Yuuki slammed her forearm against the door the washroom stall, having gone there to cool herself off before she murdered Jake.

Why did he infuriate her so much? His cocky attitude, that damn smirk, his stupid scar... EVERYTHING! Everything about him just pissed her off!

And to top it all off, why was he so fucking familiar?!

Yuuki leaned forward, putting her forehead against her arm, thinking as hard as she possibly could about where she could've seen Jake. Nothing came to mind.

"Fuck!" She snarled between her teeth, unlocking the stall and putting her hands onto the edge of the sink that was immediately in front of her.

Turning on the cold water, Yuuki allowed the stream to run for several seconds before using her Hydrokinesis to splash a small amount onto her face.

Of course, within seconds the water droplets were absorbed into her skin, so by the time she looked up at the mirror, her skin was already as dry as it was before she'd done that.

For several seconds, she maintained eye contact with herself. She knew she was almost identical to her mother in appearance, down to the last detail in fact. But, she had her father's distinctly solid icy blue eyes and his glittering silver hair. Oddly enough, Yuuki had attempted on many occasions to dye the hair a variety of colours, but without fail, her hair simply rejected the entire process. Her stubborn hair remained that same sparkling silver, just like her father's. And, like her father, her eyes had a permanent blue glow, giving her already bright eyes a very chilling look.

In addition to this, she dressed goth, which was apparently what her dad dressed like for many, many years of his life. At the moment, she was wearing a black bustier style corset, her favourite black leather bolero jacket, lacy black fingerless gloves, black leather pants and her signature knee high combat boots. Hanging from her hip were her keys on a chain connected to her studded leather belt. And of course, even though it was back in the class, her purse of choice was her black Coffin Case.

The sound of several girls entering the washroom suddenly broke Yuuki's reverie, and for a brief moment they gave her looks of scathing disgust before touching up their makeup and gossiping.

For whatever reason, younger female students didn't get along with Yuuki in the slightest. They unfortunately got it into their heads upon first seeing her that she was a punk or delinquent, rather than the proper term of goth that they should be using. Not only that, she wasn't a delinquent. She got good grades, and despite being anti-social, she was a respectable student to the teachers... Most of the time.

"Like, anyway, so I heard some girl's dad like, died or whatever on the weekend."

Yuuki's ears perked up as she manually splashed more water on her face by hand, then wiped away the water before they saw her skin absorb it.

"Oh my god, who told you? How did he die, like, was it on the news?" Another girl asked, still applying far too much lip gloss to her already pink lips.

"I heard he was some kind of cop or something." The third girl chimed in, brushing her cheeks with some blush.

"Yeah, like, anyway, so what I heard is from that Nivans boy in our English class that his older brother was like, in the guy's team thingy or whatever, so he like, died in a gun fight thing. Got blown up or something." The first girl explained, which made Yuuki suddenly laugh, causing the three girls to turn towards her in shock.

"Captain Tobias Darkwood, Biohazard Security Assessment Alliance, Alpha Squad Leader, North America Division. He was escorting refugees in Eastern Europe when him and his team were ambushed. While the team held off the attackers, he helped the refugees hide in a nearby house. Unfortunately the house was then set on fire from an incendiary airstrike, so he then rescued 39 of the 42 refugees before he himself died in the fire."

"Oh my god, the thing can talk!" The second girl sneered, but Yuuki then tugged her dad's dogtags out from between her cleavage, hanging them over her thumb for the girls to see.

"You're talking about my father, so watch your fucking mouths, skanks." Yuuki snarled. "He wasn't a cop, he was a soldier, and he was a fucking hero."

"I'd have gone off to war if I had a freak like you for a kid! I wouldn't even fight, I'd just use my gun to kill myself out of shame!" The first girl mocked Yuuki, whose eyes narrowed.

"By the way, I've met Corporal Nivans. He was at my father's funeral on Saturday." Yuuki smirked as she marched out of the washroom with a proud air about her.

"What a freaking loser, carrying around her dad's army necklace things! Hahaha!" The girls all laughed, but they immediately regretted it when the sinks they were standing at suddenly burst, blasting cold water right into their face, making them scream in shock as Yuuki chuckled to herself from halfway down the hall.


"So do you mind telling me why I got a call from the principal about some pipes blasting water on some girls that said you were there with them in the bathroom?" Rize sat with a stern expression on her face the moment that Yuuki entered the front door.

"I swear to god, I wasn't directly involved in the way that you think, Mom." Yuuki held up her hands innocently. It was true, she didn't directly cause the pipes in the bathroom to malfunction like that. It was a case of 'wrong place, wrong time'.

"But you were there, were you not?" Rize raised an eyebrow. Yuuki nodded. "So I take it the pipes burst after you left the room, and were out of the way?"

"Mom! I didn't break the pipes!" Yuuki spoke vehemently. "I left the bathroom, and I got halfway down the hall when I heard the three of them start screaming. I had no idea what happened until the rumours started going around that a pipe broke in that bathroom."

"I don't believe you." Rize crossed her arms sternly. "You got into a fight with those girls and used your Hydrokinesis to intentionally spray them with water."

"Y'know, I'd love to be as vindictive as that, but I'm not. Yeah, we argued. But that's it. I said my bit, they said theirs, I left, then they start screaming about the water. I. Didn't. Fucking. Do. It." Yuuki was getting pissed. Why didn't her mother believe her?!

"I believe her." Alice spoke up suddenly, making Yuuki spin around to find her grandmother in the front door behind her. "You're on the parent council, right, Rize? When was the last time the school had any sort of maintenance related topic come up at the meetings?" Alice pointedly raised an eyebrow as she regarded her daughter.

"I see your point, Alice." Rize conceded defeat, sighing slightly before collecting herself. "Coffee?"

"I'd love some." Alice smiled as Yuuki walked up to her room in a huff. "By the way, how often does she hunt for flesh?"

"Three times a week." Rize replied. "Usually more when she's on her period. She's particularly ravenous at that time."

"You're one to talk. You would hunt ten times a week, minimum!" Alice teased her daughter with a cheerful smile.

"I'll have you know, I've cut back." Rize held up her index finger sternly. "Once per day, thank you very much. And I save the leftovers too!"


Upstairs, Yuuki tossed her backpack onto her desk chair before flopping down onto her bed, very drained from the exchange with her mother.

Once again, Alice and her flawless timing saved her ass. What did that fucking woman want from her? She still didn't exactly trust Alice, so where's the point in her doing all of that crap?

Turning her head towards her desk, Yuuki immediately realized that an unfamiliar wooden box was sitting on the surface. She quickly got up and approached it.

Raising an eyebrow, Yuuki slowly opened the lid, revealing a pair of unusual objects sitting inside the black felt lining.

The first was a large black combat knife in a sturdy sheath. After a moment, Yuuki realized it was the same metal as her necklace, Quinque Steel. She took out the weapon and immediately realized that the metal was very cold to the touch. That moment of cold instantly reminded her of her father, but the next object that was underneath made her eyes widen in shock.

Resting in the box was a Quinque Steel mask... a partial skull that covered the left eye and the bottom half on the face.