A/N: I have now updated this stupid fanfic and realized what a terrible author I am for two things; one, my grammar sucks. Two, my storytelling sucks. Three, it's sort of crappy. Thanks everyone for actually reading this piece of shit and thanks much to Darkie-chan, but I'm a pretty inconsistent author and I hate imposing on you, so thanks for the beta-ing~ The general plot is the same, but some points of the story have changed and I'm STILl sorry for my inconsistent grammar with tenses and other bits and pieces :P

Disclaimer: Yes,yaoi and mature themes and swearing etc... I mean, you clicked on the story -_- Don't own Man and doubt I ever will.

It was another perfect autumn day, where beautifully damaged leaves fell from dying trees and littered the ground with their carcasses. The scenic foliage that surrounded our school seemed from a picture-perfect scene, an idyllic quiet that was interrupted with the chime of the school bell.

Sweaty, tired teenagers quickly filed out of school and went off to enjoy the first day of Thanksgiving break, which was ridiculously long (a whole week) as I stopped watching from the window and slowly cleaned up.

I slipped out of my noisy classroom and navigated the chaotic halls, loud with empty chatter of stuffing, seasoning, and family gatherings. A few people even had the nerve to grasp my shoulder and stop me, striking up a quick conversation and promising to meet up over the holidays. I hate small talk. I dismissed them with empty promises, a bright smile, and the I'm-really-busy-right-now-talk-later-kay-goodbye excuse. My locker was my only pit stop, and simply grabbed black coat and backpack before exiting the school via empty classroom E-16's window on the first floor.

It was the only classroom who's window faced the woods, and too many incidents of distracting wild animals and issues with safety regulations forced teachers out, leaving behind the perfect getaway for illegal activities. Of course, this was all just a rumor (spread by yours truly), but it stopped everyone from passing by or taking a peep.

I took a deep breath of air, free from social formalities and shallow thoughts. I was alone, and I could only hear the faint chatter of leaving students if I concentrated hard. It was empty, quiet, and peaceful. The only things that occupied here were dead trees and myself. Perfect.

I ungracefully slumped to the floor with my back against the wall. My bag, I plopped on my lap and began taking everything out. Meticulously stacking all my belongings, I soon had everything out in a neat pile and reached for the false bottom. One of my gloved fingers caught it and I lifted it up, almost trembling with anticipation.

My secret stash of meth cigars, courtesy of one of my customers, was quickly released from the confines of its protective casing of plastic. I reached into my back pocket and got out my crappy lighter (the first, and last gift Cross gave me) and box cutter. I cut the tip and flicked the lighter. The shadow of the small flame dancing across my white gloves, the fire seemed unreal even as I lit my cigar. Smoke rising from the smoldering tip, I took a small whiff. It smelled acrid and disgusting; black smoke was probably entering my lungs and triple coating my already-coal-black tissue. It felt good.

Drugs, lighters, and lying; the three absolute rules that Dark Order High cannot tolerate. I break them everyday.

Sucking in a long drag, a heavy blanket of calm pressed against my fragile mind. I snorted and toasted myself to a small victory. I only went high 4 out of the 7 hours of school, taking breaks during Physics, Art, and lunch. It doesn't do to smell like one's alcoholic father, so I went do with the powdered stuff, which was easy to dispose of and fairly powerful. The rest of my classes, screw it. I don't need to be all there in order to ace my classes.

My left arm trembled almost spastically for a second, and I gripped it tight while deeply breathing in more of the foul substance. Smoke rolled out when I exhaled, teeth gripping my cigar in place. Honestly, there's nothing great about eye-watering ash and smoke, but it relaxed my body and clouded my eyes with peace; I can't really ask for anything better.

Unfortunately, these particular brand of meth cigars had a thick, heavy smell that probably already attached itself to my clothes. Unfortunately, as a minor, I cannot wander around with the cloying smell of drugs (and also to protect my image), so I'll probably have to escape "normal" soon, but for now, I rested.

As I was zoning out and lazily contemplating the color of leaves and wondering how unusual it would be if humans also change color as vibrantly as leaves when they died, I heard footsteps. I waved it off, thinking it was a student who accidentally got lost. I was outside, not inside E-16. No one could find me.

Sure enough, the heavy footsteps left and I was left alone for another 30 minutes. Then the person came back. This time, he? I think it a male for the heavy steps and slow gait, opened the door. I continued smoking before realizing that the person could probably see my nasty cloud of ash and meth. Panicking a little, I started to get up when Kanda climbed out the window. What the hell was he doing here?

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed as he glared at me for a moment, then ripped my cigar out of my mouth. I could only stare incredulously as he threw it on the ground, really digging it into the ground with his heel. And that was the end of my cigar, along with my high.

"Hey dumbass, what the hell have you been smoking? Did you think it would be 'cool' if you did it?"

I knew my cover was blown and I tried to pass it off casually with, "Jeez, it was just a little smoke, it's no big deal, I don't really do it a lot..."

Slipping into the mask of sorry man, my expression glossed over and gave an expression of surprise, with a hint of irritation. With practice, it's easy to shift back and forth between the costume of normalcy; it's not like most people can recognize the difference between fake and genuine expressions. It's too easy.

