Author's Note: Yay! I've begun my new Escaflowne high school fic! XD Van's the mysterious school badboy, Hitomi's the Perfect Girl, whose life is all about studying. For them, it's hate at first sight, and all kind of mischief ensues. Then there's Dilandau, the leader of the school gang, and he insists on complicating matters. Will those two idiots somehow get together? R&R plz! ^^;;

P.S. No review replies for this story. Too lazy. ^^;; Hehe, sowwy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or any of its characters. You'd better not sue me, now that I've taken the time to write that. That's all I gotta say.

"Hitomi Kanzaki."

"Present." A pretty girl with short golden-brown hair and serious green eyes lifted her head and said the word clearly and articulately. A blonde-haired girl sitting next to her rolled her eyes.

"You know, Hitomi, sometimes you annoy me beyond comprehension," she told her lazily. Hitomi's gaze flickered to her, then fixed once more on the teacher.

"You know I don't like talking during class, Millerna," she hissed out of the corner of her mouth. The blonde-haired girl grinned.

"Why do you think I do it?" she asked with an impish grin. But Hitomi's attention was fixed on the teacher, and she was no longer listening to her friend.

* * *

Van Fanel leaned casually against a smoke-smudged wall, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes closed. A soft breeze played with his loose T-shirt and messy black hair.

Man, was he bored.

Sighing, he opened his eyes, revealing the dark reddish-brown of them, and looked up at the clear blue sky. He didn't feel like going to the arcade, and school was definitely out of the question. It was finished by this time. He supposed the only thing he could do was sleep...that, or wander around the mall some more. He chose the former.

He shuffled out of the alley, his hands jammed into his pockets, in search of a bench or something to lie down on.

He didn't get far before a group of guys his age he hadn't noticed before suddenly surrounded him.

Van grinned, adrenaline pumping through his body.

Finally, something to pass the time...

* * *

Hitomi sighed.

She would never finish this book by tomorrow...she still had two hundred pages to go...but she had to try.

She buried her nose once more into the dusty pages of the book, walking past an alley as she read.

A strange noise made her look up curiously at the alley, just in time to see a dark-haired boy, surrounded by groaning guys her age lying face-down in the dirt, ram his fist into the stomach of the last hapless boy standing. The poor guy let out a whoosh of air, and collapsed. The dark-haired boy spat at him, and sneered: "Tell Dilandau I want nothing to do with his idiotic gang of wanna-be's. Got that?"

He jammed his hands into his pockets and turned to leave...

Then froze, seeing Hitomi.

"How...How long have you been standing there?" he demanded. Hitomi's green eyes narrowed, and she retorted: "Long enough. What are you thinking, fighting like that? Don't you know violence isn't the answer?"

The boy stared at her incredulously. After a moment, he seemed to find his voice, and he asked, his eyes wide: "Are you...Are you lecturing me?"

Hitomi flushed. Then, furious at herself, she lifted her chin haughtily and cried: "Well, so what if I am? You deserve it, you know."

The boy's eyes flashed in irritation, and, taking a threatening step towards her, he snarled: "What kind of nosy bitch are you, to lecture me? You don't even know me! So stick your scrawny nose out of my business, you geek!"

Hitomi tossed her head angrily, and snapped: "If you had any brains whatsoever, I wouldn't have to tell you what to do. But I was doing you a favour, giving you that advice, and you should be grateful. But nooo, being the brainless ape that you are, you had to yell at me instead. Well, sorry for worrying about you, you jerk!"

She then whirled on her heels and ran off, for once in her life not thinking about her homework, or a book she was reading.

No, she couldn't concentrate on those things at all.

* * *

Merle stretched luxuriously, and nearly purred with contentment.

"That was a good practice," she murmured happily, running her fingers through her wet hair as she sauntered down the street.

Her fingers encountered a particularly difficult knot, and she stopped, struggling to undo it.

It was as she was doing this that a tear-blinded girl ran smack right into her.

With a strangled shriek, Merle fell, her bag clattering to the ground. The girl who'd run into her also fell, crushing Merle with her weight.

"Get...off...me!" Merle gasped, her voice coming out as a squeak.

"I'm...I'm sorry!" the girl sobbed, scrambling off of her. "I - I was distracted, and not looking where I was going, and...and..."

Unable to go on, the girl broke out into a fresh wave of sobs. Seeing her distress, Merle softened.

