My Novel (No Title Yet) ~ Prologue

Summary:

Words cannot express the dangers of Anuran High school. Xavier, parent-less he seeks solstice in his god father, Rio Ramdan, who's the principal of Anuran. Immediately, he's enrolled and is thrust into a world of extremes and ultimatums. The school heart throb and one of the most powerful members of the school approaches him: Samuel Hinder.

More than once Xavier's life is threatened and is almost killed. His new "friends" try to guide him the best they can, but will it be enough? And, why is there an ominous figure always keeping Xavier out of trouble? And, who is this mysterious girl who's always watching him? The only thing Xavier can think of is: How the hell am I going to get out of here?


Prologue: Arrival

A Ramdan bullet train sped forth through the country and came upon the industrial city of Anuran. There was only a single passenger aboard that train, and his name was Xavier. Being the god son of a business tycoon with no heir had it perks, especially when that god father was also the principal of a school.

A butler opened the compartment door and started to, or tried to, rouse him. "Hn?" Xavier asked exhaustedly, pushing his black hair out of his blue eyes.

"We'll be arriving at Anuran High in a moment, Master Xavier," said the butler.

"'K," Xavier replied. "Go away."

The butler sighed and said, "As you wish."

Xavier sat upright and surveyed the outside scenery. "God," Xavier said. "What a dump." They had just entered the town of Anuran, and it was a classic New York City. Trash littered the sidewalks, shady people walked around, and a plethora of vendors tried to sell junk to passerby on their way to work. "I cannot believe I'm here!"

Xavier stood up and banged his head on the rack above him. His tall, built, frame was an enemy in that small compartment. He groaned again and stretched. The intercom crackled to life, and said, “Please sit down and await further instructions, we are arriving at the school.”

“Evil bastards…” said Xavier, as he sat down. “They could’ve told me that before I got up.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and contemplated how much it would hurt to bang his head against the wall. Then, the train made a sudden stop and his body lurched forward, falling head first into the floor.

“Idiots…” mumbled Xavier hatefully.

The compartment door slid open again and the same butler entered. Only, in his hand he had a gun. “Get up,” said the butler. After a second, “I said, get up!”

“You’re a…” started Xavier, but he was forcibly pulled to his feet.

“What no plea for mercy?” asked the butler sarcastically.

“If you kill me now, you won’t get any money,” retorted Xavier.

“Damn,” said the butler with a smile. “You’re smarter than I thought.”

“Thanks?” asked Xavier.

“Move it,” replied the butler.

As they walked down the empty hallway, Xavier observed everything. He noticed the timid way the butler made his steps and how convulsive his hand was, it was the hand holding the gun. Xavier smiled and continued out the door, through which he was being “forced” to go through.

Fresh air, well as fresh as air in an industrial city can get, impacted his face. He coughed and sputtered. Hollow clapping engulfed the small train station within the school. Xavier strained his eyes, which were still adjusting to the light, to focus on where the sound was coming
.
His eyes were met with a middle aged man with long auburn hair, with cold blue eyes staring back at him, making him shiver, just a bit. The man’s wrinkled face started to move, saying, “Well done. Xavier, how do you like Anuran so far?”

“It sucks,” replied Xavier with a cocky grin. “Just like you, dear god father.”

“Petty to the end, eh?” asked Rio.

“No,” said Xavier. “What about you?”

“What do you mean?” inquired Rio with a smirk.

“Cocky and overconfident… until the end,” said Xavier. In a flash, Xavier swept under the butler’s feet, and, at the same time, stole his gun. He kicked the butler in the head, knocking him out, the gun pointed at Rio all the while. “So, why did you test me?”

Rio looked stern, and then his face slowly broke down into laughter. “Come here and give your god father a hug!” Xavier dropped the gun and went forth to embrace his god father. “How did you know it was a test?”

“They guy was shaking,” said Xavier. “Very unprofessional.”

“Why don’t we go to the Headmaster’s office for some tea?” asked Rio. “The Relief Squad will get him in a moment. Come.”

Rio started to walk out of the station, with Xavier following right behind him. They walked into a courtyard, a barren courtyard. Sure there was a plethora of plants and even a few butterflies and such, but it just seemed so lifeless. Above them was a stone ceiling, cracked in several places, with light protruding forth from them. It was a serene sight, if nothing else.

“Why is no one here?” Xavier asked.

“It’s summer recess,” replied Rio. “The only reason why some of the staff is here is because tomorrow is the first day of school.”

“Oh…” said Xavier absentmindedly. “This campus is just so… amazing.”

“Yeah,” replied Rio. They arrived at oversized double doors, which opened by themselves, via infrared sensors. The room was revealed to have a nice aura around it. It was plain and simple, but elegant. Rio went to sit at the elaborate desk and he motioned for Xavier to sit opposite of him. “Now, is there anything you want to talk about?”

“No,” replied Xavier quickly.

“Please, share anything you wish,” said Rio again.

“No, I’m good,” replied Xavier again.

Rio sighed. “Cut the crap. Talk to me about their deaths, it’s the only way it’ll make you feel better.”

“Really,” said Xavier with a slight laugh. “There’s nothing wrong.”

“Ok,” replied Rio simply. He waited for a moment before saying, “You know, I remember this one thing about both your parents; they continued to smile, no matter what happened. I wonder… were they smiling when they died?”

“Look,” said Xavier. “If you want to know anything, look it up in the police reports.”

“I don’t want to hear it from them… I want to hear it from you,” said Rio soothingly. “I know you’re harboring something.”

Xavier choked a bit, his eyes starting to tear up “Look,” said Xavier, wiping his eyes. “I appreciate you want to help, but I’m fine.”

“If you were fine, you wouldn’t be tearing,” replied Rio with a small smile.

