Cirno took a moment to simply stare in shock at the newcomer. For months now she'd been one of the school's unspoken leaders, keeping the other students in check with a well timed jab if need be. Most of the school had grown docile and simply kept their heads down as the Fairies had their fun. Someone actually having the nerve to touch her - let alone threaten her - was unprecedented.

"You didn't see anything. Get outta here."

Maybe she was just a newcomer who didn't know what she was getting into. She'd heard stories of an eccentric new transfer student from her underlings in the class, so everything added up.

"I see you picking on a girl who did nothing to wrong you, phwee."

There, that was what Dai had pointed out - she gave off this weird phwee sound sometimes when she talked, like she was whistling and breathing in at the same time. Her ears wriggled, almost comically, and Cirno had to hold in the urge to just laugh.

Best to deal with it quickly and quietly. A full-blown fight was going to attract unwanted attention.

"You really have no idea what you're getting into, do you? Walk away now, or you'll be waking up next period in the nurse's office."

Koishi stared up at the pair in awe, frozen in place. Cirno batted Sango's hand away violently as a cue for her to run off now.

Sango didn't comply. She just stood still, looking away for a moment before shaking her head.

"No thanks. I'd be a pretty lousy friend if I let you do what you liked to her, wouldn't I?"

Friends? With Komeiji? Wow, this girl has crappy taste.

Cirno sighed. If she was quick about it, she could probably give this girl a lesson on how the social hierarchy worked around here. She stepped back from Koishi, disregarding the glasses on the floor, and looked over at the newcomer. Sango continued to stare back without a hint of fear.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Maybe we should all talk this over so there isn't some kinda misunderstandi-"

The Fairy deliberately took a quick step forward mid-sentence, faster than her opponent could react, and delivered a right hook to the cheek. The impact was enough to knock Sango back a step, clutching at her face in shock.

"There! We clear now? Now, get the hell outta here before I have to do something else to that pretty little face of yours!"

By now, the murmuring and muttering of the surrounding students had stopped. Suddenly, all eyes were drawn to the fight unfolding in the middle of the corridor. Hell, it wasn't just a fight - some dumb newbie had managed to piss off Cirno, of all people. It attracted viewers in the same way people swarmed to witness a public execution.

Sango needed a moment to recover from the first blow, falling completely for Cirno's opening gambit. She could taste blood in her mouth, but she spat it at some forgotten corner of the corridor.

"That wasn't very fair. Breaking into a fight halfway through a conversation...you have no dignity at all, do you?"

Cirno laughed.

"Kid, fair fights are for idiots! Anyone with half a brain sets the field in their favour before the fight's even begun!"

Sango stepped forward herself, the pain from the first hit starting to numb as adrenaline kicked in. She took a more refined stance, slowly lowering her arms with her hands outstretched into firmly-held palms. There was a confident glare in her eye.

"Do it again. I dare you."

Cirno paused for a moment, examining Sango's posture. It looked like one of those fancy-schmancy martial arts that showed up in crappy B-movies and TV shows. Clearly, this girl fancied herself to be some sort of esteemed fighter.

She was going to enjoy this one.

Cirno curled her hands up into fists, raising one as she took another step forward.

"Don't mind if I do!"

Sango's eyes were focused on the raised hand the instant it appeared. Without a hint of effort, she chopped at it from the wrist, redirecting it to miss her entirely. It was a textbook parry, performed perfectly and flawlessly.

"Ah-"

Unfortunately, the textbook assumed that there would only be one punch at a time.

Sango heard an impact. Then, she suddenly found herself unable to breathe.

"P-Phwweeee..."

She had been so focused on the hand going for her face that she hadn't seen Cirno's other hand aiming lower, slamming into her stomach. Sango let out a little gasp as the blow winded her, knocking her back another step.

"Heh! So much for your pretty stances! Not so proud now, are ya?!"

Cirno seized the advantage, going to the winded Sango with both fists. Sango was unable to counter - it took all she had just to deflect the oncoming attacks, let alone offer any sort of response. She could barely breathe, and each strike came a little closer to connecting than the one before it. She had to start blocking punches with her arms, and felt the force reverberating through them as Cirno struck. She grit her teeth as the pain started to kick in, and there was no sign of her opponent letting up.

There was no other way to interpret the outcome. Sango was losing.

There was murmured cheering in the crowd as they watched the Fairy leader show yet another greenhorn who was in charge. The only person separate from the ranks of spectators was Koishi, still sitting in place on the floor.

She's in trouble.

She watched the fight unfold like it was on the other side of a glass wall, totally out of her control. Sango was taking a beating, and Cirno wouldn't stop until she'd firmly proven her superiority. She could see the pain in Sango's eyes as her body ached - eventually she would just tire out and give Cirno the chance to do some real damage.

