The day was already progressing slowly for him.

The young man sighed as he leaned back in his chair, his eyes lazily flicking up to the windows as the teacher droned on about something. Luckily for him, Cyril didn’t have to listen. School didn’t interest him—yet again, something rarely did. He much rather be at home with his aunt, fooling around with his violin or sketching something in some random notebook he found. He didn’t want to hear about some stupid lesson.

Cyril Leggieri was a fifteen year old, dark haired, dark eyed boy. Standing at five foot seven and very slender, his appearance usually did not threaten others his age. It was his attitude that did. Cyril closely resembled some sort of dark furred wolf that stared down its prey before sinking its teeth into the puny thing’s neck. Watching, always watching, until he finally snapped and his bloodlust got to him. This, of course, was not often. Cyril was usually calm in his class; he always sunk lower into his chair, always remained silent even when the teacher called on him to answer a question. This, of course, earned him horrible grades on his report cards, yet he would always pick up his act at the end of the year and barely scrape by.

It was not too hard to believe that this guy was in the mafia once, that is, if anyone found out.

Once.

His brown eyes focused on one point on the chalkboard as he wondered about what exactly happened with his mother and father. Cyril had believed that they would rush after him and drag him all of the way back to Lipari. Yet, he hadn’t seen any of his father’s “family” around Lipari. Whether they hadn’t come for him or he wasn’t looking hard enough.

A long and loud sigh escaped his lips, prompting people to glance over at him. The teacher ignored him, however, and continued on about whatever he was talking about. Sometimes I wish my life could be a little less… mundane… he thought as he lifted the pencil he had in his hand to his mouth, sinking his teeth into the old, yellow wood. If I had thought that it was going to be this boring, I would’ve stayed with father back at Lipari… not.

It was then that he thought about his father. He looked very much like him. His father was a tall man, almost six feet, with dark, dark chocolate eyes and hair as black as a raven's feather. Even though he was tall, his father looked like the type of person one could shatter in one blow. The man wasn't sickly, but he was skinny enough to give him an amazing amount of agility. Heck, that was how Cyril could dodge most of the punches one threw at him. However, he was almost never on the defensive. Offense was the way to go for him.

His mother was quite different. Cyril didn't remember much of her, but he did remember that she had the palest golden hair that he ever saw, almost white. Other than that, her other aspects were all a blur to him. Then again, he saw his father more often. He always dragged him off to practice. You always have to be on your toes, Cyril. his father told him once. There is no one you can trust.

Yet, what could he do? It was this or the mafia. If there had been a middle option, he would have taken it.

Jakki Dafne sat close to the window, in the middle row. Close to the kids who didn't care, and just far away from those that she could maintain her aloofness and no one would notice. She stared out the window, watching the trees and water outside. She'd have to replace the flowers soon, when she last checked they were starting to wilt.

She'd never told anyone, but less than a year ago her father passed away. It wasn't like they cared anyway. All they wanted was her to laugh, smile, and smooth things over for them. She enjoyed it, but it just felt like she was missing something important. Her conversations were all pretty one-sided and meaningless with those people who hung around her. Dad would know what to do. While the thought made her feel more miserable on this already long day, her blank and vacant expression didn't change. She looked as though the weight of the world settled on her shoulders, but most times people would see a smile and a goofy joke before they saw this. Worrying about this wasn't something would help her in the long run. She needed to relax and take a deep breath. "Just let those feelings wash away." with that, Jak smiled again, a small change but her demeanor shifted. Thanks, Dad.

The smile brightened her grey eyes from their stormy and thoughtful presence to something like a rain shower with the sun out. It was going to be okay, even if you were soaked to the bone and shivering, the rain just washed out the dirt and the sun cleared away the water. Jak shifted a little and a rebellious strand of black hair moved into her vision. Quickly undoing her bun and redoing it, anything that had escaped from the rigid way she tied her hair back was smoothed back into obedience. It was so natural to move it all back now, even though she hadn't really bothered cutting it in so long that it all grown out so much that it drifted into her vision on a regular basis.

