Menarker yawned excessively as he woke up early from a passed out slumber of the night before, Mero repeatably pouncing her minor form up and down his back, radiating the same energy she had absorbed from him, sending soothing magical essence which left him more or less recovered. Wordlessly, he absentmindly stripped, trading what he wore for his uniform which laid neatly on his desk. Mero stood by silently watching his dull and boring expression as he went through the daily routine of breakfast, grooming and everything required.

"Stay home."
"... Probably for the best. Too much people in public." Menarker looked slightly curious at his kitten, the immediate agreement a little out of place.
"I'll leave some food for you, and put my music on softly while I'm gone."
"That would be very much appreciated. Don't forget your books."
"I have prepared my items days before. Only thing that worries me like every year are the students. I never had much luck before. Now I have changed quite a bit... and there is a chance that they may be others who have changed too."
"Just behave like you always had in school and not much will change."
"Well... I might want to try something different... cause I want things to be a little better this time around. See you later."
"Hey Mena, how about some of that magic for the junkie?"
"Oh fine..." Menarker obliged a surge of the same soothing energy that made his sleep restful, which made his familiar as kittenish as ever before, before he left and shut the door on the way out.

Mero peeked outside his window, seeing him walk away leisurely as she smirked deviously, snarfing her food down without a care about rationing for later, as she nudged the window open and leapt down the second floor and darting swiftly and unseen in the streets and soon among the foliage of nature, distanced from her companion.

Menarker arrived with about 20 minutes to spare, wading through the crowds of students without slowing down a care for any of them, intent of learning his room number and teacher. The board listing the room numbers was swarmed with students, veterans and noobs alike, so it took a little time for him to pass through, although he was relatively pleased.

"Kasuga-sensei is teaching again this year? That's great to see..."

The lad then quietly moved to his respective classroom taking the chair third from the left and second from the front, relatively close to the board and slightly near the center. He waited patiently, examining curiously about any new faces, having little to say about the period away from school that wasn't based on his newfound magical experience.

Synopsis: Panko gets to school and talks to Alex through magical girl telepathy, thinking he won't hear.

Panko met up with Erika and Ohno before going to class. Ohno asked if she felt better and Erika offered her a cigarette, and Panko felt like, maybe, the events of the few days were behind her as she breathed in the settling tobacco.

After arriving at school, the three settled in the back, near the door. Panko sighed in relief. However, her vacation from being a magical girl was short-lived. "Hey, I thought you might want to know that I can talk in your head."

"Wha? Who's there?" Panko said as she settled into her desk.

"It's me, Picky."

"Kowaiza, are you ok?" Ohno asked, startled by Panko's sudden outburst.

"Er, no, I'm fine," Panko responded. "Picky, what the heck? I'm at school," she thought. "How are you talking to me?"

"Oh, I'm speaking through my heart. You can do it too, you know, as long as you're talking to someone with magical power. I just thought I'd let you know."

Panko thought about how this was yet another thing he didn't let her know about and considered yelling at him about it, but a rebellious idea formed in her head. Maybe she'd try this stupid "talking through her heart" with some other people in her class. Alex immediately appeared in her head. He couldn't have magic powers. "Yo, Alex, how's it going," she thought smugly at Alexander, sure that he wouldn't hear.

"In a way," Iriumi's bright smile faded a little too. Perhaps Alex would remember what happened during the break? It didn't matter. It was at that time Ivy piped up in her head.

Iriumi, I'm sensing a sudden spike of verda-type magic that matches responses to mental conversation. It is poorly cloaked, but I can't pinpoint the location. It is however coming from within this classroom.

Iriumi fought herself from looking around curiously. Could it be from that cross-dressing Verda from the battle a while ago? He seemed my age.

Not a bad assumption. Did you want me to investigate further while you talk with your friend?
It would be appreciated, Iriumi replied, before turning her mind back to the conversation, before realizing she'd probably spaced out herself.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I'm a bit blank today too," she flustered, pulling out her exercise book for the start of class, "so much has happened, and I need to get my mind around things again."

~~

Deep within the vibrant energy forces of Iriumi's soul, Ivy spied the small white ribbon anchored to a part of her. Reaching out, she sent a cloaked, shivering vibration up and out towards its source, accompanied by an equally cloaked message, hello!

Mitsuko looked about the classroom. Then she spotted one person. Her expression transformed to one of pure panic for a split second.

Oh no, it's Sakiko's birthday this week and I still haven't gotten her a present. I completely forgot!

To be fair, suddenly having to cope with magical powers, monsters, rival mages and learning to properly use those powers was a decent excuse. Even if it was one should could never, ever say. She walked over to say hello.

"Mitsuko warily approaches, a mysterious figure with secrets in her eyes!" Sakiko narrated portentiously.

Mitsuko jumped.

