Welcome to Ad Astra, an academy the likes of which you've never seen.

Ad Astra is a secret government-owned boarding school exclusively for the elite. In addition to normal classes, here you will learn marksmanship, piloting, mechanics and maintenance, hand-to-hand combat, weaponry, and an assortment of other skills. Your fellow students will range from upper-class to runaways and orphans; admission is based on a rigorous exam that tests your academic, physical, strategic, leadership, and moral skills.

Ad Astra is free to attend, if you are lucky enough to make it in. You will sleep, eat, and live at the school, and in exchange you will complete missions for the government. These missions can range from simple training to maintaining peace on warring planets to anything the government may need you for. These missions are often dangerous, but the rewards are worth it. After school, you will become a government operative, ensuring 100% job placement after schooling.

Do you have what it takes to attend Ad Astra Academy?



Ad Astra is located near the planet Osiris which is one of the central planets of the galaxy. The entire space station is roughly the same size as New York City on the Earth of Yore. Ad Astra is recognized as a trading city, military base, and school as well as a home for hundreds of thousands of people. The base looks like this.


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• My characters:
Name: Abigail Robbins
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Status: Pilot
Skills: Piloting, fighting, and athleticism. Abby can't cook to save her life and she can't hold her caffeine.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Chicago, Illinois, Earth
Appearance:
Personality: On the outside, she's hot-headed, stubborn, and arrogant. Once someone gets to understand her and open her up a little more, she can be quite friendly. Abby may not be one of the easiest people to get used to. She's got a good head on her shoulders but sometimes ignores her conscience which leads to sticky situations. She's cool, collective, intellectual, and strong (mentally and physically) when in the face of danger.

She has plenty of courage and intellect, but sometimes she fools around too much getting her in trouble. She’s loyal, protective, stubborn, funny, athletic, etc... At times, Abby can get really competetive and angry. When people don't try their best and give up, she feels that they cheated themselves. She hardly ever gives up or walks away from a good fight and is extremely optimistic.
History: At the age of 6, little Abby Robbins was orphaned. Coincidentally, the day that Earth of Yore was destroyed was Abby's birthday. The small girl watched helplessly as her shuttle rocketed into space, leaving her parents behind. Just as the ship had made it safely into the fleet of other departing escapees, the world became enveloped in a ring of fire completely destroying everything.

At the age of 7, Abby was transferred to Ad Astra and taken into the world of intergalacitc justice. There, she chose to be a pilot and fly with the elite. While studying basics such as history of the galaxies and mathematics, Abby also chose to learn how to fight with various weapons such as an Energy Sword and hand to hand combat. Unfortunately, she never took an etiquette class and wasn't taught how to make a meal that was pleasing to the eye rather than hunger-quashing. 10 years later, Abby is still kickin' and rearin' to go. She is determined to be the best pilot there ever lived.

Name: Cavan "Glitch" Kilgour-Kavanaugh
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Status: Mechanic
Skills: Fixing anything broken, fightning and telekinesis.
Race: Gaiscioch
Birth Place: Central City, Goidelia
Appearance:
Personality: Glitch is the all around nice guy, but when something goes terribly wrong, he has the right to step up and not always be the most pleasant person to be with. A majority of the time, Glitch is easy-going, cool and smart (making him quite popular with the ladies). If you give him a broken clock, he can turn it around and turn it into a microwave. He's a gentleman and usually helps girl when they're being hassled. He has a lot of patience and listens to people when they vent.

Glitch is almost never seen without a smile on his face. He loves new challenges and exploring the unknown. A trait adopted from his home planet is his British-sounding accent, which makes the girls weak in the knees.
History: Unbeknownst to anyone except for the headmistress of the academy, Professor Kara Nuual, Glitch is the next heir to the thrown of Goidelia. Forced to escape from a vicious attack on his family when he was 5. His entire family was wiped out except for himself and his younger sister Sinead, who is still missing. Enrolling in the academy, Glitch decided to pick up becoming a mechanic fixing private ships and various other things.

Glitch also signed up for fighting classes, convieniently in the same hour as Abby. He's a strong and fast fighter, most skilled in hand to hand combat. Aside from his physical training, Glitch also does training that involves the mind. He is a telekinetic, a gene inherited from his family line. He is still getting used to his newest ability, but seems to have a lot of power that hasn't been tapped into yet.
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Rules:
1. No godmodding
2. Detailed and good length posts
3. Appropriate grammar and spelling for Level 2

Updates:
~ This is the section in which I place updated information or other kinds of info that might be useful throughout the course of the story. Check back here often.

