†-o0o-†

The entire village was in a sea of flames. Houses burned, trapping the unfortunate inside. Those who had been able to flee faced something even more terrible: soldiers. The soldiers- the sole reason for the flames which had enveloped the community, the ones who were intent on the demise of every single villager. They had tried to hide to save themselves, but their efforts were all in vain. The soldiers always found them, killing them all without a second thought. In this time of bloodshed and death, there was no hope for survival.

A boy sat alone in a dark corner, caught up in the chaos, in the screams of his neighbors. He had no choice but to watch as death visited them one by one.

"Where did all the fire come from? What's going on? It's scary."

A hand found its way onto the child's right shoulder. He turned and saw his father, a man in his early thirties, with a long face unlike the child's round one. Though his hair was trimmed short, he seemed scruffy, with traces of a beard.

"We're under attack, son," he said. After a moment, he muttered to himself, "Damn, this is really bad."

"Are we in trouble?" The boy knew the answer to his question before he had asked it.

"Yes, we are." The man struggled to stay calm. "Listen, we have to leave before the flames reach us."

The child's eyes went wide with panic. "But what about Mom and-"

His father shook his head. "First things first. We have to keep ourselves alive. Then we can think about them. All right?"

The child nodded slowly. "O-okay…" The boy's father looked as if he was about to say something, but turned and ran.

They ran at the same speed at first, but then the child's father suddenly tripped, falling onto his knees, a grimace on his face. He groaned in pain. The child soon got ahead, not noticing his father's abrupt stop.

What's going on? he wondered, oblivious to his surroundings. He shook his head to clear his mind, and to clear the tears from his face. A-at any rate, I just have to do what dad said and get away so I can go look for them…

Before he could finish thinking, however, he heard his father scream from behind: "Son, look out!"

Without much thought, the child sidestepped, just in time to avoid the strike of a knife .He knew he would have been stabbed had he reacted the slightest bit slower, and the thought of narrowly escaping such a dreadful fate made his heart beat faster. The boy looked up and saw his attacker: a burly, barbaric man whose clothes were covered in blood. The man was breathing heavily as he held the knife with shaking hands.

The man looked at the child with eyes so large they seemed like perfect circles, and the child gasped in fear. He stepped back at first, then tripped. Oh no! Lying on the ground, legs frozen in terror, he had no chance of escape. As the man began to thrust his knife, the child closed his eyes. Help me, Dad!

Then the boy was shoved out of the way.

The child opened his eyes. He saw the faces of the soldier and his father, a few inches apart. What happened? His eyes rolled down toward their bodies – Where's the knife? – but his father shouted before he could see what had happened.

"Get out of here now! Close your eyes, turn back, start running away!"

But...

"It' all going to be alright," his father continued, holding back tears. "I'll catch up later, I promise! Just go!"

Everything else was shrouded in darkness.

†-o0o-†

A young teenage boy sat up quickly from his bed, gasping for air. His forehead was covered in sweat, and his eyes were wide open with dilated pupils. After a few deep breaths, he blinked, holding his head, teeth gritted.

"The same dream," he said to himself. "It's the 1185th time now. Gimme a break already..."

Out of nowhere, a voice spoke to him. "Don't you think you should start getting prepared for school?"

"Just let me calm down for a bit," the boy replied. "Where are you, Tenkai?"

An angel about as tall as a finger suddenly appeared in front of the boy. He courteously bowed his head in a manner similar to that of a servant presenting himself to a king.

"You called, master?" The entity Tenkai said sarcastically. "But really now, are you sure you have the time to hold your head and think about things any longer? Do you have any idea what time it is, kid?"

The boy looked at the clock that hung on the wall. He froze.

"Uh oh," he said in a monotone.

"You better hurry up."

The boy shook his head, snapping out of his initial state of shock, and quickly ran to the bathroom.

†-o0o-†

In a certain school, a group of girls were gathered together in a corner of the quadrangle. Among them was one with brown, shoulder length hair tied in pigtails. She was sitting on a bench with her friends as they talked.

"Did you hear?" one of her friends said. "We'll be having a new classmate. I heard it was a guy."

"Really? I hope he's hot." Another friend giggled. "Is he from another country?"

"I think he's from this country," the first girl replied. "From what I heard, his admission here was delayed. I'm not sure about the details, though."

"If that's the case," a third girl in the group said, "Sarah will finally have a seatmate."

The girl with the brown hair, Sarah, nodded. "I guess that's what it means, more or less," she replied. "I just hope he'll be nice."

"You're not excited at all?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, not really."

†-o0o-†

A few minutes later, the boy ran out of the house with a loaf of bread in his mouth.

Tenkai laughed as he flew beside his panicking companion. "You haven't changed one bit," he commented. "I thought you would be a little more disciplined after your intensive alarm-clock-response training, but I guess when it comes down to the practical test, you can't help but fail." He smirked.

The boy tried ignoring him, since it wasn't easy to deliver a witty comeback with a loaf of bread in his mouth. He began to run faster. The boy ripped off a chunk of bread with his teeth. When he finished chewing, he sighed and stopped momentarily. "My stomach hurts–damn all this running –but I'm still hungry."

"And you're running out of time," Tenkai helpfully added.

"Shut up. I knew that much already. Anyway, I'm almost at the train station. Gotta finish this loaf now."

†-o0o-†

Around half an hour later, he finally reached his destination: a high school campus. He stood in front of the gate, his eyes wide in amazement.

"New State High," he said to himself. "I still can't get over how gigantic this place is."

"Stop looking in awe there, there'll be plenty of time for that later," Tenkai interrupted. "Do you remember what time first period is?"

"Of course I do," the boy replied. "7:00 am. I'm not stupid."

"Look at your watch," the small angel said with a grin.

"Damn," he mumbled calmly. 7:08. He sprinted towards a brick building to his left. The frantic nature of his running could be compared to the running of a man fleeing a fire.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, getting the attention of everyone in the room. "I, had, uh, problems along the way."

"Ah," the teacher said, surprised. "So, you're the missing student, am I right?"

"Yes, ma'am," the boy replied, his head bowed. "That's me." But you know, calling me 'the missing student' is a bit harsh, don't you think? Sounds like a cheap mystery novel.

The teacher looked around the classroom. Some students were smiling and some were whispering to each other. "Introduce yourself to the class first."

"Yes, ma'am." He went to the middle of the classroom. He took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't screw up.

"My name is Rae Kusanagi." He paused to think of other words to say. "14 years old. I skipped 1st year middle school, you see. Yes, I know, weird name. Live with it." Because I have no idea what my real name is. Stupid thing disappeared along with my other memories. Now I always have to excuse my unique name. "It's a pleasure meeting you all. I'm looking forward to a fruitful school year with all of you." He grimaced after saying his last sentence. 'Fruitful school year with all of you?' That seemed so...friendly. Ugh. "I hope I can get along with everyone here." He looked at the teacher. "Is that enough?"

"Where do you live?"

Rae did not reply.

"I guess it's all right if you don't want to say it," she decided, then added with a laugh, "I can always look at your student profile, anyway. Now, for your seat…" she glanced around the classroom, her eyes resting on a vacant seat. "You'll sit there."

Rae, however, was not listening. He'd been looking at the classroom, inspecting the seats. There are 15 desks, he told himself. For every desk, there is one boy and one girl. Come to think of it, according to the list of students in this class, there are 15 boys and 15 girls all in all, including me, which means there's exactly one more vacant seat for me, assuming that everyone's here. He scanned the area until he found his place. Huh, I guess there was a good reason for calling me the missing student, after all.