It hurt to watch. It felt like she was being punched alongside Sango, taking every blow and every punch. But she was powerless to help, and watching was all she could do.

Wasn't it?

...Isn't it?

This was all her fault. If Sango hadn't jumped in to save her, none of this would have had to happen. Now she was taking the beating meant for Koishi, and what was Koishi offering her as thanks? She was sitting back and watching as Cirno pummeled her mercilessly.

By now Sango was on her last legs, panting and wincing with every blow. Cirno, on the other hand, seemed to be growing stronger with every attack, almost growing visibly above her opponent. There was no question as to who was the superior fighter.

It only took a moment of weakness, and with a final well-placed attack Sango's legs buckled. She fell to the floor silently, too tired to even let out a cry. She was in no state to fight back, so for all intents and purposes Cirno had won.

But it was clear that wasn't going to be enough for the Fairy. She walked up to Sango's fallen body, and delivered a swift kick to the stomach. The dolphin winced.

"No-one messes with the Fairies. Got that through that thick skull of yours?!"

She kicked at Sango over and over again, letting off a nigh-maniacal laugh as she did so. There was an intense pleasure in superiority, and she was revelling in it.

That was it. That was too far.

Koishi could make out a thumping sound, and it took her a moment to realise it was coming from her own chest. Her heart was pounding, and it felt like something inside her was coming to life. There was an emotion welling up inside her, something that she thought she had discarded a long time ago. An emotion that finally brought her back to her feet and filled her with a newfound determination.

It was anger.

No-one saw her stand up - everyone's attention was focused on the mêlée taking place a few steps away. She was no fighter, and using the Teardrop was a definite no-go with this audience, but right now that didn't matter.

"...get away..."

The voice started as barely a whisper, and unsurprisingly Cirno was too busy to hear it. Koishi took a deep breath, feeling her whole body tremble in fear. She was scared. She was terrified. If she did this, Cirno would have a reason to pound her senseless. It'd hurt. It'd be agonising.

But she didn't care. She had caused this mess, so it was her job to end it. Sango didn't deserve to be taking this beating. Her logical mind was shutting down at the sight of this - she had to do something. Anything.

She moved with a ferocity that surprised even her.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

Koishi grabbed Cirno around the neck and pulled her backwards, managing to pull the Fairy a few steps away through the element of surprise alone. There was a collective gasp from the crowd, while Sango was too busy trying to catch her breath to convey her shock.

Koishi's effort quickly earned her an elbow to the face.

"Kyah!"

She fell back onto the floor, feeling as if a hammer had just struck her in the forehead. Cirno turned around to face her, and Koishi immediately felt a chill down her spine - the sneer she'd received before had morphed into a look of outright disgust.

"You little bitch...!"

Cirno raised a hand, fist clenched. There was no sign of mercy in her eyes - if she had to break a few bones, she would. Koishi could only hold up her arms to try and protect her face.

A whistle blew through the corridor before the first blow could be struck.

"Alright, people! Break it up already! Move on, everyone, nothing to see here!"

Almost instantly the crowd dispersed, running off to whatever class they were supposed to be attending. Cirno looked up in the direction of the voice, and growled.

"Shit...you lucked out, Komeiji! Don't think I'll forget this!"

She ran off, quickly disappearing into the sea of students. Only Sango and Koishi remained, both lying on the floor and wincing from their respective injuries.

"...Dammit, I never make it on time. You two, are you okay?"

Professor Kawashiro came up to the pair, still holding a whistle in one hand. Given that the school council was notoriously bad at maintaining order, it came down to the teachers to break up fights and arguments. Most of them didn't see it as a job worth pursuing, and she was the only one to take the duty seriously. Ironically, it was another reason she preferred teaching physics - no-one ever got into a fight near the math department.

Koishi felt like her brain was melting as she rubbed at her forehead. At least it wouldn't bruise, but it would sure sting. The professor offered her a hand up, which she gratefully accepted.

"I...I think so. Thank you, Kawashiro-sensei."

Koishi came to her feet, and was surprised to find that Sango was already next to her, holding out the glasses that had fallen aside earlier.

"You dropped these."

Koishi took a moment to look at her as she accepted the glasses. There was no sign of injury, or pain, or anything - she looked as if the entire beatdown from earlier had never happened. She asked herself the question, not wanting to have the teacher overhear whatever sort of explanation Sango had for this.

H-How did you?

Sango smirked.

"I'm a youkai. We're pretty good at putting ourselves back together, assuming we get the chance."

Professor Kawashiro gave Sango a quick look-over, running a hand down the back of her jacket and checking if there were any bruises underneath. Given that there were no yelps of pain, she concluded that Sango was more or less unharmed. Koishi, meanwhile, had taken a nasty blow to the head, and she didn't have magical healing powers to rely on.

