Chapter 2, Control
'Ello, chapter two is up, I didn't get a horribly good response to my first chapter, due to my OCs. I don't blame you guys, and I hate unbalanced OCs as much as the next guy, but not all of them are unbalanced and Mary Sues. In all reality, my OCs aren't the main focus of the story, they just are a means to an end. I want a full cast of characters that can be liked by all. I want snarky(Sumiko), nice(Moka), supportive(Hotaka), shy(Mizore), calculating/harsh(Natsuno(yes, Natsuno)), and an upperclassman(Gin). I can't really do that without some OCs. But for the record, only Sumiko and Hotaka are the only OCs that are main characters.
There is the (perceived) issue of Hotaka taking too large of a role. I'm going to say that he takes the role of charismatic leader at some points, while Tsukune stays more in the back until conflict arises. This is perfectly within Tsukune's character, he's never that strong or outspoken during any times outside of a conflict.
As for not placing this in the crossover section, the Shiki fandom is minuscule, and it has such a small presence that I would get no exposure. And I honestly do like attention. For those of you who haven't watched it, it is an amazing show, a horror about vampires invading a small country village. It makes you start to think.
To those who read the version of chapter 1 with the bit about biomass shapeshifting, it's gone, and the Shiki canon is intact once more. Not much has changed, just that.
The sun beat down hot on my face and neck, and I wished that I had longer hair. I shook what hair I had, attempting to cover up a bit of my skin. "At least I'm not a normal vampire," I muttered to myself.
I was waiting for the bus, and Kasumi made me get out the door an hour beforehand.
As soon as I was done with dinner on the night of the flyer, I immediately went to boot up my laptop ('acquired' from a man who wasn't nice to me one day, he had the money to replace it) and tell Sumiko and Hotaka about it. The Windows logo took too long, and after typing in my password, it took another three minutes before it warmed up and I could open any applications. Damned old thing. While I wasn't horribly savvy with computers, I had taken it upon myself to at least learn the basics.
I pulled up my browser and was greeted by my emails. I opened Facebook on a new tab and the sight of a buff dog (don't ask how) with the caption 'Bro, do you even fetch?' greeted me. I bit back a laugh and clicked on the message tab that had a chat group with me, Sumiko, Hotaka, and a few random students that I didn't know well. I kicked the random kids from the group and started spamming the chat with useless trash until my two friends came online. I didn't have to wait long, as Sumiko had a smartphone and Hotaka was almost always on his computer.
Hotaka Ishii: What? Calm down and quit spazzing out.
Me: It's important, I need you two to come to the park, I need to tell you something.
Sumiko Takeda: better be important
Me: It is
Hotaka: Ishii: I can be there in 10.
Sumuko Takeda: ill be there faster
The park I was referring to was a small park, mainly made for children. More like a playground.
I left the computer on, grabbed the pamphlet and paperwork inside, and tore from my room, running lightly down to the door, slipping on my shoes and shouting, "Going for a walk, be back soon!" into the kitchen. Koji grunted.
"Don't be too late!" Kasumi warned.
"I won't!" I shouted back, before slamming the door.
It took around five minutes to get to the park while walking. Sumiko was waiting against a tree, shoulder length red hair slightly messier than normal in a cute way, smelling more like ash than usual. "You showed up early," I started, catching her by surprise. She jumped a bit.
"Yeah, I guess I did," She sounded winded, like she had run a mile. It didn't sound likely though.
"What did you do to tire yourself out so much?" I asked, concerned for her.
She glared at me before responding. I couldn't help but grin at the glare. "Tried the move Mom pulled earlier, didn't work out well," So she tried using the fiery teleport thing, must take up quite a bit of energy to tire her out. She was first in girls track this year, if that could tire her out, I sure wouldn't want to try it.
Moving to sit, I asked, "Just how bad is the conflict between monsters and humans?"
"Bad, she started, crossing her arms over her chest. "Trigger happy UN sanctioned monster enforcers, and Fairy Tale," It didn't really surprise me that the UN was involved, the supernatural could easily be classified as a security threat.
"Fairy Tale?" I asked.
