CHAPTER I

Shin Ryujin didn't precisely mind to be waiting hour and half, but she didn't want to wait more than that if necessary and it seemed that the cheeky Shin Yuna had put her on the spot. The spot being by the parking lot of the Maroon High (Yes, like, Maroon Five but make it a high school), by her lonesome like some weird, stylistic bum -- or better yet, like a gang member reminiscing through the old times. It was the last day of summer, glowing with its purple and orange sunset shades gliding together, creating an otherworldly tint that so overlooked by this exasperated teenager. The fated day was slowly inching, and it would either be the end of all fun for a long time or the beginning of a brand new era full of exciting things. Well, that was all to be seen, Shin Ryujin reckoned.

Surrounded by the nothingness of the parking lot, looking at the school's lights early and left there for god knows how long, Ryujin took a quick sip of her third can of beer which she stole very easily from her mother; she even set some aside for Yuna, but she was considering drinking the rest without her. Rolling up the sleeve of her leather jacket a bit to reveal her watch, she saw her the time and took note of how long has her been sitting on the lukewarm pavement. Meanwhile the clock hanging in the middle of the principal's office ticked on and on by itself without stopping. The office empty and ready to be broken into, its secrets at hand for anyone that braved the weight of consequences, the hallways hollow and waiting for human life other than the grotesque janitor, the staircases awaiting for someone to step on them, the gym so dim and vast but dull, and the cafeteria's kitchen awaiting for a brave soldier to enter and uncover its secrets -- as ghastly as they could be. There was a lot to explore, a lot to do, many shadows to unveil with a bit of light.

And that was the plan for these two soon-to-be seniors but Shin Yuna -- may god save her if she ever shows face -- wasn't arriving, and Ryujin could almost feel her -eating grin upon her late arrival. You see, two last names that match and two personalities that somehow melt together well, yet two completely different beings and at that moment they could not be different. One was punctual yet rebellious and the other one was chaotic in all its glory. You can guess which one is which, right?

On this end was the cool Shin Ryujin donning her iconic style of Hawaiian shirt, jeans, boots and a jacket fitting of the day. Basically she was the only reason any store sold Hawaiian shirts at this point but let's not go there yet. What you need to know is that Ryujin was a bit of a firecracker. She was the spark the ignited fires, the provocateur of conflicts or change, the fire-starter, basically. And often times that fire was Yuna, but other times the fire was conflict and other people.

I'll put you up to speed:

Shin Ryujin, daughter of the turbulent Shins, but not to be mixed up with Yuna's parents who were very much normal. If we were to believe what the teachers say about her? She's a hopeless rebel that needed correction and corporal punishment, had it been allowed in this modern, public school with progressive ideas that -- quite frankly -- they all hated. If we were to believe what the town folks say then we’d figure she was a troubled young lady that needed discipline but wasn’t far beyond helping. But of course, things are far more complicated that and it’s not so black and white as we see. Certainly, a few of the townsfolk knew her differently and would never agree to the other’s opinion, but it was a side of her that they could not deny. Again, there was a lot to her.

Walking down the school hallways with her hands in her pockets, that cool, subtle shoulder twitch, greeting people with a lift of her chin and a cocky smile, Ryujin caught the attention of a lot of people on her own, and for good reasons sometimes. The popular folks looked at her with a dash of contempt, perhaps a bit of envy, or indifference and with that attitude some others closely followed suit, save for the select few of outsider students that admired Ryujin and her attitude yet never got the full courage to speak to her in public. There were other students with their own little cliques that did not bother, or have even bandied words (and more than words) with Ryujin enough to either detest or understand her.

The general consensus was born out of her prankster ways. At the beginning of each school year she had raised eyebrows with a prank or two on random people -- which sometimes happened to be towards the popular kids. Her most notorious prank was the classic poop in a paper bag prank, but she boldly pulled it off against the very frightening P.E teacher that everyone collectively hates -- except for maybe the jocks. She managed to get the paper bag full of... the gross substance and sneaked into the school building as the teachers gathered in their lounge. She dropped it on front of their closed door, grabbed her matchstick...

Spark!

She glanced at its flames for just a second, looking at her escape route, the fire alarm and checking for witness. With a smirk, she lit the paper bag, activated the alarm and was never witnessed by anyone inside the afternoon. The teaches and prefects looked for culprits but the culprit was very relaxed riding her way home on her skateboard with a victorious smirk to her face. Obviously, the prank worked because the P.E teacher had lashed out on all the students for such a prank. Yeah, he had to put the fire out with his feet, and it was gross, but that was it! Nothing too extreme. However, he felt his rage was justified.

