AN: I do not own anything but my OC and my idea for the story.
Chapter Ten: Sanctuary Lost
"Hey, Takehito?"
"Hm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"That depends, will this one be one of your 'infamous' rhetorical questions, layered with sarcasm? Because if it is, I have a feeling I already know what it is."
"No, no. This is a perfectly reasonable question."
The older doctor let out a breath in exasperation, "…Alright, shoot."
Zane spread his arms out and gestured to the their surroundings, "What the fuck am I still doing in here?" Straight in both expression and tone, Zane could almost make such a feat into an art form.
"Way to lay it on thick, kid."
"Can you blame me, old man?!"
The reason for the young man's ire was mainly because of the fact that they were inside the nurse's office. The room seemed large enough to house multiple beds and had several female school nurses roaming about. The room itself had curtains pulled around to help give the first year girls on the other side their own privacy as they got undressed and had their examinations. From time to time, a female nurse would exit from the curtains and re-enter after grabbing a certain tool or after recording some data in a notebook off at the side.
Throughout the entire time Zane had been here, most of the women had been staring at him for one reason or another. Some of them were indifferent while others had frowns and glaring eyes.
Any other time Zane would have found the glares a refreshing change from the usual love-struck expressions from most of the female students. Right now though, they were beginning to get on his nerves.
Zane folded his arms and leaned against the window he was standing in front of, "They probably think I'm some kind of pervert."
"Well…" Takehito began, looking up from the notes on some of the nurses gave him, "if it helps, I could tell them that you're here on my orders. Some of the staff here are probably still trying to wrap their heads around the fact that you've been my assistant for the past few months."
Zane shook his head, "That won't explain why I need to be here. I already helped bring some of you're equipment in like you asked, but, I don't have any medical experience and they already have more than enough staff that they don't really need me around for anything else. Especially with examining young, growing, teenage girls." He paused for a moment, "You can see where I'm going with this."
The older man leaned back in his chair as he began to relax, "Look, Zane, I could tell you the real reason for remaining, but that would ruin the surprise." He threw a glance towards the younger man with a raised brow, "I honestly don't know what you're complaining so much about. Most men would give anything to be in your position."
"Well, I'm not just most men, old man."
"Besides, didn't you say that thing you're wearing on your head should be able to suppress any physical and mental stimuli you may feel?"
Zane placed a hand on his head, feeling the semi-sentient fabric quiver under his fingers. He then spoke in a more hushed tone, "Even this thing has it's limits, Takehito. But it's better than the alternative…"
The doctor hummed as he responded to his aid in a more serious tone, "I see…" he closed the notebook and laid it on his folded legs as he sat back in his chair. With his other foot he pushed himself back, the wheels of his chair rolling him backwards next to his compatriot by the window. He then spoke in a quite tone after leaning a bit towards him, "Can I take this as a confirmation that you need more sessions?"
Obligating not to answer, Zane instead stayed silent and turned away before nodding his head hesitantly, lips pursed slightly.
'It seems the scars from that time weren't just physical, and these one's run deep.' Takehito narrowed and his brows furrowed in deep concentration, 'I've never seen him this vulnerable before. Is being here effecting him this much?'
The doctor had to admit that he was surprised by the younger man's subtle demeanor. Deep down, Takehito knew something was unstable about Zane, but, the young man wouldn't go too much into detail about his time in the Nether Realm and would even play it off like it was no big deal at times. He had to resort to asking his dragon companions about it.
"Well, all I can really say is that when we met him, he seemed vastly different from how he is now. I would tell ya more, but, that would make him angry with me, sorry~."
"I try not to make it a habit to bring up bad memories, especially with Zane-sama. He may have asked me about mine once. Though, he hasn't since and I appreciate that." Tohru paused before clasping her gloved hands together in front of her, her expression turn from somber to a more tender one, the amount of love hidden within her eyes was prevalent, "I know that there's a lot of pain inside of him, he's a lot like me in a way, and that's why… I'll do whatever it takes to help him bear through it. With all of my heart…"
"Zane-chan was a big meanie when we first met, but, at least he was more honest." Kanna placed a finger on her chin before looking away in thought, "Wait, he's also kinda honest now as well, it's just that it feels… 'forced'. Like if he was just acting, and yet… I know that he's a good person deep down, I've seen it." The younger dragon smiled, "It's the reason why I like him a lot too."
Before Takehito could conclude his talk with them, Lucoa had at lease given him one piece information.
"He told me once that he had never held so much hatred for anyone before he was imprisoned. He even said that it would be a while before he could trust us. Even though it seems as if he's slowly opening himself up, that may only be a result of the many nights we've spent together. I can tell that there is still a deep-seated hatred inside him, somewhere." The Ex-Goddess gave a half shrug, "Whether it's him or something else, I'm not sure."
Takehito pulled himself from his thoughts when he noticed the door to their side of the office open and his daughter walked in with a strange mechanical box in her hands. She seem a bit flustered by something – by what, he didn't know.
"There you are, Aki."
"Hello Daddy! Sorry it took me longer than expected, I had to go and grab Keronbo on my way here – Ah!" she halted her step and gasped when she spotted Zane leaning against the window.
Zane turned over to her in return with a mildly surprised expression, his mouth slight agape. His mind reeled back in awe as he observed yet another bombshell of a woman that he knew from his past.