"Mwahahahaha! So you are hiding something?" Sakiko cackled, leaning forward with glee. The tall, dark haired girl had been a member of the drama club back at Chuuko, enthusiastically so. "Are you going to tell me?" she asked. "Come on, I saved you a seat." she slid a hand lasciviously over the empty window desk next to her.

Setting down beside her friend, Mitsuko defended herself behind the impenetrable fortress of a secretive smile. Sakiko gave up on wild guesses moved quickly on to talk about her party that coming weekend - she was planning fancy dress - and wondering about how the drama club at Tohou would be compared to Chuuko's infamous Dramatics Club.

Mitsuko relaxed a little. Even with all this magical strangeness going on, at least school was going to be fairly normal.

Finding a seat in the slowly filling classroom wasn't exactly hard, nor was it exactly easy either. Though she'd entered the classroom with her sister, Akari'd taken a little time to survey the room and before she knew it, Mitsuko'd already found a seat next to one of her friends, but it made little difference. Taking the seat beside Sakiko, she shyly waves at the girl as she unpacks her books, idly glancing up to look for the professor, whom hadn't shown up yet.

"You staring into space again, Akari?" A familiar voice made a verbal jab at her, and Akari instantly recognised it as Ishioka Reiko's, one of her best friends from their old school. Staring in that friendly-chastisingly manner at her, the two shared a tense moment of eye contact before smiling broadly.

"Oh, haha, yeah... Just a little." Akari chuckled, running a free hand through her hair as she greeted them both, waving back to a sheepishly waving Miyuki whom peeked out behind Reiko's more assertive shilouette. "Hey you two, same homeroom, eh?"

"Yeah, yeah... Same as last year, except for the school." Reiko replies, uncerimonously setting her books on the desk beside Akari and acting ambivalent toward the transfer, "I hate it already, these uniforms aren't as nice as the ones we had back at Chuuko."

"I don't know... They're kind of cute, yes? I like the bow..." Miyuki interjected, leaning forward so she could talk to both of the other girls. Reiko simply snerked, but nodded in the affirmative anyway. Akari couldn't help but chuckle as she felt the awkwardness of the first day in a unfamiliar building melt away.

"Feeling well, Master?" The sudden telepathic communication caused Akari to jump in her seat, but she bit her lip to stifle what would have been a frightened yelp. Looking down, she tried to find out where Ceres was, knowing she hadn't put her on before leaving home today. "To your left, Master." Moving her gaze left, Akari noticed her watch was an uncharacteristic blue, and displayed digits that were not ones found on earth, yet still inherantly readable.

"What's wrong, Akari?" Reiko immediately sensed the sudden tense from her friend, leaning over to see what she was doing, "Ooh, nice watch."

"H-ha, yeah... I forgot to turn the vibrating alarm off." Akari lied, blushing profusely as she hoped her lie went unnoticed, switching to telepathy to not be suspicious as Reiko oogled her new 'toy.' "C-ceres, why are you here?"

"Ah, master... I apologise that I had to disguise myself as one of your accessories, but I have limited means of hiding myself on your person otherwise." The ancient weapon sheepishly explained, "After all, you are a mage now, and it isn't safe for you to venture into unfamiliar places unarmed. Secondly, I am interested in learning the material you are taught here."

"Aiyy..." Akari sighed, rubbing her forehead, and then looking to her right as she understands this was a suspicious action, "I'm so klutzy sometimes." She giggles to Reiko and Miyuki, trying not to look embarassed.

Sōji stared at the red light. The old formula one racer tensed the muscles in his legs. At the finish line was a single kitchen light in vigil. The light flashed green, and Sōji stomped on his pedal. His wheels spun under him before catching enough traction, jetting his racer 30 kph. He heard the wind roaring its applause. To the cheering of nocturnal insects he crossed the finish line and turned into his driveway. The entryway was dark. For a frightened second he thought something was crawling towards him. In a haste he turned, flipped the light to see nothing. On the floor was a grey pack. Sōji hung his son's backpack on its hook. After turning all the lights off he went to bed and shuts his eyes to the world.

