"I saw another one today," a male student whispered to another while hiding in a dark ally of the school grounds. He glanced both ways to make sure nobody besides the group of four students were eavesdropping in on the conversation before continuing. "One of those filthy half breeds. Looks like a cross with a freakin' reptile."

"Eh? The school has seriously lowered their standards this year? Just what are they trying to pull?" a girl said, disgust clearly evident in her tone. "I paid good money to go here thinking that they would keep those things far away."

"I bet they're forming an army to wipe out the normal humans. Don't trust them for anything," a third boy said. His dark green eyes narrowed with rage. "They want us to just accept these monsters as if they're human, and then it will be too late. Why can't the others see this?!"

"If we don't stop them, who knows how far this new "equality" movement of theirs can spread," the first boy said. "If this school falls to them..."

"Don't worry. I heard that the Swords of Light have infiltrated the school and will put them back in their place soon enough. It's only a matter of time until things go right again," the last boy assured them with a smooth tone. "There's a recruitment going on in the back of the-"

"Hey you, classes will begin in 10 minutes!" A woman in a business suit shouted at them as she passed by, waving them over. "Don't want to be late on your first day!"

"A-Ah! Yeah," the boy shouted back. They all exchanged irritated glances before heading out.

********************

After the first day of school was over, students began to rush for the exit to visit their dorms or stick around to inspect the various arenas that all of the fights would be taking place in. Hikaru barely managed to maintain her footing as students roughly crammed around the challenge board, writing their names down on slips of paper and then pinning them up for all to see. In doing so they were declaring that they'd be fighting pretty soon, at most a weeks notice, and if the person who they write down would also sign their name then the combatants would get access to the arena for their declared time once the stamp of approval had been given. She spotted that some of the papers already had the red stamps on the lower right corner. Apparently some of the students had eagerly come here together to get the process done as quickly as possible. Must have gotten to know each other during the first day and decided it was as good of a day as any to have a fight.

Hikaru was uneasy about starting a fight so soon after coming here, especially after just finding out that she couldn't use her shinai, the fighting style she primarily used. It would be good to get some fight practice in, but it would also be good to spend more time in classes to brush up on other fighting skills first. For now she just watched some of the other students, sizing them up. The crowd knocked her particularly hard while she was distracted, causing her to stumble sideways into a boy about her age. He was probably European.

"Ah, I'm so sorry," she said with a bow. Hopefully, this being a fight school and all, this wouldn't result in a fight. This boy looked nice enough, but she couldn't tell for sure until his reply.

Vincento's first day at New Peaks went about as well as expected. Upperclassmen were mostly polite, with a couple hardasses or bullies among them, Underclassmen were about the same. So far it seemed like any normal school. But then he got to the challenge board and saw just how different it was. Having been tested for his combat aptitude the entire day, he was not so much looking to fight as he was simply intrigued by the fact so many students WANTED to fight so early in the year. He'd tested incredibly well, ranking in at C6 despite only being a first year. In fact, he saw that a couple people had put him down as a requested opponent.

So distracted was Vincento by the fact his name was already being tossed around by students who were there on their second year or higher, that he didn't... or rather COULDN'T react in time to avoid being bumped into by another student. A girl around his age, by appearances... and most definitely of Asian ancestry. She apologized and bowed politely, another sign that told Vincento a bit about her. "Nessun problema, bella. Oh, le mie scuse." he smiled and bowed slightly in a manner similar to how she had just bowed. "I am still used to speaking mostly Italiano." Indeed, while he knew English, he was used to speaking almost entirely Italian.

"So tell me, mia bella. Are you a first-year, too? Or are you an upperclassman? I actually just finished my placement testing. C-Six, if you can believe it." ... and then he realized just how rude he was being. "Mi dispiace. I am Vincento Sarconni de Palermo. It's a bit of a mouthful to foreigners, so you can just call me Vincent." he extended his hand in greeting, but watched the girl's movements very carefully. If she happened to be one of the people who wanted to fight him, this would be an opportunity to strike pre-emptively. Should she engage in hostility, he would quickly counter with a joint-lock or throw. If not, then a handshake was just a handshake.