'Jesus Christ, she's even prettier than she was back then. Didn't think that it could be possible…'
He could guess that she was just as surprised to see him as he was to see her because she was also staring at him. So focused on him she was that she didn't notice that her grip on the mechanical box was loosening, causing the item to slip out of her hands. Just as it left her hands, Aki squawked as she went to catch it before it hit the ground.
In a burst of speed and a whip of air, Zane's body moved from the window. His feet appeared to glide across the tiled floor as he stopped in front of her and caught the device with his left hand. He blew a sigh of relief as he stood back up, "That was a close one." He looked at the blushing woman, "Still as much of a klutz as I remember. You really haven't changed much, Aki." His lips turned up in a genuine smile as continued to gaze at his face.
The blush on her face darkened further.
He sweat-dropped, 'She's even gotten taller too. She's practically at eye level with me now.'
"[ERROR]Unknown Element detected. HEY, WATCH IT PAL! PUT ME DOWN, YOU ASS!"
Aki and Zane were brought out of the moment when they both heard the machine in Zane's grasp yell out.
"Here, Aki. You might want to take this thing back, I don't think it likes me that much."
"O-oh! Sorry about that. Thank you." she gracefully took it back into her hands and received a brief jolt when she touched the device. Something inside of her lit up; something within her heart began to heat up, 'This feeling again… why now?' The light in her eyes shimmered as her gaze fell upon him again, 'Is it because of him?'
"Hey, you alright there Aki?" His voice broke her out the momentary fog in her mind. She saw a mild frown on his handsome, half-covered face, "Your face is extremely red. You catching a fever or somethin?"
Aki blinked before shaking her head, her blush receding. She smiled bashfully as she delicately moved a long lock of hair behind her right ear, "It's nothing. I'm just surprised to see you here, is all."
Zane took a step back from her and placed his hands in his pockets, "Really? I thought that your dad would've told you that I would be here."
Takehito spoke up from behind him, still in his chair, "I though it would've been a pleasant little surprise if I didn't say anything."
Zane turned his head to look over his shoulder at the older man, "You know I hate surprises, old man."
"Oh, I know."
Zane felt a slight sharp poking sensation in his abs and turned his head back to look at the woman that was still in front of him. She was pouting heavily as she kept poking him with her pen. Her cheeks were puffed up and her eyes were slightly narrowed at him.
She may have been trying to look irritated with him, but he could only see it as adorable.
Then she spoke, "That reminds me… How come you haven't come by to see me at all yesterday?!"
Zane grimaced as he took another step back from her, only for her to close the distance again, "I was busy with some things."
"Where you? Gen and Tomiko told me that you were hanging out by the lake alone when they went to go see you last night!"
"I didn't exactly expect them to come see me at the time. Ow!"
She poked him a few more times.
"And what about this morning with Minori?! She told me about it in her text!" Her eyes were watering childishly, "I thought I was your friend too!"
"Well, since I work here now, I'm obligated to check in with here in the mornings to get my duties started for now on – Ouch! Stop it!" At this point, Zane had to resort to swiping the offending pen from the cutely irate woman.
He then scrambled towards the window once more while pushing the chair Takehito was still sitting in between himself and Aki.
Even though his chair was forcefully moved, the older man sophisticated posture remained. "As amusing as it is to see my Aid trying to get away from someone like my daughter, I think it's about time we finally got started on these Maken Evaluations, Aki." Without looked up from his notebook he spoke to his daughter.
"Sorry, Daddy! We'll begin right away." With that, she placed the mechanical box on the desk and grabbed a nearby stationary chair and sat down by Takehito. Zane went back to casually leaning against the window again with his head titled downwards.
"And you…" Zane looked towards the man when he was addressed. On reflex, he easily caught two small objects that had been suddenly tossed to him. Takehito continued, "Despite what you think, Zane, I didn't decide to keep you here just to stand around."
Opening his hand, Zane saw that two rubber balls resting in his palm. He could help but to ask, "What are these for?"
"Considering the fact that this school became co-ed again after three years and that in itself is bound to cause problems between the students. I'm pretty sure you know what that entails." The doctor casually jerked his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing to the tree outside the window, "You see that tree there? It's almost as tall as this building and it's pretty close too."
"I've been hearing a couple of voices out there this whole time. My guess is that they've found a way to look through the gaps in the curtains."
"No way..." Not visually seeing anything through the leaves, Zane fully turned to the window and closed his eyes. "Seek." He tapped on the window a couple times and waited.
After a couple of seconds, he felt them. Two heartbeats, both would speed up every few moments – whether it would be from nervousness of excitement, he didn't know. The sub-sonic waves coming from their bodies travelled back to the palm he had on the window. Their exact locations appeared to him in his mind's eye.
Zane gave off a genuine sigh of long-suffering, "…You've got to be kidding me."
He then proceeded to open the window.
…
Meanwhile, in the tree outside…
Takeru and Kengo had been peeping on the first year girls through the gaps of the curtains covering the nurse's office windows for several minutes now. Many large and bouncy breasts and booty were seen and rated. Many different colors and types of sexy and cute lingerie were cataloged. The great sanctity of privacy was ultimately broken.
At first, the two boys were originally annoyed with each other over the fact that they both had the same idea to come here to peep on the girls under the guise of going to the bathroom. Fortunately for the both of them, they quickly bonded of their mutual desire to see women in all their naked glory.
It was also then that Kengo spotted the adorable hottie from his class earlier. She was currently taking off her school uniform.
That's right baby, take it off!" he rooted while his face flushed with perverted excitement.
