A glint of golden scarlet fluttered in the morning’s wind, gently brushing against tan, porcelain-smooth cheeks. A set of teal eyes looked out onto a delicious morning filled with sea-green grass and blooming daffodils. There is a familiar scent in the air, the smell of newborn life and blossoming vivacity.

“Liyah? Are you still here?” A smoothing, aged voice floated through the gentle breeze.

Liyah Yukano looked up from a white spotted composition notebook held snuggly in her lap. She arched her neck to get a better look at the figure that had walked out on the cozy, old porch. A smile, brighter and bigger than the first rays of the sun, shown as the girl recognized the elderly woman.

“Yup, Ayato hasn’t come to pick me up yet.” Her voice, with the slightest hint of an Osaka dialect, replied. “You shouldn’t worry, Aunt Su, he’ll be here in a little bit.”

“You have that new exchange student coming today, don’t you?” The woman asked, slowly sitting down next to the red-haired beauty. Streaks of gray lined Aunt Su’s crimson locks and her once youthful, flawless features were now softened by a map of wrinkles. “Do you know her name yet?”

Liyah shook her head attentively.

“I’ll find out sooner or later, won’t I?” She joked, her spirits rising as she scanned a crimson red Jeep Wrangler drive up the rock-lined driveway of her Aunt’s house. Its body glistened in the sun, blinding Liyah momentarily with a flash of light.

“I’ll see you this weekend, Aunt Su.” Liyah spoke quickly, leaning over and planting a gentle kiss on the woman’s cheek. “Love ya.”

Her golden, orange-tinted hair swirled and jumped behind her as she ran for the Jeep. She turned at the end of the driveway, waving to the old woman before climbing up beside the driver.

“Where were you? I was waiting for almost twenty minutes…” Was the first thing Liyah said as she buckled her seatbelt. The book in her arms slid carelessly down to her feet as she stole a quick glance at herself in the mirror.

A brunette turned to look at her, his dark blue eyes smiling as he put the Jeep in drive. He was almost her age, maybe older, with strikingly handsome, square features.

"Sorry, I had things to take care of." He replied, waving towards Aunt Su still standing on the porch. Liyah turned her attention towards the three-story house hidden quaintly between two thickets of woods and waved along with him.

"It's ok, Ayato." She said quietly, forcing another smile as they backed out of the driveway. “Let's just go.”

“You seem a little agitated.“ Ayato stated as he pulled out into the road. The feel of the wind against her hot skin calmed Liyah enough to glance sideways at her personal chauffer.

“My Aunt’s been on my back the entire weekend about one thing or another.” She tried desperately to keep the tone of annoyance out of her voice. She loved Su like the mother she didn’t have and speaking of her poorly was the last thing Liyah was trying to accomplish.

“Well, that’s what parents do.” Ayato replied as he steered into a more open area of Tokyo. “Is that why you’re living on campus again this year? To get away from her?”

“Sort of.” Liyah bunched her hair up in her fingers, pulling it away from her face. The realization that Ayato had just called Su a parent warmed her heart. She found herself smiling softly to herself.

“So,” Ayato asked as he looked at the redhead’s grin. With one hand on the wheel, he glanced over at her questionably. "Are you excited?"

“About?” Holding her hair out of her face from the quickening wind, Liyah was able to recognize their turnoff ahead.

“You have a new roommate coming today, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“Well.”

“Well?”

“Aren’t you excited?”

“I wouldn’t mind meeting her.” Liyah mumbled as she leaned her arm against the door. “But our dorm room is pretty small as it is.”

“She may be an interesting person.” Ayato reminded her, switching his signal on to turn. “You may like her a lot.”

“Yeah, well, who knows.”

To the far left, hidden away from the road by a blockade of thick, dark green trees, aged statues, and the quintessential groups and punked-out, cigarette smoking students, stood Liyah’s lifeline to the real world. Her heart skipped instantaneously, her eyes widened. With her hair blowing out around her and the sunshine kissing her cheeks, she felt her heart warm. She was staring at her entire life, her savior, her salvation. The Yazawa School of the Arts.

