Chapter 3 – First Days Are Always Eventful

The streets were filled with the same city buses and the same cars that went on with the same daily routine. In and out, stop and go, here to there. It wasn't exciting, but it was peaceful. Here in Daten City, a city exactly mid-way between Heaven and Hell, everything was betwixt and between, a life of being in the middle, all under the invisible rule that seemingly kept everyone from being exemplary. They were average. But some rules were meant to be broken, these so called rules that humankind has put on themselves. A wonderful example of those who dared defy the norm were about to come blazing through the crowded city streets. Literally blazing.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The sky was cloudy today, which could be cause by the fact that it was already Christmas season. Even though it was snowing like hell back in Little Tokyo, only now does the snow threaten to pour down on Daten. However, since it wasn't snowing yet, it was neither too cold nor too hot today. Perfect for an early morning drive. Or race. It was more of a nice day for a race, since it was what the angel sisters challenged Cravat to.

As both of them burst out of the underground garage area, they found themselves already swerving and cutting each other off as they headed towards the main road. As they managed to reach it, Panty noticed a truck hauling gasoline in the distance, left unattended by its driver due to a flat tire. The driver was on the phone, probably calling a pickup truck, when Panty got one hell of an idea.

"What are you doing?" Habit asked as Panty took a bottle of vodka from under her seat. She'd left it there the night before after she and Stocking went out to a bar.

"Oh nothing, just something to make things more fun," she said with a hint of mischief in her voice. "An initiation for Otaku Boy over there, if you will," Using a handkerchief, she made a Molotov cocktail out of the half full bottle of vodka. Setting it on fire with a lighter from the glove compartment, she threw it fiercely at the truck, and it exploded just behind it. The driver already saw the Molotov incoming, and ran as far away as he could. The blast was enough to ignite the gasoline inside the tank, sending it rolling and jumping towards them. Cravat saw what Panty had just done.

"What was that for?" he shouted as the rolling inferno made its way towards them. The people who saw the truck coming quickly got out of their cars and made a run to the side of the road, away from the fiery rolling-pin of doom.

"Double points if you clear that!" Stocking shouted while concentrating on the obstacle ahead.

"There's a point system?" he asked loudly as the tanker came ever closer.

"Yeah! Sure! Whatever, just don't die I guess!" Stocking replied. Well that was a given now wasn't it, Cravat thought to himself. Stocking looked back at Panty who had this smile plastered on her face. "You think he'll make it?" she asked her sister. Habit butted in.

"Oh it'll take more than that to kill Ravvy," she said, holding her seatbelt tightly. "He can survive anything as long as he's on Lash-Out," she continued.

"And if he's not on his bike?" Panty asked, suddenly a little interested. Habit looked like she was pondering, touching her chin with her pointer finger.

"That's a different story. Here it comes!" Habit shouted as the tanker came rolling a few meters off. Using the slanted trunk of a hatch-back, Stocking launched See-Through through the air and easily cleared the burning tanker. Cravat stared at Stocking's skills in awe as he readied himself. The hatch-back just got crushed, so that's a no-no. Only way is under it, he decided. Just a few meters in front of him, it bounced again on the road, lifting itself just about a meter off the ground. This was his chance. He shifted his entire weight to the left side while pulled on the handles so his entire right side would be facing the tanker. The momentum and the shift in weight sent him into a side-ways, almost flat on the ground slide, his arms almost skidding on the pavement, under the burning wreck. He barely cleared it when his coat caught fire, and he shifted his weight again so Lash-Out would be back to optimal riding position. As he sped down the road, the fire began to die out, and he was right behind the sisters and their pink Hummer. Panty whistled as she saw what happened through the rear-view mirror.

"Wow, not bad." She said, reclining back to her seat. Habit let out a sigh of relief. Panty noticed. "I thought you said he could survive anything on his bike?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I still don't worry. That bike's expensive to maintain you know," she said. So she was referring to being relieved over Lash-Out not becoming a total wreck. Interesting, Panty thought.

"Kid's got skill and speed, might just be my kind of guy," Panty said aloud, licking her lips.

"Really now Panty? Already?" Stocking asked, fearing for Cravat's safety. God knows what Panty does just to get what she wants.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding, haha… maybe…"

"What was that last part?"

"Oh nothing, nothing." she wasn't being serious of course. It was just fun creating doubt like that.

