A Chapter A car passed the girl walking along the sidewalk. Rain sloshed up and splashed her legs. But she paid it no mind and continued walking.. She arrived at the school in short time, and early, as she was first there. Removing her raincoat, she hung it up, before taking her place at a desk. So early was she that even the teacher had not yet arrived. And there she sat as students arrived and took their seats in various places around the room. Upon entering, each student was greeted with a young girl sitting straight in her seat reading a book. They could not see the title, for the book lay flat on the table. Her head was tilted slightly to the fore. She wore the regulation school uniform, and her long bangs hung at on either side of her face, covering her profile from the side. Her strange presence and notable bearing stunned all of the arriving students, and the classroom remained in a stolid silence as it was slowly filled. Finally the teacher herself arrived. Even she was taken aback by the strange aura of the girl. "Class," she said after she had regained her composure, "this is your new classmate, Kyooboo Kanshaku." There was a deathly silence after the new student's name was uttered. Her name, as a premonition. She has come to us from over seas, yet she was born right here in Japan. Kyooboo," she turned and faced the girl, "would you like to say anything?" The girl's silver-gray eyes stared back. Their cold gaze sending chills along the teacher's spine. "Hai." She stood and turned to face the class, speaking softly. "I hope we will all be friends." She smiled. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|> After class, Kanshaku gathered her things to leave. When she looked up, a girl had stopped in front of her. She wore a strange, quizzical gaze, yet didn't seem abashed at her manners. "May I help you?" "My name is Tsukino Usagi. Would you like to go to the arcade with me? I'm headed there now. " "So you're taking me up my offer, huh?" "Of course! All new people should have some friends! So? Would you like to come?" She was quiet a moment. "I might as well," she replied. 'That's a strange answer...' Usagi thought. 'But whatever.' "Well, then! Let's go!" She said, giving Kanshaku one of her biggest smiles. The entire duration of the walk Kanshaku remained quiet while Usagi talked on incessantly. It wasn't until she asked about her name that Kanshaku awoke from her passive state into a high awareness. Usagi felt her tense. "Is something wrong?" "No...I...never mind. I'm fine." What could she tell her? It was far too much for her to explain. And even more importantly, it was none of her damn business. "Are we almost there?" she asked to counteract anymore of the girl's questions. "Yeah! We're here," and she walked through a pair of sliding glass doors. "Hey, Motoki!" she yelled as she stood in the entrance. A blond haired young man looked up from his counter. "Hey, Usagi-chan! Good to see you! Looks like you didn't have detention today!" "Motoki!!!" She walked over to him and playfully swatted at him. "I see you brought a new friend. I can always count on you to reel them in." She turned to motion Kanshaku over. "This is Kyooboo Kanshaku. She's a new student in my class." They exchanged greetings. "She's new and I figured the best way to break her out of a shy shell was to bring her here." "Either that, or you felt like you needed to bring someone along. You know. So you could have an excuse to be here...heh." "Motoki!" She rolled her eyes. "Don't mind me. I'm just teasing her." His eyes shown with mirth. Kanshaku wondered how anyone could ever be so happy. These two people laughed so much it was ludicrous. And Usagi was so friendly... 'If I'm to get along with anyone, I'm going to need to accept this. How else will I find her....' "Well, the games are calling. Come on, Kyooboo-san." Usagi reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging her towards an arcade game. "What kind of games do you like to play?" "I've never played games." "What?! You're almost as bad as my friend Ami. Before she'd met me, she'd never played one either. Well, there's only one way to fix that..." She sat down at a console. "I'll play first and you can watch. Then you try." "Okay." The game proved to be very simple, at least as far as Kanshaku was concerned. Though, to the girl, Usagi, it seemed to be very difficult. She wanted to laugh at the stupidity of the girl. And her feelings on the subject were multiplied when she took her turn. She breezed through the first several levels. And as her score increased, Usagi could only stand and gape, torn between jealousy and true astonishment. The score continued to rise higher and higher as the game became increasingly harder, flustering Kanshaku. Frustrated, she finally lost. With a curse, she stood, the chair falling away and crashing onto the floor. Her hand clenched beside her thigh. "That game...it...adapted... How...how could it be so advanced when all I've seen... how..." So wrapped up in her thought, she didn't hear the crowd around her shouting in amazement. Kanshaku turned in anger as Usagi grasped her hand. "My god!!! Kanshaku! That's