“I’m fine!” said Xavier, standing up. “Just… just put me in my room. I assume that my possessions have been relocated there?”

Rio sighed and said, “Yes. You may go. Rachael, come here please! Rachael will take you to your room. Oh, here’s your schedule.”

Xavier took the paper. “Oh! Wait,” said Xavier. “Why did I have to take self defense classes? And, why did I have to have a reaction time of .5 seconds to come here?”

“Well, Rachael will explain,” said Rio.

A tall woman with smooth brown hair walked in. She was wearing a tight purple outfit with a black belt, her pale complexion contrasted to the bold makeup she was wearing. When her black eyes met with Xavier’s all he could think of was: ‘Hot!’

“Come on,” she said in a bored tone. She walked out of the room, Xavier only gaping at her.

“Go on,” Rio said, waving him off. After he sprinted to catch up with her, Rio only chuckled. “I should start a pool with the teachers on how long he’ll last.”


Xavier was currently staring at Rachael. “You know,” said Rachael, not even turning around, “it’s not polite to stare.”

Xavier blushed. “How did you, uh, know?”

“I know a couple of teenage boys,” she replied with a laugh. “Now, you have some questions?”

“Yeah,” said Xavier. “Why are some of the requirements to go to this school so weird?”

“If one weren’t to meet the requirements, and still come to this school,” started Rachael, “then they would surely die.”

“As morbid as that sounds,” replied Xavier, “that doesn’t answer my question.”

“Well,” said Rachael turning around. “You’ll see soon.” She turned around to look at him. “Look, kid, I only have one word of advice for you. Choose your friends very carefully. In a school like this it’s essential. Oh, and follow your instincts. See you later!” She gave him a passkey to the room in front them, turned and left.

Before Xavier went in, he took time to notice the scenery around him. It was much more modern than that stone courtyard. It looked like a business building than a school, but it was comfortable. He opened the door and went into his room.

The room was a standard room, much like ones in colleges, but bigger. It was completely symmetrical. A single bed laid on each side, a royal blue comforter covering it, all of his belongings on it. A maple bookshelf, which had all of his school books and things on it, stood proudly against the wall right at the end of the bed. To the right and left of the door, were simple but elegant desks. A sole window gave all the light the room needed, and, conveniently, it was also a divider. A wide berth of light covered the middle, making the line of symmetry.

Xavier pushed his things off of the bed, closed his eyes, and let his mind wander back. Back to when times were much simpler and he didn’t have all of the world’s troubles on his shoulders, or so it seemed.

Xavier gazes out the window. He’s the same age as the present, only a few months before. He is a freshman in highschool; a small fish in a huge ocean. He turns up his mp3 player to drown out the brain dead morons that inhabited the bus. Sighing, he looks around and sees the resident bully teasing James Mitchell.

“Fag,” says the bully. “What’s the fag reading? Huh? Fag too good enough to even talk to me?” He laughs, his cronies going along with his example. “Come on fag! I asked you what you’re reading!” He snatches the book away from the helpless freshman and starts to look at it. “What is this crap?! A Tale of Two Cities?”

“It’s classic,” muttered James. “Just give it back, Andrew.”

“No,” replied Andrew. “I think I’ll keep it, feed it to my dog. He’ll like it more than you.”

Xavier sighs again, feeling sorry for James. In his town, homosexuals of any kind were rejected. It was just James’ bad luck that when he told his best friend, the bastard told everyone. James has become the town’s verbal punching bag. ‘I feel your pain,’ Xavier thought, directing it at James.

As though picking up on the thought, James looks at Xavier. “Hey, what’cha looking at fag?” Andrew looks from James to Xavier and laughs. “What? Is he your boyfriend?”

“Shut up,” Xavier muttered, turning his mp3 player to its loudest setting, resuming his gaze out of the window. The bullies resume terrorizing James, however Xavier ignores it. It’s his stop. He grabs his backpack and walks calmly off the bus, ignoring mocking comments from everyone around him. He’s smart, smart above almost all others in his school. To him, it’s both a blessing and a curse. He’s mocked and ridiculed out of jealousy, but he pays no mind.

Like a routine, when he gets off the bus, he immediately turns around and flips off the people on the bus, and then he grabs the mail and proceeds to his house. It’s a modern two story house, with a basement and two and a half bathrooms. Walking up the black, and, slightly cracked driveway, he looks at the seven windows that occupy the front of the yellow house. His eyes drift toward the white siding and garage. Casually, he inputs the garage code, and, much to his surprise, both of his parents are home.

He opens the door and is greeted with an eerie silence. “Mom! Dad!” he called. He drops his bag to the side of the stairs and proceeds cautiously through the house, inspecting each room carefully. ‘Something’s not right,’ Xavier thinks. ‘Someone should have said something by now…’

He goes up to his parents’ bedroom and then becomes petrified. A cold, stone dead, body lay face down on the floor, several holes embedded in his back and head. Slowly, Xavier hauls the body upright and lays it on the bed. It’s his father. ‘Damn,’ Xavier thinks. ‘No! This isn’t happening! Stop! Stop!’ He starts breathing heavily, tears welling up in his eyes. He realizes he could still be in danger and that he needs to be calm, so he stomps down on his emotions and bury them down. He wipes the tears that fell from his face and turns around.

‘If dad’s… Where’s mom?’ He sees a door broken off its hinges; it leads to the bathroom. He feels like he’s going to vomit. His mother, dead, is faced up, multiple bruises and blood cover her whole face and body. Bullet holes litter her head and upper chest, a gun in her hand, and bullet shells on the floor.

This time, he cries without restraint, holding his mother’s cold body to his chest. A small circular device falls out of her pocket, and he picks it up, sniffling. Fumbling with it in his hand, it turns on with a beep. A small hologram of his mother appears.

