Disclaimer: I do not own Noblesse and/or characters featured.
Warnings: Nothing for this chapter.
Notes: This idea was born from listening to too much instrumental battle music and thinking about how badass Shinwoo is. Nothing is set in stone and I only have vague ideas about where this will be going. So please, please bear with me as this is a work in progress.
HEART OF BLOOD
Chapter One: Preliator
1.
Shinwoo drifts in the zone of being almost asleep, but still aware of your surroundings. He's aware of the chalk scratching the board, pencils scraping against notebooks, Ik-han punching away on his laptop, and the familiar aura of a long ago ally.
He opens his eyes and sits up straight in his chair. He looks outside the window and up into the sky and sighs. He doesn't need this to happen now. It isn't time to reveal all his secrets. More importantly, Shinwoo doesn't want to explain to Raizel that everything since they befriended on another has been a lie.
Taking a casual glance behind him at the boy, Shinwoo feels worry, anxiety, but mostly sadness pool in his heart. He hasn't felt this kind of depression since he parted ways with his old life.
He gets up, and the loud moan of his chair against the floor immediately draws attention from several students, but he pays little heed to their curious expressions and begins walking towards the door.
"Shinwoo...?" Ik-han asks him, as he passes by his friend's desk. He outright ignores him - Ik-han will soon feel the presence of another, and there won't be time for questions.
"Where do you think you're going?" Shinwoo has his hand on the door when the teacher ask.
He stands there, afraid if he opens the door he won't be able to return to this quiet existence he's built for himself. But that presence outside isn't going to go away unless he forces it to. He has no choice but to move forward.
"Sorry, teach. Do me a favor and stay here. Nobody leaves this room." Shinwoo says without turning around. He then opens the door walks out, and with a firm snap the door is closed.
2.
When the door shuts, Ik-han quickly gets up and away from his desk, walks over to the window and peers down and immediately cringes.
He ignores the murmurs of the other students until he hears Yuna's name being reprimanded by the teacher. He turns his head back to see deja vu happening.
"I can't explain, but please do as Shinwoo tells you to and stay here." She pleads. She looks at him, and he nods his head. Then like Shinwoo she leaves the room, closing the door just as loudly.
Ik-han turns back towards the window. "Ik-han, what is going on?" He regards Regis sidelong and wonders offhandedly if this will be the last time they speak to one another. After all, Ik-han senses five of them lurking around the perimeter of the school, but thankfully, and so far, only one has breached the premises.
"Now isn't the time to explain in full, but know that Shinwoo will protect you." He doesn't want to give anything away, it should be Shinwoo's job to explain, but Regis can't help but appear confused when he follows Ik-han's gaze, and it rests on Raizel.
All at once and before Ik-han is bombarded with questions from Regis, the door to the classroom opens fiercely.
3.
Yuna stands outside the door of the classroom and looks to her left then right, then left. She contemplates which way would bring her faster to Shinwoo's side. She would likely run into teachers if she takes the right path - often the gym teacher and a couple lunch staffers converse down that way - so she turns left and quickly hurries after Shinwoo.
As she runs down the stairs, she suddenly has the worst sinking feeling in her gut. When she observed Shinwoo abruptly getting up earlier, she saw the terror fringed by sadness written on his face, and it nearly stopped her heart.
But now she was so angry she wanted to spit. They had been so careful to hide themselves for so long, and now the first piece of the puzzle was coming unglued.
Yuna steps off the last set of stairs and rounds the corner to find herself at the entrance to the school. She scans the area but doesn't see Shinwoo anywhere, but the feeling of another stops her search cold. No, she feels two foreign energies pulsating inside her sanctuary. However, one is much closer to her than the other.
She stands with her shoulders straight and turns her head to the left and witnesses a form emerging from the shadowy hallway.
4.
Suyi wrenches the door to her friends' classroom open and scans for Ik-han. She finds him standing near the windows, looking rather withdrawn.
"Ik-han is it..." She stops, suddenly aware there are twenty-five sets of eyes looking at her. Half of them read distress, some curiosity, and some even illuminate with excitement.
"Suyi, you scared everyone half to death opening the door that way." She knows Ik-han's trying to make light of the situation, he's trying to calm all the nerves swirling in the room, but Suyi hears his heart dying.
"I'm heading to the roof." She declares, turning around and leaving the classroom as her two friends before her. There isn't any point in staying by Ik-han's side, he's had a long time to prepare himself for what's coming, so she leaves him confidently.
Unlike Yuna, Suyi takes off down the right side of the long hallway as fast as her legs can take her. Sure enough, after she rounds one corner she passes a couple of teachers talking amongst themselves. She races by them, ignoring their calls for her to get back to class, and starts climbing the stairs to the roof.
The roof is only a floor above her, so she tackles two sets of stairs fairly quickly and burst through the heavy door leading to the roof.
She lets out a breath to calm the adrenaline pumping through her veins and saunters over to the edge. Her heart sinks at the sight of Shinwoo standing opposite a figure from her past she has loathed passionately.
She bares her teeth and considers attacking the intruder from afar. She feels her long dormant nature rise to the surface in an almost gleeful way, but before she can erupt, a calm sensation caresses her power, and she composes herself rightly.
'Shinwoo can take care of himself.' She thinks.
The sound of shoes hitting cement alerts Suyi she has company. Not unexpected, these people usually come in packs. She smirks and turns her body to greet her opponent.
End Notes: So, what do you think so far? Any questions and/or comments are highly appreciated.