"Mr. Kusanagi," the teacher said, growing impatient. "Please sit down."

The interruption to Rae's thinking surprised him. "Yes, ma'am," he replied. "Sorry."

He went to his seat. After taking a quick view of his surroundings from his desk, he glanced at his seatmate. She was a beautiful young girl: brown, shoulder-length hair tied in pigtails. Her skin was fair and she had a perfect face.

He was about to look at her eyes, but thought better of it and shook his head. This isn't right. This isn't right at all! Classes are going on right now; I don't have time for this. I can't let this distract me.

Suddenly, he was bombarded with frightening images that flashed across his vision. A man covered in blood, a knife. "What's going on?!"

"Oh crap, this is bad!" Tenkai said, grabbing Rae's shoulder. "Hold on, kiddo! Hang in there!"

Sea of flames, falling roofs, people screaming frantically. "Please…stop it…" Rae whimpered, falling out of his seat with a crash. "Stop it, it hurts!" He screamed.

The class turned, alarmed at Rae's outburst. While Rae shook, his seatmate held his head. Rae stopped screaming, and he looked at her.

Their eyes met.

Rae stared at her blankly–a temporary relief from the headache – but before he knew it, the pain was back.

"Damn," he muttered, trying to keep his voice calm. "It hurts, my head. Maybe I should...bang it on the wall... or something," he said awkwardly.

The teacher dashed to Rae's side and helped him up. He tried to stand, but his shaking body couldn't hide his desire to scream in pain again.

"You don't look so well, young man," she said. "To the infirmary you go."

"Yes, ma'am," Rae replied weakly. He knew he couldn't shout in front of the teacher – in front of the class, even, that would be an embarrassing scene – but continued resistance made the pain worse. "I…I'm terribly sorry for interrupting class, especially when I just got here." Rae smiled forcibly. He started for the door but faltered. It was clear he wouldn't be able to make it to the infirmary on his own. After a moment, the teacher's eyes fell on Rae's seatmate.

"Sarah," she said.

"Yes, ma'am?" Sarah replied.

The teacher whispered something in her ear, to which she responded with a nod. "Yes, ma'am, no problem," she said. She approached Rae and pulled his arm around her shoulders, giving him support. They walked out of the room.

The teacher heaved a sigh. My goodness, I didn't expect the transferee would make such a grand scene on his first day, she thought to herself, turning to the class. "Well that was interesting. Anyway, let's continue with our lesson."

†-o0o-†

Meanwhile, on the way to the infirmary, Rae's pain suddenly stopped. He looked at Sarah. "I'm all right now," he said.

"We need to be sure," she replied thoughtfully.

Rae considered for a bit. "Fine. But at least let me walk on my own."

Sarah nodded. "Okay, then." As she pulled away from him, Rae suddenly realized he actually didn't want her to let go. After a few steps, Rae stopped.

"What's the doctor like?"

"Her name's Sheila Goldworth, she's a really nice person. I'm sure you'll like her."

"Don't tell me she's the beautiful mature-woman type that most guys like or something," Rae said cautiously. "I wouldn't like that one bit."

Sarah laughed and shook her head. "No way. She's more of the motherly type; anything else would be sort of creepy." She smiled. "All of the students see her as a sort of second mother."

Rae nodded as the two of them continued walking. So people love getting beaten up or sick in this place, huh?

After a few minutes, they reached the infirmary. The only person around was a female doctor who seemed to be in her late thirties. Rae assumed she was Mrs. Goldworth. She focused her sights on him for a brief moment before adjusting her glasses and noticing Sarah's presence.

"Hello, Sarah," she said and then turned to Rae. "And you are...?"

"He's a transferee," Sarah said. "He had a sudden headache a while ago."

Mrs. Goldworth's eyes flicked over Rae. "So you're the new kid I've heard about, hm? What's wrong?"

Rae had been staring at the doctor the whole time, evaluating her. He was a little startled by the question, but quickly recovered. "It's nothing, really. Just what Sarah said: a sudden headache."

"Just give him a little check-up, I guess," Sarah suggested.

Mrs. Goldworth raised an eyebrow. "You seem fine, but sure, come in." She gestured towards the infirmary and walked in. Rae was about to follow, but then he heard Sarah's voice.

"I'll be waiting outside, then," Sarah said, smiling. "I'll see you when you're done."

Rae bowed his head politely. "Sorry for dragging you into this mess."

Sarah smiled. "No problem, the lesson was pretty boring anyway. I'm glad to be out of class."

"Is that so? I guess that's good, then, in a way." The two of them laughed briefly before Rae continued. "Anyway, I'll see you later."

"Sure."

Sarah's eyes followed Rae as he walked into the infirmary. After he'd gone, she walked into the quadrangle and settled herself on a bench to wait. The sun was bright and warm, but not uncomfortably so. As Sarah looked around, she noticed a flock of doves walking around on the ground nearby.

"I hope it won't take too long," she said to no one in particular. "I wonder what happened to him in the first place."

†-o0o-†

Rae's check-up only took a few minutes. He sat across from Mrs. Goldworth, eager to know what was wrong with him.

"You seem fine," she said, much to Rae's dismay. "In fact, you're perfectly healthy. Do you have any idea what caused your sudden headache?"

Rae shook his head. "I don't know, really…"

"Was it the first time you experienced a headache like that?"

"I think so," Rae replied. "But I've experienced the same…sensation." He paused for a moment. "That headache was similar to this recurring dream I have."

"Dream?" Mrs. Goldworth asked, intrigued. "What kind of dream?"

"When I was five, I had severe memory loss... I couldn't remember anything. The dreams seem like... maybe they're my memories, from when I was young. But it's been nine years and it never gets any clearer."

"What do you see?"

Rae held his head in an attempt to recall the vague pictures in his dreams. "A...a sea of flames," he said. "And a man...a man with clothes covered in blood."

Mrs. Goldworth was shocked, and at the same time felt sorry for Rae. "Oh my, that's terrible," she said. "Such a frightening past is better left forgotten, in my opinion."

"You may be right, ma'am," Rae said. "But then again, you may be wrong. I'm not certain whether my dream really was an event that happened in my past. Besides, the things that I actually saw may be different from what I thought I saw, if you know what I mean."

Mrs. Goldworth nodded. "You have a point," she said. "But you said your dream was a recurring one, yes?" Rae nodded. "Do you know how many times you've had it?"

"1185 as of last night."

He kept count of all of them? Mrs. Goldworth thought worriedly. "When was your first time?"

"I was told that I was unconscious for a few days," Rae replied. "I woke up because I had that dream. I realized I was at the hospital, alone" He held his head. "That dream…it's as if my past was bugging me to remember everything, but I never could, not even now. I started counting when I got the dream for three nights in a row."

Mrs. Goldworth sighed. "Looks like you have it tough, huh?" She chuckled. Rae was confused as to how she could find humor in such a situation. Mrs. Goldworth caught his look and smiled. "Sorry; I just find it funny that I'm not the only one with problems."

Rae raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Mrs. Goldworth shook her head. "Never mind. Now run along; you've got a class to catch, right?"

Rae would rather have stayed and asked what Mrs. Goldworth meant, but then he remembered something. Sarah's waiting for me.

