Draco: Yes, it made me cry. No, that doesn't mean I actively disliked anything about it. If any of you try and talk shit about Kingdom Hearts III I will give you a titanic amount of hell in retribution.

Now, let's see if I can do something about my ridiculously slow update pace. Considering how much I mock Arukuu for this, I really oughtn't have let it get this bad.

Characters, weapons, origins © Square Enix and Disney. Monsters, setting, and encyclopedia © Akihisa Ikeda.


Chapter 12: Hellhounds and Heresy

"Alright. Show yourself."

After a quiet moment, someone dropped to the forestry floor - a figure in an all-encompassing red mantle, within which was visible little but a flash of bronze that appeared to be a single gauntlet. He didn't act upon moving, instead standing in place as the cape settled around him; his face was pale, a fringe of black hair emerged from beneath a red bandanna, and the points of bronze sabatons emerged from beneath his mantle.

Ramza drew out a handful of coins from his purse. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I'm not here to do anything against Yokai Academy's coexistence, if that's what you're worried about." His voice was raspy, as though he had come off a long period without speaking.

A crimson flush coated Ramza's face as he realized this man had overheard his conversation. "You have not answered either question."

"I'm here in an effort to help someone," the stranger proclaimed. "She's a danger to those around her, and she wants to have something done about it. All I want to do is observe."

"Observe what?" Ramza demanded.

"The students of Yokai Academy are being trained to maintain coexistence," the man in red proclaimed. "If I watch them, I can determine how she might achieve the restraint she's after." The hand clad in that bronze gauntlet was raised as he aimed a finger at Ramza. "If you don't believe me, I'd rather you didn't cause a scene out here. Come find me in the abandoned airship hangar."

Ramza blinked. "Airship hangar?" he echoed. "What kind of high school-?"

The man swept his mantle around him - and Ramza would swear he became a writhing mass of red as he vanished into the woods.

+x+x+x+

Club period had ended without the news club having much luck as far as concrete assistance came; consequently, they went their separate ways again upon class' end, intend on searching the old-fashioned way. Kairi was contemplating a trip to Wings of Fire when a voice calling "Excuse me! Miss Chikai!" reached her ears; she turned to find Lugria approaching.

"Um, Kairi," she insisted. "Ramza, right?"

"Yes," Ramza confirmed. "I understand Kurai mentioned our discussion last night?"

"Yeah, he did," Kairi confirmed. "And yeah, we're all willing to help."

Ramza sighed. "I regret to admit the assistance in the search will prove unnecessary," he admitted. "I've found the individual the headmaster was concerned about."

Kairi closed her eyes. "Well, now I feel stupid on behalf of everyone," she muttered. "Did you tell the headmaster?"

"Yes," Ramza confirmed. "Walk with me a moment?"

The two stepped away from the school building. As they made some distance, Kairi spotted something odd. "Wait, an individual?" she asked. "Sora was sure it was gonna be something rather than someone."

"When I reported him to the headmaster, DiZ was convinced it was what he was concerned about," Ramza explained. "He has asked that I continue to keep an eye on him, but I'm left at odds concerning what he has said to me. He claimed that if I wished to see him, I could find him at an abandoned airship hangar-"

Kairi started at that suddenly. "Oh..."

Ramza turned to her. "What's oh?"

"Um, long story," Kairi explained. I really hope it's not someone from Starlet's Seven. "Look, I can show you there, but how much trouble is this guy, really?"

"On one hand, he claimed to intend only to observe Yokai's practices," Ramza admitted. "But his mannerisms give me little reason to take him at his word."

Setzer, if your stupid gambler attitude told the headmaster you're here you are in so much trouble. Kairi sighed. "Alright, come with me."

+x+x+x+

An unforewarned surge of emotion struck at Sora as he passed by the dorms, bringing his pace to a halt. There was a moment of uncertainty; then he sighed, glancing back in the direction of the school. "So that's what she was talking about," she mused.

"Sora."

Xion's voice drew the Keyslinger's attention as the snow fairy approached. "Hey, your timing rocks," he greeted. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

"That kind of depends on how 'weird' gets defined," Xion admitted. "What did you want?"

Sora raised a finger at her. "You and Roxas have some kind of connection thing going on because you're the one who gave him his blood, right?"

Xion looked surprised at that. "Wait, you mean... you and Kairi? Already?"

"Already?" Sora echoed. "Did it not happen this fast for you guys?"

