Welcome to Gaia! ::

Reserved for the return to the mansion

Ellic Reever didn't leave his house much, hell, he rarely left the attic, which is where he'd made his room. It was a perfect spot, out of the way of everyone else, and quiet. He could watch everyone from the window, and even wave to them, but they couldn't touch him, not when he was so high up! Still, he needed to replenish his book supply. The demon read at a frantic pace, devouring all sorts of texts, though he rarely was interested in fiction. Ellic wanted knowledge, not romance or anything as frivilous.

So now here he was, pushing open the door of another one of his havens, a large library. Few of his siblings would ever be caught here, and it was only his family that loved to cuddle him. That and a lot of girls; Ellic avoided them as much as possible. A few were decent though, he was aware of exeptions.

Klaus moved between the book shelves of the library, trying to find something that might interest him. He'd been there for half an hour and so far had come up with naught. Of course, he really wasn't a book person. The only reason he had come was because Wes was looking for a few new books on detonation and explosions.

The young fallen angel let out a sigh and turned away from the books. Perhaps there would be something else here to occupy his mind, as his brother wasn't providing any entertainment. After a few moments he spotted something, or rather someone. It was a child that looked to be a Banir Kinder, like his brother and himself. Only... Of the Demon variety.

A small smile gracing his lips, Klaus moved towards the boy, "Excuse me. Would you happen to be a Banir Kinder child as well?"

Not a rude child, Ellic did move closer, but not as much as many would have, leaving quite a respectable distance between himself and Klaus as he blinked up at the angel.

"As well?"

That meant that the monocled boy was a Kinder, making Ellic instantly more comfortable. Unlike a lot of Indu's "children" he knew pretty much exactly where he'd come from. He made it his business to find such things out and nodded slowly.

"Yes, I am Ellic."

Although he was used to his family members and other people looking very different from himself, Ellic was highly aware of the fact that there was something very different between himself and the other Kinder. For instance, that circly thing above his head, what was that called again...? Ah, a halo. He was curious about Klaus, but reluctant to admit it, therefore there was a slight pause before he continued.

"... What is your name, please?"

Klaus's smile only broadened as his assumption was proved correct. He liked it when he was correct on things, and this boy seemed to be much more polite than many of the people he had met so far. Which included his family; they were the worst.

"My name is Klaus. I am here with my twin brother." He bowed slightly, "I am pleased to make you aquaintance."

Many adults were actually unnerved by Klaus's speech. He knew that most children his age constantly spoke using contractions and the like. Not only did he find it rude, but but not using them put him a level above the rest. He prided himself in that.

He nearly asked what brought the other Kinder to the library, but he decided against it. The answer was obvious, and didn't need to be asked. Instead he said, "I am rather astonished to see another Banir Kinder child here. Other than the headquarters, this would be my first time meeting one outside of my own abode."

Ellic formed a small smile of his own, and rather than bow and mess it up by being awkward, he only nodded. Klaus seemed worth talking to, a pleasant change from most of his family, like Neme, who was obsessed with his green and black coloring, but couldn't pronounce an English word to save her life.

"The pleasure is mine, you are the first Banir Kinder I have met, actually. I have not returned to the headquarters, nor do I leave my home often."

The dark-skinned boy let his eyes run over the spines of books on a shelf next to Klaus, scanning the titles, he knew it was a trifle rude, but he had come here for a reason. Meeting someone somewhat like himself was just a plus.

"Your twin brother? Do you look alike?"

Ellic had never met twins before, either.

Klaus's smile turned into a slight smirk, "Alike? No, we do not. We actually look quite different." In fact, it astonished his family just how different they looked. His family was made up primarily of twins, all of which looked either identical or very similar. Klaus and he were just so different that a few didn't comprehend that they were even twins.

"We do not leave our home very often, either. However, my brother wanted to check out some reading material on bomb making, a hobby of his." What he didn't add was that Wes had already gone through all of the mansion's books on the topic. The other Kinder was currently sitting at a table in the corner of the library, skimming through a stack of over twelve books, looking to see which ones were worthwhile to check out.

"He is... quite passionate about the subject."

Ellic had read several books on explosives, in fact, he'd read every book in his house, that was why he was here, and when one had information that another may not have had a chance to aquire... Well, it was only proper to share.

"I have studied that topic before, and might have some texts your brother would find intriguing."