"Monster extremists, completely delusional, but they are massive, nobody knows how they got the resources."
"Wow, sounds bad," I said.
"Yeah, it is," She responded.
The next few minutes were spent in silence. I spent the time flipping through eye colors. Black, to red, to gold, to brown, to green, to blue, to silver, repeat. It was a nifty trick, but didn't actually do much.
Hotaka showed up a couple of minutes later, he sat down on the end of the bench. I stopped changing eye colors at an orngish gold.
"Thanks for getting out here, guys," I said to the both of them. Hotaka nodded and Sumiko gave a 'sure'.
"Now what did you want?" Hotaka asked.
I took the pamphlet and paperwork out of the pocket of my jeans. "Take a look at this," I handed the pamphlet to Hotaka and the paperwork to Sumiko.
Hotaka's eyebrows raised and although Sumiko didn't voice it, her heartbeat sped up, signifying her surprise.
I waited for them to finish reading the papers.
"'Yoaki Academy, a school for the gifted'," My broad-shouldered friend read. "'A place for learning and friendships'. Huh, sounds like it's being directed towards a human, no mention of any under the bed creepies here,"
"Almost advertised for a human," Sumiko confirmed. "Nothing in the paperwork for monster type either,
"It's like they think I'm human," I said. I wracked my brain for potential reasoning for the lack of inhuman bits. Absolutely nothing reasonable came up.
Hotaka handed the pamphlet back to me and laced his fingers together. "I say you should go, you have friends there, and who knows, might make a few more?" The thought was appealing, but I was hesitant. With good reason. He saw my hesitancy and gave more reasoning. "What have you got to lose? One of the main rules of the school is 'keep your true form to yourself', your vampirism won't get out, and even if you do drink blood there, there are plenty of species that drink blood, it's not exactly a rare trait."
"I agree with Hotaka," Sumiko added. "Come on, he's right, the school seems like a good place to be for you"
I don't know what came over me, but I responded with, "Yeah, I guess so."
A grin split across Hotaka's face, and Sumiko gave one of her small smirks.
"Good, see you at the bus stop!" Hotaka said.
I may as well have signed my death warrant when I signed the pages.
After an hour of waiting at the bus stop, Sumiko showed up, the phoenix's mother had driven her to the stop. Hotaka had showed up from behind a tree not far from the stop after traveling underground. I could hear the earth moving, and his heartbeat underground. It was easy to tell his method of transportation. He brushed a bit of dirt off of the new uniform, green blazer, red tie, and tan slacks, as he walked over to us.
"Nice way to travel, eh Hotaka?" I asked, trying to make small talk before the bus showed up.
"Yeah, beats walking." The elemental said, finding more dirt and rocks and picking them off of the his clothes. "Gets a bit messy sometimes. I hear from my uncle, that traveling underground didn't used to be this bad. Pollution and industrialisation haven't helped. Or so he says." I could see how that might be an issue.
Smalltalk was made, and a few laughs were had before the bus came. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but when a stereotypical yellow school bus came from around the bend, my eyebrow raised. I was expecting something a bit more out of the ordinary. I caught a good glance at the bus driver and sized him up. Taller than average, skinny, glowing yellow eyes, dressed in a nice blue suit with a matching cap, and smoking a cigar. I cringed. The doors opened with a hiss. "All aboard for Yokai Academy," The man said, his voice deep and eery. Entirely not human.
"That would be us," I said lamely, and gave a gesture for Sumiko and Hotaka to step on first. As soon as I stepped into the bus, I was almost choked by the air. The smoke was sickening. I attempted to cover it up, but I gave a small cough anyways. I attempted to get the phoenix and elemental to hurry up, Hotaka had his eyes set on the back, and I was tempted to agree with him on his choice of positioning. I quickly grabbed a window seat, ignoring Sumiko's cry of protest. It wasn't my fault I needed to breathe, she didn't matter at the moment. Fumbling with the window latch, I ended up using too much force, and broke the latch, the window opened and fell open.
The driver took a long drag, before blowing out smoke into the cab. I could smell it all the way from my seat.