Lash-Out was a machine to be reckoned with. It caught up to See-Through in no time after clearing the tanker. Cravat was in his own little world right now, seeing only the road, the sisters, his speedometer, and the imaginary racing position he was seeing at the top right corner of his field of vision. Right now, it read 1st. He smirked even more as he saw traffic building up near a tunnel in the distance. Stocking noticed the traffic too.

"Well that's not fair," she said as they approached the myriad of cars that were smooshed into a few columns. Cravat on the other hand felt the opportunity arise and took it. He left the two sisters and their Hummer behind.

Cravat sped through the long crevice made by two rows of vehicles. He had to be a little careful though, as he could clip one of them and be sent spinning. He couldn't hear the sound of See-Through's engine through all the vehicles around him, but they couldn't have gotten through this traffic could they? The tunnel echoed with the horns and beeps of impatient drivers all around, and Lash-Out's engine resonated in the symphony of mechanical booms. Then he noticed something. He felt a pair of eyes on him, not from behind though. Where was it coming from…?

"Aw hell no," he said out loud. Cravat looked up, and sure enough See-Through was riding on the roof of the tunnel. Stocking was concentrating on driving, while Habit was hanging on for her dear life.

"Hey there Otaku Boy ~ " Panty called out provocatively from above him. She looked relaxed, reclined in her chair with legs crossed. Cravat could definitely make out that smirk on her elegant face. Disregarding everything else, he had to admit she was pretty damn gorgeous. Makes it easier to lure her 'victims', he thought to himself. That may be all there is to her though, he thought again, and laughed a little. See-Through sped up, leaving Cravat and Lash-Out behind. Smirking, he knew what to do next, just to amp up the fun: join them in their little joy ride up top. Problem is, how would he get up there? He spotted a truck that was hauling wooden planks, probably for construction work or something. Deus Ex Machina, you sly little plot device you.

"Here we go then-!" revving Lash-Out up, he hopped on the back of the truck and banged his foot on the wooden plank hard as he launched, sending him into a 180 degree spin. Lash-Out's tires came in contact with the roof, and now he was speeding his way through the tunnel upside down, just behind See-Through. Using the slipstream from See-Through, he launched himself so he would end up right beside the pink Hummer. He tapped Stocking on the shoulder. Upon seeing him she cussed loudly and swerved a bit, but quickly gained back her composure. Habit looked at him directly in the eyes, with a fire that she would kill him personally if he did something like that again. He laughed at the thought. Stocking turned her head to look at Cravat.

"You're not half bad," Stocking called out. Cravat started to get a lead on the girls as he quickly inched forward, leaving Stocking with an idea in mind. She then swerved towards him, clipping Lash-Out's rear with See-Through's bumper. Lash-Out wobbled wildly and swerved, but, while laughing physics in the face, Cravat took back control and 'slid under' a hanging 5 meter clearance sign as the tunnel ended. It was hard to classify what he just did, as he was on the ceiling. Just before he flew out of the tunnel, he kicked off, just like he did to get up on the roof in the first place, making another 180 degree spin that sent him right side up again. By the time he landed the two sisters were already a good ways ahead of him. With a look of determination on his face, he revved Lash-Out hard, the wheels screeching loudly as he suddenly gained a burst of speed. They were on a highway now, with less traffic and more racing space. He leaned his entire body forward so the wind resistance would be kept at a minimum, and just focused his eyes like a hawk's on the pink Hummer in the distance. His coat flared wildly in the wind as he steadily gained on them, and he felt really, to put it bluntly, awesome right now. Just as he seemed to pass them, they took a sharp right that lead off the highway. Needless to say, he missed the ramp that would lead him to Daten High. He cussed under his breath as he sped through the highway like an arrow. Just then, he realized something. When the hell did he ever need a road? The way things were right now he could easily fly off the highway and head for the school, which he noticed just to his right peaking out through the tall trees.

He laughed a bit, realizing why Habit hated his driving. He'd learned all he needed to learn at arcades and video games, well, nothing about safety, and they always had a disclaimer never to do them in real life.

"You only relive once… I think," he mused to himself. Without so much as a second thought, he wheelied onto the side of the highway and launched high into the air. He landed in grass, which was instantly burnt, distorted, and flown everywhere by Lash-Out's rapidly spinning wheels. He kept his leaning forward position to avoid the low branches. He ripped through bush after bush and by the decreasing amount of flora around he could tell he was near the school. He could see it in the distance, and was sure he'd won until he saw a familiar pink Hummer crash through a wall right into the school itself.