Turning his gaze over to the boy sitting down, he assumed it was Klaus' brother and noted that they did indeed look quite different, other than small similarities that showed they were related, such as the eyes.

"Dedication can be considered a form of strength, can it not?"

The boy's dark face now had an actual smile on it as he looked from Wes to the taller boy standing a few short feet away from him.

"You two are quite different."

Ellic was not speaking of physical characteristics anymore.

Klaus smiled again, "You are quite perceptive. My brother..." he paused, searching for the right words, "He prefers to become immersed in his work. I am much more laid back than he."

He turned and looked over at his brother, wondering if he should disturb him. Or even if the disturbance would get through to Wes. Sometimes the other boy could fall so far into his work that he never noticed anything else.

Finally he decided that this might be worth it, and headed towards his twin, "Wes--"

"HeyKlaus. youknowthisbooksaystherewasaTVcharacterwhocouldmakebombsoutofanything," his twin rattled off quite feverishly. Some of the bombs he made came quite close to being made of anything, but he'd never gotten close enough to 'MacGuyver-ism' to be the best. Well, he could keep trying.

Klaus shook his head, "Forgetting that fact, I would like you to meet Ellis. He says he has read many books on the topic you are researching about."

It was a moment before Wes looked up at his brother, then to the demon, "...Hi."

Ellic trailed Klaus at a slight distance, and paused at about a foot away from the table, slightly taken aback from the way words spilled out of Wes' mouth so rapidly.

"... Hello. I am probably not as skilled as you are, since I've only built a few just to put the knowledge I read to the test, mainly while making fuel for small rockets, but perhaps the books may be of use to you."

A rather long sentence for Ellic, who wasn't all that fond of speaking to others, however, Klaus had proven to be rather intelligent, perhaps his twin was the same? Shrugging off the backpack he'd brought with him, he pulled out five books that he was returning, three of which were random, but two of which were actually very creative texts about different forms of explosives, he'd been planning on returning them today.

"Perhaps you would like to take these to your home with you?"

Wes looked back at his brother who nodded, then made a move for the books. He snatched them out of the demon's grasp and immediately started thumbing through the first. Neither were books that he'd looked at before.

Klaus nodded slightly, "They will probably come in handy. My brother is... more than a little obsessed with explosives."

In fact, Wes wasn't even paying them any more attention. All his focus was on the books that Ellic had offered. They seemed to be more informative than the other dozen or so scattered about the table.

Klaus turned to the demon, "So may I inquire as to where you live?" It was more of a 'conversation' sort of question than one he honestly wanted an answer for. Right now the focus was between his brother and Ellis, and as his brother showed no signs of surfacing from the books any time soon, it was probably best to change the topic.

Blinking with a blank expression as the books were wrenched from his grasp, the demon found himself surprisingly unoffended, Wes was a lot like some of his siblings, actually. At least he hadn't touched his hands. He heard Klaus' words and for the first time, Ellic showed a strong emotion... Distaste.

"I currently reside in a large home approximately twelve blocks north of this building. It is hard to miss, since there are usually children in body paint jumping from the roof into the lake out back, or running around the neighborhood trying to harm one another."

Shaking his head slightly, he wiped his face clean, and assumed an expression of polite interest before returning the question.

"And you, Klaus? May I ask where you return home to?"

Klaus blinked at the boys dislike of the subject, but quickly disregarded it as the topic turned to his home, "It is also a large place. A mansion to the north-east of here." He didn't actually have any dislike about his family, as the mansion was so large that he could avoid anyone if he tried even a little. The only person that got under his skin was Aylee, his guardian's sister. She was a bother that he didn't want to deal with, yet she insisted on prying into his life.

"Ours is also rather hard to miss, I must say. But only from the sheer size. My guardian had it build for his sister, and she still doesn't know what to do with more than deventy-five percent of the rooms." He shook his head, tutting slightly, "However, it is a more preferrable living situation than your sounds, I feel."

Wes set the first book aside into his 'taking with me' pile, and started scanning the second, which seemed equally informative. His eyes scanned page after page, and for a moment he stopped and his thumb ran along the scar on his cheek, and then went back to scanning.

"Is there any particular reason for your dislike of your family?"

Ellic looked distinctly uncomfortable and his hand unconciously came up to touch the green part of his skin, the main reason he didn't like wearing shirts. Not to show it off, but because the fabric hurt.

"I prefer... Not to be touched. Most of them disregard this wish and often unintentionally hurt me. It is not that I dislike them, but that I dislike their disregard of my wishes."

