A New Start

[Cain]

Public High School #774.

Cain stood at the main gate for a moment, his low-cut boots gripping the asphalt walk way as the Junior let his emerald eyes stare the building down. It was large, to say the least. The let out a soft sigh, looking down at the ground for a moment, reminding himself why he had come here in the first place. He had traveled all the way from New York City and it had really not been easy, but he was here. Question was, would history repeat itself? This school, if Cain had read properly, had almost risked being closed down too, until they made use of the pillar system. And now, peace had returned. In a way, Cain both despised and relished that change. Despised as this school could be potentially boring for the fighter, and relished because now he knew that he could work to become a graduate without much of a problem.

Could he be wrong, though?

He looked at his attire. He had changed his hair. His once signature blue hair had now been dyed to natural brown and it had been cut short too. He was wearing a plain white shirt and over that, a simple black leather jacket. And he completed his attire with his dark blue denim fitting jeans. As for footwear, well, as mentioned earlier, a pair of low-cut boots. He chuckled. He never thought that he would go through so much a transformation. Compared to when he was a freshman, Cain had gotten bigger and faster. By a lot.

With that, he took his first step into #774, the goofy Junior celebrating the small feat subtly with a wide grin. He lifted his head, his eyes finding the entrance of the main school building then. This was a new start for him now. After #552 closed down after the death of the Headmaster and his failed idea of a correctional facility, Cain had been thrown back into the streets where he had almost fallen completely into the darkness of New York's alleyways. Gang ways, illegal activities, transportation of illegal goods, Cain had done it all. Very little other schools accepted students from #552, and even if they did, they were not willing to accept one with as long a record as Cain.

However, hearing about #774, Cain had felt a new hope. He had deleted the records, with much help from his hacking ability. And decided to start over anew all the way here in California. That smile kept plastered upon his face as he made his way closer to the entrance. Yeah, he was here now. This was a new start. This was where he was going to pick up from where he dropped off last time. This was where he was going to finish high school and get to college. This was whe-

"Get out of my way, fresh meat."

This was where Cain was still going to get into trouble.

The Junior felt a large hand shove down on his upper back, the smaller male staggering forward and almost falling face flat were it not for his quick footwork and balance recover. What the hell? Cain turned on his heels, finding himself then face to face with a giant. And for a moment there, Cain thought he was back in #552. So, apparently, this school was not that much different was it. It still had its share of bullies. Cain smirked. Finally. Some entertainment. He straightened himself, his right fist clenching as he stared at the large male dead in the eye.

"And if I don't?"

Oh yeah, here comes The Cain.

[genesia]

G[/size]enesia had not gotten used to this place yet. She was part of the student group that had transfered in from some of the smaller schools that had been closed down upon the completion of 774. Now, here she was, having to get used to the way that people in ths place seemed to hot headed and ready to tear each other apart for nothing more than a simple dirty look or accidental run in.

Honestly she did not know how she would ever survive in a place like this. She was not a fighter...In fact she was the farthest thing from it. She was just a young girl who was trying to get some form of education in a place where twice already she had been pushed around and almost beaten up.

Guys were all touchy feely in this place to when they found out you did not, and honestly could not fight....Which seemed to be her current problem...

She had been on her way to class...dressed in a simple blue dress that went down to her mid thigh and her auburn hair falling freely about her slender form. She had been minding her own business when a guy a good foot taller than her and muscled out like there was no tomorrow had cut off her path down the hall....trying to make a pass at her....Or at least that was what she had come to realize it was called....

In all honesty she did not know what the big deal was all about....but whatever it was, she was not really into the whole "hey baby" scene...at least...not with any of the guys that had tried it thus far.....This guy....Brent...she thought his name was....being no different.....

Yet he seemed to not like taking no for an answer, and soon enough she felt her little body shoved up against the wall, his big hand coming down to grip tightly at her side...[/i]

"Now, what were you saying little one?"

Those hazel eyes fell over him as small hands came up to try and push him away...Only to feel her small wrist grabbed as he began to drag her toward the exit....

