An arm snaked out from the covers and threw the alarm across the room.  Unfortunately, the alarm continued to beep at her from across the room.  She buried deeper into her blankets in a futile attempt to go back to sleep but gave up.  After a few moments, she groaned and sat up scowling at the source of the noise.

"I knew I shouldn't have bought such a sturdy alarm clock." Amefuri said in an annoyed tone glaring at the clock. "But I guess I have to go to school now."

A FEW MINUTES LATER:

    Amefuri yawned and stumbled down the many flights of stairs leading down from her temple.  She knew she was late but the thought of falling down a hundred stone steps to the street far, far below was a fairly effective deterrent.

"I don't know why I even bother going to school," Amefuri grumbled. "It's a big enough waste of time and effort just going up and down these stairs let alone going and sitting in a classroom for 9 hours."

    Amefuri shook her hair out and straightened her uniform jacket.  She knew that she was going to get a detention no matter how long she took to get to school so, that way she saw it, there wasn't a reason to hurry to school just to get the same sentence she'd get if she took her time.

"Oh no..." Amefuri  watched the only bus heading into town pull away from the bus stop below.  Giving the city in the distance a withering glare she sighed and prepared herself for the worst. "This is the beginning of another VERY bad day."

    He sprinted down the street trying to button up the front of his jacket as he glanced quickly at his watch.   His eyes widened in panic as he realized that he was going to be late, again.  He suddenly plunged into despair as he wondered what Ms. Machiko was going to him this time. Detention? Humiliation? Lecturing? Expulsion? Execution?  Dreading the worst, he vaulted over the barrier and ran into the street.  He was so preoccupied with his thoughts of doom that he didn't notice the incoming traffic until it almost hit him.

"Hey!" A car squealed to a stop and an angry man leaned out of the window and bellowed at him. "Watch where you're going!"

"Sorry sir!" He called over his shoulder as he sprinted through the incoming traffic without breaking a step.  His fear of the vice principal's wrath overrode his common sense causing him to vault over the hoods of cars and swerve between cars.  He jumped over the barrier on the other side of the street leaving traffic deadlock and blaring horns in his wake as he cut through a backyard on his way to school.

"This day is not going to be one of my better ones, I can just feel it." Amefuri said looking over her shoulder. "Something doesn't feel right."

    She shook her head and dismissed that thought with shrug.  It was silly to believe that her whole day would be bad because of one incident.  Amefuri glanced at her watch as she meandered down the street towards her school.

"hnn...?" Amefuri looked up as she passed a busy street.  She looked down the street and saw cars strewn about the street with horns blasting and irritated people leaning out of their windows yelling at each other.

 "Maybe I'm not the only one having a bad day."  Amefuri turned and walked past the street and headed towards her school. There only a few more minutes until the bell would ring so she decided to take take the shortcut to school and turned down an alleyway.

NEARBY:

    He looked around him and jumped over a fence and landed in an empty lot.  He knew he was late but judged that he could afford to stop for a moment to catch his breath.  He brushed the stray strands of his long hair out of his eyes and slumped against the wooden fence gasping.

"This is going to be one of those days..." He sighed mournfully. "I can just tell."

Then, the jangle of a chain attracted his attention. He blinked and turned his head towards the source of the noise.  Then, he saw the largest and meanest dog he has ever seen in his whole life.  The blood drained out of his face as his eyes seemed to grow to the size of saucers.

"Ahh!" He screamed and jumped to his feet. He turned to run but found himself pulled back by a sharp pain at the base of his neck. In an instant he knew what must have happened and a quick glance over his shoulder confirmed his fear.  His long braid was snagged on the fence.  Fear clenched his chest as he struggled to untangle his braid without alerting the guard dog.  He silently cursed his bad luck as he finally managed to untangle his hair from the fence.  He cast a horrified look over his shoulder to see the dog snarling and snapping as it ran towards him.

"AHH!" He vaulted over the fence just missing the jaws of the vicious dog by a few inches. He felt a brief moment of relief as he sailed over the fence that faded as his bad luck kicked in again.

EVEN NEARER:

    Amefuri walked down the alley and glanced behind her at the noisy street.  She dismissed the events in the street with a growl of disgust.  If there was anything she hated, it was disruptions.

"In any case, I have more important things to worry about than what caused such a disturbance." Amefuri closed her eyes and turned her thoughts inward. "There's something that's coming, something unusual."

Then, she shuddered slightly as she felt a quick flash of fear.  A flicker of a shadow at the corner of her mind caught her attention just long enough to draw her mind from the real world. A dark cloaked figure in the mist. She was about to dismiss it when a very colourful curse filled the air.

"Hnn?" Amefuri looked up just in time to see a blur of metallic blue and black. Amefuri lept backward but, unfortunately, not quick enough. Reality hit her like a ton of bricks.

"uhh...." a crumpled heap of black and dark blue moaned. "Itai..." (pain)

"Get off of me." Amefuri said and gave the boy that landed on her with a look that could have melted metal.  "NOW."