Finally, we begin again! XD

Name: Tsukiko
Age: Unknown, estimated 16-17
Gender: Female
Status: Weapons Specialist
Skills: Though Tsukiko is known as the best sharpshooter at Ad Astra, she is also proficient with just about any other type of weapons, including poisons, explosives and blades. She is very nimble, and can beat most boys in hand-to-hand combat. Her grades are in the A-B range. She is in extremely good shape, and is a quick runner that can run for long distances without the physical strain that most people experience. She also has the ability to remain completely calm in the face of danger.
Weaknesses: Leadership and tactical skills are minimal, and nobody in their right mind would let her near the controls of anything more dangerous than a tricycle--she failed her piloting classes. She has a hard time communicating with others and working in groups.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Unknown
Appearance: Tsukiko has bright green eyes, long black hair, and fair skin. She is thin, but not unhealthily so.

Likes: Guns, knives, solitude, chocolate, books, milk, scarves, and long skirts.
Dislikes: Insects/spiders, other people, group projects, herself, life in general.
Personality: Tsukiko is a dark figure. She rarely speaks or makes eye contact with anyone. She dresses in plain black clothing, mostly because she doesn't have much money to buy things the school doesn't provide. She wears little to no make-up, which is just one of the many reasons she gets teased. She gets bullied a lot, and many students enjoy playing practical jokes on her. These jokes are usually anonymous, since most students are fairly afraid of her (see History). Tsukiko is shy, quiet, and a loner, and has no friends at all. During her spare time, she can usually be found at the shooting range.
History:

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Name: Haru Anderson
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Status: Tactical Expert
Skills: Haru is very intelligent, and can come up with logical plans quickly. He is a natural leader and a people-person; people look up to him. He is good at sports and most physical activities. He's one of the top of his class in hand-to-hand combat, and is also good with bladed weapons. He's a decent pilot, but his classes focus on strategizing. He doesn't get very good grades because he prefers to socialize in his classes rather than learn, but his test scores always reflect his intellect. He's also an excellent chef, having cooked for his sisters for years.
Weaknesses: Haru is really clumsy and accident-prone, and never without at least two bandages somewhere on his body. He isn't very good with guns, explosives, or poisons, and he almost failed his stealth class. He is also deathly afraid of spiders, though not many people know.
Race: Human
Birth Place: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Appearance: Hazel eyes, silver hair, and a well-built body.

Likes: Jokes, girls, his family, apple juice, meat, pasta, beanies, comfy shoes, and tight clothes.
Dislikes: Being alone, spiders, stupid people, vegetables, and those hidden steps/inclines that he always trips over.
Personality: Haru is very clumsy, and not very good with delicate things. (He once almost blew up the entire science lab during an explosives class.) He is very loud and energetic, and rarely sits still. He is very good with people and has many friends. He grew up with three younger sisters and a younger brother, so he is used to taking care of people. He loves jokes and comedy movies, and has been known to play several practical jokes on other students. He is quite popular with the girls due to his charming personality and good looks, and is a bit of a player.
History:


Edit: I added Likes and Dislikes, as well as Weaknesses, to the list. It's not required, but it's nice to have more background on the characters.

That would be tomorrow, no? Gahhhh. That sucks. I wanna start this back up again. >_<

Name: Fleur Rouge

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Status: Camoflauge Specialist; Spy

Skills: She’s very good at cooking, sewing and computer design/hacking, so when she's got time she enjoys making costumes and/or cooking food. She's very flexible too, and quick on her feet.

Race: Human

Birth Place: Risconi

Appearance:

Personality: She tries to remain fairly calm but she is prone to emotional outbursts and even though she's 17 she often throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way. Nonetheless, she's very nice, though a bit eccentric, and prefers not to listen to rumors ("Rumors lead people astray, solid facts is what you need.") She tends to hold grudges a bit longer than she should, but she’s trying to stop that. So far she hasn’t succeeded much.

History: Fleur grew up in a relatively abnormal family. Her mother was a scientist who got infected with a disease after experiencing an experiment gone wrong that blew up in her lab. She was eight when her mother passed. Her father was a writer. He began writing smut after his wife passed. Smut that didn’t sell and so, gradually, the family began to starve, while her father laid waste to the rest of his life.