¨

A pair of suede boots stepped out onto the cracked concrete surface of the train station. A temperate wind blew through a girl’s short, dark hair, tickling the edges of her pale lips. She turned her head slightly, ice blue eyes watched as the subway doors slut with a click. With that, her only connection with Germany, her home, was severed. Slowly turning around, the girl’s lifeless eyes watched as the train disappeared into the distance, the setting sun stinging her eye to the point where they watered.

Around her, a claustrophobic mass of commuters moved as one large stream of people. The choking sound of gossip and laughter flooded her ears, echoed by the huge, black overhang of the station. A woman, clad in loud, flamboyant colors, squeezed by her, but the girl heard none of it. She kept her eyes on the train’s caboose, squinting as it distanced itself from her. The glare of metal started to blur as the emissions and smog lashed out, causing salty clear tears to form.

Yet as the train departed, she still found herself standing out in the open, staring at the painful end of her formal life, and the start of a new one. She was never one to cry. Thinking back, she never remembered the last time that she ever really cried. It was almost a pleasure to feel her eyes haze from tears; a sensation she had long abandoned because of its uselessness.

Another strong wind whipped past her, picking up her black trench coat and throwing it out around her body. A light beige pack hung from her lithe fingers. All her possessions, every single one of them, were packed away in the small bag. As she stood there, everything around her seemed to lose its intensity. Sounds, faces, voices, blurred uncontrollably, the brushing of a shoulder from a stranger turned into absolutely nothing.

“All aboard for Tokyo!”

She didn’t remember getting on the next train, the huge swarm of passengers must have pushed her towards it. Nonetheless, she found herself on a cushioned seat staring out at the dark night, the silhouettes of trees blurred against the violet sky.

This was it. Once more stop.

§

“I don’t know…it doesn’t look right…”

“A little more to the left?”

“Maybe…”

French manicured nails reached up and carefully ripped off a piece of transparent tape, tilting it sideways until Gackt’s face was perfectly straight.

“I can’t believe you bought this. Liyah. If you ask me he looks like a girl.”

Liyah’s teal eyes shifted sideways, a half smile on her shapely, red lips.

“He doesn’t look that much like a girl…” She squinted her eyes at the poster, outlining the singers pure blond hair and flawless complexion. With a frown she shrugged and turned her back on it.

“Who cares if he looks like one. He’s still cute.”

A long, black haired girl raised an eyebrow, smiling in her victory.

“That’s the first time you ever agreed with me on something.”

Liyah walked over and sat down on her bed, sinking into the feather down sheets. The silver outlined stars embedded into the comforter were drown in piles of paper, almost all class work.

“She should be arriving in an hour, don’t you think you should clean that up?”

Liyah, looking up through her hair, frowned with a grumble.

“I really don’t see why she has to move in with us. She could have housed with someone else at Yazawa. Its just stupid that they picked-- Yukari? What are you looking at?”

Yukari Hayasaka stood next to a small, oddly shaped window, its frame cased in handmade curtains and blinds. Her eyes were huge, the tone of shock and disbelief flashing across her face. Past the window, down towards the street, red Comoro sat by the cub. Its spotless, glossy body outlined by a single streetlight.

“Yukari?”

Liyah stood up slowly, a worried look on her face. She got to the window ledge just as a tall, lanky figure stepped gracefully out of the driver’s door. A silk boa streamed behind him as he elegantly leaned against the side of the sports car.

“What the hell?”

Yukari’s eyes widened as she watched the man look up. She jerked back suddenly, crashing painfully into Liyah. The redhead let out a slight cry as she tried to steady both of them at the same time. No more than a second later the sing-song tune of Yukari’s cell phone went off.

“Yukari! Don’t--”

Yukari completely ignored Liyah as she dove for the pink, sparkly cell phone laying innocently upon the floor. Hands shaking, she yanked it up to her ear.

“Hello? George?”

“Lets go for a ride.” Said a low, sultry voice. That was only thing said before a metallic click rang in her ear. For a second the two girls stood there in total silence. Yukari slowly let her hand drop, the cell phone slipping out between her long fingers and onto the lush, white carpet.

