A cafe serving a huge variety of scrumptious pastries.

Hikami arrives slightly late carrying with him a half-bald, small, smelly and hideous dog. A huge smile plastered on his face. "I apologize." He murmured as he approached Kirai. "Some bigger dogs were beating this poor thing up. I had to save him." The fat dog looks at Kirai with loving eyes, his tongue lolling out of its mouth.

"Are we permitted to have pets in the asylum?" Hikami asked, as he rubbed the dog behind its ears. "I really want him. I don't want him to get picked on anymore..."

Kirai sighed,"Sure" she said, petting the dog behind its ears. Kirai sat down within a booth and picked up a menu to read.

Hikami grins and sits across from her, rocking back and forth and twiddling his thumbs nervously. He ignores his menu, opting instead to stare out the window with wide, childish eyes.

Kirai looked up from her menu,"A penny for your thoughts?" she asked.

Hikami started turning to look at Kirai with wide eyes. " I don't know." He murmurs. "I tend to think to much, I was just watching them." He points to a group of laughing teenagers, all hanging out and having a good time. "I was wondering what it would be like to live normally. To not see what I see and to not know what I know. I sometimes wish I was like them. I've never really had friends since the incident in kindergarten..."

"What happened in kindergarten?" Kirai asked looking out the window as well. She sighed and rested her chin in her palm, and leaned against the table, observing Hikami curiously. Even though she had spent her teen age years as a mercenary, she had learned to forget.

"I slit a girl's throat." Hikami answered nonchalantly, folding his hands between his bony knees. "In my mind I was protecting her from the monster, killing her before he did...I was taken out of school for awhile. People don't forget those things, you know?" His voice was soft, the British accent in it becoming more pronounced. "I don't mind being alone, though. I guess I never really am." He smirked with dry humor, tapping his temple and winking dramatically, an attempt to lighten the suddenly heavy mood.

Kirai's eyes widened, but returned to normal. She smiled softly, and looked back down at the menu in her lap. "Tell me more about yourself, Hikami." Kirai said, not really noticing his accent until now.

Hikami looked at her, noticing that he hadn't really seen her smile until just moments ago. He smiled back, this time, genuinely. He really WAS a pretty boy when you got past the childishness within him.

"Tell me more about yourself, Hikami."[i] The words repeated themselves in his head, it took him longer than it should to answer. He wasn't one to dwell on the past. His eyes traveled back to the window.

"There isn't much to me," he murmured, his eyes still on the group of teenagers. "I was born into a rich family back in the UK, I lived there most of my life. I was always alone, scared of what I saw. Scared of something no one could understand. I didn't understand why I liked watching people get hurt, why I enjoyed it when blood was shed. I never understood why sometimes, I wasn't me. It was just so weird. Finally, I stopped going. I couldn't force myself to see them. To see the people that hated me, that wanted me dead. Then my father said he didn't want me. It would ruin his business. And he sent me here. He sent me to this strange place. I guess it's all right here."

Again, he smirked, his eyes taking on a playful light. "There sure are some cute girls."

"Hmm..I guess you're right." Kirai said looking out the window at a blond teenage girl. "I hear the waitress here is single." Kirai said absentmindedly, not really caring about Hikami's love life, but more about the deals she might get.

Hikami chuckled good-naturedly. Looking over at the petite blonde waitress with distaste, wondering what had made Kirai so sad. He'd caught that aura about her, and, quite frankly, he wasn't too fond of it. He bit his lip gently studying the profile of her face.

"I remember your face," he whispered barely audibly across the table. "My father showed it to me, you did something bad and lost your boyfriend. They said you disappeared."

He hesitated momentarily.

"I know the person who killed him." He looked down at his fidgeting hands. "You may not care, but he's dead now." Again, Hikami looked at her, his eyes bright with sociopathic rage.

"I heard the murderer was never caught..."

Kirai bit her lip as she heard the words. She looked over the menu and closed it gently, suddenly not so hungry. She placed it in front of herself and looked back at Hikami. "What exactly do you think you know about me?" Kirai inquired, nonchalantly, but with a glint in her eye.

"I never claimed to know anything." Hikami said, but a glint was in his eye. "I just remember your face in the newspapers, and how you lost your boyfriend. I was younger at the time, so I don't remember much."

In fact, he remembered it all. There was something nagging inside of him, something pulling at the strings of his heart.

"I don't know, I have this weird sense I know you. Like, I don't know. It's confusing to me." He reached down and scratched the long-forgotten dog's belly. "Kirai Hokkaido." He murmured.

He chewed his lip, reopening the cut from earlier, a little spot of blood touching his pale chin, staining it in the sickest of ways.

"Did you know my father, perhaps?" He asked, keeping his tone light, looking up as the waitress approached.

"I'll have a vanilla cupcake," Kirai said to the waitress, and stared at Hikami, wondering how he knew so much about her. She took off her head phones and layed them on the table, which was normally used as a hair accessory than something to listen to music with. "Who exactly is your father?" Kirai asked handing Hikami a napkin.

Rinami quietly walked into the shop, head bent and hands stuffed in her pockets. She didn't really like eye contact. She slowly looked up and saw Kirai and Hikami, who seemed to be deep in conversation. She shuffled over to them. "Hello everyone," she said in a hushed tone, hoping she wasn't interupting something important.

"I'll just have that." Hikami muttered, pointing to something random on the menu. He took the napking from Kirai crumpling it in his hands. He stared her down with his disconcertingly dark eyes.

"Takashi Yuki." He said finally. "That politician guy. He also worked undercover for the mafia. Everyone knows him." He said. He looked back at her, wondering why he was opening up to this woman so much. Why he trusted her.

He looked into her eyes, they were like his, cold, empty hollow. He noticed they were connected in a way. They both knew what it was like to be so completely, overwhelmingly alone.

'I understand you,' He thought, wondering if she understood him.

"Hello, Rinami," Hikami said, quietly, patting the seat beside him. "Please, join us if you wish. The more the merrier, am I not correct?" He glanced warily at Kirai, telling her that their previous subject was closed.

Kirai looked up at Rinami who had suddenly come in. She scooted over to let Rinami sit beside her. "Rinami, Hikami. Hikami, Rinami. But it appears that you two already know each other." Kirai said, thinking over the name,"Takashi Yuki,"

"Quite the contrary," Hikami said with his usual air of intelligence. "We've just met." He turned his head to look out the window.

"How are you on this lovely evening, Miss Rinami?" He asked, a small smile touching his eyes.

"Fine," Rinami said to Hikami, and a smile also formed on her face as she sat down next to Kirai. Hmm, now I know I'm not the only strange one at the Acadamy, she thought.

Hikami continued to stare out the window aware of Rinami's eyes on him. He turned his head once, trying to catch her eyes.

"Yes?"

He asked, raising his eyebrows, he felt secluded and singled out, being the only male AND the only totally crazy one in the cafe.

"Rinami, here, is in love with the English teacher her at Melancholic Academy." Kirai lied blatantly, she didn't know why but she always seemed to spread lies about her friend, when she was around. Last time it was "Rinami likes to eat cat food."

Hikami pretended to care. "Oh?" In fact, he hadn't even been aware there WERE more than two teachers at the academy. He eyed Rinami suspiciously, his features leaning more towards beautiful then childish at the moment.

"And how's that working out for you?" Something inside him was yelling for him not to believe was Kirai said, but, he WAS sociopathic and enjoyed watching people wriggle in fear. He waited for Rinami to react as the two ganged up on her.