He shrugged his slender shoulders, adjusting his tie with the hand that'd touched his chest and letting it drift back down to his side.

"They almost... Care too much. It gives an unprecedented ring of truth to the old idiom; "love hurts."

Klaus thought about this for a moment. Care too much? Well, the only person who seemed to care in his hectic household was once again Aylee. And as peviously stated her insistance with trying to hug him was annoying him beyond belief. But apparently she tried this will all her family members, so at least it wasn't just him.

"We is like that. He dislikes interaction with others. I must say that while I'm not fond of it, I haven't sworn it off altogether. Sometimes it is necessary." He gave a slight sigh and turned back to watching his brother.

"Our family spends most of its time ignoring us. It's a win-win situation." Other than Aylee, the only time they ever got any trouble was when Wes unintentionally caused a hold in the side of the mansion or somesuch. Aylee didn't want him messing in her lab (bomb proof as it was), and Klaus's twin's explosion test site wasn't finished yet.

Ellic nodded slowly and dug around in his backpack to produce a pen and paper, setting them on the table and smiling at Klaus with slight hesitation. He wasn't about to make a gesture for friendship, that would be odd, and more than likely inappropriete... Still. He thought the kinder was interesting.

"Might I have your address, or phone number, so that I might contact you again to arrange another meeting of sorts?"

He inwardly cringed at the thought of what Indu would have called it while teasing him. A playdate.

Klaus glanced at the paper as Ellic placed it onto the table and then up at the demon. Well, it was a good idea, true. Otherwise their meetings would be left up to chance. Nodding slightly, the fallen angel picked up the pen and scrawled the information in a very extravagent longhand. Most people had no trouble reading his writing, and he'd been told it was easier to read than the script of many teenagers.

That done, he placed the pen down beside the paper, "There you are. Feel free to contact either of us at any time." He smiled slightly, "You're free to drop by the mansion any time if you wish."

He glanced over at his brother who now had a total of five books in his 'take with me' pile, and was sure to add another before they left. "Perhaps you could even help my brother with one of his machines. Unforunately I happen to be rather inept with the things, so I am not often of use to him."

Ellic actually smiled for real and nodded, folding the paper carefully and sliding it into his pocket and he answered.

"Thank you very much, I think I will come to see you. I might bring another with me, Alkemi. I believe that Wes might find her useful, as a large portion of her brain is technological and works with creative logic, like a human computer. She often helps me in experiments, and her calculations are never incorrect."

Speaking of which, he'd promised to get the strange girl a book or two on Chemistry and Physics, which he promptly divulged to Klaus.

"She's currently trying to work with stabilizing explosive chemicals so they can be transported throughout the house without danger, so I've been looking for some texts on that for her. She likes some traditional literature, even though she can always scan the internet."

Klaus smiled as well, "That would certainly be interesting. Although, if it is information on stabilizing chemicals that she wants, I would have to go against my better judgement and say she talk to my guardian's sister. She knows quite a bit on the topic."

In fact, even Wes had proved that the reason all of Aylee machines exploded at some time or another was not due to chemicals. Well, not usually. In fact, Wes couldn't even pinpoint the reason why they all invariably exploded. The young boy had been looking into it since the twins had become part of the house hold and he was still stumped.

"Well, whatever the case may be, bring her along. I am positive we have some books on the topic in the mansion's library, if she wishes to skim through those." Plus, there was the added bonus of no late fees if she wished to borrow them.

"I shall! Thank you again, Klaus, your presence here has made the trip far more interesting than I imagined it would be."

Ellic DID manage to bow slightly, without looking like an idiot, and even nodded to the preoccupied Wes.

"But I must be going, I have got to get her books soon because she wants us to finish tonight."

Klaus nodded and smiled at the demon, "I shall take that as a compliment, then. I look forward to seeing you at the mansion sometime in the future." He turned as he heard Wes's chair being pushed back, "It looks as though my brother is finished anyway." He turned to Ellic and gave the boy a sweeping bow, "To our fortunate meeting today."

And with that the two departed from Ellic's presence, checked out, and headed home.

Duncan popped his shoulders, reaching up into the air. What a great day this would be. Not. Ramie had told him to stay out of downtown for a few days, some laying low thing, he was paranoid, whatever. So he was stuck coming here, whever here was, something to do with Jack, Carrie had told him to come here anyway, big library or something. Bound to have something worth his time, right? A few sonnets he hadn't memorized yet, or some he had, he really didn't care, it was better than staying at the apartment with Mr. Overprotective. And so, without bothering to think that it would be more polite to ring the bell or knock once, he pounded a fist on the door, waiting a few seconds before repeating the action.

