Unrequited Love

Kapitel 2: Life at Military School

A/N: Ugh, I wish I could go back in time and prevent my younger self from creating such a may-sue. And to think I was so proud of my story back then *shudder* Hopefully I can use the 'I was still young and this was my first story' excuse.

Disclaimer: All of 07-Ghost's rights belong to Yuki Amemiya. Happy?


Kapitel 2: Life At Military School

My eyes fluttered open when sunlight shone upon my eyes and blinded me for a second, causing me to squint. In response, I pulled my covers over my head to block the offending light.

"Time to get up~" someone said in a sing-song voice and pulled the blanket off me.

"Five more minutes..." I mumbled, pulling them back.

Before I knew it, the covers were once again gone and thrown on the floor an unreachable distance from my bed.

"Give it back, Arashi!" I groaned frustration.

"No, don't wanna!" he teased.

I threw my zaiphon at him, suddenly active, but he dodged it.

I swore under my breath.

'Dammit! I missed. I was so sure was going to get him this time.'

"Heh, you really thought you were going to get me? You know that I know that you know that I kno–"

"Cut the crap, please," I interrupted him, rubbing my temple in a circular motion because of an incoming headache. I swore, he was going to be the death of me.

"–w you too well to get hit by your attacks," he finished off lamely.

My brow twitched and I rubbed my temple even harder as I let out a sigh. They say that every time you sigh, a little happiness escapes you. I was starting to think that saying was telling the truth.

"Okay, you got me, now get out. I have to change," I grumbled.

He pouted and left with a "'kay".

I dragged myself over to my wardrobe and through it and browsed through all my items of clothing with a wrinkled nose. All of my clothing was formal, consisting of long silk dresses that I would wear to parties that I was invited to. I mentally noted to ask my grandfather if I could go shopping for more normal clothes. I was not exactly a fan of overly-lavish clothing that only boasted of wealth. Finally spotting a dress that wasn't as elaborate as most of the others in my wardrobe, I decided it was good enough and got dressed in it. When I exited my room, Arashi was waiting for me outside with a grin.

"Took you long enough Yumi-chi," he chirped.

I scowled.

"I couldn't find anything comfortable or suitable," I replied with a 'hmph'.

He raised his eyebrow to tell me I did find something that fit my description and I was wearing it. He was about to say something about that when I raised my hand and promptly proceeded to tell him to shut up. We walked through the hallways until we reached the dining hall. I entered and saw that breakfast was already prepared and that at the head of the table sat my grandfather.

"Good morning, Grandfather," I greeted as I smiled happily.

"What a totally different reaction to me," mumbled Arashi behind me.

I stepped painfully on his foot and he yelped, my smile still in place the entire time. I won't let him get me down and destroy my mood. Several years had passed since my parent's death and I was living a happier life. Grandfather Miroku was like the family I had always wanted and I had made a couple of nice, albeit weird, friends who had grown on me like fungi and managed to squeeze past the iron wall guarding my heart.

Miroku nodded in acknowledgement and motioned me to sit down at the other end of the table.

"Yumiko, guess what I found the other day?" he asked me.

"What?" I answered back immediately. I perked up, clearly interested. This normally didn't happen at breakfast and I had come to love and welcome surprises and events that diverted from the norm.

He ushered to the maid closest to him and she presented to me the pendant necklace she was holding onto. My eyes widened in surprise as I was quite taken aback.

"That pendant…it belonged to my mother didn't it?" I said softly, recognizing it instantly.

The maid gave it to me carefully, as though it was the most delicate thing in the world. It was intricately designed, with an insignia I didn't recognise engraved upon it. I clutched it in my hand, swallowing the lump that formed in my throat. In one of the few memories I remembered of my childhood, I remembered that when I was younger, I would sit in my mother's lap with her arms wrapped around me and play with it while she had it on. I would ask my mother as she hummed a tune if I could have it. Her lips would tug at the end as she gave me a warm smile with a giggle.

"Maybe when you're older," she would tell me, a mischievous and playful look on her face.

Back then I hadn't noticed it, but thinking back, the look of sadness and longing were so clear in her eyes despite her cheerful demeanour, it had me wondering why I didn't realise it back then.

Then I remembered something else.


"You know, Yumiko," my grandfather started as I stared out the carriages window with glassy eyes. I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes.

"Your mother never hated you," He continued, leaning forward. My attention was fully on him now, my doubtful eyes cutting into him. He didn't flinch; and he still didn't look like he was finished.

"Your father was the one who despised you - after all, you're not his biological daughter." He informed me, staring intently and studying my face for reactions.