"I'm guessing it was Cirno and her gang that did this? Not that we can prove it. We'll catch them on something eventually, I swear...ah, Komeiji-san, I think you'd better head to the nurse's office with an injury like that. She'll get you some ice or something. Tororetsu-san, you'd better go too, just in case anyone jumps you on the way."

Sango nodded, wrapping an arm around Koishi's shoulder with a sudden devotion.

"You've got it, Professor. That's the last time I fall for that trick, that's for sure. Now come on, Koishi-san, let's get you seen to..."

She pulled Koishi along down the corridor for a few seconds as her friend kept grasping at her head, still wincing a little, before the professor called out to her.

"Tororetsu-san? The nurse's office is the other way."

"I knew that."

"Haah...that's better."

Koishi felt a wave of relief wash over her as she held the ice pack against her forehead. She was seated in the nurse's office, having needed to give Sango directions the instant they left the corridor. After a few wrong turns and mishaps, they managed to hand Koishi in to have her injuries seen to.

The school nurse was a strange character. Efficient at her job, yes, but she didn't seem truly meant to be a nurse. It was a fact that Koishi was reminded of shortly afterwards.

"You seem to be troubled, Komeiji-san. Can I assume that you're feeling guilty about not being able to do more in that little scuffle?"

Koishi jittered a little in her chair. Right on the mark, yet again.

"Y-Yes...how do you do that, Nagae-sensei?"

"Woman's intuition. And please, call me Iku."

The nurse's office was littered with various memorabilia from the 1970s - miniature disco balls, CDs of Western singers that Koishi had never heard of, and an old, forgotten radio that still occasionally played a tape from the olden days in the background. Despite this apparent nostalgia, Nurse Nagae seemed to be particularly normal - civil, and willing to do what she could to offer support to the injured. She was so talented with reading the attitudes of others, though, that most of the school agreed she would be better employed as a negotiator, or even a therapist.

"I took a look at your school record to check if there were any past illnesses to worry about. It was some rather heavy reading - you've been going through a very rough couple of months, haven't you?"

Koishi slowly nodded. She'd kept afloat enough to keep the school from forcing disciplinary action on her, but as a result her grades had drastically fallen.

A small smile formed on the nurse's face as she placed a hand on Koishi's shoulder.

"Komeiji-san. I just want you to know that if anything is troubling you, you can come to me and speak in private. I'd offer you a chance to talk now, but..."

She glared out the window, towards the silhouette of Sango standing outside the door. She was keeping vigil, watching the nurse's office almost like a guard.

"She's, um...new here. She needs me around to stop her from getting lost."

The nurse glared at the figure on the other side of the door for a moment, sighing.

"Well, you can do it another time. Just the two of us, and I swear I won't tell a soul anything you have to say. Think about it."

Koishi nodded, slowly taking the ice pack away from her forehead. Honestly, she probably wouldn't follow up on the offer - not now that most of her problems would simply be taken as a sign of insanity. She could imagine the conversation now - "Well, there was a strange incident a few days ago where a pair of fishmen tried to kill me, and I was saved by a magical talking dolphin who turned me into some sort of superhero and - hey, who are these men in the white coats?"

"Thank you, Nag- I mean, Iku-sensei. I'll give it some thought."

The nurse offered her another small smile as Koishi left the office. She watched the student leave alongside her friend, not taking a step apart from each other.

She sighed. They made her job so difficult sometimes.

The period was just about ending, so Koishi and Sango decided to take the trip to History early rather than stick their heads into Geography for all of 5 minutes. Besides, after today's incident it was probably a bad idea to hang around the corridors any longer than they absolutely had to - another run-in with Cirno was inevitably bad news.

The first half of the trip across the school's empty corridors was in relative silence. Both of them clearly had something they wanted to say, but neither of them could quite spit it out. An awkward atmosphere formed between the two of them, growing heavier and heavier by the second until at last neither of them could stand it.

"Sorry I had to get you to save me."

"Sorry I didn't help out sooner."

They both spoke at once, cutting each other off. They looked away for a moment, but Sango was the first to recover.

"I could have taken her, honest! Just didn't think she'd play so dirty...and Koishi-san, I'm supposed to look after you. That's why I'm here."

"I know, but...you looked like you were hurting a lot down there."

She'd seen Sango wince as Cirno had beaten her down. Guardian or no, it made no sense for Koishi to just stand idly by and watch Sango suffer.

"And besides that..."

Koishi rested her head on Sango's shoulder, prompting a sudden blush from the dolphin.

"You're not just a guardian, Sango-san. You're my friend."

Sango squirmed a little as she realised how this position could be interpreted. Her hand over there...Koishi's head down there...if someone were to walk by, then they might think-

"P-Phwee! Um, Koishi-san, I'm touched by the sentiment, yes, it's nice to hear you trust me so much, but we might be moving a little too quickly with this, don't you think?! I mean, there's a point where this goes further than business is meant to go, and...phwee, phwee, phweeee...!"