Fortunately, a woman noticed Fleur and her older siblings’ plight and took them in. Shortly thereafter, while getting acquainted with the woman and her new home, Fleur took an interest in mystery/detective stories and started applying her ability to sew to make detective costumes as she went around solving "crimes." Her older brother, Theo, took an interest in computer design and so, when he realized that she enjoyed designing costumes and things, he taught her everything he knew about it.

After she received her acceptance letter to Ad Astra, her sisiter, Delaila, taught her how to cook (her baby sister wasn't going to starve at some military school). She set off for Ad Astra and once there, she eagerly took to her classes. While her eccentric personality scared some people off, she took to several others.

~ ~ ~

Name: David Johnson

Age: 18; just turned

Gender: Male

Status: Battle Tactician

Skills: He is very skilled at "seeing the bigger picture" which makes it easy for him to make plans that will work in the long-run. Some of this can be attributed to his natural Lyconian abilities (i.e. being able to see into the future at times). He is a very good artist and skilled at disarming people.

Race: Half-Lyconian (a race of "angels" that are rumored to have the ability to see into the future and project images of themselves places)

Birth Place: Atlanta (Home of the largest Lyconian population)

Appearance:

Personality: David is a quiet, reserved. His large brown eyes make him look innocent, and because of his wings (which he usually tries to keep folded) he often feels isolated from everyone else. He is soft-spoken, and that means louder people can usually dominate him a conversation as he's too shy to try and speak up and make himself heard. However, he is very very intelligent.

History: David grew up in a normal family. His father was a scholar and his mother was a lawyer. He has a younger brother and older sister, both of whom he cares for very much and tries to keep in touch with as much as possible. He learned a lot of what he knows from his father. He likes drawing pictures and tries his hardest to make friends, even though large crowds of people make him slightly uncomfortable.

After receiving the acceptance letter of Ad Astra, David departed from his home world and flew there, where he learned self-defense skills and took classes to help him with his tactical skills. Being as shy as he was, he hasn't made many new friends at the Academy, but he is strong of spirit and thus he has worked hard to stay in the school. His appearance and personality are kind of feminine so that's another thing that sort of isolates him from other boys in his classes. He has learned to use this to his advantage as people usually underestimate him in battle. He is very skilled at disarming individuals.



EDIT: Added some info to David's skill section.

((Bio accepted! Great! We can start right away... just as soon as I get an idea. It won't be long, I promise.))

((How about this for the basic plot of the first arc: we all get sent on a training mission together, something goes wrong, big trouble, blah-blah-blah. Good?))

~Abby~

"The Aladai skyplex is the first of it's kind, manufactured in 2510. In 2516, a group of architects decided to update the machine to--" the teacher continued on, but Abby payed no attention. Instead she stared out the window, her hand barely holding her head upright. The black space sky displayed hundreds of tiny white dots that were the stars of the galaxy. Abby's mind wandered and journeyed those stars from her school seat.

A voice danced across her mind, but she continued to wonder at the marvel she saw everyday. The voice grew louder and Abby blinked.

"Abigail Robbins. Compare the significant aspects of the Ita and Da-Xia religions. I'm sure everyone would like to hear, since you seem to feel that you're too advanced to pay attention in this class," the teacher said, not looking up from her book. She was trying to catch her off guard... and it worked. The other students quietly giggled.

Abby sat up and looked down at her text book. Whoops. Busted, she thought. She glanced back up at the teacher again and took a deep breath, the only thing she could think of was definitely not the answer to the question she was supposed to answer. With an idea, Abby smiled sweetly and said, "Far be it from me to intrude my humble intelligence upon such a delicate subject of great controversy. Instead I think I should explain the significance of such a more valiant subject as say... the Kadeem Revolution of Qiana."

The students stared in amazement as Abby continued. The Kadeem Revolution was considered to be a joke compared to the history of the world. It only lasted 4 hours and injured only 1 person... in the behind. "The Kadeem's views of trying to take over the government were so determined, they didn't consider all of the consquences such as personelle, weaponry, or even common sense."

"That's enough," the teacher said, getting stern.

Abby ignored her, "The Qianian government swooped down and smashed the enemy into submission." Abby pounded her fist into her palm and made various sound effects to add the needed dramatization. The students laughed at her attempt to disrupt the teacher's plight and stared at one another, wondering to see what she would do next.

"That is quite enough," the teacher repeated.