Other students watched but none of them really stepped up to do anything....Just then some guy she had not seen before (which was not hard in this place) stepped into the path of Brent...or whatever his name was....causing him to stop, Genesia still in tow as he demanded the kid move out of the way....His hand coming out to push him.....

But the kid, despite the appearance of this big brute....did not move...simple asked what would happen if he did not.....Though honestly Genesia was not exactly interested in what was going on...Instead she tried to again jerk her arm away from the guy's grip.....

"Let me go!"

Her thick Greek accent ringing out as she kicked him in the knee, only to feel a swift backhand across her face...sending her tiny form to the ground as she reached up, touching upon her lip where the slight copper tinge of blood could be tasted...her head spinning.......

"Shut up sweetheart. I will deal with you in a minute."

[Cain]

"Let me go!"

Oh? What's this? A damsel in distress? Was this another classic fairytale story, where the small knight comes up against the large dragon and with much bravery and determination, defies death and saves the damsel? Ah, hell. In a way, it seemed like it was going to be. Only, there was no dragon, just a giant brute. And Cain had no sword, nor armor, nor knightly name to speak of. He was just a simple Junior. Cain watched as the girl struggled to get out of the large man's grip, before letting his eyes traverse back to Brent. Well, that just gave Cain one more reason to beat the crap out of this little bugger.

And the slap was the last straw, really. Cain despised such guys who thought that just because they were bigger, they had superiority over other people. Cain himself was not that tall, the man standing but a mere 5'8''. Not exactly the tallest of guys. And more often than not, he was bullied due to such. The girl fell to the ground, Cain's eyes fixated upon the brute as he warned her to stay in place. Apparently, Brent wanted to deal with the male fresh meat first. Bad choice, really. Cain took a deep breathe, his right foot shifting back. Alright, time to take it into action.

Brent would turn back to Cain, giving him a wide grin, as if expecting the smaller male to be easy pickings. To Brent, Cain was just another one of those clueless little brats who had too much guts for his own good. To Brent, Cain was a new guy, and thus was new to fighting. To Brent, Cain was small and weak. Too bad. Brent was really one foolish ape. The large guy would swing a right hook down upon Cain. However, the Junior would do something quite unexpected indeed. Before the hook even reached Cain, the boy would already flicker forward, his own right hand finding his solar plexus. Brent let out a grunt, his arm stopping in his tracks.

And Cain was not going to let up just yet. His left hand would snap upwards, a straight chop finding its way to Brent's throat, causing him to stagger backwards, clutching for his neck as he gasped for air. No, not yet. Cain grabbed his shirt, pulling at it to push for forward as he drove his right elbow at his solar plexus again, causing him to double over. Cain would step back, allowing him to do as such. And for the finishing touch, a rising knee to meet to the forehead. Brent would snap back up, staggering backwards before falling on his back, dazed. Quick, fluid and smooth. What a combination indeed. Cain chuckled, looking at Brent for a moment.

"You're too slow."

With that, Cain turned to the girl, looking at her for a brief moment, before passing her a hospital smile, a hand reaching out as an offer to help her up.

"Hey, you alright?"

[genesia]

A[/size]s the fight between the two began to take place, Genesia would try and push herself up to stand. But just as she did she felt a sudden shot of pain from her ankel....causing her to whimper out in pain as she again fell down to the floor.

A slow stream of blood finding its way from her busted lip, downward over her chin and dripping onto the floor below....She could not help the tears that seemed to form in her eyes over this situation...She was not one to really know that such horrid things existed in this world and honestly she would have been better off not knowing....But since coming here ....she was slowly learning.......

The next thing she knew, as she tried to push herself with her hands away from the fight, was that the other guy, the one Brent had tried to bully around, was now there, coming up to her and holding his hand out to see if she was okay..

Instinct told her to pull away, to hide from this newcomer for fear that he would be just like Brent if not worse...Yet she ignored it...

Genesia was always the one to try and give somebody the benefit of the doubt...no matter who they were....

