Hi there! This took a little longer than I thought and I'm not sure if I should make any promises about the next chapter either. This chapter doesn't have everything in it that I would have liked for there to be, but I'll have to spread it out to the next chapters then... Well, I hope you enjoy and review even if you don't, especially if you don't.

Chapter Nine

Copperwail

Now this is a predicament… Bezanthume knew at least three ways out of this "life and death" situation that would be possible to an extraordinary human.

One: He could grab the blade of his sword and release the full heat of his flame on it. The heat would turn the blade red-hot and cause the hilt to either be set on fire or heat up like the blade, either way Urahara Kisuke would have to let go of the sword. He would have his weapon and thus be able to control the conversation.

Two: He could take the blade between his palms and kick Urahara Kisuke back while holding on to it. That would leave the sword in his hands.

Three: He could talk his way out of this.

As much as he wanted there to be a fourth option that included killing the annoying ex-shinigami he still had to adhere Inoue Orihime's wishes to spare himself from rewinding time every other second. But now: Which of the three he should choose? The two first sounded the most fun to do, but considering his present physical condition and that he didn't want to come off as superhuman the third option was the logical choice.

Regrettably, he had to follow his voice of reason for a change.

"Exactly who are you?" Urahara Kisuke asked and pressed the blade of his sword against his neck a little harder. He must be wondering why he hadn't drawn blood yet. Bezanthume almost laughed out loud. Did he really think that he could make a demon bleed from that little?

"Well, this country does seem very hospitable indeed. It took the whole of 48 hours for me to have a deadly weapon pressed against my neck. That's gotta be some kind of record, you know." Bezanthume replied sarcastically. He was fully aware that he answered his question in the vaguest way possible. The fact that he wasn't the slightest bit nervous with a sharp sword on his neck must seem strange in Urahara Kisuke's eyes. Bezanthume thought that he should give the guy something else to think about.

"Are you two here to help Kurosaki Ichigo?" Bezanthume asked and glanced behind his shoulder to see quite a surprised looking Urahara Kisuke with a black cat next to him. Bezanthume raised one eyebrow when looking at the cat that was looking at his hands very intently. Bezanthume put his hands in his pockets.

"Strange, I was sure that there was a woman with you…" Bezanthume said and kept on staring at Yoruichi. After two seconds he let a small smirk creep up on his face and saw how the cat's tail furrowed and its whole body seemed to shiver.

"I see… Interesting" Bezanthume said and turned back to facing Kurosaki Ichigo. Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi glanced at each other with similar looks of surprise and confusion on their faces. Urahara Kisuke shrugged and Shihouin Yoruichi waved her tail once.

"Just who are you, kid?" Shihouin Yoruichi said with her misleading voice. Bezanthume chuckled and looked back at Shihouin Yoruichi with an amused look.

"You have a really weird voice there, lady. The name's… Copperwail Benjamin, it's a pleasure to meet you." Bezanthume said and gave them a slightly pained smile. The effect of the tea he had digested had already lessened considerably and he could control his powers enough not to actually radiate heat anymore, but he was still in pain. Both Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi stared at him in disbelief. They just had a hard time believing that anyone could be so relaxed with a sword on their neck.

"How did you do that stunt just now?" Urahara Kisuke asked and nodded towards the area of trees and bushes reduced to ash by Bezanthume. Bezanthume decided to act a little to avoid the question. He wasn't really good at making up aliases on the fly. He shot a cold murderous gaze at Urahara Kisuke.

"You do not have any right to ask that of me" Bezanthume said in the most threatening tone he could muster without changing his voice back. Urahara Kisuke took an involuntary step back because of the incredible amount of killing intent he felt from this young, yet huge, man. Shihouin Yoruichi seemed to stay calm. She was the one to ask the next question.

"Why can't we sense your spiritual power?" Shihouin Yoruichi asked without a hint of fear present in her mind. Bezanthume looked down to the small cat and thought that he would like to meet this Shihouin Yoruichi in person, as in two humanoids. Meeting her as a cat was very… wrong.

"I am afraid that I have no idea what you are talking about, lady." Bezanthume said and wasn't even lying that much. He was puzzled by this notion of spiritual power and the means they measured it: reiatsu. It seemed like they measured their strength by how weak their control over it was. Humans were perplexing creatures indeed. All demons were able to control their power completely and keep it from leaking out from a very young age.

Shihouin Yoruichi walked over to Bezanthume and then seemed to sniff the air. Was she checking if he smelled human? Well, there was nothing he could do if she did smell something wrong. He was not the one that was a natural with mental manipulation. When Bezanthume was sure neither one of them was looking he glanced over to Lilith and noticed that she was standing over where Kurosaki Ichigo's body was, looking very indecisive. He was still a little too weak to muster the energy to talk into her mind. Angels had an incredible resistance against any kind of foreign mental influences. He had enough power to overpower both Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi, but he was not strong enough to communicate with Lilith. Somehow that just didn't seem right.

