---

The Sacred Hearts Institute was not an establishment that flaunted itself for all the world to see. Its lavish halls, lush forests and gardens, and rich atmosphere were hidden away on an island East of Kyoto, Japan, safe from the prying eyes of the mundane public and secured as a safe haven for those with something, or rather, someone, more. Everything about its ways were shrouded in uncertainty and secrecy to the untrained eye; nonetheless, the school still took in new students in small droves each year. The source of its funding seemed to be a name no one of any stature could recall, and the extent of its budget seemed limitless.

The clear skies perfectly fit the feeling of a new school year. The most dramatic change the year would bring would be the fresh faces that would soon mix in with students in their second and third years. These freshmen would experience a school life unlike any other -- along with the usual classes of mathematics, science, and the like, they'd be taking more exciting mandatory courses. Courses that involved what essentially amounted to the violent exorcism of evil spirits, utilizing the magic granted to them when they merge with their guardian spirit. The average student's life is riddled with danger, and death during a school-assigned mission isn't an impossibility -- though, of course, the school takes many precautions to never put any students in such a situation.

Not exactly the regular fare for highschool. But that was what made Sacred Hearts -- and its students -- special. A place for humans who've made an other-worldly connection with an ethereal, magical being to learn how to harness the powers that such a bond grants them. The school's goal? To instill a strong sense of justice into its students and their guardians, so that they may use their abilities to protect the world from the more feral, evil spirits that appear in it.

Evil spirits, demons, monsters; they have many names, and are, as all beings of the spirit world, extremely varied in shapes and sizes. What seperates them from the 'good' spirits, however, is their broken moral compass. Whether they entered the spirit world this way to begin with, or were changed by life in the realm of the dead, all that mattered was that they are now dangerous, to both humans and other spirits. As such, they are banished from the general spirit population, exiled to the outskirts of the spirit world, an area that acts as it's own strange, hellish realm. While this realm is a fairly good cage, it's not sealed tight. Malevolent spirits occasionally manage to escape back into both the regular spirit world and into the human world.

And that's a problem.

Ultimately, graduating students are recruited into one of several affiliated organizations from around the world, all militaristic groups dedicated to protecting the human world from these invading demons. But before graduating, of course, one must go through several years of classes to aquire the skillset necessary to do such a job.

It all starts in year one, back with the fresh faces. These new students know little more about the school than the general population does. They will learn very quickly, however, beginning with the Headmaster's introductory speech that will be given to the entire student body in the grand courtyard -- the speech that will officially open the curtains on another promising year at Sacred Hearts Institute.

---

The luxurious boat slowly pulled into the dock, its massive shadow covering the reception building and its well-groomed surroundings. Standing near the entrance to the building was a short woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. The strong wind blew through her shoulder-length brown hair and rustled her neat uniform -- a uniform that made it easily apparent that she was a teacher.

The woman smiled brightly as the newest students of the school began to make their way off the boat, taking their first (possibly unsteady) steps in their new home. She waved over the first ones off, greeting them politely and making small talk as she waited a few minutes to be sure that every student had exited the boat.

With a surprisingly strong voice for her stature, she called out for the attention of the group of wide-eyed teens. "Hello, all of you!" she began with a sweet smile. "Welcome to Sacred Hearts! I hope none of you got seasick or anything -- I know I did when I first came here, and it was not fun! Actually, I even tripped in front of all my peers! Imagine how embarrassed I was! I couldn't even look anyone in the eyes for a couple days! What a first impression, right?"

She noticed she was already losing the interest of some of the kids. That was an unfortunate... talent of hers. Tangents were her specialty. She went off constantly without ever realizing it. Composing herself and forcing herself back to the point, she spoke up again. "Enough of me, though! I'm not actually all that interesting, I'm just a little clumsy and... uh, sorry, what I mean to say is, I'll need all of you lovelies to go through reception, by entering these doors right here!" Her hand raised and she pointed in a rather animated fashion to the entrance that was directly next to her, as though it wasn't completely obvious. "In there, you'll basically check in. You're attendence at this wonderful school will be officially noted! Oh, and you'll be given your class number and your dorm-room number! I hope your roommates not a slob! Because mine was, and it wasn't--"

She cleared her throat, catching herself again.

"After you've gone through reception, you'll have about half-an-hour to mingle and wander before our Headmaster gives a speech in the courtyard -- if you're unsure where the courtyard is, you can use one of the many maps we have around campus, or you can ask any of our fantastic older students who will definitely be more than happy to help you out!" The woman paused again, giving the students time to digest the information.

Her eyes snapped open as she realized she had never even given her name. Not uncommon for her, but she had to fix that immediately. "O-oh, and just so you all know, I'm Ms. Akatsuka!" While the teacher did her best to make it seem like she hadn't forgotten to introduce herself, it was quite clear that she was a bit flustered due to her ditzyness. "I'll certainly be seeing all of you around a lot! Now off you go!"

---

-----The finding------
Jasper finds himself walking alone, like usual. Honestly, he takes the longest routes home because he does not want to be back there...he does not want to deal with those...people. His eyes scan his surroundings, figuring that the day was beautiful so why not really experience it.

As his eyes wander, his gaze sets upon a rather odd looking monarch. That...is not natural He feels oddly fascinated, a light tugging feeling accompanying it. With a head tilt and a tighter grip on his backpack, he goes to the butterfly. And thus, a short chase proceeds.

A chase that leads him to a clearing where instead of a butterfly, he is met with a small fox. A fox with not only nine tails, but the ability to speak and go into a rather hopeful speech.

-----Now------
Jasper leans against the edge of the boat and watches the water, for him the plane ride was far worse then the boat ride. Being that not only does he get motion sickness, but that he also rather discuss the height. His quite demeanor being extremely contrasted to the small fox running about the boat currently.

Kit runs to every person he can find, looking up at them, inspecting them, then realizing there are more people. His voice seems to ring out in everyone's minds as he goes. 'Human! human! look others! this one smells like candy!'