the highest score anyone has EVER received! You even beat Ami-chan's score!!!! You played levels no one has ever even seen before!" Her anger forgotten, and wishing to get away from the aplomb, Kanshaku picked up her bag and headed for the door. Usagi grabbed her own and dashed after her. "Where're you headed?" "I'm 'headed' home." "I don't understand. What happened?" "Don't worry about it." "Well, if you don't like video games, we can go get something to eat. Personally, I'm starving!" "You just don't.... just..." Kanshaku sighed, overwhelmed by the effect this girl had on her. Right now, she desperately needed to be alone. Forget her plan to seem innocent and nice, she needed the solitude that was her existence. But the vexing girl couldn't seem to take any hints. And it didn't help how her stomach decided to rumble at that precise moment. "I... I... Sure," she finally said. Let's go eat." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|> "Okay. Where do you think she could be?" "It being Usagi-chan, there's no telling." "I'm surprised she's ever been able to pass a test, what with her insufferable in-attentiveness...." "Well one thing we can count on, Ami-chan, is that she'll be here. Maybe late, but she always seems to be able to get here." "Amazingly!" Kino Makoto sipped at her tea. "You know, we could always go look for her. We know she's not at home. But we haven't checked the arcade or any of the restaurants. And I wouldn't be too surprised to see her eating right now." "We might as well. If we don't, we're just going to sit here waiting." "Should we split up?" asked Aino Minako. "There are four of us..." "Nah, we'll find her. She's almost like clockwork, you know?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|> "USAGI-CHAN!" With a guilty expression, she looked over her shoulder. "Why, hi, guys... Would you like something to eat?" "What happened to 'study session'? We waited over an hour before deciding to look for you just in case you had detention." She let out a loud gasp. "I'm so sorry! I totally forgot! I really did! Please forgive me! Please oh please oh please oh please-" "OKAY!" Hino Rei interrupted. "We… get the idea!" "Well, we can still study, just sit down while we finish eating!" "Are we all going to fit," Minako grimaced. As they sat down, they turned their attention to Kanshaku, who had left her food unattended while Usagi and her friends carried on their conversation. Before, she had found it hard to eat, used to eating alone, she was embarrassed. And now, with so many individuals surrounding her, the idea of eating was very repugnant. The feeling of embarrassment mixed with uneasiness. There was an odd feeling she couldn't place, but there was definitely something up. "Everyone, this is Kyooboo Kanshaku. She's a new student in my class. Kan-chan, this is Mizuno Ami, Hino Rei, Kino Makoto, and Aino Minako. They're my best friends. Oh, and are you four going to order anything?" "We should," mumbled Rei. "We haven't eaten yet, waiting for you..." But Usagi was already heralding a waitress. "So, where're you from?" Minako asked. "I...have spent some time in Germany." "Really? That's very interesting!" "Everything's interesting to you, Ami-chan!" Usagi chimed in. "Well, being interested in something is a good thing." "You are all the time." "There is nothing wrong with that." "Nope!" Ami head fell to her hands. "Usagi-chan..." "Idiots! Fools! I'm surrounded by complete morons!" Kanshaku began to feel lost and increasingly sick. "So! Kyooboo-san, what things do you like to do for fun?" "Well, I've all ready taken her to the arcade, Rei, and she doesn't seem... Oh, oh! And she scored higher than you, Ami-chan! And I didn't even know that game had those levels..." That caught everyone's attention. Suddenly Kanshaku felt on display. "I've really got to get out of here fast! That little twit's costing me much in self composure..." "Exactly.... how high did you score?" Analytical Ami. "I'm...not really sure...." "Even I don't know," Usagi replied pensively. She'd just redeemed herself in Kanshaku's eyes. Well...just a little. "Well, I think it would be very interesting to battle against you and see who came out the winner. It's not very often I come across a rival. It would be great fun!" "But..." Usagi looked around the table, finally at Kanshaku. "She..." "It's all right, Tsukino-san. I don't really like games, so I'm sorry, but I won't be able to play against you, Mizuno-san." She stood. "Now, I really must be leaving. Thank you for your company. All of you. Perhaps we will meet again. And I will see you, Tsukino-san, in class tomorrow. Good night." She moved away from the table before anyone could say anything. She promptly paid for her food and left. Usagi continued to sit where she was, a bit stunned. "Awww...I wish she didn't have to go so soon. You all just met." "Well, there's a good chance we'll all meet again. After all, you're both in the same class," Minako reasoned. "Yes...." "Then don't worry so much." At that moment, the waitress arrived with the girl's meals. "Let's eat! And then study time!" Makoto said, chewing on a French fry.