He slept and he dreamed. His little daughter Ami jerked at his arm, leading him to a big red B2. His son wore his school uniform, and his grey pack on his back. Sōji watched as his son hesitantly raised both his palms to the graffiti. Hundred points of energy peppered the wall, chipping surface to dust. When the smoke cleared, Sōji could see where the attack had dug into the wall, but the red B2 still showed on the wall. Dojima's pack grew lips and said, "It goes all the way down, Dojima. Keep blasting before…" Sōji woke to his alarm and prepared for work. He left money for his children's lunches before leaving in his powder blue subcompact racer.
~~~
Dojima saw his sister to the bus stop waiting with her 'til it came and wished her a good day. At school he ran down the nearly empty hall. In his hands the Tohou yearbook slipped through his hands and fell to the floor. He stopped and gathered it back up. Jax hung heavy on his shoulder, but much more loose than it had been. He hadn't found either of the names he had been looking for last night. Dojima figured they just didn't go to this school.

Walking into his morning class he saw a sea of unfamiliar faces. He was disappointed none of his friends had such a early class with him. Dojima came to a realization. He couldn't believe that the school stuck him with the Chuuko Transfers. He stopped dead in his tracks, and a nearly tardy Chuuko shoved passed him. He stuffed Jax under the closest desk he could find, front row next to door. He took the few photos he had taken Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Morning glowed through the wall height windows, students chatted in a rabble behind him, and the clock ticked the seconds to the bell. The classroom had an atmosphere of normalcy. Dojima wasn't about to let a print out of what Jax called a Barrier Jacket distract him. It wasn't even a full suit, just some gloves that appeared on his hands. He laid the photos face down on the desk and waited for class to start.

"In a way," Iriumi's bright smile faltered as she began. Alex sat quietly, blue eyes suddenly more focused then before. Had something happened over the break to her? He did remember seeing her down a while ago-

"Yo, Alex, how's it going."

Alex's eyes widened a little in surprise, before he started frowning. Did I just...?

He didn't have much time to think about it, because he realized that he was frowning at Iriumi. He didn't bother to wipe it away, bad enough that he'd started for no apparent reason. Last thing he needed was for someone to start thinking that the craziness of some of his friends was catching.

"Oh my, I'm sorry. I'm a bit blank today too," Iriumi finally continued, looking flustered, as she pulled out her exercise book for the start of class, "so much has happened, and I need to get my mind around things again."

Maybe she didn't notice? Alex thoughtful, an edge of careful relief seeping into his thoughts. But he kept his frown up, he was still a little concerned about her.

"You sure you're alright Iriumi?" The blond asked, his blue eyes worried.


Outside the school, a certain white dove had vanished without a trace. Miranda, once more in her Angelic form, stood in the ethereal soul space between Alex's end of his inactive tie, and the cloaked message shivering along it. The dark haired angel allowed it to wash over her, but made sure to block it from Alex.

"Greetings Ivy." Miranda replied, returning her own message with equal subtly and added with it a projection of her current form. A disc of white colored runes appeared beside the familiar, looking something like a control panel. Without looking at it, Miranda stretched her hand out to rest lightly on the rune-keys. She began to type, almost lazily.

"To what do I owe this," she continued mildly "honor?" Her amber eyes stared straight ahead into the emptiness that was the space between souls, wondering if this Verda would send out a projection of herself as well.

"You sure you're alright Iriumi?" Alex asked, his blue eyes worried. It was Iriumi's turn to panic. Did he notice her spacing out suddenly like that?

"Yeah, I should think so. Needed to get away from my family for a while to clear my mind. School's good like that, you know?" Iriumi responded with as casual a smile as she could muster.


Ivy, too, intercepted the message just before it entered Iriumi's mind. Such disturbances would make the girl stumble and stutter, what with random thoughts popping into her head. The image of an angel floated dimly, projected along with the cloaked message.

"Greetings, Ivy. To what do we owe this... honor?" it spoke. Female, Ivy judged. She supposed it was courtesy to send an image of herself, but it was hard taking human form. She always seemed to get it wrong one way or another.

So the projection that came the other way through the timid tie between two souls was that of a human-shape. Female, perhaps, except not so sure. The body was feminine-esque, writhing with vines and shifting subtly. The face was formless, and the hair hung with tendrils of vines and leaves. Needless to say, her form did not seem to have legs, merely merging into one columnar shape and becoming roots that waved nonchalantly in the air.
Ivy spoke, her words coming out of a jagged mouth in a rustle of leaves. The form of Ivy shifted into a slight bow.
"Have I caught you at a bad time? You sound preoccupied."

Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...

Rei rolled out of bed, to the ever increasing volume of his alarm clock, his muscles burning from the last two days' training. He attempted to walk over to his alarm clock, his blankets still tangled about him, causing him to stumble and hop to make it there and turn the annoying thing off. A few minutes later he was de-tangled and heading down the stairs toward the kitchen.

