"¡Ay! ¡Tener cuidado, Rosalía!"
The entire class looked toward the door at the sound of a girl shouting in Spanish.
"Lo siento, Karmi," came another feminine voice, followed by a giggle.
"¿Porque hablamos en Español?" came a third voice. "¡Abre la puerta!"
"Sí, sí," came a soft male voice. "Abre la puerta, Karmi."
"Ustedes son tontos…." the first girl sighed.
The door clicked open, revealing a group of five—four girls, and one boy.
"Oh! That's right, we have transfer students!" Masato Ochi clapped her hands together. "Please introduce yourselves."
"I'm Ashtyn," a girl with shoulder-length candy-apple-green hair and orange eyes stepped forward, grinning. "I like singing, dancing, movies and video games. Oh, and soccer! And sword-fighting!"
"I like pretty much the same stuff Ashtyn does," a girl with gold waves to her mid-back and blue eyes giggled. She was about two inches shorter than Ashtyn—5'4"-ish. "I'm Rosalia. I play more video games than she does, though. Oh, and I love fireworks! Your turn, Skylar!"
"Ok," a girl with wavy brown hair and dark blue eyes smiled softly, bowing. Her hair had red streaks and fell to her mid-back. She was the same height as Rosalia. "I'm Skylar Valente. I also enjoy singing and dancing, and I'm rather fond of art of all types. I'm efficient with a sword, but I prefer projectiles. I spend a lot of time with guns and archery. I especially like the grace and silence of a bow and arrow."
"Do you want to go?" the last girl asked, looking up at the sole boy.
She was tall, about 5'8", but had a young, girlish innocence about her, and had long, loose brown-black curls and honey-gold eyes. He was relatively tall, too, pushing 6', with spiky blond hair with icy blue tips and blue eyes.
"Nope," he smiled, shaking his head. "Ladies first."
"Ok," she giggled, turning to the class. "I'm Karmen. I like singing and dancing, too, and drawing. Ooh, and puppies! I love puppies! And kitties! And plushies and candy and—"
"They get it, Karmi," Rosalia rolled her eyes. "You like cute stuff and sugar and you're adorable."
"Aw, you think I'm adorable?" Karmen giggled. "Thanks, Rosi! I think you're adorable, too!"
Rosalia groaned.
"Umm, anyway," the boy laughed, "I'm Liam. I like sports and cooking and hanging out with my sisters. If you haven't noticed the pattern, we're pretty into weaponry and fighting—but we don't have real fights very often. Just lots of sparring."
"Our sisters Krystal and Zane will probably—hopefully—be joining us next semester," Rosalia said softly. "Krystal…she's a year older than us, but she'll be a year behind because…because…."
"There was an accident," Liam finished for her. "It was pretty bad-Krystal's been hospitalized for nearly a year. She was finally released a few weeks ago. She wanted to move because there were too many memories in California. We have cousins here, so we decided this was the best place to move to. She's still bedridden, but we think she'll be up and about in a few months. Zane stayed behind to keep her company while the rest of us got things ready here."
"Don't cry, Inoue-chan!" a boy in the back of the class shouted suddenly.
Several boys scrambled toward Orihime. Her purple-haired friend attacked them. While she was occupied with the hoard, Liam walked over, crouching down and taking her hand. He wiped a tear from her cheek.
"Please don't be sad, Princess," he said softly. "She's going to be fine—she's doing quite well."
"O-oh, I-I'm sorry," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "I don't mean to be a bother."
"You're not a bother, Princess," he assured her.
"My brother died in an accident," she said softly.
His eyes widened, his breath catching.
"I'm very sorry to hear that, Princess," he said softly. "I'm sure he's doing just fine, though."
"Yes," she smiled weakly. "Yes, I'm sure he's happy. You can call me Orihime, by the way."
"Orihime, don't tell him that!"
"Why not, Tatsuki?" Orihime looked up at her friend, confused.
"B-because, he-he…he…." Tatsuki gritted her teeth in irritation.
"She's just trying to protect you," Liam informed her, smiling cheerfully.