"Then POW! The poor bloke was shot in the ass by his own weapon. How does that work out? I mean, that's just embarrassing. The only injury in the entire fight was someone getting shot, in the butt, by their own gun. I feel sorry for the guy but come on!"

"Abigail!" the teacher shouted, slamming her own text book shut. Abby stopped her speech, still grinning. "I will see you after class," the teacher hissed.

Just then the class bell rang and everyone got up to leave. The teacher remained at her desk, hands clenching the outer edge making her knuckles turn white.

Abby sat politely at the desk and said after the last straggler had left, "You wanted history, I gave you history."

"That was clearly insubordinate and disrespectful of my time. You made a fool out of me and and even worse one out of yourself. Do you know why the other students aren't friendly to you?"

"Because I'm just so nice," Abby said, giving a sarcastic smile.

The teacher gave an exasPirated sigh and moved around to the front of her desk, "You're a smart kid, Abby. You've got the knowledge, but you just don't want to use it, why?"

Abby didn't reply, she only scowled and turned to stare out the window again.

"I've seen your records! You're one of the highest ranked students in my class...." she scanned Abby's face and finally said, "I know you don't want to be cooped up here the rest of your life. You want to journey the universe,... but so does everyone else. And you're not going to get anywhere if you keep this act up."

Abby stared at her folded hands under the desk and didn't say anything. The teacher sat on the edge of her desk a moment and didn't ask Abby any more from her. She sighed again and walked back around to the plasma board. She said quietly, "I pray for your future."

At that, Abby had had enough and stood up. She grabbed her bag and swung it over her shoulder as she stormed out of the classroom and into the hallway. She was going to be late for her fighting class.

~Glitch~

"So then she said to the teacher, "I feel sorry for the guy but come on!" " Glitch's friend said through laughs as he recounted what he had just heard in his class.

Glitch faked a smile and said, "That's really something." The story really wasn't all that funny, but since his friend was having such a fun time talking bad about her, he didn't stop him.

The hallway was packed with people bustling here and there, trying to get to class. Glitch and his friend were now heading to their fighting class, it was on the other side of campus but they had plenty of time to waste.

Just then, his friend stopped recollecting about Abby when she suddenly appeared in front of them. He shut up immediately but Glitch said smiling, "Hey, Abby."

She pushed passed him and continued down the hallway. Glitch's friend asked, "Why do you always try to be nice to her? Come on, she's the most anti-social person on Ad Astra." He continued walking towards his next class but Glitch watched after her.

Glitch stared after her, blocking out what most of his friend said. He then turned and headed towards his next class for Abby had disappated into the sea of bodies and became - once more - an invisible presence.

((Le grand fromage!! I love cheese. Alright, gotta go. I'll be back later.))

((Brilliant idea numero dos: that friend bad-mouthing Abby is Haru. XD And are we doing this in third person? I think I'll just switch back and forth whenever I feel like it. Variety is good.))

Haru

"So then she said to the teacher, 'I feel sorry for the guy but come on!'" I snorted.

"That's really something," Glitch answered, grinning as we walked to another fighting class. Hand-to-hand combat, to be precise. One of my favorites.

Suddenly, Abby, the annoying girl from the class before, just appeared in front of us. And to make matters worse, Glitch just had to blurt out, "Hey, Abby."

Of course, being the weirdo she was, she just ignored him. "Why do you always try to be nice to her?" I asked. "Come on, she's a freak."

"I don't know," Glitch said quietly. "Maybe she just needs a friend." I rolled my eyes and continued walking into the room. And, joy of joys, another freak.

"Psst!" I whispered, grabbing Glitch by the ear. "Look, over there." I pointed towards the girl dressed in black in the back of the room. "Her name's Tsukiko, right? What a loser. She always sits by herself. Doesn't she have any freakin' friends?" I scoffed.

((Wow, Haru is really turning out to be an unlikable character. But he's not as bad as he seems, trust me. ))

~Glitch~

Shrugging, Glitch watched the girl named Tsukiko and said, "Maybe she's just misunderstood. Like Abby. But come on Haru, they're not doing anything wrong. Probably one of the reasons why they don't talk to people is because of others like you." He nudged his friend in the arm with his elbow and raised an eyebrow.

Ever since he'd known both Tsu and Abby, he had noticed that they had distanced themself. Almost as if they wanted friends, but felt too insecure or uncomfortable to try. But Haru's fascination with them made Glitch almost laugh.

