[Xeim]

It was just another typical day. The break of dawn was marked by the dimming of street lamps as people young and old began to stir in their beds to prepare for the day ahead. Trinity Smith was one such person, and though she was groggy and disoriented, she was readily making her way through her family's mansion, eager to get out to the city beyond.

~*~*~*~

The polished mahogany stairs protested angrily as Trinity made her way down them and into the Grand Foyer of the Smith house. She didn't give a single thought towards the fact that her heavy footsteps fiercely shook the consciousness of every one of house's occupants. Nope, it was just another typical day, after all.

So begins the Monday morning of the House of Smith, like every morning, with the clanking of black Converse high tops making their way readily down the stairs and out the door, with no regards to any other living being in the house.

Trinity walked slowly, almost nonchalantly, down the elegant marble steps of her family's mansion and onto the cement side-walk beyond. She had not eaten anything, and had only paused to brush her long raven hair and pearly white teeth since waking herself up that morning. It's how it was for her every morning. Wake up, throw on your uniform, brush hair and teeth, pull on shoes, and then fly down the stairs and out the door. Depressing routine really, but Trinity was always glad to make it out of the house.

She looked around the street that she was slowly making her way down. Every day, it was the same thing. Across the narrow dark road for bicyclists, the owner of the small bakery busily swept his porch before opening; the lazy, old gray alley cat made its way proudly past the baker, who waved his broom at it, startling the poor creature. And yet, none of it seemed normal, though Trinity saw it almost every day. Nothing ever seemed quite right to her. Perhaps it was the way that the scene was very nearly blocked out by the absence of light, but then again, Trinity had never seen the scene with light, so it could not have been that.

She had approached an intersection between bike lanes. For one who was used to a world of cars, this would've been quite a strange sight. They would think to themselves, Well now, these people must have awfully small cars to be able to fit two lanes across that small bit of asphalt. But, of course, for Trinity, the sight was quite normal, and she quickly crossed the asphalt to begin her trek across the cement once more.

The walk to school was no more eventful than any other day; Trinity passed people she knew and didn't know, and she talked to no one. Finally, she arrived at Pullman's. It was a grand building, made of dark red brick that reached up three stories into the air, and covered several acres of land. A flag pole stood gallantly in front of the building, proudly waving the Japanese flag. Trinity walked slower now, not wanting to attend her classes today, and began looking around the grounds for who she knew she would soon see.

And, sure enough, only a few minutes later, two boys, one with naturally grey hair and one a bright redhead, made their way through the throng of people going up the stairs, fighting the tide, as they were heading down. It was an interesting sight- these bright headed boys stuck out like sore thumbs in the throng of people with bland hair colors, but they didn't seem to care. These were two of Trinity's three best and only friends.

"Oi, Daija!" Trinity yelled over the noise of the students and the now ringing bell.

"Trin! There you are!" yelled the grey haired one, Hatori Daija. He was tall and relatively rather scrawny, with a scar covering the left side of his face. He never told any of the others how he obtained it, and when they brought it up he would fall silent until they changed the subject. Overall though, Daija was a reckless and outgoing sophmore with a strangely big heart, and an interesting style of dressing. Instead of wearing the school's navy blue overcoat, he merely wears a loose, button up white tee and a loose red tie. And, no matter how many times he is yelled at by the staff, he continues this practice.

"Yeah, hi, where's Rose?" Trinity asked, swishing her long black hair behind her a bit.

"Hn, hell if we know," stated the redhead, "she never showed her face today."

"Mm, and you're not the least bit worried?"

"Tch, why should we be? She's Rose. She'll be fine." He said coldly, not looking at Trinity or Daija, but rather over them, with a bored look on his face. Ichimaru Evan wasn't kind like Daija, rather, he was quite the opposite. Cold, blunt, and usually distant from even the group he had been welcomed into.

"Oh Evan, you're hopeless," said Daija teasingly, "next you're going to be telling us you think she might be one of the Condemned, so being Rose, she ran off to hide in a corner, and that she'll be just peachy!"

Well, I suppose Evan does have a point...worrying's not really going to get us anywhere...

"Hmph."

The Condemned. It was their name for those whose sexuality was not of the straight variety. Their name for those who were doomed to hide from the government their whole lives, unless they "straightened" out. Trinity thought it fit quite well, considering they weren't exactly a creative bunch.

"We going to class today?" She asked absentmindedly, her eyes unfocused, perhaps trying to stare into whatever place Rose was.

"Hell no! It's too nice of a day for that!" yelled Daija with a laugh.

