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Chapter 1 - A Change in the Rut

One

The small alarm clock on the chipped wooden end table read 5:30 a.m. when Ankoku, a brown bat of seventeen years, awoke. Ankoku was an early riser, an oddity for his nocturnal species. Then again, with what sometimes happened before sunrise, it wasn't good to stay in bed too late. Ankoku lived in a small two bedroom shack with his parents and fruit bat cousin, Aiyoku. Their home was an old millhouse in the industrial district of town, halfway deserted by its inhabitants and mostly overgrown due to many residents getting better jobs and relocating. The only things left in the area were gangs, the millhouses, the abandoned factory and an aging trailer park. These buildings (as well as the gangs) had served as escape, as well as entrapment, for Ankoku and his cousin in their young years. He had unfortunately been born into this life. His father had worked in the textile mill near where they had lived and his mother worked as a waitress in a small diner in the nearby area. When the mill eventually burst into flames, it put most people out of work and many others out of their homes. Ankoku's father could no longer support the family as the breadwinner and soon turned to drink. His mother continued to work until even the diner she worked at closed for good. With so much stress on their hands, they needed an outlet - their innocent, naïve son. They took out all of their frustrations on him, though mostly it was his father that bruised Ankoku's eyes to eggplants; his mother just drank, took pills and cried. With the way he was growing up, he began to outwardly show what he felt on the inside. He now looked like a stereotypical troublemaker/loner with his long straight black hair and grungy clothing, the latter of which he had no control over. He was however, far from what he seemed. He did nothing but try to please his parents by any means possible, even if it hurt him some way. The constant frustration of having his effort blown in his face resulted in him turning silent, serious and depressed.

A soft buzzing sound came from the alarm clock - Aiyoku would have to wake up. Ankoku turned over to his right and saw that his cousin was still sounds asleep. He sat up on the full-size, torn mattress and stretched his wings a little. He lightly shook Aiyoku, who shifted in his sleep and mumbled something incoherent. That kid could sleep through just about anything, though when Ankoku used his authoritative tone, Aiyoku always responded in one way or another. Ankoku sighed and pushed Aiyoku harder, "Get up."

Aiyoku groaned and unwrapped his wings. With a hand covering his eyes, he felt around on the end table next to him and grabbed a pair of wire-framed glassed folded on the surface. As he sleepily arranged them on his face he said, "Morning 'Koku."

'Koku' being the affectionate name Aiyoku had been using since they were little. "Come on kid, we have to hurry."

"I'm not a kid; I'm almost as old as you are! And why do we have to hurry?" he asked, finally a little bit more coherent.

"One, you're off by two years. Two, Brent. You don't want him to 'visit' us do you?" Brent, Ankoku's father and Aiyoku's legal guardian had a bad habit of bursting into their room after he woke up to start the day off with a bang. Many days of late rising had left the older bat with some midmorning shiners and a busted lip or two. Not the best way to start a morning. Ankoku was already out of the bed and had made up his side of it. There was only a thin sheet and an old comforter, but it was theirs.

Aiyoku shuddered and quickly jumped out of the bed before quickly making it up. He grabbed the clothes that he had picked out the night before and followed his cousin outside their side door. When he made it to the backyard, Ankoku was boiling water in a metal basin on an in-ground fire pit. Ankoku had built it himself and was rather proud of trying to bring his young cousin some kind of luxury. There was no hot water in the house at all and using the basin was the only way to get clean. His parents could never afford to keep more than one utility on at a time. It was either water or electricity and this month, it was water. Ankoku had to steal batteries just to keep the alarm clock powered.

"Water's almost ready," Ankoku announced. He was already undressed with his clean clothes folded up on the useless air conditioner. This had been the routine for the past five years - although Ankoku's father hadn't started 'visiting' them in the morning until recently. Of course, things hadn't been the same since the start of the whole mess.

