*Haruko inserted as much malice into turning the page of the Potions book as she could, but it was hardly the best vent for her spleen. Her disgust was aimed at the bunches of chattering younger students who seemed to regard the library as a social club. Though her face stayed calm, she couldn't ignore the cacophany arising from all four corners of the library. AND I have a test tomorrow. Brilliant. Just bloody brilliant.*

*Suddenly, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Her head darted around to see who was stupid enough to distrupt her study.*

"What now?" *she snarled*.

The library wasn't the ideal place to take a hike, that Asura noticed quickly enough by the snarl of a random someone he had just bumped into. Nasty piece of work, that was the first thought that came to mind, but to say that Asura Lucier wasn't one himself was a lie.

Regarding her query, he just gazed at her through his good eye, the other one was scarred and useless.

The intruder, Haruko realised, was a guy behind her. The first thing she noticed about him was a scarred, dead-looking eye, though the other seemed fine. He was staring at her in the most infuritating matter; somehow, the fact that he wasn't saying something was worse for her temper than any remark he possibly could have made.

"Well? Are you into random acts of rudeness or has the fact", she held up her Potions book, "that I'm trying to study here escaped you?"

Wow...was I this b*tchy when I first came here? Asura shook his head, he probably was, hence the Finn wars that still probably wasn't over. He sighed, "So I apologize." He offered calmly, more amused than anything.

Haruko had the vague notion that this guy was making fun of her. His 'apology' sounded anything but, and the expression on his face seemed to say, Wow, somebody ate b*tch flakes for breakfast this morning. She sighed. She wasn't normally this touchy, anything but, but as soon as the prospect of not topping the class in the latest test loomed before her suddenly nothing else mattered, including common courtesy. "Apology accepted", she said curtly, the angle of her eyebrows showing that she wasn't taking him seriously.

Asura had a sudden thought, what if this girl...No, he shouldn't think that way. It was a terrible way to think, even by his standards. And he had done plenty for his time.

"Glad it is." He offered with a smirk. So who cared if he was a bast*rd? He certainly didn't.

Finn was studying on the other side of the library, away from Asura. He didn't know the girl, but figured she was Asura's new arm candy. Oh great, he thought, Asura has another cherie. Another enemy. He avoided eye contact with both of them, hoping that they wouldn't say anything to him.

Asura felt the pressure of someone's eyes on him, it wasn't a feeling easily explained, but he knew it very well, turning from the girl for the moment. "...Hi, Finnie." He said lightly. "No time no see."

"Glad to see you aren't dead Lucier," Finn said cynically, "Who's this, your new cherie?" He looked back down at his book. He had a difficult paper to write and had to do research. He hoped Asura would leave it at that, but he knew better than to expect that...

Haruko laughed coldly, tossing her black hair away from her shoulder. Some people were stupid, and some were tragically so. "Afraid not. Somehow, him shoving me as he walked past doesn't quite equate a love affair to me."

"He's done more to worse people," Finn said, "and they turned out to be in his group of wh*res." Finn stood up and walked over to her. "The name's Finn."

"Suave as ever, yes?" Asura watched the scene in amusement, "Try to exercise that a bit more, so your own little chere won't run off all the time." He made a face, "....And don't say such disgusting things."

"You leave Faith out of this!" He said, raising his voice enough so that the people studying around him shushed him. "At least I can keep a girlfriend for more than a few weeks!"

"So can I." Asura said, dealing with a chimaera...and then after that dealing with Finnie, he could definitely see the difference. "

He gave the girl a sidelong glance and decided that even though they were destined to not get along well, he would respect her, by the way things are going. "If my shoving you implied a love affair I would be very disturbed indeed."

"I'm sorry Lucier," Finn said, "But paying hookers doesn't constitute a relationship. That was why all your cheries stuck around while you were making an ass of yourself pretending to be dead right?"

Haruko bit her lower lip slightly to suppress a smirk. She wasn't sure exactly what was going on here, but whatever it was, it was rather entertaining to watch. While she didn't get in many fights of her own, other peoples' amused her to no end.

"Pretending to be dead, eh?" she contributed, turning to the first guy, who appeared to be called Asura. "Rather an unwholesome hobby. I'd recomment embroidery, or perhaps yodelling, instead." Few caught on to Haruko's cold sarcasm, but she still used it at every available opportunity.

"Oh, don't worry, miss." Asura shook his head. "I don't play dead anymore. I used to, granted. But training chimaeras are more amusing nowadays."

He glanced at Finnie again. Why didn't that guy ever quit it with the same old boring insults? Those jokes only lasted for so long, at least he came up with new ones. "...No, actually, I was in the cellar getting tortured." That was true enough, in a way. "But it's almost the same thing."

"It's a shame they didn't kill you for real..." Finn smirked at Haruko's comment, "But, the dark lord couldn't lose a servant as valuable as you could he?" Finn said sarcastically, "I mean, how would he ever survive without a half blind slave like you?"