The bus took off, there was little talk between us during the short trip. Sumiko's words echoed through my head, "You have a few options here, the only way you can survive is to pretend that you're something else. The idea of an infection that creates monsters is to massive of a boon to various companies, human or monster, you need to pretend. Make it up if you need to, but don't go overboard, here's a list of monsters you could fit under." I had chosen a Skinwalker, a human like monster that can transform into a canine. That is, if I needed to share my monster identity. It was either that or one of their vampires with a seal, but then I would have needed to wear an elaborate rosary, and despite not being a normal vampire, religious symbols still made me somewhat uncomfortable.
Just after we entered a tunnel, I felt started feeling claustrophobic, the choking smoke, and the dark tunnel seemed to dull my senses and force my conscious mind back for a few moments. I almost missed the click of a button, and the short flash that happened outside of the bus. The flash happened too fast for any human to catch, but the senses of a Jinrou are second to none, from what I've heard.
The bus's breaks came to a screeching halt, and we all grabbed our bags and started filing out of the bus.
"Yokai Academy is a scary place, you kids better be careful," The driver said, taking another drag, before blowing the smoke in my direction. He knew I hated it, judging by his heart rate and the look on his face. He seemed entertained. My fangs dropped in rage. I bit back the urge to tear his throat out, forcing my fangs back into place, safely hidden behind my canines. I didn't know how powerful he was, nor did I want trouble with the staff. It was harder than normal, I had forgotten blood in my rush to get out the door, I internally cursed.
"That won't be a problem, sir," I said, trying to keep any venom from my voice. "I'm fairly sure I've seen worse," It was risky and a stupid thing to say.
"Well then, get off my bus, I have a schedule to keep," The driver gave a wide smirk, displaying perfectly white teeth, despite his smoking. I ground my teeth in frustration. He was getting under my skin.
"Yes, sir," I responded, trying desperately not to cough. I hurried off the bus after that, not wanting to stay around the rude man any longer than needed.
I had always had an issue with tobacco, the scent was too strong. As a vampire, the smoke became completely unbearable. To the point of not being able to stand in the same room with a smoker. When you can smell a buried and rotting corpse from half a mile away, an unpleasant scent becomes unbearable. Needless to say, the ride was hell.
The world outside the bus was a completely different world than the one before the tunnel. I was quite taken aback. The landscape was barren and rocky, nothing in sight aside from a cliff that dropped off into an ocean. The water crashed against the face of the cliff with loud crashes, loud enough that I thought a human could hear. A forest of dead trees guarded the path to a massive European castle in the distance.
The whole place reeked of death, blood, and decay. I couldn't help but feel in my element, but that didn't mean I liked it.
A scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head had a bus schedule stapled on it, along with an arrow pointing towards the castle with 'Yokai Academy' on it.
"This seems a bit off for a school, smells of death," I said, skeptically.
Sumiko sniffed the air, then shrugged. "I don't smell anything," She said. I wasn't surprised.
"Well, the school is that way," I said. "We'd best get moving if we want to make it there before the orientation." The assembly started at four thirty, it was roughly three at the time. We would have to walk at a decent pace, seeing as the castle, which I had made the assumption is the school, looked a few miles away.
The forest was creepy, but I didn't feel uncomfortable until I saw the skulls and bones littering the ground off of the beaten path.
"What the fuck?" Hotaka asked when he notices.
"No clue," Sumiko answered. "It's like they want to keep the students away."
"I agree with Sumiko," I said, voicing my opinion. "Makes no sense,"
The fluttering of thousands of small hearts beating pounded in my ears. I zeroed in on one and saw a bat, hanging upside down from a tree. The thought of thousands of bats living in the barren forest was somewhat amazing. Yet another unnerving thing about this place.
A scent faintly reminiscent of another Jinrou started approaching, and soon the sound of a bicycle chain and earth being crushed beneath tires began ringing in my ears. The scent was off, it had the scent of fresh blood on it, but it lacked the scent of the infection. It seemed nothing but wrong. As the scent approached, I started to pull my guard up, taking up a more neutral stance. I hoped the scent would go away. It only came closer.
"Get out of the way!" A high-pitched voice shouted, coming directly from the direction of the bike.