"Kairi hasn't had your blood for a whole year," Xion observed. "And you barely spent any time together after she got her lock before Yokai called quits. Me and Rokusasu were here at Yokai for a few years before we started feeling any resonation, and he had my blood for a good few months before we enrolled."

Sora hummed in curiosity.

"...What sort of things are you picking up?"

"Nothing big," Sora admitted. "She knew I was up to something last night while Van had me snooping around, and just now I got a sort of 'upset about something' that came out of nowhere."

"That's usually how it starts," Xion confirmed. "When it gets stronger, you'll start to feel things like when she's in danger, or..."

"When she gets drunk?" Sora accused.

Xion's face turned red. "Shut up, the box didn't say there was alcohol in those things!" Then, changing the subject; "It usually doesn't just give away what you're feeling to each other, though. If she's gotten upset about something, it's probably something a lot more than 'I can't find anything'."

"Which probably means she has found something," Sora observed. "Think we should go after her?"

"That's probably safest," Xion admitted, "I don't think she's in totally top form yet."

+x+x+x+

"How many times am I gonna have to walk through this stupid tunnel?"

Ramza seemed surprised by her irritation. "Is this some frequent occurrence for you?" he inquired.

Kairi shrugged. "There's usually nothing down here," she admitted, "so the fact that I've been here more than once is already annoying on its own." Deciding to change the subject; "So, what exactly happened when you saw the guy the headmaster's sent you after?"

"I happened to stumble across his stakeout point in the woods while I was on the phone," Ramza admitted. "The trees gave away his position, and I demanded he reveal himself. He looked absolutely demonic - draped in all-consuming red like some wraith."

His description had Kairi double-taking. That doesn't sound like Setzer. "Did he have any scars? On his face?"

After a moment's thought, Ramza shook his head. "None. He seemed a bit pale, but not scarred."

That's definitely not Setzer. Kairi turned back to the tunnel. I guess that Starlet's Seven isn't involved... but that also means I have no idea who the hell might be doing this.

Eventually, they reached the end of the tunnel; Ramza looked rather surprised at the assortment of empty racks and the table of gambling assortments. "What's this?"

"This used to be the armoury for a guy who pretended he was part of Yokai's student body," Kairi replied. "Looks like he left most of his weapons behind." Then, turning to the empty gap in the wall; "And that, I believe, leads to where he used to park his airship." Her gaze narrowed. "Why is that open? We went through that underground maze because Sora and Riku were convinced it was gonna be locked."

"I would wager a guess that whoever is presently down there is responsible for opening the way," Ramza observed. "But why would you take me to this route if you believed it would be closed?"

"Because I didn't think you were on a time limit," Kairi replied. "Puzzling out how to unlock it would have taken some time; if you'd said you were in a hurry, I would have led you to the maze and told you how many layers down you had to go."

Ramza chuckled at that. "Thank you for showing me the way, Kairi." He started towards the opening.

Kairi put a hand in his way. "Wait a sec."

Her eyes closed, and she tried to feel for monstrous power, like Naminé had shown her. After a moment, she could 'see' Ramza's power, but there was no sign of anything below. Part of her was convinced that the artist's point about not having any practice with it was responsible for her being unable to see that far, but she was worried that there might be no one down there... the stranger having left a trap in his wake.

"Mind if I accompany you?" she asked, opening her eyes.

"I would not."

Immediately through the gap was a descent - not a staircase, but a slope. It was also entirely enclosed and in a spiral, and Kairi briefly entertained the idea of coming back with something smooth to slide on. It also went very far down; the spiral changed directions at one point, to the relief of both Kairi and Ramza, who were starting to feel dizzy as they descended.

Eventually, the path straightened, and then levelled out; when it transitioned from tunnel to open area, Kairi was sure this was the same place where she and the others had fought Uranai Aijin. She glanced around the open area before turning to Ramza. "Is there something attractive about this place?"

"What do you mean by that?" Ramza inquired.

"I mean, this is the second outsider this year who's skulked around down here," Kairi observed. "The last one was a snowgirl, so I assumed she picked it for the water source, but does this place have some sort of ambient presence that makes it feel nice for monsters?"

Ramza hummed. "I won't claim to find anything particularly attractive about it," he admitted. Then, turning to Kairi. "Wait, what do you mean-?"

"So you came."

The raspy voice from nearby had Kairi screeching as she spun round to face the entrance. The figure standing there, with neither of them having heard him land where they had come in, was decisively not Setzer - Setzer had been dressed immaculately following an airship crash. That all-encompassing red mantle was tattered, and the armour he was wearing looked worn by ages. Ramza's left hand went for his coin purse, and Kairi raised her right fist in a panic.