Jasper sighs heavily and picks up his guardian when the streak runs close enough. He lightly places the fuzz on the edge of the boat and gets Kit focused on that until the boat stops. Then some teacher goes into their speech, which he half listens to while Kit seems to have his full attention on the human. Once she is done, Jasper heads off through the doors...hoping that Kit will...nope there he goes.

Kit trots ahead of Jasper all nine of his tails waving in happy excitement. His pupilless blue eyes seeming to take in every inch of his surroundings. 'Human...look at everything! this is great! much better then the attic those older humans you told me not to bite put us in'

Rasetsu leaned on the boatrails and looked at the water waving underneath her. The nice cool wind blowing through her long black hair blocking her view momentarely. She tucked her hair back behind her ear and saw a smirking Yakou standing besides her.

''I am glad that you decided to wear your hair loose for a change, Hime. That eternal traditional hairdo is nice but this is nicer'' Yakou said taking a lock of her hair in his hand. The wind however blew it out of his grip and that made Rasetsu smile.

''please stop calling me hime, Yakou. You know I do not have any value to that title'' She said as she looked at the red inventation with the golden letters on it. She was very happy to recive such a thing, although this Sacred Hearts Institute was something that was shrouded with mystery. This inventation meant a change of life for her, something she had been searching for ever since 'toki no yoroi' had taken place.

'' But you are a hime. Do not forget that you are a decendant of a samurai bloodline'' Yakou moved closer and wispered something in Rasetsu's ear.
''do not forget the past, Rasetsu''

Before Rasetsu's eye's a past forcefully forgotten flashed.
The small feet of a young girl that ran over wooden floorboards to her parents room. A sliding door kicked in and drops of red on the white paper of it.
Taking a step into the shadow of the room feeling something wet soak into her pure white tabi's. Quickly taking back a few steps only to see blood on her tabi.
A loud scream.
A shadow moving past her, stopping in the garden when it noticed her.
And a red butterfly beconing her to follow him, away from the shadow.

''Yakou...... Rasetsu said as she looked at the horizon.
''We are going to find 'them'. But for now I want to enjoy school life and learn how to properly soul link with you.

''ofcourse hime'' Yakou teased Rasetsu and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
Rasetsu wrapped her pinky around his and looked around. Besides her stood a boy with pale blond hair holding a ball of fluff. The ball turned out to be a nine tailed fox that happely looked around him, being curious and a bit to engergetic.

The boy himself didn't looked that japanese to her, more France or America like. Akwardly she smiled to the both of them when the boat docked.
She quickly made her way to the place where a woman was holding a speech and stood there with the rest of the first years. Ms. Akatsuka, as the woman introduced herself as, seemed a bit chaotic but nice enough.

Once she was finished with talking, Rasetsu and Yakou took their time to look around. She saw the little fox from earlier running around, with his human following in his trail.

''there are so many different kinds of people here'' she said, but she already knew what Yakou was going to say. And she was right on mark when some non japanese people passed by him and he scoffed.

''tsk, so many non-japanese here''

''please Yakou bear with it, a new life is just about to begin'' Rasetsu smiled

---

---

Akira had fallen asleep, her head leaning on the side of the train. She awoke just when they mentioned her stop. Foreigners always wondered how Japanese people could just wake up at the right time like that and she didn’t know either. Simple habits. She stood up, a woman was sitting beside her the entire time. Akira looked at the woman. “Excuse me beauty. May I?” She asks, a kind smile as the girl quickly moved a bit with a nod so that she could pass by. Akira smiled, thanking the woman as she got off the train.

Joker followed behind Akira, taking a look at his surroundings. “Aki, this is a very beautiful place. Why don’t you go places like here more if it’s only 3 hours away?” He asks, now up and personal with a stranger that couldn’t see him. Akira had on a poker face as she walked and looked up for a moment. “I don’t like to leave places that I am familiar with.” She replied to Joker. She probably should have explored around her more and she did. Just not often and Kyoto hadn't been a place she went to before. Akira now wondered why she had never visited. It was a place with beautiful scenery.

Akira finally reached the private ferry. She set down a black suitcase of reasonable size. Not too big but not too small either. Just the right size. She shook her head when someone attempted to put the bag in the ferry and instead did it herself, expressing her gratitude for the gesture. Handing the people her identification and invitation. They had strict security, that was for sure. Akira then boarded the ferry and went to the front, admiring the sea. She loved water. The driving force of all nature. She put her forearms on the railing and waited to arrive at the school. After a while, she went over to Joker and sat next to him as she read a book.

Akira had on a long short sleeved gray plain shirt with a long black trench coat over it. Actually pretty trendy but she didn’t realize it. The store worker simply recommended her whole outfit and she didn’t know much about fashion so she thought she might as well just listen. Joker himself wanted her to maybe wear clothes that weren't from the guys section. "You should let your hair down too." he would say. And to this Akira would respond with, "Hair or clothes, which one?" with a chuckle that said she would do neither if she didn't feel like it. Her jeans were a bit baggy, black and simple with her lace up boots over them. She had her chest wrapped, 0% boob showing whatsoever and had a gray scarf that was hanging a bit loosely on her neck.

She never knew why but she had a thing about wearing long sleeves in the summer as well as putting on a light scarf to accommodate her outfit. Akira got off the ferry once she had finally got to the school, glad that she wasn’t one to get sea sick. She stared straight at the woman who was attempting to grab everyone’s attention but had an obvious habit of rambling. She seemed like a nice woman so Akira was glad for that. She payed attention to her words and made sure not to miss anything. She smiled lightly as the woman finished her speech but returned to her poker face, walking over to the reception area.

Akira soon noticed that Joker wasn’t around but quickly realized that he had returned to his butterfly form and was simply wandering around. She allowed him to do so, knowing that he would follow her either way and knew of his habits of observing. Akira got to the reception area and received her information. Beautiful names. I’m sure they’ll be lovely people. Akira though with enthusiasm as she made her way over to the dorms. Maria and Rasetsu. One of which was most likely Japanese and the other was unknown. Splendid name.