Before Aiyoku had been adopted by his aunt and uncle, he had lived with both of his parents and they were very loving and affectionate towards him. When he was ten, he had witnessed their unfortunate demise. One day, after coming home from a normal day at school, he noticed that the front door was slightly ajar, not locked like usual. He walked in curiously, thinking that maybe they had gotten back from grocery shopping and had left the door open while going back and forth from the car to the house. What he saw next dismissed his innocent thoughts. There were spotty and bloody drag marks on the living room carpet, along with some broken and displaced items. He was concerned, to say the least, especially for his mother, who had always been of a gentle nature. He called for her, almost too loudly, hoping that he would hear something in the eerie silence. No response, no sound. Concerned with his parents' wellbeing, he had followed the blood trails to his parents' bedroom, quietly, and had stumbled, almost literally upon the body of his father. In his slight hysteria, he had shaken his father to awake him from his slumber to find out what had happened. He would receive no answer however. Aiyoku called out to his father by his first name, knowing full well that would earn him a minor reprimand, and rolled him over. Blood had covered his father's face and neck; his throat had been slit. Aiyoku had quickly stifled his oncoming scream before he heard a high-pitched shriek coming from the bedroom itself. He ran in and saw his mother splayed out on the bed, her hands covering her bleeding face. The killer had grabbed one of her arms forcefully away from her face and then quickly sliced her throat as she screamed in agony. Straddling her body, the killer had watched her bleed out and then die, all the while the poor young bat sat frozen in horror and fear. A small sob escaped his lips and alerted the intruder to his guest. Jumping off the blood soaked bed, he charged at the boy and grabbed him by his then small neck.

"If you tell anyone anything, I'll kill you," he threatened, his nasty, musty breath clogging Aiyoku's nose. The killer then ran out of the house, leaving the young bat with the remains of his parents. Everything had gone blank at that point for him. All he could remember was being dragged away from his parent's corpses at some point, sitting in a hospital and eventually, becoming a part of Ankoku's family. He didn't even remember the funeral or even mourning what had happened. He had become too numb. Though after everything was finalized, Ankoku had to protect him from his own father.

"Water's ready," Ankoku said, snapping Aiyoku out of his daydreams.

"Huh? Oh, right," he followed his cousin into the basin, letting the hot water soak his light brown fur.

The two bats hurriedly scrubbed their furry bodies and hair and were done in five minutes. Ankoku dumped the basin water and began to dry off himself by flying rapidly through the air. Aiyoku followed suit. Once their fur was partially dry, they dressed and walked back towards the house. Ankoku's father was waiting in the cousins' bedroom, tapping his foot anxiously - he was not pleased at all.

"Damn..." Ankoku muttered.

"What's wrong?" asked Aiyoku.

"Look," he said, pointing to his bedroom door from the shadow of house, "Good thing we rushed."

Ankoku started for the open door; he really had no choice since his father would catch up to him sometime. Aiyoku was nervous; he had seen his uncle's rage before and it scared him. Ankoku walked up to Brent and stood in front of him purposely placing his cousin behind him, out of sight. If anything was going to get started, he would take the brunt of the abuse.

"What do you want?" Ankoku demanded, looking his father dead in the eyes.

"You're up early. I was going to wake you up myself," he simply replied, an amused grin on his face.

"What, do you want?" Ankoku repeated, bracing himself.

"You'll find out after school," Ankoku's father said, walking past the two youths, purposely bumping to his son's shoulder as he walked out of the door.

"Come on kid, let's get our things," Ankoku said. Aiyoku grabbed his bag from off of the floor, as did Ankoku and started to leave the house.

Instead of walking to school like most of the other children and teens who didn't ride the bus, Aiyoku and Ankoku flew. There was also the simple fact that the bus service stopped running through their neighborhood since most of the people had left. Others in the sky made it seem like there was some kind of air traffic going on, although those who had a car preferred to drive.

In no time, everyone reached the school and landed at the front steps. The high school was located in the newer part of town and was large enough to accept students from both sides of town. It featured a sport facility, visual and performing arts classes, home economics, and of course the usual every day classes. Though such classes existed, they were mediocre at best; after all, the teachers didn't were only there to collect a paycheck and they held no pride. It was almost prison like in a sense. Prisons had extracurricular activities like this school. The school just didn't have uniforms, though people loved showing off their behind whenever they got the chance.

"Don't forget your I.D. tag," reminded Aiyoku, pulling at his purple lanyard.

"Thanks," Ankoku and his cousin pulled out their lanyards and placed them around their necks. On each tag there was picture of the wearer and select personal information. It was almost like a driver's license; on the tag was a picture of the wearer, his or her name, age, grade and whatever role they had at the school, if they had one. Also, it featured a barcode used to check out books and buy food. It was also used to access certain school functions like football games. The color of the lanyard wasn't much of an issue since as long as the students were wearing them, the staff didn't much care.

When Aiyoku and Ankoku entered the school, they were greeted by Ankoku's 'best friend' Carli. Carli was a bulky albino bat that had moved from South Africa. He was quite mean and aggressive - especially towards the seventeen-year-old and his cousin. It became even worse after Ankoku declined joining Carli's hodgepodge gang of miscreants (made up of Carli himself, a rat named Jodie, a possum called James and a fox named Buzz). Ankoku couldn't join, even if he wanted to.