His mother was already buzzing about in a full business suit, a toaster pastry hanging from her mouth with a briefcase in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. When she saw her son she stopped long enough to pull her 'breakfast' from her mouth, holding it in a few free fingers next to her cup of coffee, she leaned in kissed him on the forehead and informed him, in words to quickly to fully register, that she was running late and that his father would take him to school.

Then she was gone leaving Rei to blink a few times after her.

"Hey, kiddo," came his dad's voice, "Why don't you come sit down and get a proper breakfast, for once? I've got awhile to work, so I figured I'd treat you for the first day of school." He was holding a skillet within which was a mostly cooked omelet in his hand as he spoke, obviously in the middle of preparing his own breakfast.

Rei nodded dumbly and started to stagger over, eliciting a laugh from his father. "You'd best wake up! Gotta have those eyes open if you're going to catch yourself a girl!"

The boy blushed deeply, making his father laugh more, as he guided the boy into a seat at the table, the two enjoying some morning banter of little import before the short drive to school. Normally Rei would have biked, but normally Rei wouldn't have had time for a good breakfast either.

-----------

"HEY! SHODA! OVER HERE!" An obese boy with greasy hair and a poor complexion shouted as he waved and pushed his glasses up his face. "HEY! WE HAVE HOMEROOM TOGETHER!"

Rei waved back, though he was a bit embarrassed by his friend's exuberance, and hurried along in the hopes of returning Kaemon to his inside voice. "Oh.. uh, hi, Kaemon..."

"Where have you been? You know it's the first day of school we need to get our seats together! Jeez Rei, you're such a slowpoke," the large, and already sweaty boy said as he attempted to put Rei in a headlock and drag him along like so many times before--but Rei's training kicked in and the boy ducked away from the headlock causing Kaemon to stop and stare for a minute before chuckling. "Come on, Rei, we'll be late." The magical boy nodded and the two quickly found their way to homeroom.

When they stepped in Rei glanced over the classroom, his eyes widening for a moment at the Verda girl from a few nights ago. The one he had hurt. Would she recognize him? He attempted to hide his face and move away, but Kaemon had already seen where Rei was looking and his mind had jumped to entirely other--and more sensible--possibilities than recognition from a magical fire fight.

"Oh wow, Rei, you really know how to pick 'em out," the heavy set boy said, a bit of mouth breathing, "Always picking out the prettiest ones."

"I... it's not that... Let's just sit down." Rei said, as he tried once more to slink toward the back of the class.

"Oh... you don't like her? Well then you won't mind if I..." A grin spread across Kaemon's face.

Rei's shoulders sagged as he knew what was coming, "Can't we just go one day withou..."

But it was too late.

A shadow fell across Iriumi and Alex. A large shadow belonging to an equally large man, his acne pocked face shimmering with a layer of grease, as the smell of unwashed fat washed over them. Light glinted from his glasses, and his face slowly split into a disturbing grin as he looked down at Iriumi, completely ignoring the androgynous boy next to her.

"Well hello, Sweet Thing," he said, in his best imitation of a hollywood actor, as he leaned on the front of her desk--the poor inanimate object giving out a slight groan in protest of his weight. "I'm," he jutted his thumb toward himself in what he felt was the coolest possible manner, "Juro Kaemon, and by what name," he began to ask as he leaned in closer to Iriumi, "might I call such beautiful creature?" He breathed deeply through his mouth as he awaited the answer--adding the unpleasant smell of his breakfast to that of his unwashed body odor.

Rei's body began to slide into itself as he tried to just make himself disappear behind Kaemon.

"Hello, Juro Kaemon," Iriumi replied smoothly. This was perhaps easier waters she can handle instead of the awkward panic between her and Alex. It was a good distraction (albeit a bit... odorous).

"My name is Hana Iriumi, this is one of my friends, Alexander. You must be a transfer, or at least new to this school," she added, smiling politely at the pudgy fellow. She was too nice to wrinkle her nose at the disgusting stench the young man emanated, but the subtle way her posture changed...

She had good friends in this school.

"...Hey, Iriumi," a taller, more well-built young man propped his arm stiffly on the back of Iriumi's chair, speaking in a deeper voice. It wasn't immediately noticed, but under the ruffle of his uniform was definitely rippling muscle. This guy was perhaps a jock of some sorts. Iriumi tilted her head back and met his brown eyes with another polite smile.

"Good morning, Takuso. Sitting in the back of class as usual?"
"Best place to nap. Glad to see you in my class again," he responded with a quick smile, before glancing dismissively at the fat, pockmarked boy in front of Iriumi's desk.
"This guy causing you trouble?" he asked nonchalantly, eyes glinting threateningly like a predator's, while the non-threatening smile was plastered on his face. It was like trying to stare down a snarling panther.
"Takki, don't be like that. He's a new guy, maybe just transferred into this class," Iriumi admonished gently, turning to Kaemon. "I'm sorry about this. Takuso is oh-so protective sometimes against strange new people, and we don't even date," she apologised to the flabby man with a small, polite laugh.
"H-hey! I resent that!" Takuso huffed. The pressure on the back of her seat lifted.
"Kaemon, if you and your friends need any help with getting used to this school, I can ask one of my friends to show you around at lunch break. I'm sure they won't mind spending some of their time settling you two nice gentlemen down," she smiled sweetly, acknowledging the rapidly shrinking (or attempting to shrink) Rei behind the main bulk of Kaemon.