"Curses, so close," he whispered to himself as he stared off in the direction of the broken rubble and smoke. As he continued to stare off, he failed to notice the root of a giant tree was about to collide with the front tire. By the time he looked back, only three words registered in his head in the few milliseconds before the inevitable.

"Oh fuck me," as tire and root collided, he was launched off his vehicle and straight into the campus. As he flew through the air, he thought to himself that maybe Lash-Out was the one that had the devil's luck, not him. So what happens if he's flying through the air while not riding his bike? If a bit of that luck rubbed off on him, he would fly into some unfortunate schmuck to soften the landing. If his luck was nil, he would end up as sidewalk splatter. Thankfully, it was the former. "Heads up!" Cravat shouted before he collided with the walking figure. He realized it was a girl. As he travelled through the air, he noticed her long, light blue hair that was tied in a ponytail that went well past her waist. He noticed her look at him during the few seconds he had left before colliding with her, and she had interestingly bright green eyes behind the glasses she wore. She also had a very reddish complexion. Too much blush or something…? Come to think of it, her entire body looked really red. A foreigner maybe?

As ponder-able that statement was, he realized she had already stepped ever so calmly out of Cravat's flight path. He landed right shoulder first on, thankfully, a grassy part of the campus. The velocity he was travelling still made a sharp sting travel from his right shoulder until his forearm though, and the skidding ripped the right shoulder area of his coat until his dress-shirt underneath. A rock or something probably lodged itself in his arm as well, as he could feel something warm slowly seeping through the layers of fabric. But he was alive, and never was he more thankful for his durability as a fallen angel.

It still hurt like a bitch though.

"FREAKING HELL-!" he shouted loudly, rolling to his left side and clutching his right shoulder. He felt another heartfelt exclamation of pain coming on.

"SWEET SHEEZEUS CHRISTI-!" he shouted with the same vigor. Lash-Out tumbled to his side, but ended up safe and sound, standing like it was magnetized to the ground. Oh cool, he thought, those last two phrases rhymed.

The girl he'd barely missed walked up to him and crouched down, her movements all seemingly topped with grace and refinement. Instead of asking him if he was alright however, she looked a little irritated at him.

"A severe disobedience of the rules, in this case trying to run over such a high-ranking official of this school, may deserve twenty to life in detention," she said through narrowed eyes. Oh yes, thank you, ignore my ever so obvious injury, he thought to himself, and what the hell kind of crazy rule is that? He noticed how she said rules though, with the emphasis on the Rs and elongating the U. Made it sound like Rrrruuurrrs. Cravat started to stand up slowly, still clutching his right arm and grimacing slightly.

He thought of the best excuse he could muster. She looked like the serious, by-the-book type. He readied his kiss-up statement. "I didn't mean to launch myself at you like that, it's just that I was kind of in a hurry. It's my first day, and it would be unfortunate if I were late…" he said in an earnest voice, scratching the back of his head with his left hand. Ah dear lord, please take the bait, he thought to himself. He winced as he tried to move his right arm. She still looked a little unconvinced, but she saw how much damage had been done.

She felt some sympathy for him. As co-head of Daten, she could not allow a new student to be left feeling unwelcomed and, in this case, injured. Another rule she ever so benevolently followed. "Follow me to the nurse's office," she said, starting to walk away already. His face lit up slightly in surprise. He started to drag Lash-Out by the left handle with his working arm, and the girl took the right. They lead it to the parking area for bikes and motorcycles near the entrance of the main building. As they walked down the halls filled with students and lockers, they eventually found the clinic. As they walked inside, the girl asked Cravat to sit down on a bed. She retrieved a first-aid kit in the form of little white box with a cross on it from one of the shelves.

"Take your coat off. I need to see your arm." She requested. Doing as he was told, Cravat proceeded to take off his coat and undid the buttons on the dress shirt beneath it. His undershirt was sleeveless, so he wouldn't have to take everything off, thankfully. He took his arm out of the right sleeve, and saw the extent of his injuries. A sharp stone had lodged itself slightly in his shoulder, which the girl took out with some forceps.

