A Serene Day? Maybe not.

[Misarashi Katanai]

Katanai desperately searched for a nice, serene place as she walked down the street. She turned a corner and there she found exactly what she was looking for-- a book store. Her hardened gaze softened as she strode towards the doors. She reached out for the handle on the door. She grasped it in her hand and turned it. She stepped inside the store. The store was currently nearly empty. This just relaxed Kat even more. She didn't have to put up with those that made fun of her today. Today, she would just read and sit in an serene room.

Usually, Katanai would just go to the park when she needed peace but today, the frigid winter weather forbid her from doing so. The air outside had a crisp chill to it. She took her seat, in a corner chair, in the back of the store. She allowed the warm breeze from the indoors fill her. Her tail relaxed, for it was previously curled, as to remove all the heat from the air around her. Now, she was warm, calm, and alone.

She looked at the shelf adjacent to her. Just her luck- an animal section. She always enjoyed reading books about her kind, cats. She smiled. She reached for a book titled A Complete Cat Book. Her teeth cringed slightly as she read the back. *This information is basic!* She thought angrily to herself.

She then reached out to the shelf to her left. She sighed. She couldn't find any books that grasped her attention at once. She became a bit frustrated. She then saw one book, sitting in the isle.

Katanai got up. She walked slowly towards the book. She picked it up. It was titled A Guide to Surviving High School- Konoha High. She slightly blushed as this trivial book grasped her attention. She embarrassedly opened the book. "Chapter One", she said aloud.

[Shishi Haru]

An Idiots Guide to the Ladies. Great, now the books are insulting me.

It was strange for Haru to be out on such a day. Normally he'd be at home, rotting his brain with video games, but today, he felt the need for a change. What possessed him he'll never know. He shrugged and took the book off it's shelf, walking down the isle while reading it.

"Lets see.....Chapter One, How to approach them." He looked up from the book quickly to see if anyone was watching him. He was embarrassed to be seen with such a book, anyone who knew him didn't know he was really girl shy. Luckly for him, the book store was almost empty, minus a few people. He looked back at his book and continued to walk.

He brown eye's scanned the page. "It is often wise to avoid acting childish, this will more likely repel than attract. Often try to stay on topic during conversations and avoid random subje-" Haru looked up. Wow, great. I've been doing it wrong all my life. He could never seem to concentrate on a single subject at a time, and many of his conversations with others were ruined by his tendency to not pay attention and deviate from the subject. How could he stop acting childish? It was part of him, a part his family happened to like.

I bet Isamu never had to read these books. Girls always asked him out....

He sighed at his own patheticness, and continued to read.

[Akita Yuki]

"What a long day," Yuki said as it mixed in with her sigh. Her arms and legs were bandaged as she walked down the street. Wincing as she took it step by step, her long, white hair fell into her face. She had spent all night training with her father as well as her mother. She hardly found two on one fair, but it was worth it in the long run. Her sword techniques were getting better.

She dragged her feet as her red eyes looked up, scanning the street for some thing calming and quiet to do. Oh, She though peering towards a large building. The library. Perfect. She smiled faintly and shut away the mild pains and protests from her muscles as she went to the door.

Opening it made her feel even a bit better. It was quiet and calm. Not many people roamed around the shelves. She happily, but still slowly, started to look around for a nice chair to sit in with a good book. Quickly finding her way to the fantasy and fiction sections, Yuki peered at the spines of the books that held the titles. She stopped and pulled one out. Flipping open the cover she saw in bold The Warrior. It seemed like an interesting book.

Not taking her eyes off of it, the pale girl began to read silently to herself. Her feet seemed to move on they're own to a lone table. Again, with her head down now, her hair fell into her face. Flipping to the next set of pages, she didn't notice and left it. Her dark eyes became wrapped up in what she read, not paying attention to any voices that were around her.

[Misarashi Katanai]

Katanai's ears perked up. She heard voices around her. She hated when her curiosity took over but she had learned well to control that. She looked into her book.
She read to herself:

"Here in Konoha high, there are a mixed verity of students. There is a ladder of popularity as so-
1. "Pretty" Humans
2. Sport Club Members
3. Over-achievers
4. Wanna-be smart-kids (
5. Mixed-breeds (humans with animal features)"

Katanai cursed under her breath. *Why me?* She thought to herself.