That was until he found his vision covered by Takeru's hands. "What the…" He paused before pulling the offending hands away from his face to look at the other male teen, "Why'd you have to go and do that?"
Then he remembered who exactly the other boy was next to him, "Oh, yeah… you're that dude that came into class late with her this morning. She claimed that she was your fiancé during the ceremony yesterday too." He then pointed at Takeru, "Look pal, it shouldn't matter if you two are engaged or whatever, I should have the right to look at her too."
'What kind of logic is that?' Takeru sweatdropped, "I'm pretty sure that should be enough reason not to."
"Whoa! Look over there, sitting on one of the beds!" Kengo cried out as he pointed at another target. Both boy's eye watered comically as the both held up tightened fists.
"I love co-ed schools, it's like we're in heaven!"
So enraptured in their enthusiasm, both of the boys didn't notice one of the windows off at the side opening.
"Honestly…" Zane grumbled quietly before calling out, "Get back to class you idiots!"
Channeling minimal power into the fist that held the rubber balls he flicked them with his thumb. Like a suppressed handgun shot, the projectiles whistled through the air at high speed.
Takeru and Kengo barely had enough time to register the shout before they heard rustling leaves and the impact of something striking them in their foreheads. The pain and shock from the surprise assault knocked them backwards off the branch they were on.
And down they went.
…
Zane chuckled as he saw the two boys hit the ground. As they ran off, Zane couldn't help but to recognize the panicked voice of one of them. He's heard it many times before…
"God damnit, Takeru." He grumbled to himself.
As he went to close the window the first set of first-year girls came from behind the curtains. When they saw the only two men in the room, some of the reeled back in shock as the tried to cover themselves.
"KYAAAH!"
"What is this?! I thought we were only being examined by women!"
Zane didn't blame them for thinking that. This was pretty unconventional.
Aki tried to calm the girls down, "P-please calm down, ladies! There is a perfectly good reason for this!"
"There'd better be a damn good reason for this, Ma'am!"
"Yeah! It be too embarrassing for us to be so exposed like this to guys! How will we know that they're not going to perv out on us?!"
Takehito snapped his notebook shut, causing everyone to flinch, "Excuse me?" His tone was deathly calm and yet everyone could feel the underlining edge to it. "That's quite haughty of you to say. A man I may be, but I am a doctor first before anything."
He slowly got up out off his chair, the air in the room seeming to have dropped to a chilling cold, causing most of the students to shiver. The light from outside the window and light from the ceiling seemed to become dimmer, as if a strange darkness began to encompass the entire room and was pushing back against it.
Takehito only stood there, hands in the pockets of his lab coat and looked the frightened students down with a calm, yet stern glare.
He continued on, "And I would ask that you wouldn't put my professional integrity as a doctor into question again. This shouldn't become a surprise to you but I'm sure you've had similar check-ups in the past before you came to this academy. All done by women and other men. And besides, I am a happily married man with a wonderful wife and an equally wonderful daughter. I've seen better." While most of the girls flinched at their hurt pride, Aki couldn't help but to blush in embarrassment.
Still turned towards the window, Zane sucked air through clenched teeth as he pulled the bandana a little bit further down his face. Even he had to admit, the old man could still spit fire like no other when he wanted to.
"Now…" Takehito sat back down his chair, smoothly crossing his left leg over his right and gestured with a hand to the chair in front of Aki, "If you all would kindly form an orderly line so we can continue on with the examinations…"
The girls shakily nodded and did as he said, the atmosphere of the room returning to normal once more.
Zane then shook his head, a small unseen smile on his lips, "You sure can be scary sometimes, old man."
"I have to be; I have to deal with you on a daily basis, after all."
"Harsh…"
Aki giggled at the banter between the two men.
…
Some time later, during the male physicals…
As Takeru sat down in the chair in front of the well renowned Doctor Takehito Nijou in nothing but his white boxers, the older man looked up from his notes. His eyes deviated to the boy's forehead for a moment…
And snorted a bit while he turned his head to the side to hide his amusement.
"Please take this seriously, Mr. Takehito!"
"Sorry, sorry…" he waved Takeru off as he regained most of his composure, "It's just that it's kind of hard to look at you without seeing the large red dot on your forehead. Zane got you good, didn't he?"
Takeru perked up, "Seriously?! He was the one who did that?!" He really wanted to talk to him, both to catch up and to catch up and to deck him for ruining his youthful hobby once again.
"Yes. I certainly hope that you have learned an important lesson over this."
Takeru scoffed, muttering under his breath, "Whatever, it's completely natural for boys to want look at girls…"
"True, but not to the point that it's an invasion of privacy, Takeru."
"Anyways!..." Takeru tried to divert the conversation, "You've seen my brother, right? Where was he, or do you know where he is now?"
Takehito merely raised a brow at the series of questions, "Oh, he was here to help around the nurse's office as the physicals for the female students was under way. As of right now though, I had him and Aki-"
"WHAT?!"
The sheer volume of the shout from most of the male students shook the room. Even some of the boys that were getting their measurement looked back at the doctor in shock with mouths comically agape. Takeru was shell-shocked by this, he couldn't even form any words.
Shock almost instantly turned into outrage as the angry teenagers began their tirade.
"Now I really want to deck 'em!"
"What the hell?! How come he got to be here during the girls' physicals?! WHAT'S WITH THAT SHIT?!"
"I don't care if that guy is some sort of hero! There's still common curtesy for your fellow men!"
