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"Don't mention it, Shiori-san." He smiled, following her for a moment then catching up. Relying on subtle cues from her, he followed while walking next to her as he had no clue where her dorm was. "I'm more than happy to help anyone who needs it, especially the newer students. Most people come here like I did, knowing absolutely no one and a complete stranger to this magnificent place."

The only reason Alexander-Christian was calling her by her first name was because she had asked him to. However, even if she stated that she wanted him to, he wasn't going to drop the honorific for a very long time. It just simply wasn't respectful and that went against his beleifs.



"Yes. Cooking." He replied with a twinkle of laughter dancing in his bright blue eyes. "I've gotten the same reaction from many others who found out about my other hobby. Apparently the fact that most chefs are male doesn't really register in people's minds." Pausing for a moment, he chuckled and continued. "Don't worry about helping. Just about everything's ready. I just need to throw it together and toss it in the oven. However....If you'd like to come over I have some wonderful teas and coffees. I probably don't have the selection that the cafe does, but there's something about drinking in the kitchen while food's cooking in it that's absolutely wonderful."

Realizing that he was on the verge of babbling on about his second hobby and probably about to bore Shiori, the young fencer cut off there. Here it was a bit harder to sip wine while cooking so he settled for tea or coffee and found it a decent substitiute. Most of the problem was getting a good vintage into the school and into his kitchen. Alexander-Christian was by no means an alcoholic, limiting himself to two glasses of watered wine a day when allowed to drink - one with lunch and one while he cooked dinner.

Moving smoothly in and out of the throngs of cheerful students, Victoria purchased an apple, and then made her way past the tables. She then selected a grassy spot, away from most of the other students. Alone, she sat down, smoothed out her uniform's skirt, and set her things down next to her. She pulled out her sketch case, with his soft black leather bindings, and opened her sketch book which was kept inside. She also took out a roll of pencils and began to draw.

Her strokes were smooth and quick, rendering a landscape of architecture. The buildings of Ohtori came to life in hues of gray, as she took a bite of the apple and set it down.

Her hand halted over completeing the rose insignia of the chairman's tower, and she frowned. For some reason, she just couldn't get it to look quite right. No matter...

She flipped the page and began sketching the students across the way.

"Of course more people like me are needed." He grinned. Alexander-Christian had quite a high opinion of himself at times and wasn't afraid to let people know. "The world would be a much better place and there would be fewer bad resturaunts around."

THe last part was meant mostly as a joke as the young fencer had a low opinion of most resturaunts, especially the fastfood ones. However, he honestly did think that the world would be better if there were more people like him around. Then chivalry wouldn't be dying and the world would be a better place in general because of it and the fact that he thought he was a pretty nice guy.



The young fencer smiled back. Shiori had a nice smile and so far he had gotten her to smile far more times than most girls would. Most of them were so nervous about being in a new place that all he could get out of them was a faint smile and a light chuckle or giggle. And now that he knew where they were going it was easier to walk with her than try and follow her at the same time. Instead he was now watching her face out of the corner of his eye when he wasn't looking directly at her.

Then they were standing in front of the dorms. Like the rest of campus it was a magnificent peice of architecture. When he had first arrived Alexander had been curious about the architect and these days there was a reason why he called the campus a magnificent place. Even when compared against the buildings that he had seen in Europe the place was still beautiful.

The young fencer smiled slightly to himself when he noticed the skip in Shiori's steps. It seemed to him almost as if she was returning to a familiar place that she hadn't been to in a long time and was looking forward to seeing old sights and meeting old friends again. Alexander-Christian followed the girl up to the third floor, hoping that wasn't the case. If it was then she was probably going to forget about him in a couple of days.



"I can help with the dust problem if you'd like." He said as he stepped inside. "Where would you like me to put these."

The young fencer hadn't noticed the fact that Shiori's key had a rose crest engraved on it. If he had he wouldn't have thought it odd. Ohtori had some strange obsession with roses, a fact he had noticed when gardening. They were everywhere. On buildings, growing in the gardens, on the student council's rings. Everywhere.

Anshi continued watch Saionji and Touga. her eyes narrowed into a soft gaze, as her lips still remained in that placid smile. With ChuChu on her shoulder, she remained in the window, unoticed by Saionji.
It didnt surprise her too much that the green haired male didnt notice her. If she was not at his side, he wouldnt notice her other wise.
With out giving it any more thought, Anshii parted from the window sil(sp?) and continued down the hall way, quietly holding her bag as she decided to head down to the office for boarding.