Her figure is tired and strained. “Xavier, if you’re listening to this, I’m dead,” it said. “Look, I don’t have much…” Gun fire is heard in the background. “Me and your father went to a place called Anuran High. There we met friends and enemies. One of our most powerful enemies wants us, and by us I mean our family dead. His name is Henry …”A thump is heard in the background. “Damn, that was your father. If you find this, contact your uncle, go to Anuran. That’s the safest place possible. And, honey, we know your secret, and don’t worry, we love you anyway. Be on your toes at Anuran. I speak for your father when I say we love you. Good bye…” The hologram faded out while Xavier broke down and cried.

After he called his uncle, he was put into protective custody. And, after meeting the requirements to attend Anuran, he was put on the first train there. He set his alarm clock and lay down on his bed, hologram held close to his chest. He remembered a song his mother used to sing, the words unconsciously flowing out of his mouth:

My sweet crying child, why are you so sad?

Because I had a bad dream last night.
My eyes are red from the tears I shed,
Swollen as I cry.

My sweet crying child, why've lost your way?

I’m seaching for my parents, who have gone away,
They can’t be found,
Though I search all day.
My sad dream comes once more…

He remembered his mother’s soft voice, asking him questions, as he replied, in a raspy voice, the answers. He cried himself to sleep, singing his holy song, unaware of the troubles the next day would bring…

Chapter One: Adjusting

I don’t want the past; it’s too painful.
I don’t want the future; it’s too uncertain.
All I ever wanted was – by my side.
Now, I just want my welcomed reprieve.
-Xavier, two years into the future.

The affairs of Anuran High School were classified from all outside its borders. Even within the school, some of its forbidden activities were kept under covers.

The beginning of a new school year brought back a tide of familiar faces hanging naturally in their areas as well as some new ones who were nervously looking around at their new surroundings, trying to find their way through the complex campus. The fall sun smiled down on them, the veil of clouds and the bright, green leaves of the trees waved gracefully in the wind. Meaningless chatter dominated the courtyard as students gathered into their own respective groups before class began.

The talking began to disperse suddenly from the pillars at the entrance and all old students instantly knew what that meant. Like a rollover effect, a silence fell over the crowd and people began moving away from the gates. All heads turned in dread to the group of sophomores now walking casually through them as though they owned the school.

Samuel Hinder and two of his friends were walking through the crowd towards the doors leading to classrooms, and anyone who valued peace in their lives knew to get out of his way. Samuel was dressed in the bold clothes, the tight fitting shirt hung closely over his expensive, blue pants and his side bag was strung casually across his chest. His medium length, jet black hair was swept up stylishly and naturally at the back with the longer locks floating over his emotionless eyes at the front. On his face was the normal bad tempered glare, but it was, if possible, even worse than normal.

The guys looked at him with fearful admiration and the girls swooned in their shoes, too afraid to do anything more than gaze longingly at him. A new kid, a freshman, rushing past, made the mistake of bumping into him and faster than anyone could say anything; he was picked up and shoved into the wall by Samuel. The books he’d been holding went crashing to the floor in a heap.

As the unfortunate boy looked back into black eyes in a daze, over Samuel’s elbow he felt cold, hard, metal be put to his stomach beneath his shirt. The boy gasped as he realized what it was, a small pocket knife. It took him a while to register it but when he did he gasped in disbelief and horror that something like this could be happening in plain sight of everyone, and yet nobody was doing anything to stop it. The students had all backed away from the two and were giving the little brown haired boy piteous looks.

“Name?” Samuel asked unemotionally, his eyes speaking for him. The two boys, which had entered the school with him, were just looking on without doing anything other than appear slightly irritated at the hold up. They’d seen this happen more that once.

“Ha-Harry,” he stuttered.

Samuel smiled cruelly at him. He intended to make a small cut on Harry’s cheek, but his wrist was grabbed painfully by another sophomore. He looked and said, “James, Sienna, how nice to see you. James remove your hand, before it gets removed from your wrist.”

“Samuel,” said the boy, James Iru. His silver hair rested upon his fox like eyes and face. His lanky frame loomed over Samuel’s own and the tension could be felt through the air. “Put the boy down.”

The girl, Sienna Furo, a short, thin sophomore with raven black hair glared at Samuel. Her two long braids of hair fluttered through the gust of wind that swept through the courtyard. She crossed her arms and said, “Just because my superiors aren’t here, doesn’t mean I won’t hesitate to… relieve you of your ‘power’.”

“Yeah,” Samuel said, smirking. He withdrew his blade and put it in his pocket. “Go!” The freshman went to his own building to get to class on time, thankful that the other students had saved him. “So, how does it feel?”

“How does what feel?” asked James, innocently.

“Being the only two members of Myou Ken here in the Sophomore Building,” replied Samuel.

In a second, Samuel himself was up against a wall, James’ open palm on Samuel’s chest, Sienna covering his two friends. “Never, ever say that again. We are on par with you. The only people that are higher than us are the Sendo Buntai. And you know that even your, Shinsei 12, excuse me, 11, have trouble with them! Consider that next time you try to intimidate people, a-hole! Let’s go Sienna.”

As the two stalked away, Samuel’s two friends, Shin Neuro and Seth Ano, helped Samuel up. Shin wore a bored expression with pale brown hair, resting just below his ear, tied into a ponytail, with a sole blond streak running through. He wore pale green and beige throughout his plain outfit. Seth was a bit more concealed, he had an overlarge sweatshirt on and loose fitted jeans, with a belt. He had spiky black hair and wore opaque sunglasses. Without a word, Samuel grabbed his bag, which had fallen, and went through the doors to the classrooms. Everyone else watched in silence as his bag whipped around the blue doors and he was gone.

