AN: I am really not too sure of how to do a lot of things here on being still a newbie, but I guess I saw a lot of people doing their Author's Note this way so I'll join and do the same? (LOL)

The following is chapter number one, and it takes place two months previous to Mikado's incident. This might be a little confusing, but as you keep on reading things will make more sense, I promise.

Also I wanted to thank all of the people who have read so far, I will now go and reply to all the reviews that I have received, they are really appreciated THANK S SO MUCH (I honestly didn't think I'd receive any so THANK A MILLION! Lol)

Now … enjoy!

Cheating Hades

Two months earlier …

Hey …

…

I apologize for the long pause. I … was intently thinking about how to do this, like what sentence I should have followed my rather dejectedly expressed "hey". In fact, I should probably start again, and show a bit of enthusiasm ... but I am not particularly enthusiastic about this … I am still quite angry about the whole situation, and now that I told you that, I feel strangely better … so I guess, being entirely honest about every single thing that I am about to say is the right way to do this ...

I have things I need for you to know, which is the whole point of this.

These things, are a lot of things, and when I say a lot, I mean a lot. A lot of things about myself. Yes. this is the story of my life starting from the past April. Today is February 14, and it had been such a wonderful Valentine's day, which really makes it even harder for me to accept having to do this. But whatever, I will have to come to terms with this, soon or later; it seems I have no choice.

Thus, I am asking you to please listen to all of them. No matter how boring. No matter how stupid or sappy. No matter how non-important all of the following facts will seem to you, please please please ... I beg of you … listen to the very end. This will take a while, as you can see from the number of files, so you can take your time with it. I would suggest you listened to a story a day, but it is really up to you. I don't really know you very well after all, though I do get the feeling that we are incredibly different, almost like opposites.

Oh well, if you are listening to this right now … it doesn't really matter anymore anyways uh?

Also, before I forget, even though this is indeed my story, it mostly focuses on me and another person; a very special person to me, whom is the main reason I am doing this. I am pretty sure you'll figure out his name very soon, no need for me to say it, or so I hope; if you have any doubts just ask Anri, but the way I talk about this person ... the feelings I have for him ... will be discussed in such detail that you shouldn't miss him.

That being said, shall we started with the day I first met him? I hope I still remember this in the right way.

It was my first day of school, and among all of the things that happened that day, I think I remember being nervous. Really nervous. I was so nervous, I think I might have frozen for a little, like, my body might have been paralyzed.

No.

Scratch that; I most certainly was paralyzed.

"Welcome back everyone ..." had cheerfully stated my new homeroom teacher, and as I absently stood next to her, not a single muscle in my body was hinting on wanting, or being capable of, any form of movement "...I am glad to see you all made it through from freshmen to sophomores, also, I hope you had a wonderful summer break, in such a way that you will be able to give your best for this new year ..." she sounded so nice, I thought, talking to all her students so respectfully, yet still authoritative. In my head I was trying to picture her, since I was too scared to even turn to the side. It that moment, I bet she was beautiful, and if I had been any of all those students, whom were too busy stabbing me with their persistent gazes, I'd probably be daydreaming of her, but, I wasn't them, and they were definitely not looking at her; they were positively staring at me. Yeah. Still, she sounded so nice ... my first homeroom teacher ... I bet she also had a pretty smile, which I wouldn't have minded taking a quick glimpse at, but … as I stated already … I couldn't move. I was seriously panicking.

"As I am sure you all can see, we have a new student ..." I wonder what face I was making at the time, I can't quite remember, but I know that I desperately wished for it not to be awkward and ... they really are all looking at me ... was all that my mind could register. Even though I am sure that I was simply looking straight ahead, I could feel all their eyes on me, which was enough for my paranoia to reach new unexplored heights.

I am very easily agitated, please keep that in mind.

Thus, on that day, I knew that everything was going to distress me as much. All of that, was really too much for me, and I truly felt like I might have suddenly fainted … yeah … that bad "... as I just wrote on the board, his name is Mikado Ryugamine, and now I will let him tell you a bit about himself" she had indeed wrote my name on the blackboard, big and clear for everyone to see, unknowingly taking away from me all I had ready to say about myself that day. At that point, I clearly remember thinking " she did! she said my name! … that, my name, was all I had ready to say, because I don't know anything else … I really don't! I don't … I ... now what?"