As he always did.

The pudgy old man was red with rage, veins popping with a passion, lashing out at all the students who were sinking into the bleachers to somehow avoid his spit takes. He didn't know who did it, and no one knows who did it, but he was going to double down on the er the moment he found out. No questions about it. And doubling down didn’t just mean a scolding, apparently. Ryujin maintained her face neutral, though mildly annoyed at his shouting and the unnecessary saliva going all over the place while others were just shrugging at everything. They were innocent and had clean records for the most part, there was nothing to fear. Then someone raised a hand, looking innocent and gorgeous, and she spoke loud and clear. "Maybe it was one of the drop outs?"

Ryujin looked over and noticed that was the new student (at the time), Shin Yuna. The teacher couldn't say 'No' to the idea, and he hated those crazy bastards more than anyone. Yes, the blame was successfully shifted out of Ryujin, if there ever was a hint of suspicion, but it wasn't even by Ryujin's own hand but rather someone completely strange to her. The way things work, huh? After that class, needless to say they became acquaintances and partners in crime, if you will. This was in Sophomore year and now, teetering into Senior year. Eventually, people put two and two together, but Mr. Choi had already had his revenge on whatever drop out kid he found to be the culprit -- and he was absolutely sure it was him. However, to the students, it was a bit more obvious with the passing time that it was Shin Ryujin who did it, and by a luck Yuna diverted the attention perfectly without consequences.

Ryujin was still 'misguided' and a ‘rebel without saving’, if teachers are to be believed. She was still a prankster, she was still getting in trouble, she still grabbed the detention hours every other day, she was the first grab the exam paper and tear it to shreds after getting her grades and she was still that Hawaiian shirt wearing misfit. Naturally, she grew older and somehow her taste for those shirts never changed and neither did her taste for ing up the rules.

Back to reality, Ryujin was not being a misfit but rather wishing to at the moment, feeling the need to spring up and jump caressing her fingertips. It was a ghostly whisper, just a suggestion, while Ryujin held on tight. Until she just stood up with the can of beers, shoved them into her messenger bag, put it on and started the very meticulous plan of breaking into the high school building.

Such a complicated plan, you see? So carefully planned. It was hard to pull off.

"Alright, let's in' see," Ryujin said as she slid the buttery smooth slide window open.

Yeah, that was really it. Climbing up to that specific window on the second floor wasn't even hard -- it was like every pipe, every design on the concrete and everything was perfectly placed for a rascal to climb up and break in, and it was at back of the school building where no one would notice. The window has always had its lock broken as far as Ryujin can remember, so she slipped in easily and noticed the freshly cleaned floor. The moment her heavy boot slid on the polished, mirror-like tile, it squeaked and echoed so much it nearly frightened Ryujin out the window. The silence that closely followed soothed the misfit that nothing was alerted and that no one was around. With a sigh that softly echoed as well, Ryujin slipped her way back inside and closed the window, instinctively trying to lock it only to realize her silly mistake.

Now inside the vacant hallways, once full of that vigorous spirit (or, sometimes, a deplorable  lack of) from the kids of the past, Shin Ryujin walked down them without the pressure or need to impress, just going through them with an ounce of caution, wary of the paintings of the old headmasters and professors that supposedly stepped into this fine building centuries ago. People who are barely remembered, save for the portraits that now hung on the wall, watching Ryujin as she walked by with disrespect towards them -- they dared her, they warned, but she did not pay any mind. Fishing out one beer, she marched on through the lockers and searched for what she wanted, for an idea, something to gift herself on her birthday.

Yes, her birthday.

But it was a game of chance. Break into a locker and find it empty or nearly empty with nothing worth inside, or open the Pandora box of greatness and personal history that someone left behind. That wasn't likely, however. To spend her birthday walking the empty hallways of a school was oddly similar to what the teachers pictured for her in the future, but she always saw that picture differently.

In a futile attempt to guess what locker was worth breaking into, she knocked with her fist and moved on at the hollow sound of it while she wondered.

Where the hell was Shin Yuna?

Well, it was better that Yuna wasn’t around.

The huge building was vast and ready to replicate any sound but it didn't mean it was empty at all. In fact, Ryujin and the spirits of this school weren't the only things inside of it. Somewhere around the hallways of the first floors stood a group of young men ready to kiss farewell the summer and kickstart the new year with a prank on their own. All handsome, all swollen with pride and muscle, yet dim and full of ill-intentions. An entire classroom broken into, supplies missing and shoved into their letterman jacket's -- with pockets to the brim -- gasoline can in hand and the dangerous match on the other. Curtains doused with liquid would transfer the flames rapidly across the classroom of that putrid Mr. Lee. A silly little beef between teachers, but the petty jocks could not leave the offense behind.