She slipped into watching the leaves, how they danced on the branches. She needed to study their movement, she needed to focus more on what mattered. She needed to practice extra hard today. Her skills were slipping, the juniors almost knocked her out the other day. That wasn't supposed to happen. Maybe if she shifted her weight quicker or maybe if she adopted a new style...

She yanked herself from that train of thought as she remembered it was still class time and this wasn't getting her anywhere right now.

Mom wouldn't like her failing this class too, not when she studied and her test scores were so much better than her homework scores. She had to pay attention, even if she didn't want to right now. It was just so... mundane though. Day in, day out. It was routine to just show up, practice, and go home to study. It was all a little easy. Just shut up and pay attention.

Yet... it still felt off. There was a hole in her family. Her dad exuberantly welcoming her home was absent, and her mom's usual joy in cooking had gone away. Did people really change like that when someone close died? They just closed themselves off and pretended to be fine? It didn't seem like a good coping mechanism, but then again, she felt better when she didn't think about it too. Maybe that was how Mom coped.

Jak relaxed back in her chair and watched the teacher drift across the front of the room, explaining what they were supposed to learn.

While David looked like he was paying to what the teacher was saying, in reality he was lost in his thoughts. As usual when he was bored he fantasized about using his illusions to amaze and impress everyone. Even without his best work he could no doubt easily become the most popular guy in school or even the city. But he understood why his father didn't allow him to use his powers in the open. After all he had no desire to have an involuntary lobotomy, though he did wonder why his father seemed more concerned about the mafia than anything else. Also in reality he would get sick of all the attention pretty quickly no doubt, but hey a guy can dream, right.

Seeing as the teacher seemed to be focused on the blackboard David decided to look around the class and noticed he wasn't the only student not paying attention. The boy a few seats ahead of him Cyrus or something and some long haired girl in the middle were both looking out the windows. Seeing as they would never know it was him, David couldn't help but mess with them. He only very rarely used his powers to play pranks like that though. After looking out the window himself for a while, he decided to use the falling leafs.After focusing a bit he made it look like the leafs slowly turned into blood while still midair.Of course he was smart enough to make the illusion last only a few seconds.That way neither of them would even be sure if they really saw it or if their minds played tricks on them.

"Now class, before I continue with our lesson for the day," The teacher paused during his lecture, looking at the entrance to the classroom momentarily and beckoning before turning back to the entirety of the class. "We have a transfer student from America who will be joining us for the rest of the school year..."

Daisuke Honda, who'd been tying his shoe by the doorway, had nearly keeled over as he stumbled into the room rather dramatically. Despite the embarrassing display, he smiled warmly and pranced towards the front of the classroom to present himself, bowing respectfully. "Ohayō gozaimasu~!" he greeted a little loudly, generating some chatter across the classroom from among the students. "My name is Daisuke Honda! I was born in Japan, but moved to America when I was young and stayed there until recently. Now I'm here!"

Daisuke rubbed the back of his head, and laughed. "I hope we can be friends!"

"Okay, Daisuke," The teacher nodded, almost as if he had seen enough new students already. "You can take that empty seat next to Mister Leggieri right there."

Nodding and booming with enthusiasm, Daisuke thanked the teacher and casually walked to the vacant seat, settling down and organizing the mess of his books and scanned the classroom, taking in all of its features. He was the only Japanese, let alone, Asian in the classroom, and the faces of the students gave him the impression as if they'd never seen one before. He smiled as the teacher resumed his lesson, turning over to the boy - 'Mister Leggieri' - and extending a hand for a shake. "Nice to meet you!"

There was a new addition to the classroom, eh? A transfer student… from America. He heard a lot of things from America. Mere stereotypes about how they were greedy, selfish pigs. Cyril didn’t care for those sort of assumptions—he thought of them as stupid and idiotic. Who were they to say how people were like when they never saw neither hide nor hair of them before? Cyril looked back at the person stumbled into the class, expression unchanging. Well, he was loud. The thought of having this kid in his class irked him to no end. Oh well, he guessed he would have to take his anger out more often at home, preferably while playing video games or his violin.

