"You must be Kirin," the teacher said as she and Nekozawa walked in; Saturday had been her first day, and they had only had morning classes. This was their last class of the day—Russian.

She nodded.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

She bit her lip; she didn't have Megan or Arora with her in this class, which left her to figure out how to explain that she didn't talk. She didn't know how—

"She doesn't talk," Nekozawa said from beside her, explaining for her. She smiled gratefully at him.

"Oh, I see. You know her, Nekozawa?" she asked. She was a small, old woman with grey hair and a kind face.

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

"I was hoping that you could tell me what I should tell the class about her."

"Oh. Well, she's from America, she doesn't talk, and she's a really sweet girl."

"I see. Thank you, Nekozawa," she gave them a knowing smile and turned to the class. "Everyone, we have a new student. This is Kirin Chivalier. She's from America. She doesn't talk—so don't be offended if she doesn't speak to you! She's a very nice girl, so I expect you all to be kind to her. Ok?"

"Yes, Sensei," the class chorused.

Kirin bowed and she and Nekozawa headed to the back of the class. She gave him a questioning look and nodded toward the sensei.

"She's a nice teacher, but she's strict, too—she doesn't put up with disrespect," he explained.

Kirin nodded her understanding.

A few minutes later, a piece of paper landed on his desk.

'Thank you for being my voice.'

He looked over at her to find her smiling at him. He smiled back and wrote his response.

'Anytime.'

After school, Kirin headed to the Black Magic Club with Nekozawa, There were a handful of people waiting inside. They all looked up as they entered

Nekozawa put a hand on her back and led her to the front. The people here all had dark hair and expressions; she felt a bit out of place with her blonde locks.

"This is Kirin Chivalier," Nekozawa announced. "She's our newest member."

She smiled shyly at the group. She chewed her lip nervously.

"I've heard of you," one of the members—a girl with straight black hair about mid-way down her back and bangs cut straight across her brows—spoke up. "Everyone's talking about the new girl who's got something going on with the Black Magic Club President. Did you really flip off your class?"

Kirin nodded.

"Nice," the girl said approvingly. "I'm Reiko, Vice President."

Kirin smiled. She turned to Nekozawa and signed. Nekozawa nodded.

"You understood that, President?" Reiko asked, surprised.

"Yes. She said she likes you."

"Oh. Thank you. You really don't speak, then, Kirin?"

She shook her head.

"Isn't that hard?"

She nodded, then turned toward Nekozawa and signed some more. She had to spell some of the words out, but he got the message.

"Her family helps her by supporting her and treating her the same way they always did. They all learned sign language so they could understand her."

Kirin elbowed him in the side.

"What? That's what you said."

She scowled and pointed at him, looking back at Reiko, hoping she would get the message.

Reiko stared, confused, for a few moments. Suddenly, a surprised, curious expression crossed her face.

"President," she asked, "did you learn for her, too?"

Nekozawa tensed, tugging his hood lower over his face. He was silent for a moment; the club members all tensed, wondering how he would respond.

"…And what if I did?" he asked, finally.

No one spoke for several moments. Eventually, a young-looking girl nervously stammered her opinion.

"I-I think t-that would b-be r-really nice of y-you, President," she choked out.

"I agree," Reiko said. "I wish a guy would learn a whole new language for me!"

The girls in the club all voiced their agreement.

"It's practical, too," one of the guys said. "I mean, the President is the most important person in the club—if he can't understand one of the members, it'd be really difficult for that person. And if he can understand, he can help the rest of us understand."

"Yeah, that, too," the young girl agreed dismissively. "So, um, are you r-really together?" she asked. She was still a bit nervous addressing Nekozawa, so she looked at Kirin while she spoke.

The room fell silent again.

Nekozawa and Kirin glanced at each other. After a moment, she signed again. She slowly spelt out the words; she didn't like the sign for this phrase.

"I-I'm not saying that!" He stammered.

She grinned, shrugged, and turned around and walked toward the whiteboard at the front of the room. She picked up a marker and wrote her response.

'Not yet!'

She turned around and grinned. Nekozawa looked a bit embarrassed, but not angry. The club members let out amused chuckles, but the thought of potentially angering Nekozawa kept them from showing their full amusement.

"If one of us got smart like that," Reiko said, "the President would put a curse on us. You're lucky, Kirin."

Kirin smiled and looked at Nekozawa fondly. She nodded emphatically.

He glared at her, not happy about being embarrassed like that, but there was no real anger behind it; she even caught a ghost of a smile flicker across his lips, although he was quick to hide it.

"Kirin?" a voice called from the doorway. "Are you in here? It's so dark…. But I guess that's to be expected when the president is… heliophobic?"

"I'd say photophobic is a better term for it—heliophobia is a fear of sunlight specifically. Photophobia is about light in general. Although, photophobia generally refers to increased sensitivity to light, usually due to a skin or eye condition… so maybe photoaugliaphobia would be the best term… a fear of glaring lights… but we don't know whether it's psychological or physiological, so it could be legitimate photophobia…."

"No one cares, Arora! They know what I meant!" Megan groaned.

Kirin rolled her eyes.

'And they wonder why I don't talk!' she wrote on the board, grinning.

"That's not funny, Kirin," Nekozawa sighed. She stuck her tongue out at him.

'You're no fun!' she signed.

"Megan, why are you still in there?" Tamaki's voice floated in from outside. "Has he cursed you?!"

"No, Tamaki, I'm not cursed. Don't be so superstitious! Besides, I'm not even in the room—I'm in the doorway!" She sighed exasperatedly.

"You don't have to be mean! I'm just worried about you! Is Kirin ok? She's not cursed is she?"

"The only curse here is your superstition!" she yelled.

"If you keep saying that, he'll curse you!"

Megan groaned. "If you don't shut up, I'm gonna curse you!" she threatened.

Arora sighed. "Nekozawa, could you bring Kirin home when you guys are done? We're heading out."

"I'll bring her."

"Thanks! Have fun, Kirin!"

"Be careful, Kirin!" Tamaki called.

"She's fine, Tamaki!" Megan scolded, shutting the door.

'He's terrified of you,' Kirin signed, grinning at Nekozawa.

"I know," he sighed.

'Don't take it personally. He's a scaredy-cat.'

"…I didn't catch that last part," he frowned.

She wrote on the board.

'Tamaki is a scaredy-cat! :) He won't watch anything even slightly creepy.'

"At least he believes in the occult," Reiko said, "even if he is afraid of it. Your sister doesn't even believe in it."

'She believes more than she admits,' she wrote. 'She's just stubborn—plus if she admitted to it, Tamaki would be even more frightened. She's protecting her pride and her best friend.'

"He seems like he'd be a difficult best friend."

Kirin shook her head and made a heart with her hands.

"The whole school loves him, Kirin," Nekozawa sighed.

Kirin nodded, then signed, 'Megan loves loves loves him.'

"Whatever you say," he shrugged.

She grinned.

"Well, I don't have anything planned for today… so, unless Reiko has something for us, you can all go home."

"I got nothing, President."

"Until tomorrow, then."

Kirin tugged on Nekozawa's sleeve as they were leaving.

'Can you teach me?' she signed.

"Teach you what?"

She bit her lip.

'Black magic.'

He stared at her for a moment, surprised. He hesitated, then nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he said. "I can. But it's not something you can take lightly, Kirin. It's dark and it's powerful. It's dangerous."

'I know.'

"You're sure?"

She nodded seriously.

'Teach me.'

"Ok."