed pair of glasses. To accompany that, almost half of his shaggy brown, long hair was concealing his eyes, and Elliot couldn't hold back as an unimpressed and clearly disapproving look of disgust crept onto his face. His uniform was hardly smart, and despite it being the uniform of the most prestigious school in the area, he still managed to make it look scruffy somehow.

"Elliot, Ada," Levi spoke up, gesturing for the other to stand before doing the same. "This is Leo. Leo, this is Elliot and Ada, our two senior prefects."

The moment Leo stood up, Elliot couldn't help but observe how small he was compared to himself. However, there was something about his admittedly off-putting aura which told the blonde that he should hold off mocking his height for a while.

It was only when Leo held his hand out to him that he realised he was, in fact, staring.

He couldn't help it. Having been raised in an upper-class family following a line of successful siblings, Elliot had never even seen anyone like this before. His hair was messy, his general appearance was just scruffy, and as he turned towards Ada, there was also a distinct smell of cigarette smoke which clung to him rather noticeably.

But for some reason, as he watched him interact with Ada, he seemed almost… friendly?

Elliot kicked himself internally for his flustered first interaction.

"Sorry, what was your name again?"

That startled him. Frowning, he reminded him, "Oh, sorry. My name is, er, Elliot."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Elliot," Leo greeted, stepping aside and turning his focus back to the teachers.

He certainly isn't lacking respect, for now at least… Elliot thought, but still kept his nose turned up at him.

"Alright, now that we have that sorted," Levi cut into the new-found awkward silence, taking a step back from his desk and pulling one of the drawers open, extracting a pack of YvesSaintLaurent cigarettes along with a lighter. "I'll be taking my leave now. Oswald, I take it you can handle things from here? Someone just needs to take him around and explain basic school rules."

Wordlessly, Oswald nodded, watching Levi proceed straight to the back door of his office and exit. Then, his cold glare landed dead on Elliot.

Elliot almost panicked; he definitely knew how to make someone uncomfortable. "Yes, sir?"

"Take him around, show him where everything is and familiarise him with the rules," Oswald ordered, "Then, bring him to his last lesson."

"Huh?! Why me?" Elliot complained, but the glare he received from Oswald quickly flipped that attitude upside down. Reluctantly, he sighed, rolling his eyes once again before dropping his gaze to Leo. "Oi, follow me."

Leo snickered, picking up his bag and following Elliot out of the room whilst muttering under his breath, "That doesn't seem like the appropriate way for senior prefect to speak to a new student, wouldn't you agree?"

"Tch, shut up," Elliot grunted, turning left and guiding the other down the corridor. But the silence was too off putting, and as he led Leo to the first notable place within the school, he finally decided to just go straight out and say it. And so, the moment they were fully outside, Elliot froze, turning around to face the other and asking interrogatively, "So what's your deal? Where've you even come from?"

Leo shifted for a moment, scratching the back of his head and putting on a façade of cluelessness. He shrugged, answering, "A few miles away? We moved." Then, a sly grin formed at his lips the moment he thought of his next comment. "What, you wanted to know where I live? Heh. That's a bit creepy, don't you think?"

Elliot had no idea why he blushed at that. Annoyedly, he gritted his teeth, clenching his fists.

Who the hell does he think he is?!

"This is the most prestigious school in the area, if not the country," Elliot declared, shoving his hands in his pockets as his frown deepened. "What did you pull to get past those entrance exams and get a scholarship?"

"You know, you yourself don't strike me as intelligent enough to get into somewhere like this," Leo retorted, the same mocking smirk creeping back onto his face. "Oh, and just for your information, I got in because I got 100% on all the tests. Do you have anything to say to that?"

Instantly, Elliot's mouth fell open. Was he serious?!

Unable to think of an appropriate comeback, the blonde simply sucked up his frustration, carrying on across to the field.

"So this is the field," Elliot presented sulkily, his expression still stuck a sullen, petulant frown. "It's only open in summer, though. Any other time and it's out of bounds, except for P.E., of course."

"Oh. So, do we actually have to do sports?" Leo asked, the sneer to his words somewhat fading.