"Where'd you come from!?" she demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," the man mused. Turning to Ramza; "Why did you bring someone with you?"

"It was her own request to accompany me," Ramza proclaimed. "What are you doing in this particular place?"

Kairi closed her eyes as the man spoke. "I like the dark. It calms me." If she tried, she could still feel Ramza's energy; but the man before her had no sign.

"Are you... human?"

Ramza and the stranger both turned to her. "What on earth would bring you to that conclusion?" Ramza demanded.

"I can't... sense you," Kairi proclaimed, opening her eyes. "I can't feel your power."

"That's because there's not a lot of power in me to feel," the man in red replied. "I've had a lot of practice keeping my emotions in check, and you haven't provoked me into action."

"Are you, perhaps... new to this?" Ramza inquired.

"Yeah," Kairi admitted, trying to think of a way to put this without revealing her own humanity. "I... spend a lot of time around humans. I only learned to do this sensory thing a couple weeks ago, and I haven't had a lot of cause for it since."

The man in red huffed. "Atrophy," he observed. "No use for the skill, and you let it go to waste."

Kairi rolled her eyes. "Everyone notices," she muttered.

"Why did you come after me?" the man demanded, turning to Ramza.

"Forgive my suspicion," Ramza proclaimed, "but I'm reluctant to take at face value the words of an individual skilled in stealth." Kairi saw him pull something from his purse in his left hand. "I hoped that, if I could find where you remained during your time here at Yokai Academy, I could discover something that confirmed or contradicted your claim."

The man shook his head. "I've brought nothing with me," he proclaimed. "I don't need anything. Just my eyes."

"That," Ramza observed, "is plenty suspicious on its own." The items in his left hand were dropped into his right - they looked like coins, but each had a circular hole in the center. "Or do you deny that a man content to watch and wait is questionable on many grounds?"

"Do I need to drag her here to prove that she can't keep a handle on her own power?" the man demanded. "What can I do to convince you?"

Ramza closed his fist on the coins and raised it before him, pounding his fist against the curl of his thumb. "If you wish to observe Yokai Academy for benevolent purposes, the logical course of action would be to speak to the headmaster and request permission to do so."

The man's expression implied he was resisting the urge to bury his face in his palm. "The staff of Yokai Academy is less than fond of me."

Kairi started.

Ramza glared - and something began to glow upon his forehead.

"Well, that..."

With a surge of light, something opened - a third eye, equidistant and above his existing ones.

"...is plenty of cause..."

He pulled his palm away from his fist - and the coins extended therefrom, arranging themselves into a blade.

"...to take to you them myself."

Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia: Yasha
A demon widely known in China and other countries who originated from India. They excel at transformation and sorcery, and are known to appear in many forms: lion, elephant, old man, a person with one or three eyes... Similar to the Japanese Oni.

Ramza swung his sword of coins forward, and a streak of white cut through the air before him, soaring towards the man in red. That crimson mantle was quickly swept up to consume him, and Kairi watched in terror and astonishment as he seemed to become a writhing mass of red cloth, arcing under Ramza's projectile and then whirling into the air before his cape parted to reveal him - the main of his body was garbed in black, and his left arm was covered in a clawed bronze gauntlet.

With a growl, Ramza lashed his weapon down, throwing another streak skyward on the opposite axis. The man twisted mid-fall to evade it, and Kairi saw her opportunity; she charged towards him as he neared the ground and leapt at him, wrapping one hand in her cape and seizing his unarmoured arm in the other. Her opponent grunted in surprise as Kairi landed, threateningly close to the water's edge; she quickly twisted herself back, falling into the pool and dragging her adversary with her.

A moment's struggle beneath the water; then Kairi's grip faltered, and her opponent grabbed her and hurled her back out, well away from where Ramza still stood. She had significantly more 'sideways' momentum than 'upwards', hitting the ground rolling, and managed to right herself and skid to a stop as her foe leapt out, scattering water in all directions before landing at its edge.

Kairi's skin began to pale, and her hair darken; as she spoke, her teeth were starting to lengthen into fangs.

"Well, you're no vampire."

She raised a hand whose fingernails were sharpening into claws, and closed it into a fist; a crack of breaking chain emerged from beneath her uniform's sleeve, and her blue eyes turned bloody red as power surged out around her.

+x+x+x+

"Dammit, not down there again."