"What is your relation with Inoue Orihime?" Shihouin Yoruichi asked, surprising both Urahara Kisuke and Bezanthume. How could she possibly know about that? Did she smell her on him? Bezanthume hadn't realized that cats had such an acute sense of smell. Now he had to think of something. What would sound convincing? He had said that he had been in the country only for two days already.

"I moved next door to her two days ago. She's a real nice girl, came by to say hi and all that. A little too naive for her own good though…" Bezanthume wondered if he should slip in a lie in here that would bewilder them and explain the fact that Shihouin Yoruichi could smell her on him. But it was not like they would believe that Inoue Orihime would do something like that…

"Can I go now? I have better things to do than spend my whole night talking to you two. Not to mention that what you're doing isn't exactly legal and I probably would not be punished too hard if I were to defend myself." Bezanthume said in an over-confident tone very common for adolescent humans. He had to look as normal as possible in their eyes right now. Urahara Kisuke tilted his head a little and then took his sword off of his neck. Bezanthume didn't wait for him to say anything before starting to walk away. If he had too much interaction with them in his current state he could just slip something by mistake. He could feel the eyes of Shihouin Yoruichi following him when he walked away. He was aware of her doubts about him, but he couldn't do anything about it now.

"Should I erase their memory?" Lilith asked when setting down next to him. Bezanthume glanced over to her and then thought about her proposition. There was that possibility as well, but the road he was taking now seemed to be a whole lot more fun to take. He would have grinned right now if he wasn't in pain.

"Nah, just alter Shihouin Yoruichi's memory, so that she doesn't remember my claws. I think she saw them just now. See if Urahara Kisuke noticed them as well and do the same to him if he did. Otherwise leave their minds intact." Bezanthume said without looking over to Lilith, he was sure that Shihouin Yoruichi was still watching him. Lilith didn't even open her mouth to protest. She simply flew over to Urahara Kisuke and Shihouin Yoruichi and started using her magic. Bezanthume didn't even bother to pay attention to the words of her spell; it was not like he could use it if he memorized the whole thing. Demons and angels each had their own language and culture. And neither side wanted to have anything do with the other.

A small smile crept up on Bezanthume's lips. He hoped that he could remember his past with this angel called Lilith with more detail. He remembered bits and pieces and these pieces only showed that they had been very close in one point in time. That was fine and within his societies laws; the tainting of an angel was considered a great feat, but the emotions he felt within those memories seemed too sincere for it to be like that.

"So, now when that's done: What now? You have a plan, right?" Lilith asked and flew around his head in circles. He didn't know if she got hyper from using her magic or if she was just trying to piss him off, but he grabbed her and set her down on the ground all the same. Lilith started walking next to him and didn't interrupt Bezanthume's thoughts. He had to think this all through.

"You should go to Inoue Orihime's teacher's house and alter her memory, so that she thinks that there are two foreign exchange students transferring to her class tomorrow. We can take care of the rest of the school officials later." Bezanthume said and smiled wickedly. He sat down on a bench to wait for his body to process the hallowed tea he had consumed as Lilith flew off to the destination he had specified for her.

"Oh, I think this is going to be fun…"

Orihime

Where could they be? Orihime was getting worried about the fact that she hadn't seen or heard of Bezanthume since yesterday. She had waited late into the night. She didn't even want to think what Bezanthume could do if he found her asleep. She ultimately did fall asleep, but when she didn't find herself in a compromising position or garnished with new jewelry she had to think that Bezanthume hadn't come back during the night. Maybe Bezanthume and Lilith were both lying together in a bed somewhere after a night of…

Orihime blushed and decided not to think about it. It was bewildering enough to have him looming over her shoulder, but it would be almost unbearable if she had those kinds of things in her mind. Why was he hanging around her in the first place? Because of the contract he had made with her, to prevent her from ever being imprisoned in Las Noches? Was he doing something on that behalf right now?

Orihime shook those thoughts away, grabbed her bag and walked out the door. A bright summer day greeted her. She couldn't help but smile with the sun and a slight summer breeze grazing her skin while she walked. This might turn out to be a good day. A demon-free day if she was lucky.

She should have known better by now.

Tatsuki

Tatsuki sighed and sunk deeper into the water. She wasn't sure if this was helping, but at least it felt good. The water was steaming hot, but somehow it still seemed a little cold for her. She had thought that she had a fever when she got home last night and started feeling dizzy and lightheaded. She sat down and it subsided after a couple of minutes. The possibility that her symptoms might have been just a delayed response to what had almost happened to her earlier that evening crossed her mind.

