Halo!

So, I actually did have time to type this up today. Huh.

If anyone was wondering about Jaffar's last name, I just figure Angelofdeath or Assassin was a bad last name, so I kind of meshed together "Angel of Death" into Aneath. Just FYI.

Word picked from the dictionary today! Enjoy!

…

Stop

Nino followed Jaffar, Legault, and her brothers out of the car and promptly gasped in amazement. Emblem HS was so beautiful! Flowers and bushes grew around it, all obviously happy and thriving. The doors were wide open as if to welcome in all who might come by, no matter who they were, where they were from, or what they had done. The polar opposite of Black Fang.

"It's beautiful," she whispered, and Legault glanced back at her with a grin.

"Like it, huh, Nino?" he asked, reaching down to ruffle her hair. They were as close as Nino and her brothers were. The only difference was that Legault didn't live in the same house as her, and Lloyd and Linus did, so she didn't see him as much.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, running up a bit and spinning in an excited circle. She heard her mother let out an annoyed sigh and Linus give a chuckle.

"That's good," Lloyd said, smiling at her. "Because you'll be spending a lot of your next few years here."

Nino giggled and raced ahead into the building, catching the doorframe of the main office and spinning into it. A messy-haired young man looked up with a startled half-smile on his face. She skipped up to his desk and leaned toward him as her companions filed in.

"Hello!" she greeted him cheerfully. "I'm Nino Reed, and I'm new here! And the people coming in now are also new students!"

He returned her chipper attitude with a warm smile, before leaning around her to see who was behind her. His smile faded a bit and his eyes became guarded, with left Nino feeling rather confused at his sudden change of expression.

"I'm assuming that the two Mr. Paladin and Mr. Sage discussed with me are in this group somewhere?" he asked her mother, who merely crossed her arms impatiently and nodded. He shook his head. "That took a lot of planning to get them in as few classes together with certain people. They're both in lunch with a few of them, and I believe in History as well."

"That'll be fine," Legault interrupted, sending Nino a nervous glance. "Me and Jaffar can handle ourselves."

"If you're sure," the man shrugged and handed Nino five sheets of paper. "Your schedule is on the top, miss."

Glad that he seemed to be reassured, but still not fully comprehending, she took her schedule and handed the rest to Jaffar to sort. She quickly scanned it, before bouncing in excitement and turning to her mother.

"I have English with you, Mom!" she cheered, raising a fist in the air. Sonia Reed rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath that sounded like, that's just great. Nino's smile faded a bit; she wasn't so naïve that she didn't understand sarcasm, but she knew her mother was probably just feeling under the weather again today. She usually did, which explained why she was always so short tempered.

"Will you need anyone to show you around the school?" the man asked, starting to look nervous again. Legault took a step forward, waving his hands a bit in what seemed to be agitation.

"We'll be fine!" he assured him. "Just for Nino maybe?"

"I can do that," the man answered. Nino noticed his nametag now and discovered his name was Lowen. "A freshman girl should be coming in for the clinic soon, so she can help show her around."

"Clinic?" Linus inquired, curious to how the man would know this. Lowen just shrugged.

"She passed out from lack of sleep sometime last week, so she has been ordered to see the nurse every morning just in case." He explained. Linus nodded, slightly reassured. He didn't want Nino to be around some contagious girl.

"We'll be going now," Lloyd announced, noticing Legault and Jaffar had already left. Jaffar had slipped out after getting his schedule and Legault had followed after telling Lowen he'd be fine and giving Nino a last pat on the head. It annoyed her when he did that sometimes. It kind of made her feel like a dog.

"Bye bye!" Nino yelled after them as the door swung closed. "I'll see you in fourth period, Mom!"

She got no reply except for a small wave from both Lloyd and Linus before they turned to walk down the hallway. Just as they reached the corner, a small lavender haired girl came swinging around it, narrowly missing them. Nino watched in mild curiosity as she turned, bowing slightly, seeming to be profusely apologizing by the way Lloyd was holding his hands up and Linus's uncomfortable expression. They backed away slowly, going past the corner and out of Nino's sight while the girl swerved and came bursting through the office door.

"I'm going to be late to class!" she moaned, swinging toward the nurse's office before coming to a dead halt, eyes fixed on the clock.

It was twenty minutes until the ten minute bell. Nino knew this from the school's website which she had spent basically the whole weekend browsing. She had wanted to be as prepared for her new school as possible so that she could settle in and make friend right away, no hassle or anything.

"Fiora set the clock late again," the girl whispered before collapsing into a seat. "I ran all the way here because Fiora set the clock late again."