My head turned quickly, a girl with long pink hair, dressed in the standard Yokai Academy dress, green, white, red, along with a gaudy rosary around her neck. 'Vampire' my mind quickly registered.
I quickly jumped back and out of the way just in time, grabbing Hotaka and Sumuko's collars, dragging them back with me. The large boy stumbled back, but Sumiko shrieked as she tripped over her foot and fell. I panicked, and on instinct, got behind her. One thing people fail to realize, is that if someone is not in the proper stance, no matter how strong you are, gravity will always bring you down when you come into contact with the proper amount force. This happened.
The sensation of falling seemed to last ages, but came to an abrupt end. I hit the rough ground hard, knocking the wind out of my lungs. The horrible sensation of not being able to breathe assaulted me, just before Sumiko fell onto me. Her head impacted roughly with my ribs, and a flash of more pain assaulted me as a crack reverberated through my body. If I had any breath left in my lungs, I probably would have cried out. Her closed fist impacted with my cheek, causing a break in the skin.
I faintly heard the crash of a bicycle nearby as I attempted to catch my breath and failed. Sumiko quickly scrambled up, shouting at me. Not a lot of the words got through for the first few moments. Snapping back, I inhaled harshly, irritating what felt like a clearly broken rib. It would heal quickly, broken bones always did, but I always needed blood to speed up the process, and I had forgotten today.
I heard Hotaka rush over to the crashed bike, I caught the scent of the almost vampire's blood. Blood would help with healing, and I wanted it. I was sure my eyes shifted to their solid black form, I was wounded and needed attention, even if that attention wasn't from a doctor.
I used my rarely used levitation ability to lift myself to my feet. My eyes looked up from the ground, everything was a haze. Heartbeats everywhere. Sumiko's fast fluttering, light, her blood would be warm, and would flow fast. Hotaka's heart was much steadier, it would flow slowly. But the pink haired girl, I couldn't just hear her blood, I could smell it. I was hungry. So hungry.
"Blood," The word slipped past my lips, just as easy as it flowed past my fangs. I tried to gain control again, convincing myself that I didn't want to release my monster with my friends so close by. But why did I care? They know what I was, and what it entailed. Bloodlust continually seeped through my thoughts, tainting them with hunger.
Each step was far to hard on my hyper sensitive nerves, and although my rib was already set, in that short amount of time, it still ached. But it wasn't as bad as the all consuming hunger, so impossible to resist. I vaguely heard Sumiko shout my name, and Hotaka fussing over the girl. He needed to go away.
"Hotaka, move away from the girl, now," I said firmly, no room for argument. His face, turned in my direction as I started to speak, went blank as soon as I gave my command. He was putty in my hands now.
"Yes, Tsukune," The elemental said blankly, completely in a trance. A smirk spread across my mouth.
The girl looked up, seeing me approach. She looked worried, "You're bleeding," She stated, eyes glazing over. I knelt down close enough to her to gain access to her neck. Although her arm was the thing that was bleeding, I knew that I would get more from her jugular. The oddly colored girl pulled a handkerchief from her pocket, and dabbed it at the already closed wound on my cheek.
I was confused, was she stupid, or did she have no sense of self preservation? Every creature I've about to feed on had shown extreme fear, not concern for a wound. We oozed an air of hunger, hatred, and absolute terror when we hunted.
"I just lose control when I smell it," She continued. The girl leaned in, I smirked wider, she was just bringing her neck closer to my waiting mouth. "Sorry, but I'm a vampire," She jerked her head to bite into my neck, a common way for a vampire to bite.
"Not really," I quickly said before plunging my own thinner fangs into her outstretched neck before she could bury her own into mine. She gave a gasp as I was sure the pins and needles feeling had overcome her. Her blood was delicious. But it was dark, tainted, and impure. After swallowing just a few mouthfuls, I felt sick to my stomach.
Within seconds, it became unbearable, and I felt truly sick for the first time in over fifty years. I ripped my fangs out of her neck, retreating back a few feet before heaving the contents of my stomach onto the ground. I felt my control over Hotaka weaken enough for him to break the bond, and he rushed over to me.