"Protect me?" Orihime blinked. "Why does she need to protect me?"
"'Cause I'm a guy," he grinned, "and therefore am not to be trusted."
"Th-that's not—!"
"It is your reasoning," he cut Tatsuki off. "I'm not offended by it, though—I understand. Not including my parents, I'm the only guy amongst eight girls, so I hear plenty of 'boys-suck' talk."
"He's right!" Ashtyn chirped, sitting on top of a desk—failing to notice the orange-haired boy sitting at it. "But you don't have to worry about Li! He's well-trained!"
She giggled, and Tatsuki looked at her skeptically.
"You make it sound like I'm a dog," Liam sighed, standing.
"Eh, dog, boy, what's the difference?" Ashtyn shrugged.
"You're…incorrigible."
"Fancy word there, pup."
Liam groaned and sat in the empty seat behind Orihime.
"Sit properly, Ashtyn," Skylar sighed, sliding into a seat in the front.
The teacher had mysteriously disappeared.
"But it's so much more fun to sit on a desk!" Ashtyn grinned. "Right, Karmi?"
"Yep!" Karmen giggled, hopping onto a desk.
"I have to agree, too," Rosalia grinned, sitting on Skylar's desk.
"Get your butt of my desk!" Skylar pushed her, sliding her slowly to the edge of the desk.
"Eep!" Rosalia squeaked as she fell onto the floor. "Oww!"
"Are you ok, R—" he cut off as he fell, having gotten a glimpse of Rosalia's underwear.
"That's Kiego," Tatsuki sighed. "He's a pervert and an idiot."
"Good to know," Rosalia giggled, sitting up.
"Liam!" Ashtyn jumped on her brother's back. "Did you call Lilium?"
"No," he blinked. "Am I supposed to?"
"Do you wanna eat?"
"Calling her now."
Ashtyn giggled as he pulled out his iPhone and made the phone call. She jumped off his back and sauntered over to the orange-haired boy whose desk she'd sat on earlier.
"Hiya," she grinned, leaning forward on his desk.
He glanced up at her.
"Hey."
"You're cute. What's your name?"
"Ichigo," he mumbled, looking away.
"Cool," she giggled, noticing the faint blush on his face. "That means...strawberry?"
"Yeah..."
"That's cool!"
He looked at her like she was crazy.
"It sucks," he grumbled.
"Huh?" she blinked. "Why? I love strawberries! I eat them all the time, and my shampoo is strawberry-scented, too!"
"You can ignore her," Rosalia grinned, coming up behind Ashtyn and wrapping her arms around her.
"No he can't," Ashtyn argued.
"Why not?" Rosalia asked.
"I'm too cute!" Ashtyn giggled.
"Of course you're cute, Ashtyn," Karmen popped up, giggling.
"See?!"
"But not as cute as me, right, Karmi?" Rosalia pressed.
"You're both cute!" she giggled. "Right, Keigo?"
"Yeah!" he nodded enthusiastically, grinning. "Do you guys wanna have lunch with us?"
"What do you think, Ashtyn?" Rosalia asked, looking at her sister.
"Does 'us' include Ichigo?" she grinned.
"You're gonna freak him out, Ashtyn," Rosalia giggled.
"You really think so?"
"Uh-huh," she nodded.
"Aw," she pouted. "Fine. I'll leave it up to you, Rosa."
"Hmm…." Rosalia cocked her head, looking over Keigo scrutinizingly.
Ashtyn suppressed a giggle as Keigo's face reddened ever so slightly.
"All right," Rosalia grinned.
"Great!" Keigo grinned. "C'mon, Ichigo, let's go up to the roof!"
Ichigo sighed, standing and sauntering out of the room.
"Liam, we're going up to the roof," Karmen said.
"All right," he nodded. "I'll come up when Lilium brings the food."
"Kay-kay! Skylar, are you coming?"
Skylar looked at her for a moment, then shrugged.
"Why not?"
"Yay!" Karmen giggled, grabbing Skylar and pulling her toward the door.
"Karmen—" Skylar squeaked, nearly tripping over the desk.
Karmen giggled again.