Talking went on again, though everyone was careful as to what they said because Samuel’s companions were still around. Those sophomores were shaking their heads at each other in disapproval and worry.

“In a bad mood already,” said Shin, sighing. “I guess that vacation did nothing for him.”

Two girls walked over to them, Itane Umiko and Samantha Hemmer. Itane, a short girl with long blond hair and a figure worthy of a goddess, slapped him over the head. “You think?! You know that he and his brother don’t get along well. And they had to be stuck together for almost 3 months…” she shuddered at the very thought, beyond doubt that the unfortunate beach-house had probably been blown off the face of the Earth.

Samantha shook her head, her long pink hair shaking too, in annoyance at her best friend and Shin, this having been the routine for countless mornings. “Come on already, don’t you two ever get sick of bickering?" she snapped. She turned around to everyone else while Shin and Itane glared holes into the back of her head.
Their little group at that moment consisted of her, Itane, Shin
, and Seth. Being the more commanding one of them, Samantha would usually be the one to bring order. Beckoning imperiously at them, they followed her rather reluctantly as she paved the path to the school doors over Samuel’s tracks. When all of them were gone the students who’d been left in their wake finally began conversing freely. It was the first day of the new school year and things were already heating up...


At Xavier’s dorm, the unrelenting noise that was the alarm clock struck into Xavier’s dreams and pulled him out by the ear. He pushed the ‘snooze’ button and yawned in all the glory of the sunlight shining in through his window. His eyes snapped opened to reveal a deep, crystalline blue. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, he looked around at his room. He noticed luggage sitting on the other bed. It was then he realized that today was the day, his first day of school in this new town.

He jumped out of his bed and quickly stripped off his blue clothes from the day before. At record speed he had pulled on long, black jeans, a tight white tee shirt and put on a stylish brown belt. He found his schedule and looked at his alarm clock. He finally bothered to check the alarm clock and his previously unfocused eyes widened as he saw the numbers. “Crap, stupid alarm clock, can’t you pick another day to screw me over!?” he exclaimed loudly. The clock said 8:10am. And school began at 8:30am. “Not good, not good, not good!”

He gathered all his supplies from the shelves, and his passkey required to get into the room, and grabbed his black sling bag from where it was on his seat and then ran out the room and down the stairs, making a direct beeline towards the entrance to the dorm heading towards the Entrance Courtyard.

Xavier stopped and looked at the stand. Intending to buy something, he made his way over there, taking out a few dollars from his pocket. “No,” said the lady with a heavy Polish accent. “You no need that. Put thumb on scanner, and take what you need.”

He put his thumb on a green scanner and it said in a robotic monotone, “Student: Xavier, Balance: Unlimited. Record of purchase recorded.” He hurried off, stuffing the bagel he took into his mouth. He rushed off to go to homeroom; the teacher was Professor Kim Hitai.


At Homeroom Samuel looked quite calm as he sat alone at his desk amidst the chaos around him. The girls were all chatting about their holidays and… experiences and the guys were chucking around paper and trash. The stupid teacher was writing something he knew had to be inappropriate, as her nose was beginning to bleed.

Beyond his exterior though, he was screaming to get out of there or to otherwise bang his head against the wall. Couldn’t people stay quiet?! He could feel his adrenaline escalating, which if wasn’t stopped would result in a serious rampage. He gritted his teeth and looked out the window, hoping that something would happen to distract him from his annoyance.

He wasn’t always in such a bad mood but who wouldn’t be after spending so long alone with his devil of a brother in a beach-house in some unfamiliar town? The teachers had wanted him to spend more quality time with his last family member in the hopes of easing his fiery temper, and what they believed to be a serious problem with his mentality. They hadn't said it like that though, but he knew that was the reason - he'd put a kid in hospital in the last term the year previous.

Hands wrapped themselves around his neck and this didn’t help his temper at all. “Sam,” he said icily. His voice very clearly made it known that he was not going to put up with her on that morning. “Get off me.”

Disappointed, the girl pulled her arms back and sat down at the desk to the right of Samuel’s with the rest of their group, consisting of: Heather Hymal, and Itane. The guys of their group, Shin, Seth, and Ken Ichuno then sat down near Samuel’s desk, who braced himself in preparation for the annoying questions sure to come.

“Feeling any better?” Ken asked for what must have been the hundredth time. Samuel’s glare was answer enough and Ken shrank a little back into his chair. His short black hair was covered by his grey sweatshirt. His grey pants brought his boring ensemble together.

Seth looked at Samuel, not being afraid of him at all. “We’re not attacking you.”
Shin nodded agreement and closed his eyes as he spoke. “If you keep on going like this, then everyone’s going to think that your brother did something to you.” The others froze, as did Shin. Samuel’s eyes went colder than ever and the other three decided that it was a good time to give him some quiet time.

They cowardly scampered over to join the girls and Samuel could hear Sam and Itane asking infuriatingly whether he was alright. God…if it wasn’t for the fact they were girls, his resolve would have gone long ago. Samantha was under the self-proclamation that she was his girlfriend and the only thing stopping Samuel setting her straight was that Samantha managed to keep the rest of the female population away from him - an exchange which he could bear to take.

The classroom door opened, distracting him from his thoughts and he and the rest of the class turned to the front to see a person walk rather nervously into the classroom. Averting his eyes from the class which was completely focused on him, he walked over to Kim, the Professor.

The boy had black hair which had definitely not been brushed. His tanned skin was quite flawless. He was tall and built, which could potentially prove to be useful. Not that Samuel was exactly… built. He was just more intimidating. The cerulean blue eyes were what really caught his attention. They seemed so small, but innocent and bright that they could have been taken for a girl’s eyes. But then again, the girl’s here weren’t so innocent, especially not in Anuran.