"I think you mean 'man'…"
"This is so unfair, it's frustrating!"
"Someone needs to teach that bastard a lesson in humility!"
"But wouldn't he just kick our asses though?"
"I'm too pissed to care!"
"We should elect a champion to fight against this injustice!"
"YEAH!"
'I wonder if I should tell them that it was my idea to keep him around at the time...' Takehito thought to himself before shaking his head, 'Nah! I'm pretty sure Zane can handle it himself.'
…
Meanwhile, in another part of the school…
By Takehito's orders for them to take a short break, Zane and Aki had decided to walk through the halls of the main building. They'd been idly chatting about old times and how a lot of things had been changed since his time attending. He had even asked her how things had been between her and Takehito. Aki told him that their relationship was getting better now that he was around more and that her mother was very appreciative of that fact. She was happy that her father decided to retire from travelling and stayed around more often. She was glad that they can be a happy family again.
After that, Zane decide to remain silent and enjoy the calm silence of the empty hallways. Aki didn't speak either, wanting to respect his choice to enjoy the quiet. Though, it did dawn on her that it was the two of them now, alone, and her growing feelings for him kept springing into her mind every now and then.
Zane groaned quietly as he went to massage his forehead, 'Ugh… why does my head hurt all of a sudden?'
Aki, who had been periodically glancing at him as they walked in relative silence, noticed his muffled groan and when to ask him, "Are you alright?"
"Hm?" He turned his head towards her while dropping his hand from his head, "Oh, it was just a sudden headache. Nothing to worry yourself over."
"Are you sure?" She was now fully turned to him as she walked in front of him, causing him to halt his stride, "If it hurts, I can relieve it for you with my element. Come here." She honestly didn't know why she was being so pushy about this, she knew about his powerful self-healing ability.
And yet, she felt as though she needed to do this.
Zane took a half step back as she tried to get closer to him, her massive chest brushing up against him briefly, 'She's being oddly persistent.' "N-no, it's fine. It's already gone, there's no need to-"
Ignoring his words she pressed onward and placed her hands on his forehead while pushing his bandana above his eyes and closed her eyes. He stood stock-still as she channeled her element into him.
The world around them disappeared.
For a few moments she couldn't feel anything, only an empty void. She reached further within, diving further into the depths of his being. 'Where is it?' Why was it taking so long to find the stream of life force in him? Every living being had a life force, even plants. It's what keeps them alive after all.
She knew he had one too, she had felt it several times before in the past. This time though, it seemed as if it was trying to hid from her; avoiding her. She push further on until, finally, she found it.
Within the dark void, a small orb of crimson light nestled within a network of many streams of red energy; some being larger than others. The orb would pulse periodically, like a heartbeat, and each time she would feel waves of power wash over her.
Ever so slowly, Aki stretched her element towards one of the many smaller channels. Just as she came closer, she heard a sharp gasp echo through the darkness and the stream jolted back almost violently, surprising her.
"Don't… come any… closer…"
She responded, "Why do you move away? I want to help."
"Leave me… be – I am fine."
The sudden transition in speech and tone was as sudden as static on an older television when switching between channels. While the first voice sounded faint and fragmented, the second voice sounded clear and louder.
Aki noticed the sudden shift, "Why don't I believe you? Where is your pain?"
"I do not know what you mean. I am fine – He's… lying…"
'He's lying?' Aki didn't understand, what did he mean by that? It was like his subconscious thoughts were contradicting themselves now. She pressed onward, "Alright then. Is it okay if we… re-connect… again? Just like old times…"
"…"
Taking the drawn out silence as an affirmation, she made another attempt at connecting her calmer, more serene life force to his intense, agitated one. Just as her stream made contact with his, her mind and soul reeled from the intensity of the power flowing through her. Flashes of images became projected in front of her like a slideshow on fast-forward, they moved far too fast for her to identify any of them. She caught brief sounds of a voice calling out.
It was Zane's voice.
"RELEASE ME! LET ME GO!" he roared in anger.
"I NEED TO GO BACK! They need me to protect them! PLEASE!" he yelled pleadingly.
'What… is this?' Aki couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had never heard Zane sound so emotional before. He had always been a mostly silent stoic when he wasn't talking to someone or enjoying a fight.
Several moments of silence pass…
"Is that all?!" his voiced growled out, "This pain is nothing! You hear me?! NOTHING!"
"Whatever you do to me, it won't last. I'll just regenerate it like it was nothing." He said in a smug tone, seething with distain, "It's useless."
The next voice sent chills down her spine. It wasn't his voice.
It couldn't have been human.
"Is that so, human~? If tearing your flesh, breaking your bones, burning you alive, and bathing your charred body in acid rain won't faze you, we'll just have to use something more potent then~?"
"Guard! Go and fetch my Cursed Blade, would you~?"
Several more moments of silence passed when large growing cracks violently appeared around her in a sudden crack of booming thunder and fractured glass, startling her. The cracks would periodically pulsate with vibrant red light while faint breathing could now be heard around her.
"Now see, look what you made me do~. Your constant writhing cause me to slice that handsome face of yours. Hahaha~!"
*Inhale*
*Exhale*
There was no response from Zane other than his heavy panting and the sound of him vomiting. His breathing was shallow and pained.
"It's no fun when you don't respond! Hmm, maybe I went a little overboard~? I just couldn't help myself, your howls of agony turned me on so much~!"