"No problem, Miki" Juri folded her arms across her chest as she watched Miki disappear into the change room. She let out a sigh 'I shouldn't worry so much' she assured herself knowing Miki was probably right. Every year was the same song-and-dance, they got a whole new load of members but only 1/4th of those people showed up. Maybe she scared them off? Who knew, but Juri shrugged it off anyway. She didn't want members who just came to ogle people who were serious about fencing. After all, thats what the balcony above the hall was for. As Miki emerged from the change room with his student council uniform Juri let out a soft smile. "Yeah, lets go." she said as she pushed herself off the wall. She turned and exited the fencing hall, "Dont worry, I'm not going to make anyone 'practice dummy'... unless they miss the warm up." she added, assuring him while walking down the corridor, after all she didn't want him to worry over something so trivial. She pushed open the door and walked out onto the Ohtori grounds. Juri surveyed her surroundings to look for any signs of a long red haired man or a group of squealing girls, "Do you have any idea where he'd be?" she looked back at Miki and questioned.

As Victoria sketched, she saw Juri and Miki come into view in their concil uniforms. Their presence reminded her that fencing practices would be soon. She glanced down at her foil, in its case on the ground, then back to her sketch pad, where her hands were blending the shadow of man's uniform jacket. Ever since she had first joined Ohtori, she had taken fencing, as per request from her parents. It had helped that she had some natural talent and the build for it, but of course she would have done so anyway, even if she had not.

Juri Arisugawa was not only a member of the student council, but she and Miki Karou headed the practices, and were strict teachers. Victoria tended to stay near the back in practices, and tried to remain unnoticed. She disliked being singled out for anything, and so when at practice she kept a careful balance of not being too good or too poor against the opponents she was paired against. Of course, she didn't have to limit herself against the Captain or his assistant when they had the members fence against them. They were simply that good, and her ability was lacking in comparison.

Nevertheless, whatever her feelings on the matter, she made a mental notation to pay careful attention to when the next practices were, so she could schedule her club meeting time effectively.

Packing up her things, Victoria moved away from the spot she had been sitting, and headed in the direction of the dorms, with the intention of dropping them off.

As Mikage stepped out of the Nemuro Memorial Hall his eyes squinted at the sunlight. It had been far too long since he last left his desk and took a breath of fresh air. He strolled onto the Ohtori grounds and breathed in the faint scent of roses that filled the air. A gentle wind brushed through his light pink hair as he walked along with a novel under his arm- not having a place to go- merely taking a break from his research. He observed his surroundings and the students who passed him by. Mikage almost forgot how beautiful this place could be. Souji simply sighed and decided to enjoy the nice weather. He crossed the field and took a seat under a large oak tree. Mikage leaned back under the shade of the tree and took his book out from under his arm. He opened it to the dog-eared page and began to read silently, occasionally glancing upward to catch anything exciting.

"She's the fencing team captain and the treasurer for the Student Council." he shrugged, running the cloth down the side of the wood..

'So Juri is still doing well. Even without me. Even after that.' Shiori recognized her own bitter emotions. But she wasn't going to show any of it. Not in front of a new guy, somebody whom she can start all over again with.

"It is sort of hard to miss her. Are you friends with her?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that." Her voice sounded as if they came from a very faraway place, so soft. And perhaps that was why Alexander-Christian didn't seem to her her.

"I think it was fencing against her that brought me to this school. I remember that I wanted to come here and practice against Ohtori's best if she was an example."

"Best..." Shiori repeated that word. "That word would suit Juri very much." She hadn't meant to let the bitterness get into her voice but perhaps it was inevitable. "Back when I were such close friends, Juri was always the best at everything as well. Sometimes I wish that nothing had ever came between me and Juri. We used to have so much fun together...until I spoiled it all of course." Her hands stopped cleaning, frozen in mid-air. "Actually one of the main reasons for coming back to Ohtori was to rectify things with Juri."

There was a moment's pause before she turned to face Alexander-Christian, all foreign emotions wiped from her face. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk about that at all."

She smiled. "I'm almost done yo! What about you?" She asked in a teasing voice. "Surely you're not going to lose to a girl like me, even at cleaning!"