Yaten's gut wrenched as she approached the circle of peers gathered around the entrance to the greenhouse. She was sick with the thought of seeing Seiya again after their exchange in class the day before. Just as she had begun to like her, the dark haired girl had proven herself to be just like the rest of them. It had been Yaten's mistake to open up, even a little. The pain she felt was vivid, sustained by the knowledge that she would have to face her almost every day for at least the eight months, until a new school year started and she could have a chance at not being in the same class. Until then—well she could always ask for a transfer, but she doubted the school board had any more favors to give for people like her. And frankly she didn't want to go through another trial like the one for getting in, where she had been ridiculed and ripped apart by a band of bitter old men and women. If it hadn't been for Headmistress Kakkyu being there, having her to defend her…
She definitely had no intention of putting herself through that again, even if it meant having to tolerate Seiya's presence for the remainder of the term. It wasn't something to look forward to, but there were worse things in the world. And she was sure that there were many people at that school who were just waiting for a reason to send her back to them.
Her nerves calmed a bit as she looked around and failed to find the object of her contemplations. Maybe she's skipping out, she thought hopefully, but in the next moment she heard a rousing of voices and knew that Seiya was close by.
She turned and caught Seiya's indigo eyes before either had a chance to stop themselves. Abruptly they broke the stare but Yaten still felt the aftershocks ripple through her.
The girls surrounding the dark haired deity were vying for her attention, begging to be picked for sacrifice, or so Yaten imagined. Yaten could not stop herself from looking up when Seiya announced her choice.
"Yura, will you be my partner?" she asked dutifully, as if the response was even in question. The girl she was talking to was short with huge sunny blond curls sneaking from her ponytail. Despite the teacher's instructions she was wearing a skirt and stylish but inappropriate shoes, not to mention her skin tight white tee which Yaten doubted would pass any school dress code. Yura giggled and promptly attached herself to Seiya's arm, much to the discomfort of Yaten.
She turned her pale head away with much effort, trying to convince herself that it didn't matter who Seiya paired with, even if it was the cutest girl in class. Besides, she had to worry about finding her own partner. Seiya was right when she said yesterday that nobody wanted to pair up with her. Ten minutes later she was the only one left alone. She wished she could sink right into the tree that she was leaning against. Mistress Karada peered around, looking for another who was so desperate.
"Hey, wait up Mistress K!" a male voice shouted. Yaten recognized him from when they'd played juuball together. His hair was red and pulled into a slightly higher pony tail than the rest the class. Aje ran up in a pant to Mistress Karada.
"Senseiiiii…I need a favor! I'm going out of town tomorrow so I needed to know if I could sit in on this class."
"Certainly, Aje. Now let's see, who still needs a partner…" She raised her head to survey the group. Yaten ducked.
"Oh yes! Yaten!!!" Yaten groaned at her own name. She thought for some reason that the teacher might just forget about her if she stayed quiet enough.
Aje's expression was equally disgusted when he saw who he was to get as a partner. Yaten could tell from his face that he was reconsidering whatever plans he had made for tomorrow.
"Good! Now that that's settled, we can all begin. Follow me everyone." She led them into the green house and Yaten had to suppress the urge to gasp. It was beautiful, more full of color and life than anything she had ever seen. The main part of the floor was laid with rows of fruits and vegetables, and along the side were more variations of flowers than she ever imagined existed. Vines crept over the glass walls, various species intertwining with each other. Every color of the spectrum was represented.
Yaten walked over to one flower that caught her eye. Its body was bell shaped, spread open wide as if receiving the world as fully as it could. The petals were translucent, with veins of something iridescent running through the surface. She bent down lower to breath in its intoxicating smell but was wrenched back by a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't want to do that," her partner warned her. "That's a silia. The pollen on it is fatal."
Yaten judged if the boy was being serious and decided that he was. "Why would they keep that kind of a flower in here?"
Aje grinned. "Well, everyone on Kinmoku knows how dangerous it is. It would only pose a threat to an outsider." Yaten cringed inwardly. "It does more than just kill, though. You see those glowing streams in its petals?" He pointed them out although he need not have, for that was what had drawn Yaten to it in the first place. "When it's extracted, it's actually a powerful antidote. It's been known to cure all kinds of different diseases. In fact, there's a whole research lab dedicated to the uses of that plasma. So even though it's dangerous on the outside, it's actually an amazing healer. Pretty cool, huh?"
