Yuya checked her hair to make sure every loose curl was in place. She knew she was nervous for her first day of high school as a Sophomore, but there was something else plaguing her. This feeling was possibly because she'd just discovered that Kyo was coming back from boarding school.

It had been months since he had been gone. He came back for holidays, but she hardly ever caught sight of him. When she did, it was...awkward. Yuya could never imagine what to say to him. At this point, it was all so messy, she tried hard not to think about it. Those weeks after he'd left had been some of the most troubling days of her life. Luckily, Sakuya came to visit and that took her mind off the ordeal for a little while. Eventually, Yuya's appetite came back. After a few days of being a Freshman, she even met a nice boy, Shinrei. He had a kind smile and always said hello to her. Shinrei was popular and polite. He was like a prince. She realized she had developed a crush on him.

Yuya was feeling better. However, every once in a while, she felt a pang in her chest. It came to her when she looked out her window and saw Kyo's empty room, or when she spotted her cards that she hadn't played with in ages. She never played solitaire back when she was younger. This pang she felt brought so many confusing and painful emotions that she would desperately distract herself so she wouldn't feel them. Perhaps this emotion had much to do with regret, and regret was something that Yuya did not want to accept. Regret would hurt too much, regret couldn't change anything.

The girl took a deep breath. She shook her head, making her curls fly across her face, as if the gesture would brush off all her icky emotions. Yuya had surrendered more to vanity. She payed more attention to her hair; she wore more skirts. Yet, she hardly ever wore make-up. She didn't like the feeling of it on her face, she liked being able to rub her eye without any consequences. With one last check in the mirror she swung her back-pack over her shoulder and headed out the door.

Outside, she scanned her surroundings for a certain someone, feeling paranoid. She was admittedly, a bit afraid to run into him.

The coast was clear. Did he drive? Yuya wondered, Is he not going to school? She shook her head again to clear him of her thoughts. The rest of the way there, she only prayed that Shinrei would be in her class.

Yuya's heart beat with gratitude. Not only was Shinrei in her class, but so were a few girls she knew from last year. Kiyoshiro was also in her class, but she'd live. She said an enthusiastic "hello" to Shinrei, then proceeded to sit next to one of the girls. This was going to be a good year, even Yukimura was in her class, and he was always one to crack good jokes.

"Hello class, I'm Mr. Nobunaga. I will now begin attendance..." the mysterious, middle aged man fixed his glasses and peered at the list,

"Kamijyo Akimine."

"Here."

"Kenji Bikara."

"Here."

"Okuni Izumo."

"Here."

"Kyoshiro Mibu."

"Here."

"Sakura Kenyou."

"He--"

"Knock knock knock!"

Irritated, Mr. Nobunaga went over and impatiently thrust open the door.

Yuya blanched.

There was no way.

It couldn't be.

She stared at the person standing at the door she was the least prepared to see.

He had changed.

The boy now before her was tall and intimidating; strong, but slender. His ears were adorned with several piercings. His hair was slightly messy and virtually covered his left eye. His eyes seemed like they could burn through a wall, and for a split second, those eyes met hers.

Yuya's knees went weak and she remembered this school's policy: "No switching out of classes, ever."

"and you are?" asked the teacher.

"Kyo."

"Well, Kyo, I'd like to remind you that class begins at exactly 7:45 AM. Please don't make it a habit of showing up late. You can take a seat over there." he gestured to an empty seat towards the back.

Kyo just shrugged and started walking. She could have sworn there eyes met for a second time when he passed her.

Yuya barely tuned in to what the teacher was saying for the rest of class. All she could think about was her current situation and how, well, how fucked up it was. She was already feeling the anxiety, it seemed to radiate from behind her, where she knew Kyo was sitting. Her back felt like it was burning. How was she going to survive this year? She weighed her options. Yuya finally narrowed them down to two: pretend you never knew him for a whole year, or talk to him. She clenched her hands, she knew she must talk to him, she had been avoiding this for too long. Why did she feel so nervous? All she had to say was hello. It wasn't like she'd hurt his feelings or anything...Yuya inwardly groaned. She concluded she had to speak to him no matter what, and regardless of what she'd said, she knew she'd receive daggers on his end.

It was worth it.

Lunch, thought Yuya, I'll speak to him during lunch. She did her best to tame the ferocious butterflies in her stomach.

However, when lunch rolled around, she realized he was no where in sight. Where did he disappear to?

Okay then, Yuya decided, half disappointed, half relieved, after school.

Yuya quickly discovered what the current hot topic for gossip was--the boy that walked in late to class.

"I heard he fought against 30 people and won." whispered a boy.

Wait, what?

"I heard he's apart of an illicit drug trade." whispered a girl.

Huh?

"Someone told me he skinned a rabbit and ate it's heart with only his hands."

Yuya had to laugh.

"Well, I hear he shot three people." whispered another boy.

Okay, sure, Kyo can be a little frightening, but he's not about to shoot anybody...

This was all too ridiculous for words, she looked over at Kyoshiro to see what he made of this, but he was absorbed in some perverted magazine.

Dumb traitor, she thought. At least Shinrei wasn't involved with this as well. Yuya snuck a peak at him and smiled, He looks as good as ever...