But when her vision blurred and it started feeling like the blood in her veins had turned into a burning hot liquid she started to wonder if whatever was wrong with her mysterious savior could be contagious. He had said that it was an allergic reaction, but he could have been lying just as well. He had been rather quick to swat her hands away when she tried to help him. He had been sweating profoundly and she had touched his skin. She had not thought about it at the time and just wiped her hand on her skirt.

Well, she decided not to tell her parents just then. She would have to tell them about the attempted rape as well if she did that. She probably wouldn't be allowed to leave the house alone for weeks. Instead she decided to wait if it passed like the dizziness had before. After about ten minutes her body temperature seemed to return to normal and she changed into something more comfortable than her school uniform. She decided to do her homework at the kotatsu, since she felt kind of chilly. After she was done with the math homework she had to wrap herself in a blanket and check if the thermostat was broken or something.

When she started to shake from the cold while in the middle of her English homework she knew that she was just not feeling a bit chilly. She looked up at the clock on the wall of her room and was surprised to see how late it was. She was not tired at all; she was actually feeling quite full of energy, only if she wasn't so cold. Still not wanting to be under house arrest for weeks she snuck into the bathroom and decided to take a really hot bath. So, she stayed soaking in the tub for the remainder of the night, just a couple of hours actually, and the cold did gradually fade away. And she also noticed that the water didn't seem to get cold either, it was still steaming hot and she had been in the water for several hours. What exactly was happening here? Was she radiating heat like her mystery savior last night?

"Tatsuki, are you in there? Shouldn't you be getting ready for school? Are you alright?" Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and the voice of her mother behind it. Was it that early already? Well, it would be about time for her to get out anyway. She was feeling like she had a low fewer, but her teeth didn't rattle against each other. Really now, did she catch some weird disease from that man or was this just a psychosomatic response to the emotional trauma of almost being raped?

She had been watching too much TV… She was thinking like a character out of a hospital drama. She got out of the water and pulled out the plug to drain the water while she dried her hair. To her great surprise most of the water on her skin had already evaporated. Was she really radiating heat like the guy from yesterday? She didn't even know his name and he already gave him a disease… Okay, that sounded so wrong.

This was just too damn weird! Was she really having the same symptoms as he had been suffering from last night from simply having a drop of his sweat on her hand? Sure, there were contagious diseases that could be transmitted through the skin, but this just… didn't feel like disease. She felt like she could punch her hand through a brick wall right now.

No, this didn't feel like a disease at all, it felt more like… a drug… Who the hell had saved her last night? She couldn't get him out if her mind. It was pretty damn hard to forget someone his size in the first place, but it wasn't his overall size that was bothering her even now, it was his eyes. They had seemed to be glowing and their forest green color completely clashed with his otherwise savage appearance. She couldn't get those eyes out of her mind.

Tatsuki tried to shake the image of those eyes out of her mind, wrapped the towel around her torso and opened the door of the bathroom. Her mother had just raised her hand to knock on the door again and she stepped back when Tatsuki opened the door.

"Good morning, Tatsuki." Her mother said while Tatsuki walked past her. Tatsuki waved her hand while walking away as a response. She also mumbled something that could be recognized as "Morning" if you stretched your imagination. She happened to glance at the clock and noticed that this would be the time she'd be waking up on a normal day. So she actually had spent that long in the tub trying to stabilize her body temperature? Seriously, she should be freaking out right now. Something like this was not supposed to happen to a normal high school student like her.

Tatsuki completed her morning routines giving a completely normal face to her parents. She answered them like she normally would, but when she stepped out of the door her hands were shaking too much for her to hold her bag anymore. What was wrong with her? Was the psychological trauma enough to cause something like this or was this part of her presumed symptoms? She didn't feel cold anymore, but she felt like there was a gaping hole inside her very soul that was spreading out until… until there would be nothing left of her.

Tatsuki took a deep breath and waited for her hands to stop shaking. The fact that she was affected by the fact that she seemed to be losing her ability to feel at all said that not all of it was lost. Why was she even sure that she was losing her emotions anyway? This will pass, like everything else has thus far.

She grabbed her bag and started running towards the school. She still felt like she could punch her hand through a wall. Every muscle in her body felt tense and ready to jump into action. When she arrived at her school she was out of breath, but her muscles weren't even slightly sore. She had only stopped running at a red light and didn't even slow down when running uphill.

She was scared.