"Sorry, Sky. Hurry up with the food, Liam!" she called as she ran out, dragging Skylar behind her.
She raced up the stairs, slamming the door open. She dropped Skylar's hand as the group came into sight, sprinting toward them and pouncing on Rosalia's back. Skylar stopped, sighed, straightened her uniform, and walked to the group.
"Hey, Sky!" Rosalia chirped happily.
"Hey, Rose," Skylar said softly, sitting down.
"Oh, this is Mizuiro, and this is Chad," Keigo introduced the final two boys.
The girls' response was cut off by Ashtyn's ringtone.
Do you know what the French call an orgasm? La—
"Ashtyn!" Karmen giggled.
Ashtyn just grinned and unlocked her phone, turning off the ringtone.
"Yo. Yep, be there in a sec," she hung up and stood. "Liam needs help. I'll be back in a sec."
She turned and walked toward the edge of the roof, disappearing. The boys scrambled to the edge, freaked out, only to see her dropping down from a window onto the grass below.
"She's crazy, but she's not suicidal," Rosalia said nonchalantly, laying back on the ground.
"Crazy's a good word for it," Ichigo mumbled.
"She's not a fake, though," Skylar said quietly.
Even Rosalia and Karmen looked at her quizzically.
"She doesn't flirt with guys she's not interested in," Skylar explained. "She told you you're cute, Ichigo—she meant it."
Ichigo scowled, looking away.
"I don't think he wants to talk about it, Sky," Karmen giggled.
"He doesn't have to," she replied. "I just wanted to make sure he knew that."
"Why?" Rosalia asked curiously.
"Because she's already acknowledging that she's attracted to him."
"Ohh, so you think it might end up going further than that?"
"It's possible," Skylar nodded.
"What happened to not talking about it?" Karmen asked.
"Sorry, Karmi," Rosalia giggled.
"Sorry, Karmen."
"Don't apologize to me!" Karmen squealed.
"Sorry, Ichigo," both girls said in unison.
He just grunted, and Rosalia laughed.
"We have food!" Ashtyn cheered, walking in with bags of food, Liam following close behind.
"Yay!" Karmen and Rosalia squealed, clapping excitedly.
"What'd she bring us?" Skylar asked.
"The entire store," Liam sighed, setting down his burden on the ground.
"He's not kidding," Ashtyn laughed, dumping her bags out onto the ground.
There was a variety of chips, fruits, cookies, donuts, and other sweets. Liam produced packs of various sodas and juices.
"Help yourselves, guys," Ashtyn grinned, digging in herself. "We eat more than you might expect, but we won't eat all of this."
"Daifuku!" Rosalia squealed, grabbing a little plastic box.
"What'cha listening to, Ash?" Karmen asked, biting into a cookie.
"Sexting," Ashtyn said, skewering a donut with her finger.
"Ironic action while saying that word," Rosalia grinned.
"That's so messed up, Rosa," Ashtyn giggled.
"Why is everything sex with you two?" Skylar sighed, biting into an apple.
Ashtyn and Rosalia stared at her blankly.
"That's the one normal thing about them, Sky," Karmen giggled.
"Rude!" Rosalia gasped dramatically. "Funny as hell, and 100% true, but rude!"
"Hey, Rosa, wanna dance to Yo, Ho?" Ashtyn asked.
"Hellz yeah!" Rosalia jumped up excitedly.
Ashtyn stood, pulling her phone out and cranking the volume up. She set it on the ground in the middle of the group as the intro came on, causing them to immediately break out in a fit of giggles.
"A pirate walks into the bar. The bartender asks, 'what's with the steering wheel in your pants?' The pirate says, "arr, it's driving me nuts!"
As the singing started, Rosalia and Ashtyn started dancing. Skylar ignored them. Karmen and Liam watched them with mild interest. The other boys, on the other hand, seemed flabbergasted. They apparently hadn't expected any kind of actual dancing, even briefly.
"You should finish eating," Skylar said, stopping them at the intro of a third song.
"But it's BOTDF—"
"Eat your food," Liam cut Ashtyn off.
"Fine," she grumbled, sitting back down.