Warm Ice

Author's Note: Hey guys, this is my first story and I hope it will be a long one. I may not update often so don't get mad at me. I'm new to fanfiction and common practices/courtesies here and before you ask yes I did read the guidelines but I'm still a bit fuzzy on that so please if you see me breach any etiquette rules please inform me. I hope that you are all understanding and lenient with me and my just recently budding writing endeavors.

Disclaimer: No I do not own Rosario+Vampire or any of it's characters, settings etc. If I did I would be able to die happy knowing I'm a genius. Without further ado...

Chapter 1: Departure and Arrival

Macs stared blankly out the window of his second-story classroom scanning the snow covered scenery that was shadowed by the bleak clouds hovering over the landscape with just a hint of light peeking through them.
"Mr. McFain," spoke the teacher. "Would you care to join us? This lesson is a lot more interesting than the weather."
"Yes, ma'am" replied the distant teen. A hint of embarrassment resided in his voice as the rest of the class focused it's attention on him as a wave of chuckles and stifled laughs glided through the room.
"Since you do find the weather more riveting than my lesson, I would like you to write a 20,000 word essay on the weather and it's effect on ecosystems and native animals and agriculture in Colorado. Due Monday." Spoke the biology teacher. Macs' heart sank as the words reached his ears and he accidentally let out a groan.
"What was that, Mr. McFain?" hissed the teacher as her eyes narrowed in on her prey.
"Nothing ma'am."
"I thought so..."
The school bell let out it's usual F sharp tone to mark the end of the day and the start of the weekend. The students roughly shoved the contents strewn across their desks into their backpacks. They all barreled through the door can't waiting to start their 2 day break as the teacher eyed the scene with disgust. Macs waited until the initial wave of students fighting tooth and limb to be first out the door had subsided. He walked out of the classroom and down the hall, brooding over the assignment he had been given.
He looked around the hallway seeing friends and groups walking together and laughing as they planned the contents of their upcoming weekend. He looked on enviously at sights of friends conversing and interacting. He had been here for four years and still had yet to experience something like this. He wanted friends.
The boy wasn't much to look at. He was of average height for his age, around 5'9".He guessed he could be considered toned but nothing to really brag about. His hair was brunette as was the average. His only distinguishing feature was his eyes, his eyes were the most unique yet scary features of him, from day to day they shifted colors as if he would wear colored lenses. But among all this color, one could sense a feeling of intense anger but a fiery passion. Also accompanied by a deep down depression, a sadness even if he refused to let it show.

Everyone here hated him though, he was different. When he arrived in this suburban town he quickly became an outcast. No clique or group would accept him, not even the misfits of the town would. He was on the lowest rung of the social ladder. Of course this was not helped by the fact that the boy was lacking severely in social skills. He never talked to anybody and he had an odd air around him. Even now after those years and as a freshman in high school nobody would accept him.

The boy slipped his mp3 device out of his pocket and started to untangle his headphones but was stopped short as a muscular kid around his age shoved his way past him, knocking the device out of his hands.
"Freak" sneered the jock.
Macs crouched down to pick up his item of sanctuary only to be knocked down by another kid.
"Get out of the fucking way, asshole." snapped the kid in question.
"Sorry." Macs responded.
"Better be, fuckhead."
Finally retrieving his device Macs finished unraveling the enigma of his headphones then inserted the ear buds into his ears. He scrolled down through the list of songs, picking one that he felt voiced his mood. Macs carefully made his way to his bus weaving in and out of throngs of students. The outcast boarded the yellow transportation vehicle and sat down in a seat as far away from the others as he could. As the student stared out the window at the passing scenes he couldn't help but long for something more, somewhere he could belong and have friends.

He eventually grew tired of the snow covered surroundings and extracted his most recent book choice. Macs indulged in the fantastical alternate reality the book had painted in his mind. Macs loved books, they created a whole new universe to escape to from surroundings. Worlds of mystery, of action, of romance were just waiting to be discovered in them.
It wasn't long before the bus reached his stop and the misfit exited the bus and proceeded to walk to his house. The teenager fished a key out of his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole of the deadbolt and turned to unlock the door. Turning the handle and pushing open the heavy door with his shoulder, Macs stumbled into his living room. He shuffled down the stairs and into his room, closing the door behind him and shedding off his jacket and backpack before falling back onto a bed.