Staring at his friend incredulously, he said with a half smile, "If I didn't know better, I'd say you fancy them. You do, don't you!"

Just then, the bell rang signaling the beginning of class and everyone sat down in the raised stands that circulated the room. In the center was the fighting ring. The instructor came forth and started, "Today, you will be facing your classmates as opponents. This is a first taste of what it will feel like during the final exam. I will call two names at random and those two must fight. Now, if everyone would--"

At that very moment, the door opened and in came Abby. She glared gloomily at the floor and quietly apologized for her tardiness.

"Abby Robbins, so glad you could join us," the female instructor said and she flipped through her class sheet, "As a result for being late... I think... Mr. Kavanaugh would be happy to fight you." She grinned cheerfully and turned to Glitch who was sitting disbelievingly in his seat.

"You heard me, Glitch. Let's go," she said, beckoning him forward with her flipbook. Standing slowly to his feet, Glitch proceeded down the steps and unzipped his jacket revealing a white undershirt. He tossed it to the floor and glanced doubtfully at Abby and said, "Listen, I don't think she's really up for fighting."

"Backing down is not an option, Mr. Kavanaugh," Miss Johnson said, ending the conversation, "Begin."

Glitch faced Abby once more who was already in her fighting stance, hands out and clenched in front of her body with her knees bent. Glitch put up his hands and said, "I don't want to hurt--" but before he could get out the word "you" Abby was already charging forward.

With a swift fist directed toward's his face, Glitch instinctively put his fists up and caught her's with a crossed defensive action. Sliding her hand back out, Abby threw her elbow forward and stepped into the attack and Glitch caught her elbow in his palm.

Ducking a swipe from Abby's open hand, Glitch backed away and Abby charged forward letting out a shriek of apparent frustration. Thrusting her foot into the air, Abby aimed a kick for Glitch's chest but he countered with a swift elbow to her shin. She let out a yell of pain as her knee buckled and she knelt onto the floor. Using her landing foot, Abby spun her body around and kicked the feet right out from Glitch's legs.

His back slammed into the mat and his body automatically let out a grunt as air was pushed out of his lungs. Walking over to him, Abby stopped directly over his head and glared down at him. Grabbing his shirt, she brought him up real close to her face and hissed, "Next time we fight, don't let me win."

Clenching his teeth, Glitch brought his foot up and planted it directly into Abby's stomach and grabbed her shoulders as he rolled backwards so the pair were now in exact opposite positions they had just been in. The two stared at each other a moment, and suddenly Glitch smiled. Not a cocky, bragging sort of smile, but a genuine friendly sign of emotion.

Abby blinked in disbelief and released her opponent. No one had ever looked at her that way. That way meaning that Glitch had seen her as a formidable fighter.

"Alright, you two, break it up. Either that or get a room. It's a draw," the instructor said, flipping through her class sheet again. "Next up... Haru Anderson and... uh... Tsukiko."

((Urk, sorry my fighting scenes are so bad...))

Tsukiko

"Next up... Haru Anderson and... uh... Tsukiko," I heard the instructor say. I sighed. Clearly this teacher wasn't paying attention to who she was calling. Haru stood up, ready to fight. I didn't move. "Is there a problem, Tsukiko?" The teacher asked, slightly annoyed.

"Have you forgotten that I am unofficially banned from hand-to-hand combat with other students, Miss Johnson?" I asked in a monotone, without meeting her glare. Her eyes widened in sudden remembrance, and she looked almost embarassed.

"Oh, yes, last year... I remember. Sorry," she mumbled sheepishly. "Um, Haru, your new opponent will be..."

"No!" Haru cut her off. "I wanna fight her!" Surprised, I glanced up to see him grinning. "If she's good enough to ban from fighting, I wanna fight her! 'Sides, she said the ban was unofficial. Which means you're just supposed to discourage it."

"You probably don't want to do that," I said evenly. He probably didn't remember what had happened last year, and it was just my luck to get stuck with someone so naive and stubborn.

"Aw, c'mon! Are you backing down from a challenge? You afraid of me?" He laughed. I struggled to resist rolling my eyes.

"Well, if Haru wants to fight you, Tsukiko, I'm going to have to require that you do," the teacher told me apologetically. "Come on up."

Without a word, I stood up and walked to the front of the room.

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Haru

Hah, great! Finally, someone challenging to fight with! I crowed in my head. I wonder what happened last year, though...