"Thanks a lot, I guess I'll go then." He turned to leave, but Mrs. Goldworth called after him.

"Rae, wait! Before you leave, I have a little advice."

"And that is?"

Mrs. Goldworth took a deep breath. "I'm not a therapist, but I do know this- be careful with your memories. Sometimes, the human subconscious can 'seal off' certain traumatic experiences for the person's own good. If that's the case, then you'll have to be prepared for them to come back. It's not easy." She looked at Rae for a moment, then spoke again. "You don't have to answer this if it makes you uncomfortable, but have you ever regained any of your memories? Anything at all, even bits and pieces?"

"All I remember is the name of the place where I was born and raised," Rae replied. "And I'm not even sure if remember that right."

"Where would that be?"

"Cosmo Village," Rae replied. "But I've tried looking into it; no such place exists. Maybe it was just a fake memory or something. Even the guys who took me in told me that I was "delivered by an anonymous person."

Mrs. Goldworth looked thoughtful. "Alright, then. I wish you luck, then. Off you go, now."

Rae smiled, then left the infirmary. Mrs. Goldworth really is pretty nice. Maybe I should try "getting sick" as well and chat with her more often.

Mrs. Goldworth stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Cosmo Village. I think I've heard that name before, and nine years ago… Somehow, it's familiar. The only thing she was sure of was the stinging headache when she thought about Rae's words.

†-o0o-†

When Rae got out of the infirmary, he noticed that Sarah was not around. Damn, she's not here. Where did she run off to…? He walked through the corridors, looked in classroom windows, but he couldn't find her anywhere. Then, he stumbled into the quadrangle.

He saw her. Her face was highlighted by the rays of the sun, and she was surrounded by birds like some sort of pagan goddess.

"Sarah," he muttered softly to himself. "Why must you be so beautiful?" As if on cue, he suddenly felt a quick, stinging pain in his chest and head. It felt as if he was going to crack open like an egg.

"W...what's happening?" He asked Tenkai, who was floating beside him.

"Looking at those birds seems soothing, don't you think?" Tenkai said absently. "Come on, look at them." Rae shifted his eyes to the nearby doves and panted. Soon, he felt the pain disappearing as quickly as it had appeared.

"How did you know how to get over my headache?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" Tenkai said innocently. Just then, Sarah spotted Rae, not noticing that he was talking to Tenkai. She rose from the bench and skipped over to him.

"Hey Rae," she called out with a wave of her hand. "How long have you been here?"

"I guess that's my cue," Tenkai said before Rae could say anything. "See you, kid." After giving Rae a wink, coupled with a mischievous grin on his face, he disappeared. Rae looked puzzled. Cue? What? Where did he run off to now?

"What's wrong?" Sarah said, startling Rae. He paused for a moment, then noticed she had been talking to him.

"Oh, sorry," he said as he scratched his head. "Did I look weird again?"

Sarah shook her head. "No, not really. You actually looked pretty cute there."

"Cute?" Rae asked, his eyes widening. "What?"

"No, uh…" Sarah started blushing. "Uh, forget what I just said."

Before Rae realized it, his face had turned red as well. As the two of them blushed at each other, Rae's mind started to go in a state of panic, and he desperately tried to think of a way to make things natural for them. They were so close to each other...

Why did things have to end up like this? What do I do now?

"First of all, calm down," Tenkai whispered, suddenly popping into existence at Rae's shoulder. "Stop freaking out and breathe."

Rae took a deep breath and tried thinking of all the cute girls he knew, comparing them with Sarah to make the latter look less interesting in his eyes. He thought about famous celebrities from TV shows, beauty pageant girls, the girls from his old school famous for their cuteness.

Dammit, she's the cutest of all the girls I know! This isn't working at all! Rae was embarrassed to even be thinking that. Suddenly, he heard Sarah take a deep breath. When he looked at her, her face was back to normal, and she was looking back at him with a casual smile. Rae realized he still hadn't responded to her earlier request for him to "forget" what she'd said.

"Err, sure...no problem." In the back of his mind, Rae felt relieved. It's a good thing she can keep her cool after what just happened, or else I would've gone crazy.

Just then, Tenkai sat on his head. "Are you stupid or something? You can't go crazy! Only an idiot would do that in a public place!"

"So you're saying I'm an idiot?" Rae whispered.

"Well, for one thing, you should've been distracting yourself with something else other than the faces of cute girls." Rae could just tell Tenkai was smirking. Before he could say anything else, however, Sarah interrupted.

"What did you say?"

Oh, shoot, I forgot she was here. How could I forget she was here? "Um,, n-nothing, really. Sometimes I talk to myself." Rae started to feel embarrassed. "L-let's just forget about it, okay?" And for the record, Tenkai, she's not technically the cutest; she just happens to be exactly my type of girl. Not that it makes a difference.

Sarah nodded. "I'll forget what you said, you forget what I said, everyone's happy." She smiled, but it was blatantly obvious she was still curious.

An awkward silence permeated the atmosphere for a moment, as neither Rae nor Sarah knew what to do next. Every second felt like an eternity for Rae, and his nervousness increased as time progressed. It was Sarah who finally broke the silence.

"Would you like me to give you a tour of the school? You know, just to get an idea where everything is?"

Rae's eyes widened; for the second time, it was Sarah who had put a stop to the tense atmosphere. I can't believe myself, being a total wimp in front of a girl – a really cute girl, he felt like adding, and being awkward and –

"Um, Rae, are you listening?"

Rae laughed nervously. "Oh, uh, yeah, of course I was."

Sarah raised an eyebrow doubtfully.

"I was listening, seriously," Rae continued. "It's about showing me around the school, right?" He looked at his watch for a brief moment. "We still have around half an hour left 'til next period, so I guess a quick tour would be nice. It saves me the trouble of looking around on my own."

Suddenly, Rae felt Sarah's hand grabbed his. He looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face, not knowing what to say in response. Sarah smiled at Rae, the picture of cool collectedness. How can she be so calm? She gently pulled his hand. "Let's go, then."

Before Rae could process what had just happened, Sarah dragged him out of the quadrangle.

†-o0o-†

Soon, the two of them reached the cafeteria. Rae was hesitant to go inside, so Sarah forced him by pulling on his sleeve.

"It looks like there aren't any students around," Rae commented, looking at his sleeve as Sarah kept a firm grip on it, deciding to let her hold onto him for a while longer. "But then again, at a time like this, I guess it's just natural for no one to be here. I mean, it's not lunch period or anything."

"Yeah, of course." Sarah tugged Rae's sleeve again as she turned around. "There's nothing much to do here, so let's go."

"H-hey, don't pull me so forcefully!" Rae said indignantly, but Sarah just laughed. Behind his exasperated interior, though, he was enjoying himself. No one treated me this familiarly back in Minester Middle School.

†-o0o-†

After their brief tour, Rae and Sarah ended up at the quadrangle once again. Sarah stopped for a brief moment and grabbed Rae's arm. "Let's stop here for now," she said.

"What, are you tired already?"

"No, of course not!" Sarah turned her back to Rae, then said jokingly, "You're so mean!"

What did I do now? Rae sighed. Understanding girls really is too hard for me.

Sarah placed her elbow Rae's shoulder like a familiar male buddy. "Anyway, this is the quadrangle, the most spacious part of the school."

"You don't have to tell me the obvious stuff."