"We'll leave you for the night and continue in the morning like always. Enjoy tonight's storm, human~! I here it's going to be another heavy downpour."
*Inhale*
*Exhale*
The pulsating cracks continued to grow as the sound of breathing got louder.
'Need to… keep… breathing… Focus on just… breathing…'
'I don't want to hear anymore of this!' Aki couldn't take listening to this anymore. She just wanted to leave.
Then the dark world around her shook and an enraged voice roared throughout the space.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!"
Her vision was then consumed by crimson light.
"A…ki...-Hey, Aki! Wake up!"
Aki opened her eyes after what seemed like a long time, she was vaguely aware that someone was grasping her by the shoulders with firm grip. Her vision was blurry and her body felt weak and sore.
'Why do I feel so drained?' She rubbed her head as she tried to recall what happened in the last several minutes. When nothing came into mind, she became mildly distraught, 'Why can't I remember anything?!' All she could remember was walking through the hallways with Zane right up to the moment when she placed her hands on him.
She looked to where her name was called out as her vision cleared a little and she blushed at what she saw and felt…
Zane's face was so close to her own as he held her body close to his. His wide, sturdy, and well-defined frame almost encompassed her; she was half tempted to use her hands and feel the muscles of his arms and chest. It seemed like she may have fainted earlier and Zane had to catch her.
"Are you alright, Aki?" He looked at her with eyebrows creased heavily in confusion and concern, a few beads of sweat trailing down the sides of his tanned face.
"Ah-I'm fine, thank you." She felt quite a considerable amount of heat coming from his breath ask he asked her that question. She almost found herself drowning in the red pools of his pupil-less eyes…
'Red?' Her eyes widened and she immediate focused in on this. She always remembered his eyes to be steel grey in color, sometimes also becoming a shining silver when light would hit them just right. To find them not being that color now was… frightening.
Aki wouldn't freely admit it to anyone, but, she would say that she did have a small crush on him when he was a freshman at Tenbi. She remembered seeing him once before he attended the academy when her father brought her along on one of his visits to Zane's monthly physical evaluations. To say she was impressed was putting it mildly.
When there were times where she, Minori, or Tomiko weren't trying to 'recruit' him into Maken Ki, they would hang out like regular teenagers. Even though he was two years younger than the group, he seemed more mature than he let on. Although, he did still have a few childish moments.
Even with his strength and victories over them, he was mostly humble about them. She remembered him saying that he was grateful to have power, even though he knew that it could be dangerous.
At some point during those eight months, she had come to admire his maturity. She came very close to verbally expressing her feelings towards him a couple weeks before his disappearance. The only reason she didn't was because of Minori.
Aki knew for a while that Minori felt strongly for Zane – more than herself and Tomiko. Minori always made it apparent that she was frustrated whenever she was treated as less attractive to Tomiko and Aki by other men.
Aki had to admit that even she was a little annoyed by the constant ogling. She just wanted to be recognized by her skills and personal achievements more than her looks.
With that in mind, Aki silently held herself back from Zane at the time and even though she would be sad, she would be glad that her best friend had someone that seemed to like her in return.
Of course, things had to become complicated soon after.
Devour.
She winced suddenly as a brief, sharp pain jolted through her mind. She felt the grip on her shoulders intensify, causing her to look back to Zane in concern only to freeze on the spot at what she saw.
Quickly and hastily placing her back on her feet before pulling the clothe back over his eyes, "I have to go!" was all he said before suddenly rushing off down the empty hallway with visibly gritted teeth.
Aki continued to stand in that spot, tremors rocking her frame as that single image of his face in that very moment stayed at the forefronts of her mind. "H-his eyes…" she breathed in a mere whisper. She didn't understand, she couldn't understand…
There was now way…
'They couldn't have been human…'
…
Minutes later, in a secluded area…
Steam poured out of his mouth and nostrils as he heaved heavily.
Zane held his left hand over his heart, grasping at his chest and the fabric of his sleeveless muscle shit. His right hand was held in a tight fist against the wall he was leaning on. One could hear the bones his knuckles pop from how tightly he baled his right hand.
Sparks of red energy arched around his form occasionally as thermal heat wafted off him in waves.
More sweat dripped from his face and body, some falling off his skin while other droplets would already begin to evaporate into more steam. More and more steam rose off of him like a cloak of light mist; it was as if someone dipped a hot iron in cold water and left it to dry.
Zane wheezed through clenched teeth, "Ghhh! It's… too much!" 'It feels like my blood is boiling!'
'You need to get ahold of yourself, boy!'
'I'm… I'm trying, damnit!'
He tried regaining control of his erratic breathing, only beginning as sharp intakes of pained breath.
In through the nose and out through the mouth… in… and out…
Just focus on breathing… in… out…
Why did he suddenly feel so… violated back there?
…
Some time later…
After finding a bench near the outside fountain to rest for a little while, Takeru sits down with an exhausted sigh. Inaho, who had been walking with him since the break, sits down next to him while she ate the sweats that she brought with her.
"This day just keeps getting more and more complicated…" Takeru breathes out, the compiling feelings of anxiety dialing down as he finally had enough time to 'breathe' and try to process everything that has happened. 'First, the reality that my older brother is now back in our lives again, then there's the fact that I have to be extra careful because of me being apparently 'Maken-less' for a while. Along with whole 'mandatory' club joining business, there's also another thing I'm still torn on…'
He looked over towards the cute girl sitting next to him for a few moments. Inaho perked up when she noticed her love interest staring at her silently, "Is there something on my face?"