“Yuk--”

“Ill be back in a little bit.” She said quickly, walking across the room and snatching her fitted black coat off of Liyah’s bed. She practically sprinted for the door, her black hair curling and twisting behind her. Liyah stood there, a mix between a frown and a snarl on her sun-kissed face. Looking out the window again, she could see Yukari hesitantly hugging the man, her hands held up to her eyes as though she were crying. Liyah sighed, blowing a piece of autumn-orange hair from tickling her nose. Yukari, so far down on the street, looked up and waved, signaling she would be back later on that night.

“Stupid George.” Liyah grumbled and leaned heavily against the ledge. She lamely waved back as she watched them slowly roll out the driveway. The last thing Yukari needed was to get whisked away into his fairy tale world again.

As they drove away, Liyah pushed off the sill, and finally took a good look around the room. It had been incredibly hard to fit three beds in the single dorm room. Because of the cramped space, Yukari and Liyah were forced to get a bunk bed, something that they hardly had enough money for. They also had to cut down on personal space. In the single bathroom connected to their room, they were required to push away their handfuls of makeup cases and leave some room for this complete stranger. To make it even worse, their last, hard-pressed decision was to purchase the adjoining room next to the ones they had. It could hardly be called a room as it was only small enough for a single bed and desk. Instead, they had practically jammed three desks, a bureau, and a small bookcase in there, costing them way more than they figured even with the financial help from the school.

Well, Liyah thought to herself, at least we have some room to do homework. This year I’m determined to get into at least one Honors class.

It seemed to be impossible to fit another person in the room. Liyah and Yukari had so much. Years ago they had to purchase the enlarged bathroom on the left of them just for their clothes from Paradise Kiss. Because of the new girl, their school apartment numbered three rooms and a bathroom. The largest one in the Girls Dorm.

Liyah jumped as her Sailor Moon alarm clock switched on, illuminating the time. Eight thirty exactly. Liyah’s jaw dropped open, her sea-green eyes searching the room frantically. She had totally forgotten about the time! In five minutes, the foreign exchange student would be there and the room still looked like a bad rendition of Miwako’s room.

Serves me right for letting Miwako decorate, Liyah voiced in her head as she ran frantically around the room, gathering up piles and piles of clothes, some she had not even finished sewing.

George is going to be so pissed at me, Liyah thought, jumping over a foot locker decorated in bright, gold flowers. The clothing designs, of which had been laid out perfectly for sewing, were thrown under Liyah’s bunk bed. It would take her hours tomorrow to line everything up again, but it had been a rule imposed on her to make sure the room was spotless for the new transfer. Turning around a little too quickly, Liyah let out a scream as she tripped over the footlocker, snagging her homemade skirt on the trunk’s lock. She threw her hands out in front of her, catching her balance just as there came a knock on the door.

Those same suede boots carried its wearer up to a dull, dark colored wooden door. Sapphire eyes looked up to a rusty, bronzed door marking, exclaiming that this room was in fact the Second in Command Dean’s office, Mrs. Ukinodo. Reaching out a hand, the girl knocked gently, waiting until a old, crackling voice called her in.

The inside of the office was scarcely furnished. Dim, imposing walls lined a beat up, old rug. Sitting on the carpet was a large, maple desk, stripped clean except for a black laptop and an olf, wrinkled woman behind it.

“Sit down, Miss. Borcelev.” The woman that Paris presumed was Mrs. Ukinodo said. An eerie glow from the computer illuminated her furrowed face, her thin gray hair was held up in a prissy, high maintenance bun. Miss Savelov, as the young girl had been called, sat in one of two thick, leather chairs opposite the assistant dean, setting down her pack at her feet.

“Because of the time restraint,” Mrs. Ukinodo started, her voice light and welcoming. “and the undoubting fact that you must be exhausted from the long days trip, I’ll postpone your orientation until tomorrow. ”

The girl simply nodded.

“At around eight tomorrow, you can stop by to talk with Dean Yazawa and myself. We’ll go over the rules…and, I guess we’ll assign you a partner to help you find your way around the school for the next few days. Sound good?”