Klaus was cleaning up in the library, again. It seemed to be a constant chore. He was positive, now, that someone was deliberately going in and mixing the books around. And yet, everyone in the family denied having done it! Finally finished, he sat down in a chair... Only to hear a knocking coming from the front door. His work was never finished.

He pulled himself up from his resting place and traipsed out of the library and down the main staircase. Normally he didn't have to actually answer the door, as most people just walked right it. It was slightly insulting, that. What was the point in even having a door it people didn't bother to knock?

Thus he was more than a little elated when he'd heard the knock. A small smile was on his face as the fallen angel pulled open the door and surveyed the boy on the other side. Another Kinder child, was it? "May I help you?"

The teenage demon flicked his tail, curiously surveying the boy that seemed several years his junior.. And an angel at that. Manners manners... His mind droned, the only reason he stood up straight and addressed the angel as he would anyone else, which, admittedly, wasn't what most would consider normal, as if he were giving report. "Yes, my name is Duncan, my foster mother tells me there's an extensive library at this address. Is that information correct? I've been.. Banned, from going into the city where I normally spend my days."

The elder boy's way of speaking slightly amused the fallen angel and he smiled, "Why yes, that information is indeed correct." He moved out of the way to let Duncan in, and then shut the door. "My name is Klaus." He made the sweeping bow that was his typical greeting. "The library can entered from both the second and third floors. I will show you the way." He gave the boy a slight smile and then led the way up to the second floor, and pushed the door to the library open.

He could already tell some of the books were disturbed. This was really starting to get on his nerves. He'd already spent the entire morning organizing it, and now it was messed up again. How bothersome! Because of it he seemed to be spending more time that he ever would have in the library...

At the sight of the books, Duncan gave an involuntary smile, quickly toning back down when he noticed it. A lot books here seemed older than the ones in the city stores and libraries, that was a good sign, the smell of worn leather, damaged pages, perhaps even a few that had been singed in a fire of some sort. He had already spotted a few familiar classics, always to be expected in a family study. "It's nice to meet you Klaus. I assume you live here." It didn't really need an answer, he was just trying to make conversation, a lot of people seemed to find that important.

"Hmm?" Klaus was drawn out of his thoughts by conversational question. "Oh, yes. My guardian and his sister own this estate." His eyes roamed along the books. Some of the books were completely out of place! Some of them were even supposed to be up on the third floor. Only the other two angels would have been able to misplace them so quickly, and he knew they couldn't have done it... They were out of the mansion at the moment, with Aylee.

Finally he realized he was forgetting his manners, and turned to the elder Kinder child, "May I ask what you are looking for? I should be able to help you find it."

"Any of the Master's work, though I might just look around until something catches my eye." Speaking of catching his eye, he had noticed how some of the books were up on their sides, even some strewn on tables. Strange.. It irked him a bit, so, without giving it a second thought, he walked up to one of the shelves and started to sit the ones that were set off back on their ends where they belonged. "Have a bit of a poltergeist problem?"

For a moment Klaus watched Duncan uprighting the books as he mulled the problem over in his mind, "Perhaps. I have yet to be able to catch any of my housemates in the act, and most of them would be incapable of doing it as quickly as it is done." He sighed and scooped the books off the table and started putting them back in their proper places on the shelves, "I'm still under the impression that someone is trying to get under my skin."

With those books set back into his proper places (although he could see many of them on the shelves still out of place, and was positive there would be more to deal with on the second floor), he turned his attention back to Duncan, "By Master, would you happen to mean Shakespeare?" He knew they had quite a collection of scripts from him and other playwrights in the library, although he had yet to figure out why. It wasn't as though there was a stage or any place to act nearby.

He nodded, glancing up to the higher shelf where there were several more turned at odd angles. Fluttering his translucent wings absently, he knew they weren't strong enough to lift him off the ground, he turned to look at the younger boy in respect, "Yes, his comedies in particular. Or perhaps something by Ibsen, a little more modern, but still worth a read."

The young angel touched his lips for a moment in thought, "Lets see. I believe that the majority of the plays we have are located on the second floor. We have plenty of Shakespeare, and I believe a few scripts by Ibsen, although I have yet to read them myself. There are other playwrights there, too... Hmmm."