She read on.

" It's okay if you're one of the two bottom people! Some ways to beat this are signing up for clubs and socializing in everyday places"

Katanai's ruby eyes shut in horror. The only way to survive, according to this book, was to be social. She hated communicating with people half the time. She looked at her list of friends. There was only one name upon it. She sighed. Maybe it was time for her to make some new friends...

She looked over one of the shelves. She saw a boy and a girl, reading at different tables. She sighed. Girls were just so caddy most of the time. She decided that the boy would be the easy-going one.

She walked reluctantly over to him, her steps being slow and small. She tucked her book into a near-by shelf just in case she would need it. She smiled. She didn't know what to say. *Would it be rude just to go up to him and start a conversation?* she thought.

She finally saw that there was an empty chair next to him. She gulped. She was new at the whole, "making friends" deal. She then said softly with her eyes away, "Um... Excuse me.. Would you mind if I sat here?" She looked at him now but it wouldn't be for long...

[Shishi Haru]

"Um...excuse me. Would you mind if I sit here?" Haru looked up to the voice(female by the sound of it).

A girl with white hair and...cat ears?! Haru didn't want to seem rude, but he almost could help but stare. Never before had he seen a person with cat ears. Heck, everytime he got close to a cat, it scratched him. He always did like dogs better. Okay, what did the book say? Some about eye contact, I remember that, and stay on topic? Is there a topic? All she did was ask me a question....Woops, taking to long to answer her.

Haru shrugged. "Sure, I don't see anyone else in line to sit here." He said all he needed to, and t urned back to his book. The next line of it caught his attention.

Often be the starter of conversation. This shows that you actually want to talk and get to know them....What?

He looked up again, looking for any type of conversation starter. He could ask about weather, it was gray and wet outside, not the most uplifting of weather. His eyes scanned the room, finally falling on the title of her book. He smiled.

"So, you go to Konoha High too?"

[Akita Yuki]

Yuki's eyes quickly scanned the lines of the paragraphs. She was already on the second chapter. How she loved books like these, ones that get you so wrapped up you could just sit there for hours and read and read and read. Which is often what she did. Along with her passion for paintings and scenery work, books are often what entertained the Junior girl.

Mirage quickly pulled Mist to a stop. The horse-surprised by the suddeness of it all-reared quickly. Letting out quiet whispery orders to her horse, Mirage road the mare back down the path the way they had just come. The Dopplergangers on back cried frightened by the attack. Mirage shot them a warnging look as she peered over they're heads for the witch. Not there.

"Where-"

The mare again reared onto her hind legs. Quickly taking in the situation, Mirage jumped off the horse and took a fighting stance. The hooded-witch pulled back her hood to show Shimi-the one who had been following them this whole time. The dopplarganger drew her sword as-

"So, you go to Konoha High too?"

Yuki groaned. What a time to have to pick up on a conversation. She looked over her shoulder and cast a wary glance towards the boy and the...cat....girl....? Eh, she had seen stranger. Looking back to her book sadly, there was no way she could get back into it now. Yuki let out a long sigh and closed it. She just decided to rest her head for a few moments now. She put her head onto her arms and inturn, onto the desk.

[Misarashi Katanai]

Katanai blushed a bit. She was a little ashamed to be caught with such a book. She then uplifted the courage to say, "Yes. I'm a junior there...", she studied the boy's face. She then tilted her head slightly. She said kindly, "You look familiar." She smiled a bit.

The boy looked completely normal- probably one of the higher up parts of the social ladder. She sighed to herself, wishing deeply that she were average, such as he was. She then thought that it wouldn't hurt to make a normal friend.

She felt a slight pressure on her one leg- not heavy, but a light tap. She smiled as she looked down to see Aurora pawing at her. She sighed. With her luck- the boy was probably a dog person. She shrugged it off. She didn't HATE dogs but found them as quite the pain at times. Cats were much more independent.

She brushed her white-silver hair out of her crimson eyes. Her eyes had a dull shine to them but at times of grief- became duller. She was not in a bad mood today so she felt as if her eyes were glowing with interest- Did this boy go to her school? *Maybe he's a junior too...* she thought to herself. *He may be able to help me a bit... I'm lacking in friends in my grade...*