"Meanie!" Sarah removed her arm from Rae's shoulder and grabbed his collar, pulling it playfully. "Come on, let's go." Rae followed Sarah, his feet moving backwards as her grip did not loosen.

"When do you plan on letting me go?" Sarah chuckled. Secretly, Rae was hoping she never would.

†-o0o-†

After a few more minutes of walking, the duo ended up inside the library. The place was air-conditioned, the shelves full of neatly-arranged books. Upon closer examination, Rae could see that the shelves on the left side had old-looking books and the ones on the right side had newer books. He went to see for himself how the shelves were arranged, and discovered that the books in the shelves were arranged from front to back by subject, and by date from left to right. He found it strange, yet somewhat amusing.

"This is the best place to study." Sarah said, coming up behind him. She pointed at the tables near the window. "If you sit there, you can get a good view of outside."

"What's outside?"

"There's a basketball court, a garden with a pond, some tennis courts."

Rae's eyes widened, a bright smile involuntarily creeping onto his face. "Tennis courts?!" As if by reflex, he ran toward the window, his anticipation increasing as he got nearer. When he reached the window, however, the excitement that he had felt seconds ago faded as watched. The court was full of teenagers hitting balls back and forth. Rae slowly frowned, his eyebrows nearly crossing.

"Are those guys beginners?" He asked Sarah.

"They're probably just playing for fun," she replied, "Although I can't really tell the difference; they all look the same to me."

"They look like beginners." Rae looked at the faces of the players and saw them smile and laugh as the ball flew towards them. He smiled as well and shook his head. "They're beginners, but at least they enjoy playing, I guess that's what's important. After all, I play tennis myself because I love it."

"You must be a really good player, huh?"

"It doesn't matter," Rae said modestly. "Let's just continue the tour."

"Alright then!" Sarah dashed outside, Rae running to catch up with her.

†-o0o-†

"This is the last place I'm gonna show you."

Rae looked around dumbfounded. They were in a secluded area of the school campus, right behind a group of buildings. The garden was filled with a large variety of bushes, shrubs, and trees, with a cool breeze blowing gently. What caught his attention, however, was the large tree situated in the middle of the place. He looked up at the tree; it was as if it was a king overlooking its lowly subjects.

"What a humongous tree," he said. "How many centuries old is this thing?"

"I don't really know." Sarah walked in front of the tree and touched its trunk. Rae simply stared at her. "I heard it's been here since before the school was built."

Rae walked around the tree, looking at the surroundings while he was at it. "No wonder its location seems so well-planned," he said. "Maybe this place used to be a park?"

"Or a forest."

"Yeah, that's a possibility, I guess." Rae shivered as he felt a presence nearby. "This place seems so soothing, yet somehow it gives me the chills. I don't know why."

"Oh, that's probably just the ghost."

Rae's eyes widened, but he managed to hide it in front of Sarah. I have a finger-sized angel with me, so I'm not as skeptical about ghosts as others are. "Ghost? There's a ghost here? In this very place?"

"At least that's what they say. That's why I'm the only one who comes here in my free time."

"Everyone must think you're a witch or something." Seeing the look on Sarah's face, he continued. "A freak who sold her soul to the dark side."

"Oh, stop it!" She smacked his arm playfully. "I am not a witch!"

"Still, I can't shake this feeling. It's not really creepy, it's more of a presence that you can't see, yet something that you can manage to ignore."

"Like me!" Tenkai interjected.

"Besides," Rae continued, paying no heed to Tenkai, (and thus proving the small angel's point), "you'd probably like to have someone to hang out with you here, since no one else will, so maybe I can stick around for a while."

Sarah turned her back to Rae; a secret, sweet smile creeping onto her face. "Thanks a lot." There was silence for a few moments, neither of them knowing what to say. Rae once again felt the same tension in his chest as before.

"Hey kid," Tenkai said, appearing out of nowhere and floating above Rae's head. "You're probably unaware of this, but your face is all red."

"W-what?!" There was no mirror to confirm whether Tenkai was telling the truth, but his face did feel somewhat hot. What's wrong with me?

"It's almost time for the next class," Sarah suddenly said. Rae turned around and saw Sarah looking at her watch. He felt so relieved that he involuntarily sighed. "Is that so?" he said. "Well then, let's get going. We don't want to be late, now do we?"

Sarah nodded. "Right. Let's go."

With the tension banished, Rae followed Sarah as she strode towards the classroom. What a strange girl. There's something about her. Strange, weird, unique. Maybe…special?

 

2: Chapter 2 : New Acquaintances

†-o0o-†

"Rae, you might not know this because you're new here, but the teacher for the next subject is very strict about tardiness."

"Hm? In what way?"

"If you're not inside before the bell rings, you're considered absent. If you're even one second late, you won't get any considerations."

Rae looked at his watch as they continued running. "20 seconds."

The two of them quickly got closer to the classroom as time ran out. Rae kept track of the time mentally, "eight…seven…six…five…damn, we won't make it."

"Four…three…oh, screw it." Without much thinking, he pushed Sarah forward, and was able to force her into the classroom right when the bell rang, where she almost lost her balance, but was eventually able to stand straight. Right behind her, Rae was standing with his eyes fixated on the teacher, who in turn was also looking at him.

"I heard from Sarah," Rae said. "I'm already absent on my first day, huh?"

The teacher's eyebrows met. "Out."

Rae nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am." He walked away and sat on the wall right outside the classroom. "I can at least sit in, right?"

There was no reply.

"I guess I'll stick with the saying 'silence means yes,'" Rae concluded. "Sitting on the floor is not too bad, anyway."

Sarah made her way into her seat, which was directly opposite to the wall that Rae was leaning on. "You didn't have to go out of your way for me," she said through the window.

"I guess so," Rae replied, "but I thought it would be best to at least save one of us. Well, at least that's what I thought when I pushed you. But really, no harm done, right?"

"But what about you?"

"It's a helpless cause, anyway. If I hadn't pushed you in, we would have both been shunned off. And you can't really blame our tour around, since there's no helping it now."

"You don't like dwelling in the past, do you?"

"I don't think it's the best thing to do."

The teacher cleared her throat. "Now, let us get started. First, a recap of what we discussed last meeting."

With that, the class began, Rae sitting outside, away from everyone else who sat in their seats. By the time 30 minutes had passed, some of the students started to fight the urge to sleep, and some, began secretly talking with others. Throughout the hour allotted for the class, Rae and Sarah did not say a word; Sarah was busy taking notes, and no one knew what was going on with Rae outside.

†-o0o-†

When the class was over, the teacher gathered her things in her bag. The students followed, except for Sarah, who hurriedly rushed outside to where Rae was.

What she saw came as a surprise to her: Rae was sound asleep. She walked in front of him, bent her knees, and sat down. Then she reached out her right hand and pulled Rae's hair gently, saying, "Hey, wake up."

Rae woke up, slowly opening his eyes, and looked at Sarah with a sleepy expression on his face. "Please don't do that."

"Sorry," Sarah said with a laugh, removing her hand from Rae's hair. "What time did you fall asleep, anyway?"

"Uh, when the teacher was talking about…slopes of linear functions," Rae replied. "Yeah, it was around that time that I dozed off."

"But that was the first thing that she said in class."

"Oh, really?" Rae stood up and stretched, and Sarah herself stood up soon after. "I guess it did feel a little too relaxing."