"I feel like road kill." he moaned and tried to struggle to his feet. When he failed to move fast enough for Amefuri's taste, she simply stood up and dropped him on the ground.  She glared down at him with narrowed eyes as he scrambled to his feet and bowed quickly.

"I'm sorry," he said bowing quickly as he silently cursed his bad luck. "I'm very, very, sorry."
 

Amefuri glared down at the offensive boy, which was quite a feat seeing that he was much taller than her, and made a note to herself to kill him later.  His long hair was tied back into a loose braid that reached past his waist.  As he looked up at her, she noticed the long strands of his metallic blue hair were hanging in his eyes.       Even though his face was flushed with embarrassment, she could see that he was the kind of person that got in trouble a lot. But that wasn't what made Amefuri discard her plans to humiliate and/or kill him.  What shocked her was his eyes.   His dark icy blue eyes were wide and shining, there was a strange inner light held within.  For a moment, she thought she felt saw familiar about within them. ~His eyes are so...strange. Could he...? No, it couldn't be him.  This one is far too young and innocent~ With a quick shake of her head, Amefuri dismissed her thoughts and turned her attention back to the boy, who was still offering apologies.  "Explain yourself, " Amefuri commanded the taller boy with a glare. "Boy."

"Me?" He straightened up with a surprised look and when he saw the 'mess-with-me-and-I'm-going-to-kill-you' look Amefuri was giving him, he gave her what he hoped to be an innocent smile.  "I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to fall on you."

"What is your name, boy?" Amefuri said in an annoyed tone and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Ahh...I am Chikawa Yorukai, " He gave her a winning smile and bowed again. "I'm very pleased to meet you!"

"hnn.." Amefuri scowled and committed his name to her memory. "If you say so."

"I am!" Yorukai grinned at the suspicious look Amefuri gave him. "If you don't mind me asking, What is your name?"

"None of your business," Amefuri's expression darkened and she walked away from him.  "and I do mind you asking."

"Aww...c'mon!" Yorukai protested and ran infront of her. "I told you my name!"

"So?" Amefuri glared at the taller boy and pushed past him.  "Don't you have class to go to?"

"Oh! you're right!" He said with a shocked expression and paused. "But what about you?"

"None of your business." Amefuri said in the most patient tone she could muster. She was silently seething at the nerve of this boy. ~How dare he ask me such questions after HE fell on me! Now, because of him, I'm going to be late~

"Oh, well...I guess I'll see you later miss!" He trailed off and smiled widely at her before running off. "Bye bye!"

Amefuri watched the disappearing form of the boy as he sped off towards his school.  She sighed and turned to continue on to her own school.  "It's definitely going to be one of those days."

    The door to the classroom slid open with a soft click and the entire class turned and stared at at the late comer.  Only someone with a death wish would dare to come late to Ms. Machiko's class without a good reason, like a life threatening illness. Ms. Machiko calmly placed her piece of chalk on the ledge and the turned towards the door.  A vein seemed to pop out of her forehead when Amefuri strolled through the door and silently gazed at teacher.

"Amefuri," The vice-principal said in a tight voice. "Why are you late?"

"hnn...." Amefuri calmly met her furious teacher's look and offered no excuse.

"Amefuri," Ms Machiko said with surprising patience. "Explain yourself."

"I do not see why I need to explain my actions to you." Amefuri said in a very matter-of-fact tone as Ms. Machiko seemed to glow with anger. "I am here now so the reason that I was late should be none of your concern."

    The class took a sharp intake of breath and looked expectantly at the teacher waiting for a response.  Amefuri stood and watched her seething teacher silently.  The tension seemed to build in the room as the class leaned forward in anticipation.  This was far more entertaining than any television program.

"You..." Ms Machiko's patience finally started to wear thin as she growled through gritted teeth. "You...You've just earned a month of detention!"

"I see," Amefuri said calmly gazing out of the window across the room. "Is that all?"

"Is that all? IS THAT ALL?!?" Ms Machiko exploded at the oblivious Amefuri. "This, young lady, is that last straw! I've had just about enough of your attitude!"

"Just about enough?" Amefuri said with a sigh.

"Oh, you're really asking for it..." Ms Machiko fumed and pointed a finger at her. "You're going to have to work this one off!"

"Then I suppose that you're going to give me some kind of obscure task to complete now."

"You..." Ms Machiko growled shaking in surpressed anger. "You are going to stand in the hallway with 4 buckets of water and scrub the room clean after school!"

"Is that all?"

"No." Ms Machiko said in a tense voice. "I'm not done with you yet MISS Moukuto." The class turned and looked at her with their eyes wide with shock. Amefuri was really in trouble this time.  The vice-principal never addressed anyone by their last name unless they were in deep trouble.

"Then what else is there then?" Amefuri said and fixed her teacher with disapproving look. "Don't you have a class to teach?"

"OUT!" She screamed and pointed at the door with a vicious snarl. "Get out and wait in the hall, NOW!"

"If that's what you want." Amefuri said with a shrug and exited the classroom.  The door to the class slid closed with a soft  click and she was gone again.
 

~To be continued~