From the teacher’s desk a throat was cleared and everyone looked in surprise to Kim. Interested as to what would cause the teacher to put his writing down, Samuel gave him half of his attention. “Shut up! God,” Samuel twitched - Kim’s high pitched voice was really annoying. When the room had quieted, Kim waved a hand towards boy. “This is a new kid. His name is… What’s your name?”

“Xavier!” the boy said indignantly. Samuel looked as Xavier sighed like a kid and then scratched his head. “Hi.” The voice was gruff, and seemed to hang in the air. He found it saddening and captivating all at once.

“You’re in the wrong classroom kid!” shouted Ken. “This is the Sophomore Building!”

Kim frowned at Ken and said “Xavier is a sophomore student, and the nephew of your headmaster, I might add.”

The class looked in stunned disbelief at both Kim and Xavier. “But we never accept new students after Freshman Year. The classes are supposed to stay fixed,” Shin pointed out. “Why him?”

Sam whispered something to her girlfriends and they all burst out in laughter. Xavier immediately decided that he didn’t like her. She was dressed like a… slut, for lack of better term. The red skirt she was wearing was revealing more than a little of her flesh, and the leather shirt was much too tight to be acceptable. Her black bra could be seen easily, pressed against her skin by her shirt.

Kim pointed Xavier to a desk which he gladly scurried into and then said, “This is…a special case.”

“What special case?” Ken whispered to Shin. “A mental?” Kim sat back down at his table and ignored the questions which were still being thrown at her by her raucous students.

Samuel turned around to see that Xavier was sitting at the desk to his direct left and was casting his gaze around the room, trying to gather a clear understanding of his surroundings. He noticed Samuel looking at him, and stared blankly back at him. He was already bothered by how much he seemed to do that. It was so…naïve.

“What?” Xavier said curtly. ‘What’s up with him?’ He faced the front and only then did he realize that five huge guys had appeared around his table. The biggest and ugliest of them all slammed a hand down on Xavier’s desk and the whole classroom became quiet as everyone stopped what they were doing to watch. “What do you want?” The guy growled and then grabbed his collar. Xavier said, “Let go of me.” He didn’t even know the guy yet here he was being none the friendlier.

The bully smirked and said, “No.”

“Well, what do you want then?” Xavier asked, none the wiser.

The guy laughed and the other four laughed with him. He then gave a little rap on Xavier’s head with his knuckles. “Don’t demand anything of me. I could squash you so easily," he sneered.

Kim had finally figured out that something wasn’t right and was making her way towards the huddle. A girl whispered warningly to the guy threatening Xavier and he quickly let go and with his set of thugs began walking back to the right of the room.

As the big one walked by him, Samuel casually put a foot out and he tripped, going crashing to the floor. His weight shook the small room and he was up and blaring seconds later. Holding onto his bruised nose, he shouted, “What the hell?!”

He was about to yell some more when he saw Samuel. Xavier watched carefully as his face paled to a ghostly shade. He became even more surprised when the guy began apologizing profusely to Samuel who for the whole while merely looked coldly at him from his seat. ‘I bet that guy stole his girl friend or something,’ thought Xavier.

The guy finally stopped apologizing and when he dared to look up, Samuel said tonelessly, “You, have no right to be demanding anything from anyone.”

'Yep. Definitely stole his girl.'

The thug nodded in terror, and then the bell went. Samuel picked up his bag and was out the door first. As Xavier left after him he could hear the words of three of the other guys in the room, and from what he heard, he deduced the dark haired iceberg was called Samuel Hinder, the terror of the school.

In Algebra Honors and World History CP, Xavier managed to fare pretty well without anymore attacks, mainly because the teachers were insane asses who put people in detention for sneezing. He continued to observe the school, examining everyone, and many whispers followed him through the halls. The math teacher, Mr. Fuji, like Mt. Fuji, was downright odd in both appearance and conduct. He had light brown hair, and his eyes always looked closed. The History teacher Mrs. Rowena was even worse. Where she lost marks for causing fear in looks, she made up for big time in her attitude.

In both classes Xavier found himself sitting at the desk next to Samuel’s. The ice king just kept to himself the whole time. ‘Is he always like that?’ Xavier wondered. Either it was just coincidence, or did it seem that everyone else didn’t seem to want to sit near him? Well…he guessed that pink haired girl did, but she wasn’t with them in Algebra.

It was Video and Film, however, which peeked his interest. The teacher, Mr. Arndt, was a tall man, with a kindly smile. His brown hair and goatee made him look more like a student than a teacher. His attitude did the talking for that. “Ok,” he said when the class walked in. “Welcome to Video and Film. Obviously this is an all year course. If you didn’t know that, then you don’t pay attention, and that is not good!” He jumped up on his desk and took a seat. “Here’s the whole grading process, you will be in groups of three, and by the end of the year, you have to have a movie. For each marking period, I will judge you on your progress and effort, however for the last marking period you will be solely graded on the movie.

“Here’s how you will be split into groups: take a paper from the hat,” he showed them a hat, “and match up the trilogy with the other movies. So, if you have “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”, then match it up with the other two. Oh, and if you get a Star Wars film, it’s divided in the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy. Come on up one by one.”

There were 21 people in the class, so there were seven groups: the Star Wars Prequel Group; the Star Wars Original Trilogy; the Lord of the Rings Trilogy; the Matrix Trilogy; the American Pie Trilogy; the Ace Ventura Trilogy; and the Back to the Future Trilogy. Xavier was apart of the American Pie Trilogy. One of his group mates was the most muscle defined person Xavier had ever seen, and the other was…fat. End of that description “Erm…Hello,” said Xavier.