She went inside of the dorm room, realizing that she was the first one there. Her ponytail now falling loose. Akira tightened it after she took of her scarf and set down her things on the bed which had red and black sheets. Just like the sheet said, her favorite colors. Well, except for purple. She liked purple but would never have purple sheets. Her father most definitely wouldn’t like such things. Joker sat on her bed, his legs crossed as he smiled. “A wonderful place. Now, for a riddle. Imagine you are in a dark room. How do you get out?” Akira didn’t look up at him but thought about it for about 5 seconds. “Hm? Were your riddles always this simple? Stop imagining.” She said to him. Joker chuckled and crossed his legs as he hovered over the bed. “Splendid. How about this one then? Many have heard me, but nobody has seen me, and I will not speak back until spoken to. What am I?” Joker asks her, now smiling at her as if he had much more. Akira continued to unpack and thought about the riddle. “Many have heard me, nobody has seen me. And I will not speak back until spoken to… Hmmm.” Akira looks up at him before smiling a bit. “Got it. An echo.” Joker claps lightly before closing his eyes with a smile.

“I can only live where there is light, but I die if the light shines on me. What am I?” He asks, his last joke for right now. He watched as Akira tapped her index finger and thumb together lightly. A habit that he noticed a while back and loved to watch. She looks up after a minute, stopping with her tapping and now having a response. “A shadow.” Joker floats over her, returning to his butterfly form as he goes around his head and saying correct. She allows him to do so and doesn’t take out her clothes for the moment. She didn’t feel like hanging them up at the time and would have to do it later. For now, she simply unpacked her other things and put her clothing bag beside her bed.

“Aki, how do you feel about the place as of now?” He asks her, a curious expression on his face.

“Well, I don’t know right now but i’m sure i’ll be able to learn many new things about soul linking and the such.”

“I’m sure you’ll learn new things.” He says, a confident tone. With the amount of time she spent studying, she would surely learn new things and hopefully not overwork herself. “Make sure to have some fun at the same time Aki.” He tells her, a gentle tone now as he wanders around the room.

“Sure. I will. Either way, I can’t wait for everything to begin.” She says, looking down and continuing to unpack with a gentle smile. It faded away after a while as she wondered who would be her new roommates and what classes she would have to attend first. All of these new things that would be introduced to her were making her feel excited. Akira’s ponytail had some strands of her hair falling on her sides as she elegantly unpacked.

I hope that my roommates are wonderful people. Though i’m sure that they’ll be lovely.

Leaving the boat, Silas was followed by the black and white butterfly who hovered in the air right beside him. Silas was wearing a large bag containing his stuff and held a sketchbook under his arm. He always had a sketchbook with him so he could draw things when he got inspiration. His pencil was located in the pocket of his blue jacket.

"What a lovely place, isn't it Silas? Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, on days like these one should really enjoy life." an elder voice said coming from the butterfly. The teacher already had began talking, Silas paid half-attention, the woman was saying a lot of unrelevasnt things.

"Don't get used to it Nostradamus. I'm going straight to our room after this." Silas replied, Nostradamus let out a small sigh.

After the speech the students were free to wonder around the campus for a short time before they had to gather in the courtyard to listen to yet another speech, hopefully from someone more professional this time. He was planning to just chill in his room for a bit, maybe throw out a drawing if he could get up with something cool to draw. Lately he has been drawing Nostra a lot, but that gets boring after some time.

Silas kinda ignored the others and headed straight to the dorms, halfway there realizing that he didn't even know which dorm was his. He headed back to reception and picked up the information that he needed and returned to his quest for the dorms. He was the first one to arrive apparently. He threw his bag to the side and hopped on the bed. Nostradamus manifested to his normal appearance.

"You sure like to take things slow, do you not Silas?" he commented on his behavior.

"Yep." he said with a bright smile. "I sure like to take things slow!"

As Silas was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, Nostradamus had moved to the window, he looked outside and saw some more of the landscape in the campus, it was truly an amazing place to be, even for Silas who in his opinion didn't really deserve it, mainly duo his lack of seriousness.

Silas on the other hand didn't care much for all this, it was nice that he could relax in such a place. He hadn't informed himself about what this place actually and would just let get himself informed at the speech later. He was invited for free, why should he inform himself? There's only one thing he is good in and that is drawing, so it must be for that talent that he got in.

"Twenty-five minutes, then we should depart." Nostradamus said.

"Pfff, twenty-five? Lots of time to enjoy the peace and silence here." he looked to his side and saw another bed standing there "unless that one storms in." he mumbled to no on in particular. "Why don't you butterfly around or something? You like that... right."

Callum loved the sea. It was an endless expanse of brilliant blue, a field filled with the vibrant colors of life. Pink jellyfish floated near the surface, while grey dolphins kissed the skies above. A school of fish swam around the ferry, their students waving to the ones aboard. The blond waved back towards the sea dwellers, smiling as he felt a damp touch upon his shoulder. He turned towards the source of the contact, and beheld the Guardian, his partner, Zilla. Their meeting was a strange one, surprisingly not only for the human side. Callum had just become independent from his parents, and started his travels in Paris to see the wondrous sights and architecture. But what he found was entirely different, and had only reaffirmed what he had believed his entire life.

A black butterfly. He didn't understand why it caught his attention, especially since the Eiffel Tower was towering over his person. He held out a hand, and it landed on his forefinger, the flutter of it's wings halted as it rested upon the appendage. How fascinating. It had no extra patterns where there usually were, the insect left vulnerable to it's predators without camouflage to conceal the butterfly's true nature, as if it were unafraid of what it was. The insect landing on top of his finger with no apparent fear only cemented the statement within his mind. As it took off and started to fly away, the teen had a sudden urge to accompany the strange anomaly, and he did so. The butterfly brought him on a wild goose-chase through the City of Lights, taking turns into alleyways only to leave them a second later, flying over and around people as if to shake off the blonde that was following. However, the boy wouldn't be deterred, and followed the black insect through it all. The game ended when it took a final turn into a back alleyway that lead to a dead end, and he was surprised to find something completely different from a butterfly waiting for him.