Sora skidded to a halt, drawing Xion's attention; they had been on their way to the cave where they had dealt with Tenshi at the start of the year, on Sora's hunch. The moment Kairi made to fight, the surge of power could be picked up from across Yokai grounds - at least, to the fine senses of a vampire - and now he knew exactly where she was.

"What do you mean, again?" Xion asked.

"She's in Setzer's hangar again," Sora observed. "That stupid pool he had under the Blackjack is gonna be the death of me."

Xion shook her head. "We can't leave her down there on her own if she's in a fight. She hasn't been active nearly long enough to have recovered. I can freeze the pool for you."

"Last fight down there was able to keep it unfrozen," Sora reminded her.

That gave Xion pause. "Tell you what, I can get a good look at her opponent," she insisted. "If it's not someone who can undo my ice, you come with."

"...Fine."

+x+x+x+

Ramza quickly acted while the man in red was distracted by Kairi's power surge; he aimed his coin sword forward, and a bolt of green magic flew from the tip, striking his back before he could evade. The connection burst, startling his stance, Kairi promptly rushed him, seizing him by the shoulder and hurling him at Ramza. He righted himself mid-flight and made to strike at Ramza with his gauntlet hand, but the blow was met on Lugria's coin sword, and he quickly drove one of his spiky pauldrons forward to stun him before twisting around to kick him to the floor.

Kairi charged forward in an effort to pin him down before he could right himself, yet not two steps into the charge did the man's mantle wrap him again, and Ramza's downward blow with his coin sword met nothing as the wraith swept aside. It moved along the wall of the cave for a moment before unwrapping; the man seized the cavern's surface with his gauntlet hand, gazing down at Kairi.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded.

"Many many things and most of them are my father's fault," Kairi spat.

She slammed a fist into the wall, hard enough to make it crack but not enough to threaten the outsider's grip; nonetheless, he leapt from the wall, flying towards Kairi. Immediately her hand shifted, seizing the edge of the cracks as she leapt away - and her claws provided enough hold that she tore off a significant chunk of stone as she evaded his landing. Ramza moved his coin sword skyward, causing a blast of blue light to descend on the man in red from above, and the burst as it connected threw him to the ground hard enough that he bounced back into the air.

Kairi immediately hurled her wall fragment at him, striking him in the back of the head before he could right himself. The connection stunned him long enough for Ramza to swing another edge, but not long enough for the projectile to connect; the mantle wrapped him as he swept around the blow and then leapt towards the water. He was submerged for but an instant; then he surged out on Kairi's other side, so that she was between him and Ramza.

"I meant your power," the man insisted. "Something about you is warped."

"I've been dying before," Kairi admitted. "Being a little warped is a small price to pay."

The man huffed, closing his eyes. "I know that mindset well enough."

Ramza shook his head. "Do not waste our time inquiring about something that is none of your-"

A crackling of ice cut him off; Kairi turned towards the water to find frost crystals spreading rapidly within it. In an instant, the pool was frozen solid, and Kairi turned to face it and stepped away, holding an arm before her; this ended up moving her out of Ramza's way, and he brought his weapon down with a swing to throw another edge towards the man in red. His target quickly moved onto the water, and Kairi found that the ice held when that wraith of red connected with it, leaving the man sliding across its surface; she quickly charged after him and leapt, making to seize him by the shoulders.

He moved aside enough that she ended up grabbing his cape, but Kairi only twisted as she landed, trying to find purchase on the ice so she could wrestle him down... and to her surprise, the ice's surface began to shift beneath her feet, becoming rough enough to give her shoes grip.

"Kairi!"

The voice from the entrance drew Ramza's attention, and he found the black-haired figure he'd met with Kurai in Preturnatural Street standing at the door, her angel-winged weapon in hand. "You!"

"Xion!" Kairi called. "Little help!"

The snow fairy quickly turned her Keyblade forward, a blast of cold fire surging forward as her helm was wrapped in ice. The man thrust his gauntlet hand forward to meet the blast and found ice surging across his arm; that shock gave Kairi the opening she needed, and she charged forward, grabbing him by the shoulders. Xion promptly swept her free hand up, and the ice began to extend, blades threatening the man in red from every direction but the one where Kairi was standing as she stepped onto the surface herself.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Xion demanded, storming towards him.

"You're the second person to ask me that," the man observed.