The teacher told this ‘Daisuke’ to sit next to him, and he swore it was because he had something against him. Cyril stretched in his chair, yet his expression did not waver from its almost blank expression. Just ignore him, Cyril. Maybe he’ll go away. he begged that he would. Cyril would rather shove his hand down a lion’s throat than suffer beside such an energetic person. Yet, even as he walked down the aisle, Cyril looked over the fellow. He was an Asian, yes. Born in Japan, moved to America, and now here? He must live an exciting life, experiencing all of those cultures.

It was then that Daisuke turned toward him and greeted him cheerily. This, too, bothered Cyril. I hope he isn’t a chatterbox. I can’t let him think that we’re friends or he really won’t get off of my back. Cyril only offered him a lazy, uninterested sidelong glance before chewing on his lip, putting his hands behind his head and returning his uninterested gaze to the chalkboard. ”You better focus on the class rather than me.” Cyril told him blandly. ”The teacher doesn’t like interruptions in his classroom.”

First it was raining blood outside of the room, and now this? Okay, maybe the whole ‘raining blood’ thing was a figment of his imagination, but he was pretty sure that Daisuke wasn’t. I wish…

Jak tried to stay focused on the lesson, but her attention was torn away when she thought she saw red outside the window. She'd been looking outside to see what was going on when the teacher loudly announced a new student from America had shown up. That sounded pretty cool, being from America and Japan too. He even knew Japanese too. She almost felt bad for him when he was forced to sit next to Cyril. She smiled encouragingly at the pair, trying to cheer up Daisuke and not anger Cyril. Then again, Cyril managed to get angry at the drop of a hat. He never let it out, but it was the way his face moved when he spoke. It was like he was holding back what he really wanted to say.

She tried to scribble down some more notes, but she was back on her footing. Maybe if she moved left first instead and tried to train her left hand like her right... that would mix it up for long enough to find something new. Maybe she should fight closer to her combatants, try and restrict their movements. No, in martial arts that would only end badly. She had to be careful. She put down her pencil and used her arms as a pillow to wait for lunch which was hours away. If she could glare at the clock and make it tick faster she would. RIght now the loud second hand was like a silent punishment, a reminder of the warm day sitting outside if she could just reach it.

Maybe she could figure out a way to make Daisuke sit next to her. It just didn't seem fair to sit the newest student next to the grumpiest. Why was she worried about this anyway? She had more important things to worry about. Namely, the test that would be coming up soon and she still hadn't studied. Also, she had to worry about the recent practices. They'd been awful lately. Maybe she could ask someone for an opinion on how she should fight.

She wished she had her bat, just to swing around like a sword and pretend to brandish it against her opponents. Maybe then she'd feel better.

A weak-looking, white-haired young man leaning on a sleekly designed crutch leaned his back against the hall, right beside the doorway into his class. It seemed that the lesson had started without him. He was late as usual anyway, and he didn't quite care too much for the class anyway, so it was nothing of consequence. He cracked his neck by pushing on the side of his temple a few times with his free hand. Earlier as he was heading to the room, he saw an unfamiliar brown-haired young man tying his shoe at the doorway. From the introduction he heard from the teacher just now, it seemed that that guy was a new student. Not wishing to intrude, he waited outside until he heard the teacher direct this 'Daisuke' fellow off to sit by Cyril. That might not've been a good idea what with Cyril's demeanor, but he wasn't the teacher.

Anyway, now that that was over and done with, he could finally get in his class to go learn about whatever the subject of discussion was. "Hrumph," Rani grunted, pushing himself off the wall. Tap, tap, tap, his crutch went as he headed on into the room, mid-lesson. Stealth be damned - he wouldn't be able to go undetected in his condition, and trust me, he'd tried to minimize noise pollution from his movements several times before. Perhaps later he'd opt to try out adding padding to the bottom, this time one that wouldn't slip on tile. Though he'd also have to figure out a way to silence the metal-on-metal of the crutch's components themselves, as well...