The fat kid didn’t say anything so Muscle Guy did the talking for both of them. The moment his voice issued, Xavier was nearly sick from hearing the enthusiasm that followed, “Welcome to our high school! This is truly an honor to meet the Headmaster’s nephew! I’m Lee Holme, a junior of this educational establishment! If you’re wondering, electives aren’t bound to grades like our buildings!”

Xavier looked in shock while the mop haired kid just kept on rambling about how wonderful it was. As students on the surrounding tables got started and Mr. Arndt approached, Xavier asked, more to shut him up than anything, “What’s your name?” It was directed to the chubby kid.

“Chris Atano,” the boy replied. He had slick light brown hair, deep green eyes, and he was of average height.

“Nice to meet you,” Xavier smiled. “Let’s get started. What do you want our movie to be about?”

“I actually have a good idea,” said Chris. “Why don’t we do a movie about…”

As soon as the bell went for the end of 4th period, Xavier was in the boy’s bathroom in front of the mirrors. He splashed water on his face and tried to think. ‘This is weird I can’t detect anything weird about this school. It seems… normal enough. I guess I just have to be patient. Whoever said patience is a virtue can stick it up his –”

Outside the bathroom he met Lee and Chris who’d waited for him. He was finally starting to feel a bit comfortable in this place now that he had actually made his first friends. "Thanks," he said as he took his bag from Chris.

“No problem.” Chris’ stomach rumbled loudly and Xavier sweat-dropped. “We’re going to the cafeteria now," Chris said. "Coming?”

Xavier smiled and gave a little shrug. ‘Why not?” ‘I wonder what the cafeteria is like here.’ They went down a hall filled with lockers and then went out of the building. Xavier noted that these were all deserted. 'Where is everyone?' They went to the smaller, one story building. Chris pushed open the red doors. Xavier was stunned. ‘Oh…wow.’

How to describe the cafeteria? In his old school the cafeteria had been a grimy, horrid place where people only went if they had to buy their lunch. Here…it seemed just about everyone in the school was there from Grade 9 to 12.

It was filled with dozens of long tables, and at each table sat a different clique of people. Next to the door was a group of Goths looking forebodingly at them three, and there was a table which contained the guy who had tried picking on Xavier in homeroom. “Does everyone hang here?” Xavier asked as he calmly looked around.

“For the first half of lunch, just about. For second half most people go outside into the quads,” Chris said. He looked to the huge line of people waiting to scan their thumbs and groaned. “No point lining up with that huge lot. We’ll go sit down first.”

Xavier nodded and then looked uncertainly around at all the people. “Where do you normally sit?”

Lee pointed enthusiastically to a table in the middle of the cafeteria and Xavier was shocked to see Samuel and all the ‘populars’ were there, including some that Xavier didn’t recognize. Samuel was calmly eating pizza while his friends clamored around. “You hang around with them?” Xavier asked.

“Huh? Yeah, why?” asked Chris.

“Nothing, nothing,” Xavier said hurriedly. Truth was, he could not imagine a weirder group. Lee and Chris weren’t exactly what he would picture as being popular. On the contrary, they were probably down on the other end. 'But they're nice people,' he thought firmly. 'That's plenty enough.'

As walked past the thugs table someone suddenly gave Xavier a hard push on the back and he fell to the floor. He managed to break his fall with his hands and turned over. Looking up, he gasped as a bucket of prepared water was showered onto him by the same big thug. The freezing cold water drenched him to the skin, sending spasms of iciness down his spine. He spluttered and shouted up at them. "What the hell?!”

Chris and Lee quickly took an arm each and helped him up, while the rest of the cafeteria exploded into laughter. Samuel had looked up from his food when Xavier had fallen and saw full well what had happened. ‘How dare they mess around in my territory,’ he thought as he looked at the laughing punk. He made a mental note to make him pay. Xavier was yelling at the idiot.

Extremely pissed, Xavier took advantage of the water in his hair to fix his hair. He turned his head upside down and laced his head with his fingers, flicking his head back up when he was done. Closing his eyes, he shook his head a few times to get more of the water out. 'I'm dripping wet and freezing cold in the middle of the cafeteria on my first day,' he thought furiously. Could anything more go wrong? When he finally opened his eyes, he was extremely unnerved to realize that the entire cafeteria had become dead silent and all eyes were staring at him.

Everywhere, the jaws girls were hanging on the floor as they gaped intensely at him, even Lee and Chris. Scared that he had something more on him, like paint or some ornament, he turned and asked Lee uneasily, “What’s wrong?” He really didn’t like this...the faces they were giving him were positively terrifying - why was that girl over there blushing at him?

It took awhile for him to reply, and Lee shook his head slowly in wonder and uttered “Xavier… you’re –” More than a little freaked by now, Xavier looked wildly around in the hope of finding out from someone else why he had suddenly become the target of a staring competition.

And then a girl screamed it. “He is so hot!” The rest of the cafeteria erupted into chaos.

Everyone else was exclaiming loudly now too, and not only that…some of the girls had a predator look in their eyes and several of them were even licking their lips. 'Is this a prank?!' Xavier thought desperately.

Samuel’s normally composed face was looking at Xavier in astounded silence. Everything he’d thought about his appearance before was now confirmed… ten fold. Now that the shirt was no longer opaque, he could see that the built frame had been an understatement made by the smoothness of the shirt. Wet and sticking to all of his body, all could view that the body had toned abs and muscles. The black hair stuck to the sides of his face, making his blue eyes even bolder. With all these features added together, the boy was the painting of an angel, a slightly angry angel but an angel none the less.

“I don’t believe it,” Sam whispered. “He’s on par with Samuel!” The pink haired girl was looking at Xavier with an expression of stunned disbelief on her face.