Orihime

The day had been unusually peaceful today. She had arrived at school without Bezanthume appearing suddenly and Chizuru even seemed to be distracted by something, so she didn't get overly intimate with her. Chizuru just sat in her seat and stared out of the window. This was unusual for her, but Orihime didn't mind not being molested on daily basis so she left Chizuru as she was. She sat down behind her desk and just watched the class gradually fill up with her classmates. She hadn't realized how much she had missed these kinds of small normal things. Small groups were formed around the classroom as friends talked about things relevant to them and laughed, giggled and teased each other very lively. It was all so very normal, all so very comforting for her bruised heart. She closed her eyes and listened to the voices of her classmates.

Yes, she understood now; any of it hadn't happened yet, everything is still normal now. There are no Arrancar, no Aizen, no Ulquiorra, no Grimmjow, no violence and no death. Not yet, and he is going to make it so that there will never be. Bezanthume…

"What are you daydreaming about, Orihime?" Tatsuki's voice asked right next to her. Orihime was leaning her hand on her palms and looking out of the window. She did look like she was daydreaming about something and what was she daydreaming about, Him? She wasn't daydreaming about that demon right now, was she?

"No! It can't be! I was not! I was not, I tell you!" Orihime screamed and finally snapped out of her own private world. Everyone in the room was staring at her in slight surprise. Orihime laughed nervously and scratched the back of her head and everyone continued like nothing had happened. Tatsuki sighed and gave her a pat on the head.

"Good morning, Orihime." Tatsuki said and leaned on the desk next to Orihime's. Orihime looked up to her eyes and noticed that they looked… strained somehow. She couldn't really put her finger on it. Maybe she was just tired.

"Is everything alright, Tatsuki-chan? You look pale." Orihime said in a soft tone and stood up from her desk. She reached out to Tatsuki's head and placed her right hand on Tatsuki's forehead and her left on her own to check her temperature. Tatsuki's eyes looked surprised for a second and she tensed from her touch.

"Really, it's nothing…" Tatsuki said nervously and waited for Orihime to take her hand off of her forehead. There was no way that she wouldn't notice that she was radiating heat right now.

"You don't seem to have a fever though… Did you get any sleep last night? I'm sorry for keeping you so long, Tatsuki-chan." Orihime said and bowed her head in apology. Tatsuki was staring at her in surprise for some reason. Tatsuki put her own hand on her forehead and looked puzzled for a second. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a loud voice from just outside the classroom.

"Holy mother of god! You… You are…" The voice of Asano Keigo carried from the hall. Everyone turned their heads towards the door in surprise. What got him that fired up this time? There were sounds resembling Keigo choking on his own tongue before an almost melodic voice interrupted him.

"… I am… what?" A beautiful feminine voice asked in a puzzled tone. It might be overreacting, but it sounded like the voice of an angel. Chizuru was the first one in the doorway, but the rest of the students in the classroom were not far behind.

"You are the single most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes upon! I am yours to command, my mistress!" Keigo yelled from the top of his lungs and then threw himself on the floor in front of the girl's feet. To the spectators great surprise she didn't even look surprised from Keigo's behavior. She was smiling a small sweet smile and looking down to Keigo with something that seemed like child-like curiosity in her eyes.

"Well… Thank you, that was a sweet thing for you to say." Lilith said and turned her eyes to the crowd that had gathered. Her eyes met with those of a very shocked looking Orihime and she gave her a discreet wink and smiled a little wider. Orihime thought that she heard all the boys gathered in the crowd swallow in unison from the sensory overload of an angel's charm and natural beauty. Orihime glanced over to Chizuru and saw that she had her jaw hanging open and her eyes as wide as saucers. The crowd's stare was only broken when someone just as extraordinary appeared down the hall.

"Hey, did you find it?" An eight-foot tall man with slightly reddish black hair asked while walking up to the angelic newcomer. He didn't shout out his words, but he didn't have to; his incredibly low voice stood out from the noise of the hall nonetheless. The man had his hair tied back in a loose ponytail down his back and had tanned skin. His forest green eyes stood out from his features. He looked remarkably like Bezanthume, but a little too… human. He walked up to them and stopped next to Lilith and looked down to Keigo with his green eyes impassionate and cold.

"Who's this clown?" Bezanthume said in his low voice and the crowd saw how Keigo started to shiver from fear and sweat glistened on his face. He started stuttering and after a while he was able to let out a couple of comprehensible words.

"I– I'm– My name is Asano Keigo and I didn't mean to– Please don't hurt me!" Keigo screamed and slammed his face on the ground in an excessive apology. The man raised one slightly reddish brow and turned to Lilith. Lilith shrugged in response and turned to Keigo.

"He's not going to hurt you, silly! He's harmless as a– " Lilith said before Bezanthume was able to interrupt her.