...But those weren't really thoughts to be thinking now of all times, he had to listen to the lesson, but first he had to find a seat. A quick survey of the room revealed one in the room farthest from the window and farthest from the front. It'd be good enough, sure, but he would've preferred to have a seat next to the plants by the window. Tap, tap, tap, he went again before plopping himself down on the vacancy. He pressed a button on the top of the handle of his crutch, causing the thing to retract into the cuff with a satisfying click!. He rested his chin on his palm, and his elbow on the table as he disinterestedly listened to the teacher's spiel.

David wouldn't ever admit it, but he was actually kind of impressed that never of his prank victims showed any reaction to the brief blood rain outside. While he knew better then to expect a massive freak out, he did expect something. Soon after his trick, the teacher mentioned an exchange student. Honestly the only thing that was even remotely interesting about the news,was this that kid was also from America.Too bad the new guy pretty much ruined David's opinion of him then and there by nearly falling over while entering the classroom.

Daisuke's introduction didn't make things much better. Sure he seemed nice enough, but also overly talkative and enthusiastic.Just as things calmed down, the missing student entered the classroom. David tried his best to ignore the sound his crutch made on the floor, knowing the guy couldn't help it. But the constant tapping still annoyed him. David was also convinced by the way he talked, that whatever accident forced him to use crutches left him slightly brain damaged. Sure he seemed smart enough, but hey you never know.

Angel was sitting in her politics class. Politics were interesting if you were intelligent among intelligent people, or had an instructor who knew the book was more than a little thin on the subjects. Subjects such as the amazing matriarchal system in Denmark. The danish are the happiest people on earth. She really wondered how anyone here could stand this but most of the students were just sponges absorbing the knowledge. Why are you all so stupid she thought while she grabbed her books put them in her bag. The instructor stopped her "Miss, I am not done teaching." The middle aged man stated rather matter-of factly.

"Perhaps, but I am not learning anything from you, so I am going to go learn something." With that she walked out. The teacher was left stammering and the classes was just slack-jawed. with that she made her way outside where she climbed up a tree and began watching birds. after a couple minutes it began to rain blood. "What the hell?" but then it was gone. "No it couldn't have been." with that she returned to her bird watching.

Well, shit.

That was what one of the American kids in Daisuke's old school would've said at that moment, but he only returned the boy's hostility with another hushed laugh, turning to face the front of the classroom in his chair and obediently listening to the teacher as the man went on with their lesson. Though, only after a few minutes of immersion into the teacher's lesson, did he begin to truly grow bored, averting his eyes to the cerulean sky painting the atmosphere and remarking its beauty. He inhaled deeply and wondered, would he have the same issues that would force him to change schools or move to another country again?

While surveying nature, one of the female students who sat by the window turned to Daisuke and was the first person to return his smile with her own, raising his hand and waving at her lowly. 'At least it seems like there's some other nice people here,' the boy thought before the girl returned to writing her notes, which reminded him that he should've been doing the same, refocusing his attention to the class once again. 'Baka Daisuke, baka...'

Fiore sat behind Jak, a calm student (from what the strawberry blonde had seen). When the new student was introduced, she gave a stone-cold stare for a second or two before getting bored of him and going back to sucking on a lollipop. She carelessly scribbled down the teacher's lesson and looked out the window. The red blood that fell out of the sky amused her only for as long as it lasted. Fiore didn't pay attention to much of anything in class, opting instead to look out the window lustfully and suck her lolli. Why can't I stay outside? Why can't I still be tutoring? I learned more in my few years traveling than I have here - and this institution is only for academia! Then some kid that she never paid a lot of attention to walked in. Even though she wasn't looking, the Italian could tell by the sound.

Closing her eyes, the girl yawned and curled up as much as her seat would allow and closed her eyes, letting the sun bathe her in its calming light. Somehow she felt awakened by basking in that radiance. It was as if she was recharged as a battery could be recharged. But the teacher was not so pleased with some of her students so blatantly being disrespectful and sleeping so obviously in class.