"Ah, Florina, perfect timing!" Lowen called, not seeming to hear her soft words. Florina looked over at him blankly, like she was in some sort of shock. "Could you show Nino here around the school?"

Something sparked in her previously dead eyes and she looked at Nino curiously. "We sure are getting a lot of transfer students this year. First Heath, then Serra, and now her. Is there something going on?"

"Even if I knew, I would not be at liberty to say," Lowen replied stiffly. "And five students transferred in today as a matter of fact!"

"That's right!" Nino piped up, wanting to join their conversation. She loved to talk, and she couldn't stand to be talked about as if she wasn't there. "Me, my brothers Linus and Lloyd; they're seniors; and then also Jaffar and Legault."

"Linus, Lloyd," Florina muttered, as if struggling to keep up with her, but Nino was still chattering.

"Legault's like a brother too, because he's always teasing me and ruffling my hair and calling me sis. I don't know Jaffar very well because he's very quiet, but he seems like a nice person too. After all, anyone that can put up with Legault for more than a few minutes must be a nice person. Not that I don't like Legault, but he can be annoying when he doesn't know you very well."

"Legault, Jaffar," Florina looked kind of confused now, but recognition sparked in her gaze. "You don't mean…"

Nino cocked her head to one side, wondering what had caused her to look so nervous. What she didn't know was that behind her Lowen was making frantic signals to Florina to stop talking, even holding up a sign that said:

We Don't Want

More Trouble!

Florina seemed to understand what he was trying to say, both from his attempts and Nino's clueless expression, because she just smiled gently at the girl and said, "Sorry. The names just sounded familiar."

"Her locker number is #234," Lowen told her and Florina bit her lip.

"That's near Matthew's and Hector's isn't it?" she asked, trying to keep her tone nonchalant. Nino detected a slight quaver in it, but dismissed it just as nerves about the two people she mentioned. Maybe she was afraid of them! Or maybe it was just the opposite!

"Yeah," Lowen answered, waving them toward the door. "So go on.'

Nino followed Florina out the door, going back into her talkative mode.

"We just transferred from Black Fang because Legault and Jaffar are, like, super smart and need classes that they don't offer and me and my brother's missed my mother. Do you know my mother? She teaches English. Her name's Sonia Reed-"

"Mrs. Reed?" Florina cut in quietly, looking surprised. Nino's bouncy walk turned into a real skip and she chuckled.

"So you do know her? I bet she's a good teacher. But she's probably a little strict because she feels sick all of the time so her temper's a little short. But I love her anyway! Who are these Hector and Matthew people by the way? Do you know them?"

Florina seemed to be struggling through the rapid waves of Nino's conversation, but relaxed when she heard a pause in her questions.

"I do know them," she answered quietly. "Matthew's friendly with everyone so it's kind of impossible not to know at least of him. Hector's one of my best friend's close friends. He's big so he's kind of…" she trailed off, not knowing the tactful way to phrase her terror of the man. Although he had saved her from a fall off her horse a year ago, so she knew he couldn't be that bad. It was just…She was already afraid of men and Hector was much, much taller than her as well.

"Scary?" Nino supplied, understanding where her newfound friend had been going in her talk. Florina nodded sadly, looking rather ashamed. Not wanting her to feel down, Nino leaned down so that she was looking straight into her eyes and gave a bright, genuine smile. "That's okay! I'm sometimes scared of people because they're so much bigger than me too!"

"Thanks," Florina smiled back at her. "We're here!"

Nino hadn't been noticing where they were going, but now that she was standing in front of her locker, she could now vaguely remember making a right turn and climbing up a flight of stairs. Now if she could just remember where else they had went…

"I have to go get my stuff for class now," Florina admitted. "Will you be okay now?"

Nino nodded happily. "Thanks so much!" Florina returned the gesture before turning around and walking down the stairs with a wave. Nino glanced at the schedule in her hand for the combination to her locker before starting to enter it in.

She was on the second number when she heard footsteps behind her. Thinking it was Florina coming back for something, she glanced up to greet her, but instead found a tall, brown-haired boy looking down at her.

"Hello!" she cried, jumping a bit. "Are you Matthew or Hector? I think you're Matthew because Florina said Hector was scary, but you don't look very scary. Oh!" she realized something and placed a hand over her mouth. "You won't tell Hector she thinks that, will you? It's just because he's big! And…Why are you laughing?"

Sure enough, the boy was chuckling to himself, eyes closed and body bent over a bit. He straightened, still laughing a little and stuck out his hand. "You guessed right, I'm Matthew. I won't tell Hector, and I'm laughing because I think you and I are going to get along well this year."