Yaten was impressed, but hesitant to admit it. "I guess."
The bright-haired boy looked at her with something like disappointment. "Well, look out for it in any case. It still could kill you." Yaten was about to utter a response but the teacher began quieting them.
"Look around you, everyone. All of these plants can be found within a thirty mile radius of the school. I want each pair to pick three of them—one flower, one herb, and one fruit—and write them down on your P.E.N. You can make sketches or any kind of notes that'll help you identify them. Upload your choices to me and as soon as I have everyone's, we'll head out."
Yaten went into her pack and removed the portable electronic notebook, or P.E.N. as it was abbreviated. She turned it on and waited for the screen to load.
"You want to pick?" Aje offered.
She shrugged in reply, provoking an exasperated breath from her partner. As he went off in search of their plants, Yaten leaned back against an empty part of the glass. Her eyes wandered until they found Seiya of their own accord.
The two girls were standing close to one another, their body language indicating that Seiya was flirting with the highly receptive blond. Seiya reached up to Yura's face but did not touch it, instead pulling a flower from the vine directly behind her. She tucked the stem into Yura's ponytail, pulling the tiny girl close to her so that she could reach over her to get it in. Yura's head was inches from Seiya's chest.
"Jealous?" Aje asked, reappearing at her side and startling her.
"No," she lied immediately, heart racing.
"Really? I sure am. Every guy and girl in school wishes that they were Yura right now." He sighed almost longingly and Yaten silently echoed him.
A few minutes passed before Mistress Karada led them outside once more. The ground descended as they made their way down to the edge of a forest. Many paths were cut into it, and the teacher split them off into groups, instructing that each group was to break up further when their path forked, until at last everyone was left in pairs. She gave them three hours to search, and reminded them of their lunches for when they needed a break.
Yaten's greater group included Seiya and Yura, as well as two other pairs. Seiya's was the second to split off, and eventually Yaten was left alone with Aje.
The red head proved to have quite a mouth. Yaten only half listened as he named off various species of plants that they passed. In fact, she was curious about the flora of that planet, so different from her own barren home. The other half of her attention was occupied by Seiya who, despite her best efforts, she could not get out of her mind.
"So, what kind of plants are there on Kavaar?"
Yaten looked up. A chord of pain rang through her chest at the mention of her home world.
"The kind that don't require sunlight," she answered, hoping he would leave it alone.
"No sunlight, huh?" Aje laughed but found that Yaten wasn't joining him. "You're…you can't be serious? A plant couldn't survive without sunlight."
"You obviously know nothing about Kavaar," she snapped back.
Aje frowned. "I guess you're right. We never really—"
His sentence was interrupted by a loud, high pitched scream. After a pause he ran off in the direction of it, leaving Yaten behind. Yaten, not knowing her way around the woods and doubtful she would be able to get back on her own, followed Aje as he sprinted like a wild animal until they reached the source of the voice.
At first they didn't see anyone as they came to the edge of a small, steep hill. The sound of crying drew their attention and they looked down. At the foot of the hill were Yura and Seiya, the former sobbing uncontrollably and the latter trying in vain to calm her down.
"Seiya!" Aje called. A dark head looked up.
"Aje! Good to see you here."
"What happened?" he asked his friend.
Seiya looked to the blond. "We were walking along the edge and we slipped and ended up down here. Yura sprained her ankle, though—"
"Is it broken!?" the girl cried.
"No, it's not broken," Seiya reassured her with a smile that actually stopped her sobs, then turned back to Aje. "I don't suppose you brought any rope along?"
Aje grinned proudly. "As a matter of fact…" He pulled it from his pack, a thin braid of rope that was wrapped into a loop. Aje tied up one end to a thick tree and tossed the other down to Seiya. From her end, Seiya made a knot a little ways up and then carefully tied the rope around Yura's waist.
She bent down to talk to the slighter girl, whose crying had subsided. "Aje is gonna pull you up, okay? So just hold on to this knot up here." Yura nodded, a pitiful expression still plastered on her face.
"Can you give me a hand?" Aje said to Yaten, taking her by surprise. She crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn stance.
"I hate physical exertion."