See, that was just it. Everyday looked the same. Dark clouds covered the sky, and whatever was beyond it was almost lost to human knowledge. The last of those who had ever seen the glowing orb called the sun were soon to die.

"See? Look!" Daija continued excitedly, "there's more clouds than usual! We can't be in class when the sky's like this!"

Trinity thought she heard Evan chuckle.

"Alright, alright, we'll take a walk," she agreed. "Let's go by Rose's house while we're out, and see what's going on."

"Hn," said Evan unhelpfully.

"Sounds like a plan!" yelled Daija as he punched his hand into the air.

What am I going to do with them...

And so, as the last few students made their way hurriedly up the stone steps to school, the three teenagers set off down the cement walkway leading very much away from it.

~*~*~*~

It was normal for the three of them to walk in silence. Daija wouldn't talk unless there was something already there for him to talk about, Evan didn't enjoy talking much, and Trinity didn't complain about the silence. It was only when Rose was around that there was ongoing conversation. She was the happy, bubbly, strong-headed, and rather loudmouthed one of the group. They just weren't complete without her. It was rare she was absent, and so, though none of them said it, it truly troubled them.

Naturally, the streets were deserted at this hour. Everyone was hard at work within the dreary buildings lining the street, attempting to make what was left of the world a better place. And, because of this, Trinity, Daija, and Evan kept to the shadows, as to not stick out terribly.

"Yo Evan, toss me a light," Trinity said as she pulled a bright white cigarette from the pocket of her blue plaid skirt.

Evan silently tossed her the lighter, after pulling out a cigarette of his own. Daija sighed, and falling behind them a little, continued walking without producing a cigarette from his own pocket. This typical day wasn't quite turning out to be as normall as Trinity first thought.

"Oi, Hatori-kun, what be troubling you?" Trinity asked mockingly, using an honorific at the end of Daija's name more to signify sarcasm than respect.

"Oh, nothing!" He shouted happily, plastering a huge grin on his face while rubbing the back of his head with his hand, embarrassed. "I was just, you know...thinking." His grin disappeared, replaced with a concerned expression.

"Aren't we all," Trinity said absently, causing Daija to wonder if she was ever really listening.

It took them a while to reach Rose's house, but finally the group found themselves entering one of Kyoto's more run-down areas. It was here that Rose lived. The grayish metal buildings in this area were all scratched or graffitied on, and most of the street lamps had either shorted out, or were forcefully broken, long ago. The living situation wasn't exactly the best either. Residents of this district were lucky if they were able to get electricity all the time, much less have a cockroach free kitchen. It was truly the slums.

Rose's house was the fifth one on the right, and had a sparse little front lawn that had all but died out. The gate hung off its hinges, and to all the world it looked like the house of a victim from a horror movie.

So far, everything looked normal.

The boys gave Trinity the honor of knocking on the door. "Um, Rose's Mom-san, it's Trinity. Me and the others came by to check up on Rose."

The door opened quickly, and a wrinkled, graying, middle-aged woman with a sharp nose and hawk-like, empty blue eyes stuck her head out the door. "And shouldn't you be in class?" She asked shrilly, and, surprisingly furiously.

"Er, no, we've got a break."

"School's been on for less than a half an hour and you already have a break?" A maniacal little smile worked its way onto the woman's repulsive features.

"Something like that," Trinity said boredly. "So, where's Rose then?"

"Rose, is unavailable."

"Mmm...I see...Daija..."

"Hai!*" said Daija, sarcastically saluting Trinity. He cupped his hands around his mouth before letting out a loud, but playful yell. "ROSE!!!!"

"You," said the woman, shaking with indignation. "I told you she was unavailable!"

"Ah, but who's that then, coming up to see us?" Daija asked happily.

Rose's mother slammed the door in their face.

"Well, that went well!" Daija said, nonchalantly clapping his hands, more for something to do than anything else. The three stood there in silence for a moment, listening to the screams now coming from behind the door. Then, Daija stopped clapping, and as if on que, Rose emerged from the house. She had bright purple hair that was held up behind her head with various clips and pins, and wore a white tee with long midnight blue sleeves, as well as baggy beige cargo pants.

"Yo," she said simply.





*Hai= yes, understood, I see, etc.

[Lady Rika]

Gray light shot from the clouded sky down towards the city of Kyoto; the aged color let itself paint the city in its nearly dead tone. Sharing its hue with many a people, buildings and animal alike, though the clouds above helped with the mixing of the stone colored sky at the same time they could not help it. For they too longed for another color to paint the sky, any color would do but all they could do was make gray.
And it was this strangely bright grey that let itself drift into the bedroom of a young boy no older than fifteen but had enough hardship in his mortal life to fill that of a pained adult.