So, can you guess what I told my new classmates?

Nothing.

Yeah, absolutely nothing. I opened my mouth, and nothing came out of it, and I think I did that a couple of times, but the "good" part was that my brain was slowly regaining functionality, allowing me to diligently acknowledge my blatant failure " ... … … ... Did I just opened my mouth, and said ... nothing? ... … … ... Did I just do that again? Oh great! Splendid! Fantastic! I knew it! I knew it was going to turn out this way!" were the sentence that my enraged brain was uselessly screaming inside the walls of my skull.

I had told them, my parents, that there was absolutely no way I could have pull that off! All my life they had home-schooled me, or so they had told me, so how could they have thought that that was going to be a good idea? How exactly was I to have handle; people? So many people. In my poor eyes unfortunately affected by my panicked brain, they were everywhere and they looked so hateful! I wondered what were they thinking, I wondered if they thought I was weird, I wondered if they thought that I was simply retarded for not having been able to say something in the two times I opened my mouth, and I also wondered whether the burning liquid coming up towards my throat was in fact my breakfast. Sorry that was disgusting, I know, and no, don't worry, I managed not to throw up that day, but I truly wished I could have control-alt-delete out of that

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!" I then finally exclaimed. All of a sudden, quite loudly, and in an incredibly awkward manner; but I spoke, and apparently the effort had been too much, because I had closed my eyes in the process. Once I realized that, and opened my eyes again, they were still staring at me, and it was worse than before, which was to be expected. I then smartly concluded that things hadn't gone as smoothly as I was hoping they would go … yeah ...

"O-okay …" sympathetically replied my teacher; obviously, she thought the same thing about my failure, but she was still very nice about it "... you can go and seat in one of those two empty desk over there" she then instructed me, and I darted there, speed walked my poor embarrassing self all the way to the back of the class, accompanied by all the fervent whispers of my new classmates. I chose the desk by the window. A girl, whom I hadn't recognized immediately, was sitting in front of me, nobody behind me, and there was another empty desk on my right. I remember wondering who was supposed to sit there, but I quickly abandoned the thought, concluding that I really didn't want to know, in fact it would have been perfect if it remained empty as it was. In that way, I would have been in contact with nobody, since they all had to obviously face forward. This, is good I mentally concluded. And Matsuda-san, my homeroom teacher's name, whom I could then perfectly glimpse at from over my new seat (yes glimpse, because I was still too shy to just stare at people, even though in a setting such as school, I am technically required to), was quite beautiful indeed.

Now, I do not believe I suffer from ADHD, added to all the other issues that I have, in fact I think I am quite the attentive person, but somehow … somehow ... the window I was sitting next to, just kept distracting me.

The sky … that sky on that day ... was … was so … blue.

And large, and just there. No ... I'm not like you … I do not do drugs, sorry didn't meant to be judgmental of you, but if you are still doing drugs I'd like you to stop, not like I think like you value my opinion but still worth a try. Anyway, back to me and the sky, I just … the whole scenery was so simple and serene that using big words to describe it, would be pointless; it wouldn't fit it. My position might have also had something to do with the beauty of said sky, which, given that I was basically enclosed away from it, may sound like a contradictory concept to you, but it sort of made sense to me, even though I didn't quite know why. It could be that looking at the sky from over there, from that desk, felt somewhat different, it was my first time after all. That day, had been my first day in a class, my first day in a uniform, my first-for-a-lot-of-things, and I was still feeling quite uneasy about the situation, but that sky, was just so calming, I liked it. The same way I liked that desk. I ...

I liked the sky that I could see from that desk. There.

"... Mi-ka-do!" yelled the girl sitting at the desk in front of mine, startling me back to reality. I remember wondering what on Earth might I have done already, for having someone screaming at me. I was about to bow down and apologize, like I usually would have felt like doing, even when I know nothing about my fault, but as I terrifyingly stared at the girl, my brain had the decency to at least vaguely recognize her ...