At a table in the very back corner of the room a lone Year 12 was jerked out of his sleep by the commotion. Dan looked grumpily around him, running his hand through his long, blonde ponytail. “What’s going on?” he complained loudly. No one answered him and he sulked at this. Instead, everyone’s attention seemed to be focused on something or someone near the doors. Dan got up and stood on top of the table to get a better view. Dan gawked at Xavier, unable to tear his eyes away from him. ‘Why does he look… familiar... Who knows? I don’t care anyway…’ With that he went back to sleep, not knowing that Xavier left the cafeteria.

He used the excuse he was coming down with a cold to skive off periods 5 and 6 so that at the end of the day, Xavier walked out alone in the clothes that he had got from his dorm. The day continued uneventfully and he purposefully left 10 minutes after the bell went for the end of the day to make sure no one else would ogle at him. He crept down the long, deserted hallway to the front entrance and began to feel thoroughly depressed in his solitude. ‘This is depressing,’ he thought with dry humor. This first day had really gone the opposite of everything he could’ve hoped. For god’s sake, he was hiding from the rest of the school population.

He looked glumly around. ‘Why did I have to come here?’ he thought. His mind unconsciously sent him back to his parents’ deaths and he though, ‘Oh… that’s why.” He walked sullenly through the campus and turned left in the direction of his dorm. He was sort of hungry, not eating lunch before, so he decided to go to the cafeteria. As he was walking towards the cafeteria, he noticed something he most definitely didn’t want to see, or for him to be seen by: people from school, standing at the other end of a long stretch of pavement.

They hadn't seen him yet so turning on his heel, he was about to run when he recognized the hair of Samuel at the forefront of the group of six. He looked through the other people and realized that they were all other sophomores whom the ice prince hung with: Shin, Ken, Chris, Lee, and someone he didn’t recognize. He assumed that he was a junior, just like Lee. Looking directly at Samuel, he was personally starting to think that the guy was too much of a cold prick for his own good. At that moment, he had on his trademark smirk and was grinning at something Xavier couldn’t see.

Unbeknownst to even himself, Xavier was eyeing Samuel’s every movement with abnormally scrutinizing interest. 'He’s pretty good looking,’ he thought as Samuel flicked his head to the side. He kicked himself. Anyone walking past him just now would have seen an extremely involuntary spasm go through him. ‘This place is filled with weirdoes!’ his mind screamed. ‘I’m out of here before I become one!’ Becoming a mental was not on his list of want-to-be professions. ‘Even though technically I am one…’ He was just preparing to leave for the sake of his sanity, when a muffled scream from behind froze him in his tracks. ‘What the…?’

He turned around just in time to see the entire, large group of people disappear around the corner with several scuffling noises, and a grating which sounded like something heavy being dragged across the concrete ground. Perplexed, he heard a scream come again, this time more pained. He cursed and hesitated, but when the scream came yet again he ran after them around that corner. What he saw stunned him.

The other five were standing back and laughing as Samuel kicked a guy across the floor. ‘I didn’t see him with them before,’ Xavier thought. ‘Never mind that for now.’ Even as he watched, Samuel raised his leg again and with a casual, side swing his victim went crashing into the brick. Gripping onto the shoulder which had made contact, the person winced in pain as he slid to the ground. They were in an area of the village which was currently closed and unfortunately for the person getting beaten up, this would mean he would have faced a couple of months in hospital, and most probably in intensive care, that is, if Xavier hadn’t decided to interfere. His self-restraint vanished as Samuel began advancing on the person helpless to his will. “Get away from him!” Xavier shouted angrily. Throwing his bag to the side, he ran forwards towards the figure sprawled on the floor, placing himself between him and Samuel in the process.

Samuel narrowed his eyes and took a step back as Xavier turned his back to him and knelt down. ‘What is he doing here?’ he thought coldly. ‘And shouldn’t he know better than to interfere?’ Obviously not unless he wasn't afraid of pain. As he watched Xavier look over the injuries on his victim’s body, he suddenly felt a small pang of guilt which he could never in the past have associated with any such incident. Troubled, he turned to the other side to steep in his own thoughts. Behind him, Lee and Chris were waving their hands and heads frantically at an oblivious Xavier to tell him to run for it. The unknown boy was gazing at Xavier with a look of interest upon his face, while Ken just appeared annoyed.

Leaning the man down at the base of the wall, Xavier at last recognized who it was: then person who’d dumped the water on him in the cafeteria. But he was barely recognizable now with purple bruising and blood everywhere. Xavier shuddered at the crimson liquid oozing horribly to trickle thickly to the ground. The guy opened his eyes a few millimeters and feebly clutched at Xavier sleeve, causing him to recoil impulsively. “Please…” the injured man croaked out.

Xavier turned to look up at Samuel and glared with such anger that Samuel was astonished that the normally innocent face could express such emotions. He was also starting to feel somewhat mystified, which in turn irritated him. That person had dumped water on Xavier just hours before, so why was he defending him? To Samuel, revenge was always sweet. 'Is he an idiot?' he thought coldly.

“Stay away from him,” Xavier growled. ‘What does he think he’s doing? He could’ve killed this guy. That settles it, I hate him.’

This remark was what really pissed Samuel off. 'How dare he order me around?' He walked towards Xavier and knelt down next to him. He looked at him through his cold, black eyes and then drawled in a low, toneless voice, “And what are you going to do if I don’t?” Xavier looked uncertain for a moment, and Samuel’s lips twisted into a cold smirk of triumph. “You can’t do anything can you?” he asked sardonically. He stood up slowly, his onyx eyes on Xavier’s blue ones all the while. Suddenly, he kicked the thug in the stomach again and the already wounded man slumped down unconscious after a cry of pain
.
Xavier glared and leaping to his feet sent a punch at Samuel’s head which missed. Samuel grabbed the fist which had gone flying past his right ear and held it in a vice-like grip. Enraged, Xavier shook his hand violently but the grip didn’t loosen at all - On the contrary, Samuel held on even tighter as a taunting smile spread across his pretty boy features. “Let me go,” Xavier growled.