A writhing mass of slime-like tentacles, each of them grotesque in their own way. Some of them possessed whitened eyes with no visible pupils, though the teen could feel that they were observing him, watching his every move. Others seemed to be half-transformed into the limbs of other creatures, or cloths of a bygone age. A singular mouth full of teeth sat at the base of the figure, somehow giving him a wide smile from it's vertical position. The centerpiece of the sight was a lady who seemed to be fused with the accumulation of appendages, more visual organs decorating her figure and giving her a sort of allure that one couldn't find within another. Her skin seemed to be of a light indigo, the pigment darkening as one looked upon her lower half. White "clothing" tentacles covered anything inappropriate, and seemed to form the shape of a maid outfit. One would usually stare only at the feminine portion of the figure, grossed out or fearing the lower-half, but Callum was so very fascinated by the fusion, eyes dancing upon her person and committing the strange sight to his memory.

In his silent, devoted inspection, the blonde never noticed the limb that had sneaked up behind him, and nearly gasped at the cold, slimy touch that wrapped around his person. He was pulled towards the purple lady, who had gained a smile at some point during his observation. When he was close enough, she reached out with her hands to cup them onto each of his cheeks and pulled him closer, staring into his curious cerulean eyes with her own amused yellow orbs. They were locked into that moment of eye contact, neither of them averting their eyes as they each studied the specimens in front of them. Finally, Callum spoke up, momentarily breaking the silent standoff. "You know, we've only just met. I'm pretty sure that a man isn't supposed to go to first base with a lovely woman when they don't know each others' names," the teen remarked cheekily, simultaneously complimenting her while inquiring for her name in the same sentence. The lady blinked, face lit with surprise at the gall of the boy she had within her grip. Honestly, Callum had no idea why he said that, himself. It just seemed right at that moment. The alleyway was silent, not a single sound was heard, until a soft snicker echoed through the passage, then another, until it became a light giggle. The chiming of tinkling bells emanated from the strange being, her tentacled mass shaking with her as she vocalized her amusement. Allowing the feeling to pass her by, the indigo lady leaned forward and kissed the boy on the forehead, making him blush at the sudden action. She pulled away, her small smile turning into a full on grin at the sight of Callum's red face.

"My name is Zilla, and I think we'll get along quite well, Call-"

"-lum. Callum!" The voice of said Guardian shook the teen from his thoughts, allowing him to focus his eyes on the girl's worried look, her open left hand near his face as if she had just waved it by his eyes. "Sorry, Zilla. I was just reminiscing on the past," Callum expressed his regret, taking the original tentacle that had caught his attention in the first place, and squeezing it reassuringly. The indigo teen just sighed wearily, and pouted jokingly as gestured towards the docks. "Whatever. Let's just get off the ship before it leaves with us on it, partner," she replied, slapping Callum lightly across the back of the head as they started their walk to the dock, the bespectacled teen rubbing his head sheepishly as Zilla's pout turned into a light smile. They listened to the teacher's speech, the shoggoth making a snarky remark towards her human, who blushed and lightly returned the slap she gave him before. Neither of them had any idea of where to go, so they just started to wander around the campus, taking in the wondrous sights of the Sacred Hearts Institute.

Reina, looking more than a little green, gripped tightly onto the railing of the boat. Her navy-blue hoodie was pulled up, in an attempt to hide the distress on her face from any who might see her.

She was going to die. Or, at least, be violently ill. The young woman had always been prone to motion sickness -- something that always bothered her, seeing as she couldn't read on moving vehicles due to this. To avoid the sick feeling, she had to be able to see that she was moving, along with feeling the movement.

And between the torturously long flight where all she could see was unmoving blue sky, and this boat ride where all she could see was unmoving blue water... well, it was really, really getting to her. It didn't help that she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in over two days now, courtesy of her nerves, motion-sickness, and insomnia.

Unable to register enough movement outside the boat to quell her queasy stomach, Reina shifted her eyes back towards the deck boat as she sighed. Her gaze met her guardian's, Reaper, who was floating a foot off the ground right by her (as usual). His skeletal body, covered by a black robe could be described as creepy, thanks in no small part to his hollow, black eyes. He slightly cocked his head to the side quizzically, asking her if she'd be alright. A small, genuine smile showed on the girl's face at the spirit's display of concern. "I'll live, Grim. Thank you," she said gently, using the nickname she had given him.

It was then that she heard a small scream that made her jump. Her head snapped to another girl, who had just rounded a corner and was the obvious source of the yelp. Her eyes were locked on the unsettling Reaper, uncertainty in her eyes as she took a few timid steps to move past them, her own guardian resting on her shoulder.

Reina flinched a bit at the girl's reactions, once again being reminded that these people were all like her -- everyone on this boat had a guardian as well, and they could see other guardians. It hadn't been something Reina had had to think about before today.

Quickly, she looked at Reaper and gave him a slight nod, silently asking him to turn into his butterfly form. He, as usual, obeyed without any hesitation, and a moment later a blue and yellow butterfly landed on Reina's raised hand.

"I-I'm sorry," she said to the girl with an apologetic smile. "He's, um, not really as scary as he looks..."

The only response she got was a curt nod as the girl kept moving past her, leaving her and Reaper alone again.

Reina swallowed hard as she looked down at the butterfly on her finger, feeling far more guilty than she should about the distress they had caused the girl. "Sorry..." she whispered to no one, her voice cracking.

She really must have been tired. To have to be holding back tears after something as small as that? How pathetic of her.

Reaper crawled along her finger, moving himself just an inch closer to her face in another show of concern. Reina forced a smile for him as she wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her hoodie, fighting back a sob. After a few more moments, she had herself mostly composed.

"Sorry, Grim, but please stay as a butterfly for a while longer, okay?" she said.

---

Reina couldn't remember the last time she had felt so relieved -- stepping off that boat had been an excellent feeling.