"Well, I think Kyo's kind of hot." said one girl.

"Yeah, I would totally go out with him, I like my boys scary."

What? Who is this Okuni girl? marveled Yuya. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to get out of this crazy dimension and take two tylenols. Today had been psychologically draining. Kyo didn't even return after lunch, which made her more nervous...

Finally, she could leave the ludicrous classroom, but because school was out, she felt those butterflies coming back again--she had to speak to Kyo.

I'll catch him before he goes in his house.

Realizing this would be difficult, and she'd have to get there rather fast, Yuya pushed all her inhibition aside, gritted her teeth, and took off running. She had to do this if she was going to survive this year, she had to.

Sprinting as fast as she could, Yuya quickly reached the neighborhood. When his house came into view, she spotted him outside.

Yes! There he is!

At a certain point, Yuya realized she wasn't slowing down fast enough and she was likely going to run straight into him; that's when Kyo sensed her coming and stepped aside...

Yuya tripped over a rock and planted herself in the grass.

She caught her breath and tried to steady herself. She peered up at the boy towering over her. She gulped, Kyo had never looked so menacing...

"Um...hi..." Yuya began,

"What the hell are you doing?"

Yuya flinched. She'd expected him to be abrasive, but her heart still pounded.

"I-I just wanted to say hello..."

"Well, hello." he said coldly.

He turned and walked away and Yuya remembered her words from before: "You have something to say right? Is it good-bye? Well, then, goodbye."

No.

This was not how she wanted it to be. She hated the fact that Kyo wasn't grinning anymore. It was eating at her. Yuya made up her mind. She was going to make Kyo grin again. She was going to make him call her a dog-face; even if she had to give up every last ounce of her dignity, even if it killed her. Yuya shivered, it had been a long time since she had this feeling, this feeling as if she were going to war.

She waited till around 10:30 that night to put her plan into action. The later, the better, she decided. When it was time, she pulled on a navy hoodie and put a pack of cards in her pocket, she brought a flash light as well, just in case. She headed outside, over to Kyo's window and began knocking...

and knocking.

and knocking.

She knew this was going to take a lot of knocking. Yuya had to take some breaks. She played with some grass and stared thoughtfully at the moon which was brilliant and full. The girl figured he might have left his room all together. She knew this boy was stubborn, but so was she.

Finally, some time around, 12:11 AM, Yuya went from knocking to full on window banging, and that was the last straw. She barely noticed the blinds fly up. She heard the sound of the window cracking open, and in no time, she was taken by the arm, and roughly thrown to the floor. The floor of Kyo's room.

Success! she thought happily, even though her leg and elbow were hurting.

"You! What the fuck are you doing?" Kyo demanded. His eyes were full on flaming.

Yuya was ready for this. She looked up at him without any trace of fear. She even smiled lightly and said "Do you wanna play cards?"

Yuya felt the air around them grow still. His room was utterly silent safe for the faint hissing sound from Kyo's cat.

"What?" Kyo finally asked.

"You know, cards. I thought we could play cards--"

"What the fuck makes you think I want to play cards with a dog-face like you?"

He may have said this unemotionally, but at least he called her a dog face.

"So...you don't want to play cards with me?" Yuya attempted to ask cutely.

Kyo ran his hand along his face. The boy was clearly trying his damnedest to keep his anger in check. For the first time in a long while, Yuya observed him closely. He definitely looked older. His jaw showed the faintest hint of hairs. His eyes were even more piercing and refined than before. His hands seemed more worn than she remembered. She noticed a scar on his right arm...

"No."

Yuya snapped back, and she realized plan B was ready to go into action.

"Fine!" She spoke. She acted as strong and confident as she could.

"I challenge you!"

Again, the silence ensued and Kyo looked at her questioningly.

"If I beat you on the next exam, then you have to play cards with me!"

"That's stupid."

"Oh I see, you don't want to accept cause you know you'll lose."

Something within Kyo was beginning to spark again...

She sighed. "You must be rusty at the whole "smart thing". I mean, you're like a total delinquent, I guess..."

Yuya's eyes smiled, she knew she was reaching him.

"I hear you shot someone." she whispered, now looking serious.

To her surprise, Kyo stepped closer. He searched her face.

"Do you believe that?"

Yuya wondered what even made him ask.

She scoffed. "Of course not!" she answered easily.

That's when she saw it.

Kyo's eyes sparkled.

"Fine dog-face. I accept your challenge. Only if I win, you have to do whatever I say."

This obviously wasn't fair, but Yuya didn't mind.

"Done!"

"Oh and one more thing." said Kyo. He shocked her by slowly running his finger along her cheek and stepping a little too near...

"You might want think twice before going to a boy's room, this late at night."

Huh?

"W-whatever!" said Yuya, pushing him away, trying to hide her red face, "J-just remember the challenge!" She clambered out of his window and retreated to her room.

Within the confines of her blankets, she let out a sigh. After months, she finally felt like things were returning back to normal.

She had a true sense of relief.

Except now she realized she was going to have to study her ass off...

Yuya smiled.

It was on.

To be continued (Yuya is 16 years-old)...