Ryujin, blissfully unaware but annoyed, slid down the set of stairs and hopped off lazily right at the end, her boots giving a soft thud that was unheard and a squeak ignored as the quiet laughter rose by the laboratory. A quiet laugh that echoed and traveled rapidly to Ryujin who could hear more than well. 

And her curiosity was piqued, though a bit late.

She followed the sound and soon could hear the subtle low tone of flames clawing at the fabric and the hurried steps of a gang of misfits -- in between the jaded breath was the soft chuckle of excitement, of power, that Ryujin knew all too well.

She was unfortunately confused, with beer in hand but unable to move on further from the middle of the hallway. It clicked immediately when she saw the culprits making a run for it towards her. Her eyes widened and the sudden shock all over her body sprung her to move.

Meanwhile, Shin Yuna power walked like she always did, because she had too much energy to stay still or walk slowly, and she had her reasons for being late. Reason being an exquisite chocolate cake that her mother had just bought with the depths of her heart. Naturally, one slice was meant to go to the birthday girl Ryujin while the rest was for the family and it was safe to say that Yuna had a big ol' slice. Her sugar levels were unhealthily off the charts but she was young so it was probably fine. The moment she walked out of her house, she found intriguing conversations with the gardener about life's many philosophies, she found a stray cat and gave it a home with someone she knows is allergic to cats and took it upon herself to randomly just attend a protest about Orange Juice not being real.

It took her about two hours to do all of that, which she would've loved to have Ryujin join.

But when she walked to the parking lot and saw nothing, she was utterly confused. For a moment she thought Ryujin ditched on her, but the girl never liked being home at this time -- the sunset being too pretty to ignore and her house being too empty and dull to sit still in. So, she looked around for the prankster through the bushes, kicking and diving in only to come out messier than she was and without any answers. It wasn't until she heard hollering (not from Ryujin, obviously) that she actually dove fully into bushes and let it swallow her comically with legs in the air and dignity on the floor until there was not a trace of Shin Yuna for the moment.

Don't worry, she composed herself enough to sit upright and watch through the leaves like  a weirdo. A group of the school jocks -- that were about to be senior students along with Ryujin and herself -- was clearly seen escaping the premises through the double doors that were supposed to be locked. They weren't running like they were ready to go party and have fun, they were running like their adrenaline was peaking, like they have done something wrong. However, in all the excitement Ryujin was nowhere to be seen. The rowdy boys ran and ran and disappeared from the scene without a trace while Yuna was trying to undo the tangles of the bush that kept her caged.

Ryujin finally does come out of the school building through the same doors but a lot slower than normal, not even running, her palm just hovering over her bottom lip and her eyebrows scrunched in a mixture of pain and anger. “ing bastards,” she groaned to herself, hissing when she foolishly touched her lower lip.

"Ryujin!" Yuna called out, still halfway into the bushes, getting Ryujin’s attention immediately. “Help me out here?”

Oh, so that's where Yuna decided to be?

Ryujin, who was still not too sure of everything that was happening, dashed over to help, skipping the steps all together and landing just a little off, but no problem. "Yuna, what the are you doing?"

The emphasis on the made Yuna feel that she was in trouble, but she really wasn't. If anything, she was a relief to look at, but she had no idea what was happening. The moment Ryujin was close to her and her arms were available, she held onto them tightly, fighting the evil tentacles of a plant that literally did nothing wrong but to stay there. "I saw someone running out of the school and I just--."

"Wait, when did YOU arrive?"

"Five seconds ago--," and so Yuna shuts up when she finally looked at Ryujin, whose lip was bruised and torn and no longer covered by her hand. Beyond that she looked fine, but she could not -- in the haste of things -- connect two and two together. That's when she finally stumbled out the swallowing bush. "What happened to your face?!"

"No time for that, we gotta go!"

"What--."

Ryujin grabbed Yuna's hand and yanked her so fast that to this day Yuna's eyes cannot focus properly. I'm joking, but it was a hard yank. It was no problem though, considering Yuna's energy was not even close to depleting, rather intensifying at the sudden enigma that Ryujin would not explain to her. Suddenly, whatever the plan was for the day banished with the wind and the girls were never seen near the school premises.

And unfortunately, the laboratory was scorching as the barely functional alarms finally blared off out of tune, a bit too late to save the blazing items. But the signature of the fire was now pointing at the wrong person, who just so happened to be at the wrong place that afternoon.

Shin Ryujin.