The light shone across his pale face, waking tired eyes from a very light sleep. Very slowly they fluttered open, setting free the pure silver that lingered there.
The boy had always disliked his eye color even though it was a rare sight to see someone with such a color he wished his were the normal deep brown. Though he never knew why his eyes were the color of a silver block but when he went to the doctors after a series of strange illnesses that were going around the neighborhood were he lives he got his answer. The doctor he went to had been treating him since his mother birthed him that cold January night; the middle aged woman just looked at him with sad yet warm eyes.

The woman’s answer had never left his head, nearly every time he defended his mother at school or on the street those words began to burn into his skull.
“You see Onyx,” she has said “Your eyes are a genetic birth defect; your mother…she drank heavily when she was pregnant with you. In truth you’re lucky to be alive and as healthy as you are, without any sort of mental disabilities I mean.”

It hurt him deeply, those words from the older woman but he tried to be strong and continue to love the beautiful woman he called mother. Though every time he looked in the mirror he only saw sadness and pain; every screaming emotion he felt but never showed, burned brightly in his glinting silver eyes.

Snapping from his thoughts the boy slid out from under his old patched blanket, his bare feet touching the cold wooden floor of his room. A cold chill ran up his spine, as the freezing wood seemed to make him have a jolt of frosty pain.

“Oh no!” he whispered to himself as he looked down.
He had once again slept in his school uniform but this time he has wrinkled beyond imaginable and there was a hole in the side of his pants where his sharp hipbone was.
Touching the hole with one slender finger the boy gasped at its deepness, there was no way he could fix it, just no way!
Not to mention now his uniform had the smell of his bed on it. The deep, thick smell of filthy clothes and dried blood now had soaked itself into his clothing and unless washed well he wouldn’t be able to get out that scent.
“Hmmm…poor uniform.” He said to himself as he continued to touch the hole in the fabric.

Then his mind began to race with one of his most frequent thoughts. Those in which made his fragile heart beat wildly; those in which were his most hidden of secrets.
“I wonder…I wonder how he is doing right now. Just waking up I suppose…”

The perfect person walked among him and everyone else at Pullman academy, they just didn’t know it but he did. Ever since he was very young, and he met his who he desired so much did he first think of this beautiful word called love.
How he longed to know what this feeling inside him, this warmth that had no definition, could it be love? That magical thing that many felt was nothing more than forgery; but he believed, he hoped and dreamed that maybe it was love, and he who was so perfect in the silver boys eyes would in time love him as well.

“TRAGEDY STRUCK TODAY WHEN A RABID DOG ATTACKED–

“Ahhh!” he gasped from both pain and terror, “That sound!”

Though he knew very well what it was, he just didn’t expect it this early in the morning.
The morning news blared quite loudly throughout the small two-bedroom apartment; Okami had awakened. Usually the TV stayed on all night after his mother passed out from either drinking or the other usual which was about to wake up soon.

Onyx was about to leave the room when he heard a loud screech, and that didn’t come from the morning news. His mother had began to scream and yowl like some sort of unruly demon, but he found it peculiar that she wasn’t screaming for him. Then the man who had stayed the night before began to make some sort of grunting yell as well.
Onyx, though frightened was equally curious as well and opened his door slightly to look out. He couldn’t see past the small hallway to his bedroom but he heard much better even though the television was blasted as loud as it could go.

“You putrid little excuse for a man, don’t you dare leave me now!”

“Listen Okami I gotta get home, my son’s gonna be waking up soon and I need to be there when he does. I mean I just went threw a divorce for Christ’s sake, he needs me! ”

Oh who cares about the little shit! Now come over here, I promise to make it worth your wild.” She cooed, trying to lure the man back to the black futon. He didn’t buy it.

“Im sorry but I have to go.”

Onyx stopped listening after that; his mother began to scream wildly and he took his chance to escape from his room and make it to the bathroom.
Once in the poorly painted sea-foam green bathroom Onyx felt a little more at ease. He enjoyed cleaning and grooming himself; especially his long, glossy black hair. IT was unbraided and tussled around, a slight wavy streak on the left side of his hair made him annoyed. And the brush didn’t get it out hardly at all.