"A-are you … Anri? ..." I stuttered out, and immediately thought that I needed to absolutely stop doing that stuttering thing I did "... I was showed … a picture of … you"

"Aaa~ so it is true uh ... you really don't remember me ..." she delicately stated, lightly smiling, at the obvious fact, that I unfortunately wouldn't have even known what she looked like weren't it for the picture my parents gave me "It's alright, don't worry, but I have been calling your name for the past five minutes, are you alright?" no I wasn't alright, I was still a bit shaken, and also felt terribly sorry for not remembering her … or anything else at that ... "You looked so lost there for a second, did you even pay attention in class at all ..." I really wished I could have remember though, not knowing, really really really sucks, just letting you know. It sucks so much; and this, might be the only thing we have in common "Sorry I couldn't welcome you home yesterday, but I got back really-"

"Don't worry … mom and dad ... escorted me all the way over to your place … they slept there …. and also drove me to school" I promptly interrupted her, I really didn't want her to feel sorry for me, or anybody else at that, my parents already fitted the part too well

"I see … well … it is me and you now uh? Yoroshiku ne" she happily announced

"Hai! Yoroshiku" I then replied, bowing my head so deeply I almost hit it on my desk; at least I made her chuckle. And, if you most ask, I really can't help bowing. The lower I bow as I apologize, the more I express my being sorry, that's how I see it. Most likely it is because I feel so sorry for not remembering a thing, so sorry that it is as if I feel the necessity to apologize to the entire world for my sudden ineptitude

The thing is that I have apparently been in a very bad accident, which caused my loss of memory, at least from what my parents told me. They, my parents, were also with me in the car, but I was the only one to have suffered from major amnesia … "is this believable" you might ask? Well you'll find out throughout the story. However, at that moment in time, not knowing much of anything, and admittedly being the pusillanimous person that I am, I deemed it my only choice to believe them. I don't quite remember the reason why according to my parents I had to suddenly leave Osaka, which, as you know is our hometown, but they seemed hurried and worried enough that I had no objections and simply complied. "... you are going to live in Ikebukuro with your cousin Anri. She is a very nice person, you two used to play together a lot when you were in elementary school, so I am sure you'll be fine" had kindly said my mother, with a not so much genuine smile "... and please, by no means, do not come to Osaka for any reason. We will come to visit you as much as we can okay?" ordered my father, in a very forced calm tone; they both really are two awful liars.

So … yeah … there I was. Memory-less, in a completely unfamiliar territory, and scared out of my mind. Did not really like being me at that moment, whatever being me actually might have meant back then.

"You are so adorable though you know! … just like you used to be when you were a child" she expressed giggling in a very cheerful and natural way, she looked and felt like she really mean it; and that made me incredibly happy. Feeling something genuine for the first time since I woke up in that hospital, really felt great "so … I should take you on a tour of the school, I am the school's students' president after all, but there is time for that … now ... I need to take you somewhere in particular, follow me?" she had then enthusiastically announced , and I wanted to ask her where to, really badly … just wanted to make sure, we weren't doing something that would get me into trouble … but I kept my quite and simply followed her, deciding that I should try to distress the least possible "we are not going anywhere dangerous I promise ..." she said, which made me mentally sigh in relief "... however it is a place where you shouldn't go, because it is against the school rules" she then added, which was something I absolutely did not want or needed to know "... but it is okay because I am the president, so I can always make up some sort of excuse and they'll believe me" … okay? Then thought my extremely confused mind, as I felt that I was in for something interesting. I didn't know whether it would have been good or bad; but it would have been interesting

"Look you are so innocently cute you are already attracting attention" she cheerfully stated and I was noticing that as well, people were looking at me like I were some defenseless puppy, and I didn't want that at all. I felt my blood rush to my face so fiercely, I probably could have been close to fainting "... you know, if you stood straight and looked ahead, instead of down, you'd look less like a little defense-less wild animal ..." easier said than done I thought, but Anri then resolved to take the situation in her own hands. You'll soon find out that she likes things the way she likes them; really, she does "... there" she'd said after having stretched me, and pulled my face up by my chin "Much better! Though I guess … it will take you some time to get used to this after all ne? ..." yeah, I thought, also wishing she could take into consideration that I might have never gotten used to that

"Y-yeah ..." but of course I wasn't going to let her know about my concerns. In order to do that I would have had to grow a backbone first, and at the time, that was totally not-work-in-progress