The sight in front of her was also quite amazing. All the new students like her were gathered, listening to a scatter-brained teacher greet them. Along with the students, of course, were their guardians. It was such a strange thing to see all these unique creatures at once, especially since she had only ever seen a few spirits before today. A few were in their butterfly forms, as Reaper was.

Still feeling a little queasy (though the feeling was mercifully fading) she pulled down her hood and followed the teacher's directions, entering the reception building and getting her class and room numbers: Class 1 and Room E77. Spending a moment to wonder what her roommate and classmates would be like, she shifted her focus on deciding what to do.

Seeing as she only had half-an-hour, it would be best to quickly head to her room to drop her things off, and then make her way to the courtyard to wait for the Headmaster's speech.

With an anxious excitement gripping her chest, Reina stepped out of the reception building and moved to start off towards the dorms.

"WOOHOOOOOO!!!!!" A short girl screamed over the edge of a ferry, ocean wind whipping her long brown hair back behind her. Her knuckles gripped the railing as she leaned over, feeling the sea air hitting her face. Nova Zannella was in complete bliss, enjoying the brand new experience of sailing the ocean. Yesterday she had enjoyed the brand new experience of flying in an airplane!!! Truly, this was a week of firsts and she couldn’t wait to see what else was going to happen. Thinking that however had Nova suddenly thinking about all the new people, and abruptly the girl stopped enjoying herself and began fretting. While a boat ride and flying miles above the world were cool, she was utterly terrified of meeting and speaking with new faces. Placing both feet back on the ground instead of the railing, Nova hugged her arms close to her body. It felt like everything that had happened was a dream, and she was liable to wake any moment. Movement out of her peripheral vision has Nova glancing up. Beside her floated a small creature, long black hair and beautifully designed kimono swaying slightly in the wind. Three pale cream fox tails moved about behind the creature, as well as two cream fox ears twitched on her head. The unnerving flat white face seemed to be looking at Nova, but with the eyes just thin black lines it was hard to tell.
“Tokala…you will be with me, right? When I meet my new classmates?” Nova quietly asked, nervousness showing through her voice. The kitsune spirit simply stared back, Nova thinks, but nevertheless a feeling of calm blankets Nova’s mind. “Thank you” she replies to the silent answer.
Turning back to the endless sea, Nova completes the rest of the boat ride in silence. Arriving at the school, Nova hoists her backpack on her shoulders and follows the throng of people disembarking. The entire greeting ceremony by the kind teacher is spent with Nova trying to avoid bumping into anyone, or making eye contact. Tokala is a silent presence floating along beside her, and Nova is thankful for at least one familiar face. After the woman finishes her rambling speech, Nova heads to where she was directed. Not wanting to miss the headmaster’s speech, Nova doesn’t wander to explore or find her dorm yet. She does however take in the beauty of the school. The entire thing is larger than Nova’s hometown! Getting lost is surely going to be Nova’s new pastime here.

Jacob stretched his limbs out gratefully as he stepped off the docking platform, the plane's passengers disembarking in an orderly fashion. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting from a school who sent its acceptance letters so formally, however he had to say he wasn't disappointed so far. The airport they had vetted him through was of the highest quality, as had been the first class dining experience he enjoyed for the full thirteen hour flight. The only probem he did have was how crowded the place was with everyone bustling about, but a gentle hand on shoulder helped to calm his nerves some.

