The Awakening

Eiji laid his head down on the desk. He had an inkling he wasn't going to like this week. At all. The class wasn't even part way full yet and it was annoyingly loud. Yumiko and Shusuke had picked him up early that morning so he and Shusuke could 'eat' before school again. She insisted on with this morning ritual, until they had properly adjusted to their new school. At first, Eiji hadn't believed that excuse until Yumiko reminisced about Shusuke's first day of fourth grade. He'd decided he was too old to still be drinking blood before going to class, and went the whole day without blood, going insane from trying not to snap at his classmates. The next day, Shusuke had remembered to drink a pint of blood before he left. Shusuke glared at Yumiko as she giggled. Before she eyed Eiji critically in the mirror. He didn't say a word as she handed him the extra packet of blood. Shusuke would probably interrogate it out of him later. Oh joy.

When Eiji had finally gotten out of the shower that morning, he'd taken off his clothes and dried off with the towel. Immediately, he carried the sopping wet clothes down to the laundry room throwing them in the drier, before returning to his room for another set of pajamas which he'd changed into as quietly as possible. Taichi had actually slept in their room last night. Grabbing the book Yumiko had given him, he tiptoed out of the room not wanting to wake Taichi up. Descending the stairs, he went into the living room to sit on the couch, not bothering to turn on the lights with his excellent night vision, opening up the book.

A Guide to Non- Humans Races Index

Vampires

Lycans

Wizards

Witches

Magic Users

Elementals

Others

Eiji flipped to Lycans curious about what Fuji had said the previous day. Lycans otherwise known pop culture today as werewolves. One of the larger based Non-Human races possibly equaling the size of vampires in population amount. No specific continent of origin, seem to be found to adapt to all terrains. Race with shape shifting ability to become either human or wolf in appearance depending on the lunar cycle. Are considered to be an entirely different species to Shifters because of dependence on the moon to shift and the singular ability to be only a wolf during the change. In addition they have an infectious bite which may turn humans into Lycans or kill them. Similar to vampires. Lycans often show temperaments and habits observed in other canine species.

Eiji had continued to read until Kaa-san had come running down the stairs grabbing the phone, dropping it when she had seen him looking up at her. He's forgotten she obsessively checked his room every morning to see if he was there. She must have panicked when she didn't see him there. Glancing towards the stairs he saw Taichi impassively observing him, as Kaa-san hugged him tightly, kissing his head. Great. He'd alienated his sibling once again. There wasn't anything he could do right. That's how his beautiful morning has started out, all before second breakfast too!

Now Eiji was waiting for the rest of the class to show up so they could get on with the torturous day. Nope. Not a chance it was going to get better, after this morning. Especially, if Morowa-sensei was still upset about Ryuzaki-sensei's admonishment the other morning. At the very least, the fangirls were likely to make him deaf before the day was over. Seemed a few of them had already devoted themselves to Fuji, and they weren't even in the same class as he was. A few of the others were interested in Tezuka-kun who apparently was incredible at tennis. Eiji wondered if it was the same Tezuka who Fuji was interested in. Wasn't he Oishi's friend? Speaking of Oishi, where was he? The seat next to Eiji was empty. Did Tezuka tell him I was a vampire? But why would he leave because of that?

Eiji frowned at the seat back down on his arms. This day was taking forever.

Slam.

"Hello." Oishi waved at him smiling forcefully. "You're here early as usual."

Eiji lifted his head raising an eyebrow at him. Oishi stared back confused. Shaking his head, he motioned for the other boy to sit down, just in time for Morowa-sensei to come in as the bell rang. As the class began, and attendance was being taken, Eiji noticed Morowa-sensei avoiding his gaze. Yep. English is going to suck this year. He'd be lucky if he wasn't 'accidently' put down as absent. Worst subject. With the not speaking and all. His desk mate seemed to have picked up on this from the way he was shooting nervous glances between the two of them.

"Today in class I would like you all to discuss how your first day went. In English."

That earned snickers from the class. Reluctantly, the class begin to converse in English, everyone partnering with their desk mate. Eiji noticed Oishi throwing him nervous glances. Smirking at the boy, he dug into his bag pulling out a notebook and pen. Scribbling.

I had a long day yesterday. First of all, I started my first day of junior high in a new city being harassed a toupee wearing English teacher for not talking when I'm mute….

Handing the note over to the other boy, he enjoyed the boy's reaction. Eiji was beginning to wonder if he could joke with his classmate. Oishi was wearing a panicked expression. So he scribbled out another note.

Your turn. Sensei's looking at us.

Waving it front of the other boy's eyes, pointing towards Morowa-sensei. Blinking for several moments Oishi finally responded in heavily accented English.

"Yesterday, I start first day at Seigaku. I live in Tokyo for my all life, I see many friends and many new people. Especially a red hair that not speak and cause me to be scold by sensei."