"H-huh?! Yes, of course!" Elliot scoffed. "What kind of school did you even go to?!"

"One where the smartest students got away with not showing up to Physical Ed," Leo answered nonchalantly, and a few seconds later, the same devious smirk found its way back onto his face. "Although, if this was a privilege, you wouldn't have experienced it yourself."

Elliot froze in front of the other once again, his piercing glare locking on Leo, who seemed fairly unintimidated; much to his dismay. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

"Leo. Just Leo," he answered simply, "There's not much else to know about me."

There was a short pause.

"Well, not much else that you need to know."

Suspiciously, Elliot narrowed his eyes at the other. He was already tentative about him; Leo was unlike anyone he'd ever come face to face with in his entire life. He looked like scum, to put it bluntly, but the cold, somewhat violent and biting edge to his words gave Elliot an unshakeable feeling which he just could not explain.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" he interrogated.

"I've already said: nothing you need to know," Leo insisted, trying to keep his words level, as promptly, he changed the focus of the conversation. "So, continue with you tour. I'm sure you're bursting to tell me about the all the rules of this place. It certainly has a reputation."

"Hmph, yeah…" Elliot muttered, rotating on his heel and guiding Leo back towards the main building. "Basic rules include being in school by 8:30am, latest. If you're late to school or lessons more than twice a week, detention. You don't do homework, detention. If you don't show up to lessons, that's a day exclusion, unless you had a valid reason. Finally, there's no smoking, drinking or drug use anywhere on school grounds, or around them, for that matter."

"Kids our age can legally drink and smoke," Leo pointed out, despite the fact he knew Elliot wouldn't be able to see the relevance in his question.

"Not in this school they can't," Elliot countered, frowning once again; this kid was even lower than he'd originally thought. "Just don't do them. If I catch you, it's a week of exclusion. Got it?"

"Are you sure you're not a control freak?"

"Huh?!" Elliot yelped, as he felt the anger boil up inside him once again with a side of frustration. "Just… quit talking. Pass me your timetable. I presume Levi has at least given you that much."

"Woah, what happened to trying to set an example for me?" Leo said sarcastically, a mocking edge to his tone present and just about noticeable. But, he still did as he was told, retrieving his timetable from inside his blazer pocket and handing it to Elliot.

Somewhat begrudgingly, Elliot took it, unravelling the already scrunched and folded paper and scanning over it.

You must be joking…

"Great…" he scoffed under his breath, eyebrows furrowing automatically. "Oi. You're in all my classes."

"Oh, so I didn't make it into top sets, huh…" Leo muttered slyly, flicking his gaze to Elliot with a roll of the eyes. "I'm just kidding. Don't get so wound up, Elliot."

He's taking the piss now, the blonde deadpanned mentally, his self-composure teetering on the edge by now. But he still bit down any comments resting on his tongue, instead reluctantly continuing with the tour. "This is the main building. For the sixth form, at least. All of your classes will be around here."

"I see…" Leo hummed, stopping in his tracks abruptly and gesturing to one of doors on their left, which Elliot had just brushed past barely a second ago. "Is this a bathroom?"

"No. It's an art room," Elliot retorted sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Yes it's bathroom. What of it?"

"Nothing, just testing your intelligence," Leo smirked again, pushing against the door regardless. "I'll be right back."

"Huh?! W-wait-!"

Before Elliot was able to finish his sentence, his yelling was promptly cut off by the slam of the bathroom door. He blinked, before scoffing under his breath and falling back against the wall, kicking his foot up onto the bricks. A couple of minutes later, and Leo still hadn't returned.

There was a brief moment of concern, almost, and Elliot just could not shake the feeling that there was something – something so obvious and yet so secret and well-hidden – that he was missing.

"Hey, Elliot. Shall we continue?"

"Tch, took you long enough…" Elliot muttered under his breath, shaking his head to himself before promptly taking off down the corridor.

It took no more than 20 minutes for Elliot to show the other the rest of the classrooms, eventually going in a circle and ending up back where they started; outside the principal's office.