"GAH-!" Cravat exclaimed as it was quickly pulled from his arm.

"It wasn't in that deep, it should heal after a few days," she took some antiseptic and placed it on a piece of cotton right and started to treat the wound. Every so often, Cravat would exclaim 'ow' in a monotone voice. She pressed harder on it.

"OW!" he shouted. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, slipped," she said without looking up.

"Oh really?" he asked irritably.

"Yeah, really." She replied with no sign of her being annoyed with his tone. She began wrapping a bandage around his arm where the bruises were. Cravat found himself staring at her, since he had nothing better to do. She looked like she grew up in a refined household, teaching her things like this. She didn't seem anything like Panty or Stocking, she acted with discipline and grace. She had this aura though… He couldn't quite wrap his finger around it. He'd felt this already somewhere, but decided to dismiss the thought. She sprayed some ice-in-a-can on the bruises that weren't wrapped yet, and he welcomed the slight relief the feeling gave. She had laser-like focus while she did what she did, her features however still looked charming. He felt himself heat up a bit. Damn you, hormones.

"You aren't running a fever are you?" she asked. Huh, she's really perceptive.

"No, I'm good," Could this encounter be a flag? Like the ones in those dating sims? That idea was laughable. Must be his imagination was acting up again. Co-head of Daten High huh? Come to think of it, I haven't asked about her name yet, Cravat thought to himself. "Er, may I ask what your name is, uh, ma'am?" he said awkwardly. "I'm Cravat."

"Kneesocks," she replied after she finished. She stood up and placed the equipment back where she found them. "You should get to class now, you might end up being late."

"Alright," he began to put his sleeves back on and button his shirt. He straightened up his collar and adjusted his pseudo-neckties as he tucked them back in under his coat. He'd need to patch that hole up when he gets back to the church later. Kneesocks had already walked out of the clinic before Cravat was able to thank her.

"Huh," he said dismissively. He'd probably see her around though, he went through the door. He realized that he was pretty near where Panty, Stocking, and Habit punched a hole through a wall. The trio was already walking down the hall, probably going to their first class. Another person was with them, a boy with orange hair that covered his eyes. He had headphones on and wore a green jumpsuit while carrying a strange looking backpack. Cravat decided to join up with the four of them, tapping Habit lightly on the shoulder. As she turned around, she was delighted to see him.

"Ravvy!" she exclaimed. After giving him a quick hug, she turned to the guy with them. "This is Brief, or as Panty and Stocking call him, Geek Boy," Habit finished. Ah, so this was the Geek Boy Panty was talking about, Cravat thought. He already felt pity for him.

"You guys sure have a knack at nicknames don'tcha?" Cravat said to the sisters. They just shrugged. "Nice to meet you Brief," Cravat said.

"Likewise, I heard you were almost killed by Panty," he said, a little sympathetically. Cravat let out a light laugh.

"Close, but no cigar," Cravat replied jokingly. He noticed Panty and Stocking were walking towards an emergency stair-case, which he was sure didn't lead to their first subject.

"Uh, guys, what about class?" Cravat asked. The sisters looked at each other with a small smile on their faces.

"We're going to be patrolling the area for ghosts. You honestly don't have to take the school part too seriously. We're registered here, but it isn't mandatory… sort of," Panty said as she disappeared through the door leading to the staircase. Stocking followed, not looking back. Cravat and Habit were left with Brief, who looked a little reluctant to be cutting classes right now.

"I can show you to our first class if you want," Brief offered, a little shy. Cravat and Habit looked at each other and shrugged. What the hell, might as well give it a try. The two of them followed Brief to a classroom as the bell rang. Their homeroom teacher was a relatively old man, and they were assigned seats that were a little ways off from each other. As they introduced themselves, their teacher assigned Brief to show Habit around the campus since they'd already met with each other, and waited for someone to volunteer to show Cravat around. He could hear whispers all around the classroom.

"What the hell is he wearing? A trench-coat?"

"Guess we have another geek."

"What was up with that Habit girl? She's seriously going to wear that every day?"

He heard more and more comments along those lines being thrown around the classroom, and he sighed. That's lovely, he thought to himself, a bunch of spoiled brats on their high-horses thinking they're better than other people. Let it blow over Cravat, let it blow over, he thought to himself. They're not worth your time. A hand shot up from the back row. Someone just volunteered to show him around campus.