"Hey Ankoku!" Carli tackled Ankoku with enough force to knock him over. Besides being huge, Carli was also on the football team and was more than capable of knocking over anyone. Carli quickly stood and told his two male lackeys to hold Ankoku as they picked him off of the floor.

Ankoku struggled against them, "Let go of me!"

"Why should they? I think I'd rather let them introduce you to Mr. Swirly!" he screeched. Everyone listening around him remained silent in confusion.

"Mr. Swirly is an ice cream truck. Don't you mean the toilet?" Aiyoku asked in a smart-ass tone.

"Whatever it's called!!" where he was from, there were no real toilets.

Fortunately for Ankoku, the principal, a bull named Mr. Taurus, appeared from one of the classroom doors. He grabbed Carli's shoulder, spun him around and asked, "There's not a problem here is there?"

Carli's lackeys let go of Ankoku and muttered a 'No' as the principal frowned deeply at them all before shaking his head.

"We do not allow such insolent behavior here. If I catch and more disruptions, there will be extreme consequences to pay, aside from having to deal with me," Adding a snort for good measure, Mr. Taurus took his hand off of Carli's shoulder and walked back to his office. Back in the day when physical punishment was still allowed in school, he was renowned for dealing out punishments to students short of having them placed in a stockade in the middle of the courtyard.

The appearance of the principle just made the albino bat all the more annoyed. As Carli and his lackeys started to advance again, Ankoku and Aiyoku were saved by the bell. Being quick on the draw, Aiyoku grabbed his cousin by the arm and pulled him off quickly down the halls. As they looked back, they could clearly see Carli drag his finger across his throat in reference to Ankoku. Once they were far enough from sight Aiyoku sighed; nothing bothered him more than his cousin being picked on.

"You okay 'Koku?" he asked softly.

"Yeah..."

Aiyoku's glazed with worry as he watched Ankoku clinch his fists, shaking slightly with anger. He did not like it when his cousin got upset. When Ankoku became sad, so did Aiyoku.

"Look Aiyoku, its fine. Go to class before you're late," he said, lightly patting his cousin's shoulder. With that being said, the bats hurried to their classes.

Two

Most of the day went by with a blur until lunch finally snuck around the corner. After all, Ankoku was constantly contemplating what his father had in store for him, along with Carli's half-baked schemes for his undoing. Even Aiyoku was a bit on edge himself, not knowing what the day will bring. Though, now the day was at the halfway mark during their favorite time. This was the best thing about school, aside from the fact that it got them out of the house; they had lunch together. Actually, it was the only thing they had together.

Ankoku sighed as he stared over at the lunch line, watching people as they went to grab some food. He could not help but glance the tray in front of his with disdain. Right now there was some bubbly pile of assorted ground meat with unidentifiable sides. At least the milk came in its own package.

"Feels like I'm in prison.." he muttered with disgust as he shoved the fork into the pile and watched as it stood straight up without assistance.

"Whatcha doin' Ankoku? Playin' with your food I see," mused a golden canine with a flash of teeth.

"Oh hey Rue, you're not really going to eat - ew!" Ankoku put a hand over his eyes while Rue chewed his food loudly, grinning at his friend's actions.

"It's not that bad... needs a little salt!"

"Gross man," Ankoku said with a small smile before finally looking up to see Aiyoku bouncing over to the table with a salad on his plate. As the small fruit bat sat down, the three of them broke out into their usual quiet eating: Rue - with his mouth full; Ankoku - lost in his own thoughts while poking his food; and Aiyoku - who was feeling sick from watching Rue stuff his face. This had been the usual when they first met all the way back in elementary school. Rue and his golden retriever family had actually lived in Ankoku's neighborhood when the mill was still up and running. After getting a better job on the other side of town, the family relocated, though they still went to the same schools as they grew up. And being best friends, Ankoku told Rue everything that had gone on; his uncle's and aunt's murders, everything that his father had submitted them to, and everything else.

As time slowly went by, Aiyoku was the one who noticed a certain white bat making his way towards the table. He knew Carli was going to make a move, he just didn't think it would be this soon.

"Um... 'Koku?" Aiyoku whispered to Ankoku as Carli quickened his pace. Ankoku only had time to look up before a fist hit him square in the face, knocking him to the ground. He was momentarily dazed as Rue and Aiyoku helped pull him up.

"Come on man, don't stoop to this piece of trash's level," Rue said as he glared at the albino bat darkly. Even though Rue and Carli were both on the football team, they did not get along in the least.