He flinched a bit as he was addressed, "Oh! Sorry, it's nothing…" he paused, "Although, I've been meaning to ask you something. It's been nagging at me since yesterday, during the welcoming ceremony."
She tilted her head in curiosity, "Really? What do you want to ask me then?"
"Well…" he leaned forward with his hands folded in his lap as he redirected his gaze towards the ground, "I've been meaning to ask… How you knew my brother, Zane? You've called him 'Nii-chan' before." He looked at her with a expression of confusion, "You two seemed close. How long have you known him?"
Stopping from her munching, Inaho looked at him with a slightly downtrodden expression, "You really don't remember?" Though, she should've expected as much, 'Nii-chan did say he would have trouble remembering because of the amnesia.'
Takeru rose an eyebrow at her as he scratched the side of his temple.
She went on to elaborate, "It was a several months back when he was brought in to my apartment by Mr. Nijou-"
"Seriously?!"
Inaho yelped in surprise when Takeru suddenly yelled out, now staring at her incredulously.
"Is something wrong?"
"Yes, there is!" Internally frustrated by this new information, he sunk his head into his hands. Inaho became worried when he let out an angry, muffled breath into his palms, "This means that the old man knew about my brother being alive long before we found out about it ourselves! Why didn't he tell us anything?!" To think that the old man knew about this without even thinking of telling him or Haruko was just…
"…"
When he didn't hear any thing from the girl next to him, he looked towards her and saw her slightly fidget in place with widened, watery eyes.
"A-Are you mad with me, Takeru-sama?" She sniffled.
Grimacing at his own lack of control, he immediately went to apologize to the distressed girl.
"No, no! Of course not! I'm really sorry about that, I'm just frustrated." He placed a hand on the back of his head and smiled at her, "I honestly appreciate you telling me this, actually. It puts my mind at ease a little. Thank you."
Inaho beamed happily, 'Oh, Takeru-sama…'
"Oh! There's also another thing I want to ask you as well." When she nodded for him to continue he went on to ask her, "Why do you keep protecting me? And what's with this 'fiancé' stuff you told Haruko and Kodama about?"
Inaho looked a bit saddened by this as well and looked away for a few moments, 'I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I let Takeru remember it on his own.'
She then turned back towards him with a mysterious smile, her eyes covering by her short, light brown hair, "It's a secret." Her voice came off as a silent whisper only Takeru could hear.
"Huh?" Why was she being so cryptic all of a sudden?
"It was a promise made a long time ago, so please try your best to remember for me, okay?" No matter how badly she wanted to tell him of the past that they shared, she felt that it would cheapen their relationship if she had simply just told him. She wanted him to remember it all on his own so that it would feel more genuine.
He went to scratch his temple again, still pretty skeptical, "Okay, I'll guess I'll try then…"
"Oh!" a sudden thought came into her mind, "Have you decided on which club to join yet?"
Takeru sank back into the bench and looked up into the sky, "I'm still not sure, and that's another thing. For a school that encourages the students' freedoms, it's really strange that they enforce club participation, isn't it?"
"I don't really think it's that strange." Inaho went on to elaborate to him, "People usually join clubs that help them hone their element and maken."
"I did notice that, actually." The few clubs he did visit earlier had a lot of students using various abilities and fantastical powers to complete tasks. While most were quite amazing, others were still a little intimidating. A small smile formed on his face, 'I wonder what kind of club Zane had to join when he was attending…'
A chuckle escaped his lips at the thought, causing Inaho to pause in her consumption of the ice cream cone she had been licking. She looked at her crush in curiosity, "What's so funny, Takeru-sama?"
"I was just imagining what school life for my brother was like here." He shook his head lightly in amusement, "Knowing him, he probably became popular by his third day. For all his talk about not wanting to be the center of attention, he sure did like to show off back then."
His stomach took this moment to make known its displeasure. Takeru moaned pitifully as his empty stomach began to groan, "So… hungry… ugh."
"You didn't eat anything?"
"Not since this morning before we left the dorm." He laid his head back against the bench, "We were in such a rush I forgot to grab my wallet." 'Ughh… didn't even get a chance to make a bento for myself.'
"W-w-well, I uh…" Takeru looked over towards Inaho and promptly sweatdropped as he saw her expression and posture, "I-if you w-want, I w-wouldn't mind s-sharing some of my f-food with you, Takeru-sama." With extreme reluctance, she thrust out a box of chocolate raisins to him with her eyes shut tightly. Frankly, she looked like she was genuinely struggling with herself over this.
'She doesn't look like she wants to share!'
Takeru felt something tap the back of his head and looked back to see what it was. He saw a normal bento box wrapped in some clothe lightly dangling from a delicate, feminine hand and attached to that hand was his oldest friend, Haruko. She smiled down to him, "Here, I figured you'd forget so I made an extra bento for you." She looked over towards Inaho, slightly perplexed by her choice of food, "I don't think it's good to eat so much junk food, Inaho."
'Ahh~, I'm saved!' "Thank you, Haruko. I can always count on you!" Tears of relief flowed from his eyes in streams.
Haruko giggled at his usual antics before all three of them felt a sudden gust of wind blow around them, whipping their hair and clothes around and causing him to close their eyes. Haruko's eyes spotted something within the wind and quickly placed her hands on her skirt to keep anything not meant for others to see to be exposed.
As sudden as it appeared, it dispersed just as abruptly.
