Foreword

Whelp, here it is, chapter three. I coulda sworn I posted it on FF.N... but I guess it only made it to my Livejournal xD Anyways, we have the introduction of a new OC, which means more chances of different hookups... which I am utterly confused about. Any feedback on presumed pairings is great... I just want them present to make this fic appeal to all kinds of readers, ya know? XD Anyways, enjoy! And comment!

-Iko

Chapter Three- Fumbled Introductions

I'm going to be so late…

That was probably the only thing going through her incredibly nervous mind at the moment. As she proceeded down the alley, she thought about her previous impediments. She had a bit of trouble figuring out how to get her black shinigami robes to fit right, and then afterwards she had a harsh lecture from her father about how she needed more self-confidence and stability and whatnot. She had heard the same speech many times before, but even she agreed with the fact that she never really took it to heart. Probably the main reason was the fact that she was neck deep in academy work whenever he decided to randomly pop in with one of his annoying rambles. Every single time, he would be drowned out by the mental barrier she developed from being exposed to such a talkative person.

Wait… Why am I thinking about that now? I've got to walk faster…

After focusing her mind on getting to the Academy graduation ceremony, she slightly increased the pace in her walk. She refused to run, since her new shinigami sandals were also brand new, and the wood they were made up of was still stiff. Any form of running would not only wear them out, but would also cause discomfort, which she really didn't want on the day of her great accomplishment. Thinking back on her time at the Academy, she remembered the look on everyone's face as she was declared as of the few to graduate on her first try. However, since she graduated so early, she was about 2 years younger than most graduates, so she often got picked on that same day. However, she was glad to be rid of that place, with its high-strung jocks and brash women. Of course, she then remembered a silver haired-boy and a red-haired girl in one of her classes, who changed her whole direction of her stereotypical viewpoint...

However, her reminiscing was soon cut short by a large mass abruptly smashing into her face. The heavy object tripped over her petite body and landed in a crumpled mass in the intersecting walkway. Two smaller masses soon followed, and mimicked the first, ending up piled on top of the former mass.

"Oy! You're not supposed to stop, you big oaf of a guide!" A harsh voice cried out, obviously directed towards the first mass.

"It's not my fault! Some kid ran out in front of me and made me fall over!" A deeper and more masculine voice replied to the former scream.

"Sigh… Please don't fight with the tomato head, Hino-chan, an angry face doesn't look good on you, remember?" A more casual, laid-back tone spoke up over the other two bickering voices.

As the mystery roadblock picked themselves up, the three masses each began complaining, with one whining about two inflicted head injuries, one about a shortened and hated nickname, and the other just complaining about his nickname in general. They soon looked to see who it was who caused the train wreck, while at the same time; the roadblock looked back at who tripped over her. The two groups kind of stared for a moment, not sure what to be thinking at that instant.

Oh my… It's those two!

"Uhh… hi…" The small girl let out a nervous giggle, with a slight blush reaching her cheeks. "Umm, it's really strange that we ran into each other, isn't it?" She was obviously at a shortage of words. She regretted blocking out all those lectures. She brooded over her mistake as a silence broke over the crash scene.

"Oh, hey! Yeah, it's really odd, isn't it, umm…?" The boy with long, silver hair, which was currently obstructed by two large head injuries, spoke up to break the uncomfortable silence. "Hmm, I guess I can't really remember your name." He suddenly jumped up to move right in front of her, bending down to end up with his face directly in front of hers. He stared at her for a long moment, sketching out every single facial detail he could to see if he could come up with a name. She only returned a stare, with her face emanating a slight heat from her incredibly red blush. She remembered him instantly as the boy in her class, with his shaggy silver hair that reached the end of his neck, his deep azure eyes, and slender facial features.

"HIYAA!" The sharp female voice from earlier was soon identified to be belonging to a fiery red-headed girl, who launched the examining teen about five yards away with a clear kick to his outstretched rear. "Stop scaring the girl! You'll give her a mental breakdown!" After yelling to the injury-prone teen, she then switched to a gentle, caring demeanor, and helped the poor girl to her feet. "I'm so sorry about all of this, we were trying to find the Academy graduation, and our oaf of a guide seemed to have trampled over you." She gave a big smile as a she reassured her. "If my memory serves me right, you were in one of our classes, weren't you?"