"You've gotta be kidding me," the red-head said angrily. He stood up and closed the distance between them, making Yaten take a step back. "I don't give a damn about whether or not you like it." Something came towards her body and her hand flew out instinctively, catching it. "Now you're gonna help me or I'm gonna throw you down there and leave you."
"Aje!" Seiya said in a warning voice but her friend wouldn't hear of it.
"I'm not gonna make excuses for this girl like you do, Seiya," Aje called down. "Yura's injured and all she cares about is not breaking out in a sweat. If she doesn't help me get her up, I swear I'll—"
"I'll help." All eyes turned to her. "But don't think it's because you're threatening me. Your primitive methods of persuasion don't frighten me." She stood back a ways from the edge of the cliff. "Let's just get this over with."
Yaten soon discovered that being petite meant very little when you were dead weight. It took all of her effort to drag the girl up the steep hill, and once she was up the partners nearly collapsed in exhaustion. Yaten looked at the blond with disdain as she brushed leaves from her knees.
"You're next up, buddy."
As if cued by Aje, a terrible sound ripped through the sky. The four of them looked up in fright. Yura was the first to find her voice.
"Oh my god! It's gonna rain. But they said the storm was over." Yaten could see the beginnings of hysterics in her.
"Aje, you go back to campus with Yura. I'll find a way back myself."
"No way. I'm not leaving you down there, Seiya."
"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Seiya said with absolute confidence. "It'll take you and Yura longer though because of her ankle. You need to leave right now or you might get caught up in the rain."
Aje's objection was cut off as Yura began to cry again. "Can you climb up on your own?"
"I think so…" She sounded less certain now. "But don't worry about me. You need to go."
"Alright…" Aje agreed hesitantly. "But if you're not back in an hour I'm sending a search party after you."
Seiya laughed. "One hour; I'll see you at school." As soon as the other two were gone Seiya sobered up. She started pacing, stopping every few seconds to look over the side of the cliff below her, then up the hill, then again with the pacing.
Yaten was watching her so intently that she actually jumped back when the thunder cut through the sky again. She didn't know much about storms but it sounded closer. She folded her arms to her chest. Already the temperature was dropping.
"Hey!" she called, approaching the side. Seiya looked up in surprise as if she had forgotten she was there. "When are you going to climb up?" she asked impatiently.
"You can go back too. Just follow the trail; it'll lead you there."
"I don't need your permission to go back!"
"Then why are you still standing there?"
That was enough to shut her up. Why was she still standing there? She turned around and was about to head for the path but without warning the ground gave out beneath her. She screamed as she slipped down the steep hill, scraping her bare skin on the branches and rocks that littered its face. When she landed at the bottom she looked up to see Seiya standing over her.
"I didn't mean for you to join me," the dark haired girl said, not working too hard to conceal her grin. Yaten scrambled to her feet angrily.
"You didn't tell me the ground was slippery!" she screamed.
"Why do you think we fell down it in the first place?"
Yaten blushed, feeling stupid, and walked away with a hmph. She stood at the edge of the cliff and watched as the horizon grew dark before her eyes. A chill ran through her body and she wasn't sure if it was the cold or just fear.
She didn't plan on being there when the storm came. The hill was too saturated from the last heavy rain to attempt to climb. That left only one option. She took a swift glance over the side of the cliff to pick out a path. Then without warning she dropped over the edge.
"Yaten!" Seiya screamed, and a moment later her stricken face appeared over the side. She exhaled noticeably when she saw that Yaten had landed on a small platform that jutted out of the side.
"What are you doing?" she burst out. "There's no way down like that."
Instead of answering, Yaten descended to the next ridge, and continued rapidly until she touched ground at the bottom. She found Seiya's astonished expression quite amusing but kept her own stoic.
Seiya shifted to her usual flirtatious smile. "All right, you win. But where do you plan on going now?"
Yaten's heart sank. She had no idea how to get back to the trail from here, or even if it was at all possible.
Look, "I can't get down this cliff on my own," Seiya continued, "and I doubt you can find your way back to campus before the storm starts, so what do you say we put our differences aside and help each other out?"
Yaten hated to admit it, but she didn't see any other option. "Fine," she said coldly, not happy that she would have to rely on Seiya to get her out of there.
"Alright, we have a deal."