Carlit just sneered as he brought up his foot and kicked Ankoku hard in the stomach. Ankoku glared as he grabbed his chest, "What is your problem?!"

Quickly dodging another strike, Ankoku started to twitch. Ignoring the calls from Aiyoku and Rue and not even listening to the words coming from Carli's mouth, Ankoku finally struck Carli as fast as he could in the face. Seeing the blood fly, a satisfied smirk crossed his face as Carli drew back, holding his hand over his nose.

"Why you --"

Suddenly both males felt themselves be yanked up by the back of their shirts. That wasn't a good sign for either of them. As they slowly turned they were met face to face with their favorite principal.

"What is going on here?!" demanded Mr. Taurus with an enraged shout. Carli and Ankoku hung there silent, glaring at each other with utter loathing.

"Mr. Taurus! It was not Anko--" began Aiyoku.

"Quiet! This does not involve you. Now boys, how did this start?" growled the principal, causing the two to shrink a bit.

"Sir, I did not do anything! Ankoku just suddenly hit me in the face!" lied Carli as he rubbed his nose for emphasis. As he pulled his hand away, he showcase the blood coming from his nose.

Ankoku gritted his teeth, "You can't seriously believe that shit?!"

"Um... M-Mr. Taurus... he's lying..." Everyone blinked and looked over at the voice. Standing there was a lavender mouse in a pink and white Lolita dress. Her green eyes widened at the attention and she looked down in embarrassment. With her hands clasped firmly in front of her she said, "It's t-true... the white one punched the o-other one f-first."

With that being said, she pointed at Carli briefly before ducking behind the principal. Ankoku began to smile as he watched Carli's face contort in anger.

"She's lying Mr. Taurus!" said Carli.

The bull shook his head as he placed the two back on the ground, "I know her, she would never lie. You Mr. Carli, I expected better from; you being a senior and supposedly more mature."

"But sir, Ankoku hit me first!" he protested.

"Silence! I want you and him in my office, now!" Mr. Taurus boomed.

Ankoku was in disbelief, "Why do I have to go? I was defending myself!"

"Be that as it may, I already warned you that another disruption would give you both hell to pay," he explained and then began to turn, "Aiyoku, watch over my little guest here. Come on boys."

"Yes sir," all three bats replied. Ankoku mumbled something to Aiyoku before he reluctantly followed Carli and the bull principal to the main office.

"This is not fair..." grumbled Ankoku as he walked away. As the scene began to lose its interest, the other students mumbled incoherent things as the returned to their cliques. The cafeteria resumed its normal behavior as nothing interesting was going to happen now.

"I'm sorry," the mouse said softly, "I didn't mean to get your friend in trouble."

"He's actually my cousin. And he's not mad at you; I'm sure he'll thank you when he gets back."

The mouse squeaked and blushed, "Oh."

"What's your name?" asked Rue once he had calmed down and sat back down at their table.

"M-My name is P-Perstephoné," she stuttered, looking down again.

"That's a cute name," Aiyoku complemented and followed Rue to the table, "Here, sit with us." He pulled out a chair next to him for the mouse. Perstephoné reluctantly sat down next to the fruit bat. It was quiet until Ankoku returned with Carli and Mr. Taurus behind him. The two bats were extremely angered and Aiyoku, Rue and Perstephoné could feel the tension between them.

Mr. Taurus walked over to the mouse and patted her shoulder, "Sit tight; I'll be right back."

The principal walked away back to his office. Now that the mouse was unprotected by her guardian, Carli could make his move. He crossed over to where she was without anyone expecting it and pulled her out of her chair.

"You stupid mouse!" Carli growled.

Ankoku rushed to her side and yelled, "Leave her alone Carli!"

"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be suspended!" he raised his hand to the mouse, aiming to backhand her. Before he could hurt her, Ankoku punched him in his already bruised muzzle. Carli recoiled quickly and tackled him, knocking him onto the cafeteria table and knocking things off of it. Perstephoné gasped and jumped behind Rue and Aiyoku, peaking over their shoulders with a hand over her mouth. Ankoku defended himself against Carli's attacks, although he received a lot of scratches on his arms anyway. It was nothing worse than what he had to deal with at home. Carli dragged him off of the table and tried to arrange him in a sleeper hold, but Ankoku bit down on Carl's muscled arm, making the great white bat screech in pain.

Carli pushed Ankoku away from him and backed up, wiping the blood off of him. Wiping the blood off his mouth and spitting out the taste of it, Ankoku asked with a sneer and his fists raised, "Were you scared when I bit you? You tasted scared."