"FIORE!"
"Ciao, bello," she mumbled quietly, rubbing her eyes as if she had woken from a long slumber, though it had only been maybe thirty seconds.
"Do not sleep in my class."

The scolding didn't really get through to her. In fact, part of her enjoyed that she could manipulate him. She liked having that kind of power. The power that she never had over her father hating her. Over her mother leaving them. Over the events that transpired in her lifetime. At least she could change people's mood. She could change little things. And even that beautiful truth was enough to keep her sane through the mundane.

However, Fiore didn't want to sleep anymore. She felt refreshed enough to sit up and bear the boredom again. Her hand, through all of this, was still racing, writing down notes as they were spoken, even though her thoughts wandered. Soon, she spied a white-haired girl climbing a nearby tree. Woe is me, woe is me. Why can't I be the one in that tree?

RING!

Sighing in a relieved manner, the teacher sat down after concluding the lesson in a rushed manner, because it was time for lunch! Students stood and got out their lunches or prepared to go and buy them. Fiore herself stood slowly and stretched, taking up quite a lot of space for such a small girl. Yawning in a satisfied manner, she straightened and gathered her things like a normal human would, threw her lollipop stick in the trash, and immeadiately stuck another one between her lips, beginning to make her way across the room at leisurely pace.

Ah, lunch hour.

The black haired man sucked in a deep breath, and the exhaled slowly. He walked beside one of the many canals that graced the city of Venice, his hands tucked into his pockets and his dark eyes focusing ahead. Cyril was hungry—the sudden introduction of this Daisuke took a few moments away from the lunch period and thus gave him less time to go and get a meal. Oh well, maybe he could get something from the nearest supermarket. They usually had tasty sandwiches and other things of the sort. Maybe he could get a candy or two. The sweet taste would probably calm his nerves.

Cyril yawned widely and stretched his arms over his head, stepping into the store and looking around. There were the aisles, filled with different packaged foods such as cereal and sweets. He allowed a look of curiosity to cross his features as he peered down one aisle, and then the other. He picked out a bar of chocolate, tucked it under his arm, and made his way to the deli. All he needed was a good sandwich. Maybe with pepperoni and some cheese and bacon and lettuce. On other days he would go to a restaurant and eat a good plate of spaghetti with some bread sticks or a good roast chicken. But his aunt was making a big meal for dinner, and he didn’t want to stuff himself. His aunt made much better food than what could be found on the streets.

After a few minutes, he emerged from the store with a wrapped six-inch pepperoni and cheese sandwich, a soda, and the bar of candy. He supposed he could eat it on a bench somewhere… ah, there was the perfect place. Cyril sat down on the bench and unwrapped his mean, sinking his teeth into it and chewing slowly. Daisuke. he snorted disdainfully. I truly hope he doesn’t get in the way.

---

Fionn hummed a low tune as he walked through the streets, casting his amber eyes up to the azure, Venetian sky. He remembered that it was usually cloudy where he had once lived, and it rained often. Even if it was a bit too sunny for his taste, he supposed that Venice had its own kind of beauty. It smells weird, yet the mode of transportation is very interesting. he thought as he watched a water taxi drift past him. It really is a lot different than Wales. At least my family moved with me. his brother and sister in law were nice, and they were even planning to have a kid. It would be nice if they had a kid. It would be like being a big brother rather than a nephew.

He had been in Venice for a year or so, and after adjusting to the warmer weather and the people, he supposed that it really was his new home. Fionn strolled down the street, his eyes darting to and fro. Heavenly aromas drifted from cafes and delectable plates of food rested on clothed tables behind window panes. He wished he had money for one of those expensive meals, just for himself. But his father would grow angry if he spent money as if it didn’t make a difference to him. We can go to a place like that this weekend, that is, if we have time.

Fionn decided to visit a small café and order a nice, warm soup. He hadn’t had a good soup in a while… so he was as happy as ever when it arrived at his little table. It looked like it had meat and vegetables and pepper and… a lot of other things, really. He stirred the soup slowly, watching the liquid swish around in a very hurricane-like fashion, and waited for it to cool down.