Just then, the teacher exited the classroom. She and Rae looked at each other, her eyes focused while Rae's gaze lacked intensity, his sleepiness evident.

"You were sleeping, Kusanagi?"

"Sorry teach; I couldn't help it."

"Come with me," the teacher said decisively. "You'll be—"

Rae's shook his head and changed his sleepy face into a serious one as he cut off his teacher. "I'll be writing 'I'm sorry' 500 times on my notebook? Sorry, but I don't have a notebook."

Sarah started to panic. "Rae! That's—"

"Rude?" Rae said. "I was just asking if my assumption was correct."

"The rude part was not letting her finish," Tenkai said.

"Shut up," Rae whispered. I know that. I realized it just now.

Tenkai sighed. "You're hopeless."

"Just come," the teacher said, walking ahead. "You'll be doing something worse than that."

Rae motioned Sarah to go ahead while he followed the teacher. "Actually, I find writing the same thing over and over again the worst thing I can possibly do."

Sarah watched the two of them walk away, until they eventually took a turn to the left, leaving them out of her range of vision. "I hope he'll be all right," she said to no one in particular.

†-o0o-†

Fortunately enough for Rae's attendance record, the teacher for the next subject, history, was not around for the day. After hearing the news, the students decided to have fun and do what they wanted. Some of them simply went outside the building and chatted with each other, while others decided to take short, leisurely walks. Sarah was sitting on a bench near the school fountain, talking with a group of girls. She was laughing with her friends for quite a while when she suddenly remembered what had happened to Rae. She stopped talking and looked at her watch.

"It's been 40 minutes," she told herself. "I wonder what he's doing right now."

She had failed to take into account the presence of her friends, and they started smiling at the mention of a guy. "Did you just say 'he'?" one of them asked. "What's going on, Sarah? Has a guy finally caught your attention?"

Sarah simply laughed. "Um, I'm talking about Rae," she replied. "The teacher sent him to the teacher's office right after math class."

Another one of Sarah's friends grinned. "Ah, so you've taken an interest in the new kid, huh? He seems like a nice person, but his sleepy attitude makes me feel like he's a delinquent."

"I don't think he's a delinquent," Sarah interjected. "Maybe he didn't get much sleep last night and just now felt the consequences."

"See, Sarah? You're bailing him. Aww, that's so sweet of you."

"I'm telling you, it's not like that! Geez."

†-o0o-†

50 minutes after he left Sarah because of the fight he had after his second class, Rae was sitting in the math department office, across from his teacher. He sleepily waited as the teacher examined a piece of paper.

"Hey," he said, "are you done yet? I still have class after this. Being absent for three straight subjects is enough for me. My record's messed up as it is."

The teacher continued staring at the piece of paper in amazement. "I can't see any faults. Every single answer…it's perfect."

"Well, yeah," Rae replied. "I think so too. Now can I go?"

"This test," the teacher said, pointing at the piece of paper that she had been looking at, "is actually last year's final examination for freshmen."

"Oh really? Cool. Then does that mean I'll ace the final exam this year?"

The teacher was about to praise Rae, but she suddenly hesitated. She slapped her face, and ordered Rae, who was more than happy to comply, to get out.

"Hey," he said, "will you still hate me if I ace all your requirements?" He saw the teacher's angry face and laughed. "Just kidding, ma'am. Well, I gotta go now."

As soon as Rae had left, the teachers in the office gathered around.

"He got a perfect score?" one of them asked. "On a final exam? And in less than an hour? Who on earth is he?"

"Actually," the teacher said, "according to his profile, he's supposed to be a third year middle schooler. Apparently, he skipped a year."

"And he's already past the level of a high school freshman?" one of the other teachers asked, not expecting an answer because he was aware that they all knew already. "That's pretty amazing."

Rae's teacher shook her head. "I heard he was supposed to skip another year, but he decided against it." She paused for a while. "Such people really do exist, it's just that they are very rare," she said. "And to top it off, he ended up in this school."

"He will be able to boost this school's reputation," another teacher commented.

The teacher nodded in response.

†-o0o-†

Five minutes after Rae had left the teachers office, he was walking around the school, familiarizing himself with the campus while waiting for his next class to start. As he reached the quadrangle, he saw a familiar-looking guy with a girl whom he did not know. He casually passed by them, taking a better look at their faces.

"Oh, it's a classmate of mine," he told himself as he passed them. "So he has a girlfriend from another class, huh."

Just then, he heard the guy call him from behind. "Kusanagi? Is that you?"

Rae turned around. "Oh, you were here? What a coincidence. What about class?"

"The teacher wasn't around today."

"Oh, really? That's a relief." So I ditched only two classes so far.

"Where have you been?"

"The teacher dragged me to the teacher's office."

"She forced a test on you?"

Rae nodded.

"Haha, she must really hate your guts. Anyway, I won't ask you how it went. Are you planning on going somewhere in particular?"

"Sarah," was Rae's quick reply. "I need to find her." After seeing his classmate's grin, he quickly added, "Well, you know, since she's supposed to be my tourist guide of sorts."

"Not all of the freshmen here came from New State Middle High, though. Some people who're in similar positions as you can figure out the place quickly."

It's true, Rae admitted. I kind of already have the place memorized now. "Well, anyway, she's the only one I know right now. Could you just tell me where she is?"

The student waved his hand as if calming Rae down. "Easy, easy, don't get mad. I think I saw her in the fountain area."

Rae quickly turned his back and waved his hand, saying, "All right, thanks," as he ran to the fountain.

†-o0o-†

"Hey, it's almost time for the next class," one of Sarah's friends said. "We'd better leave now."

"Um, I…" Sarah bowed her head and looked at her swinging legs. "I think I'll stay here for a bit longer."

"What are you talking about, Sarah?" another one of her friends asked. "Purposely getting late. That's not like you."

"I—I think I'll wait for Rae to arrive."

"Kusanagi? Maybe he's on his way there right now."

"I don't think he knows where the next class will be held," Sarah replied. "He'd most likely look for me, so I can't just leave him."

"Ah, you're being the reliable big sister now, huh? Well, he does look pretty young; I'll bet you're older than him."

Sarah simply laughed. "You girls are thinking too much about it. I just suddenly felt responsible for him, that's all."

"Well, if you say so," one of her friends said as they all went ahead, leaving Sarah waiting on the bench in front of the fountain.

Once they had left, Sarah heaved a sigh. "Stupid Rae, where are you now?"

She suddenly felt a presence behind her. Before she could look back to see who it was, she heard the person's voice. "I don't wanna be late for a third time. Let's get going."

Sarah smiled. "So you did look for me," she said without looking back. "How sweet, new kid."

"Hah," Rae smiled, turned back, and started walking. "Hurry up or I'll leave you behind."

Sarah quickly stood up and ran to catch up. "Hey, no fair! And to think I waited for you!"

Once the two of them were walking together, Sarah looked at Rae. "We'll be late if we keep this slow pace up. Wanna run?"

Rae grinned. "You think you can keep up with me?"

When he looked, Sarah was already running.

"Hey, wait up!" As he chases her, a smile crept on his face. I'm starting to feel really comfortable with her now.

†-o0o-†

A few minutes later, Rae and Sarah were leaning on the wall outside the classroom. The teacher had shut them out for arriving late, making their second absence together and the third for Rae.

Rae sighed. "I can't believe my attendance for this day is still zero. This sucks."

Sarah nodded. "Mine is one."