"I fear nothing! Especially not the likes of you!" Carli snarled. He charged at Ankoku, swiping his claws at him, giving him three scratches down his face. Ankoku caught a break and grabbed his opponent's wrists, pulling them downwards so he could head-butt Carli. The bigger bat reeled back, stumbling, but he didn't fall and shook his head to regain his focus. Blood dripping down Ankoku's face seeped into his mouth and he whisked it away with his tongue with a smirk, his eyes dead set on his enemy. He and the white bat posed for another attack, staring at each other, waiting for one to falter.

The crowd that had formed around them were chanting, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!' encouraging the battle to continue and become animalistic. You could see the wild spark in their eyes flare as they watched the small drops of blood soak into the bats' clothing and fur and drip to the floor. They were getting loud too and it was surprising that none of the staff had even gotten involved. Where was Mr. Taurus? He would usually be here to break up the fight as usual.

"Why are you fighting for that mouse anyway?!" Carli yelled, baring his teeth.

"Why can't you fight someone unless their back is turned? Are you too afraid to get beat up by someone who can stand up for themselves?"

The crowd gave a resounding noise of surprise and amusement; they loved to hype up a situation like this. Carli growled in anger, "You shut up!" He was about to leap after Ankoku again but he was stopped by a force that was Mr. Taurus' hand firmly grabbing him and pinning him roughly to a wall. The crowd quickly dispersed again and went back to minding their business as before, though some of them poked their heads up to see what would happen.

"Mr. Carli Githinji Okafor!" Mr. Taurus growled, calling the bully by his full name, "Didn't I tell you that further trouble like this would give you further punishment?!"

"Ankoku started it! For real this time!" he pleaded, grabbing at the principal's arm.

"Don't you lie to me again! I won't -"

"It's okay Mr. Taurus, I did start it this time," Ankoku said proudly.

The bull was bewildered and let Carli free from the cafeteria wall, "You started the fight?"

"I was protecting the mouse. Carli was going to hit her," he explained as he wiped the blood off of his face. Mr. Taurus turned to his guest; he wanted the honest statement only Perstephoné could give him.

"Is that true Perstephoné?" he asked. Perstephoné gave a silent nod and kept her eyes to the floor. The corners of her eyes were tearing from the shock of the whole thing and it seemed that she blamed herself for the fight. "And why, Mr. Carli, were you going to assault her?"

Scoffing and rolling his eyes he answered, "If she hadn't spoken, I wouldn't be suspended."

With a look of disdain and disgust, he replied, "Now that you let your stupidity overcome you, you and Ankoku both are suspended! You will have OSS for a month and Ankoku will have it for three weeks!"

"What?!" both Ankoku and Carli exclaimed.

"If you want, I could make both of you have OSS for two months," he said calmly, knowing that they wouldn't want that.

The bats groaned but ultimately accepted their previous punishment as their fate. Carli took off with his goons, but not before flipping Ankoku the bird when the principal wasn't looking. Mr. Taurus stuck around for a moment while the bats, Rue and Perstephoné went back to the lunch table and sat down. He quietly consoled the mouse as she began to calm down, dabbing the corners of her eyes with her embroidered handkerchief.

"Perstephoné," he started, "I called Meishin earlier and she informed me that she will be picking you up after school lets out. I hope you are able to collect all the info you'll need for your assignment."

"Oh. Okay. I-I think I will fine."

"How about you shadow Ankoku for a while; he can watch over you better than I can," Mr. Taurus offered.

With a soft nod she replied, "Yes sir."

"Good," standing straight up, he turned to Ankoku, who was cleaning his face, "Keep her safe boy. And I mean it." The bull then left to do whatever he usually did during lunch. The lunchroom was back to its normal buzz of random conversation and eating as the rest of students had no interest in what the social outcasts were doing.

Suddenly, Ankoku dropped his head on the table and pulled his ears down over his face. He groaned when he came to the realization that his parents were probably notified about today and that he would have to pay for protecting Perstephoné when he got home. Then again, he knew a fight with Carli was inevitable, but he didn't think it would be on a day his father had something awful planned for him. Today wasn't going to end well either way. But in a way, he didn't care; he was able to let someone know that he was good for at least something. At least there was that.

"What's wrong 'Koku?" asked Aiyoku.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" asked Rue, "You just bruised Carli's pride in front of everyone; you should be happy right now."

"My... parents. They are going to be really cross with me," he grumbled, letting go of his ears. He was talking about it lightly though, but of course, Rue and Aiyoku knew that already. He was going to get beaten until he bled or worse - became unconscious. Aiyoku knew his uncle always took the abuse to the extreme, especially when he drank just to become more aggressive. Aiyoku ears drooped and he hung his head a little too, knowing full well the extent of what might happen.