Haruko continued to stare off into the distance as Takeru and Inaho went to straighten out their clothes.
"Well, that happened." Takeru said as he casually passed off the random occurrence.
"Must be the weather?" Inaho said uncertainly before shortly noticing that the box in her hands was missing, "Hey! My raisins!"
As she began to frantically look around for the box, Takeru began to eat the bento offered to him while Haruko sat down next to him, "I couldn't help overhearing that you're still looking for a club to join."
"Mmhm!" He took another bite of his lunch.
"Well then… how about joining the Kenkeibu?"
"Fenfeibu?" Takeru looked at his childhood friend with the chopsticks still in his mouth. This also drew Inaho's full attention as well.
Haruko smiled at the two as she confirmed, "Yes, the Kenkeibu. I'll explain…"
Takeru and Inaho listened on intently as the sophomore went on her 'relatively simplified' explanation of the club's role.
…
Meanwhile, nearby in the courtyard….
Leaning against one of trees out of sight of the three students, a certain bandana-wearing man could be seen eating from a box of chocolate raisins. Tilting the small box downwards while opening his mouth, he let the sweets roll onto his tongue before chewing again.
He then felt the familiar weight of another presence enter his thoughts.
'Why do you persist in tormenting yourself, Zane?'
'What're you talking about, teach?' Zane frowned slightly as he asked.
'You know, boy. The way you inserted yourself among them only to quickly leave them again…'
He scoffed softly, 'And? I've done that a once earlier today already. What's the deal with doing it again just to mess with them?'
'Didn't you tell me that you'd try and talk to those two when they were away from everyone else?'
A muscle twitched in his arm, his frown deepening.
'Why do you continue to avoid them? To avoid her?'
Zane's jaw clenched on reflex. Holding off on his response, he turned his attentions towards the three in the courtyard.
His ears picked up the sophomore girl's voice as she went on with her explanation of the connections between the Student Council and Maken Ki; even the origin of the name itself.
He exhaled a faint puff of steam as he listened to the sound of her voice. Even the smooth, soft tone of her voice felt pleasing to hear. It helped to put his mind at ease.
'It's not like that.'
He wish he could listen to it forever…
'What's stopping you from talking to her? You had plenty chances to at lease say a few words to her.'
Those few times he passed by her throughout the day without her knowing, he would catch her scent. It continued to linger on him, almost smothering him. He had to stop himself from reaching out to her, to graze her soft peach skin.
Being close to her, even if she wasn't aware of it, was almost enough to drive him mad. He dared not to touch her. He didn't want to break her again...
'I'm… nervous…'
'Nervous? Of what? Is it because of that time you had with her before you left for Tenbi?'
'Yeah.'
'…' the ageless spirit was silent for a few moments before speaking again, 'Are you afraid that she'll reject you when she finds out the truth?'
'…No.'
'No?'
'I'm worried that she'll want to continue what was started that day.'
'Hmm… I see… And with the relationships you have with those dragon-women…'
'I'm still trying to figure out how to approach her. And even if my relationships with Lucoa and the other two were initially less than ideal, I don't think Haruko will understand it that way. She'll think I betrayed her… and I won't blame her. Maybe I should just keep it a secret…'
'Don't you think that it would be better tell her now then? What if you're wrong? There's still a chance that she'll take it better than you think. And even then…' the voice paused briefly, 'Don't you think that you should at least allow her to make that decision for herself?'
'What are you even smoking?! Of course she'll despise me for going back on our promise!'Zane leaned his head against the rough bark of the tree as he let out a long breath through his nostrils, '…You're right. Maybe… maybe it would be better if she hated me.'
He brought his hands into his vision. The smooth leather material of his gloves crinkled as he flexed his fingers before balling them tightly into fists.
'These hands…'
A memory passed through his mind as fast as lightning and he once more saw these very same hands bruised, burned and caked in dried blood. The image then vanished just as quickly as it came.
'These hands are no longer capable of being gentle.'
Sensing his brief inner turmoil, the spirit's voice warned, 'Zane…'
'I know, I know. Don't dwell.'
Zane continued to watch on while periodically bringing his attention towards the figure in the tree he was leaning against. "Plus, there's also her." 'Her' being the short blond girl sitting among the branches above him.
The spirit girl from this morning, Kodama Himegami. And one of the reasons why he was in the courtyard as well.
'Ah, that spirit from earlier.' As Zane observed from below, even the entity within him can tell what her motivation was for being here, 'She must be quite stubborn, even after your warning for her to stay away from Takeru.'
Zane snorted quietly, 'Persistence is a fool's death wish after all, but, something is different. I don't feel any malevolent intent coming from her this time. Oh well…' He pushed off the trunk and spared one more glance towards the three people closest to him before walking off, hands in pockets. He'll leave her be this time.
'From what Takehito told me, if she's been at this school for a year already without having caused any trouble for other students, then she's not an evil spirit.' He began to ponder deeply as he walked aimlessly, 'But what's her weird fascination with Takeru anyways? It's bad enough that all four of them are living together. Poor guy…' Zane shook his head in amusement, 'Takeru just can't catch a break nowadays it seems. Good thing I'm here to have his back again.'
He continued his little stroll before hearing a commotion in the distance. Some students began running by him towards the source over by the main campus gate. 'Hmm. I guess I better check it out.'
With his presence still concealed, he jogged casually to the gathering crowd.