So with a slight turn of her head she would look at him with those hazel eyes, shrouded in a cloak of her auburn hair....slowly allowing one trembling hand to reach out toward his. Her small, cool skin brushing against his own as her hand came to settle neatly into the palm of his own....fingers wrapping about slightly as she shook her head.

"No, I believe I may have twisted ankel...and face hurts really bad..."

Her tone, though soft and timid, was still clearly that of a girl from another country, not to mention she still had some issues with english and her senrences became broken in parts....She was workingon it, but it was going to take time...She knew that.....

Slowly she would again try to stand...this time without putting so much weight on her foot........Finally managing a halfhearted little smile

"Thank you....I am...Genesia D'Angelico. You are?"

Everything about her screamed of her not being a fighter...of being something different....somebody who most likely would not last very long in this school...But it was where her mother said she had to go now and so she would go until she got her ass literally kicked out...Heh..

[Cain]

Well, wasn't she the timid little lamb? Cain raised an eyebrow as she stared back at him, as if unsure whether to take the hand or not. However, despite his own doubts, Cain stayed firm with his decision to try and help her, his hand still in place, the offer to accept Cain's help as open as ever. And much to his relief, she accepted it. His smile widened momentarily as he let her hand come firmly upon his first, before letting his fingers develop a firm yet gentle grip on her, not wanting to hurt her more than Brent already had.

"No, I believe I may have twisted ankle...and face hurts really bad..."

Wow. Brent had hit her that hard? Cain felt somewhat lucky that he was a lot faster than the large brute. He wondered if he could have withstood such a large open hook shot to his face. Ah, well, back to the matter of importance, she had a twisted ankle, or at least, she thought she did. It mattered not, for it had the same result. She was unable to stand and walk on her own. Cain was going to have to help her do so. With that, as she tried to stand up again, Cain would bend his legs, allowing himself to be lower so as to give her better leverage to pull herself up upon. Cain made sure to do it slowly, so as to not apply too much pressure on the supposed injured leg.

As soon as she was up on her feet, Cain would let go of her hand and place his hand on her arm then. As alarming as this action would seem, Cain doubted she would panic that much, for the grip was there and its purpose was pretty clear. He was neither pulling her to him, nor pushing her back down to the ground. He was holding her steady, and letting her lean upon him if she ever needed to. Yeah, he was standing at the side of which her leg was injured.

"Thank you....I am...Genesia D'Angelico. You are?"

Cain looked up at her eyes, his attention and hues having being focused on her leg till that moment. Genesia D'Angelico? Wow, what a pretty unique name. Cain smiled. He had yet to introduce himself, hadn't he? Well, might as well do so now, since she was asking for it.

"Uhm, I'm Cain. Cain Aurelius."

She seemed pretty timid and insecure, not to mention soft-spoken. And such were the kind of people that Cain knew would definitely have quite an eventful time in schools like #774. They were either constantly bullied upon, or taken under the wing of a righteous Defender who would then constantly be there to try and protect her, as she was unable to protect herself. Of course, Cain was never the type to do that. If he was there, he would help. If he was not, then...

"Can you walk? Let's get you to the nurse's office. Here, to wipe away the blood."

Cain reached into his side pocket with his left hand, pulling out a new sheet of hankerchief, holding it up for her. If she really was an insecure as Cain thought she was, it was better if he not do anything alarming towards her. For now, he was just going to help her go get her leg checked up on.

[knightmare13]

'That should be enough to catalogue.' Shane thought in his Douglas disguise holding out a cellphone pointing out to the two, focusing intently on the boy and how he fought, 'He could be a good asset, Shane thought as he put turned the cell phones camera function and saved the file.
Doug put the cell phone away and began walking in the other direction whistling slightly once he walked by.

[genesia]

G[/size]enesia would allow this guy to help her up, using his body as a way to steady herself as she brushed her tongue over her lip.

Sure, she was timid and soft spoken, but then she had yet to really come into her own just yet....It was something she would be forced to do at some point here at 774.....She just had not realized that as of yet.

Smiling softly as he offered up his name, she would let those hazel eyes fall over him as she finally pulled away, managing to stand on her own so long as she put minimal weight on her foot....She was many things, but too weak to make it on her own? Not really......