He promptly leapt up and back, dragging Kairi into a stumble as her grip loosened; once he landed behind her, he swept a kick into her shoulder blades to throw her towards the ice, prompting Xion to quickly expand them into a wall in order to keep Kairi from being impaled. That prompted the man to sweep his mantle around him, and the wraith swept around towards Xion, who raised her Key to defend herself.

A burst of green connected before her weapon did, and the man skidded back. Ramza had his coin sword aimed forward; he quickly thrust it skyward to invoke another falling burst of blue, but this one struck the ice and left nothing but cracks as his target swept away. As soon as Xion was sure Kairi was properly on her feet, her wall of ice receded into the frozen pool; then a surface emerged around the man in red, making to contain him on all sides.

He leapt skyward before it could close - and then he landed upon it as it did, hard enough to cover it in cracks. His mantle consumed him again, and his next movement left it shattering from the force of his leap; he descended towards Ramza, who barely managed to leap aside before he landed; then his gauntlet hand, freed of the ice amidst the commotion, lunged forward and seized his coin sword.

The coins of the blade detached from those of the hilt, and scattered amidst the motion. A sweep of Ramza's hands had them all needling towards the man's face, striking him with the force of slung stones; then they surged back, reforming into the blade as Kairi and Xion charged forward. Xion made to bring her Keyblade down on him, and found the bottom shaft seized in his gauntlet hand; Kairi made to punch him in the stomach, and found her fist colliding with an armoured sabaton that was quickly thrust out to kick her away.

Ramza hurled his coin sword into the air, and swept his hand before him with a yell of "Move aside!" Xion quickly let her Keyblade vanish and leapt away as Ramza's coins parted from the blade formation; then he thrust his hand forward, and they surged towards the man in red. He raised his gauntlet to defend his face, but this time they formed a line upon the ground - and when Ramza then moved his other hand in an uppercut, they shot into the air, each an instant after the last, tearing the stone into blades as they did.

The man in red was struck into the air by the blow, but quickly recovered; he seized the wall again, and then his mantle consumed him as he continued skyward.

A second yell of "Kairi!" drew everyone's attention; Sora was charging into the cavern, one hand reaching into his pocket. With a grin, Kairi started towards him, one hand reaching for his rosario as she got near.

It didn't connect before someone else's hand grabbed her arm - the man in red had descended in a blaze, and Kairi barely had time to start before he flung her across the ice. His next blow was towards Sora, who managed to duck beneath it; something moved between his hands before he drew his own silver Keyblade appeared, and he brought it into an uppercut that left the man stumbling. Xion hurled her Keyblade at his back to stun him again, and Ramza's coins surged at their target in a hail before his mantle covered him and moved him away.

Kairi had righted herself by now, and was dashing towards Sora again; this time, when their foe made to charge her, she saw it coming, and moved her hand to slam into him as he neared. The blow struck the red cloth and nothing else as he narrowly evaded - and moved towards Xion, who brought her Key down on the mass. The cape parted as he stumbled away; his gauntlet hand quickly lashed forward, lashing across Xion's sword hand and causing her to stumble back as he moved towards Sora.

The swing of the silver Key was evaded, and then a kick to his sword arm startled his grip; then he swept around Sora, pinning his arms behind him with the gauntlet and raising something to his head.

It was a gun - a three-barrelled weapon, each emblazoned with a canine head, and with a silver chain with a strange wing-shape hanging from the grip.

Kairi cried out in shock at the sight of the weapon, stumbling away as the man in red glared at them all. "I've had enough. Four opponents is more than I care to face, let alone three and a Nosferatu."

Sora glanced towards the weapon - and something about it seemed to surprise him. "Wait... three barrels, dog heads, and that chain..." He turned to face his captor entirely. "Are you Vincent Valentine?"

That got a more noticeable reaction; the man in red glanced down at him. "Where did you hear my name?"

Xion took advantage of the distraction to throw a blast of icefire; it struck the firearm and wrapped it entirely before the man in red could make to use it. The shock on his grip gave Sora an opening to get free, but to Kairi surprise he quickly raised a hand towards his fellow news club members.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Then, turning to the gunman; "You are Vincent?"

The man - Vincent - aimed his weapon at the ice and tried to pull the trigger, and looked annoyed when the trigger wouldn't even budge; the ice had filled the space between the trigger and the stock. With a glare, he turned to Sora. "Who are you?"

"Sora Kingdom."

"Cloud's charge?"

Kairi blinked. "Wait, you're one of Cloud's friends?"