“Well its still early, I guess I have time for a shower.” He said merrily to himself, going over to the very small stand up shower. The tiny showerhead eyed him strangely when he approached, lilac soap in hand. He began to hum a made up tune as he gathered up all his essentials, which included shampoo, lots of conditioner and he already had his favorite lilac soap so he was ready. All he needed now was the water.
Reaching out his hand he quickly grabbed the handle to the cold water and quickly pulled it as far as it could go. Onyx pulled his hand back swiftly, trying not to get his disheveled uniform sleeve from getting wet. That’s when he realized something: there was no water coming from the showerhead. Not a single drop.
Whipping over to the sink he tried the faucet but it didn’t work either.
“Oh…not again! She forgot to pay the water bill again! I left out the money for her!”
Onyx suddenly felt a feeling of aversion, he wouldn’t be able to brush his teeth, or wash his oily hair. Looking in the mirror only made it worse; he looked like a slob. Now he finally looked as poor as he really was, normally he could hide that with his well kept hair and neat uniform. But overtime he seemed to be slipping.

Just when Onyx thought things couldn’t get any worse it did; the three bright light bulbs that shone a fluorescent light in the little bathroom went out.
Onyx heard his mother shout a very loud profanity; the television had gone out as well.
He slowly walked into the living room, hoping the man had left his mother and went home to his son.
To his delight he had left, leaving his mother to sit alone there on the old black futon.

There she lay, her very long black hair was sprawled out in lengthy black strands all over the futon and the floor. She was wearing only a cheap kimono that kept her nude body from being seen, her face was still and aware but she didn’t even look at the boy when he walked into the room. She only stared at the now black television.
Onyx watched her, she barely even blinked and he hardly saw her breathing too. Her wide dark eyes moved not a muscle and not one single emotion lingered either. His mother was one to be deeply desired but she gave herself away much to easily he thought.

Moving past the futon and into the kitchen he looked around for something to eat, anything would sustain him at least until he got to school and had lunch there. It was only a few hours away and he could wait till then.
He saw many empty bottles of Whiskey, Sake, and a few other assorted beers all opened and many drank, all leaving small reminders of their existence by spilling their contents allover the heavily stained carpet. The futon where Okami laid was covered with empty glass bottles and a dark brown trash can lay overturned near her bare foot as well. Spilling out its contents, which were mostly nothing but used condoms and a couple of lipstick covered cigarettes. Onyx shuddered at the sight; his eyes averted away quickly.

“Uh mother…the waters out, the electricity too.” he muttered, hoping she was paying attention enough to respond.

“You think I didn’t realize that? Im not stupid Onyx so don’t talk to me like I am!” she hissed whipping around to look at him. Her eyes were huge, her pretty lips tightened together as if she were holding back a scream.
“I didn’t say you were!” he cried out, attempting to defend himself. Even though he knew it was a useless fight, no matter what he said she would never believe him.

“Shut up! I know what you meant you little piss worm, why don’t you make yourself useful and get a job! I tire myself working part time so you can go to that damned Pullmans academy and what do I get? Nothing! Not one thing from you!”

“But mother you don’t have to pay for my school! I go there for free remember! My grades were so good the administrators let me go there for free.” He replied calmly, searching past the foul smelling liquor bottles to find just a scrap of food.

The woman glared deeply, pushing back a long strand of hair with such force that it moved a side of the kimono revealing one perfectly rounded breast. Onyx quickly looked away from her but it wasn’t the first time he had seen his mother naked. For she often paraded around in nothing but lace bras and thongs anyways or sometimes nothing at all.
“Don’t back sass me Onyx or I swear I’ll beat your ugly little face in!”

Onyx tried to ignore her threat even though she had done and said worse to him. But he couldn’t help but hold his face in spite of himself, he didn’t think of himself as ugly. Maybe a little feminine in the body and features but that was nothing a little more muscle wouldn’t fix.

“And didn’t I tell you to cut that atrocious hair of yours! I mean god Onyx you look like a damned queer! Maybe I should call for the men in the suits to come take you away because you like the taste of men so much!” she said laughing so hard she fell to the floor in a tipsy sort of humor. She often joked liked that, his hair she hated so much but never made his literally cut it. She enjoyed mocking him about it so she let it slide.
Onyx continued to try to ignore her words but when he couldn’t find any food he gave up. Especially when eh saw a bunch of ants crawl on the counters and one very fat cockroach scurry across the fake tile flooring. That killed his appetite fast.

Walking back to his room to grab his backpack he made one quick stop back in the bathroom to check himself once more. Sighing he brushed his hair once more, it was still unbraided, hanging far down to the tip of his bottom. He would of braided it quickly but couldn’t find any hair ties, either his mother used them and after that they got lost or they broke from constant used. So with another sigh Onyx tightened his grip on his backpack and left the bathroom, walked past his mother and headed for the door.