"Okay … so … look around a second and ..." She vaguely instructed, and where I was taking my sweet scared time to carefully look around, her patrolling took a second, after which she grabbed my hand and we began to ran up the stairs " here we go! And open your eyes! I wouldn't want you to stumble on the stairs!" I do that a lot, as a panic reflex, I don't want to face my doom, so I close my eyes, you should keep that in mind as well "... we've reached our destination!" Anri giddily announced lightly panting, as she looked over the ramp of stairs, most likely to check that we hadn't being followed, I on the other hand wasn't as exhausted as I thought I would have been; I wasn't even panting "... good the coast is clear" she gladly announced with a thumbs up, and once again I thought good to know "... beyond this door, is the school's roof, where nobody is allowed to go, but strangely enough is always left unlocked … don't ask me why, I sorta have no clue" she explained in a newly vague manner, clearly indicating that she new the reasons to why the door was opened, but I wasn't going to ask, in fact, I was quite alright with not knowing anything I didn't need to know "the sky looks awesome from here, you still like looking at the sky right?" she then inquired as she reached for the door's handle

"Yes … I do ..." not like I knew it was something I particularly liked to do, but now at least, my sky fascination made somewhat sense I guessed

"... well there is someone else, who does as well" Oh is there? I sarcastically thought, obviously not interested in the fact that I was going to risk expulsion because there was 'someone else who loved to watch the sky' "... look isn't it great? ..." she then asked as we walked in, and I had to admit; it was. Absolutely breathtaking "Speechless uh? I knew you'd like it ..." she enthusiastically stated, but to me, it was already more than that. I was already loving it by then, it was so vast, and we were so high, it felt I like could touch it

"Ever heard one's company, two's a crowd?" suddenly spoke someone, which completely distracted me from my sky-viewing

"Hihihi, didn't know you wanted to be alone with me ..." playfully said Anri, to whom I don't know, because I'd managed to hide myself behind my cousin without even realizing it … I am really shy, and that was one thing I never seemed to help for the most part.

"No Anri dear ..." resumed the somewhat playful and confident voice of the still to me unknown being. "... talking about the intriguing stranger behind you, don't believe I've met him before have I? ..." he then calmly stated, all the playfulness in his tone had disappeared, which I wondered why, until I then realized that he was talking to me. But obviously, I safely stayed behind Anri's back

"Nope~ you haven't indeed ... here … let me introduce you both ..." she then nonchalantly expressed, turning around, and punishing me forward towards the voice, because as you might have been able to guess by now; my eyes were closed "His my cousin, his name is Ryugamine Mikado … Mikado, this is Kida Masaomi"

Silence.

No shocker there right? Yet, what happened next was a complete shocker to me.

"Hi Mikado-kun ..." kindly greeted the voice, as I tried to force my eyes open "... you don't have to look at me you know … I am not looking at you either right now … I am looking up at the sky … you should do the same" he informed "try and look now … Anri do the same" he then added. Without even thinking I bent my head upwards, opened my eyes, and subconsciously glimpsed at who was in front of me "Hey there ..." calmly greeted Masaomi, whose head was looking up, but whose eyes were clearly looking at me. He'd tricked me, but I had no time to feel embarrassed or get angry, not that I ever do, because at that point in time, I was mesmerized "See? Wasn't that hard … the sky is so big that whatever is beneath it is quite insignificant, I am sure that is what your brain thought, as your eyes suddenly looked down … that is how I like to explain it, but it is a natural response, if you sense something below you, your eyes will naturally want to know what and even if for just a second they'll dart down" explained Masaomi, as he comfortably placed his hands in his pockets "... so whenever you feel uncomfortable, scared or what have you not, just look for the sky and then face whatever … that is my suggestion, not like you asked for it or anything … just saying" he concluded, silently smiling while observing me for a bit longer, after which he turned his head back up to the sky

And I … I just dazed at him. He literally was the first person to have spoken to me among those I didn't know, and differently from everyone else, I didn't feel threatened, not even uncomfortable; at least not in a scary way. His dyed blond hair, his earring, the way he wore his uniform coat open, and other little characteristics about his behavior, clearly indicated that he wasn't a model student, and wasn't striving to be one either, yet, I didn't seem to bother.