Turning to glance over his right shoulder, Jacob was still surprised everytime he saw her. Despite the fact that the pair had been formally introduced weeks before he was still having trouble adjusting to the near constant presence... He wouldn't lie though, it was nice to have someone there for him all the time. Korrin smiled back at her charge comfortingly as she withdrew her hand. "It's alright Jake, I'm sure it won't feel as crowded where we're going. Let's hurry up and get out of here." Jacob nodded his response as he watched the ghostly girl disappear, leaving behind an equally beautiful butterfly floating along in her place. No one seemed to notice the little critter, or if they did they didn't seem all that interested in it... A fact Jacob still found interesting, an intrigued smile lighting up his eyes as he followed the butterfly toward their destination.

~~~

As if flying for half a day, through multiple time zones no less, wasn't tiring enough the school had arranged for a ferry to carry all the students to the school grounds. Jacob had arrived in rather good spirits, but the poor boy was exhausted as was made apparent from the soft snores escaping his seat. Having a well placed seat against a pole with the added bonus of a rocking boat, Jacob was lulled right into a nap. His guardian couldn't help but to laugh at the sight, perching herself comfortably on his shoulder to admire her surroundings. It was rolling waves and blue skies for as far as she could see until the lush green of their new school grounds came into view. Well placed out of the reach of random stragglers and prying eyes the prestigious academy had been built with the safety of its members and, in some parts, the general public in mind. After all, a kid with access to the magics of spirits didn't always works out the way it had been intended.

Korrin didn't have anything to worry about though, as the her current charge was a little on the timid side. She would have to pull him out of his shell a bit if he was going to reach his full potential, but then again that's why there were at The Sacred Hearts Institute in the first place. As the rocking of the boat subsided drastically, Jacob's eyes fluttered open hazily. "Are we there yet?" He groaned, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Returning to her more humanoid form, Korrin answered his question by grabbing his hand and guiding him forward off the boat. The pair waited patiently for the ditzy teacher's introduction to end before trudging on through the entrance to check Jacob into the school. There were so many people gathered there from all around the world, but surprising Korrin had been right. Not a single thing felt cramped, in fact it felt a lot like home. Still, Jacob found himself shying away from a lot of the forming groups to find somewhere quiet to hang out until the Headmaster's welcome speech began.

---

Sitting on a bench, Maria looked down at the gold lettered invitation wondering how exactly she had ended up in Japan. It wasn't that she didn't like it, in fact she loved it. The sights, the smells, the sounds; everything was picture perfect... Which was exactly her problem. Everything around her made her want to snap photos with the camera she had hidden away in her bag, but if she started photographing everything right off the bat, people would think she was weird for sure. Sighing heavily, Maria leaned back on the seat and closed her eyes.

Flashing through her mind were the events that led her up to this moment of personal crisis; the trains, the packing, the letter... the butterfly. That was the tipping point in hindsight, the one encounter that was sure to change everything for her and it had. She had never questioned the tiny yellow creature's existence before, showing up around every corner but never really catching her eye. No, that day was the first time she had ever truly saw the being and yet she knew she had always noticed him before. Driven by curiosity Maria had followed the creature without a second thought. Now she was in a dormroom of an academy no one seemed to know anything about. The whole thing was shrouded in mystery but she got the feeling those answers would be answered sooner rather than later.

Opening her eyes , Maria righted herself and looked around before she checked the time on a small wristwatch. She still had some time left over, but she figured she might as well find out where her dorm room was before the "assmebly" started. Clutching the paper the receptionist had given her Maria followed the instructions towards the East Wing. She didn't think much about just reaching for the doorknob, as she assumed most of the group had remained outside, so when she pushed open the door and found a person inside she was more than a little shocked. "Oh my gosh, I am so sorry! I must have the wrong room." She exclaimed apologetically as she slammed the door shut again, backing up against a far wall with her hand clutched to her chest.

"Just what on Earth do you think you're doing child?" A voice scolded from beside her, almost making her jump for a second time. Polaris looked rather bored of the whole thing, showing no compassion for his human charge. "I-I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in West Wing by mistake..." She trailed off as she looked at the number clearly displayed for that room. "E142" which was exactly the room she was looking for. A little confused, Maria opened the door slowly this time, peeking her head in curiously. Her eyes drifted over to a bed that had some of her extra belongings already delivered and awaiting unpacking, so she knew she was in the right place. Polaris ducked his head into the room with a mocking chuckle, picking up on the situation quickly. "I do believe that is what they call a roommate, mon cheri. Are you going to say hello, or are you going to stand there gawking all afternoon?" He shook his head finding her shock rather amusing.

Scowling at her guardian, Maria returned her attention back to the other person in the room. Upon further inspection, and a bit of common sense, Maria realized that she had mistaken her own roommate for a guy. Feeling rather guilty, Maria smiled widely and offered a hand out in greeting. "I guess I'm still a little tired from my trip, my apologies. Je m'appelle Maria and this is my partner Polaris. By the way, I really like your outfit. It suits you well."

Rasetsu sat underneath a sakura tree that was fully in bloom, not really feeling up to going to her new room. She was a bit nervous to meet her new roommate and she was a bit hesitant for she didn't wanted to be the first one to arrive. Yakou stood on the other side silently smoking a pipe and taking in his new surroundings.

''we really have to go to your new room, Hime'' He said, emptying the contents of his pipe and putting it back in the sleeve of his kimono. Rasetsu sighed, stood up and adjusted the obi on her back. Secretly she was very excited about this all and she really wanted to look good in her new pale dark blue kimono with red obi.

''I suppose you are right Yakou'' She said and Yakou transformed himself into a butterfly. As Always he latched himself onto her neck, and Rasetsu grabbed her suitecase. The rest of her stuff was already deliverd to room.

She made her way to the reception and got her room number and new uniform. Unfortunate she wasn't allowed to wear kimono on the schoolgrounds all the time.


''E139, E140, E141, ah here it is Yakou E142'' Rasetsu said happy. She did one last check on her kimono and smooted out her long sleeves.
''don't worry Hime, you look great as always'' Yakou said wrapping his arms around her neck from behind. He had transformed back from his butterfly form. He let go of Rasetsu soon enough when she had laid her hand on the doorknob. She opend the door and stepped into the room.

''hello, my name Shiouin Rasetsu, and this is my guardian Yakou. Please take care of us'' She said and giving a courtesy bow. When she looked up she saw a girl with a bird near her and a boy with a joker hovering in the room ,who shook hands.