…
Meanwhile, within the ring of students…
Three figures stood the stone path as many male and female students gathered around, inadvertently forming a pseudo arena. Two of the larger figures were both young male students, though, one of them was arguably the largest person compared to all of the students attending. The last figure was a young sophomore girl standing confidently across from the two boys.
Excited whispers and gossip travelled among the spectators.
"What's going on? Are those three going to fight or something?"
"I don't know, I think the larger guy said he wanted to go out on a date with that red-haired sophomore girl."
"Isn't that Azuki Shinatsu? She was at the welcoming ceremony yesterday, wasn't she?"
One of the male observers pointed towards the shorter male figure while nudging his fellow classmate.
"Dude, look! It's that guy from yesterday!"
"Which one?"
"The blonde one! He was the guy who got annihilated in the mock battle with Zane Oyama!"
The blonde boy's ear visibly twitched when he heard the two freshmen talking about him. He briefly turned his head in their direction, glancing at them and the other students around them with his usual uncaring expression. This caused the two boys and a few others around them to clam up instantly in fear of incurring the ripped teen's wrath.
Shogo Kitsukawa turned away from the gathering crowd seeing as nothing in particular held any interest for him. 'Most of the other people here are so… weak.'
Bringing a hand out his pants pocket, he popped another stick of gum into his mouth and began chewing before placing both of his hands back into his pockets.
"So let me get this straight, you want to fight me just go out on a date with me?" Azuki crossed her arms under her chest as she asked the large teen standing across from her. She then turned her eyes towards the blond freshman standing off at the side, "And why is he here too? Are too weak to handle things by yourself?"
Shogo merely raised a brow as he was brought into the conversation.
Kai Kuragasa blushed a bit as he tilted his hat down to cover his eyes, "When you put it that way, it does kinda sound strange. But," he raised a closed fist towards her, "I always had a thing for strong women, I can help myself when I see one with a powerful fighting spirit." 'That's one of the reasons anyway…'
"So I thought I'd prove my strength to you and have you become my lover!" Kai concluded his short speech.
Azuki let out a brief chuckle, "I think you're trying a bit to hard here, big guy." She then gestured to the stocky blond behind Kai, "And him?"
"Oh, he's just here as an observer," he glanced towards the quiet teen, "Isn't that right, aniki?"
*Pop*
"Sure, whatever." Shogo shrugged as he continued to chew on his gum, seemingly uninterested.
"Well okay then." Azuki said while shrugging herself. As she began to take out her fighting gloves and tightening them she went on to say, "If that's your wager, then I'll make mine. If I win, you will never come at me with that old school, macho-man romantic shit again, got it?"
Kai nodded, "I'll accept those terms." 'Finally… I can show you just how strong I've become since that day, Shogo.'
"Whoa, whoa! Hold on you crazy kids. Who said you could start this party without me, huh?"
As if a bolt of lightning ran through them, Azuki, Shogo, and Kai all tensed when they felt an oppressive and intense presence suddenly bear it's weight on them; Kai felt the brunt of it especially. It felt as if the temperature of the air around them grew hotter. Their hair stood on end when they also felt unseen eyes gaze upon them.
Cold, predatory, and insatiable. The three students felt like defenseless deer in the presence of a hungry lion; stalking them, prowling, waiting for them to show even the slightest hint of weakness.
This feeling… it sparked something deep down within them – telling to run, to get away as far as they could. They did everything that they could to resist that primal urge, because they knew if they ran away now…
…It would only incur something much worse.
Shogo, being the first one to break away from his fear-induced deeper instincts, looked towards the source of the intense presence. His eyes widened as he felt the immediate rush of his blood flowing through him. He flexed his muscles in anticipation; he had been wanting to pay this man back for his loss the yesterday. He called out to the larger teen.
"Kai! He's standing on your head, you idiot!"
The shout caused Azuki to look up as well towards the larger teen as well. She was left astonished, "How in the… hell?"
The other surrounding students seemed to finally register the sudden appearance of the new figure as well. Some shouted in surprise while others remained speechless.
Kai couldn't hear closest friend nor the other students as they shouted at him. He couldn't hear any of it. The only thing that made him coherent to the world around him was the feeling and the sound of his own heart, pounding against his ribcage. Cold sweat broke out on his scalp and forehead, dripping down profusely.
He could at least tell where the extra weight on him was coming from now.
"Kai Kuragasa…"
Hesitantly, he tilted his head and eyes skywards and he felt the weight on he head shift to both of his shoulders. He could tell that the pressure was from the two steel-tipped shoes on both sides of his head. His eyes widened as his brain worked into overdrive.
"I hear that you're quite tough. You won't mind if I… tested that, would you?"
Zane stared right back down at Kai with an almost sinister, hungry grin.
The boy felt as though he was already in the maw of the great lion, it's teeth waiting to chomp down on his flesh.
…
To be continued…
AN: There you go! Another chapter! Yay!
Sorry for the wait, once again. For those who don't know already, lately I've been going back through my earlier chapters and making a few changes and re-edits to make them better. So if you get an update
Plus the fact that I'm anxious for Destiny 2 Forsaken in a few days! My boys and girls, things are going to get quite exciting in the several days.
I've also hit my 10th chapter milestone finally and I am considering making another story. I'm torn on what to make though.
Should I make a High School DxD fic, or a Bleach fic, or a Overlord fic, or even a Fairy Tail one?
Aw man I'm so torn on what to do next! I sometime hate choices…
Oh well, feel free to let me know on you think I should do next in your review.
Until next time.