“Just where in the hell do you think your going?” she asked eyeing him suspiciously. She had obviously had enough sense to get up off the floor but her breast was still hanging out and that disturbed him quite a bit.

“Mother I have to go to school…where else would I go?” he replied with a small smile, hoping she would let him leave without another word.

“Heh, I know you like to go over to that tramp Sayuri’s right! Hang out with her little slutty self, miss im-such-a-goodie-two-shoes huh? Don’t even bother to answer me cuz I know im right I just know it!”
Onyx felt a surge of pain run threw his body; he cared very deeply for Sayuri. She was Samashi’s mother and a very wonderful woman. Her late husband had been a friend of his father and that made Onyx and Samashi long to be friends as well.
Since Sayuri hadn’t been married when she first had Samashi, Okami automatically thought of the silver haired woman as a whore and refused to be around her. But when Okami was with child herself a few years later she thought it was the gods punishing her and seeked advice from the woman she hated so much.
It was all so confusing to Onyx, all he knew was what Sayuri told him and she never told him much of his mother because of the hatred they both shared.

“Mother…im going to school, im gonna be late if I don’t leave now.”

“Yeah yeah, just be home soon after I ‘caught’ something yesterday and I need you to go the store and buy it for me as soon as you get back from school. Understand?”

Onyx sighed, when his mother said she had ‘caught’ something it clearly meant that she stole money from either from of the men she saw every night or she snuck into one of the other apartment s and got it from them.
“Yes ma’am.” He said silently and left the apartment.

He waked down the aged metal staircase, listening to the creaks and thinking once again of his true desires. It was those thoughts that kept him going most of time, when it was cold in the house because the heat was out and frost was collecting on the windowpane. He would dream that his true love would come and take him into a powerful embrace warming him with such a gentle touch.
“How long will it take today?” he asked himself, as he did every morning he walked to his friend’s house. Even though Samashi lived in an apartment as well it wasn’t like his own at all; living in the bad part of town never had any perks except that many good people were cursed to live in such a dump. Not many people at Pullman’s lived here, maybe a few but most were wealthy and could afford such a school. But others had to get in on talent, which included athletics or intelligence. Lucky for Onyx he had a perfect 4.0 grade point average and Pullman happily accepted him.
Even though it was only in the early summer did he receive news of his acceptance in the academy, he still remembered how excited Samashi was that Onyx got in, they celebrated by going out to a restaurant and even though they couldn’t afford much they still had a great time. Onyx had been so sad when Samashi got accepted first to Pullman’s, so he had worked very hard to get in luckily just in time for Samashi’s senior year and Onyx’s own sophomore year. Sadly all the happiness didn’t last.

The sidewalk seemed just as lonely as he was as Onyx ran quickly towards Samashi’s apartment complex. Sometimes he wished he had a bicycle so he could get around easier but he knew he could never earn enough money to buy one himself or better yet convince his mother to surrender some of her cash so he could have one of the two wheeled horses.
He also knew exactly what she would say too.
“You’ve got two legs and a heart beat! Why the hell do you need a bike?”

It was all cliché but at least someone had to keep the lonely pavement company, and why not it be him? He thought of himself as kindhearted so maybe karma would reward his efforts with one of his many wishes. But he knew what he really wanted, and it was something he knew he could never have.

The brightly shined numbers on the door read 385 in large gold letters; a small foot mat at the entrance of the apartment was slightly tarnished with muddy smears, barely covering the words on the mat that read: Wipe your paws.
Onyx smiled at the mat, even though he had smiled at the same mat for as long as Sayuri had owned it, which measured about four years, Onyx found it amusing especially because Samashi picked it out. He who was usually so collected and serious and that was one moment that Onyx wouldn’t forget; especially when his mother looked at him and nearly had a heart attack, she couldn’t believe her own son would desire such a thing. But she liked it too and just to spite him bought it.