"Continue that sentence and face the consequences, Lily." Bezanthume said in a dangerous tone. He reached down to the collar of Keigo's shirt and pulled him on his feet. "Would you stop groveling like a fucking worm already? You're making me feel uncomfortable." Bezanthume raised Keigo off the floor without any visible effort and then set him back on his feet calmly. When Keigo was able to stand on his own legs Bezanthume turned his whole attention to the crowd behind him. Orihime heard several girls in the group gathered to watch the scene gasp when Bezanthume turned his green eyes towards them. They were really… striking, to say the least.

"Now, before anyone asks, introductions are to be made when your teacher arrives. Good morning, ladies... and gentlemen." Bezanthume said and his eyes stopped at Orihime just for a second when he said this. Orihime just knew that he was trying to hold back a smirk right now. Why does he have to try and ruin every aspect of my life? And why did he have to speak in that way? He sounded like one of those… What were they called again, womanizers? Yeah, it was something like that. He sounded over-confident and… and… indifferent, lecherous, whatever! Damn it, how in god's name could he piss her off so much with so little effort?

"Oh, lighten up! What's so bad about introducing yourself twice?" Lilith said and nudged Bezanthume with her elbow. She took a step forward and cleared her throat to attract the crowd's attention.

"Good morning to you all. My name is Lily Copperwail and I am to be transferred into this school as of today. I hope we can learn to like each other in the days to come." Lilith bowed respectfully and then motioned for Bezanthume to introduce himself. Bezanthume turned his eyes away and ignored her completely. Lilith gave Bezanthume a glare that threatened him with something very painful very soon, but Bezanthume was sure to look at anything but the angel next to him.

"This timid little soul here is my cousin, Benjamin Copperwail. Even though he looks like he doesn't care about anything he is frequently used as a stepping ladder to save kittens from trees. His favorite color is –" Lilith's mouth was suddenly covered by the palm of Bezanthume's hand and she was dangling up in the air. Bezanthume moved his hand back and let go of Lilith, causing her to be thrown back a couple of feet.

"That's quite enough out of you, Lily. You shouldn't believe a word she just said. Yes, my name is Benjamin Copperwail, but as it comes to kittens and trees; a blatant lie." He didn't raise his voice at all when he said this; his voice was actually calm and his tone even, but still everyone present could sense how much he wanted to strangle the girl that had introduced herself as Lily Copperwail.

"What exactly is going on here?" Ochi Misato asked and made her way through the crowd of students. She stopped to stare at Bezanthume when she broke through the crowd. "Damn, you're huge… Oh, yeah! You two must be those transfer students!" Ochi Misato said and pointed an accusing finger at them. Bezanthume looked down to Lilith in search of an explanation, but she simply shrugged and pointed a finger towards Ochi Misato as well.

"Yes! Yes, we are! And you must be the teacher, Ochi Misato!" Lilith yelled enthusiastically, but kept a straight face. There was a moment when everyone in the hall was too dumbstruck to say anything and utter silence fell upon them. Ochi Misato was the first one to burst into laughter and Lilith was not far behind. They stumbled towards each other and then stood back to back to stay standing.

"What was so funny?" Someone asked in the crowd. No one knew what to do and they just stood there dumbstruck as their teacher laughed along with the transfer student. The other transfer student, the giant, seemed indifferent about the behavior of his cousin and his soon to be teacher. After the teacher calmed down they headed back into class and everyone took their seats as the transfer students stayed in front of the class for their official introduction.

Tatsuki

He was here, the guy from yesterday. He was standing there in front of her classmates in all his eight feet of glory and didn't look one bit sick. He didn't even seem to recognize her. He hadn't made eye contact with her even once. She hoped she wouldn't be forced to ask him to step out for a bit, but she really needed answers. Maybe that "allergic reaction" yesterday was violent enough for him to forget about her? He had seemed to be in quite a lot of pain. She had thought earlier that the unnatural strength to throw a grown man like a rag doll came from some drug he had taken, but now that she saw him in a short sleeved shirt… she wasn't so sure anymore.

"Today we have two new students transferring into our class. It seems like they were able to introduce themselves already, but let's hear it once more for the people that weren't there." Ochi Misato said and motioned for Lily to step up. She did just that and thrust her hand up above her head in an overly energetic greeting.

"Hi ya'll! My name's Lily Copperwail and it sure is nice to meet ya'll again! Let's have a whole bunch of fun and educational days!" Lily practically shouted out and finished her introduction in a wide smile. Every single one of Tatsuki's classmates had their jaws hanging wide open. Did she change somehow in the past few minutes? She was talking in a whole other dialect and now she was overly energetic and cheery. The other transfer student stepped up in turn and everyone focused their attention on him.

