AN: Thanks to everyone who favourited this story! I'm finding it difficult to write at the moment, what with exams, but thankyou for reading this lowly fanfic anyway! And much thanks to John-kun's continued support.

As a general rule, when Kiereth and Kyr talk among themselves, they speak English (at least a form of it), but Japanese when speaking to anyone else.

"We were that lost?"

Currently the duo was standing before the gothic school building, just behind the supposed "vampire" who'd led them there. It had loomed out of the mist like a dragon, spiky and framed in lightning. Trees clawed at the atmosphere surrounding it, and the red sky seemed like a pool of blood (It hadn't helped that a certain Slayer song had come up on the MP3 player).

However, they weren't actually in front of the school. They had been into the music so much that they'd somehow strayed from the main path onto the path between the school and the dorms. This path ended up at a completely different area of the school that where the first years' entrance ceremony was taking place. Neither could explain to the girl how they'd become so amazingly lost.

She was, not convincingly, trying to placate them. "It's okay; I sometimes lose my way…"

Kyr shook his head. "I really don't think it'd be by that much. I'm astounded. Anyway… thanks for showing us where the school is." She smiled brilliantly at him. Kiereth wondered if she was really a vampire. She'd have to be, He surmised. There's no way someone with that attitude to life would pose as a vampire. Nowhere near dark enough… Just thank god she doesn't sparkle.

Kiereth had just one more question before he and his friend finally headed off. "By the way, why is the sky red here? Are the chemicals in the atmosphere?"

She jolted to a stop. Slowly she turned to face them, her eyes saucers. "You…" Trepidation was spilling from her voice. "You wouldn't happen to be human… would you…?"

"…Well, yes…"

She gave a small gasp, and bit her lip. She opened her mouth, almost unconsciously, to speak, but no words were formed. She tried again, but still to no avail. She succeeded a third time, but "I… You…" was all she could manage. Both Kiereth and Kyr were confused. Why shouldn't they be human? Though Kiereth had some… abilities… he was still as human as the next person. He looked over at Kyr, however, and thought, hmm…

"What is it? Does this have anything to do with what on earth is going on here?"

Kiereth sweat-dropped at Kyr's typical lack of tact, especially to a girl going through such agitation.

She seemed then to catch herself and some kind of resolve formed in her eyes. She stood, with her face set in a half-terrified, but half-determined expression and her arms straight and ending in clenched fists, and declared to them:

"This isn't any ordinary school! This Youkai academy is a school specially for monsters! And one of the rules here is that if any humans are found here they will be killed immediately."

She seemed almost about to cry as she finished, and quickly turned on the spot and bolted. Kyr stared at her retreating back before turning to his companion. "D'you think she was pullin' our legs?"

Kiereth watched her retreating back and replied, with conviction, "No. She definitely wasn't lying."

They managed to proceed to the main entrance with no further mishap. The welcoming assembly was uneventful – a good start – but more… ceremonial… than what they were used to back in Dunfermline. After the service was over and done with, they managed to make it to class without anything happening. A good continuation to the good start. But the girl's announcement still weighed heavy on the two boys' shoulders.

Kiereth especially. Though Kyr knew about his "special talents", Kiereth wasn't sure how much Kyr knew about his own, and had so far refrained from telling him for fear of the repercussions of the shock. He wasn't sure, but was enrolling in a monster school coincidence? Or were Kyr's powers stronger than he thought?

No matter. They were here anyway.

The two stood about at the back of the classroom a good five minutes before the teacher arrived in the room. Kiereth could feel eyes boring into him from every direction, and hushed whispers creeping about. Kyr was so bothered about it he actually leaned over and whispered himself, "What's their problem with us?"

"I dunno, it's…" Kiereth stopped and gave a small smile as he heard the word gaijin float over. "It's that we're foreigners. I heard it's common of the Japanese."

"What, they're racist?"

"Nah, just that they're… unused to other cultured people, I suppose. Just what I heard."

"Well I'd better hope it's that, and not that they realise we're not actually monsters!"

"Right, settle down. Homeroom has started." The teacher walked in the door. A few girls audibly sighed, and Kiereth had to admit hey had a point. He had sculptured features and a calm, reassuring voice – exactly the kind of person his girlfriend, Änitaria, hated. He was again reminded how glad he was she now attended a different school – she had a nasty habit of smashing up whatever she didn't like.

Kyr leaned over as they took their seats "That's an American word, isn't it? Why are they using that?"

"Just… shut up and sit down," replied Kiereth, waving his hands. "It's the moment of truth."

"Good morning students, and welcome to this Youkai Academy. As you all know, this school was specifically designed and built for young monsters like yourselves. The primary aim of the school is to teach you how to live peacefully among humans.

"Like it or not, the world is under human control. All knowledge of monsters has faded from their ancestral memories, and we have become little more than fairy tales. This is good. Our race cannot sustain territorial wars like in the days of yonder. We are starting to die out. So, that is why we must learn to coexist with them; we need to keep our heads low.

"So, therefore, as well as your normal classes, you will also throughout the year learn how to live with humans. To this end, you will all be compelled to remain in human form throughout the year, and are forbidden from revealing your true nature to anyone else.

"Mind you… we're not promoting human knowledge of us, so you can all be rest assured that no humans are to be found in this academy whatsoever. Any who are shall be executed. I think it's a bit extreme, but those are the rules laid down by the Board Chairman. So… any questions?"

The room was silent for a moment. Kiereth looked around in question for a moment, before realising that every girl in the room had a smitten look on her face. Oh, dear. The boys in the room, by contrast, didn't seem bothered. What a familiar feeling – he was the odd one out in that he had listened to the teacher.

He looked to his left for his friend's opinion, and managed to stop calamity breaking loose by whispering to said frined, "Don't raise your hand."

"But, I wanted to ask him if any flying spaghetti monsters-"

"No!"

"So…"

"So…"

"Right…"

They had emerged from the class stunned. What a revelation. Monsters lived among humans. Humans were more powerful overall than monsters. But any humans who were to discover the place were to be executed. There were so many new facts – so hard to digest, that at the moment, neither of them could speak. In their astonishment, Kyr missed the orange flash that he proceeded to trip over. Kiereth stared around for a moment. What on earth? Where's he gone? He's- oh. Down there."

"Watch it!"

Kiereth stared at the sight. "Kyr… How do you manage to trip over someone who's standing straight up?"

The "someone" in question was a girl. She was about half a head shorter than him, but her ginger hair was done up in gravity-defying ponytails. Her attire was a heavily-modified version of the school uniform. The green blazer had been swapped for a red cardigan, and her petite legs were wrapped in knee-length socks. On her right shoulder rested a small, cartoonish bat, wings furled.

Not really wanting much to do with girls after the hitherto day's events, Kiereth tried to pull Kyr up and away from her by the back of his collar, but the girl was too quick for him.

"Now don't do that again! If my older sister heard about this, she'd put you in your place in no time. Now, apologise to me!"

Kiereth tried to look imploringly at Kyr. It may have been luck, or it may have been fate. Either way, Kyr just looked at her and said, "Sorry, didn't see you thee, midget."

She fell into a stunned silence. Kiereth could see a vein bulge on her forehead. "That's it. I'm going to teach you a lesson myself." She reached into the air. "Ko-chan!" The bat spread its wings and rose from her shoulder. It grew. And grew. It elongated and became spiky. After a few seconds, it reached the point where…

It had become a hammer. With spikes. Kiereth stared. Kyr mumbled. The girl reached into the air and grabbed the hammer. "I'm going to smash you up for that!"

Kiereth sighed. This would be a long year.