Knocking on the red painted door made him feel nervous, even though he felt nervous each time he was near this door. Either when it was spending the night or just waiting for his friend to let him in so they could walk to school together, either made his heart leap.
Awaiting the beautiful boy to open the door and smile slightly, tilting his head just a tinge to the right to stare at him as if he were in trouble, and just before Onyx would fear, his friend would just laugh and motion him inside.
But today he was greeted by a very voluptuous woman with very long silver hair that grazed the tips of her knees and eyes as dark as midnight coals. Her light pink lips immediately curved into turned into a bright smile and without warning she reached her arms out and pulled him to her large bosom, hugging him tightly.
“Onyx! You’re early today! I wasn’t expecting you for another fifteen minutes.” She spoke so merrily as she clutched the boy tighter, but careful enough so not to hurt him.
As onyx was gripped into her sweet embrace, her hair pressing into his face and her breasts into his stomach, the boy couldn’t help but smell the wondrous aroma that bordered her. Almost like the oily vanilla plants with their black shoots and tantalizing fragrance that was even more delectable in dessert dishes. Mixed with the ever so popular jasmine flower glowing in its purple greatness; together they both made a interesting tang in which captivated and made him curious in which how someone came to smell so pretty and perfect. He also wondered why it was that Samashi too smelled like warm vanilla and seducing jasmine though it wouldn’t be likely for them to share the same cologne or perfume.

Pulling away, the scent still forever in his memories, Onyx looked at her with eyes full of concern and beseeching sadness.
“Sayuri-sama, I didn’t mean too but…you see I got a rip in my uniform and I was wondering…could you fix it for me? Please?”

Sayuri couldn’t help but notice how disheveled Onyx looked today, even though he was the one who always looked so tidy. And his uniform was very wrinkled and smelt rather bad, all of this just made Sayuri’s hatred for Okami Domoyoji even greater. That skank of a mother didn’t deserve such a wonderful child and she treated him like garbage.
If Okami would sign Onyx over to her she would take him in a heartbeat, but that witch would never do such a kind thing. She was always to busy getting pumped with the aids virus or drowning her liver in Sake mixed with crystal light. And to make it worse no matter how many times Sayuri called child services she managed to slide by just barely enough to keep her son. Either she did ‘favors’ for the men or kindhearted Onyx lied for his mother saying she had never once laid a hand on him. All of it deeply affected Sayuri, she loved the little boy just like he was her own for as long as she had known him, which was nearly his whole life.

“Why of course I’ll fix it for you, there’s no need to look so pitiful!” she replied forcing a laugh then so she didn’t further embarrass herself, turned and went over to the living room to search for her sewing box.
“I know its here somewhere!” she grumbled, as she looked under the side table.

Onyx couldn’t help but find Samashi’s mother so wonderful, she was young and beautiful, talented with homemaking and was a brilliant in self-defense. She also taught Onyx how to cook and now he surpassed even her at times. The only thing that bothered Onyx about her was that she deserved a better life, a better job; she refused to date anyone after her husband died. She swears that he was her soul mate and everybody else in the world was just a large waste of her time.
“Ah ha! Found it, now come here Onyx!”

Onyx walked over to the cream colored couch, and stood as still as a statue so she could quickly mend the hole in his pants.
“Now how on earth did this get here?” she asked attached the thread to the bright silver needle.

“I don’t know, I just woke up and there it was. Im sorry for all this trouble Sayuri-sama!”
He made a small whimpering sound, as if he were truly sorry for asking this of her.
Sayuri shook her head as she began to quickly mend the pants, “Don’t be.” Was all she could seem to say, everyday he seemed to act so kind, everyday he apologized for petty crimes he hadn’t committed, everyday Sayuri wanted to clutch him to her chest and tell him everything was alright. He was too innocent, she once said to Samashi when she first saw the bruises a many years back.
‘I want you to protect him, watch over an make sure nothing happens to him.’ She had tried to make it clear to Samashi since they were young to watch out for his little friend.
She remembered her son being so valiant when it came to saving his friend, but over the past two years he had slacked quite a bit as if he grew bored with the whole ordeal.
In fact she noticed many changes in son, many that were not good; the friends he hung with now ever since he had been going to Pullman’s had also changed. He was now one of the most popular kids at school and now had little time for his best friend.
When Samashi had got accepted at the Academy she thought it semi natural for him to lose connection with his friend, because they went to different schools. But she didn’t think it would change that much, even so far as Samashi’s own personality was changed.
“Done.” Sayuri said as she realized that she had over stitched the pants, making them slightly tighter on that one side. Though Onyx didn’t seem to notice, she still managed to blush out of her negligence.

“Oh thank you Sayuri-sama! This is great, it looks good as new!” he said happily.
Sayuri smiled back at him, her thoughts continuing.
‘His hair’, she said to herself, ‘its not braided today, how odd.’
“Um…Onyx would you like me to braid your hair?”
Onyx nodded, still excited by his fixed pants, “Please.”