She stood silently in front of me, as if to say, "Ready when you are."

I assumed a fighting stance, and waited a few seconds for her to do the same. When she didn't, I just attacked. I delivered a strong kick towards her stomach, expecting it to hit since she wasn't in her stance. Instead of deflecting it, she just stepped backwards.

"Hey!" I complained. "Hand-to-hand combat! Are you running away from a fight?!" I charged at her, trying to land an uppercut punch to her abdomen. She didn't move away, but dropped into a crouch at the last second. Without any time to react, I tripped over and went flying. I landed in a sprawl on my back, and before I knew what was going on Tsukiko was standing over me with one foot lightly pressing down on my windpipe.

"You lose," she said with absolutely no expression at all, and went back to her seat. I got up slowly, rubbing my nearly-crushed neck, and looked at the teacher, who was shaking her head in pity for me.

"Rematch?" I offered.

The teacher glared at me. "No." So I returned to my seat too. I leaned over to whisper to Glitch.

"Dude, is it just me, or do we have some violent, weird chicks in this school?"

~Glitch~

Zipping up his black jacket once more, Glitch leaned over to Haru and whispered back, "I think it's just you. This is a fighting class... you're supposed to kick the other person's ass."

Feeling eyes boring into the back of his head, Glitch turned and saw Abby staring up at him. When she saw that he noticed, she jumped and quickly directed her attention back to her bag. The instructor yelled out a couple of more names as Glitch told Haru he'd be back in a minute.

He got up and proceeded around the level of the circular room and down the steps to where Abby was. As he passed a group of girls, they giggled and one grabbed his hand. He looked down and she said, with a sparkle in her eyes, "You did really well, Glitch."

"Thanks, Mandy," he said, trying to continue towards his destination but she grabbed harder.

"You don't want to sit with us?" she asked, and the other girls smiled hopefully.

"Sorry," he replied, not sorry at all, "I've gotta go now." Mandy was one of the many girls who fancied Glitch, but he felt too distanced from them. They were materialistic and snobby, not to mention Mandy went through four boyfriends in 3 weeks.

He squeezed his hand out of her's and proceeded down the steps. The other girl with out a disgusted noise and the other girls watched as Glitch approached Abby.

"Hey," he said, smiling kindly towards her. She only frowned, didn't acknowledge him, and continued to search through her bag.

Shifting his weight and licking his lips, Glitch said, "You know, I'm sorry about that. Didn't want to fight and all... I know you had a bad day."

"Like you care?" she snapped, folding the flap over, she sat down and continued watching the match.

Ouch... Glitch thought. He glanced up at Haru almost to ask for help, but he turned back to Abby. "Listen. You're a good fighter--"

"I was too slow. Besides that, my kicks weren't as powerful as I'd hoped," she said flatly, folding her arms.

"Well, I could help you, if you'd like. You know, to try and get faster," Glitch offered.

"I don't need your pity," she said, turning her attention away from the match to glare at him. "You were probably dared to come over to talk to me in the first place. Like you even care..." She turned back to the match just in time to see a boy being thrown over another boy's shoulder to land on his back.

Glitch stared up at Haru again as if you say, She's killing me down here. Taking a hard swallow, Glitch backed up slowly, tucking his hands in his pockets, "Alright... well... I'll see you later."

"Looks like Crabby Abby isn't as approachable as you would've hoped," Mandy sneered as Glitch passed.

"At least Abby isn't as easy as you are," he retailiated with a painfully kind smile.

The other girls laughed at their friend's dismay as Glitch plopped back down next to Haru and didn't say anything. He'd never been shot down by a girl before.

Haru

I tried to my laughter as Glitch sat down next to me. And failed.

"Dude! You totally just got shot down!" I burst out, giggling like a little girl.

~Glitch~

"Hey--" Glitch said, pushing Haru's head, making him nearly fall onto the bench in front. "It's not funny. I wasn't trying to hook up with her, I was just trying to be nice."

At that moment, the bell rang for the end of class and the beginning of lunch break. Everyone got up in unison as the intructor yelled over the cacophony something about personal training sessions from six to nine every day.

Glitch and Haru made their way through the crowded halls and Glitch stopped at his locker. He slid his hand through the slot and the scanner read his fingerprints. With three beeps, the locker opened automatically and Glitch began loading his bag into the compartment.