"Ah ..." annoyingly sighed my cousin, after she heard the school's bell ring "is time for us to go, don't want him to miss classes on his first day of school, so we are living ..." she informed looking at the blond with an apologetic smile "... you should also show up to class every once in a while, it won't hurt … even though you really don't have to, but you know, I am the school's president, need to say stuff like this so … yeah … bye-bye" Anri vaguely stated, still staring at the blond this time with a rather pronounced smug grin

"Bye~ bye~ ..." nonchalantly chanted the blond, placing both his hands behind his head "... it was really nice meeting you Mikado" he then expressed looking at me with a gentle smile, whereas I simply bowed in reply and silently left with Anri. As we walked away, I felt the sudden urge to look back, I suddenly felt like I needed to know that if I turned back and looked he was still there, that he wouldn't disappear. Thus I did, and there he was, standing and still smiling at me, and before the doors closed I saw him wave.

"He ..." began Anri as we walked down the stairs to our floor " … is 'particular' I should say … he doesn't care too much about nothing around himself, and he is notorious for … his rebellious side rather than his mature … that is true" she then nervously laughed off " but he is so smart, you'd be surprised, he passed his classes with straight As last year, and almost never showing up for classes, if not to turn in homework, or take exams … he … lives in his own little world I guess ..." she then tenderly stated, and from the way she kept talking about him, I somehow felt like she liked him, and I wouldn't have been surprised if half, if not all the girls in the school, did as much, he was quite the description of the ideal boyfriend; smart, rebellious, and funny. Yeah … it wouldn't have surprised me at all.

In the next period, I was saved from having to go through the whole introducing ritual, and classes proceeded smoothly, with me half following what my math instructor said, half because I already knew the subject, and half because I was still distracted by the sky, and by the thoughts of another person, whom I thought was probably still watching it with me. We, me and Anri, then went to lunch in the school's cafeteria where she introduced me to … too many … she was popular, but that was to be expected from the school's president I guess. I silently bowed and managed to smile to everyone, as I kept quiet drowning myself in their random laughter and conversations, my eyes kept darting all over the place subconsciously looking … for something. But disappointingly failed.

However, as we got back into our class just before the bell could ring for the next period, a distinctive leap of my heart, signaled the presence of that something that I had been longing to see; Masaomi, sitting at the far desk next to the window.

"Oh ..." exclaimed Anri in obvious pretense stupor, staring at Masaomi "... look who's there?"she then added in the same feign surprised tone, winking at me as she proceeded to walk back to her seat. As I watched Anri seat in front of Masaomi, and turn around to talk with him, who was seated at my desk, my hands were suddenly sweating, my legs felt sort of weak, yet in spite of it all, instead of turning around and walking away, I glimpsed at the sky through the window next to Masaomi, and one small step at a time, I walked towards them

"Hey …" then greeted Masaomi, turning to smile at me " … I was wondering how long you were going to simply stand there and stare at us ..." he nonchalantly stated, and I … all I could do at the moment, was force myself to say something. I wanted to say something not stupid, something friendly, something impressive, something that would have have been worth saying … worth hearing … something that would have want to have made him turned around if by any chance he were to have been the one to walk away from me. Stupid right? We had met only once, for a mere five minutes, and I was already making such thoughts, without having the courage to admit the obvious reason which brought them around "I see yo quickly too the best spot in the room uh? … well, this was actually my seat, since last year ..." the then calmly stated, at which I eyes widened in panic, and I began to slightly tremble; I was really convinced he was angry at me for having taking his seat, yet … "but you can have it ..." he said "... so that whenever I turn to look at the sky, I'll always have something more to look forward to" he smiled telling me

For the first time in what seemed so long, I earnestly nodded and smiled in reply. Masaomi then got up allowing me to seat at my dear desk, and went to sit at the empty desk next to mine, continuing his conversation with Anri, as I resumed my role of silent listener, while thinking through the words that Masaomi had told, and … as I think about it now ... At the time, I didn't give too much importance to the words per say, at the time I just thought it wonderful that I had already found someone so cool, being so nice to me, but now, as I think about it carefully, knowing everything that followed that day, I realize that the two of use would always end up being like that; I looking back for him, and him constantly looking forward at me.

Keeping this realization in mind, suppose that we, I and Masaomi, were walking in an Indian line, him in front and I behind … wouldn't we supposedly keep missing each other? We would. And funnily enough … that's exactly what might get the two of you together.

Well, that's all for today. Hopefully, you'll keep listening tomorrow … or whenever.

Bye.