Chapter Three – Introductions

This high up, I could see it all.

Trees stretched high, pressing close to the building like they were frightened of the sudden drop of the cliff they climbed, salt water spraying in all directions as waves rolled and crashed against the rocks.

It was truly a wondrous sight.

The ocean stretched as far as the eye could see, but with the glass windows shut tight as they were, I couldn't smell a thing. A shame, really, considering how much I enjoyed the scent it gave off. There weren't that many things I liked anymore.

The splendour and grandeur of this place was the same inside as it was out, though, the school wasn't that large, all things considering.

I'd known that the supernatural being community wasn't very big, but this was... odd.

There were fifteen to a class, two classes to a year group, and the year levels taught here went from first grade to senior year, meaning that, in total, there were roughly three-hundred-and-sixty students here at any one time. And this was the only school of its kind, apparently a direct result of human overexpansion. Then again, there weren't very many places to hide a school in this era.

And it was an odd school indeed.

It was from Komui -who was talking animatedly barely two metres in front of me- that I'd learnt all this.

Observing him now, I could see how much these seventeen years had worked to change him. He was more relaxed now, and far less serious than before.

Maybe it had something to do with his sister.

~o~O~o~

I felt someone glaring at me the moment I entered the classroom and Komui pulled me in front of the children. It was an unsettling familiar feeling.

"Everyone, this here is Allen Walker and he'll be transferring here starting today!"

Nodding my head at Komui's enthusiastic words, I let my eyes roam to the back of the classroom, where they were met with two cobalt orbs that seemed content to stare a hole right through me.

Damn… That's the brat from this morning…

I really didn't want to deal with this; there was already enough on my plate as is.

The second after I returned my focus to Komui, something cracked. I elected to ignore it.

"Allen, would you please sit next to Kanda?" The Chinese man by my side asked, smiling widely, a mischievous look in his eye.

I raised a brow at that, and then stared at the students doing the same in turn to me.

And I'm supposed to know who that is, how, exactly?

As if hearing my thoughts, Komui overdramatically clapped a hand over his mouth. "Oh! Kanda is the angry Japanese boy sitting in the back row!"

I repressed the urge to just walk out of here and leave the supernatural world to its own demise -because how old was Komui, really? The bastard was acting like a complete child. I mean, sure, to me, he was one, but come on!-, and briskly strode down the short isle to the empty desk.

Awkwardly, I sat down at the seat, angling my body away from the Asian boy on my right.

He let out a faint snort that I barely caught.

My fingers twitched to my sleeves, searching for a set of weapons I knew they would not find. I really didn't like being so defenceless here in this school for mythical creatures.

Just because I could be reborn didn't mean I was fine with the pain of dying.

Dying hurt. A lot.

Being burnt alive, being crucified, being decapitated, having my heart stolen -as in actually ripped out of my chest-, having my organs removed one by one… Yeah, it hurt.

I avoided it if at all possible.

Hopefully I wouldn't end up the meal of a werewolf or something…

I sighed, leaning back in my seat.

A few moments later found me peeking across at Kanda-was that his first name or his last name?-, watching as he pulled something from his bleeding fingers.

The blood had me instantly on edge, and my eyes quickly took in the damage to his desk and the grimace on his face.

I curiously watched him as he worked, pushing my hate for him to the side.

How odd. What a stupid way to injure oneself.

"Who's staring now, Moyashi?" He hissed, and I flinched in surprise.

Scowling, I turned to face the front of the classroom.

Komui was already gone; there was a man with sandy hair in his place, and the name plate on his desk identified him as Reever Wenham, a teacher.

I could still feel two separate people watching me: One was the girl from earlier, and the other was the boy with the fiery red hair. The colour reminded me of a certain General I'd worked under during WWII. That man had been a demon.

Well, not a real one. He was human, but his personality had left something to be desired.

A lot to be desired, actually…

~o~O~o~

During break, people crowded around me like I was some sort of free entertainment, asking questions with smiles on their faces and excitement in their voices.

Couldn't they tell that I wanted to be left alone?

I ignored the small part of my mind that told me that this was the reason I was here. To socialise.

This made me very uncomfortable.