Without waiting for the demon, he headed up the spiral staircase to the second floor. He was forced to pause for a moment as he surveyed the disaster strewn about the three tables in front of him, but forced himself to ignore it. He could deal with that later. Instead, he started looking through the shelves, and at one in particular, "...Yes, here they are." There were more than he remembered.

Not wanting to waste time, Duncan slipped up the stairs a few feet behind him, settling a hand on the books as Klaus rifled through them. Trying to make conversation, it seemed like the proper thing at the time, he counted them up in his head. "There are an awful lot of them, is there a theatre in the building?" He knew after all that some families valued the arts enough to preform in their own home, or estate as was the case.

The comment made Klaus smile, "No, although I wish there was. My guardian's sister, who tends to control what gets built around here, hasn't had the sense to make one. I try to stay out of her way as much as possible, so I have yet to ask her to have one constructed." He paused and stood as the second floor door to the library opened.

"OI!! Klaaauus!"

"Speaking of..." the fallen angel muttered under his breath, and left Duncan's side for a moment, descending the spiral staircase halfway, "If you wish to talk with me, then come up here. I am rather busy." That said, he headed back up the stairs and made himself busy with the books on the tables. It was obvious by his sudden bad mood just how much he seemed to dislike the woman.

"Hmph. You're so annoying, know that?" said Aylee, coming up the stairs after him, "Wha th'hell happened up here?" She glanced around and spotted Duncan, "...I didn't know there was someone over. Then again, I usually don't. Meh. ANYWAY." She turned back to Klaus, "Kunny sent me a note to inform you and Wes that he'd be home in two days. I don't know why he decided to tell you two instead of me, but meh."

Does she never stop talking?! thought Klaus, looking rather annoyed, "Yes, yes, fine. I was sure he would be back soon in any case."

The woman irked him for some reason, not so much her though, more like the way she seemed to treat Klaus. Normally, he wouldn't care, but this boy seemed interested in acting, and that was a plus in his books. He swatted his tail at the imagined fly, glancing around at what seemed like trouble they had caused. "It wasn't him. Wasn't us I suppose. You ought to put in cameras, find out what's doing this." After a moment though, he realized that he hadn't introduced himself, and because he was trying to get on the woman's good side, should he ever need a favor, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and tried to look a bit more respectable, "My name is Duncan, and you are?"

Aylee blinked at the boy as he spoke, "Uhm. My name's Aylee. Er." She seemed a little surprised that the boy had spoke. She had good reason, too. It was rare for her to talk to anyone but her own children, being ignored by the majority of the visitors to the mansion. Finally she nodded, "Nice to meet you."

Klaus smirked slightly, rather amused to see Aylee thrown off balance. Not that that was hard to do, in any case.

Aylee paused again and turned to Klaus a bit confused, "Wait, weren't you supposed to be working on the Haunted House? What're you doing in here?" It seemed as though she had only JUST realized this.

The fallen angel sighed impatiently, "I have already finished the plans for it, and now my brother is working on the mechanisms to make it work. I cannot begin to decorate the interior until that is finished."

Aylee stared at him for a moment, her mind still reeling, "Uhm. Right. Alright. I've almost got your costume done, by the way... Er..." She glanced at Duncan for a moment, having trouble getting a hold of reality.

Reserved for the Klaus/Ellic RP, once finished. :E

(( Cross posted to Cyrus/Casper's and Yasushi's journals ))

It was a long train ride. Klaus hadn't expected it to take this long, and he had spent the last hour trying to figure out reasons why Aylee hadn't let them fly. Then he'd remembered who was actually on this little trip. Casper and Cyrus alone were reasons not to fly.

In fact, Klaus had taken the liberty of locking the two in a compartment adjacent to the one he and Yasushi were currently in. It was the easiest way to keep them out of trouble, and Klaus wasn't really looking forward to dealing with the twins after being locked in a small room for hours on end, but they WERE out of his hair.

He missed Wes. Why had Aylee split them up, anyway? She should know what it's like to be apart from your twin for any amount of time.

Well, it was too late to do anything about it now.

Yasushi was staring out the window, an equally bored look on his face. The other boy was probably so used to being outside that sitting still like this was probably a shock. Well wait until they actually began school. It was all ABOUT sitting still there.

Apparently Yasushi had noticed him staring, "Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing. I was simply lost in though, that is all."