"I'll do it," a girl's voice said aloud. Cravat shifted his attention to where the voice came from. It was Kneesocks, apparently.

"Ah, very good Ms. Kneesocks. Show him around after class, we're shortened today. A blizzard's headed our way," their teacher called out over the rising noise in the classroom, and then he made the class settle down. After the first two periods, classes were inevitably canceled when the snow started to fall. Even though it was just two periods, Cravat felt like he hadn't stretched his arms in ages. Telling Habit he'd meet her outside after Brief showed her around the campus, Cravat went to Kneesocks's table.

"Thanks for showing me around," he said. He didn't really need to be shown around, as he had a feeling he wouldn't be in class that often anyway, just scouting around with Panty and Stocking. But a sign of gratitude never hurt anyone.

"Of course. I thought it would be appropriate, seeing as I helped you out already," Kneesocks replied. As she led Cravat outside the classroom, he let a small smile out.

They rounded the entire school, which by now he noticed was in the shape of a cross by the positioning of the buildings. She showed him to the library, the computer rooms, the club rooms, and interestingly, they even had an indoor swimming pool. They made small talk along the way, which varied from how this room came to be or how that room used to be something else, to a little bit about themselves.

"You have a sister?" Cravat asked as they entered the cafeteria. His favorite place anywhere was probably always the room with the food.

"Ah yes," she replied as they both walked up to the counter. They were a little hungry from going around campus all morning. "Scanty. She's on a school-issued business trip somewhere, and she won't be back until after the holidays." She started, then she began this long monologue of how beautiful and kind and breathtaking her sister was with such emotion that Cravat had to wonder if she thought of her sister as… something else. Shaking those thoughts from his head, Kneesocks could read from his reaction what had crossed his imagination. A smirk glided along her features.

"Why yes, my sister and I are in that sort of relationship," she said seductively, licking her lips. The statement made Cravat choke on his macaroni salad, and Kneesocks burst out laughing. It seemed all the women Cravat had met so far had a quirk or two about them. Maybe he should've gotten used to it by now.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Snow began falling even more now as the walkways that lead outside had little piles of white beginning to form on them. He walked through the slosh, which felt interestingly nostalgic of his days back at Little Tokyo. He saw an SUV, a G-Wagen by the looks of it, though it was elongated to look like a limo, parked by the front gate of the school. He guessed this was Kneesocks's ride home, as she was asking him to accompany her to it.

"Are you sure you'll be able to ride with that arm?" she asked as she got in the limo. Cravat just nodded, as he could at least move his arm enough to grip the handlebars. "Alright then," she said.

"Thanks again," he called out before Kneesocks managed to close the door. She smiled and waved at him.

"You're welcome," she replied. He watched a little as the limo-SUV slowly drove away, and went to retrieve his own vehicle. Cravat noticed Panty, Stocking, and Habit were already waiting for him near the parking lot.

"Come on slowpoke!" Stocking called out as she revved See-Through. Lash-Out also rumbled to life. It was only lunch, but he knew he'd find a way to pass time once he got back to the church.

Nothing really fancy happened on their way back, except for Stocking cutting-off this big rig, which toppled over from trying to avoid See-Through and ended in a pile-up of cars. Nothing that important, actually. He got off Lash-Out as they parked in the underground garage again.

He played his consoles for the rest of the day, and after eating dinner with the others, lied down on his bed a ways away from Stocking's.

"G'night Stocking."

"You too…" she said sleepily from under her sheets. She even yawned. Cravat laughed a little. He realized how tired he was, after evading a fiery doom, almost crashing into someone, experiencing a short mundane life as a student, which he probably wouldn't be faithful to that much anyway. He was just thankful it was over. But then it suddenly occurred to him.

This was just day one.

Author's Notes:

Sorry I just managed to update now, we had a lot going on during Christmas and New Year's, and school starts tomorrow for me, so I'll try updating once a week. But I'm not giving up on this, I'm having too much fun working on it XD

Well then, Happy New Year guys ^_^

SMALL NOTE: If you want to see what Lash-Out looks like, search for Suzuki Biplane on Images in Google, it's the very first one you see/ the various yellow ones you see. I found this while surfing online and liked the design, though Lash-Out is more of a dark blue. I tried posting the exact site I found it in, but didn't want it to show for some reason, haha.