After about five minutes of doing nothing but stare at the light hanging from his ceiling, Macs decided it would be better for his eyesight to stop. He blinked slowly and sat up. Once his sight recovered he stared at his mediocre room until his eyes finally rested on his guitar. He reached over and grabbed the instrument and started to play his current work of a song. It wasn't much of a song, more of three bars of chord switches. He hadn't even thought of any lyrics yet...
A couple hours later of this routine, Macs' door slowly open as his mother stuck her head in.
"Dinner, and we have to talk about something too." Macs nodded, reluctantly putting down his guitar and leaving the room.
The two ate in silence for most of the meal. As Macs was in the process of shoving a forkful of lasagna down his throat, his mother cleared her throat and started to speak.
"Please don't be mad at me, but there's nothing I can do." Started the mother. Her son looked at her questioningly before swallowing the lasagna.
"We have to move, the company has promoted me and I'm needed elsewhere."
"Where is it?"
"Pretty far."

"Stop beating around the bush, ma."

She sighed. "Kyoto."
"As in Japan?"
"Yea."
The boy dropped his fork in astonishment, he was actually happy that he'd be leaving this hellhole, and for Japan of all places! This could mean a fresh start for him, a chance to actually belong. It's a good thing he had been learning the country's language to assist him in his manga reading adventures. What a stroke of luck. He couldn't let his mom know about his joy, it would break up the facade he had kept up over the years to convince her that he had friends. He put on his most upset look and asked:
"When?"
"Now don't be alarmed-"
"When?"
"Sunday..." reluctantly replied the mom.
"What about school?"
"Your teachers will be informed tomorrow"
"What about there?"
"I actually already took the liberty of applying you for schools in the area that offer Japanese to newer students to learn. Here are all the ones you've been accepted to. " She handed him five envelopes from the counter. Macs gave them a once over and put them to the side so he could finish his dinner. At least he wouldn't need to do that essay. "Oh..." Was all the boy could say.

"You'll be living at the school instead of with me, they all provide dorms. I'll be working all the time anyways so I'd never see you. We should be moving back in a year or so, so need to pack up everything."

"Do you want to go around tomorrow and tell your friends goodbye?"
"Shit," thought Macs as he wracked his brain for an excuse. He finally replied with: "Most of my friends are out of town, I'll just text them" Macs added a hint of disdain and sourness to his words to make it believable.
"I'm sorry honey, I know its short-notice and all..."
"So was last time."
"That was... a different circumstance."
"Yea... I know..."
The boy involuntarily shivered at the thought of that night almost four years ago. Ever since then Macs and his mother's interactions had gotten shorter and shorter until there was little more than ten sentences passed between the two a day. She was always working, he was at school or reading. He was amazed at how long this conversation had actually been.
After dinner, he took the envelopes down to his room and started to read the names off. Machida, Aoyama, Musashino, Kamata... He looked at the last one, the name on the school seal sent goosebumps up and down his arms... Yokai Academy. Where had he heard that word before? Yokai... His Japanese needed to be brushed up on. He slowly opened the envelope and read an acceptance letter.
Dear Student,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Yokai Academy. You will be provided with a uniform and your required books upon your arrival, the school year will be starting this upcoming Tuesday. You will be housed here at the school in dormitories of your respective gender. Saturdays and Sundays are still weekends and don't require work to be done. You will need to bring casual clothes to wear after school hours and during weekends. You can bring anything else you'd like as long as it is not meant to cause bodily harm to other students. We thank you for choosing Yokai.
Macs didn't even have to open any of the other schools' envelopes. This was where he was going. He didn't know why, but there was something about this school. He couldn't place his finger on it but it was there. He wasn't even sure if it was a bad feeling or a good thing.