"Don't cry," she said gently, sitting up and handing her a handkerchief she'd fished out of her pocket. "C'mon, what's wrong? Don't worry, you can tell me. It'll help, if you get it off your chest."

The girl took the handkerchief gratefully, and mopped away her tears. Then, sniffling, she looked into Merle's comforting eyes and gasped out the entire story.

* * *

Van kicked angrily at an unoffending rock, missing by a mile. Allen's eyebrows shot up.

"What's got you all worked up?" he asked his friend curiously.

"Nothing," Van replied through gritted teeth. "Nothing...at...all!"

To emphasize each word, he kicked at a nearby tree, stubbing his toe badly in the process.

"Oh? Then what's that?" Allen asked dryly, gesturing at the dark bruise disfiguring Van's cheek.

Van¡¯s hand flew up, covering the bruise, and he muttered: "It's nothing. It's not because of that."

"Then what?" Allen demanded in exasperation. "C'mon, man, we've known each other since we were little kids! You know you can tell me."

"Yeah, I know," Van sighed. "But...But it's so stupid..."

"Things that happen to you usually are," Allen replied with a teasing grin. "Now, spill. You get into a fight or something?"

"Or something."

Allen groaned, and cried: "Tell me!"

"Okay, okay!" Van exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. "Well, I did get into a fight -"

"Another one?" Allen interrupted. "Let me guess. Dilandau again?"

"Yeah. That bastard doesn't know when to give up. Anyways, after I finished with those rookies of his, I saw this girl -"

"You met a girl?" Allen interrupted again, his eyes wide with amazement. Van glared at him.

"Will you let me finish?" he demanded.

"Okay, okay. Sorry. Go on."

"She started lecturing me," Van continued, his eyes hardening at the memory. "And I...I sort of lost my temper."

"Lord, here we go," Allen said with a sigh, looking heavenward.

"All I did was yell at her a little bit," Van continued, acting as though he hadn't heard Allen at all. "I didn't say anything too bad..."

"But she started crying anyway...am I right?" Allen asked dryly. Van didn't reply. Allen sighed, and continued: "And now you feel guilty about it...right?"

"Guilty? What do I have to feel guilty about?" Van demanded incredulously. ¡°I didn't do anything wrong! It was her who was snooping into my business!"

"You still made her cry," Allen pointed out stubbornly. "You feel guilty about that. That's why you're in such a bad mood. Don't try to deny it, Van. I know you. You're not half as tough and cold-hearted as you'd like people to believe."

"Shut up," Van snapped sullenly. Allen laughed.

* * *

Van walked slowly up the weed-strewn path to his house. He didn't want to go home. He never did. But if he didn't, Mother would probably call the cops or something, and that was the last thing he needed.

Sighing, he stopped on the rickety porch and, bending down, reached under the cracked flowerpot by the door and took out the key. He then jammed it into the rusty lock on the wooden door and opened it after a couple of tries. Walking into the dark front hall, he called lazily: "I'm home!"

Right on time, his mother, wiping her hands on her stained apron, hurried out of the tiny kitchen and hugged him tightly. Van lowered his head and smelled fresh bread on her.

"Welcome home, son," his mother said warmly, pulling away and searching his softened face with eyes identical to his, except for the fine wrinkles that surrounded hers. "How was school?"

"It was great," Van replied promptly. Hey, it could have been great, you never knew, did you? So it wasn't a complete lie. "Is Merle home yet?"

"Yes, she is, and she brought a little friend home with her," his mother replied, her eyes brightening. "She'll be joining us for supper."

"Great," Van muttered darkly. "Wonderful. I think I'll have supper upstairs. I have a lot of homework, and -"

"Oh, no, you don¡¯t , Van Fanel!" his mother snapped, her face hardening. "You are going to do the polite thing and join us for supper. Right?"

"Right," Van replied, his voice sullen. His mother immediately brightened again.

"Merle!" she called in the direction of the kitchen. "Merle, come out! Van's home!"

"Coming!" Merle¡¯s voice called back, and a moment later, she walked out of the kitchen, followed by someone very familiar.

"Van." Merle began the introductions. "This is Hitomi. Hitomi, this is my brother, Van."

Van stared at Hitomi, and Hitomi stared right back. That brown hair...those green eyes...he knew this girl.

They both lifted trembling fingers and pointed at one another, crying out simultaneously: "You!"

Like? No like? Review plz! XD

Sorry it's short, but I wanted to end it there. I¡¯m sure you can see why. ^^;; I can guarantee the next chapter will be longer. Hope you liked! ^.^