"Alright, come on," Elliot groaned, almost inaudibly.

"Hm?"

"You're in my classes, remember?"

"Oh, so you're not just going to abandon me?" Leo chuckled, fiddling with his hands for a moment before shoving them into his pockets, following the other.

"Learn some respect, kid," Elliot rolled his eyes. "You'll need it in this place."

Leo let out a childish "hmph", the conversation falling flat and plunging them into total silence for the remainder of the short walk.

As soon as they reached the right classroom, Elliot shot one last brief glance towards Leo, before pushing the door open. Almost instantly, all heads in the class whipped around to the two at the door, glaring accusingly at them as if they're murdered someone.

"Ah, Elliot," Their teacher – Vincent, who, one again, was very rarely addressed as 'Mr Nightray' as he should be – immediately stopped speaking, the hand holding his book falling to his waist as he dragged a hand through his slightly too long, blonde hair. Then, the same, sinister smile tugged at his lips; the one which desperately screamed innocence and yet no one believed that for even a second. "Why don't you introduce the new student to the class?"

Elliot tried so hard not to frown at his teacher. "This is Leo. He's… just transferred here."

Wordlessly, Leo gave the most an almost timid wave, keeping one hand behind his back as he ran a hand through the hair which conveniently fell over his face. He could physically feel their stares, but credits to his thick rimmed glasses, eye contact was (thankfully) not a possibility.

"Leo, please take a seat at the back," their teacher smiled, gesturing to the table isolated in the back corner of the room, next to the bookshelf. Then, his gaze flitted to Elliot. "Elliot, please, take your seat."

Elliot nodded, holding back the scowl which threatened to form on his face as he proceeded to his seat; the seat next to Oz, of all people. Sure enough, the same beaming grin was still bold on Oz's face, even after listening to Vincent rant about Romeo and Juliet for half an hour.

"What page were we on?" Elliot asked quietly, another exhausted and bored sigh accompanying the question, as he pulled the book and began to flick through it.

"Er… Act 2, Scene 6, I think," Oz answered, spinning his pen idly between his two fingers. "So, the rumours were right, huh? What's he like?"

"Tch, don't even ask me…" Elliot grunted, as he retrieved his folder and opened it to the relevant section. And then, despite initially refusing to give Oz any information on the new kid, his need to rant about Leo soon overcame his self-control. "He's arrogant. I can't stand him. He thinks he's the best in the world above everyone else. Or at least, that's how he acts."

"Hehe, sounds familiar…" Oz chuckled, jokingly nudging Elliot's shoulder and promptly receiving an unamused glare. "I'm kidding!" He insisted, the amused grin shifting to an awkward one. "I-I was talking about Alice…"

"Yeah, you better've been."

The sharp yet discreet glance sideways from Vincent and his mismatched eyes soon silenced the two.

"Back to where we were, focus on what Friar Lawrence says to Romeo here. 'These violent delights have violent ends'. Notice how it appears he treats Romeo exactly like the naïve youth he is. He is warning him; he can tell something will happen, even if everything seems so perfect at first." Vincent continued to explain, his voice dropping along with the book at the next comment. "Well, it's not as if children know anything anyway. The consequences are always a myth to them."

Elliot had always wondered how Vincent got away with some of the things he said as a teacher.

But, he couldn't even bring himself to think about that right now. Instead, he was trying so damn hard to avert his eyes from Leo, but every time he tried, his focus instantly reverted back to the noirette, sat in the corner of the room flipping through the book.

It was mesmerising, in a way, how that arrogant 'student' he'd just spent 20 minutes conversing with could all of a sudden become so isolated from the world, and be totally immersed in whatever book he was reading. His fingers flicked swiftly between the pages, as he continued to ignore everything going on around him. It was unnatural how unfazed he seemed to be by everything.

Elliot could not recall being so belittled by something before now. There was not one single thing he could actually understand about Leo.

But there was definitely something he was missing; it was more irritating than words could convey. It was like an itch in his brain he couldn't scratch.

And Elliot just could not shake that feeling.

Never mind, it's… probably just my imagination…