Jak had been doodling little stick figures in her notebook, pretending to have them fight each other when the teacher yelled a name. Jak naturally jumped, flinging her pencil into the air for a moment only to have it crash back to the floor. Jak waited a moment and realized it had been to Fiore, not her. She'd relaxed back into taking notes when she was almost smacked by Fiore's arm as she stretched out after the bell. When most of the class had left, Jak pulled out her lunch bag which was a brown paper bag, and walked down to pick a spot to sit.

Since Jak's father died, they had less money flowing in to cover going out to eat lunch every day so Jak settled for a lunch bag and just sitting down to eat it. It wasn't like it was competition for best lunch either. It was just something that was the new normal, something that even Jak herself was still adjusting to. It couldn't be helped, even if she wanted to fix it. Jak wandered for a bit, trying to find a decent spot to eat and talk to the others. She noted where Cyril was, and avoided it like the plague. The last thing she needed was to talk to him right now.

So she picked a spot on some grass and sat down to eat her slightly crushed peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Hmm... maybe if she ate fast she could run home and grab her bat to practice with for a bit. No, that was silly plan. She wasn't going to be able to be able to even have time to hold that bat for very long. The most she could was grab it after school and arrive a little late to practice. It was better to have a weapon than to deal with school officials.

For now, she'd have to figure something out. How was she going to improve her form when it was clearly lacking somewhere? It was too bad none of her close friends really cared about karate or martial arts like she did, then maybe she could have gotten some input from them. A passing group of students waved at her, and she waved back. Looked like she'd be eating alone today, which was fine. She might practice some on the nearest tree, and she didn't need an admiring crowd which was nice during matches, but useless for input and criticism.

Only three minutes into the lunch period, and Daisuke was already lost on the school grounds. The directions of their teacher had led him through the entrance to the school's gymnasium, where a game of dodgeball was going on. He cleared his throat and raised his hand towards the physical education instructor, and just as he was about to ask for directions to the cafeteria... "GUPYAA!" he screamed as a rogue dodgeball somehow arced and made its way into his face.

Daisuke was knocked back by the sudden impact and fell outside as his bag flew in the air, and out came the only thing in it other than his books; a purple toy bazooka, hanging above him like a cloud. He had discovered it and a box of plastic, round objects that acted like ammunition, inside his new closet when he and his father had moved into their new house with a note tagged, 'Only use during times of great distress.' Being the gullible individual that he was, he had taken it along with him and 'loaded' one of the objects into the toy, unsure as to how it worked but keeping it along just in case.

As Daisuke laid on the ground and knew he was too slow to react, he simply waited for the toy to knock him in the head. "Crap-"

...

When the physical education instructor made his way to the entrance of the gymnasium where Daisuke had fallen through after being knocked in the face with a dodgeball, they found nothing but small hints of purple smoke and a slight electrical sensation, shrugging as the teacher returned to his lesson.

---

"Phew, that was a close one."

A man with chocolate brown hair and turquoise eyes emerged from behind a tree, wearing nothing but swimming trunks. He was a titan of a man, boasting a very defined muscular physique and great height, the bag in his hand almost minuscule compared to his size. He looked around the proximity for one moment before gasping in realization, looking back into the bag which now contained the purple toy gun he had found. "So this is the Ten Year Bazooka, huh..."

The man grinned, looking up to the sky and reaching his hands up, spinning in circles with excitement. "Cool! I'm back here! It's been such a long time!" Peering into the closest building near him, he saw that it was the gymnasium, and the class had resumed their game of dodgeball. I remember now, this was when I got hit in the face with a dodgeball while I was lost during the lunch period of my first day in school after moving to Italy. Hmm, I wonder; where are they?

Adult Daisuke, still clothed in nothing but swimming trunks, walked away from the gymnasium, attempting to retrace his steps. Along the way, he passed by and waved at numerous students as they stopped and stared at the supposed new student, asking among themselves if he was really the Daisuke Honda that moved from America and a number of the female students proclaiming their interest in him. "Now if I can remember correctly, it was right.... there!"