Rasetsu was suprised to see an boy in the girls dorm and thought that he was maybe the girls boyfriend. On closer look however, the boy had some feminnen features and that he was a she. You had those type from time to time, Rasetsu walked in further and smiled. Yakou also stepped into the room. Rasetsu poked him in the side when he didn't say a thing.
''I am Yakou'' he said.

@RaeoftheLight
Jasper memorized his dorm room and silently heads to the courtyard, knowing full well that kit in small places wasn't a good idea. Unless he is sleeping. His grip on his backpack doesn't loosen as he walks, his eyes seem to scream 'buzz off'. However his demeanor seems more calm. Conflicting non verbals that will most likely confuse most of not all the students here.

For a few seconds it seems as if the fox had disappeared, but a darting silver streak straight toward Nova proves otherwise. The small fox stops right in front and send to vibrate with energy, most likely because he noticed Nova's guardian. The fox seems overly excited about this. 'Human! Look this one has one like me!

Jasper walks to his guardian and sighs. "Kit...some people do not like to be rushed at" he nods slightly to the two in greeting and scoops up the fox with the twitching tails. Clearly the fox is more excitable then his human counter part. Almost seems like the two should be switched.

"I wish you had cancer."

"Huh?"

"You're going to watch me rot..."

"What?"

"I'm going to fix the roof now..."

"Yue, where are you going?"

*CRASH* *BANG* *CRASH*

"YUELIANG!"



Sun gasped awake. Beads of sweat in her forehead. It was a dream about Yueliang again. She remembered that it was not real nor had it occurred anytime in their time together. However, the sheer unpredictability of her charge made the entire sequence almost realistic. Relatively obviously.

Looking around, she remembered she was on a boat towards a school called 'Sacred Heart' with Yueliang. And by 'with Yueliang', she was currently Soul Linked to the unstable boy and from what the people could see, there was a monkey-like girl dozing off in one of the boat's seats who seemed to have woken up from a nightmare. She noticed there were a ton of people along with her in the boat, all of whom were safe to assume to be people like Yueliang, having responded and partnered with a Guardian Spirit. However, they were unlikely to be like Yueliang in regards to mental health.

It was not long before the luxurious boat slowly pulled into the dock, its massive shadow covering the reception building and its well-groomed surroundings. It was time to explore this Sacred Heart she and Yueliang were invited in. Sun grabbed her staff and worked her way across the boat so she could be the first to disembark. It was sort of successful as she was one of those who in front of a short woman who appeared to be in her mid-twenties. The woman greeted some of the students before calling out the teens with her surprisingly strong voice.

"Hello, all of you!"

She began. After that, she welcomed everyone to Sacred Heart and told that they needed to go through reception for attendance and receive numbers. Afterwards, there would be a speech by the Headmaster in the courtyard in thirty minutes so for now, Sun was free to explore the school and explore she did. Her face was alight with wonder when she marvelled at how huge Sacred Heart was and their radiant-white buildings.

"This place is so beautiful!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

---

---

Akira’s head flipped around upon hearing a voice suddenly speak in a startled tone. She didn't know why the woman had suddenly left with an apology. Joker looked at her, an “I told you so” look on his face as he sighed. “This is why you should let your hair down and wear clothes that actually say you’re a girl. Not to mention your…” Joker’s voice trailed off as he looked down at Akira’s chest with yet another sigh. Covered with gymnast tape as always. Akira chuckled, shrugging her shoulders in response. “My father would be devastated. Besides, i’m quite OK with being mistaken for a boy.” She said, already used to the common occurrence.

She smiled when the girl came back in and turned around to face the woman. Joker returned to his butterfly state and began fluttering around Akira as she spoke. “It’s fine lovely.” She said, a kind yet charming smile on her face without her own realization. Akira took the woman’s hand and kissed the dorsal surface of her hand quickly, looking up at her once she returned her hand. “Meria? My name is Akira. It’s wonderful to meet you, you most certainly are a beauty.” She said, shutting her eyes a bit as she smiled but quickly returned to speaking to her. “This is Joker, my partner.” Akira looked over at the butterfly which quickly returned to his other state. Joker looked over at Polaris and to Meria before he spoke. “Delighted to meet you.” He said, smiling quite creepily with his eyes half shut. Joker only had his upper torso visible at the moment, black smoke forming beneath him a bit.

“Thank you for the compliment, I don’t compare to your sublime beauty quite obviously though.” Akira says sweetly to the woman. Meria. It was great to finally meet one of her roommates. She was going to continue speaking before she realized that someone else had decided to arrive. Akira turned to look at the girl who was obviously a traditional woman, wearing a kimono and having great manners.

She smiled gently, placing a hand on one side of her chest as she bowed in return. “Same to you. Nice to meet you Shiouin. I’m overjoyed to be rooming with the two of you captivating women. It’ll surely be wonderful.” She says to the two of them as Joker looks over at Akira. There she goes again… She looks as Akira’s charming aura glows. Well, they look like reasonable people I suppose.. I’m sure everything will be fine. Hopefully no misunderstandings or troubles arise.

@Ojo chan 42@WeepingLiberty

Risa Watanabe

Risa was so excited to be starting the new school year at a new school. Sure she might miss a lot of her friends back home, but she was looking forward to making a lot of new ones. She pulled out her phone and took a selfie of herself on the boat. She sent it to her close friends at home so they would know what she was up to. She promised them that she would keep in touch with them and she intended on keeping that promise. She was still deciding on what filter to use when a certain orange butterfly sneaked up behind her.

"What are you doing? That is such a ridiculous photo of you. Are you really sending that to your friends?" a stern voice nagged.

Risa stuck out her tongue. "It's the new dog feature thing on snapchat... Everyone is doing it," she whined back.

"That doesn't mean that you should resort to something so childish," the butterfly returned.

She ignored her companion and sent the photo anyway with the caption, "OMG I'M ALMOST THERE GUYS!" She also made sure to add it to her story. When they have finally arrived, there was a strange woman who was giving them a speech. She was weird, but Risa found her nice enough. "She is trying her best at least," the cheerful girl thought to herself. She along with the rest of the students were lead into the lobby to check out their new dorm assignments and other important information. Afterwards she grabbed her stuff and made her way to the dorms as quickly as she could. Maybe her roommate was already there and she couldn't wait to meet her! They could become best friends forever and do everything together! That would be so much fun!

"Do you even know where you're going, Risa?" Kyoya asked. "Perhaps we should ask for directions."

"You are no fun. We are in room E77. And I have a map so we won't get lost," she said confidently. She held up the map given to her by the school for emphasis. "We'll be fine."

The butterfly had now shifted into its tiger form and took a better look at the map Risa was holding. He did something that was in between a sigh and a roar. "You're holding the map upside down, Risa."

