Day 1.

Reiki Tsukihisa

It was written plainly across the blackboard, white serpentine coils that spelled out the new student's name. Of course, the teacher hadn't opened her mouth yet; she merely stared out over the class. Through the reflective glare of her glasses, it was impossible to tell who, exactly, she was looking at. She would subject Class 3-B to her veiled surveys quite often, though it was always the longest when she had to decide something.

Yukimura-sensei is certainly inscrutable, when she wants to be, Rin mused, but I get the feeling her eyes are on me.

She mulled over the possibilities for a moment, attempting to judge the tilt of the teacher's head and her usual choices for classroom tasks. While it was true that she did not relish these assignments, it was known to most of her peers that the responsibility of performing these tasks would fall on herself or two others in the room. Most often, it seemed the wheel of fate would halt its burdensome needle upon sensing her aura...leading Yukimura-sensei to single her out.

Rin Mizushima, seated in the second row, adjacent to her teacher's desk, lifted silver eyes; first locking on to Yukimura-sensei and then onto the new student. The task was already set before her, practically; showing a stranger around the labyrinth of a school. Her attention, though, could not remain on the task at hand; summoning a mental blueprint of the twisted innards of the school interrupted by a small detail.

This 'Reiki Tsukihisa' looks tired, she placed her thumb between her teeth and bit down, the bags under his eyes exceed anything I've seen in recent days...the way he slouches and that grim expression. Rin rolled her thumb between her teeth, her eyes darting again to the teacher; drawn by the abrupt clacking of heels.

"Alright," Yukimura-sensei shouted into the silence, "I think I've got it all figured out!"

She seems terribly pleased with herself, the small girl growled internally, like she's gloating about figuring out! Just say-

"Mizushima-san," it was already too sing-song for Rin to enjoy, "you will be showing Tsukihisa-kun around the school!" Rin had accepted this inevitability, just a moment before; but the shock must have shown on her face. Yukimura-sensei seemed to pay it no mind, turning to Reiki and offering a flourish of her arm toward the classroom. "Please, Tsukihasa-kun, find yourself a seat."

"Tsukihasa-san can sit next to me. I would much prefer him to Akimoto-san," the boy next to her seemed to perk up for a moment, turning away from what, at a glance, appeared to be a crude and lewd drawing of the teacher, "No offense intended, Akimoto-san," she turned her head to him slightly, meeting his disapproval with an impeccable poker face.

"This is no time for deadpan humor, Mizushima-san," Yukimura-sensei cooed, running her eraser across Reiki's name, "but I suppose it would be for the best if the two of you were to get close. Akimoto-san, I banish you from your seat; move next to Ikagura-san."

No time for deadpan humor, huh?

Akimoto moved without any complaint, but he was careful to cover his drawing. Rin was genuinely relieved with the change, though it was for no reason other than distaste for Akimoto's hobbies. She allowed herself a small smile, as Yukimura-sensei continued.

"Take your seat, Tsukihasa-kun," she waited for a brief moment before scrawling on the board again, "Now, we'll be resuming our lesson on..."

Rin tuned her out, disinterested in matters of academic nature. What held her interest now was the potential for a spiritual pursuit. She watched Reiki move to the vacant seat next to her, paying close attention to the look in his eyes.

Reiki took his seat in front of Mizushima-san wordlessly. He had no introduction for himself to the class, to the teacher, or to Rin. He instead stared gloomily out the window, letting the day drift by. He was half-asleep, anyway. School was the only time he could find truly restful sleep--dreams without the whispers of the dead. Reiki Tsukihasa sighed wearily as the bell for lunch rang, dismissing the class to eat either their packed meals or to convene in the cafeteria for food.

Instead, he put his face down on his desk.

No one talk to me. No one talk to me. No one talk to me. No one talk to me, he repeated mentally, like his own personal mantra.

It seemed to be working. Though his eyes remained closed and veiled, he could tell by the chatter and footsteps of students that many were leaving the room without paying him any mind. Soon the classroom was silent with the exception of the ticking clock and chirp of midday birds.

Finally, peace!

Slowly, he drug head up from his desk and instantly locked eyes with the one person remaining in the room. "Mi-Mizushima-san?" The name left his mouth with distanced curiosity. "I know what Yukimura-sensei said... But I don't babysitter." Reiki rested his chin on his hand, and his elbow on the desk as he turned back to the window. "I'll find my own way, so... Go eat lunch with your friends."

She had shattered his illusion of solitude. The transfer student closed his eyes and sighed heavily.

Will I ever just be alone?

Watchful eyes and blank smiles came the procession; that filing out to a brief moment of freedom from the tedium of academia. Rin had waved away two of her friends, Ikagura and Momoi with a sharpness about her that did not beckon argument or even a scowl by the way of rebuke. They understood that look, she knew, and would not dare approach her until whatever business she had was done. They, too filed out, looking a little more befuddled than the rest; but happy all the same. Rin had taken it upon herself to investigate the potentially supernatural melancholy that surrounded their new classmate; this Reiki Tsukihasa. It was a safe bet to assume that he would stay behind, and a safer gamble, one that could be easily explained if she happened to be wrong; which Rin Mizushima doubted, rarely wrong as she was.

Once they were gone, a pseudosilence filled the room; a perpetual sense of static that lingered in the ears, broken only by the nearly sublime noise of the ticking clock mixed with the incessant chirping of birds from outside. It lasted only a few moments before Reiki seemed to notice her staring at him.

"My friends have already gone, Tsukihasa-san. Whether you need a babysitter or not is none of my concern," she was serious, at least about that matter, "but I have been given a task and I intend to carry it out as efficiently as possible," Rin shifted in her seat, sliding her pencil into place and stowing away her messy sheet of half-assed notes. "Staying here is your choice, as it is mine. Had you not opened your mouth about it, this conversation never would have transpired." She fixed him with a steely glare, searching through the lidded veil of his soul for more concrete answers about what plagued the boy.

If it's just depression, I'll leave him be, she told herself, but I have been given a task.

"What is it that follows you?"