Sango suddenly pulled away, stepping away from Koishi a little. Koishi tilted her head slightly, not sure what exactly Sango was so concerned about. Her telepathy only let her hear thoughts the target willingly wanted to project, so for now it would remain a mystery.

The remainder of the trip was once again made in silence, though silence of a very different flavour than before.

Koishi had been quick to teach Sango the two main rules of history class. The teacher had never uttered them, but every student knew them and took them very much to heart.

The first rule: You must hand in all your homework on time. Failure to do so earned you some 'private' time with Professor Kamishirasawa after class; no-one had been brave enough to say exactly what went on during that detention, but students walked out on a regular basis with bruised foreheads and concussions.

The second rule was just the first one again, repeated for emphasis.

Sango dodged a bullet this time around, given that she hadn't been around for the last few classes due to 'moving from the other side of the country to Gensouto'. Explaining why she had missed every other history class on the curriculum was a challenge they would have to deal with later.

"Hm?"

Koishi stared blankly at the seat to her left. If she remembered correctly, this was where Mokou would be sitting. Sango had taken the chair desk on her right, and was leaning over to examine the spot as well.

"Maybe I'm seeing things, but is your health nut friend invisible?"

No...she's not there.

Professor Kamishirasawa was in the middle of calling attendance. Every few names she would stop and readjust her hat - an ornate, pagoda-like structure that had to be breaking some protocol of school safety.

"OK, then. Fujiwara?"

A moment of silence. Her eyes fell on the unoccupied chair.

"Thought not."

The teacher looked unsurprised as she got back to marking down the absences. Koishi was startled at first, and soon shifted to concern. She looked forward, to a pair of sisters whispering to each other. One of them was drawing leaves on the blank pages of her book, and her sister occasionally snuck a grape from beneath her table to eat as a snack. What were their names again...? Ah, it had been too long since the start of the year, she'd forgotten. Aki...something.

"Uh, excuse me. Do either of you know what happened to Fujiwara-san?"

She pointed to the empty seat for emphasis. The two sisters stared at each other, then back to Koishi, both looking awestruck.

"You...you mean you don't know about her?"

That did nothing to comfort Koishi, and she nervously shook her head. The closer sister pulled closer, whispering.

"Check out the back exit at the end of class. You'll understand."

It was an answer, but not the sort that Koishi had been wanting to hear. Still, nothing she could do now other than wait out the class and take a look when school was over.

For now, she had her work cut out for her passing Sango some answers when Professor Kamishirasawa turned her attention to her. Even if she was a youkai, she had a feeling that a little 'private' time with the teacher would scar her for life. Mentally, if not physically.

Her heart had stopped for a moment when Sango had been called out to name the three sacred treasures of legend, and her mind had drawn an absolute blank. Fortunately the dolphin guessed that one of them was a sword, which was close enough to a correct answer to spare her Keine's wrath.

The bell rang, signalling the end of class and the end of the school day. Professor Kamishirasawa pulled a few unlucky students aside for alone time. Koishi saw the look of horror on their faces, and murmured a silent prayer.

It was a careful trip to the back exit of the school, mainly consisting of scouring their surroundings to see if Cirno was coming back for another round. The Black Claw may have been dangerous, but in terms of a history of violence Cirno and her gang were far more of a threat now.

Koishi had been uncertain if this was such a good idea now - this was where all the other delinquents hung out. None of them had a history of violence like the Fairies did, but likewise none of them were fantastic people. There was a horrible feeling in the bottom of her stomach, but Mokou had been a friend once. It was only fair that she tried to make up for lost time, even if it wasn't the nicest way to have a reunion.

Sango was the first to poke her head out the back doorway, scouting for any sign of Cirno before letting Koishi past. There was no sign of her, or indeed any of her cohorts, but one or two stragglers were lurking beneath the pillars in the nearby garden. One of them immediately caught Koishi's eye - a young, tall-looking girl with black hair running down to her waist, wearing a pair of cumbersome looking suspenders along with a simple white shirt. There was a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, almost as an afterthought - she seemed to be chewing on it more than she was smoking it.

"Is that her, phwee?"

Koishi continued to stare, uncertain. She wanted to say yes, this was indeed Mokou Fujiwara, supposed owner of the Perfect Diet club, but everything about her was so different from what she remembered. The cheery smile and bright eyes had vanished, replaced by a permanent leer and a growling face. Even her stance as she leaned against the pillar screamed aggression - she looked ready to kick off the wall and deliver a roundhouse kick to the face of anyone who came close.

"Umm...yeah. I think that's-"

Koishi was interrupted as a hand grabbed desperately at her shoulder. Looking to her side, she saw Sango's ears coming to the end of their wiggling. She stared at Mokou with an emotion somewhere between respect and concern.

"We've found one."