"At least you have something. Besides, I'm the new guy here. This is really bad for my reputation."

"You have a reputation to keep?"

"Well, I'm human, and I'm a guy. I have my pride."

"I see…whatever. Well, we still have a few classes left. Make sure you get to those on time, okay?"

Whatever? Are you belittling the male pride? "I've learned my lesson," Rae replied. "I'll stick with everyone else."

†-o0o-†

When dismissal time arrived a few hours later, Rae was the first one to leave. "In the end, I was able to attend two classes…out of five. It's a good thing that history teacher wasn't around, or it would've been two out of six."

Just then, as he was walking, he felt a large hand on his head, causing him to stop. Rae quickly turned and bowed at the large figure.

"Thank you for letting me into this school, sir," he said with his head still lowered. "I kinda messed up on my first day, but I promise I'll make it up to the teachers."

"No need to bow, Rae," the man said. As Rae raised his head, he continued. "Anyway, what happened on your first day here? What kind of mess occurred?"

"I was able to attend only two classes because of…certain circumstances."

"Ah, I see. Have you made any friends?"

"I can't seem to fit in very well with so many older people, but I think I'll manage. "Besides, I've had that problem since my second year of middle school, so it's no big deal.

The man nodded. "Oh, that's right. But it would be worse if you had skipped another year, right?"

Rae laughed. "I guess. That's why I decided to keep a normal pace here. I guess it's not too bad."

"Well, at least you'll manage. That's good to hear. Well, enjoy your stay here. I have to get going or I'll be late for an important appointment."

"I'm sorry for taking up your time, sir," Rae said, bowing again.

"Don't mind it. Just make sure you're comfortable with high school life. I'll see you when I see you."

Only when the man had left did Rae raise his head. While Rae had been talking with the principal, Sarah happened to pass by with her friends who were happily chatting. Upon seeing the two, she decided to stay and wait for Rae while her friends went ahead. When the principal left, she immediately went to Rae.

"I never thought you were close to the principal," she said. "To be able to easily talk to him, you must be pretty special, huh?"

"It's thanks to him that I can study here right now," Rae replied. "I had a few problems back in my previous school, and it was he who took me in here."

"Really? What happened?"

Rae looked his watch. "Oh, look at the time. I gotta go," he said and left as if he had not heard anything, leaving Sarah dumbfounded.

When he had left, Sarah finally snapped out of her surprised state. She puffed her cheeks in a gesture of annoyance and said, "That idiot, I can't believe he ran away." What's up with him? And I'm still curious as to why he transferred one week after the start of classes.

 

As Rae continued running out of the building, he shook his head. "Sorry for leaving so abruptly, Sarah," he said to no one in particular. "I'm not really late, but if I answered your question, it would take me such a long time that I really would end up late."

Before he noticed, he was outside. He looked around: at the people who were walking home, at those who were waiting for others to go home with, and at those who chose to stay for the time being, maybe for the sake of chatting with friends or for group homework or discussion. Then he looked at the school gate, noticing that everyone he saw leave turned right. "I guess I can't find anyone whom I can walk with," he said to himself as he headed to the train station on the left.

†-o0o-†

When he reached the station, he saw a boy wearing the same uniform as his. When he looked more closely, he realized that the person looked very familiar. He walked slowly towards him and waved his hand. "Hi. Uh, you're a classmate of mine, right?"

The person looked at Rae, and upon recognizing his face, smiled and nodded. "Oh, it's you. Yeah, I'm Robin. Robin Whitman. What was your name again?"

"Kusanagi."

"Ah, yes. Rae Kusanagi, was it? So you're taking the train too, eh?"

"Yep, that's right."

Then the train arrived. Rae stepped forward, but noticed that Robin didn't budge, and so he stepped back. When the train left, he turned to Robin.

"You're waiting for someone?" he asked.

"Yeah," Robin replied. "Childhood friend of mine. She's also a classmate of ours. In fact, she's the class president. Anyway, you should have just gone ahead."

"I might have done so if I knew that you were waiting for someone," Rae said. "I just got confused when you didn't move."

Robin laughed. "Oh, right. Sorry about that."

Just then, they heard a voice from behind. "Sorry I'm late, Robin!"

The two boys turned their heads and saw a long-haired girl running toward them. When she reached them, she stopped, placed her hand on her bent knees, and panted.

"Hey Kim, we have company," Robin said. "The new guy, Kusanagi." He then faced Rae and pointed at the girl. "This is Kimberly. Kimberly Dickinson."

Rae nodded. "Hi."

Kimberly stopped panting, raised her head to look at him, and grinned. "Oh, it's you."

"Huh? What do you mean, 'it's you'?"

"The guy who practically ditched all his subjects on his first day."

"Sorry for being part of an unfortunate string of events, class rep."

Kimberly laughed. "Nah, don't mind it." Then she heard the sound of a train approaching. "Here it comes. Let's go now."

†-o0o-†

Inside the train, the three of them stood side by side, with Kimberly in the middle of the two boys.

"Say, will any of you, by any chance, leave on the last station?" Rae asked.

Kimberly shook her head. "Nope. The two of us will be leaving halfway through."

"Ah, I see. I guess I'll be walking on my own the way I thought I would."

A few moments of silence passed, and then Robin's "Umm" took Rae's attention.

"You wanna say something, Robin?" he asked.

"I was just wondering about what happened to you during the first class," Robin said.

Rae laughed. "Oh, the embarrassing grand entrance, eh? You see, I lost my memories. All the stuff I remembered up until now began from when I was 5."

"And what does that have to do with your headache?" Kimberly asked.

"Mrs. Goldworth said that I have these opposing forces in my head," Rae replied. "One tries to resurface the memories while the other keeps me from doing so, and the suppression is what gave me the headache."

"That's some pretty complicated stuff you're going through," Robin said. "Well, anyway, whether you want to regain your memories or not is entirely up to you. And once you get them back, you'll have to tell us all about it."

"Huh? And why should I?"

"Because it's interesting. I mean, it's not everyday that I meet someone whose suppression of long-lost memories can trigger headaches."

"Heh, fine. You'll be the first ones to hear about it."

Kimberly smiled. "I'm pretty excited. I hope you recover your memories soon."

"Hey, I think your intentions are wrong."

"Haha, sorry." Then they all heard the doors of the train open. "Hey, it looks like we'll be leaving now. Let's go Robin. See you tomorrow, Kusanagi."

Rae waved his hand. "Yeah. Bye."

†-o0o-†

A few minutes later, Rae was walking in a neighborhood, with Tenkai floating beside him. As he walked, he found he was walking near another student; a girl with long brown hair that had a clip on the left side, fair skin, slender body, and a shy face. Her uniform suggested that she was in middle school.

The girl was walking particularly slowly, and Rae soon got near her. Not wanting to walk past her, he slowed his pace down considerably. As the two of them continued walking in the same direction, Rae started feeling uneasy. This is getting awkward. I should start up a conversation and fast.

"You can start with the coincidence that the two of you are taking the same route, you know," Tenkai said from behind Rae's mind. "Seriously, that's what anyone would say first. Although if you want, you can start by asking her phone number and see what her reaction would be."

Rae shook his head. The latter is no good. I'm no heartthrob that sweeps girls off their feet with just a glance. I can go with the first for a friendly conversation, though. He then called out a "hey," walked beside the girl, and said, "I didn't know someone else besides me takes this way home."