Adult Daisuke looked towards the grass, chanting an 'a-ha!' when he saw that it was Dafne. From what he could remember, the Ten Year Bazooka swapped places for only five minutes, and it felt great to experience the nostalgia of the past again, so why not make the most out of those minutes? He strode past a few more groups of students before he reached the patch of grass that she was sitting on as she ate, hovering over her as he waved in a greeting. "Jak! It's so weird to see you younger again! What's up!"

Raniero cracked a bit of a smile once the familiar ring indicating lunch hour had sounded, signalling his freedom to go do whatever for the next 60 or so minutes. He had been half-asleep through most of class, but was able to keep himself from falling forward and using his desk as a pillow. Or at least, make it appear he hadn't done that - he was pretty sure he had fallen in and out of sleep, what with a bunch of mental blanks where there should've been memories of the lesson.

The snow-haired young man stretched out his arms as the rest of the students in his class went off to who knows where for lunch. He had packed his own from home, as usual. He rarely left campus for lunch anyway; what use was paying a good amount of money for something you could just prepare at home and bring along for a fraction of the cost? He shrugged and extended his crutch before heading off to his locker to remove the lunch-kit he had stuffed with today's dose of meds, which he immediately stuffed in his mouth, and, of course, his lunch - a bottle of water and a BLT. The BLT wasn't really his choice, he hated raw tomatoes, but his caretaker insisted he have a 'real' BLT, not just a 'BL' as it were. He also ended up just removing the tomatoes and throwing them in the trashcan anyway, so there was that.

Lunch-kit in hand, Rani debated upon a choice of lunching location. He could probably take a desk and just eat in the classroom. He doubted anyone would particularly care if he did, but it was a nice enough day and he had told himself he'd check out the flowers outside. And with his decision made, Rani sauntered off towards the school exit in order to get outside to not-so-metaphorically smell the roses, eating his BL(T) on the way out.

***

"Slightly wilted. Disease? No. Definitely not. No signs apart from wilting. Heat? Possible. Water deficiency maybe? ...Likeliest case. Should ask garden caretaker later," Rani mused as he leaned towards the wilting roses in question, "...should also advise better care of garden." He nodded to himself and leaned away from the flowers before removing his half-full water bottle and sprinkling a bit of water over them. "Not enough. Thought that counts," he shrugged before drinking the rest, "Self interests before plants after all."

The young man noted that new student Daisuke trying to make friends with Jakki over in the distance. For some reason he didn't have his shirt on, it appeared. "Good for him," Rani remarked before returning to his own devices, "Prefer to keep shirt on. But to each their own."

Cyril was about to take another bite of his sandwich when he caught sight of a black head of hair. He looked at the person, trying to recognize it. After a quick glance over it, he realized it was a woman, and it was that girl that always looked out the window. Then again, everyone looked out the window. It was just that the teacher's class was so boring and dull that they found entertainment in looking out the window. But he knew that this person in particular was named Jakki. She was probably the most aloof person in their class. Other than that girl that seemed to like to bask in the sun, of course. Yet, Jakki completely avoided him. Cyril snorted, glancing down at his sandwich. He didn't need her. She was about as idiotic as every other person in that damned class. And so, the young man finished off his sandwich and drank some of his soda. After that, he unwrapped the chocolate bar and walked back toward school.

He really didn't mind that people avoided. Cyril actually liked being alone at times; he had time to think and gather his thoughts. Sometimes he felt a bit lonely... and he wished he had someone other than his aunt to talk to about all of his problems. He sipped at his soda as he walked down to a patch of grass, where a couple of people were gathered. Two, actually. Not necessarily a gathering, but... was that man in his swimming trunks? He stopped in his tracks, staring at the man and the young girl. Who was that? Was it... no, it couldn't be that kid, right? Cyril stared at the man from afar, his expression unwavering. Perv.