"What are you?" I directed to the girl, in between heaves, who looked absolutely horrified. My black eyes blurred with tears as I attempted to right myself and stand. "What are you," I repeated, louder. I fell back to the ground with no response. "What are you!" I shouted at her, forcing myself up. "Your blood is tainted, poison!" My fingers turned to claws as I stalked towards her, my legs were wobbly, but instinct and the drive to kill were stronger.
"Stop it!" Sumiko shouted, her voice apparently back.
I turned to her and snarled out, "Stay out of this." I trudged on, disregarding the nausea, aiming to maim and kill the thing that had caused me this discomfort. It was instinctive, and it was just so easy to do.
"Tsukune, stop this now," Hotaka said firmly. I disregarded him. "Don't make me do this,"
Just as I was about to strike her down, I was knocked off of my feet and forced to the ground, tackled by what felt like a mass of rock. I snarled against it, and managed to use my legs to kick the massive stone humanoid off of me. Flipping to my feet I barely had time to dodge a fireball aimed at my head, launched from the flaming hands of Sumiko, whose hair was floating behind her, glowing bright orange, along with her eyes.
The mass of humanoid stone that I assumed was Hotaka was also a formidable sight. A hulking man beast made out of jagged stone was staring me down, intent more to debilitate than kill.
I swipped my arm wide at Hotaka, attempting to use my claws. I hissed as my claws broke upon his stone body. Growing new claws back instantly, I jumped aside from a jab from Hotaka's jagged left arm. Flipping to land my feet against a tree, using my gravity defiance to assist me, I launched myself at him, shoulder first, at incredible speeds. I made impact with a massive crash, from both my shoulder dislocating, and from Hotaka falling to the ground. The wound hurt, but it would be fixed in moments. I quickly hopped from the position, ignoring my dislocated shoulder and charged at charged at the glowing Sumiko, she moved to shoot another fireball at me, it went wide. She was panicked, a bloodthirsty grin split my face.
My shoulder popped back into place. I raised a clawed hand to swipe at her face, but I pulled it back as I heard the earth rumbling below it. Not a second later, a sharp spike of stone shot from the ground, meant to impale my arm. Hopping over it, along with Sumiko, turning in mid air, I made a grasp at the red haired girl, forcing her neck aside to give my fangs access to her neck. But my hand was met with heat hot enough to burn my skin, faster than it would regenerate, as it touched her glowing red hair. I hissed and jumped back, only to be forced back another few steps by more earth spikes.
I was quickly forced back by the combination of brute force and precision. I couldn't hurt either of them, Sumiko's waist length hair was hotter than fire, and I didn't have the blunt force to deal with Hotaka's stone. I needed to retreat.
Hopping back after shoving the elemental from range, I focused on transforming into a bat. It was fight or flight, and I tried fighting. I would be stuck on the ground, that left the air opened.
It was painful, but instant. I quickly flapped my new wings, flying away from my attackers and towards one of the many colonies of bats. Large stones, spikes, and fireballs were launched in my direction, but none of them hit, I was to small of a target. If a bat could smirk in victory, I would have been doing so.
They couldn't do much as I flitted in between the trees and intermingled among the other bats in the forest, and there were plenty. I ignored their shouting for me, still driven by instinct.
"Tsukune, come out! You can't hide forever!" Sumiko shouted. But she was wrong, I could, and she would never find me.
As they passed right below me, Hotaka shouted, "Listen to Sumiko, Tsukune, come down! You need blood? Take it!" An earthy metalic scent hit my nose hard, making my small stomach turn over on itself. But the noise startled the bats, and my survival instincts overrode my hunger. I reluctantly flew off in the swarm, ignoring the delicious scent of blood.
Eventually their shouting stopped and was replaced by defeated moans of unwanted pity.
"I hope Tsukune will be alright, that idiot," Sumiko said, quietly, even for my ears.
"If that little blood can do that to him, I don't want to know what would happen in a fight here," Hotaka's voice rang out, more clearly than Sumiko's.
After a time, even that stopped.