Sayuri went to the bathroom for a hair tie but returned with a brush and hairspray as well.
As she slowly began to comb threw his slightly oily but very fine, glossy hair she thought a small amount of conversation would be nice.
“So…how’s your mother?”
That of course was the worst way to be subtle and the woman quickly regretted saying that.
“Oh, she’s…fine, im just a little worried because the water and electricity got turned off again and I really needed to take a shower. But it’s okay.”
‘Okay? Okay, no its not okay, that’s horrible!’ she wanted to say but didn’t.

“So…where’s Samashi-Kun?” he asked, his face brightening at the thought of the boy.
“Oh he’s getting ready…im pretty sure he is gelling his hair as we speak!” she replied with a little sly snicker as she started to braid his hair.
“Oh, well I hope he comes out soon. We might want to hurry up and get to school.”
“Uhts ugh ughtsh?” she asked, the dark green hair tie in between her lips, smothering her words to mere baby talk.
Onyx laughed, trying not to be insulting, “Repeat that please.”
Sayuri spat the elastic band into her hand, “What’s the rush?”
Onyx thought for a few seconds, besides being late there really was no rush; maybe he was just ready to see his friend come out from the bathroom. Ready to walk side by side towards the marvelous structure that was Pullman Academy.
Just as Sayuri finished tying Onyx’s braid, she pulled up the can of hairspray and sprayed it in place. Now it looked less greasy and would hold better, but not looked to stiff. Sayuri may didn’t have much money to spend but she spared no expense when it came to her boys, a.k.a. Samashi and Onyx’s, hair supply.

“I feel like I haven’t seen much of him in a while, I mean we only have a few classes together. And a lot of people’s schedules are getting changed everyday because of all the new classes and teachers that are coming in late.” Onyx’s voice sounded distant and sad, making Sayuri wonder if her son really wanted anything to do at all with his little ebony haired friend.
Sayuri opened her mouth to say something but stopped as soon before she began.
“Speak of the devil.” She whispered as the bathroom door opened with a small creak.

[cetra_aeris]

He walked down the hallway, surrounded by his friends and his girlfriend. He was smiling, ignoring the others around him with eyes and ears only for the group following him through the school’s hallway. His silver hair was gelled and looked the same as always. Dressed in Pullman Academy’s uniform he fit right in with the group of “cool” kids he’d begun hanging around with since the middle of freshman year.

“Samashi-san… Tell us again, please! About your house!” Said one girl standing next to him. For a minute the girls name escaped him, then he remembered. Her name was Jasmine; she had blonde hair to about her shoulders, tied up into a messy bun. She was a pretty girl, by most people’s standards, and Samashi did find her slightly attractive. Still, he didn’t think her to be one of the girls that he might try to date.

With a small smirk Samashi nodded at the girls’ request. “Sure.” He said bringing up the detailed lie into his head. He’d told it so many times that he knew exactly how to tell it with out skipping a beat.

As soon as he opened his mouth though, his friends dissolved, to place him in his dark room, a light beeping sound. His logical part of his mind told him that it was just his alarm clock, yet he wandered around to try and find the source.

He walked towards his bedroom door, only to turn around as a voice spoke to him. “We’re best friends, right Samashi?” Said a 11 year old Onyx. A 14 year old version of himself smiled back at his young Black haired friend. “Of Course Onyx! We’ll be friends forever, no matter what school I go to!”

Samashi watched the memory with a small sense of longing, before he heard his mother’s voice sounding and shattering the oddness that was surrounding him. A ringing noise surrounded her voice as the memory wisped away to the back of his mind once more.

*~*~*~*~*

Samashi rubbed his neck as he sat up in his bed. His eyes were still partially closed, and the only thing that had woken him up was the light ringing in his head with a memory of his mother telling him to get up, her hands on her hips. In truth this had been at least 15 minutes ago, it had just taken Samashi that long to even recognize he wasn’t dreaming anymore. Getting up to go to Pullman’s was a schedule for him, yet it seemed like he had slipped this morning and he hadn’t gotten up like he should have. Instead he’d let himself slip back into his dreams and slumber.

Glancing at the clock Samashi slipped out of bed. ‘Onyx’ll be here soon, about 20 minutes or so.’ He thought, running his hand through his hair. Letting a yawn escape him, he moved out of his room and, grabbing his clean uniform his mother had left on his nightstand, made his way to the bathroom of the little apartment him and his mother shared. Heck, he might as well say that Onyx lived here too with how often he came over.

He could hear his mother in the little kitchen, humming to herself. He lingered slightly for a moment, trying to figure out what tune it was, before gliding into the bathroom and closing the door.