Perstephoné, though not knowing the magnitude of the consequences, couldn't take looking at their long faces, "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be," Ankoku replied, shocked that she had spoken up, "I'm just glad he didn't hurt you."

"It was about time someone put him in his place too," Rue growled, thinking back from all the times he had to put up with the bat's antics during football seasons. And then his train of thought was cut short when he noticed his plate of food had been knocked to the floor, "Hey! My food!"

Aiyoku shook his head, "Is that all you think about? I'm always surprised to see you haven't put any weight after your binging."

"I have a high metabolism!" Rue exclaimed. The golden canine exercised and weight trained enough to burn off a lot of food in no time. He barely ever gained a pound, especially with football season kicking back up. With that said, he also ate anything and everything that came by him. Needless to say, the fridge was always stocked at his house.

"And you're stomach's a garbage disposal," Aiyoku muttered with a smirk. Perstephoné giggled next to him while Rue glared at him. The canine then turned his attention to the lavender mouse sitting across from him.

"So where do you come from Perstephoné?"

She almost hid behind Aiyoku when the attention had reverted back to her, but she slowly regained her composure, "...Elderberry..."

"The rich neighborhood?! No way!"

"Lucky. It must be nice over there," commented Ankoku with a wishful sigh. Then again, he would rather live anywhere else but where he was.

"I-It's not t-that great," she replied.

"You're kidding me," Rue said in disbelief, "What could possibly be wrong with Elderberry?"

"I... Um... I--"

"Leave her alone Rue," Ankoku raised his head from the table and rested it on one of his clawed hands as he gave him the look to drop it. Being that Ankoku had told Rue things that he had never told to anyone else, he had been trying to get the canine to understand that even the quietest ones may have the darkest secrets.

Rue nodded, understanding, "Right, sorry."

"Th-thank you," Perstephoné whispered, directing her statement towards Ankoku.

"Huh? For what?" he asked, an eyebrow raised.

"F-for sticking up for me," she said blushing deeply. After all, she thought she had made a fool of herself, as she lowered her head in shame. What would her father think if he saw her spilling her guts to a group of boys? The audacity, even if she was thankful.

"If you want, you can hang with us," Rue suggested.

"I can't... Um..." her eyes stayed downward as she thought about what Meishin would do when she found about all that had gone down today. She also hadn't intended on leaving Mr. Taurus' side; it wasn't like she was actually going to attend this school. Her father wouldn't dare approve of such a seedy location. She was only here for an assignment about public schools.

Rue grinned, reached across the table and patted her shoulder firmly, "That's okay. Bet you're too good to hang out with the like of us, eh?" he teased with a wink. Ankoku rolled his eyes; it amazed him that Rue could flirt with someone he just met.

Perstephoné flinched at Rue's touch and gripped her sleeves tightly with a whimper. Aiyoku blinked at her reaction and grabbed his friend's arm with a shake of his head.

"Hey man..." he turned his head briefly towards the mouse, indicating her behavior. Rue coughed and muttered an apology, his hand lowering to his side.

'Geeze! What did I do?!' his ears twitching with thought. Ankoku stared at the mouse with such intensity that it caused Perstephoné to squirm and look to the side.

'Why is she acting like that?' wondered Ankoku as he finally dropped his eyes when she looked away.

An awkward silence drifted around the small group until the bell that signaled the end of lunch caused them all to jump.

"I guess that's my cue to leave. Good luck you guys - bye Perstephoné!" Rue stated, standing from table. The two bats waved off Rue while Perstephoné nodded and daintily stood while smoothing out her dress.

"Well 'Koku, I don't need to be late again. Later you two!" Aiyoku said with a smile before pushing up his glasses and running off to his next class. Ankoku sighed when he realized he still had to take Perstephoné with him. Glancing over at her from the corner of his eyes, he saw her gazing at her hands with an almost broken expression. He noticed her green eyes glitter faintly before she quickly rubbed them with an embroidered handkerchief. After breathing softly and placed it back in her clutch purse, she turned towards the brown bat with a small and shy smile, waiting patiently for him to head off so she could follow.

Ankoku swiftly adverted his gaze while he stood, scolding himself quietly for staring. 'What the hell is your problem? Do you want her to freak out about getting watched?' he thought to himself with a shake of his head.

"Come on Perstephoné," he said gently, "Looks like you'll be going to class with me." She nodded and followed silently as he led her to his class.