"I am Benjamin Copperwail and I hope you can excuse my cousin for her abnormal behavior. She hasn't been diagnosed with any known mental disease, but the least I can say that she is completely nuts. This, of course, is only my own view of the situation an– " Benjamin couldn't finish his sentence as he had to dodge a midair roundhouse kick aimed at his face.

"Shut your face, idiot!" Lilith yelled when landing gracefully back on the ground. If they were surprised about her sudden change of personality a minute ago, then now they were absolutely flagger blasted. Who was this girl? Tatsuki was sure that there were more than a few among her classmates that didn't know what happened because they blinked. Lily Copperwail was frighteningly fast and Benjamin Copperwail was impressive to be able to dodge a kick like that. Judging from the trained speed of the kick and the manner it was executed and to the way she was able to land without losing her balance Tatsuki estimated that Lily could have made some serious damage with that kick.

"Questions anyone?" Their teacher asked. Everyone raised their hands. Tatsuki could have sworn that she saw Benjamin sigh and she was sure that she saw Lilith smile a wicked smile.

Chizuru

Chizuru could not believe her luck. Lily was enrolling in her school and in her class nonetheless! This was great, absolutely great! And her speculation that the man that had carried her home last night was Lily's relative was confirmed. This Benjamin Copperwail was just the kind of guy her mother would call a "hunk": young, tall, dark, handsome and muscular beyond belief. He did look like he would be able to pick you up and pin you against a–

No! I'm not thinking about that! Damn you, mother! Why did you put that thought in my head? Chizuru clutched her head and kept her eyes from averting towards Benjamin Copperwail to make the images in her head go away. That was her mother's sexual fantasy, not hers. She was only interested in women, soft, kind and beautiful women. She was not interested in brutish, rude and rough men; that she knew for a fact.

"Where are you from?" someone asked. The voice snapped Chizuru out of her thoughts and made her remember where she was. They were questioning the transfer students right now. Chizuru thought she should at least listen to find out a little more about Lily. Lily was the first one to raise her hand up and answer, the huge man next to her kept quiet and he seemed to be looking at each of her classmates in turn with those green eyes. Even she had to admit, they really did make an impression. Gah! What am I thinking? Lily, look at Lily.

"Well, I'm from Finland. I was born and raised there, up until I moved to Japan about a year back. As for Benny-chan's country of origin goes… it gets a little complicated." Lily said and nudged Benjamin with her elbow.

"I was born in Finland as well, but that's about as far as it goes. I and Lily are family, but, well, as you can see we're not that closely related. I have lived most of my life traveling with my family and I've lived in ten different countries for more than a year and visited more than I care to count… I would rather not go into any more details." Benjamin said and continued to scan the class with his eyes. He stopped at each of them for about five seconds before turning his eyes to someone else. He was seemingly memorizing everyone's faces, but somehow Chizuru started feeling a vague feeling of dread for the moment when his eyes would eventually meet with hers. She saw something unsettling in those eyes and she reckoned that the "normal" girls found it appealing.

"How many languages do you speak?" Someone asked in turn.

"Three: Finnish, English and Japanese." Lily answered.

"Six: Spanish, English, Latin, Japanese, Finnish and German." Benjamin answered. This caused a slight murmur among her classmates, but it wasn't really that surprising if he had been living around the world like he had said. Chizuru had to admit that he certainly did seem… impressive, for a brute man, that is.

"What do you have to eat to get so big?" The shortest girl in the class asked them. Lily was taller than most of them, but this Benjamin was a giant, so it wasn't sure which one she was asking the question.

"Eat your vegetables and drink milk." Lily answered.

"Drink the blood of the innocent." Benjamin said in an even tone. Silence suddenly fell in the classroom and everyone just stared at Benjamin with their jaws hanging open. He sure didn't look like he was kidding, but he couldn't actually be serious… could he?

"You're not serious, are you?" The teacher asked in a shaky voice. Benjamin Copperwail turned his cold green eyes towards her and made her take an involuntary step back. He had very piercing eyes.

"Of course I'm not serious, haven't you people heard of sarcasm before? I don't know what you would have to eat to grow my size. I just happened to grow to this size. My parents were big as well, so it must be in the genes or something. And if you have no more questions I'll be taking my seat now." Benjamin said and let his gaze sweep across the classroom. Sure, they had questions, but they just didn't dare ask them. Benjamin Copperwail walked to the back of the class and sat down in an unoccupied desk. The teacher couldn't deny his logic on taking the seat in the back; no one could see the board if they were sitting behind him. Lily was directed to sit on the seat behind Orihime and she sat down without even sparing her a glance. Was she really a lesbian? Chizuru couldn't imagine someone who was interested in women wouldn't be drawn to Orihime.