Rae quickly noticed that the girl was having a hard time giving a response. I guess I'm not the only one feeling uneasy here. "Are there any others who go this way besides us? I'm new to the school, so I don't really know."

To Rae's delight, the girl finally spoke. "There's a school closer to the area I live in. I actually thought I was the only student in the area who used the train and ended up here."

"Where do you study?"

"New State Middle School."

Yet Minester Middle's closer to this place? "Oh. I study at New State High, though I only transferred just now. I used to be in Minester High, since it was obviously closer here."

"You used to study at Minester High?"

"I was in Minester since grade school."

"Then why did you transfer to New State High if you've been there for a long time?"

Oh crap, why am I opening up so easily? I can't let anyone know about my recent events. "Oh, that? Uh, long story. Anyway, how about you? You're in middle school, right? Why study in New State instead of Minester?"

"My family moved here during my first year of middle school, a few days after the start of classes. I couldn't get into Minester, so I ended up in New State Middle."

"Hmm, that's weird."

The girl looked at him. "What is?"

"You getting into New State but not passing Minester," Rae replied. "The application for Minester is a lot easier. You should have been accepted to both."

"Actually, it's more like…" the girl paused for a moment. "The principal of Minester didn't consider me because I was late. I have Mr. McKenzie to thank for getting into New State."

Rae smiled. "The principal's a really nice guy, isn't he?"

As he continued walking, he didn't hear an answer. He stopped and looked at his side to find out that the girl was gone. "Eh? What's going on?" The thought of him getting ahead quickly came to his mind soon after, and so he looked behind him.

And there she was, looking at him with innocent eyes and a smile as she pointed at a house. "Uh, this is where I live. Looks like you're on your own now."

Rae nodded slowly. "Uh, okay."

"Where do you live, anyway?"

"Same place where my second life, started, I guess," Rae replied, turning back and walking with a smile in his face. "I can't believe I was able to come up with a cool line like that. Second life."

Just then, Tenkai appeared, sat on Rae's head, and said, "I don't like it when people intentionally try to give a cool front when around girls and show their true childish sides when around me."

"Take a hint and shut up, Tenkai."

"Yessir," the angel said before disappearing into thin air. At the back of his head, however, he made an abrupt follow-up. "By the way, kid, I don't think you were able to catch that chick's name, if I'm not mistaken."

3: Chapter 3 : Orphans

†-o0o-†

"Seriously, kid, you fail as a man," Tenkai said as he flew behind Rae who was walking. "The first thing a guy thinks when he meets a beauty such as the one you saw is 'I wonder what her name is.' Are you really human?"

"Sorry for being boring," Rae replied. "I'm no skirt-chaser."

"I never said you were."

"Well, what did you mean then?"

"Don't go jumping to conclusions, kid." Tenkai flew in front of Rae, causing him to stop in his tracks, and waved his finger. "Didn't your parents ever tell you never to talk to strangers? The first thing a person does when befriending someone else is find out his or her name."

Rae simply walked forward, passing through Tenkai's floating body. How should I know what my parents said?

The angel smiled as his human companion passed through him. "Kid," he continued. "You like her, don't you? The middle school girl." He flew beside Rae and continued, "And to think you already have Sarah. I never thought you would turn into such a player."

"Give it a rest, Tenkai. We're already here."

The gate in front of them had a sign that said "Minester Orphanage." Behind it was a large building surrounded by a large piece of land. The land contained playgrounds and various courts for sports, among other things. Rae walked through the gate, passed through the road that led to the building, and finally entered the large structure.

My parents died, so I live in an orphanage. More often than not,  couples wanted to adopt me during my childhood, but I turned them all down, saying I couldn't let anyone adopt me. I know it was selfish, but part of me didn't want to leave the people who took me in after my mysterious past; the ones who found me and allowed me another chance to live.

"I'm back," he said to a group of adults who were sitting on a bench in the lobby.

One of the people on the bench was a woman in her 50's. She wore a pair of large glasses and had hair that was beginning to turn white. She turned and looked at Rae with a happy expression on her face. "Oh, welcome back, Rae. How was your first day of school?"

"Pretty bad, Mrs. Morrison," Rae replied. "I skipped some classes because of unfortunate events. I can't believe New State High is so strict with punctuality."

A man in his 30's who was reading a newspaper as he sat on the bench heard what Rae had said and turned to look at him with a grin. "Punctuality has always been your weakness, hasn't it? Looks like school's gonna be tough for you now."

"I know, I know, Mr. David," Rae said with a nod. "Let's just hope for the best, which would be no incomplete grades on my record because of lack of attendance, right?"

Mr. David suddenly burst into laughter. "Haha, you really do know your stuff, kid! That's why I like you so much."

"I've been living here for almost a decade already, and I think that's enough to get a vague understanding on how everyone thinks," Rae replied. "Well, of course, I can only get bits and pieces, and not the entire thought process." He suddenly paused and thought. "Because, well, stuff like thoughts of others are hard to figure out completely, and, and…"

Mr. David waved his hand. "Come now, don't think too much, kid. We get it already."

"Oh, um, okay."

"By the way," Mrs. Miller intervened, "the kids are waiting for you."

As if on cue, a young boy peeked on the lobby from upstairs. Upon seeing Rae, his face lit up, and he came running down the stairs while shouting, "Guys, big brother is here!"

Rae turned and saw the young boy running toward him. "Here he comes." The next thing he knew, the boy was already in front of him. "I'm finally back, Brian."

"I can see that much," Brian replied instantly. Rae smiled and was about to say something, but Brian quickly grabbed his arm with both hands and tried pulling him. "Come on, everyone's waiting."

Rae, however, did not budge. He simply laughed as he stood in place while Brian struggled to pull him. "Can you let me prepare first? I just got here from school. See my uniform?"

"Oh, okay." Brian let go of Rae's hand without weakening his pull, and he fell from the force. "Ouch."

Rae laughed and walked toward the door while Brian tried to stand up. "I guess I'll be going now. Tell your friends to wait in the room for me, willya?"

Brian was laughing, and Rae had no idea why. Only when he got to the second floor did he have an idea what the reason was. "Oh, right, he announced my arrival to…everyone."

In front of him stood a group of 17 children, all looking at him with happy looks on their faces. Brian walked up behind him. "You tell them yourself," he said with an innocent smile.

Added hassle, that's what this kid is, Rae told himself before he faced the kids and said, "I'm back, guys. Do you mind if I take a quick rest before I help you all?"

"Okay," a five-year-old girl said, followed by everyone else's replies of agreement.

Rae smiled, then he suddenly felt two small hands gently push his back. "What is it, Brian?"

"I'm gonna be first, right?"

"No, you won't," Rae replied. "The first ones will be Anne, Sarah, Justin, Ryan, and Billy."

"No fair! Why?"

Such childishness coming from the oldest among them, Rae thought as Brian constantly pulled his shirt. I can't believe he's like this. "Uh, doesn't being last mean you can prepare or relax more? It doesn't matter who goes first, right?"

"If it doesn't matter, then let me be the first!"

As always, major hassle. "No," Rae finally said firmly before removing Brian's hand from his shirt and walking straight to his room. The children simply watched him as he left, not willing to say a word.

Once Rae had entered his room, the other children turned to Brian.

"You're in trouble now," a 6-year-old girl said. "Big brother's angry. He won't teach you anymore." Her statement followed many whispers of agreement from the other children.