Slowly the haze fell from my brain, and I felt the full force of what I'd done. I flew down from the perch I was on, and transformed back into my usual semi-human form. I didn't know what to do. I hadn't had many friends before this, and I doubt anybody has made this big of a mistake before. Tears welled in my eyes. All I wanted to do was help! Couldn't I do something right?
I quiet sob ripped through my frame as I sank back against a tree. I sat there and sobbed for what had to have been around a half hour, filled with self loathing and depression.
Depression faded into more self loathing, into a will to gain more control. If I wasn't such a failure, I wouldn't have lost control. If I wanted no stop being a failure, I needed more control, I wouldn't hurt any of my friends again. I wouldn't allow it. No more failure. Never again.
So I rose up to challenge myself. Torn clothes and covered in blood, I rose up. I needed to get my act together. I started walking towards where I left my suitcase, I hoped it wasn't lost in my bloodlust.
I surveyed the damage from the scene. There was a large pool of dark red blood. It smelled just as tainted as it smelled the first time around. Multiple trees were torn apart, and a few fires had been put out by large amounts of dirt. I was so absorbed that I didn't notice a heartbeat until it was right behind me.
"You really lost it there," Hotaka's voice came from behind me. I didn't bother turning around. Doubt and shame came back full force. "You are you, aren't you?"
I found my voice. "Yeah," I responded. "I'm sorry,"
"Don't apologise, I heard the crack, your rib was broken. And I know what you said about needing blood in dire straights," He said. His words were firm, nor comforting. Disappointed maybe, but they weren't hateful. "Sumiko's quite broken up, and you seem to have scarred Moka, the girl you bit, for life,"
I looked downcast, I expected as much. "I take it a sorry won't cover it up," I said with a bitter laugh.
"No," Hotaka said, still in the cold voice he had been using. "Hurry up, if you're lucky, you can get washed up a bit and make it to orientation," With that, his footsteps echoed off. "Starts in an hour,"
I stood there for a few more minutes, before I picked up my luckily unharmed bag and hurried along. Just outside the main gate, I opened the case and fetched the envelope containing my room key and number. But I was lost regardless.
So I walked through the gates and into a crowd of people. I felt exposed and week, covered in blood and grime, but I forced myself to approach someone for directions. A few people stared, but most people took a glance and looked away.
I approached the first approachable looking person who didn't look out of place and new. A rather handsome boy who smelled canine. He had a silver choker on, along with a hair band holding back his brown hair. He sniffed the air and turned my direction before I asked for his attention.
"You look like shit," The boy said bluntly.
"I know, can you tell me where the dorms are? I'm new and need to change before the orientation," I said as steadily as possible.
"That's not a problem, newbie, I can show you the way," He got a glint in his eye. "If you join the Newspaper Club when the club sign ups come around," It didn't sound that bad of an option, and I didn't have a preference on a club. "We need new members, everyone either dropped or graduated last year,"
"Fine, lead the way,"
And he started walking. "The name's Ginei Morioka. I would shake your hand, but I'd rather not get blood on me," He said, with a humor filled voice.
"Tsukune Aono,"
"Well, Tsukune Aono, I will want the full story later," Ginei said, still in a happy go lucky kind of voice.
Soon we were in front of a run down building, not far from the entrance of the school itself. "Numbers go by hall and floor. Room 1A will be on the bottom floor, in the front, in hall A. I trust you can make it from here?" Ginei asked.
"Yeah, thanks a lot, Ginei," I said, grateful for his kindness, even if it wasn't purely altruistic.
"Call me Gin, I hate formality," Gin waved his hand as if to dismiss the notion. "And I expect you to hold up your end of our bargain,"
"Will do," I responded.
"See ya," Gin shouted over his shoulder, starting to walk off.
My thoughts went to my mishap. It was bad, her blood made me crazy. And not in a good sense. I wouldn't have killed her, I just needed to heal. But that didn't excuse my actions. I needed to gain more control if I wanted to actually have a life. I hadn't really needed it before, mainly due to not sticking around any one place for longer than a few months, if I made a mistake, I would move. I also had tried to stay out of trouble, not give myself any injuries that weren't reparable. These monsters sounded volatile, and I doubt I could back down from a fight with one. None of these options sounded viable in this situation, I was stuck here for a few years,
The lobby was small, but could hold enough people. I was lost in my thoughts and didn't pay a whole lot of attention. I just wanted to get to my room and wash up.