“Yes,” The girl spoke with a thick Germanic accent, which mixed awkwardly with the Japanese dialect. “Thank you very much.”

“Well, then, I’ll give you your room number…“ A scribbled mass of numbers was sketched onto a post-it-note and handed over to her. “You shouldn’t get lost. There are signs hanging all over the place.”

“I’ll do my best.” She replied softly as she took the slip of paper out from between Ukinodo’s fingers. It read ‘Room 803’.

“Welcome to Yazawa School of Arts, Miss Paris Borselev.” Mrs. Ukinodo said gently as she motioned the conversation over. “I have no doubt’s you’ll enjoy it here.”

“Coming!” Liyah stumbled, cursing at her bruised leg. Her hair, messed up from the fall, was pushed back by a set of prim fingers as she reached the door. Quickly kicking away a tackling box filled with beads, Liyah threw open the door.

“WELCOOoooo--…….Ayato?”

A wide smile lit up the boy’s face as he saw Liyah. He stood there dressed in a long, dark overcoat, something that she wasn’t used to him wearing.

“You look wonderful.” He joked, pushing past her and into the room. “That’s more than I can say about this room. I thought you said you were going to clean it.”

“I was…I mean I am…I mean I did…I already cleaned up.” She replied, a embarrassed look on her face as she nudged a red sequenced bra under the bed. Ayato, his hands in his pockets, walked around the small room until he finally decided to sit on the bed set up for the new foreign exchange student.

“Where is she? I thought she would have been here by now.” He sounded almost disappointed. “And where’s Yukari?”

“Yukari went off with George and What’s-her-face hasn’t showed up yet.” Liyah told him as she frantically motioned for him to get off the bed. “I just made that! You’re going to stink it all up…”

“I smell good.” He said with a laugh. “Want a sniff?”

“No I don’t ‘want a sniff’. I want you to get out of here.” Liyah replied annoyingly. She motioned politely to the door, hoping that he would understand her urgency and leave. Lord knows she needed a few more minutes to clean up. Unfortunately, with a distraction like Ayato cramping her style, nothing would get done.

“What if I want to meet her also?” Ayato responded, not budging. The same wide, cocky grin was on his face. “Ever think of that?”

“Ayato…honey…this is the girl’s dorm.” Liyah walked towards the laminated sign of rules screwed onto the walls of each room. “And according to this it says that men and little boys like yourself are ‘not allowed within strict boundaries of the Girl/Woman’s Dorm Room Section A from the hours of or before 6:00am or after 9:00 pm on weekda--”

“I know I know…” Ayato said with a laugh, interrupting the redhead. “I just want to meet this new girl, Li. Then I’m out of here.”

Liyah turned slowly away from the poster of rules, a sly look on her face. She arched an eyebrow, placing her hands on her hips as she shifted her weight onto one foot.

“And why do you want to meet her so badly, hm?”

“She might be hot!” He said without missing a beat. As Liyah rolled her eyes as Ayato took off his coat, throwing it onto a nearby chair. “I wonder if she’ll have a sexy accent…”

“You’re a pig, you know that?” Liyah mumbled at him as she picked up his coat and threw it at him. “If you’re going to stay you might as well help me clean up.”

“No can do…”

“What?” Liyah swirled her head around to face him. “I let you into my room, sit on my bed, put your feet up on my chair, eat my food and use my shower when yours is broken and you can’t even help me clean up?!”

“Correct. Men don’t clean.” He smirked at her.

“Well, seeing as how you aren’t a ‘man’ you should be right at home with a mop and broom.” She hissed, pulling him up off the bed. With that added momentum, Ayato fell into her with a hug.

“You’re so soft, Liyah.” He cooed, turning her around towards the bed. “I bet you’re skin is softer…”

“I’ll scream rape is you don’t let go…” Liyah said flatly, letting her shoulders drop as she rolled her eyes again.

“You’re going ta have to cause I ain’t gonna let you go.” He said playfully, pushing her down onto the bed.

“If she gets here and she’s sees us like that I’ll never forgive you.” Liyah yelled at him as she tried to hold back a smile.

“Who said she was going to see us? She’s not even here ye--”