He wondered what Wes was thinking about right now...

"Hey Klaus?"

Yasushi was watching him. "Yes?"

"I was wondering something. I've... Seen you watching me play soccer sometimes. If you want to play, you should come downstairs. I wouldn't mind the company."

Klaus was silent. He hadn't expected something like that. Of course, he knew that Yasushi had seen him staring on more than one occasion, but he didn't think his cousin would actually mention it. And he didn't really have anything to say in response, so he just kept quiet and stared out the window.

Yasushi seemed to get the point, and also began staring out the window again.

The entire train trip lasted a total of six hours, and Klaus was bored for all of them. He could tell Yasushi had been too. But finally the ride ended with the train pulling into the station, and Klaus moved out of the compartment and unlocked the door to the room he'd put the twins in.

As soon as the lock was released, the door shot open and the twins ran out. Even with them moving, Klaus could see that their clothes were rather ruffled, and their hair was a mess. They must have been wrestling or something similar.

Yasushi tried to stifle a laugh as Klaus glared at the two. Aylee had left him in charge, and until they got to the school he wasn't planning on letting them run amok.

But first... getting on the train. The green haired angel turned to Yasushi, "Keep watch of Casper. I will look after Cyrus. The last thing we need is the two of them getting lost in the station."

Yasushi nodded, and the four exited the train. Klaus immediately grabbed Cyrus's wrist as the boy attempted to run off. A glance backward told him that Yasushi was doing something similar with Casper. Well, at least he was reliable.

Apparently Aylee had arranged for someone to come pick them up at the station, but one glance around made it apparent to Klaus that it was going to be harder to find that person than he'd expected. The station was huge, at least twice the size of the one back home, and Aylee had almost gotten them lost in that one.

Well, they'd better start looking. Fortunately their luggage wasn't too heavy, and once they started moving, Cyrus and Casper settled down as they tried to take in all of the sights.

It took more than half an hour of looking around to find their ride, a nervous looking woman holding a sign that said 'Shiroko boys' on it. Klaus and Yasushi shared a nod and the group moved toward her. The girl perked up at their approach.

"Are... are you Klaus? and... Ya... Sushi?" she asked, obviously hesitant about the pronunciation.

Yasushi smilled at the woman, "I'm Yasu. This is Klaus, Cyrus, and Casper," he nodded to the others in turn.

The woman grinned timidly, "Right. Uhm. I'm Roberta Finch. I'll... uhm. Be your escort. My. Uhm. Car is over here." The woman started to lead the way out of the station.

Klaus shut his eyes and rolled them behind the closed lids while walking. This woman wasn't going to last ten minutes with the two twins. It would be a miracle if they got to the school without crashing.

To be honest, Klaus wasn’t sure what to expect from his new roommate. He’d never shared a room with anyone other than Wes before. So it was with some apprehension that he found the room number matching his key, unlocked and opened the door. Partially to his relief, but also partially to his aggravation, his fellow roomer was nowhere to be seen.

He did seem to have monopolized the room, however. There were things on both beds, and all over the floor. The walls were coated in posters and other strange things like fabric. What kind of roommate did he have, anyway?

Probably the only clear place in the whole room was the computer desk, which was neatly organized. Well, other than the shirt hanging off the corner. Klaus was surprised that the school allowed rooms to be kept this way.

Well, anyway, it was a mess. Klaus had to push all of the clothes and books and what not off the bottom bunk (since it was the one that looked unused), so he had some place to put his suitcase. Hadn’t his roommate ever heard of using the dresser?

Sighing, he laid down next to the suitcase, and stared at the underside of the top bunk. He was not going to enjoy this.

He wanted to talk to Wes. Badly. But he couldn’t, as Aylee had refused to buy him a cell phone before leaving, and he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kunny about it. And besides, his brother hated phones.

This was going to be a long, LONG few months.

Klaus hadn’t even realized he’d fallen asleep until he was shaken awake by a rather annoyed looking boy. “Nnnn?” Klaus said, squinting at the guy. He wasn’t used to being woken like that.

“Who the hell’re you?” the boy said, a frown on his face, “And ya pushed all my stuff on the floor, what’s up with that?”

Though his eyes were still a bit blurry, Klaus sat up, only to hit his head on the underside of the top bunk, “...Ow.”

“Not very smart, are ya?” said the boy backing away slightly, “Hmmm.”

