The blue uniform pants clung to his long legs, revealing more than should have been legal. A hand on his hip drew attention to his narrow hips and small waist, which led the eyes to his chest, hidden beneath the baggy white shirt. Topping the delicious sight off was an oval-shaped, finely boned face, a single emerald eye gazing at the audience, the other eye hidden behind a shock of auburn hair. All the girls at Saito High were captivated by him, except one Mutsuki Asahina.

"Pity he's in high school," she murmured to Haruto, who was sitting next to her. "If he were just seven years younger, I'd have to fire Nino-kun." Haruto sweatdropped, shaking his head.

"Hello," the boy said. "I am Trowa Barton. I don't have a long speech prepared, so I'd just like to say a few words. Nitwit. Blubber. Oddment. Tweak. Thank you." He bowed.

"Very concise, Mr. Barton," the principal said, nodding. "Why don't you go sit down next to . . . Miss Ogata?"

Mr. Barton nodded and took his seat next to Miss Ogata, who blushed and batted her eyelashes at him. He looked at her, then shook his head slightly before turning back to the front.

When class dismissed, Haruto made his way through the flood of students to the new arrival.

"Hello, Mr. Barton," he said with a slight bow. "My name is Haruto Hojo, and I'm the president of the Holy Student Council." /Even though I really, really wish I weren't./ "The headmaster has asked me to show you around the school."

"Thank you, Mr. Hojo," Mr. Barton said, bowing in return. "I would appreciate that."

They began making their way through the school, Haruto pointing out the various rooms and hallways. As they approached the boy's bathroom on the second floor, Haruto slowed.

"Er, Mr. Barton, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

Mr. Barton glanced over at him, green eyes cool. "Sixteen."

Haruto could feel a blush creeping onto his cheeks. "In that case, this bathroom up ahead--" He gestured to the bathroom in question, pointing specifically to the sign that said "18 and over only!"--"is off-limits to you."

"Why?"

"Um, there's, um, just, um, something, um, wrong with it." Haruto grinned, hoping the other boy bought the explanation.

A single slender shoulder shrugged. "That's fine."

Haruto sighed in relief. "Okay, then. That's pretty much it. Are you glad you came here?"

"Yeah. This looks like it'll prove to be more interesting than my old school."

"Oh, really? Where did you last go to school?"

Mr. Barton's eyes flicked to Haruto, and the blonde boy took an instinctive step away. One did not stand too near eyes like that if one wanted to live.

"Juuban High. It was a good school, but a bit boring."

Haruto rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you'll find Saito High anything but boring." He looked over at Mr. Barton, but found the other boy had stopped. "Mr. Barton?"

He was staring into a mirror, a small smile quirking his lips. "Hello," he said. "What's your name?"

At any other school, a boy asking a mirror's name would have been carted off to the asylum. In this case, however, Haruto knew precisely what was going on. He backtracked and stood next to Mr. Barton, then smiled and waved at the girl in the mirror.

"Hello, Mirror Girl. This is Trowa Barton. He just transferred here."

The Mirror Girl giggled and she bowed a bit. "Hello, Mr. Barton. I like your hair."

Mr. Barton bowed back. "I like yours too." He turned to Haruto. "Do you have a lot of this sort of thing in your school?"

Haruto nodded, sighing. "Yeah. There's six other spirits besides Mirror Girl. They're called The Seven Wonders of the School. If you're here long enough, you're bound to run into all of them."

The Mirror Girl waved and disappeared from the mirror.

"Are all the others like her?"

"No. We have a varied bunch of spirits."

Mr. Barton checked his watch. "I should probably be going now, Mr. Hojo. Thank you very much for the tour."

"It was nothing, Mr. Barton." The two boys bowed, then Mr. Barton walked off, his stride long and purposeful.

Haruto stood there for a few seconds, staring after the new boy and absently fingering his cross. That boy had one hell of a body and he knew how to use it.

"Who're you staring at, Prez?" Kazumi asked, looking curiously at Haruto. He followed the blonde's gaze and smirked. "Oh, the new kid. Yeah, he's okay, I guess, but he's no Miss Hanako."

Haruto snorted, but said nothing. Finally, he tore his gaze away from the new kid to look at Kazumi. "Anyway, Kazumi-kun, what's . . . up . . ." The blonde sweatdropped. Kazumi's eyes were glazed over as he dropped to all fours. Looking up at Haruto, he began barking madly. "Oh, Lord. Mutsuki-kun!"