I saw that Kanda child watching me, and when he smirked at the predicament I was in, I wanted to punch his pretty face in.

Third period I sat down at the seat I'd been assigned, the teacher droning on being anything but the first thing on my mind.

My thoughts drifted back to my talk with Komui, and how he'd finally divulged the true reason of my enrolment, which was the reason behind my more-than-sour mood right now.

I-I-I-I

"Do you like the building design?" Komui asked, grinning. "This school has been around for centuries, and since we're such old fashioned beings…" His grin widened. "Well, it's pretty, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" I agreed. I had to. How could I not? This place had a nostalgic air to it, though I knew quite well that I hadn't ever been here before; I would've remembered that. Maybe because it was old… I guess even someone who'd lived for as long as I could get homesick.

"Allen?" Komui's expression mellowed out into a warm smile. "I think you'll like it here."

I wouldn't try to get his hopes up unnecessarily. "Maybe."

He led me to a room stacked with papers. They were everywhere. All over the floor. The desk. The bookcase.

It looked as if a bomb had hit and this was the aftermath.

"Ah! That reminds me!" Komui's glasses glinted manically under the artificial light of the single bulb hanging from the ceiling. "After taking into account your skin colour, sex, physique, diet, and a whole lot of other stuff, I've decided to list you down as a Witch, since we can't come out and say that you're actually a human." He selected a file from his desk and flipped through it, before nodding at something he read and handing the folder to me.

"Wouldn't it be easier to say that I'm a Warlock or something?" I asked, politely choosing to ignore the state of the room as I took the file from him.

"We don't have Warlocks. Male or female, the term is Witch."

From what I could see, the documents in this folder were all school related. It was mainly about how I'd have to agree to the school policies, that I'd listen to teachers, would not deface property and so on. I signed the bottom of that particular paper with a pen I'd seized from the floor -though I honestly have no idea as to how I found it with how cluttered it was-. "Then why'd you include sex?"

Komui seemed surprised at the question, but then must have remembered my overall lack of knowledge on the supernatural community. "There are some all-female and all-male races."

"Oh…" I turned to the next page in the file.

Name. Birthdate. Race. Sex. Age. Special Needs.

…age…

"Uh…Age?"

"Put however old that body is. Do the same for Birthdate." Komui said, waving it off as though signing false information on official school document was no big deal. "I almost considered incubus, but I doubted you'd be up for… acting the way they do to avoid suspicion." He coughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Skin colour was factored in because you obviously couldn't be a werewolf; you're too pale for that. You don't drink blood, so vampire's out, too."

I hummed in understanding as I wrote in Special Needs about my abnormally large appetite. "So, what are the exact conditions of our bet?"

"You're to enrol here and keep your true species a secret from everyone. Even the teachers. And if you get found out, then you'll have to stay until you finish your schooling," he said, his words causing me to pause.

"The teachers weren't informed?" I asked, before ticking off that I had no allergies or major health issues.

He shook his head, leaning back in his seat. "It's more fun this way, don't you think?"

Flipping to the next page, I signed it without reading. "There's something you're not telling me." I was suspicious, and rightfully so. This offer was too… What did he get out of it? He wouldn't have sought me out simply to have me enrol in his school.

Surprise took hold of his features. It slowly shifted to guilt, guilt to embarrassment, embarrassment to weariness. "Actually… what this is about…"

I set down the last of the papers, observing him curiously. "Komui?" Standing, I reached over the papers on his desk and rested a hand on his stiff shoulder. "Tell me what's going on."

The guilt came back full force, and he looked at me like he was in physical pain. "I want a world… where my sister and her friends can grow up peacefully…" He murmured, gaze turned to his lap. "But… we can't do anything about… It's not…"

"Komui?" I repeated, squeezing his shoulder. "What's wrong?" I couldn't do anything if I didn't know.

"We're having a bit of a problem…"

"With?"

He hesitantly met my probing stare, shame present in those kind purple eyes of his. "Noah."

…

Someone mentioned this to me so I'll just remind everyone now: In the first chapter (NOT the prologue), it says that the ribbon Allen wears (the one Komui gave him) masks his human scent. That's why Kanda had problems figuring out Allen's species.