"Oh well, I'll focus on that at on a later date." He said to himself. As his hands left the paper they seemed to heat up, the air around him seemed to glow with energy. Macs himself did not notice his body temperature rising along with the heat of his surroundings.

Sunday morning arrived faster than the boy had anticipated. Not that he didn't mind considering he had a chance to start over, to come out of his proverbial shell and actually do something worthwhile. He was just taken aback by the speed it had arrived with. Something strange had happened to him yesterday and he couldn't stop pondering it. While he had been cooking he had put his hand on the oven top without noticing he did this and it was a full minute before he heard the sizzling of his own skin and pulled his hand away to find it in perfect shape.

"Stove must be going out." He muttered to himself only half-believing the words. Back to the present!: Macs dragged himself out of bed and dragged his feet into the bathroom to perform his daily hygiene duties. Around fifteen minutes later he walked back across the hall and upstairs to try and satiate his anxiousness with a bit of breakfast. As he sat down with his bowl of "Honey Bunches of Oats" he spied a sheet of lined paper laden with a quickly scrawled note reading: " Had to leave early due to business, your ticket, passport, and where and when the bus will pick you up are all attached to this paper. Your cab ride will arrive at 11:00. Love, Mom."
He looked at the clock reading 10:50 not a big dea- double take
"Shit I forgot to pack my stuff!" exclaimed the youth. With that he flew down the stairs to quickly go through and shove his stuff he need for school into his bag and a duffel bag. A mere seven minutes later, the boy stood up triumphantly with his items packed, he even remembered his tooth brush this time! He slung the backpack over his shoulders and gripped the duffel bag in one hand and picked up his guitar case in another. He got to the door and checked his pockets for his wallet, check, phone, check, keys, check, papers... He bounded to the table and picked up his papers, check! He could hear the cab honking outside. As soon as he opened the door he realized the bowl was still out, he ran over and chucked it into the sink. It collided with the wall with a shatter that made the boy wince. He decided to just leave it and run to the cab.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mere two hours later, the boy was standing at the terminal gate with a digital board blinking the words "Air Japan" inside Denver International Airport.
"Now boarding group C" announced the gate assistant. Macs looked down at his ticket to reassure that it was his turn to board. He walked through the tunnel that connected to the plane and into the plane itself, the cold Colorado winter weather tickling the back of his neck with an icy chill. His seat was located on the far left, right next to a window. He set his bag in the overhead cabinet, wondering how his precious guitar was faring in the baggage hold below him. He sat and watched everyone else board the plane and was relieved that he wouldn't have to share the seats next to him.
It took another half hour of the flight attendants demonstrating the dos and don'ts of the plane and all that blarney before the plane started its ascent into the air.

The hours ticked on and on. The occasional stewardess strolling by to inquire about food and drink. The boy had at first thought about denying the platter when his stomach growled at him, scolding him for the bowl of cereal he had skipped out on earlier today. He quickly accepted the meal and a glass of water. His stomach satisfied, the teen slipped into a sleep, lulled by the dull roar of the twin jet turbines outside the plane.

The boy awoke as the plane pulled into the airport. Not a bad eight hour nap that's for sure. After processing and finding his bags, thankfully his guitar safe and sound, the boy flagged down a taxi and in broken Japanese directed him to the intersection at which he was to be picked up at... The next day... He harshly dropped the money owed in the slot and stormed off.

"Fuck," sighed the boy, "this is really getting on my nerves." Now he would just have to sleep at the stop until the morning when the bus arrived. Only problem was the teenager had slept so much during the ride here that there was no way in hell he could sleep again.