In a twinkling, Mutsuki was at his elbow. "What's up, Prez?"

Haruto pointed.

Mutsuki nodded in total understanding and whacked Kazumi upside the head. The dog-spirit came out of Kazumi and he stood.

"There was something I had to tell you," he said, frowning a bit. "I can't recall what it was, though."

Suddenly, the Headmaster appeared, scaring the bejeezus out of the members.

"Wh-what is it, Headmaster?" Haruto asked, being the first one to gather his scattered wits.

"There's a group of spirits in the library," the headmaster informed them. "You need to go take care of them."

With a shared look of "here we go again," the three members of the Holy Student Council made their way to the library to fight this new threat.

When they arrived at the library, they were in their Special Fighting Outfits. Haruto's white robes fluttered around him and the seven badges gleamed on his chest. Mutsuki smoothed down the red skirt of her robe and flicked her wrist, unrolling the Exorcising Whip. Kazumi tugged at the sleeves of his monk outfit and prepared to be possessed.

"Where are the spirits?" Mutsuki asked finally, glancing around the library. "You don't think the headmaster made a mistake, do you?"

Kazumi felt someone tugging at the bottom of his robe. He looked down and saw a little girl with her face obscured by her hat.

"Hi," he said, squatting down to her level.

She giggled. "Hi. Have you seen my puppy?"

"I don't think that your puppy's here," Kazumi replied. "This is a school." He stood. "Sorry I couldn't help."

The little girl reached up and knocked her hat off. Haruto couldn't help the gasp that escaped him. Her face was charred and burnt, and a long red gash sliced across her throat.

"Mister, have you seen my puppy?"

"Mutsuki-kun! Exorcise her!"

"Got it, Prez!" Mutsuki spun and yelled, "SPECIAL ASAHINA DOUBLE EXORCISM!"

The whips hit the little girl with lightning speed, but she seemed unaffected. She actually giggled.

Mutsuki blinked. No one got hit by her Special Asahina Double Exorcism and giggled.

"Hey!" she yelled. "Just who the hell do you think you are? You do NOT get hit by the Double Exorcism and giggle. That's the way things may work somewhere else, but that is not the way things go around here! Now you stand very still and let me exorcise you!"

The girl smiled and crossed her arms. "Go ahead and try, miss. I don't think it will work."

Mutsuki narrowed her eyes, her upper lip curling. Smarmy little brat! How dare she! "SPECIAL ASAHINA--"

"Stop right there."

Mutsuki suddenly froze in mid-air, one whip curled around her head. The boys gaped, then Kazumi cautiously raised a hand and tapped Mutsuki on the side. She didn't twitch.

"Um . . . Prez? Do you think we can get someone to help us?"

Haruto nervously fingered the badges on his chest. "We can get the Mirror Girl to entertain the girl--then Nino-kun to help us free Mutsuki-kun--"

"Your badges won't work." The same voice that had frozen Mutsuki spoke again. The air shimmered, and a black-haired girl appeared. She wore a Chinese-style blue silk shirt and matching pants that ended at her knees. A smirk curled across her lips and she twirled a single red flower between her thumb and index finger. "Go on. Try. Summon one of your school spirits."

Frowning, Haruto grabbed the yellow badge from its place and set it between his middle and index fingers. He turned his face to the sky and yelled, "Emergency! Nino-kun, get to the school grounds on the double! WELCOME!"

A stream of golden light burst from the badge, then fizzled. Haruto looked at the badge in horror. Kazumi looked at the badge in horror. Mutsuki, had she been able to move, would have looked at the badge in horror.

The girl smirked again, chuckling a little. "I told you." She waved one hand carelessly and Mutsuki fell to the ground in a heap. Cursing quietly, she stood and dusted off her robes. She glared at the girl and grabbed for her whip.

A full-blown grin appeared on the Chinese girl's lips. She lifted both hands in front of her, formed them into a circle, and began bringing her fingers together. Suddenly, Haruto couldn't get enough air. Black spots appeared in front of his eyes as he gasped for breath. He fell to his knees, chest heaving, and the yellow badge dropping from his nerveless fingers. His mind noted that much the same thing was happening to Kazumi and Mutsuki.

As the last vestiges of consciousness disappeared, Haruto could have sworn he heard a voice whispering, "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons . . ."

--end part one--