Hey all. It's my first one Star Ocean fiction here, and I haven't been writing for almost half a year, so please do leave some constructive criticisms/suggestions/ideas if possible. This is more or less a trial chapter, to say the very least, so I might be making some changes yet.

That being said, on with the story.

Chapter 1

Acquaintance

The breeze came, engulfing the streets in a wave of pleasant energy and comfort, as well as waves of cherry blossom petals from their respective trees on the sidewalks.

He almost smiled from the smooth pressure of the breeze against the skin of his face and closed an eye to prevent any dust from entering while keeping the other open for directional purposes. The hair could wait for its tidying later; it was messy all the time anyway. It was a wonderful indulgence compared to the past few days, where he could not even shoot hoops in peace without having searing rays of heat beat down upon him every minute.

He thrashed those thoughts aside and focused on today. It was a start of a fresh new college term, and he was looking forward to seeing new faces, a new school, and a new place…Even though there were several regrets he left behind in the old place.

Well, now isn't the time to look back, I suppose…Not after all that. I should be looking forward to my new life here… He swept the messy bangs in front of his eyes backward and reflexively looked to his left side-a habit he had kept since grade school.

There, across the road, stood a breathtaking sight. It was perhaps one of the greatest luxuries to his eyes nowadays, though he had not been greeted by the sight of such girls except a few he had even bothered to think about.

Her long, silky locks rose with the wind teasingly, as though calling out for the attention of those around her. Long slender fingers went up to her pretty, oval countenance, trying her best to keep her hair down. Bright, big emerald eyes narrowed slightly in mild consternation, probably at the fact that her hair would need more attention than warranted. The slight fringe and bangs around her face seemed only to accentuate her perfectly chiseled features, as did the long-sleeved black uniform she wore did with her body. The pleated skirt reached to what seemed to be the middle of her thighs, while a pair of stockings of the matching color adorned her shapely legs.

He felt as though he would not mind watching her for a long time.

As if on cue, she turned, their eyes meeting. He froze, feeling as guilty as a naughty child who had been caught with one hand in the ever-so forbidden cookie jar. Despite that, he could not tear away from her gaze. It was deep, nothing like those of the typical giggling girls to rather talk about the male leads for an up and coming movie rather than Symbology or politics. There was a profound wisdom in her eyes, yet a teasing light coming from it as well. Whatever it really was, he was stuck for a while staring into her eyes.

And then the spell broke. She broke the gaze without as much a reaction as to his staring and with a swish of her hair, she was gone…and he was left staring after her like an idiot. It took him several seconds to pull out of the stupor, though, and one look at his watch was all he needed to rev up and go.

"Darn it! I'm going to be late!"

What a way to make a first impression… He ran a hang through his hair sheepishly, earning a few curious looks directed at him. Not all were because of his action, though, as it was normal to take a few seconds more to look at someone who the students did not recognize. 'She's going to be mad at me again for being late…'

He felt a presence settling itself next to him beside the principal's office, and turned to look, receiving his first shock of his new schooling life.

The girl whom he had seen just across the street was standing right next to him, her eyes widened slightly in surprise as well. She recovered a nanosecond before he could, however, and her cool countenance kicked in again.

"Umm…Hey." He thought to start a conversation with the girl, who radiated an enigmatic aura, though it seemed as though she had hardly heard him…or to be a little more brutal, pointedly ignored him. "Is…Is this your first time late?"

That got a response out of her. The girl's head snapped up, the frown present on her face again and there was such an intense look on her face that he flinched ever so slightly. "I'm never late."

"O-Oh…So do you mind telling me why are you standing outside the principal's office?"

"I could ask the same about you." This time there was a smirk on her face. He could not tell whether he was enjoying this or simply mocking him somehow. Whatever the case, before he could inform her of his 'double purpose visit' to the office, the secretary came out and beckoned for the two of them to enter. The girl swept in without a word, while he followed suit.

"The two new transfer students eh…" The principal spoke without looking up from the pile of documents placed in front of him, sending off the vibes of being too busy to bother about two the two of them.

"Yes, sir. May we know which classes are we being allocated to?" He gave a start, surprised by the girl next to him once again. A sideward glance told him that she had at least one hand on her hips and looked faintly irritated. Obviously she was not used to being treated in such a way…Or it could merely mean she was one of the impatient types.