"It's just... I don't know what I was thinking. She was just looking at me and I felt like she was going to be more... friendly? Maybe I'm just crazy," he said, closing the door. "You know what I'm probably just hungry. Do you want to head into town for lunch? I hear there's this new place by the dorms."

Haru

"Sounds good, I'm starved!" I agreed. "I heard it has great burgers."

It didn't take long to get to the joint. The campus had more than just a school on it, but it wasn't like a whole planet; it was more of a large plaza. There were a few dozen shops, a couple places to eat, and in the middle was a public stage for bands and such. Nothing big, but enough to keep the student population entertained, as well as provide a few jobs.

We were seated in a booth on the far side of the restaurant, given plastic-coated menus, and left to our own business. I picked up the menu, but didn't bother reading it, since I already knew what I wanted.

"Y'know, if I didn't know better," I said slyly as I peeked at Glitch over the top of my menu. "I'd say that you liked that girl."

~Glitch~

Nearly choking on his water, Glitch hunched over and coughed. He wiped his chin clean of regurgitated water and stuttered, "Wh-What?" He took a deep breath and said, "I mean... I just thought it'd be nice of me to do that. But it backfired in my face, that's all. Just friendly conversation."

He took another sip of water to clear his throat and the waitress came over and took their orders. After that, Glitch just waved his straw around in the air lazily and said, "We should stop by the bookstore after this. Mr. Martin reminded us that we have that huge essay on old novels in our Galactic Literature class. It's stuff from Earth of Yore, right?"

Haru

"Ugh, I totally forgot about that!" I moaned, stirring my ice cubes around in my glass with my straw. "Yeah, I guess we should. Oh, food's here!"

Glitch and I all but inhaled our meals, and I have to say, that burger really was pretty darn good. We paid for the meals and headed over towards the bookstore.

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Tsukiko

Honestly, I thought to myself as I put yet another book back on the shelf. Would it really be that hard for somebody to put a book back themself, rather than just lie it down somewhere random?

I was working yet another boring shift at Binders, a strange place that was both a library and a bookstore. They bought used books to use in the library, but you could buy it new in the bookstore section. It was the only job I could get with my personality. At least I didn't have to wear a crappy uniform, like a waitress or something. Plus I got a discount on books, which is always a plus when you don't have much money to begin with. I had taken the job a few months back, when I realized that I really had no money left from the school's already generous allowance. Kids like me, orphans, get a yearly allowance to help pay for expenses like clothing, books, movies, that sort of stuff. And since I had already spent most of mine, I decided to get a job to help support myself. It wasn't like I had anything better to do anyway.

So there I was, putting books back on a shelf to make some extra cash and waste time, when I felt a small tug on my skirt. I looked down to see an adorable little girl looking up at me with big brown eyes. I liked kids, since they weren't scared of me like everyone my own age was. The students in the younger grades hadn't heard of me yet, and I planned on keeping it that way. I crouched down to her level and smiled softly at her, a rare occurance.

"What can I help you with, sweetie?" I asked her quietly.

"I can't find the book I want to borrow!" She pouted cutely.

"What book are you looking for?"

"Sammy the Space Snail!" She told me with a grin. "It's my favorite!"

"Well, I'm sure we can find it. Come on, let's go." Abandoning my basket of misplaced books, I led her towards the children's section of the library. "Okay, Sammy the Space Snail... that begins with an 'S'..." I ran my fingers across the book titles. "Surviving the Jungle, Skating for Beginners, Super Craft Ideas... here we go! Sammy the Snail!" I plucked the book from its place on the shelf and handed it down to her. She grabbed it with a huge grin.

"Thanks a lot!" She beamed, clutching the book to her chest. "Bye!" She gave me a little wave and ran towards the check-out desk. With just the slightest trace of a smile left on my face, I returned to my mundane duty of putting back books. I hadn't even got three done when someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, do you work here?"

I turned my head to see who was talking to me, and nearly groaned. Of all the people, it just had to be him...

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Haru

"Dude, face it. You have no idea where that book is," I told Glitch, laughing. "We've been wandering around here for ten minutes and we haven't found it yet. Let's just ask where it is!" Without waiting for an answer, I looked around for someone who looked like they worked here. "Hey, she looks like she works here," I said, pointing at a girl with long dark hair putting books back on a shelf on the other side of the store. "Let's ask her!"

