Vengeance of the Union

Chapter 1

"These days we now live in are dark, dark times. We must remain vigilant. On our toes. Eyes focused on the path ahead... But of course all you lot have to worry about are the exams next month"

Leo sighed and turned away as Professor Ex groaned on and on about the history of the Union. It wasn't as though they hadn't been taught the same thing thousands and thousands of times since middle school.

From his seat at the back of the classroom, he averted his eyes and gazed uninterestedly out of the window, down to the courtyard, watching the students of the International University of the Indo-Chinese Union of Europe (commonly known as the IUICUE) laying in the shade of the gently swaying sakura trees - folders discarded in piles dotted around, forgotten and desolate.

For a moment he let his eyes close softly as he dreamt about the peace and serenity of the lands. Ever since the founders had brought together the continents of the eastern hemisphere, the world had never been so free of war.

Ring. Ring.

His musings of the origins were soon brought to a close by the shrill ringing of the lunch bell, deafening all students for a fraction of a second. Professor Ex was forced to bring his lecture to an end as the students filed out, completely disregarding his words of so-called "wisdom".

'Finally', Leo sighed. He had had enough of those crazy words coming out of his crazy professor's crazy mouth.

"LEO-KUNNN!!!"

On his way to the cafeteria he was assaulted by a blur of blonde and bubble-gum pink as it latched on to his arm, screaming. He looked around.

"Oh, Tori, it's you"

She stomped her foot, hands on her hips. "Hey! How dare you forget me! We were gonna have lunch together. Remember? You silly billy!"

"Yeah, I remembered... I just, err, thought we were gonna meet at... Some... Place... Afterwards?"

"Oh, you bumhead! Come on, I might just forgive you if you buy me my favourite drink. That is, if you remember..." She trailed off, staring into his bright green eyes expectantly.

Leo internally scoured his brain for this month's trendy drink. "Err. Yeah. Pumpkin spice latte... Right?"

Tori's eyes narrowed, scrutinising him under her stare. She groaned before exclaiming, "Urgh! So annoying! We've known each other for how long now?"

Leo recalled how, back in Kindergarten, Tori was always known as an outsider from an aristocratic family. Naturally, people would try their best not to get themselves involved in the affairs of the upper class. There was, however, a group of children which Leo used to play with, and they were notorious for exploiting others, even at such a young age. As the one often forsaken on the playground, Tori looked to this group for company, only to be picked on and used for her family's wealth. At that time, Leo was the only person who stepped in to defend Tori, and ever since, she had been attached to him the whole time. 'Literally ALL the time...' Leo mused.

He supposed it wasn't too bad having her around so often. His sister seemed to like her well enough when she came over and his parents were glad that he seemed to be making close friends. He considered his friendship with Tori, 'If anything, she can be annoying but I guess she means well.'

But there were time she pushed the boundaries of his patience. One day he had been eating lunch with a classmate of his when they were joined by Tori.

"Leo-kun!" She greeted him with a quick hug and turned to face the girl by his side. "And you are...?"

"Rena, a friend of Leo's." She introduced herself, "if you don't mind me asking, how do you two know each other? You seem very close."