Nino took his hand and gave it a vigorous shaking. "I'm new here, but my name is Nino! I hope we can get on well too!"

Matthew released her hand and turned to face his locker, hands expertly twisting the lock. "Where are you from?"

"Just from Black Fang!" she answered, going back to trying to open her locker as well. "I transferred here with four other people!"

He froze and she gave him a worried look. After a few seconds, his hand began moving again. "Who did you transfer with?'

"Um…" Nino stalled, not liking the strange expression on his face. "My brothers, Lloyd and Linus Reed, and then…Legault Hurricane and Jaffar Aneath."

He froze again and the expression twisted into something murderous. Nino was scared now, wondering where the happy and fun guy he had been before had went. The lock slipped from his hands and hit his locker with a clack.

"Where are they?" he whispered, and Nino was too terrified not to answer.

"Th-They were going to their l-lockers," she stuttered. Matthew didn't even hesitate a second, going into motion and sprinting down the stairs. Now scared of what she might have done to Legault and Jaffar, she followed him. It was a good thing she was a relatively fast runner, because otherwise his height would have caused her to lose his trail.

They rounded another corner and Nino's eyes widened as she saw Jaffar was ahead of them. His head turned at the footsteps, but Matthew was too close now for him to dodge the tackle he was aiming at him now. So Nino did the only thing she could.

She launched herself at him too.

Somehow, she managed to leap past Matthew and knock Jaffar to the side so that Matthew was sent sprawling on empty floor. However, he was up again in a flash, so Nino clambered up and spread her arms wide so that he could not dive without hitting her too. He paused glaring at her and she felt Jaffar get up from behind her.

"Get out of the way," he snarled at her ad although she cringed back, she held her ground.

"No!" she declared, not budging an inch until a heavy hand came down on her shoulder. She looked behind her in surprise to see Jaffar looking over her head.

"Nino," he said and she started. She couldn't remember the last time he had addressed her. Probably never. "I'll be fine."

"You might be, but fighting is not tolerated here," a voice came from the right and Nino looked over to see Legault leaning against the wall, with a small boy with a long braid hanging on down his back. She felt her eyes fill with tears of relief and almost ran over and jumped in his arms; but if she did Matthew would see it as an opportunity to attack Jaffar. And she wouldn't allow anyone to get hurt because of her.

"Guy warned me that this might be happening, though I did not expect Nino to be here as well. More like Jaffar merely dodging every attack you throw at him," Legault said pleasantly, examining his nails before shooting Matthew a cold glare. "If you get Nino mixed up in this mess, I will not be happy."

The boy Nino assumed was Guy had walked over to Matthew now and was talking quietly. Matthew's body was slowly drooping with every word he said, until his head hung down on his chest. Nino, hoping it was safe now, took a few steps toward him.

"Matthew?" she asked timidly. He looked up at her with empty eyes and she suppressed a shiver. "I don't know why you're so mad at Jaffar and Legault, but I'm sure they didn't mean to do what they did. Can we still be friends?"

Matthew just stared at her, the nothingness replaced with total shock. His mouth opened and closed like a fish and after a few seconds, he just swung on his heel and ran away from her. Guy gave her an apologetic glance before following after him. Nino's shoulders sunk and she felt the tears coming out now. This was NOT how she had wanted her first day to go.

A familiar hand fell on her shoulder and Legault was saying gently, "You should get to class now, sis. Don't worry about it, I'm sure he's just having a bad day."

And although she desperately wanted to believe his words, she just couldn't. Everyone today had had a sort of shocked or negative reaction whenever Jaffar and Legault's names were mentioned. But she didn't want to worry her friends anymore then they probably already were, so she just fixed a smile on her face and wiped away her tears.

"Right!" she chirped, and Legault patted her shoulder fondly. "I'll go back to my locker right now!"

And she skipped off. Legault and Jaffar watched her go until she was out of sight.

"I'm not going to forgive you, you know," Legault stated, not turning around to look at Jaffar. "It's your fault she's mixed up in this. If you had just refused that mission, things would have been fine."

"I did," Jaffar answered, and Legault swiveled to stare at him. But he was already gone.

"Stop with the lies, Jaffar," Legault muttered, trying to shake the doubt from his head. "If you didn't take it, why the hell is she dead, huh?"

…

Wow, that was longer than I thought it'd be! Jeez…

I hope you enjoyed it and saw the plotline begin to take hold. PLOT!!!! HOORAY!!!!

Again, easy to excite me with plot.

Drop in a review, won'tcha?

Sorry the author's notes aren't longer, but running on limited time here.

Selamat tinggal!