The first thing he did once in there was turn the water on, turning the knobs at the familiar angles to fit the temperature he liked. Then he shed his gray sweatpants and boxers before stepping in.

As he began scrubbing himself, he let his thoughts wander to help his mind clear from the fogginess of sleep. He thought about some of his classes, wondering if any would be changed again today. If any, he hoped it was his math class. The thing was so boring and he had no one to talk to. Plus, to top it off his class was mostly girls. Though he loved the attention and enjoyed flirting with some of them, it got annoying after a while.

He let out a sigh as he stood under the water, letting it rinse out his hair. Then his thoughts roughly lingered over Onyx. His old friend since childhood, their fathers both dead with them leaving hardly any memories to their sons, and their unraveling closeness. As soon as the thought hit him Samashi pushed it away, turning the knobs of the shower off and letting his head hang there while he pushed his mind to think of something else.

He stepped out of the shower grabbing the towel that was folded and laying on the sink. He began taking the towel to his hair, trying to dry it as best he could before getting dressed so he wouldn’t get his uniform wet.

As he was getting dressed he heard a knock at the door. He wondered if it was Onyx, but thought it was too early for him to be here just yet. She shook his head and put his shirt on before trying to brush his teeth.

A few minutes later he heard Onyx talking to his mother. He couldn’t hear what they were saying exactly, but he knew now that Onyx had in fact arrived early. He shook his head absent mindedly and decided to finish in the bathroom. No need to rush just because Onyx was already here.

When he was done gelling his hair, he finished getting dressed and put his hand on the doorknob. “Speak of the devil.” He heard his mother say as he stepped out of the bathroom.

“Good morning.” He said sarcastically, walking over to them both. He looked over at Onyx and raised an eyebrow, giving a small smirk. “You’re here early.” He said, pointing out the obvious.

“Hello Samashi!” Onyx said his eyes gleaming. Samashi yawned and stretched. He looked over towards his mother and tilted his head. “Mother, I’m hungry. Have you made breakfast?” He asked leaning on the arm of the small couch.

Sayuri raised her eyebrows at her lazy son. Though she would have already made breakfast, Onyx’s surprise earliness had both put her off schedule and put her mind else where. With a hint of sarcasm she closed her eyes and pointed at her sons legs. “Well, You have two legs and a heart beat. Why don’t you go fix yourself a pop-tart? There’s some in the Cupboard and the toaster works perfectly fine.” She finished off with a smile.

“What? A pop-tart? But mother, I don’t like Strawberry, and it’s the only kind we have!” He said his voice rising at the end of his sentence, yet he remained where he rested on the couch’s arm.

“You don’t like strawberry? Since when? They’ve been your favorite since you were 3.” She said looking at her son, puzzled.

“Well, I’m burnt out on them. I just don’t like them any more.”

“You didn’t say that when you went to the store the other day! You said you had to have them or you’d die!” She yelled. Samashi stood up straight and looked his mother in the eye.

“Fin then! I’ll just go to school with out breakfast!” He creamed back, grabbing his bag beside the couch and stomping of to the door. With out even turning he yelled for Onyx. “Come on Onyx!”

Onyx gaped at the scene, his friend had astounded him. Never in all their years had Samashi ever yelled at his mother. The fact actually kind of frightened Onyx. With a bow of his head to Sayuri, he got up. “Ummm… Bye Sayuri. I’ll see you later...” He said in a quiet tone before rushing after his friend.

He caught up with Samashi on the sidewalk just a few feet from the apartments. Samashi was quiet and Onyx pursed his lips. “Samashi, you weren’t being very nice.” He said.

Samashi, without even turning his head or showing a single expression, replied, “I know Onyx, ‘kay? I’ll apologize when I get home.”

Onyx smiled, glad that he had got through. He adjusted his bag and perked up. “Okay!”

They continued their walk to school in silence for a few blocks, before Samashi remembered something. “Oh! Hey Onyx? Did you get that Chemistry homework done?” He asked, as if he had asked how his day had been rather than asking if he had done his homework for him.

“Ummm.. Yeah, I did!” He said, turning his bag to dig through it. Samashi watched him until Onyx found what he’d been searching for. “Here you go!” He said, handing the two papers to Samashi.

Samashi took them and slid his arm around his friend’s shoulders. “Thanks Onyx! I love you!” He said, his voice sounding silly. Yet still it caused Onyx to blush. “No problem Samashi…” He mumbled, barely audible. Samashi, however, was as oblivious as ever.