Like so many other girls there was so much more to her than met the eye.

"Thank you so much for your help. I know I am not all that.......well yeah...."

She lowered her eyes....a bit embarrassed about how easily some big guy had managed to take her out...Honestly she did not know how she had gotten so weak and timid..it just seemeed to be one of those things that happened and she could not change.

"Pretty pathetic huh?"

She laughed softly, trying to make it seem like she was laughing at her own little joke....though deep in her mind it was not really a joke....But he did not know that.

[Cain]

All it took was a soft tug from her arm and Cain knew that she was feeling uncomfortable already and so, he complied with her wishes, his grip on her arm releasing. However, his hand stayed close to he arm, in fear that she would lose balance suddenly and fall back down, which would be trouble for both of them. However, she seemed accustomed to such injuries, as she naturally allowed her weight to be on her good leg. Ah, well, she seemed fine on her own anyway. With that, Cain pulled his hand away completely. There was no need to be overprotective here. All he had to do now was accompany her to the nurse's office and make sure nothing else happened to her.

Of course, Brent needed medical attention too, but at that moment, who gave a fuck about him?

"Thank you so much for your help. I know I am not all that.......well yeah.... Pretty pathetic huh?"

Cain raised his eyebrow at her for a moment. Yup, she really was one of those innocent timid girls that honestly did not belong in a place like this. He smiled, utterly amused at how adorable she seemed. Cain had to wonder, really, how did she end up in a place like this? Had her old school close down too? If so, then it was a pretty late time to do so. When #774 was set up a couple years ago, a lot of schools had closed down to give way to it. Apparently, though, not all had followed the trend.

"You're welcome. Glad to have been of help. Besides, he pushed me aside too, so yeah. And pathetic? Haha, not really. You resisted against him, remember? The really pathetic thing to do was just let him have his way, after all."

Cain smiled, his head tilting slightly as he did. Of course, Cain was not saying that just to make her feel better, though that was the main intention. He was also complimenting her. Considering Brent's size, many timid girls would not have resisted as hard as she did. Hell, she twisted her ankle in her attempts, which only served to show just how hard she had indeed try.

"Now, come on. We have to head to the nurse's office."

However, just as he took the first step, he noticed something different here. This was not #552. This was #774. Fuck. Letting out a cough, he turned back to Genesia.

"Uhm... Do you know where that is?"

Yeah, he was lost.

[genesia]

G[/size]enesia would keep her hazel eyes on him, that smile broadening as a light giggle escaped her....So he was lost huh? Not a problem...she had worked hard to memorize her little map of the school..

She did not figure that a girl like her would do good to get lost in a place like this...Taking a moment to look around she would nod as she reassured herself of where she was.....

"This way...there is a nurses office two hallways down on the right."

She then bent slightly to grab up her backpack, stumbling just a bit, but managing to catch her balance quick enough. With that she shrugged the bag onto her shoulder and took a hesitant step forwardk, wincing lightly as the pain shot up her leg....She was not as easily broken as all this...But that stupid car accident when she was younger had shattered both her legs...and made them easily injured these days.......But that was something she kept to herself.....

Finally she made another step, this time not so hard given she used her good leg to do such......It took her a bit but she finally managed to get a steady pace going, all be it painful...Her eyes turning once more to Cain as she reached up and brushed back a few auburn strands of hair, tucking them lightly behind her ear.

"So, how long have you been here? Not long I am guessing since you dont know your way around yet."'

She would laugh softly once more, though not to try and be rude, simple a soft, friendly, gentle laugh that was meant to try and lighten the mood and nothing more. She kept her eyes on him, only turning to look ahead once in awhile to make sure that they were going the right way.....

[Cain]

"This way...there is a nurses office two hallways down on the right."

Two hallways down on the right. Cain repeated her words in his head, making sure to etch it into his memory so as to not forget the next time he ever needed to visit the office. Being the individual that Cain was, he knew that the nurse was someone Cain would definitely befriend in the future. The near future. Cain would look towards the school compound, once more gawking at the majestic architectural beauty that was the school. It was indeed large, fitting to be a replacement for all the other schools in this part of the country.