"Skirt-chaser..." I heard Glitch cough under his breath. I ignored him. But before I could go ask the girl where Tollenburg's Condensed History of Earth of Yore was, a little girl dragged her away. I pretended to be very interested in a comic book, while I watched as they went into the kid's library. I couldn't see her for a minute, but soon she walked back out and started putting books away again. I decided I better make my move now.

"I bet she's our age, man! And she's got a nice bod, she's probably hot" I said excitedly, rubbing my hands together as we walked. She had her back to us, and all I could see was a nice body and long hair. Very inviting. "Time to turn on the charm!"

"Skirt-chaser!" Glitch coughed again, louder this time.

"Oh, can it. You're just jealous because I'm so popular with the ladies," I countered. "Now, watch and learn!" I paused, took a deep breath, and crossed the final ten feet between me and Miss Mystery.

"Excuse me, do you work here?" I asked politely as I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and I gasped, my face twisting into an expression of recognization and horror. "You!"

Oh, I would not be hearing the end of this one.

-----------------------------
Tsukiko

"You!" Haru accused.

I blinked.

"Me," I agreed in a toneless voice. "And yes."

"Er, uh, that's not--ahh--not what I meant to say!" He stuttered, looking both nervous and traumatized.

"What do you want?" I was not in the mood to deal with this. Those three girls from my Explosives class had broken into my locker yet again. One of them specialized in Hacking, and even though the lockers were supposed to be fingerprint-recognition only, there were codes to open lockers too. Even the school authorities couldn't do anything about the problem. At least once a week I would find something missing from the locker; since I had to buy new things a lot, I was almost out of money by the first month of school. Really, those girls were the main reason I'd needed a job.

"Um, T-Tollenburg's Condensed--" He struggled. Clearly he was still in shock from seeing me.

"Tollenburg's Condensed History of Yore. Mr. Martin's essay, right?"

"Y-yeah...."

"Section 4D, towards the end of the second row." I even pointed towards the area.

"Er, yeah, we were over there, but we couldn't find it," he explained, grimacing at me like I was some sort of contagious disease. I sighed.

"Follow me." Without bothering to wait for an answer, I took off towards section 4D, considering all the ways to get out of this situation with as little awkwardness and embarassment as possible.

------------------------------------------------
Haru

I glanced at Glitch nervously as Tsukiko walked away. Only barely managing not to trip over my own two feet, I followed her to the section we'd already checked twice. (Not that I'd tell her that.) It took her all of twenty seconds to run her slim fingers over the book bindings and pull out the one we needed.

"Here," she said simply, handing me the book. I took it, my mouth hanging open in awe.

"How'd you do that?!" I asked in disbelief, glancing down at the book and back up at her. She shrugged expressionlessly, and I grinned. "Thanks!"

Apparently seeing that her work was done, she turned around and began to walk away.

"Hey, wait!" On an impulse, I reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. She flinched violently, and I let go, as suprised at my actions as she was. She spun her head around, and there was the smallest glint of something like fear in her eyes. "Uh, nevermind!" I said, caught off guard. Eyes still wide in surprise, she continued walking back towards the shelves, albeit a bit faster than before. I frowned and stared after her, then at the book in my hands. "Let's get outta here, man, before I get any more freaked out than I already am," I told Glitch, heading towards the check-out lines.

Once outside, I took a deep breath of air and let it out huffily. "Damn, that was weird. Didn't expect to see her there. Kinda ruined my rep of being a smooth ladies' man back there, didn't I?" I asked, Rubbing the back of my head in embarassment.

~Glitch~

Smiling with amusment, Glitch watched as his friend stumbled over his words mercilessly, act like such a dork, and surprisingly become a bumbling fool. Folding his arms over his chest, he waited for Haru to finish getting the books needed.

"Damn, that was weird. Didn't expect to see her there. Kinda ruined my rep of being a smooth ladies' man back there, didn't I?" he said, as they left the store.

Raising a curious eyebrow, Glitch let out a half snort, "You are such a boob." He shook his head incredulously and added, "You are such a hypocrite, you know that? First you bother me about trying to talk to Abby, and then you go off and start flirting with Tsukiko."

"Like I said... You. Are. A. Skirt-Chaser," he accentuated, jabbing his finger into Haru's chest after every word. Continuing down the street, Glitch stopped suddenly and asked, "Did you get me a book too?"

Grinning malevolently (which is quite unusual for Glitch to do unless he was joking) and added teasefully, "I guess you have to go back and get another one from Tsukiko... Perv."