Risa's face turned slightly red with embarrassment. She quickly turned the map over so it was facing the right way. "I knew that! Let's go!" She hurried towards the dorm buildings only to find that she was at the Western dorm building. "It's alright, Kyoya," she said, still smiling. "This just means we're on the west side... so we just have to go to the exact opposite direction that we are in right now~!"

Kyoya sighed once more. This girl was trouble...

Nova flinched as a large streak of something came rushing towards her. When it stopped she saw it was a talking fox like creature with multiple tails and beautifully colored fur. Tokala floated down and paused with her face inches from the other fox spirit. Then Tokala raised her hand and patted the creature on his head. Nova looked up as another boy approached and picked up the excitable fox. "H-Hi." Nova stuttered out, clasping her hands together. "Your...um...Kit, he is very cute." After saying that Nova wanted to slap her forehead, it was so ridiculous. "I-I'm Nova Z-Z-Zannella. This is To-Tokala." The short girl gestured to Tokala, who has now floated back up and whose face seemed like it was still staring at Kit, but since it was featureless it was hard to tell.
@BlackPanther

@RaeoftheLight
Jasper gives a hint of a smile and continues holding the wiggling fox. "pleasure....I am jasper and the fox is kitsune. I call him kit" He could tell she was shy and yet didn't go to make it worse. He just talked to her in a normal fashion.
Kit however, managed to squirm free and bounce back over to tokala. With a head tilt he stands on his hind legs then falls back on two. He looks up at her and wiggles his nine tails. 'alike but not alike. I like them human' the fox then displays its first level of magic. Instead of his own fox self sitting there, a male version of tokala appears dressed in grey with Nike tails. He can't hold the illusion for very long though, and it disappears.

Yakou grinned as Rasetsu blushed a bit, she gave him one look however and he stopped. Rasetsu stepped into the room and closed the door behind her before speaking to the two girls again.

''ahhhh, Shiouin is my family name, you both can call me Rasetsu'' She said dropping her suitcase.

''May I ask for your names?'' Rasetsu said carefull. Yakou had walked to where Rasetsu's bed was and turned around. He looked at her and grinned again at her overly formal introduction.

'' you will have to forgive my Hime, she tends to be overly formal. She was raised with a lot of adults and elders around her, she hasn't been around girls of her age very much'' Yakou said.

''Yakou!'' Rasetsu said, raising her voice. How could he say something like that, now they would think she was a strange girl. Yakou, however ignored her complaint and went back to her side. He pushed Rasetsu further into the room near where the two other girls stood and padded her on the back.

He wrapped his pinky around Rasetsu's, out of sight of the two girls, and squeezed it.

' I promis to be strong Yakou'

//Yu Zhi and Zephyr//

"Wake up."

"Yu Zhi."

"YU ZHI."

A loud yawn escaped Yu Zhi's lips, the goggle-sporting DJ-wannabe sitting up from his seat on the ferry he had taken to make it to the academy. The ferry, for the most part, was empty, and Zephyr floated beside the previously sleeping nihilist, looking more than a little annoyed by Yu Zhi's lack of attempt to wake up at any sort of fair time.

Well, as annoyed as he could look in his butterfly form, Yu Zhi figured.

"Morning, Zephyr," he greeted the floating butterfly.

"Don't morning me; we're here already, get moving," was Zephyr's annoyed response. Yu Zhi stared blankly at his guardian before giving a simple shrug. He might as well have gotten up then. Slowly rising to his feet and grabbing his red suitcase, the young Chinese man began to make his way off of his ferry.

After a few moments of stretching and trying to regain some composure, Yu Zhi looked out towards the academy that spread out before him. He gave a whistle as he looked at the entrance.

"Not too shabby," he mused, as he began to walk forward, his guardian back to his much quieter demeanor. A large group of fellow students were all gathered around, some in groups, as a greeting was spoken.

Yu Zhi mused as he walked towards the large group of students, opting to stand in the back. His meeting with Zephyr and now being called to a place where many other people had met with guardians. It was so strange to him. Zephyr had only appeared to Yu Zhi out of convenience in Yu Zhi's opinion. Before now, Yu Zhi showed no interest in actually battling rogue spirits; but after a time, Zephyr had finally instilled some interest in the school and some interest in being a Spirit Guardian.

Not much.

As he waited for the headmaster's upcoming speech, Yu Zhi dug around in his suitcase for his headphones, putting them on and blasting the volume in his ears as loud as it could go. Zephyr remained in his butterfly form at the moment, just floating near Yu Zhi's right shoulder.

The quicker time passed for the headmaster to begin their speech in his opinion, the better.

Nova gasps at Kit's illusion, eyes wide. Tokala just tilts her head to the side, and her tails seem to move a little more forcefully now in a parody of a wag. The spirit then floats to the ground and in a swirl of purple magic, a tiny cream colored fox with three tails is standing there. Like Kit, the illusion only lasts for a short time, and the normal Tokala is back.
"Oh..." Nova whispers, "These spirits truly are amazing...." It seems Nova's nervousness is momentarily gone while she is in awe. Soon it returns, and she turns back to Jasper, staring down at the ground instead of making eye contact. "I hope...um that we may be...f-friends...maybe?" Nova bravely offers, extending her hand quickly as if for a handshake.
@BlackPanther

;;ren and dylan.

Ren flicked her hair over her shoulder in a disgruntled manner. She was not enjoying this trip.

"What is this sh-"

Dylan suddenly appeared, headbutting the very centre of her back. Ren squealed and tripped, but an ice-cold hand grabbed her wrist. In her daze, Ren could hear Dylan laughing to himself.

"Watch your step, sweetie."

Ren snapped her head around, glaring daggers at the boy. He began to laugh again under his mask. There was no fazing the guardian, and Ren hated it.

A kind-faced woman appeared in front of the group disembarking the boat they'd taken to get to Sacred Hearts. Ren wasn't surprised about it being built on an island - guardians weren't exactly something the whole world should know about. The girl was, to say the least, uninterested in what the woman had to say, and took the opportunity to look around. The building was bigger than anything else Ren had seen; it was almost intimidating. Surrounding the building were grounds to match its size; sprawling green gardens and training fields, and beyond all that, a lush forest. "At least the school's decent," she mused. Ren stretched, still looking out over the scene, hissing in satisfaction as her back popped once, twice...

"Ren." Dylan cautiously tapped her shoulder.

"What do you want, asshole?"

"We're moving."

Ren jerked up and yelped, her muscles jamming like her printer back at home. She growled, sending Dylan a venomous look, and tried to catch up with the group. The woman - Ren assumed she was a teacher - was rambling again. The group seemed to be moving towards the entrance, a grand, pillared hood over some double doors. Ren felt a little sick at the sight of it, though she'd never admit it. Dylan whistled, casually readjusting his mask after catching up with her. His eyes darted around at the various faces - a lot of them certainly weren't from around here, but they looked like they knew what they were doing. "Ren, perhaps you should have listened to that teacher," he said, his eyebrows furrowing slightly.

Ren looked at him, her expression one of laid-back arrogance. "She's no problem for us," she replied, a slight smirk tugging at her lips to hide her nerves. After a few seconds of silence between the two, Ren suddenly snarled and thumped Dylan's thin shoulder with her fist. "And you're fixing my back when we get to our dorms!"