Brian covered his ears in irritation. "Shut up! What do you know? He's not being reasonable!" he said before running downstairs and finally, outside the building. The others went into their own rooms soon after.

Upon getting into his room, Rae threw his bag into a corner and leaped into his bed, where he rolled over to face the ceiling. He then closed his eyes and sighed. "What a day. High school seems so similar to middle school, yet at the same time, really different."

"You know," Tenkai said from behind his head, "maybe it's just you."

Rae smiled. "Yeah, you have a point. Maybe I just want things to change so badly, but are you sure I’m just forcing the ‘It’s different’ reaction to all this?" He heaved a sigh. "But seriously, now that I look back, I guess it’s a good thing that, you know, I didn't get to continue studying at Minester High."

"You don't have any regrets?" Tenkai asked. "We both know that you didn't really have to transfer."

Rae shook his head. "It's a lost cause, Tenkai. I had to transfer, and despite the long trip to and from school, I think I'm gonna have fun at New State High."

"Because there's Sarah at school and Rachel right after that?"

"Shut up; it's not my fault they're both cute." He heaved a sigh. "Anyway, the day's been pretty stressful, especially the travelling part; I think I ran a little too much back then. Now that I'm in bed like this, I kinda feel like…"

Tenkai looked at Rae and saw that he was starting to get sleepy. "Hey, kid," he quickly said. "Get up. You can't fall asleep now."

"Oh, right." Rae rose from the bed reluctantly and made for the door.

Outside his room, in the corridor of the orphanage's second floor, he looked at the several rooms around him, his eyes stopping at each door that he lays eyes on. After looking at four doors, he stopped and focused on the fifth one. He smiled and nodded. "Okay, I'll go with this one first," he said to himself, and entered the room.

Inside the room was a group of 4-year-old children sitting on the floor in a circular formation. The children turned to see who had entered and smiled at him.

Rae waved his hand slightly and smiled back. "Let's get started, guys. First, the homework that Ms. Gilmore gave you. As usual, you'll be discussing it with me so that she can teach you the next topic on your next meeting with her."

"Okay," one of the children said.

Rae sat on the floor, and the children gathered in front of him, each of them with their own notebooks and pencils. "Let's begin, then. For our first lesson…"

†-o0o-†

Rachel sat in the couch on the living room of her house, her head bowed as she looked at her fiddling fingers. Her eyes widened as she heard footsteps that grew louder by the second. Finally, when the sound was no longer there, she heard a low voice saying her name, which she reacted to by closing her eyes in fear.

"Rachel," came the voice. "Who was the person with you a while ago?" The person speaking to her was a large, muscular man in his mid-40's. He had a gruff voice.

He looked at Rachel and saw her open her mouth, about to say something, and stopped her by saying, "Don't tell me he's just a friend you met recently."

"But he is, dad!" Rachel replied instantly, her tone defensive, making her father more suspicious.

"Up until now, you've always walked home on your own," her father said matter-of-factly. "I know for a fact that you're the only one who walks here. Why would someone suddenly be walking with you?"

"He…" Rachel's nervousness because of the presence of her father caused her to stammer.

"He's just what? Your boyfriend?"

"No, it's not that, dad!"

"Then what is it?"

Just then, the two of them heard a woman's voice. "Give her a break, honey. You're too strict." From the stairs leading to the second floor of the house came a woman in her late 30's, a disappointed look decorating her face. When she got to where Rachel and her father were, she continued, "Rachel, dear, could you clearly tell us what happened a while ago? Who was that boy?"

Rachel felt calmer at the sight of her mother, yet she was still cautious of her father's presence. Nevertheless, she answered, "H-he's a first year high school student. He was late in enrolling and was only able to attend classes today. I was surprised myself when I found out that his home was on the way here."

Rachel's mother looked at her husband. "See, honey? He's just someone who happens to live somewhere in this area." She looked back at Rachel. "You were talking with him on the way, right?"

"Yes."

"What's his name?"

"Err…"

"What's his name?" Rachel's father repeated.

"I…didn't find out," Rachel replied along with the realization of the fact. "We talked about school and some other stuff, but we forgot to introduce ourselves."

Rachel's mother smiled. "I see. Well, now that you've made a new friend, why don't you invite him over one of these days?"

"That's right," Rachel's father said. "Get him here and we'll see if he can get past me."

"I'm telling you, it's not like that, dad!"

†-o0o-†

"You multiply the denominator here, then do the same in here."

Rae was writing the process of cross-multiplication on the floor for Brian, the latter sat and looked, a puzzled look in his face.

"There you go," Rae said as he removed his hand from the paper. "With this, you get an answer of 72/48. Now, can you simplify?"

"Hmm." Brian looked at the fraction with his eyebrows meeting each other. "I'll just turn it into a mixed number, right?"

"Well, yeah, but the denominator can be simplified after you do so."

"Really?"

Rae stood up. "Yep. Since you can't seem to do it right now, I'll turn it into your homework." He went to the door and gave Brian the idea that he would leave immediately, but he suddenly stopped as he held the knob. "By the way, it would really help if you knew the multiples of, uh, maybe up to 10."

"It's not required, right?" Brian said with an innocent smile, hiding his anticipation of Rae leaving as soon as possible.

Rae, however, having faced the door, could not see Brian's expression. He simply bowed his head and said, "I'll make it required. Right now."

With Brian completely speechless, Rae left the room and went to his own.

Once he got back to his room, he took the towel that hung on his chair and went to the bathroom. As he took off his clothes, Tenkai completely disappeared, and Rae turned the shower on.

 

Brian was outside the building, looking at his fellow orphans play. He saw the younger ones playing in the playground while the older ones played either soccer or tag.

As he watched, he heard someone from behind him. "Looks like they're all having fun, huh?" came the voice. "Why don't you join in?"

"I'm too good for them, Mrs. Morrison," he replied. "If I played, it would seem as if I'm bullying them. I need someone older to be a match for me."

"The only person older than you that's close to your age is Rae, but he's 14, and that's five years ahead."

"I don't stand a chance against him," Brian said. "Even 16-year-olds are no match for him in the physical aspect. I need someone more normal."

"But wasn't it him who taught you the various sports that you play today?" Mrs. Morrison asked with a smile. "Just because you're better doesn't mean you can't play with others anymore. As someone older, isn't it your responsibility to take care of them? For a big brother, it's a great joy to be of help to his younger siblings. I'm sure that's how Rae feels about all of you."

Just then, the children playing soccer saw Brian. "Hey, big brother. Wanna join us?"

As Brian was looking at them with a surprised expression, Mrs. Morrison spoke. "Come on now, child. Your brothers are calling you."

†-o0o-†

Even after Rae had finished getting dressed, Tenkai did not reappear. He looked around his room to confirm the presence of his companion, and upon seeing that he was nowhere to be found, took his bag and dived into his bed with it.

Once he was comfortably lying on his chest, he opened his bag and took some notebooks from it. Then, from the study table nearby, he took a couple of books and placed them a few feet away from the notebooks.

Rae did not know when it had started, but he always aimed to be as advanced as he could be. The notebooks in his bag contained his homework, which he did right away. The other two books were about biology and physics, both of which were topics for the next year. He studied things that were one year ahead whenever he had the time, no matter how young he was.

"Alrighty, let's do this." Picking up his pen and opening a notebook, he began to do his homework.