Fire and Ice 1

Fire & Ice 1
Curiosity
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Rachel Takashi comes from a rich vampire hunter family, and as such she was expected to carry on her family's legacy. When she refused, her parents sent her to Cross Academy, a mysterious school where vampires and humans attend classes, albeit separated.

At first, the young girl was resentful of her parents sending her away to such a faraway school, but eventually she became friends with another girl her age, Yuki Cross, who was part of the Disciplinary Committee who kept the Day and Night classes apart. Every day when the Night class walked through the gates separating the dorms, many girls and even boys would form a crowd to admire the beautiful Night class students and offer gifts of their affection.

Rachel, however, did not take part in such a thing. One day, when she was amongst the crowd waiting for Yuki, she was knocked over by a group of girls eager to speak with a member of the Night class – Rachel wound up falling on Aidou. This boy, Aidou Hanabusa, had a unique, hyperactive personality and had a bad habit of acting needlessly flirtatious towards Day class girls.

It was an awkward meeting, one that left Rachel blushing and the other girls of the Day class angry and spiteful. Rachel left the area, but ever since that day she had become more curious about the Night class and especially Aidou Hanabusa.

After that day, Aidou developed a habit of tackle-hugging Rachel in public, quickly making her an enemy of a large portion of the Day class girls. He continuously teases her, calling her cute whenever she blushes, leading to a mob of angry school-girls chasing Rachel back to the dorms. Regardless, Rachel always shows up to watch Aidou and the rest of the Night class students as they make their way to class.

After some time passed, Rachel befriended another member of the Night class; his name was Takuma. He had a very calm and cheerful personality and thought of Rachel as a little sister – she often wanted to ask about Aidou, but she resisted the urge and knew that if she could build up her courage, she'd find the answers to these questions herself some day.

Aidou had no idea of any of this – he became slightly jealous and curious himself. Rachel was the first girl of the Day class who didn't fawn over him, and slowly he became obsessed with charming her. Somewhere in the process, he started to think of her as something more than just a Day class student.

One morning during a free period, Rachel was sitting outside underneath the shade of a tree reading a book. Aidou had snuck out of the dorms and gone to visit her...

Aidou approached from the shadows and hugged Rachel from behind, "Yoooo, Chel-chan! Why are you all alone out here? Reading...? What'cha reading?" Rachel blushed and broke free of his hug, "U-ummm... I was studying for m-my... exam tomorrow."

"Whaaa? Study, shmudy!" Aidou grinned, standing up and crossing his arms, gazing at her with his  otherworldly sapphire eyes. "A girl like you shouldn't be studying, she should be out chasing her heart's desire!" Rachel blinked and look away, "Heart's desire...? Well, I just want to pass my classes and graduate. Right now I'm not getting such high marks..." She sighs.

Aidou narrowed his eyes, "Huuh? Well, you should have come to 'ol Aidou-sama! I'd be happy to help you. So, what do you have a problem with?" He towered over her and she closed the book. "N-nothing! Don't worry about it, Aidou-sama... Ummm, won't you... get in trouble if you get caught over here?"

The blond-haired young man shrugged, "Pssh, no one's gonna punish ME!" Another person approached slowly, it was Takuma. "Oh, hello Rachel-chan!" He greeted her, not noticing Aidou until a moment later. "Hello to you too, Aidou-san." Aidou huffed, glaring at Takuma for an instant, but his cheery demeanor quickly returned. "Oooooh, hiiiii Takuuuma-saaaan! Good to see you, pal! How are you? Good? Great? Magnificent?"

"Magnificent!" Takuma chuckled. "Anyway, I wanted to ask Rachel-chan if she wanted to go to the manga store with me. I know it's against school rules, but things have been pretty peaceful latel--"

"Oh, sorry Takuma-san... but Rachel and I have a special date! See ya!" Aidou cried, picking up Rachel without warning and carrying her off to a deeper part of the park within school grounds. "Waaah, what are you doing, Aidou-sama?! Put me DOWN!" She held onto her English book for dear life, when finally Aidou set her down beside a bench.

The eccentric young man sat on the bench and offered Rachel a seat next to him – she was nervous, but she kept her wits about her. She didn't want to seem like another crazy fan girl and possibly scare him away. She sat down and folded her hands over her knees, staring blankly at the Academy building in the distance.

"Soooo, Chel-chan... ever kissed a boy before? Hmm?" His random abruptness shocked Rachel, and she looked at him slowly, cheeks pink. "Errr....ummm, no... I haven't... I, umm..." She stumbled over her words, and then Aidou took a box of pocky out of his bag, then pulled out a few pocky sticks. "Want to share one?"

"Whaaaaa....." Rachel was stunned, she was completely dumbfounded. Her heart was pumping faster and she felt slightly dizzy as Aidou approached, his ocean-blue eyes fixed on hers. Suddenly, a group of Day class girls who are known fans of Aidou spot this scene and become infuriated.

"THAT girl again! What is she doing seducing our Aidou-sama?!" One of them hissed. "Quick, get her away from him or she might taint him with her lameness!" Another shrieked. The angry mob came running for Rachel, and in her fear she dropped her English book as she sped off.

Aidou laughed as he watched them run out of sight and picked up the book. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed that the book's title was: 'How to Tell if He Really Likes You'. He grinned, "Studying, huh...? Interesting. Guess I should have someone take this to her or she might... fail that exam, haha! What an adorable girl."

He quickly scribbled a note that read: 'Chel-chan, you forgot your English book! Please study well, and good luck on that exam. Love, Aidou Hanabusa' Aidou made a heart at the end of his name and smirked as he put the note between the first two pages, then found and asked Yuki to return the book to Rachel.

Yuki looked at him, confused. "This was Rachel's?" She paused. "Okay, I'll give it back to her. Thanks, Aidou-san." Aidou turned to go, waving. "Sure, sure. It's my duty to look out for cute girls, ya know." Yuki rolled her eyes. So Rachel has a crush on someone...? I have to support her –   after all, she's one of my best friends!  

Yuki went off to search for her friend, curious to find out just who Rachel has a crush on.