I looked at the room number in the letter, room C-5, second floor. It was simple to get to the room, up the stairs and just down a hall.
I quickly unlocked and opened the door and looked around. Barebones, a closet, a kitchenette, a small bed, a bookshelf, and a table with two chairs.
Simple, but effective. I tossed my suitcase onto the bed and stripped, not caring if there was someone looking in through the large window. My shirt was nothing more than bloody rags, and I ended up using my claws to just tear it off, as it got caught on my arm. The shoes were fine, they needed a good wash, but they weren't damaged.
I unzipped the suitcase and pulled out the only spare uniform I had. I layed it down on the bed, before walking to the kitchenette with a white washcloth that Kasumi insisted I bring. The faucet poured cool water down on the cloth. I wiped it across the areas that needed cleaning, my face was covered in tainted blood, along with my neck and upper chest, and there was dust and dirt almost everywhere.
When I finished washing up, the washcloth was nothing but a red tinted brown. I set in the sink and turned on the water, hoping to wash out some of the grime from the cloth.
The fresh clothes felt wonderful compared to the sticky rags I had created and was forced to wear.
The clock that was conveniently located on the bookshelf next to the bed read 4:04. I sighed, but knew that I needed to get moving. But I was starving. Abstinence wouldn't work, and I didn't have time to check the cafeteria. I would need to grab a bite to drink on the way there.
I shut off the tap before opening the large window a crack and shifting into a bat. I needed to stay in control from now on.
I made my way into the main hall and followed the crowd. I singled out a scent that didn't smell as horrible as some of the others, it smelled like a mix of a bull and a man. I guessed that he was a minotaur. I approached my target, a good sized boy came into view, taller than Hotaka, and larger too.
I tapped his shoulder and he turned. With a charming smile, I said, "Can you come with me for a few minutes, you can still make it on time," I pushed as much of my willpower into forcing him under my will. His eyes glazed over. I always hated doing that, but it was necessary.
My smile left, and I led the assumed minotaur off into one of the unused hallways. I felt my control wanting to slip, but I kept it in check. I would only take enough to survive until I could get food. I slipped behind him and let my fangs come down. The urge to let go came stronger than ever. I wouldn't let myself slip. I carefully lifted his arm, as he was too tall for me to bite into his neck, and just as carefully bit into his wrist, puncturing a vein with extreme precision. The blood tasted like human mixed with bull. It wasn't as good as pure human blood, but it would do. I suckled lightly on the twin wounds, drawing in blood. Actually tasting the blood was much different than losing myself in a haze.
Once I felt I had taken enough to tide me over for at least a few hours, I dropped the boy's arm and looked into his eyes. "You will not remember this, go back to what you were doing," Enforcing my will was always so much easier after I had bit someone. At one point in time, I wondered why, but I didn't really care, it worked. That and I didn't want a trail of paper to tell anyone someone was researching into if hypnosis was biological or supernatural. I wasn't afraid to admit I was paranoid to some extent.
"Yeah," The glassy eyed boy said, and wandered back into the crowd. I followed when he was out of sight. Now, if I could just stay that much in control every time I needed to feed, I wouldn't have any trouble except under extreme circumstances, in which I hoped I could direct my beast if I lost control.
My mind wandered back to an hour ago. Everything was a clear as day, I could remember the look of pure terror on the girls face, the shocked look on Sumiko's face, and the trance like look on Hotaka's.
I was part of the last trickle into the auditorium. It was a large room with a hardwood floor, chairs were laid out in lines, many of them filled, facing towards a stage. I took the first empty seat I could find. A girl caked in makeup sat to my left, her nose buried in a pocket mirror, and a twitchy, rat smelling boy with greasy black hair sat to my right. By the scent of my chair, it looked like the girl had moved away from the boy. I let out a small laugh at it.