Jakki was eating peacefully, daydreaming about how to best counter the moves the juniors had done yesterday when a man in swimming trunks walked up to her. While she couldn't hide her confusion, she did manage to say, "sir, you know that swimming in the canals isn't a good idea, right? We dump all sorts of garbage in there."

He was familiar too, the way he talked and carried himself. Not to mention his face… Jak had tok think on who looked like that. It took her a moment, but she finally managed to pin down exactly who he looked like. "You're Daisuke's older brother right? You two look a lot alike." she smiled, a little more relaxed that it wasn't some pervert. Then again, why was he in swim trunks? "Uh, sir… maybe running around in swim trunks and nothing else isn't a good idea."

She stood and threw away her lunch bag, carefully arranging her footwork so that if he tried anything she would be ready. He may be Daisuke's older brother, but that didn't mean she could just dismiss him as a threat. The man was clearly at least a little bit loony, going out in nothing but swim trunks on an autumn day. Maybe he'd leave her alone soon, she didn't really want to deal with a nutcase on her way to class. The last thing she needed was to get her uniform dirty.

David waited until most of the other students left the classroom too avoid the usual rush at the sound of bel for lunch hour. As he walked through the school's halls he went over his options for lunch. Eventually he settled on pizza. He knew a pizzeria about five minutes on his bicycle away that shouldn't be too busy during this time of day.Quickly after leaving the school grounds. David rode past that Cyrus kid from his class who seemed a bit more annoyed then normal. When he arrived, the pizzeria was practically deserted and soon he was heading back to school.

When David parked his bike next to the gymnasiums entrance he saw some guy wearing nothing but his swim trunks talk to the girl he had messed with before. While he knew she could probably handle herself and he didn't exactly like her, David decided to stick around just in case. Acting like he simply choose the spot to eat, David sat down with his back to the building's wall. After he had put the box containing two slices of pepperoni pizza down in front, David took his knife from his backpack and tried to hide in his right sleeve.

PRESENT TIME - FUTURE VERSION

"Pfft!" Daisuke scoffed, laughing at Jak's mention of swimming in the canals. "I learned that ten years ago when Cyril pushed me down there! It took almost an entire week to get rid of the smell!"

How many minutes had it already been? He guesstimated it to have been only two minutes; he was certain he could remember hearing about an improvement with the Ten Year Bazooka, increasing the five minute swap to ten minutes. He couldn't exactly recall or remember if it had been an improvement made in his own time, so he just went with his gut and assumed it still lasted for five in this one. When she brought up the idea of him having an older brother, something clicked in his mind but didn't exactly come through. "Actually, I am Daisuke..."

Daisuke dropped the schoolbag as the sound of the bazooka hitting the ground produced a clanking noise, raising his arms and showing all ten of his fingers. "... from ten years in the future! Bwahahaha!"

Jak didn't say anything for a long time, watching Daisuke as he spoke. She tried to figure out the best way to phrase what to say next. "Sir. That's not at all funny, what would your younger brother say if he saw you running around in your shorts and claiming to be him?" she moved to her bag, carefully watching him the whole time. Clearly this person wasn't right in the head. Then she heard the bag drop and something clank inside. She brushed it off, it was probably some kind of toy, judging by the purple she saw.

She began to back away, still facing him. Well... maybe leaving him alone wasn't the best option. What he wandered off and got himself hurt? She grimaced at the thought, but she had to do it. It was the right thing to do. She couldn't believe she was going to ask this... "If you really are Daisuke from ten years in the future, why visit me? It's not like we're friends or anything yet. I just met him this morning." was she really playing into this sicko's hands? For all she knew, he could have been waiting for this chance. He just needed a gullible victim then... she didn't have to spell out the rest of the story.

Hopefully David would jump in if something happened. He was waiting nearby, she saw. Worst case she was in broad daylight with witnesses. She hadn't known David long, but she assumed that he had some kind of a good heart to him, even if he looked like a prankster. She kept her right foot back, her center of gravity low, and her bag over her shoulder. She felt like a coiled spring, ready to snap at any moment should the situation change. Something was off about this guy, and it was more than he was carrying a bag and just wearing swim trunks.