Maybe he did get the humor after all. This would be a challenge. Scribbling, he responded.

And then my classmate and his friend stopped to talk when my friend and I were taking lunch, reminding my friend of how much he always wanted a puppy.

"What?"

Oishi stared at the silently snickering Eiji, clearly confused.

My friend also went on about how rare it was to see a puppy wearing glasses, so he decided to see how unique the puppy was.

Slipping the note to Oishi, he turned to watch the rest of the class talk, while regarding the puzzled Oishi from the corner of his eye. He managed to hold his fingers still, holding back on the itch to scribble out another note. Oishi mouthed out the words, trying to get the odd sentence. Around the tenth repetition he understood the meaning, blushing scarlet, looking scandalized at Eiji who smirked widely at the expression. Ok. Maybe he spent too much time with the Fuji family.

"I think you mistake wolf for a dog, Kikumaru."

Oishi gravely stated with a firm conviction. Eyes narrowing as he placed an emphasis on 'dog'. Note to self: Lycans don't like to be compared to dogs. As if he were contemplating it, Eiji paused before staring with wide eyes and scribbling out another note.

Really? I guess I never learned the difference….their almost the same anyways.

Slipping the paper over to Oishi, Eiji flipped him the peace sign, grinning just a bit at the way Oishi glared between the paper and him.

"Think that way….would be the same as call a bat a bird?"

Eiji stole his slip of paper back.

Don't you mean a bat an owl? Birds go about in the daylight. Bats and owls travel in the night. I like birds…bats not so much….

He tossed the response back at a puzzled Oishi.

"No. Birds. They are more…. Well they not bats. You know what I try to say!"

The frazzled outburst caused several heads to turn their way. Oishi blushed and frantically called out apologizes. Eiji held onto his sides as he began to laugh- silently. Reinforcing that he was mute to his classmates that noticed. Morowa-sensei threw a glance in their direction holding in the appearance of Eiji for a full thirty seconds before turning away. Great, sensei had decided to go with the ignoring his existence option. Always a good one. Tilting his head to Oishi, he received a glare. Hmm, the boy obviously didn't take well to getting in trouble with the authority figures. Smiling cheekily at the boy, Eiji turned to write another note.

Kitten belongs to Master. Little kitties shouldn't play with Mutts. Master will punish any puppy that gets near Kitten. Strays do not know Master is nearby.

Eiji blanched. Fingers trembling as the pencil fell on the desk and rolled off. Oishi gave him a stare picking the pencil up for him. Setting it right in front of him. He watched the hand anxiously.

"Something is wrong with Kikumaru?"

Oishi asked worriedly. Observing the confusion and anxiety in the eyes, Eiji returned to staring at the desk top. He refused to respond to any questions or queries from the boy, quickly escaping the room at lunch a few bells later.

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Tezuka stared at the chalkboard. Ryuzaki-sensei was attempting to explain the Pythagorean Theorem when dealing with ninety degree angled triangles. Diligently, he was taking notes and underlining certain points he would have to look up and practice later. While everyone always gave him the credit of being a top student excelling at everything, that wasn't true. Sports, history and literature were all subjects that came easily to him. Languages were slightly more challenging, but more often than not it was the accent that he struggled with. The same could not be said of math; subsequently, he often struggled through chemistry and physics too. If he was given the choice, he would always choose biology over the other two sciences. Fortunately, Okaa-san was skilled at math, and would tutor him when had difficulty. He also found over the years that if he appeared to be receptive to learning the subject the sensei were more lenient if he had trouble.

All of which could be ruined by overzealous love addicted human girls. Of whose high pitched voices neither he nor his sensei could tolerate. His sensitive ears had been killing him when he had returned home the previous day. This school was going to be the cause of horrible migraines. I thought humans were supposed to become quieter as they got older. It's only the second day at a new school. How can they already have set their targets on me, when at least half of them are from another school? Oh well, at least from the gossip I'm not the only one being targeted. An improvement on elementary school already. And that wasn't even the worst of it. No. Even more annoying than the squealing fangirls was the 'boy' sitting two rows behind him on the right.

The boy absolutely reeked of magic and herbs. Normally, Tezuka had nothing against plants, they were preferable to manufactured human smells. Whatever the boy had been doing with said plants had caused them to give off a faint a sour noxious odor. However Tezuka had met wizards, sorcerers and other magic users in the past, and could tell the boy wasn't one of them. Meaning that he had no idea to classify the boy so he would be unable to research his race later. Tezuka loathed not knowing potential 'rivals' , especially when they were in his territory. It didn't help for one moment that the boy seemed to know more about him, than he knew about the boy. Giving the boy the upper hand. Barely, he managed to stop the growl that was starting in his throat. Ryuzaki-sensei must have noticed because she gave him a curious look, before grinning at something or someone behind him.