My breath hitched; eyes wide. I never knew that, no wonder he always looked at me like…like that.

"He tried to love you, tried his best, but couldn't. He had believed that you were his child for so long, only to find out that you weren't his child, but instead his. The fact that you were that man's child was what pushed him off the edge and caused him to hate you." I narrowed my eyes at him as he closed his. Who was my biological father?

"Who is my father then?" I asked him, voicing my thoughts.

"Was. He's dead. It's understandable why your father hated you though, I didn't approve of your real father too. But my daughter, your mother, loved him so, so much she would have gladly given up her life for him…" he trailed off. His eyes glazed over as though recalling a fond memory…


I had broken down after that revelation. That piece of information had pushed me beyond how much pent up emotion I was capable of supressing at the time. I didn't cry because I felt sad about their deaths; but because my mother had actually truly loved me and I had I hated her. I truly regret that now. If only… if only I could have spent more time with her; that would have been all I could ever ask for. But alas, we cannot reverse time.

Arashi came up behind me.

"Would you like help with that?" he asked softly as though he could read my emotions. He probably could. Despite how annoying he was, he was good at reading my emotions although most people couldn't

I handed him the pendant necklace and raised my hair as he connected the clasps at the back of my neck. His fingers lingered there for a second too long and I shivered, but I hid it by lowering my pastel pink hair.

After that ordeal, we began to eat breakfast with some small talk. When we finished a small discussion about his battle sklaves – there was a particular brunette sklave he favoured in particular from what I had gathered - I took deep internal breaths and informed him of a decision I had finally reached last night in bed.

"Grandfather, I wish to go to military school." I told him bluntly.

He froze for a moment before returning the utensil he was using to his plate with a clatter and a serious expression. Resting his chin on his clasped fingers, he asked why.

"Well..." I started while poking my food with my fork, reluctant to tell him why. It involved a secret I had been hiding from him for a while.

"The truth is, I discovered I can use offensive zaiphon…" I said, with a small demonstration. I shrunk in my seat and prepared for his reaction.

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

Oh shit, I needed a scapegoat. From the corner of my eye, I could see my scapegoat leaning against the wall. Our eyes met for a split second, his ones widening as he realised what I was going to do.

"I thought Arashi was going to report it, but seeing as you didn't seem to do anything, I decided to tell you." I answered pleasantly. In the background, I could hear Arashi going on about 'how I promised' and 'I betrayed him'. I tried my best to brush his accusing glare off of my shoulder.

Grandfather's gaze flickered briefly over to Arashi before it turned back to me and he closed his eyes with a sigh.

"It can't be helped; you need to learn how to control it. I'll get the paperwork signed, you'll start next week."

My eyes flashed in thanks and a beam settled on my lips. I was in a positive mood for the rest of the day – totally worth the tongue-lashing Arashi gave me after breakfast for selling him out.


Miroku was a bit surprised when he heard Yumiko announce that she wanted to attend military school. It brought back memories of the time his daughter, Yumiko's mother, confronted him about attending military academy despite not inheriting the ability to wield zaiphon like her daughter. In his mind, he fondly thought, 'She's just like her mother sometimes.'


A week later, I was stepping out of my carriage in front of Barsburg's military academy in the evening. It was quite a sight to behold, but I suppressed my amazement as I went up to the guards upfront who were there to receive me and gave them my identification card so they could verify that I was indeed the Chairman's granddaughter. After passing, I was lead to my room to settle in and told that my classes started tomorrow.

As not many girls attended military academy, there were a few rooms dedicated to accommodating a single person as opposed to the male dorms where many boys were put into one room. The bathroom, however, was a communal one shared by all the girls in the academy.

In my room, my luggage had already been placed at the end of the bed and my uniform was neatly folded on my bed. It was similar to the male uniform except the female uniform consisted of a black pencil skirt lined with gold instead of trousers.

I spent the rest of the day unpacking my luggage and personalising my room, going to bed at 10 p.m. so I would have enough sleep.

When I entered the classroom the next day, I garnered many gasps from my new classmates. It was understandable though, there were very few girls in the academy and I was going to be the only girl in my class; not to mention, the only contact they really had in the academy was usually with female instructors.

I stood in front of the classroom largely uncomfortable. I never liked being in the centre of attention and doubted that I would ever be. I should be used to it, considering I was the granddaughter of one of the most highly respected men in the Barsburg empire, but I wasn't. I just shuffled my feet to hide the trembling that was happening and grasped my sweaty hands behind my back. In my chest, I could hear and feel my heart beat and resonate throughout my body. Knowing that my grandfather would be disappointed in me if he ever found out I was a nervous wreck and made a bad impression on my classmates, bringing shame to the family name, I held my head up in faux confidence and gazed at the back of the classroom, presenting an illusion of looking at my new classmates.