Bezanthume

They were all so very weak. They would be easy to manipulate if needed and he knew that many of the girls in this class were interested in him at least to some degree. Arisawa Tatsuki had recognized him and was now trying to think of ways to get a chance to talk to him in private about something. He would have to dig a little deeper, since the reason she wanted to talk with him seemed interesting.

And of course there was the shell shocked Inoue Orihime sitting there and staring at him in surprise. This didn't draw that much attention, since she wasn't the only one. Honshou Chizuru was also watching him intently. It seemed like she had realized that he was the one to carry her home last night from what her mother had said. Speaking of her mother... He should think of a way to pay her back for that tea. He should also dig around Honshou Chizuru's mind to find out a little more about that damned woman.

Well, it looked like he had his work cut out for him, but where to start? Honshou Chiyo could probably wait, but the problems Arisawa Tatsuki seemed to be having seemed interesting in nature and to some extent connected with his contract with Inoue Orihime. It was not going to be a very pleasant experience for him if Arisawa Tatsuki were to be in mortal danger because of their little encounter last night.

"Okay, eyes in front everyone! It's time to dive into the exciting world of mathematics!" Ochi Misato yelled and everyone pulled out their books and notebooks out of their bags. Bezanthume reached into his and picked out the one that the person sitting next to him had pulled out and opened it in front of him. He had learned how to read the Japanese writing by diving through a couple of people last night. Things he had little if any interest in took a couple of tries to stick, but now he should have no problems in reading these weird and crude symbols.

He had intended to close his eyes to take a better look into Arisawa Tatsuki's mind, but he noticed to his great surprise that his eyelids were getting heavy just from listening to Ochi Misato teach them about equations and the ways they could be solved. It was not like he had ever actually had any classes even slightly resembling math, but if you wanted to cast even the simplest spell you had to have a nearly perfect understanding of the world around you, so the things Ochi Misato was talking about seemed so incredibly simple to him. Bezanthume glanced over to Lilith and noticed that she seemed very interested and was taking notes from time to time. Closer inspection would have shown what Bezanthume suspected her to be doing; drawing Ochi Misato naked and in various compromising poses. Now there was a raging nymphomaniac if there ever was one.

Bezanthume turned his attention away from both Ochi Misato and Lilith and turned his eyes towards Arisawa Tatsuki. He caught her looking towards him and saw her quickly turn her head back to face the teacher. She did not blush. Bezanthume closed his eyes and waited for the lights to appear and then focusing on the one that belonged to Arisawa Tatsuki. He replayed her memories of what happened last night after she got home and then cursed silently in his mother tongue. He had been leaking out more power than he had expected last night. There had actually been enough to affect Arisawa Tatsuki physically and if he left this unattended then her mind could crumble because of the imbalance in the harmony of the mind and body. What to do now? Should I wait until class is over or…?

Bezanthume turned his eyes to Ochi Misato and the equations and diagrams drawn on the board and then to his fellow classmates taking notes before finally glancing at Lilith drawing dirty pictures.

Oh, screw it! What's the worst that could happen? Bezanthume stood up and the clatter his chair made caused everyone to turn their attention to him. He ignored it and walked next to the desk Arisawa Tatsuki was sitting in. She was looking up to his eyes in surprise and her eyes widened even more when he bent down almost to eye level with her. Bezanthume gently pushed her chin back a little to compensate for their obvious difference in height before placing his lips over hers. He didn't close his eyes so he could notice her eyes becoming wide as saucers. He also noted that Arisawa Tatsuki's body temperature was significantly higher than a normal human's, but still lower than his. She had been smart to get into a bath to let her body expel the overdue heat generated, but still keep it high enough for her body to be able to undergo the transformation.

Bezanthume inhaled through his nose and then let a tiny amount of his power be infused with his breath. He opened his mouth while keeping it tightly against Arisawa Tatsuki's. He skimmed her lips with his tongue and waited for her to open her mouth.

Tatsuki

What the hell is going on here? He just suddenly walks up to me and starts kissing me? Who does this guy think he is? I'm going to… to…

He's so warm… The cold in my body seems to be melting away just from him being so close to me and his breath on my lips feels like fire. Fire was good, just the thing to warm her up, she had been cold for so long. She felt his tongue graze her lips and the warmth that spread through her body from the touch caused Tatsuki to open her mouth instinctively. She immediately felt how something that felt like liquid fire poured into her veins and her body felt like it was on fire yet again, but this time it was different from what she had felt last night. It wasn't painful to say the least… quite the opposite in fact.

"What the hell? Why is that guy still among the living?" Someone asked out loud.

"Now that's brave… Maybe we should have warned him?" Someone wondered out loud. Tatsuki couldn't make out who it was, but it was definitely a male voice. Now that she thought about it: What the hell was she doing? A guy comes up to you in the middle of class and starts making out with and she starts to get into it? That's just not her.