"Yes, yes. Here are your timetables. I'll be asking someone to show you around soon." The headmaster fumbled two pieces of paper onto the table somehow and literally shoved it at them. "Be at your classrooms a soon as possible. Now, if you would excuse me…"

The girl turned on her heel a little slower than what people would have deemed rude and stepped out of the office. He flustered and followed suit, somehow wanting someone to talk to in this alien environment…Though he would probably get used to it soon enough. Still, it wouldn't hurt to make more friends.

"Wait up!" He exclaimed, half expecting her to continue striding away to her classroom. To his surprise, she stopped and looked at him in a nonchalant manner. "Erm…so…" Suddenly he was at a loss for words, and he struggled to find a topic. "What's…What's with your schedule?"

The girl gave him a strange look, but continued, sparing any other comments she would have thought to voice out. "It's on the fifth floor…5-1. At least that's what the first lesson of Homeroom on my timetable says." She paused for a moment, and though knowing it was probably none of her business, the very least she could do was humor him after his efforts to try to talk to her. "…And yours?"

"Oh, it's…" He looked at his own piece of paper and chuckled sheepishly. "…5-1. It looks like we're going to be classmates."

"Haah…"

"What's your name?"

"Huh?" She was taken slightly aback at the frankness of the guy in front of her. Usually members of the opposite sex who dared to take the trouble to walk up to her and make vain attempts at conversation would stutter and always do the 'weather talk', as she so affectionately named it. His right hand came out, and she blinked.

"Would it be better to do the introduction in class later? Maybe you feel more comfortable talking to more people."

She frowned slightly, took his hand and shook it lightly inclined to ask for his name as well "Maria Traydor…and you?"

He smiled, the name literally dancing on his lips. "Fayt…Fayt Leingod."

The formal introductions in class later enabled a little more access to her information about her, though it was not particularly much. In fact, the only extra little thing he knew about her was that she was a Gunslinger, one or the rarer categories of students here. There were many Swordsman class types around here just like him, so he had a slight idea of how much 'competition' he might be getting around.

At least it did not seem that he would have trouble fitting in, even if they were for the wrong reasons. He did catch some people whispering and pointing at his hair-a fine azure color-as well as Maria's. She did have hair with a hue almost akin to his. Judging from the expressions from some of the students (especially some of the girls), Fayt was sure that there was no hurtful intent in the finger pointing.

Of course, there were a few sleepyheads whose eyes lit up at the sight of Maria Traydor (not just them, but it seemed to be most of the male populace in the classroom) especially. He could not blame them though; even he had been ogling for a few seconds before being caught.

"Oi…" He heard a soft call from his right. "Don't space out while the teacher's talking. You don't want to get into trouble so quickly, don't you?" He turned and flashed Maria a thankfulsmile, embarrassed, before sitting up straight.

"Thanks."

"Hmph." Was she always that…that unfriendly with others? Fayt propped his hand on the desk and rested his head on it, listening to the ever so uniform opening speech of the homeroom teacher, who introduced herself as Miss Ellen Vonperes. Not that she was boring, of course, but Fayt had other things on his mind, like the game he played last night before barely waking up on time to catch the bus. 'Sophia's going to be really mad this time…Though she cools down pretty quick if I apologize.'

This time, he felt an eraser hit him in the head. He turned, swiveling his head slightly to see who the culprit might be. Save for Maria, there seemed to be no one else who could be accused, but she never struck him as that type of person…

Another projectile struck him, just as he was turning back, but the blue-haired youth could feel it bouncing off from outside…

…From outside? But that's impossible! No one could possibly throw that high… He looked out the window and almost chuckled when he saw a muscular blonde winking at him. Other than Sophia Esteed, his childhood friend who had been studying in Grantier High, Cliff Fittir was another friend whom he expected to see here…Though he was notorious in school (from what he heard from Sophia) for skipping classes and being Insanity Incarnate in the school itself for his practical jokes being able to wreak havoc in classes. Even the discipline committee had trouble keeping him in check sometimes, and Cliff had even said he was proud of it.

Fayt grinned at him. The one on his blonde friend's face mirrored his and he ran off, presumably off to make more mischief. Fayt turned back to his daydreaming…At least the new life here was not as bad as he thought, after all. Throwing a disarming smile at Maria, who raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, Fayt Leingod continued to bask in his daydreams about the last Dungeons & Dragons game he played.

"…And so, let's start our first lesson of the term…"

Sorry for the abrupt and rather bad ending…I ran out of ideas for the first chapter. Once again, please review if possible as I try to come up with something for the second chapter. The idea of having them in an AU is forming, but not there yet and the introduction to this new world (which I'm trying to formulate in my mind) will come up in the second chapter.Thank you again for your patience in writing this crap. Till then, cheers!