"Inui-san, could you please answer the problem on the board?"

For a split second the fast paced scratching noises that indicated his classmate's 'note taking' stilled.

"Angle A is 63.7 degrees and Angle B is 26.3 degrees while line AB is 28.4 cm. 73% chance you'll ask Isaki-san to answer the next problem."

Ryuzaki-sensei blinked in surprise at the boy before grinning.

"Correct. Isaki-kun, Problem Four."

A couple of eye twitches escaped his normally unflappable outward demeanor. No, the most annoying trait about the boy, even more annoying than his being an unknown magic user, was his incessant note taking on everybody he came in contact with. Along with the random utterances of probabilities on people going through with certain actions. Usually, Tezuka was highly tolerant of eccentric behaviors, being involved in the otherworld had that affect, but not when they involve a stranger, non-pack, observing and predicting his every move. These things pricked his alpha temperament, making him wish that his beta pack mate had not been put in another class with a vampire of all creatures. Another thing he had to worry about. Oishi's presence usually helped him keep calm about these situations. All in all, he did not look forward to this year. The bell rang signaling it was time for Ryuzaki-sensei to leave. As she erased the board he heard her whisper,

"I expect I'll see you at the tryouts for Regulars this afternoon, Tezuka-kun?"

His eyes glinted. Nodding at her as she grinned over at his section, and walked out the door.

"I'll be there."

A promise. It would be nice to let off a little steam that day. He wasn't going to go easy on them as he'd originally intended. For a little while he could enjoy playing with his pack mate without the irritating presence of unknown magic dabblers or vampires and their Other race followers, excluding Ryuzaki-sensei that was.

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Eiji found himself being dragged by his best friend. The moment the last bell for the day rang, Fuji had been there waiting impatiently for his friend. Oishi had thrown him an odd look before taking off. Probably confused by the drastic displays in his behavior throughout the day. First he was all friendly with the other boy, than gave him the cold shoulder before passively interacting with him and ignoring him again. Seeing Fuji with his oh so sweet smile and half open azure eyes, he envied the other boy.

"Oh don't be that way. He's just going to miss out on all our fun."

Fun?

Fun! What are you planning Fuji?

A shoulder shrug and an even wickeder smile were his answer. What had he missed? There was no particular event planned that he was aware of. Everything had been good at lunch. No one had earned Fuji's wrath. Taka hadn't mentioned anything bad happening. The two had discussed class and hobbies. Eiji had decided to relax and tune them out, already well acquainted with Fuji's bizarre and disturbing interests. Taka's face had been an unflattering shade of green when he had finally tuned back in. Oh no! What did I miss?! Fuji threw him a calculating glance as he continued to drag him to who-knows-where?

"Honestly, you weren't paying attention at all?"

Eiji shook his head nervously. The smirk became wider and the eyes opened just a little more.

"We're going to observe the tennis club. I think it might be fun to join."

Wait! What? Tennis club?

Eiji felt his stomach murmur its discontent with the thought. There was no way he was going to join a club. It was one of the last things he wanted to do. Class was aggravating enough, how was he going to handle himself in a sports club?

Relax.

The presence of Fuji in his disorderly mind calmed him a bit.

Fuji! I can't join a club!

He thought loudly enough that Fuji was likely holding a cringe at the pitch of it. His friend glanced around before pulling them into an empty classroom. The smile was gone from his face replaced with a frown and fully open eyes. Softly and determinedly he spoke.

"Eiji. I have no idea what is wrong with you. You've been jumpy all morning and I was sure we were going to have to leave at lunch but you managed to calm down enough I didn't call Nee-san. I know you're scared and nervous. After two years this must be killing you, especially considering…You need to get over your fear or else it is going to control you forever. That's why the elders insisted on you entering this school. Our kind has no choice but to interact with humans on a daily basis antagonizing as it is. So we need to be able to act like one of them, fit in among them…otherwise we will slowly go insane. I realize that you're scared that you'll lose control and hurt someone, but that's why we attend school, so we can learn control. You need this even more than I do Eiji."

His friend sighed continuing to frown at him. Eiji managed to pull his eyes away from the hypnotic gaze to stare at the wall. Finally he softly thought.

I know, but every time I think I'm safe the Voice….

If possible he felt his friend's eyes grow darker, more compelling. Eiji waited for him to say something as he felt the overprotective aura his friend was giving off. Waited for the interrogation to begin. Another sigh escaped his friend. When Eiji finally gathered his courage to look up, he saw the ever familiar sadistic grin and closed eyes.

"Come on. Let's go. You don't have to join if you don't want to. I'm not saying I'm going to join either, just that it could be interesting. And if anything we can cheer Taka on."