"Umm, yeah, I was about to ask the same thing," she said, giving a nervous smile as she responded to previously raging demon. She looked at the fiery young woman, and began thinking of how much prettier she was compared to her, with her shoulder-length crimson hair, sparkling ruby eyes, and more defined dimensions. She then remembered her name, saying, "Oh, was it Hinote-sama? You were the best student in our kidou class…"

"Aww, flattery will get you nowhere," said the prodigy, trying her best to seem modest. She spoke again after she realized she wasn't looking the part. "Besides, you did better than I did. You graduated on your first try, didn't you?"

As the two girls ensued in a heated discussion about various things relating to their previous school life, Asura eventually made it back towards the other three, stopping next to the fully recovered Ganseki. "Wow, they really hit it off." He assumed his trademark arm-in-uniform position as he observed the two chatting ladies.

"It's only because they're both women. They seem to enjoy flocking to other people without a Y chromosome." Ganseki yawned as the girls continued to chat.

"Wow, that was a pretty detailed statement for someone like you, Tomato-san." Asura only grinned as he looked up at the fuming behemoth of a teenager. "Don't worry, I'm just kidding. Besides, I wouldn't make fun of a friend." He turned his gaze back towards the two talking girls.

"I'm not your frigging friend! You ran into me almost like that squirt did over there!" Ganseki gave a sigh, attempting to relax his mind. After being disgraced a week ago by the same punk standing next to him, he actually took Asura's word and began finding ways to clear his head. "Besides, who'd want to be a friend of yours, anyway? You're just a lazy smart ass."

"Hmm, I believe the two ladies over there would want to." The silver haired shinigami pointed towards the still conversing females. "And besides, I'm sure you're itching to fight me again, so you might as well stick around." Asura patted the still-fuming muscle head on the shoulder.

"Why, I ought to…" Ganseki raised his fist yet again to strike down the toothpick of a shinigami, but was soon interrupted by a feminine voice yelling to them.

"C'mon, you two knuckle-heads!" Hinote had one hand cupped around her mouth, and one hand waving in the air towards the arguing males. "The ceremony's about to start, and I'm not going to miss it because of you two lazy asses!" She said all this with a big, beaming smile.

While the smaller male felt degraded by being called a knucklehead, the larger male shouted out his reply. "Don't expect me to be your guide! The last time I tried to find my way there, I ended up crashing into someone! Twice!" He let out a grunt, crossed his arms against his chest, and wrenched his head to the left. "There's no way in hell I'll lead a group consisting of a lazy bastard, a hotheaded harpy, and an nervous twerp!" He firmly anchored himself to his patch of walkway.

"Don't give yourself a neck cramp, we've got Amaya-chan here to guide us. Unlike you, Tomato-san, she brought a map." She waved a folded-up piece of parchment in front of a disgruntled Ganseki.

Asura, finished with being in shock from being grouped with the large mass of muscles planted on the ground, spoke up, saying, "Amaya-chan? You mean the roadblock?" He said this with a casual face, not meaning to fluster the clearly embarrassed girl.

"Ahh, yes, umm, Yamato Amaya, nice to meet your acquaintance, Asura-kun…" The newly identified girl gave a quick bow, her face still red from her fervent blush.

"Well, now that we all know each other, let's get the caravan moving," said the obviously impatient Hinote. "I still don't want to miss that ceremony, even if it was because Amaya-chan was introducing herself."

"Well, then stop chitchatting and start walking!" The previously stubborn Ganseki stood up, beginning to walk towards the next intersection in the walkway. "We'll never get there with your yapping, you little hothead." The large shinigami actually gave a grin as he proceeded in running away from the crimson fury.

"Well, come on Ama-chan, we better start catching up!" Asura gave a reassuring smile to the still flustered girl, as he too began running towards the mass of chaos ahead.

Amaya looked at the three people in front of her. She now knew why her father kept nagging about how she needed more self-confidence... Up until now, she hadn't really had any friends. She felt reassurance as she realized that these people are willing to befriend her. She began jogging towards her fellow shinigami, feeling the confidence well up inside her.

However, she abruptly remembered why she wasn't supposed to run, as her sandal snapped and somehow caused her to trip and fall. A sharp pain in her ankle made itself apparent as she felt herself falling backwards.

However, she soon felt a brief gust of wind as she realized she had stopped falling, and was being held rigid at a diagonal angle. She opened her eyes only to meet a mesmerizing gaze from two deep, sapphire-colored eyes. That was the last image she remembered before she felt herself slip into a light faint.

"Oww… Why do I keep getting hit today…" The silver-haired shinigami carried Amaya in his arms, strolling towards his other two companions while regretting that Hinote remembered to wear her diamond family ring.