Vincento...that was the name she had spotted on a lot of challenge slips. She had none, but that was only to be expected. She was a complete unknown for this sort of thing, so if anyone was to write her name down then he or she must be a fan of kendo who's keeping up to date on the various dojos around Japan and their upcoming stars. It was unlikely that any such people would have already run over here to sign up. She wasn't jealous of this difference between him and her or anything...probably. Maybe she was just a tad irritated with what could be considered his bragging about it. Or maybe she was just reading too much into this. He probably meant nothing by his word choice and was just trying to make casual conversation. He took getting bumped into pretty well so he couldn't be that bad of a guy.

She extended her hand in return.

"My name is Hikaru Tsukuda, and I'm also a first year," she said, her english almost sounding fluent with a only a tad accent. Her father was an American so she had learned english while growing up...at least while he was still alive.

She didn't bother to include her rank of D3. She wasn't exactly hiding it, but he didn't ask so why bother spouting off your rank the first chance you get?

She let go of his hand and let it fall back to her side.

"Well anyways, guess I better get going," she said, turning around to begin walking to the dor.

Ethan feet made a drumming sounds on the rooftop he was running on. He vaulted over an airconditioning exit and jumped over a narrow alley onto the next roof and slid down the water pipe. He ran around the corner and ran on the wall for the last couple of feet. Ending his run at the door of the schoolbuilding. He dusted off his shoulders and knees, pulled his jacket straight and entered the building. The variety of students was overwhelming. Ethan had been told they came form all over the world but too see so many different cultures together made his head spin. he walked slowly and came across a notification board. He decided to take a look. Vincento, Vincento, Vincento, Vin... "Vincento! Who is this guy anyway?" he quickly realized he shouted this out loud. He quickly looked around before turning his attention back to the board. C6? I just barely made it into the C class... by one point. Ethan was more confident of his fighting skills than his theoretical prowess. "Ha! I'm gonna sign up for this, wait... challenges? Man... how am I ever going to get picked if this guy is challenged so many times already?"

--- --- ---

The indian girl walked out of the classroom. she wasn't happily skipping but was extremely pleased with her new environment. although she looked like she was a little shy, pressing her books against her chest. the schooluniform was new for her, she usually wore long dresses, not short skirts. she looked around as if she was searching for something, but in fact she didn't exactly know where she was supposed to go. classes were over so she thought she should go and check out her dorm room. not really sure were that was. maybe she could ask another student? Alishia looked around to see if she could find someone she could easily asked, preferable not a big, her normally bubbly and outgoing personality vanished when she talked to boys, she got very shy around them. Finally she saw a girl, she looked like to be around the same parts as she was. "Hey! How are you doing? My name is Alishia. Say, do you know where our dorms are?"

The girl was polite enough, but left mere moments after introducing herself. "Più tardi, bellissima." Ever the flirt, was Vincento. Hadn't spoken to the girl for more than a minute, and already calling her beautiful. But then some other person drew his attention. Someone was calling out his name, and asked who he was. Naturally, as an upstanding Italian boy, Vincento made his way to the voice. Not knowing who called him out, however... was another problem. So, he chose to announce himself to pretty much anyone nearby. "Scusami. I am Vincento. I heard some forte bocca calling my name. Is there something needed of me?" He wasn't trying to sound arrogant, but his limited grasp of English and his incorporation of Italian into his speech tended to make folks think he was.