Samuel smiled evilly. “Make me.” He brought his face to within a few centimeters of Xavier’s. Xavier held his ground, glaring daggers at Samuel. Amused, Samuel retreated when Xavier didn’t and then said in a whisper so that only he could hear, “No one can tell me how to live my life.”

‘Huh?’ Xavier thought, confused.

Still with Xavier’s fist in his grip, Samuel turned around to the others and in a casual voice called out, “Let’s go to dinner then?” The other five all agreed, and then Samuel turned to Xavier again. “And you’re coming.”


The restaurant was an alright place, he supposed. But that didn’t change the fact that he had been forced to come. It was more of a little café to tell the truth. It had a sea, blue theme and even the lights were tinted a pale, blue crystal. Them seven sat at a large, square table. Xavier leaned back on the black, cushiony seat and refused to take part in the conversation that was happening across the table from him.

They were laughing, except Samuel of course, who was sniggering- at some stupid joke that Ken had just told. In between jokes Samuel was darting little glances in Xavier’s direction. The guy intrigued him. He dared to stand up to him, even after seeing what he was capable of. He was certainly someone worth spending a bit of time on to discover all his secrets.

"Why did you bring that guy?" Ken whispered to Samuel. "He looks like he wants to kill us." And truly, Xavier was sending the occasional death glare in their direction.

"He's interesting," Samuel stated casually.

"He acts like all high and mighty," Ken laughed.

Lee and Chris were sitting on either side of Xavier and Lee nudged him, trying to encourage him to join in. Xavier pointedly ignored the nudging and tried to concentrate his attention on the ketchup bottle on the table. He didn’t know if he could accept Lee and Chris as friends anymore, not after seeing what they did. ‘Who would beat up someone that badly just for doing something they didn’t like?’ he thought.

Xavier didn’t doubt Samuel was rich. After all, almost everyone in Anuran would be – it was one of those places where you needed money to do the talking. He was wonder just how rich, for him to be able to wield such power over others?

When the meals they ordered finally came Samuel decided that Xavier needed to talk more. And besides, he wanted to find out more about him. That wasn’t going to happen unless someone said something. The others picked up their eating utensils and began eating, but Xavier and Samuel remained motionless. Needless to say, the five that were eating were feeling a lot of unneeded pressure during dinner.

Folding his arms on the table in front of him, Samuel looked Xavier in the eyes and asked calmly “What made you do that back there?”

Xavier glared back and thought, ‘What an idiot.’ “What do you mean what made me do that?” he said stoutly. “I’m not a heartless jerk, and that’s reason enough.” Taking his knife and fork, and began cutting his steak. ‘The sooner this is over, the better,’ he thought venomously. Samuel watched in amusement.

Trying to break the ice, Lee asked through a mouthful of chicken, “So where did you move to Anuran from?”

It was a question he could tolerate. “Soroughil,” he stated. There wasn’t any need to say more than was asked of him.

“Soroughil…” Nick, a sophomore with very pale blue eyes and long brown hair, said slowly. His overlarge sleeves of his black shirt got in the way of his hands, so he rolled them up, then scratched his tight jean clad legs. “Hey Samuel, isn’t that where you and Henry went for your vacation?”

Samuel nodded rather grumpily. “It was okay. And I wouldn't call anything with that asshole a vacation.”

Ken laughed. “Sure it wasn’t a dump just because Henry was there?” Samuel gave him a small but painful punch on the head. “Ow!”

Deciding to develop on Lee’s tact, Chris asked, “How come you moved here?” ‘Cause I was forced to?’ “I don’t want to talk about it…” Xavier muttered.

Samuel watched silently as Xavier kept on eating. Pretending not to notice, Xavier carefully avoided making eye contact with Samuel. However, there is only so much that a person can take. Uncomfortable, Xavier finally cracked five minutes later. He stood up angrily and so suddenly that he almost banged his head on the lamp above the table. He pointed his fork dangerously close at Samuel’s face and shouted “You told me to come here and eat, and I’m doing that. Now can you let me do that in peace?!”

The ringing silence that followed his words seemed to bring Samuel to the fact that all attention in the vicinity was focused completely on him. He cast a single death glare around the restaurant which ended with his gaze on Xavier’s face. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

Xavier snorted. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

For a moment, Samuel didn’t take any action, his mind calculating whether he’d much prefer to kill or torture. But then he let out a sigh of breath he had been holding in and stood up and walked calmly around the table to where Xavier was still standing. He stopped in front of the blonde. “You have seen what I can do," he said to him softly.

“And you’ve seen that frankly, I don’t give a damn,” Xavier announced.

Samuel’s eyes glinted as they captured Xavier’s in their gaze. “But will your mother care when you're removed from Konoha, half dead?” Xavier froze. Seeing the effect of his words, Samuel edged closer to Xavier so that his sleeve brushed against Xavier’s. “And furthermore…will you care when she lies unconscious in Konoha hospital?”

Quick as lightening, Xavier had grabbed Samuel’s collar and drawn back his left fist, preparing to land a blow that promised a world of pain. The other five at the table were instantly on their feet with hands at their waists. Shin pulled his handgun out slightly so that the light reflected on the metal shone in Xavier’s eyes. Samuel folded his arms, daring Xavier to land the blow. “You can’t put a dead woman in the hospital! Leave me alone you bastard! Xavier growled, but released the Hinder. He retrieved his backpack from the chair behind him and made a wide detour around them to the exit. As he reached it Samuel’s wretched voice called out to him.

“If you know what’s good for you, come to the cafeteria after school tomorrow,” said Samuel.