Three

Hearing the bell ring at the end of the day was a bittersweet noise to Ankoku's ears; he was glad that school was letting out, but he was nervous because he would have to face his father later on when he got home. Having Perstephoné shadow him the rest of the day wasn't as bad as he thought; she didn't get lost nor did Carli show his mug at all. She had been quiet through all of his classes, only talking when a teacher came to ask her about the school she went to. Curiosity had got the best of him so Ankoku had spent of his time ease dropping. He learned that Perstephoné was fifteen and in the eleventh grade! She goes to a boarding school called Honeydew (when she is not there, she stays with her father) and takes AP and Honors classes. Ankoku could not help but shake his head. Someone who had it freaking made seemed to be more reserved than the so-called 'Goths'.

"Um... Ankoku?" Perstephone's voice knocked him back into the real world as he stared down at her with a questioning look.

"I-I just wanted to s-say thank you again," she said with a blush, "For earlier I mean. Is there any way I c-can repay you?" Perstephoné gripped her sleeves tightly as she attempted to hold eye contact before finally retreating back to gazing at the floor_. 'He was so kind to me. I need to find some way to thank him,'_ she thought with faint determination filtering into her mind for the first time since she was a child. After all, he was only stranger who had ever been purely kind to her and hadn't had bad intentions towards her.

The bat's expression became even more perplexed. Ankoku really could not think of a way for her to repay him.

"Who knows? Maybe if you could find a way to get Aiyoku and me out and away from this place," he joked as he flashed her a grin that did not quite reach his eyes, "Anyway, come on, Aiyoku should be waiting for us at the front door."

Perstephoné nodded as she stayed a few paced behind Ankoku, taking into consideration what he had just told her. She could not help but wonder why they would want to leave this place. Other than the one bully in the school, the placed seemed normal and average to her - well, what she could assume as average since she had grown up going to private schools and having private tutors. But, with the way he defended her at every pass, she knew that he had to have been doing that kind of thing for a while. But why? Why her, someone he didn't know; after all, he still got in trouble. And he seemed so very sad though he had a friend and his cousin. 'Of course, this is none of my business,' she thought as she went back to thinking about how to thank the brown bat.

Aiyoku greeted them both with a toothy grin, "Guess what 'Koku? I passed my science test with a 94!" he boasted happily, his eyes shining with utter glee. Ankoku smirked and affectionately ruffled his cousin's fur.

"Great job kid," he said proudly.

"Aww! Come on 'Koku, I'm not a kid!" Aiyoku exclaimed with a pout. Perstephoné giggled at both of them as they made their way outside.

While they had been in school, the wind had gotten warmer. Even though fall was coming up soon, it still felt like it was the middle of summer. Aiyoku laughed cheerfully as he held up his arms and wings with a long stretch, enjoying the warmth of the sun against his fur.

"Mmm... This weather feels fabulous!" cheered a laughing Aiyoku as he dropped his book bag on the ground beside him.

Ankoku chuckled quietly at Aiyoku's behavior before turning his attention towards the mouse, "So when will your friend get here?"

"Oh - she should be here soon..." she trailed off softly as she looked around before suddenly squeaking. Perstephoné had moved herself behind Ankoku when Carli came forward with two of his goons. An annoyed look crossed his already unpleasant face. He wanted revenge, and he wanted it now.

"Damn! What the hell are you, the little bitch's bodyguard?!" Carli sneered.

"Fuck off Carli! Would you just leave her alone?!" Ankoku's voice dripped venom as he took a threatening step forward.

It was apparent a fight was about to begin. Before the two bats could say another word to each other, a loud roar erupted through the thick tension. Everyone turned their heads towards the noise and Aiyoku was, once again, the one to break the silence, "Is that a motorcycle?!" he exclaimed as the vehicle cut through the grass and stopped a little away from the group. Now that the motorcycle ad stopped, they were able to view its owner. A red-headed feline with tan fur stepped gracefully off her ride as she took her sunglasses off. Her piercing amber eyes gazed upon them all before they finally fell right on the lavender mouse.

"Well, well! Hey there Perstephoné. Am I missing out on the fun?" she asked her friend, with a saucy wink.

"H-Hey Meishin," she greeted with a weak smile. Aiyoku and Ankoku both blinked in unison as they stared at the snaky female with her and on her hip. The same thought entered their minds, 'That's who's picking up Perstephoné?!' Unlike the shy little mouse, this feline had an air of dominance about her.

Carli, whose blood was already boiling with anger to begin with, glared daggers at Meishin. "Why don't you go and get high off catnip. The men are fucking busy here!"