The sound of the shuffling of materials behind him caught his attention and he turned back, noticing then that Genesia was struggling with her bag. Cain's eyes widened as he stepped forward once more, his right hand reaching forward as he grabbed her bag. He gave her a small smile, his eyes glistening with determination to assist that it seemed almost impossible to say no.

"Please, let me."

He would speak in quite a gentle tone, sounding more soft than demanding, his grip on her bag loosening only ever so slightly. If she let go, then Cain would of course sling her bag over his opposite shoulder, keeping the arm nearer to her as free as possible, making sure to be ready to catch her if need be. If she, however, suddenly grew firm and refused to pass him the bag, then he would have to comply and let go of the bag. Cain figured it would be the former, though.

"So, how long have you been here? Not long I am guessing since you dont know your way around yet."

As she chuckled, so did Cain, his head lowering a bit as he did. His lips would part, his clean-white teeth showing as he felt a little embarrassed then, his eyes giving the school a quick glance, before returning to meet Genesia's.

"Actually, today's my first day."

[genesia]

S[/size]he noted the determination in his eyes as he reached for her bag and she could not help but blush lightly and nod as she released the bag for him to carry. That smile staying in place as she again started her slow but steady movements toward the nurses office...

Then as he spoke she would look over to him, those eyes of hers once more seeking out his own as a bit of her auburn hair fell down into her face.

"First day huh? Mine to. I just happened to really study they map they gave me when I registered. Kinda wierd like that."

She shrugged, not going to lie and pretend that she had been here for awhile, she was as new as he was and she admitted it....

Her teeth capturing her lower lip as they bit upon it softly. A little nervous habit she had as she took another step and winced in pain at putting too much weight on her injured leg. Gods she hated the fact that she got hurt so easily since the accident. But she could not change it. No matter how much she tried....

Letting out a little whimper of pain she would try and suck it up to keep going. She knew already that you could not show weakness in this place...as with most places in this world.....So she tried hard to just act like everyone else...

Nobody liked a girl who was actually....a girl.....they liked them tough and mean apparently...Or at least from what she had seen in this place....Which meant she was pretty much screwed....But it was not like she had a choice in the matter.....

"Though I honestly doubt I will fit in here. I have been watching people all day and .....yeah....I just dont seem to be the type..."

She looked away as she stopped and leaned against a set of lockers...Trying to simply rest for a minute to stop the throbbing pain in her ankle before continuing.

[Cain]

And she got the message behind the ferocity of his stare, reluctantly but gratefully passing her bag to him, of which he would take and carry over his shoulder. With a soft smile, he gave her a nod, before staying by her side as they steadily walked over to the school building. And all this time, unsurprisingly, no one came to help Brent, the large man still too deep in pain to recover and get back up on his feet. Then, Genesia turned to look at him, the Junior raising his chin to meet her gaze. So, she was a new student too, huh? Cain smiled. Well, at least he was not the only new one here.

He just made a friend. Yay.

Then, they continued on their walk, Genesia clearly struggling more than she looked. Cain glanced towards her legs. From what he could see, at least in plain view, the leg was not that damaged. However, it seemed that Genesia was suffering a lot from it. Perhaps her legs were already weak in the first place? Cain furrowed his eyebrows. Could be. Cain glanced back up at her, clearly disturbed at her somewhat-desperate struggle to walk.

Soon enough, though, they were inside the school.

"Though I honestly doubt I will fit in here. I have been watching people all day and .....yeah....I just dont seem to be the type..."

Cain looked at her, giving a soft chuckle. Yeah, he would agree with her on that. Rarely did Cain see a girl in schools like this be that helpless. He had always thought the female population in schools to be tougher than they looked. Take for example, the first female that Cain had ever fought. Tsubame Hirotaki. The Japanese girl had handed Cain's ass to him on a silver platter.

She stopped for a while, proceeding to rest herself against a locker as Cain stopped alongside her. He let out a soft sigh.

"You know, I could give you a piggy back there, if you can't walk anymore."