Macs' wait wasn't actually that long. In fact, around six thirty another boy strolled up to the stop, waiting in a white dress shirt, black slacks, and a green blazer. The boy was also quite average, he was actually a couple inches shorter and was much scrawnier than our protagonist. Macs was glad he didn't seem like the only average loser in the world.
"Yokai Academy?" Macs asked the fellow teenager in yet again very broken Japanese. He silently reprimanded himself for not learning more of the complex language before his arrival here.
"Yep!" replied the male with a smile, in English no less.
"You speak English?"
"Well, obviously." retorted the boy jokingly.
What really threw him off was at the speed the boy had seemed to started talking to him. Was it really this easy to make friends here?
"Your name is?" piped up the Japanese native.
"Macs, Macs McFain" replied the teen in question hesitantly.
"I'm Tsukune, nice to meet you."
"Same, I guess" The conversation was going cold thought Macs.
"So where are you from?" asked Tsukune.
"Colorado."
"I went there for skiing once, it was great!"
"Really? I never went."
"And you lived there?"
"...Yea... heh" they both stopped as a bus came to a screeching halt directly in front of them. The doors swung open with a hiss revealing a man in a uniform similar to that of a chauffeur. The man's face was obscured by the shadow of his cap. Peculiarly enough the man's eyes shined through the darkness and seemingly into the kid's soul. He shivered and moved down the empty aisles of the bus into an arbitrary seat, tsukune picking the seat adjacent.
"Did you see his eyes?"
"Pretty creepy right?"
"Hell yeah..."
"Speaking of which what an odd name for a school, Yokai." Macs suddenly recalled the meaning of the word. Monster. He paled at the thought. What were they implying?
The bus driver grinned in the mirror before inserting a cigar into his mouth.
"It seems like you two will be it for today." chuckled the driver. "Hold on to your stomachs boys!" And with that note the bus driver floored it sending g-force at the boys' faces.
"Slow down!"
"Not a chance! Haha! This is the only perk of my job! Speed limits don't concern this bus!" cackled the decidedly insane man.
Before the boys knew what had happened, the bus sped into a tunnel and flashes of light and images rebounded through the confines. The sight reminded Macs of the old movie about that crazy owner of a candy factory. He decided not to mention this to keep his sanity in a state that wouldn't be questioned.
A light started to appear in the distance and gradually increased in size as if speeding towards them, they then burst through it into a daylight again.
"Agh!" yelped the teens at the pain of the sudden adjustment of their retinas. Before they could fully recover their heads were slammed against the seats due to the bus driver applying a generous amount of force to the other pedal at his disposal.
"Destination: Yokai Academy, has been reached." grunted the man in front of the wheel. Tsukune stumbled off the bus as fast as he could muttering something about how its a miracle the damned bus driver doesn't deserve a license. Macs waited until his head cleared before grabbing his items and exiting the bus but not before being halted by the driver of the deathtrap.
"That idiot is headed the wrong way, you're supposed to take THAT path." Stated the man as he pointed to the worn trail to the right of where Tsukune had entered a thicket of what seemed to be all dead trees.
"Thanks.. I think."
"Don't worry about him either, he'll make his way there, just don't stop."
"A-Alright." stuttered the teenager.
Macs looked around to find a scarecrow with a jack o' lantern head ("Isn't Halloween over?") and beyond that a vast sea of what seemed to be, no... it couldn't be... blood?
He shook his head unwilling to believe it and started walking down the path offered to him. A while in, the boy swear he heard something similar to a yelp and the sound of a bike crashing. The boy stopped and stood still for a bit, listening intently, before continuing on, shaking his head.
Macs could hear the faint sounds of activity off in the distance straight ahead. He quickened his pace until he reached a thicket of branches. He pushed his way through to be greeted by the magnificent yet ominous sight of Yokai Academy.

Author's note: There you have it, quite a lame start so far but trust me it WILL pick up. This is my first chapter and it was written very hastily over the course of one night. Please leave some constructive criticism or reviews for me to better myself. The main character is not a human but more of this will be revealed to you and to him later on...Next time: We meet back up with Tsukune... who brought along a cute pink-haired straggler. Macs also meets an exquisite beauty that might just steal his heart and encase it in ice... And because I don't feel like giving it away so early, the heat mystery surrounding the main character develops more (though you probably know what it is already.) Again I'm new so this uploading might take a bit to figure out. This chapter took 8 Open Office pages and had a total of 3,621words! Let's hope they all aren't this short.