Meishin's eyes narrowed at the white bat as she examined the scene at hand. Any way she looked at it all, the sourced pointed that the bad guy was this big white asshole.

"How about you move?" Even though it was a question, she made it sound like a command as she made her way towards Perstephoné. Meishin stopped right beside Carli who just sneered at her.

"I don't have to -" Meishin punched him square in the face with enough force to where they heard a crack at the collision. Carli stumbled backwards from shock more than pain. What finally brought him down was her knee jerking right upon his manhood without even giving him time to respond to the first hit. Carli's lackeys gaped at their fallen leader before finally; the fox lifted Carli up and threw him over his shoulder. It was already and unspoken agreement that they would leave before the principal or worse, the cops, showed up. As they hurried off, Meishin shook her head with a coy smirk.

"O-Oh dear! Will he be alright?" asked Perstephoné with worry. Ankoku and Aiyoku just gave her an appalled expression, but Meishin just laughed.

"Jeeze sweetheart, you are too kind for your own good." Finally she took notice of the two bats, more importantly, Ankoku who was still standing with a protective stance in front of Perstephoné. 'What do we have here?' she thought with a mischievous gleam in her green eyes.

"Why couldn't you just do that?" asked Aiyoku. Ankoku glared at him, but in the end let it go as he knew his cousin was just picking at him.

"Are you going to move or do I have to take you out as well?" Meishin asked jadedly, staring directly at Ankoku.

"P-Please, no more violence!" Perstephoné pleaded. She walked from behind Ankoku and towards Meishin's outstretched arm. The cat pulled her into a hug with enough force to push out a small squeak of surprise.

With an affectionate nuzzle she asked, "Those bats didn't lay a finger on you did they?"

"N-No. Ankoku protected me from the one you just p-punched," Perstephoné explained softly. Meishin then assumed that the one she was talking about was the same one who had been standing in front of her protectively. "And h-he got hurt..."

That explained the scent of blood the feline had detected on him and suddenly noticed the claw marks on Ankoku's face. All of that for someone he didn't know? She raised an eyebrow at him, "Thank you for taking care of my Perstephoné, but I wonder why you would go to such lengths for a little mouse you don't even know?"

"I was just getting tired of Carli walking all over people and doing what he wanted. And she stuck up for me first," he said with a bit of a chuckle.

"Oh yeah! Carli was going to hit her because she told Mr. Taurus what really happened in a fight between him and my cousin," Aiyoku said, remembering how Ankoku had tackled the white bat to defend Perstephoné. The end result was bittersweet.

Meishin wasn't pleased, "I wish I had known, or I would have really kicked his ass!" Perstephoné sighed at her friend, knowing that she would have actually liked to fight all of Carli's gang, and would have probably won the fight.

"I like her," Aiyoku muttered to Ankoku. His cousin rolled his eyes but he paid the older bat no mind. How could he not admire the cat? She was everything the girls at his school were not and more; she was nicely shaped, strong, had a fiery personality and beautiful. And she had an amazing ra-

"Are you going to stop staring at me, or do I have to make you?" Meishin asked. Aiyoku couldn't tell if it was a threat or a promise, and frankly he didn't care; he was smitten.

"Oh sorry," Aiyoku said, averting his eyes.

"Come on Perstephoné, we have to go," Meishin said, placing her sunglasses back on her face and jumping on her bike, "Thanks again for taking care of my friend here."

Perstephoné waved her goodbye at the two bats before she started for the bike. Though before she made it there, she remembered how she wanted to repay Ankoku for saving the day earlier. She walked back up to him and pulled out her handkerchief, which was bundled around something and handed it to him.

"Th-this isn't much b-but... Wait until you get h-home," she said softly. Hearing the engine rev, she then hurriedly ran to her feline friend and hopped on the awaiting bike. Perstephoné put on her helmet and held tight to Meishin, waving back at the two bats as they took off down the street.

"What did she give you?" asked Aiyoku, coming closer to inspect what was in his cousin's hand.

"A handkerchief..." Ankoku looked down into his clawed hand at the purple and pink embroidered bundle. A bundle of what, he wasn't sure. He shoved bundle in his shoulder bag, not knowing what was inside.

"I guess we'll find out when we get home," Aiyoku stated. Home... Ankoku's father would be waiting for him and he would have a surprise waiting for him too. Plus, his father would be even more irate once he finds out that he has OSS for three weeks. Actually, he might actually enjoy that; more 'quality' time with his son. Hooray. He dreaded the travel home but Ankoku knew he had no way of escaping it.