The ratty boy jerked it head to stare at me with beady eyes when he heard the sound. "Are you laughing at me?" he accused, eyes narrowed.
Although I was, I was never one to hurt someones feelings, even if it meant telling a white lie. "No, I was just remembering a picture," I lied masterfully.
"Alright, but I've got my eyes on you," The greasy haired kid said. The kid wasn't lying, he kept his eyes on me for the whole assembly, not even blinking. It definitely wasn't comfortable.
There were so many scents and sounds, it was almost overwhelming. I hadn't been in many situations where there was this much activity, so close.
The closest had to have been one of the many middle school assemblies, and it was completely dwarfed by this event.
Soon enough, although not soon enough, with rat boy's eyes glued to me, a man dressed in white robes came from behind the stage. I raised an eyebrow, monster culture must be different hugely different than human culture.
"May I have your attention," echoed through room. The voice demanded attention, and the room quickly quieted. "Thank you. I am Tenmei Mikogami, the headmaster of this school. I would like to say a few words before you start your education here at Yokai Academy,"
I tuned out for most of it, as it was what I guessed was a standard 'welcome to highschool' speech, mixed with a bit of supernatural.
"And lastly," Mikogami started, "I would like to introduce the teachers that will be sharing their knowledge this year," And yet again, I tuned him out, not listening. Each teacher he called up onto the stage and gave a brief description of. Either their academic performances, or their accomplishments in the human or monster world.
"Seishin Muroi will be teaching first year literature," This jarred me from my thoughts and I jerked my head up. I definitely knew a Seishin Muroi, and after straightening my eyes, I saw the man that I assumed Seishin would be in fifteen years, up on the stage. Silver hair, large eyes, glasses, and dressed in tan slacks and a white button up shirt. "An accomplished author, known for the writing of 'Shiki', 'Fall of the Cherry Blossoms', and 'Roots', among others. Mister Muroi has come out of retirement to teach the students of tomorrow," This made no sense. He couldn't be alive. But he was here, right in front of me. I had initially thought it might be his son, but before we stopped writing, he told me that he had started a solid career in writing with 'Roots'.
I wanted to ask so many questions, but I knew I couldn't. That would have to wait. Unless his blood had completely changed, I could find the scent. A vampire never forgets a bloodscent. Each person has an individual taste, a scent as well. I, along with a good few of the vampires I've met over the years have a perfect recollection of each person they had fed on. I would find him, if was actually the Seishin Muroi I knew, I would have to catch up.
I was honestly giddy with excitement. It completely overshadowed my mishap.
The assembly came to a close after a while, and I started looking for a scent. Everything was covered in odd scents, but his was there. It was only a matter of time before I could track him down. My excitement grew as I caught a fresh trail. The scent was off, but it was his.
I hurried down the halls, the scent only grew fresher, I was getting closer. I was probably lost, but I didn't care. I needed to find him. I had no clue what I was going to say, but I wanted to find him.
The scent lead me to a closed classroom, his scent was all over. Before I could knock on the door, a voice called out, "I know you're there, Jinrou, come in," I could instantly tell what was off about his scent. He was like me. I was a bit shocked.
I slid the door open and walked through. Seishin, so much older than I remembered, but not old enough, sad behind a desk, fingers laced together. "It's been a while, Seishin," I said, attempting to keep my cool.
Oooooh, conflict, suspense, drama, angst, what will happen next? Honestly, what's going to happen next? I just write on a whim. Well, both me and you will hopefully find out sooner than later.
But yeah, Moka's introduction sort of has a heavy influence in what I loosely have going on in my head. If you've been up to date on the recent R+V chapters, you might have a good guess on what Tsukune was experiencing. Imagine Tsukune's body as a hunting ground for infection, the vampire/shiki/okiagari (I'm going to call them vampires, as Shiki was a self proclaimed title, and okiagari was a small village's name for them) infection owns it now. Animals fight for hunting grounds. Props and spoilers to whoever guesses what I'm going at.
Well, I'm gonna go back to playing Guild Wars 2, reading other fanfiction, and living my life.
Reviews are more than welcome, good or bad.
Until next time, Best Wishes,
Shadowman