Rubbing his forehead, Klaus pulled himself off the bunk and stood up fully. The other boy was a little bit taller than he, and had spiky blue hair, a colour that was unnatural among humans. Assuming he was human, anyway. You could never really tell, in Klaus’s experience.

“My name is Klaus,” he said, wincing slightly as he pressed too hard on the bump that was forming.

The boy raised an eye brow, “Awffly formal, ain’t ya? Anyway, what’re ya doin’ here?” He tilted his head to the side and appeared to examine Klaus.

“...It is usually customary for someone to introduce themselves before asking questions,” said Klaus sitting back down on the bed. Damn, his head hurt. And this kid wasn’t helping much.

This caused a few seconds of silence from the boy. “Pfft. You’re an odd one, all right. My name happens to be Kyran. Now answer th’ question.”

Klaus gave an audible sigh, “Well, if this is your room, then I am your new roommate. My cousins and I just became students of this school.”

This simple statement seemed to confuse Kyran, “What? I don’t remember anything ‘bout a new roommate.” His eyes drifted to the ceiling as he appeared to lose himself in thought.

Probably lost in memory, Klaus figured. People tended to forget a lot of things, and to be honest it annoyed the hell out of him. Partially because he knew he forgot a lot of things, too.

But how could someone forget something as important as a new roommate? Klaus was sure that he had the correct room, so he knew the fault didn’t lie with him. However, Kyran’s lack of knowledge bothered him.

“Well, whatever,” said Kyran, shrugging and pulling his clothes and books and whatnot off the floor and throwing them up onto the upper bunk. He then looked at Klaus again and grinned, “Nice t’meetcha.”

Klaus let his eyes fall onto the boy again, “Same, I suppose.” He watched Kyran move around, picking up clothes and other things off the floor.

The boy caught his gaze and grinned, “If I’ve got a roommate, I can’t very well keep living the way I have been, right?” He tossed the last item of clothing onto the upper bunk, and sat down in the chair in front of the computer which he swiveled to face Klaus, “So. Why’d ya transfer here, anyway?”

“It was not a transfer. We simply enrolled.” He paused for a moment, “Actually, my guardian’s sister in the one who enrolled us. We had no say in the matter.”

“Us?” Kyran tilted his head at the idea, “There’s more’n one of you?”

“Yes. Three of my cousins were enrolled as well.”

“Y’know, fer a third grader, you sure have refined speech,” Kyran said, crossing his legs. He had a grin on his face.

Klaus rolled his eyes and laid back on the bed, “Yours may not be refined, however you speak like you’re a teenager.”

“Wassat mean?”

“It means you do not have the speech mannerisms of a third grader. Your vocabulary is higher than most our ages.”

“Ah.”

The conversation seemed to stall, and Klaus yawned slightly.

“Tired?”

Klaus sat up and looked at Kyran, “A bit. But anyone would be tired after dealing with my cousins. They are more than a little rowdy.” He fell backward onto the bed again.

“Hmmm. How old’re they?” Kyran asked, leaning the chair back.

“The bothersome ones are six. The other one is my age.”

Kyran seemed to find this fascinating, “Really? You don’t get along with ‘em?”

“Well, with the younger ones, no. They are annoying brats. The older one is... Interesting.” He tilted his head to look at Kyran, “Why do you want to know so much?”

The other boy shrugged, “Dunno. Curious, I guess. And anyway, if we’re to live together, I might as well know as much about you as I can.”

“Hmmm.” Klaus didn’t have much of a response. Yes, they were to live together. There was no way to get around that. And to be honest, he didn’t really mind Kyran too much. At least he didn’t have to stop and explain everything he said, which he usually had to do with most kids his age.

His eyes closed for a moment, and then he said, “What about you? Do you have any family here at the school?”

Kryan was silent. After about a minute, Klaus sat up and stared at the blue haired boy, who was staring out the window. This was an attempt to avoid the question, Klaus knew. Well, it really didn’t matter all that much.

“I’m gunna go take a shower,” said Kyran, getting out of the chair. He grabbed a few articles of clothing off his bunk, and headed out of the room.

Yawning again, Klaus pushed his suitcase onto the floor and curled into a ball. Within ten minutes he was asleep again.

Kyran had shown Klaus to his homeroom (which, frankly, hadn’t been particularly hard to get to), and the first two classes seemed to go by before he had a chance to blink. It wasn’t really a surprise, in hindsight, because they had been reading and grammar, two of his best subjects.