"Damn, did Arisawa just moan? That guy's got some serious skills… but he's still probably going to die for that." Someone that sounded a lot like Mizuiro said in an admiring voice.

Orihime

What the hell is he doing?! He can't just – He shouldn't – Why isn't Tatsuki doing anything? Was Bezanthume sucking out her soul or something? Orihime sat there with her mouth hanging open and tried to think of what to do. If Tatsuki wasn't in mortal danger she could handle herself just fine, but if Bezanthume was using some weird trick to immobilize her she should go and split them up, right?

Lilith! Yeah, Lilith's an angel so if she's okay with this it can't be anything life threatening. Orihime whipped her head around to Lilith and saw that her eyes were glued to Bezanthume and Tatsuki, but she didn't look like she was in a great hurry to break them up.

Orihime turned his eyes back to Bezanthume and Tatsuki and noticed that Bezanthume had lifted Tatsuki off of her chair and that she was now supported against her own desk. How long had he been doing that exactly? Orihime glanced at the clock on the wall and noticed that it had only lasted for 6 seconds, but time had seemed to stretch in some weird way and it felt like Bezanthume had been at it for at least two minutes. Wait… this is him we're talking about. Maybe time had actually been stretched in some weird way.

"Lilith… Hey, Lilith…" Orihime whispered and leaned over her chair. Lilith seemed unwilling to avert her eyes from the show but did glance at her to signal that she had heard Orihime.

"What is it, Princess?" Lilith asked in a hushed voice while not averting her eyes from the show for one second. It was weird to hear Lilith calling her that, but did she even know her real name? They haven't actually been introduced.

"Do you know why Bezanthume is doing something like that? You two have a past, don't you?" Orihime asked Lilith. Lilith tapped her bottom lip a couple of times before answering her.

"He might just think that she's hot… and that she is. He has spent a millennium inside an orb, you know." Lilith said and a small smile crept up on her face. Somehow she reminded her of Bezanthume right then and there.

"What? You can't mean that he's going to – " Orihime exclaimed still in an hushed voice. No one would have paid any attention to her if she had yelled it out from the tops of her lungs, since even the teacher was too stunned to act. Bezanthume was really making a show of it. Seriously, why wasn't Tatsuki kicking his ass already? She almost killed Kon when he kissed her.

"Oh, relax already. He's not that talented in charms to get her to do that in public, but she sure is savoring it… Oh, there she goes… Damn it." Lilith said and crossed her arms in dissatisfaction. Orihime turned to the spectacle that was Bezanthume and her best friend and saw that Tatsuki was pushing Bezanthume away. Bezanthume took the hint and stepped back from her and left a heavily breathing and deeply blushing Tatsuki sitting on her desk. The whole class was dead silent while waiting on what exactly was going to happen next.

Bezanthume

"Hmm… Did you have strawberries for breakfast?" Bezanthume said while smirking and licking his lips. The ones sitting directly behind him got up and moved aside. He was so going to get it for that one.

"You're dead, you bastard!" Tatsuki yelled and landed a harsh looking kick in Bezanthume's gut. He hunched down a little from the surprise attack and dodged the next kick. Tatsuki jumped down from her desk and kept on trying to hit him. When Bezanthume retreated out of her reach she grabbed a desk with one hand and threw it at Bezanthume without stopping. Bezanthume grabbed the desk and set it back down on the ground with one fluid motion, but it had distracted him enough for Tatsuki to jump up in the air and smash her knee on his face. Bezanthume was knocked back and lost his balance.

Tatsuki's and Bezanthume's fight had continued up to the front of the class and then when they were about to run down the teacher, that still hadn't done anything to stop the two of them, Bezanthume had turned to the side. Right after that decision Tatsuki had thrown the desk and then caused him to lose his balance. Now, if he just would have turned right towards the door and the hall, then he losing his balance wouldn't be that bad and he would just stumble into the hall.

But he had turned left, towards the window and was now stumbling towards it. If he hadn't been falling already he would have been too tall to fall through the window frame, but now that he was falling backwards he fit just barely through the window, but his frame did cause the window frame to bend out of shape and the glass to shatter. Now, there was also the fact that it was a hot summer day and the window he fell through was open and if it had been closed he would have had enough time to react in time.

But as it was, when he noticed that he was falling out of the window he was already halfway outside and couldn't save himself from the fall without using his wings and he was trying to pass off as a human, so that was out of the question. He could turn invisible and then use them, but a sudden disappearance wouldn't be at all suspicious, now would it?

Damn, this was going to be bothersome…

Well, I'm a sucker for cliffhangers and I would have liked to post this before it got too long. Bye! Review.

Crazy Laughter