I was surprised when he immediately argued back.

"Losers always choke if they don't do it often; you look like you've been doing this for years. Where the hell did you pick this up from? It's not a drugstore brand, this could be arsenic for all you know! Out of all the things you are, this is probably the source of your idiocy. You're a fool if you don't think I'm going to report you, I would kill you for second-handidly killing me if I didn't know you were going to get punished."

Probably the longest string of words I have ever heard him say, his cheeks tinted with the barest of pink and his hair was just a little bit off from perfection. He looked a little bit like a mess. I can probably guess he would try to kill me with his sword, Mugen, and he was most likely going to report me within the next 5 minutes if I didn't come up with something.

I needed to stall for time, think up of something. Actually, now that I can finally start thinking again...

"So what if I was smoking? What's it to you? Also, were you trying to find me?"

Kanda looked slightly taken aback and as he closed his eyes and scrunched up his brows, I realized just how close our proximity was. I took a step back and let him gather his (nonexistent) thoughts. Just as I was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he didn't have a brain, he calmly stated, "It's for Lenalee. Since you didn't come over during summer vacation, she's been nagging everyone to help convince you to come over to her house. I got dragged in."

I suppose his reasoning wasn't much of a surprise, I mean, why else would he fucking run around the school searching for someone he hated? Only Lenalee could order around one of the most feared guys in our school. But then Kanda took it a step further.

"I'll have to report you for this, idiot. Unfortunately, you'll probably get help and therapy, and you sticking your nasty tongue down her throat isn't going to make her any bette-"

"It's just a rumor, we aren't dati-"

"Shut up! I know you're trying to change the fucking topi-"

"I'll fucking shut up if you shut up."

"I won't shut up until you tell me exactly what you were smoking and where the hell you got it! You're coming with m-"

I yanked my arm out of his quick grasp so he was unable to get a good grip.

"Kanda just WAI-"

"FUCKING MOYASHI SHUT UP!" and with that, he grabbed my hand so roughly I felt something shift and proceeded to drag me back inside the school. We got as far as the hallway outside of E-16 before an epiphany hit me.

We were probably the closest things to true opposites, from our features down to our very personality.

My true hair color was white (although I wore a brown wig during school) and cotton soft from the constant maintenance I put my hair under. My height (below average) and my anorexic figure made me look frail and feminine (despite the ability to consume any amount of food, I barely hit 5'6 and weighted 90 pounds). A disfigured left arm, injured eye, and numerous scars littering my body only made me even more abnormal, something I tried very hard to cover up. Fake glasses, gloves, and makeup can only do so much before people realized just how disgusting I was on the inside as well, so I had millions of masks to cover up my true self. A disgusting creature of envy, rage, and sinful emotions were protected (or was it disguised) with fake layers of personalities and expressions. I was disgusting.

Kanda's hair was a true ebony black and despite treating it in the most horrible manner (during gym he simply used fucking Head and Shoulders), it held few split ends and with a high pony, brushed his tailbone. Besides the feminine hair, you couldn't really call him girly. Tall with broad shoulders, he had muscle and emanated an aura of a man, burdened with responsibilities. His skin was perfectly unmarked except for the calluses on his hands. With the reputation as the nastiest and most violent in school, most people generally avoided him, but he was honest to a fault and disgustingly loyal. He didn't have to hide at all, because he was perfect in almost every sense.

Because of mutual frenemies, we shared a small bond when verbally attacking Lavi and escaping Lenalee; besides that, we had nothing. But as polar opposites, were we not supposed to compliment each other? If I somehow managed to win Kanda over and figure him out before he figures me out, then it would be to my benefit. Why couldn't this work? I could get out of trouble and get blackmail on Kanda at the same time, forcing him under my control and steering him away from my life.

It didn't make much sense when I reflected on it later, but for now it was brilliant. Get out of trouble and distance myself from Kanda permanently by bringing him closer and finishing a high-stakes speed game. I doubt he would be able to shed my millions of masks and discover all my dirty little secrets and lies, while i would be able to use his honesty against him. At least this is what what I thought.

"Fine."

I stopped halfway through the hall and forcibly jerked Kanda back. He turned out and glared, but I could see the question in his eyes.

"I'll answer your questions, but we'll have to go somewhere else."

"And what, stupid, have you run out on me and escape before I report you? No way."

Rolling my eyes, I replied, "I'll give you everything I have right now, you can hold it against me."

As he was holding my bag, I pointed at it and said, "My bag has a false bottom. I have more cigars there and I can give you my lighter."

Kanda's eyebrow twitched a little as I took my lighter out of my pocket.

"See? It's even engraved on the metal finish with my name. Now can we go already?"

And he finally relented and let go of my hand, which I flexed to get my blood circulation going again.
If that's the way you want to play, then fine.
But we're following my rules.

[A/N] So, how's the remodeling? I admit, it has a slightly different feel and idk if I made much of a difference, but I personally feel more refreshed so I hope it does to you folks too~ Reviews appreciated to see thoughts about the change :P