The class rotary structure wasn’t hard to figure out; apparently homeroom classes stuck together throughout the day. Klaus found this convenient, and so long as he made sure to follow his classmates he wasn’t likely to get lost.

Every period had a different teacher, however. Their homeroom teacher was always there, lurking in the background, but the instructor varied.

Prior to classes was homeroom, which lasted a total of ten minutes before another bell rang and Mrs. Wales escorted them out.

First class had been with a Mr. Barker, this quirky old man who always seemed to be smiling, and it rather unnerved Klaus. But the class was easy, and in some odd sense Barker’s quirky attitude added to the class.

Klaus’ second class was with a woman named Ms. Kelly, and Klaus wasn’t altogether sure if that was her first name or last name. But that’s what she called herself, and she had this strange habit of talking in the third person at all times, leading Klaus to wonder if all the teachers in this school were a little unhinged.

But third class rolled around before he had time to think about his first two teachers more than that, and his third class was one he knew he wouldn’t be particularly talented at: math.

Now, Klaus was far from the worst student at math, but he didn’t really take to it as easily as he did words. Numbers were something for Wes to figure out, and Klaus had never really bothered with them. So when he was faced with them in this new school, he couldn’t help but stare at the textbook placed in front of him with a lost expression on his face.

But he managed to get through the class, even if it did drag on a little too long, and lunch was after that.

He’d been pulled over to sit with Kyran and a few of his friends, who had decided to spend their lunch asking a myriad of questions.

Then it was back to class (which took Klaus a few minutes to figure out the location of), fourth being music.

Klaus wasn’t particularly good at music, but he wasn’t bad, either. Fortunately right now they weren’t playing instruments, so he had time to catch up.

Fifth period was science, which was once again Wes’ area of expertise. Klaus new a few things from his brother, like what NOT to mix together, but that was about it. He knew as he stepped into the lab that he was going to have a lot to make up.

The final class of the day was current events, something Klaus had never been too interested in. But at least he could do it if he tried, as opposed to math and science.

Finally the classes were over, and Klaus was allowed to wander the school as he wanted. Having slept most of the previous day away, Klaus hadn’t gotten the same experiences his cousins had, and frankly knew nothing about the place.

As he stared out his homeroom window, Klaus spied the soccer field. He couldn’t make out the individuals around the field, but he was fairly sure his cousin was down there. Yasushi was always playing sports, so going to school was probably a dream come true. After all, the majority of the people in the Shiroko household were not active.

The soccer team WAS tempting, to tell the truth. Klaus had played the game a few times before, and it was fun. But he wasn’t the sort to enjoy sports, and so he knew it would look awkward.

So Klaus turned away from the window and exited the classroom. First thing: Find the showers. He knew where the general bathrooms were, but he wanted a shower. He also needed to pick up his uniform.

His footsteps led him back to his dorm room, and a slight change in the stuff on Kyran’s bed (the addition of the books he’d taken earlier, as well as the removal of a few other miscellaneous items) told him that his roommate had already been there.

Klaus took the time to unpack his suitcase, storing his clothes in two of the dresser drawers. Fortunately there had been barely anything within them, so Klaus didn’t have much of Kyran’s things to deal with.

When that was done, he took a set of clean clothes (a simple dress shirt and slacks) and studied the map. According to it, there was a shower just down the hall.

Half an hour later Klaus returned to his dorm room and tossed his dirty clothes into his suitcase. He then placed the suitcase in the corner of the room and sat down on the bed. It was nearing four, and Klaus wasn’t really sure what to do with the rest of the day.

Just as he was standing up to grab his map from the desk, the door opened and Kyran entered the room.

“Oi, there you are. I was wonderin’ what happened to ya after school.”

Klaus looked at the boy, “Why?”

“Well, I figured you weren’t used to the school, so I might as well show ya around a bit.”

This comment caused Klaus to eye the map he had just been about to grab. Technically, having a guide would be easier, and probably more fruitful, but Klaus really wasn’t a people person. “I am not terribly sure...”

Kyran tilted his head to the side, “Aw, c’mon! Besides, it’s mer interestin’ with someone else around. Besides, I’ve got nothing t’do right now.”

Well, that explained this a bit. Finally Klaus sighed lightly and nodded, “Alright. I suppose it could not hurt to have a guide.”

“Aw’right! C’mon, lets go!” Kyran threw a shirt and a small case he’d been carrying onto the top bunk and pulled Klaus out of the room.