That said, he turned to someone who called his name just then. This time it was a hefty and muscular boy. Looked to be about the same age, but three inches taller and outweighing Vincento by at least 25kg. "Buon signore, but you are imposing. Yes, I am Vincen-" the larger kid threw a heavy fist at the young Italian, who seemed to flow around the blow and take no damage. Vincento would then grab the boy's wrist, twist slightly, and put the flat of his hand to the attacker's elbow. "My, that was scortese. Now how about we all play nice before I break this arm of yours, yes?" The kid nodded, seemingly terrified that his arm was actually going to get broken on the first day of school.

Vincento politely let go, and the boy backed away for a bit. The drama finished, Vincento chuckled a few times. "So funny. I would not break his arm, as this would break the rules, yes?" He cracked his knuckles and dusted off his shoulder as he spoke. "So who else was it that wished to speak to me? If it is about a challenge, I refuse. I have only just started here and do not wish to fight so soon. Other questions, I will answer. If you simply wish to talk, portentoso. I will buy some sweets and we can become fast friends, no?" Well... he DID come from a wealthy family. It was only natural that he was used to buying his way to things. Naive or Arrogant? Absolutely. Something he could be blamed for? Not really.

Hikaru didn't speak any Italian or else she would have called him out on his overly flirtatious statements. All Italian sounded flirtatious to her, just like French, so she had no way of knowing what, exactly, was being said. What a lucky little boy he was. It was better for her as well to be ignorant in this matter so she could continue on her way and not get involved in any unnecessary confrontations on the first day of school. She wouldn't have beaten him up over it, even if she could, but she certainly would have a few choice words for him.

She didn't make it too far before she was interrupted again, a friendly one, and this time by a girl. Could it be that someone was coming up to challenge her? This made her palms sweat a bit, but the actual reason was far less intimidating.

"Hi, I'm Hikaru Tsukuda. As a matter of fact I'm heading to the girl's dorms right now, so feel free to follow me," she answered. She turned back towards the door and began to stroll forward at a brisk pace again, but slow enough for the girl to follow if desired. The girl's name wasn't familiar, so she probably hadn't seen her on the challenge board. She must not be too intent on fighting on the first day either.

"So...when were you planning on having your first fight? " she questioned, glancing over her shoulder. Might as well make some small talk while they walked.

Ethan heard something happening behind him a word he could clearly make out was 'Vincento' as he turned around he saw Vincento gracefully evade a huge fist and put himself into a far more comfortable position. the guy that targeting him was now have his arm broken. At least Vincento was smart enough not to do that and let the guy go. I can see why he placed C6 that evasion and counterattack was amazing. "Hi" said Ethan "bonjourno, I was the one who called out your name" he grinned and scratched the back of his head "It wasn't meant to be that loud, It's just that I saw your name on so many of these papers" he gestured at the challenge board. "I was not about to challenge you, although I am curious why you ended up so high in the ranking" Ethan cocked his head "So, you are a first years too? Nice to meet you my name is Ethan"

--- --- ---

Alishia was happy that the girl showed no hostility and was heading to the dorms as well. Hikaru Tsukuda was her name. "Hi, my name is Alishia, pleasure to meet you" she said as she quickly followed the girl. "So...when were you planning on having your first fight?" Alishia heard the girl asked and quickly speeded up to walk beside her. "honestly I didn't gave it much thought yet. I was hoping to get some extra training first, maybe observe some other fighters to gauge their strength before challenging someone myself" they walked over the campus towards the dorms. Coming from a poor area in India with small houses. this place was HUGE! "how about you?" asked Alishia "you are not looking for a fight either?"

"I, actually, have a lot of brushing up on my technique before I take part in a serious fight," Hikaru replied. "I specialize in kendo so don't really know how to fight properly without my shinai by my side, you know?"

She let out a warm smile at her new friend.

"I wouldn't mind having a more care free practice fight in order to warm up a little, but I don't know anyone who would do so."

As they walked she waited for a reply. They were about halfway to the dorms by now, passing by a beautiful outdoor fountain that was littered with coins inside that people wished on before tossing in. Most of the wishes were likely combat related.