"Class, can I please have your attention!" the teacher announced with a clap. "Today we have a new student."

He then faced me and asked me to introduce myself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all; my name is Yumiko Vaulerim, though I prefer to be called by my mother's maiden name, Barsburg. I hope we'll all get along."

"Now, everyone, please treat her accordingly and with respect, she's the chairman's daughter," the teacher informed, and then told me to sit between two boys named Mikage and Teito. My eyes followed the finger he was pointing to a brunette with emerald eyes and a blonde with hazel eyes.

I muttered and "thank you" and made my way over to the two, watching at the brunette in particular with curiosity. He perked my interest as he seemed vaguely familiar; both his name and appearance. Trying to recall why, I remembered glimpsing a boy who had a similar appearance when I was younger outside the window of my grandfather's manor.

'Teito…Klein was it? Wasn't he that sklave that Grandfather raised? I heard he was from Raggs and an extraordinary fighter,' I recalled. After seating beside him, I looked up and saw him look at me from the corner of his eyes with distaste. On the other side next to me was the blonde named Mikage. Now that I was closer, I could see that he had a scar on his face; I wonder where he got that? Spotting me peeking at him, he gave me a welcoming smile and enthusiastic wave.

'He's sort of like Arashi,' I thought as I returned his smile, feeling a lot less nervous than I was earlier instantly. His personality brought a bit of familiarity into the situation and was rather comforting. And like that, I was somehow able to make it through the lesson.

When the bell rang to signal lunch, the reactions were instantaneous. Everybody automatically scrambled to pack up and the classroom was drowned in chatter. By the time I had finished gathering my things, Teito and Mikage were already gone. As I walked outside the door with every intention of getting some food to fill my empty stomach, everyone crowded me and bombarded me with questions, many asking if I would like to hang out with them. Before I could even answer any, a voice boomed above the noise of the crowd.

"Make way!" a voice in the crowd declared with authority. Everyone shuffled out of the way to let a guy with blonde hair and blue eyes through. I looked at him warily.

"Hello, nice to meet you, Yumiko. I'm Shuri Oak. The representative for this year's candidates." he declared proudly.

'Ugh. He's the type of guy I hate the most,' I thought to myself. I had already formed an opinion of him. I was pretty sure he was a pompous bastard.

"I'm sorry Shuri, I'd like to chat, but I'm hungry and would like to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat," I told him softly and politely. I slipped past him and started to make my way to the cafeteria before he could say anything else. Although my first impression of him wasn't a very good one, I was somewhat thankful to him for interrupting all the boys trying to earn my favour – it was natural since I was the chairman's granddaughter and it would help them once they graduated if I put in a good word for them to my grandfather – and for clearing the path to the cafeteria.

Upon entering the cafeteria, most conversations ceased and I felt all the eyes in the room on me. I silently got my lunch and turned around to search for a spot to sit. In the far corner, there was a table occupied by only two people, neither of them noticing me. That table seemed like the best place to sit and eat my lunch, so I made my way over there.

"Um... can I sit with you guys?" I asked with a tone that could be described as 'unsure'. The two boys stopped talking and looked at me. I finally recognised that the two were Mikage and Teito.

There was a tension in the air that was making me uncomfortable, and the long pregnant pause was implying that I was unwelcome. When I thought I wasn't going to receive an answer, I began to turn and go find another table when I finally got a response.

"Of course!" Mikage said brightly. Beside him, Teito elbowed him roughly and gave him a harsh glare, but Mikage appeared unfazed.

I let out the breath I had no idea I had been holding and sat down.

"You guys are the only people I know, except for the class representative Shuri Oak," I told the two in relief. Both of them tensed but Mikage quickly got rid of the silence that had befallen us by starting a conversation about our teacher and complaining about problems he had in class. Listening to his conversation, a small smile graced my lips as I thought, 'I think I might just get along with these two.'

I noticed that Teito kept staring at me but didn't join in the conversation, nodding when asked something and listened quietly with signs of listening.

It was hard to get him to open up to me, but once he did, we all became good friends.


A/N: Changed her last name, it just didn't fit with the other surnames found in the 07-Ghost universe. I also contemplated changing her name, but Japanese names are present in 07-Ghost, so I kept it Yumiko.