The Writers' Circle

Book 1, Chapter 1, Part 2

	"There you are! I was worried sick about you!" Kaname said, walking through the mist and scattering it.
	I was silent, too shocked to say anything.
	"Lumi? You okay?" he asked, sounding genuinely worried now.
	Deciding that he obviously hadn't seen what I had, I decided not to tell him. If i was going insane, I definitely didn't want people to know about it.
	"Yah, I'm fine. I just got a little confused. What did you say?" I said awkwardly.
	"I said you should be more careful. I was worried about you," he said. It seemed like he didn't believe my cover up story. But he took my hand all the same.
	"Really?" I asked as he dragged me outside into a warm, cheerful city bustling with kind faced people.
	"Yes. For all I know you could have boarded another plane by accident," he replied.
	"Even I'm not that dense," I replied.
	"The letter says to meet the bus at Cherry Town Inn at 6:00 P.M.," said Kaname, completely ignoring me.
	I was about to say something about his opinion of my intelligence when someone spoke from behind us, making us both jump.
	"Oh, Cherry Town Inn is just across the street there, but you still have a little while before you have to board the bus,"
	We turned to see a pale girl with sparkling, chocolate brown eyes. Her beautiful black hair flowed all the way to her knees, and was complemented by the dark purple blouse and black slacks she was wearing greatly.
"Are you new students to the Arcanum Academy?" she asked cheerfully. She seemed to have a slightly foreign accent.
	"Yeah, this is our first year," replied Kaname.
	"Cool! I've been going for a year now. You'll really like it a lot. The head mistress is wonderful," she said, smiling.
	"Alyssia! Come on, or we won't have time to eat!" a guy called.
	"Coming Yuki!" she replied to him, and then turned back to us, "See you at school!" she walked away gracefully, cat-like. It made me self-conscious of how clumsy I really was.
	"Let's go," said Kaname.
	He led me, still holding my hand, across the street towards the bus so we could drop off our luggage. As though gravity was against me, I tripped. I was about to collide with the hard, black asphalt when Kaname caught me.
	"Lumi, Lumi, Lumi," he sighed teasingly, helping me regain my balance, "You're such a klutz! Whatever am I to do with you? You need constant watching!"
	We both laughed as we got to the other side of the street and dropped our bags off by the bus.
	"Where to now?" I asked.
	Before he could answer, a faint growling sound started. I blushed scarlet as I wrapped my arms around my stomach in a sad attempt to stifle the sound.
	"We're going to get some lunch!" he stated cheerfully, chuckling at me.
	Before I could object, he was tugging me along after him. After browsing through a selection of diners, we decided on a cute little bakery placed in between two larger buildings. The bakery had a friendly atmosphere to it, and the waitress who seated us was very kind. Being a vegetarian, I ordered avocado salad and a croissant, and Kaname ordered the same.
	"I'm curious," said Kaname after the waitress had taken our dishes away, "Why did the school invite you?"
	"I don't know," I replied. I had been wondering the same thing ever since I had received my letter.
	Kaname looked at me thoughtfully and sighed in fake annoyance.
	"Lumi, do you know what kind of school Arcanum Academy is?" he asked.
	"No, not really. I sort of accepted on a whim. I didn't research it very much."
	Kaname leaned across the table closer to me and whispered into my ear.
 "It's for people with unique skills," he whispered.
"What kind of 'skills'?" I asked, raising two fingers on each hand and bending them slightly for emphasis.
"Skills of power, skills that are strange, skills that harm, skills that rearrange," he riddled teasingly.
"All right Mr. all-wit-and-no-charm, tell me already!" I couldn't sound furious properly.
"You don't think I'm charming?" Kaname asked in fake sorrow.
I pretended to think for a minute, holding him in suspense.
"Okay, maybe you're a little charming, but don't let it go to your head. Now tell me what this school is all about already."
He smiled, "I'm not sure how to explain it," he whispered, "but I'll try. There are some people who have powers, powers most other people don't have."
"Like.?" I asked, my curiosity roaring with impatience.
"Well, everyone's spirit resembles an animal. Some people's spirits are stronger, and that power overflows. There are people that have enough overflowing energy to change into their spirit animals, and some have other powers as well. Like being able to teleport, to read minds, and other things," he said, "Rarely someone can have more then one power. Arcanum Academy teaches us how to control these powers,"
I didn't miss the plural.
"What's your animal?" I asked so quietly I wasn't sure he would hear me.
Kaname shrugged, "No clue."
"What's my animal?" I whispered to him.
He leaned in closer as he thought.
"I can't be sure, but perhaps I can guess your power. Hmmmm, " He concentrated hard for a few seconds, and then snapped his fingers and leaned back smugly, "I've got it!"