Watching wouldn't be so bad…as long as he didn't have to interact. It was tennis, not gymnastics…..He liked Taka. The boy was really shy and easily embarrassed; if he were his former self he would have teased the older boy out of his shell. At lunch he'd even offered the boy some of his lunch when his stomach rumbled after having finished his own. Albeit, Eiji would have given it all to him if he would have taken it. A gut feeling told him he should probably make sure the food was gone after Taichi had discovered his full lunch the previous night.

"Nee-san agreed to pick us up just before tennis practice finishes so we can drop you off in time. 'Kay?"

Eiji still didn't want to join, but he felt better about following his friend now. If Fuji wanted to join the club there was nothing for him to say about it. At least he wouldn't have to have to go home right away. He nodded. Hurriedly, Fuji dragged him out of the classroom towards the courts. It was usually better to go along with Fuji when he was in this mood. Seeing the tennis courts up close, he was even more surprised than the previous day at their size. There were members everywhere; he lost count after thirty-five. Fuji ushered them up to the top row of the bleachers so they could observe everyone below. The distance not a problem with a vampire's excellent vision.

Spotting Taka he was about to shout out and wave to him when he remembered he was mute. A frown marred his lips. Maybe this wouldn't be fun. Just when he thought he could try and interact a little he was once again reminded why he couldn't. Pouting, he watched as Fuji practice his 'notice me' technique on Taka. Sure enough the boy looked up at Fuji and waved. Eiji let his gaze wander. Towards the left side of the court, he could have sworn he saw his classmate. But that thought was lost to him when he spotted Tezuka.

His lips twitched. This practice was going to be entertaining. Sneakily, he peaked at his friend, sure that Fuji had no idea Tezuka was on the tennis team. Yep. If his friend had known, he would have been a lot more insistent on coming here. As long as he didn't have to join the team, he supposed it wouldn't be too bad to watch his friend play. Not a sport existed that his friend couldn't do. Plus Fuji would be able to hear his mental cheering. Fuji saw his posture straighten.

"See. This won't be so bad."

You have no idea.

Fuji was about to ask him about the statement when the coach came out, and started yelling at the team.

"First years and Second years start doing laps! Two kilometers! Third years stretch then help out the First and Second years! All those picked to compete in the tournament to determine the Regulars, go to your courts! If you don't have a match now, warm up!"

I didn't know Ryuzaki-sensei was the tennis coach.

"Hai. She just teaches math because you have to teach an actual class to coach at Seigaku. For some reason she's always turned down the chance to teach at any other school. Occasionally, she chooses to coach at the High School division instead."

Eiji nodded, watching as almost the entire courts were emptied except for those few who were going to participate in the tournaments. His eyes danced a bit when he noticed Tezuka hadn't left. Apparently he was as good. Not that he was doubtful after what he'd seen the other day at lunch. Glancing surreptitiously at Fuji, he saw his friend still hadn't spotted the other boy.

"Maa. I was hoping to see Taka play. Guess we'll have to wait for another day. But the tournament could still be entertaining."

Fuji playfully pouted. Eiji just nodded, biting his lip to keep from smiling. He saw his friend watch the match that just started on the Western court between two third years. Tezuka was in the Eastern court finishing his warm ups. His opponent was a second year, and didn't seem too happy to be playing a first year. Ryuzaki-sensei was standing off to the side watching the two. The third year was failing to intimidate his opponent much to Eiji's amusement. Lycans were supposed to be very territorial, and would only become annoyed if challenge. According to the book he was reading. All the body posturing made him think it wasn't lying. Both walked to the center of the court as a tall boy next to Ryuzaki-sensei made a hand signal. They flipped the racket and moved back taking stances. Eiji couldn't resist anymore

Take a look at the match on the Eastern Court. Those third years aren't that good.

Fuji turned to look at him for a moment before glancing towards the Eastern Court. Immediately his eyes snapped open as Tezuka made the first swing of the match.

Yes, finally I updated. Originally I said I was going to try to update weekly, but I doubt I'm going to hold through on that. The next update to one of the Beaconverses should be in two or three weeks.

Tezuka's point of view appears! I didn't want him to be utterly perfect, so I gave him math as a weakness. Inspired by one of the manga chapters where Konomi debates about whether he is good at math or not.

I'm so sorry for making Oishi speak so poorly! I was trying to make it look like he was still learning English, and was not as fluent. I figure this would be his second year taking the class, so he would have difficulty with past tense and 'ing's. I don't think that I fully showed he was learning the language in one of the previous chapters.

Sidenote: I just finished reading the first chapter of the New Prince of Tennis. Sadly, it reminds me how OOC I'm making Eiji in this fic. I forgot how…acrobatically energetic he could be.

Thanks for Reading!

Please Review,

False Sourires