A groan from the waterside (iceside?) drew their attention as Ramza's coins returned to his grip. "Tell me you're not going to take this man's side on the grounds that you know his associates!" he protested. "His actions have given me no cause not to take him to the headmaster immediately!"

Sora aimed a finger at Vincent. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Lugria on that one. Aiming a gun at my head gives you a lot of red marks."

Vincent holstered his firearm with a huff. "He's the one who wouldn't believe I was here for no trouble."

"You claimed to simply be watching and waiting, and that the staff was not fond of you," Ramza reminded him. "The staff here at Yokai Academy has proven nothing if not reasonable; if you were truly here on peaceful terms, they would not grow an ill opinion of you without just cause."

"Why are you here?" Sora demanded.

Kairi interjected before Vincent could answer again. "I still can't feel you." Everyone's attention went to Kairi, whose eyes were closed. "The way you were moving should be doing something; why can't I feel you?"

Vincent only sighed, holding out his gauntlet hand palm-up. "Because of this."

Resting in the palm of his gauntlet was a sphere of blue, covered in white lines. Sora glanced at it for a moment before turning to Ramza. "How much do those eyes mean you know magic?"

"If you had been here ten seconds sooner, that question would not be asked," Ramza muttered, stepping forward. The moment his gaze fell on the sphere, all three eyes widened. "What on earth-?"

"This thing keeps my power down - so far down I can't reach it on my own." Vincent closed his hand, letting it fall. "But the one who enchanted this thing is dead, and before that he was insane, and before that he was an asshole. So I can't get another one." Turning to Sora. "I'm here because Yokai is about making monsters learn to keep themselves down. And someone is trying to keep herself down because she spent years without knowing there was anything to keep down."

"Years without knowing...?" Sora stumbled back. "Wait, you mean Marlene!?"

Ramza turned to him as Vincent nodded. "You know this girl he claims to be helping?"

"Yeah, she's a thunder beast who's been raised by and among humans," Sora confirmed. "None of us even knew what she was until some freak with a katana tried to use her as blackmail. Last I checked she didn't even know." Turning to Vincent; "When did you guys tell her?"

"Pretty much at the same time as you took off for some town called Anvāsu," Vincent replied. "She and Barret have been staying with me while I try to help her keep a handle on it. But the more I teach her about what she is, the more she leans towards that form. She's not scared of it - not anymore - but it's an inconvenience in a world of humans, and besides which she's not totally fond of it. I was hoping watching Yokai happen would help me figure out how to help her keep it down." He glared at Ramza. "And this this guy wanders past me, hears the tree creak, and assumes I'm an invader."

"In his defense," Xion insisted, "he's acting under orders from the headmaster, so the assumption isn't his."

"In any case," Ramza reprimanded, "you still have no excuse for speaking to the staff yourself. What cause do you have to avoid them? What have you done that has earned them an ill opinion of you."

Sora raised a hand. "I think that might have something to do with Cloud kicking Leon's ass a couple years back."

"Okay, what?!" Kairi exclaimed.

"Actually, no," Vincent denied before she could say anything more. "It's about the sophomore teacher - Y'shtola. She and I had the misfortune to end up associating with a gambler who wagered a little more than his pockets could hold and wasn't totally up to paying back who he borrowed from. She tried to help him sort things out. I left him to what he brought upon himself. I assume her efforts went poorly, because the next time I saw her she threatened to put leaves in my lungs if she saw me again."

Xion stepped back. "Note to self - don't piss off Professor Y'shtola."

Kairi sighed. "Being on bad terms with one teacher - who wasn't here last year - doesn't count as the staff being not fond of you."

"Better safe than sorry," Vincent protested.

Sora jabbed a thumb at Ramza. "You ended up fighting a freaking Yasha over a misunderstanding," he insisted, "what part of that is safe?"

"You should see what I get into that makes me sorry."

+x+x+x+

"No."

Ramza sighed. "Predictable."

"Shut up," Xion muttered.

Vincent stepped forward. "I hope that's not all you have to say."

DiZ shook his head. "I will not allow you to observe Yokai Academy for the purposes you have given me," he proclaimed. "Even were I to dismiss your earlier actions - an unjustifiable event in and of itself - the goal you pursue cannot be achieved by the means you are attempting."

"Do you know any means it could be achieved?" Sora asked.

"For one," DiZ observed, motioning to Vincent's gauntlet hand, "given his certainty of the magic's effects, there's little reason why he should not be willing to give the sphere to his charge for the purposes he has mentioned."

Vincent crossed his arms. "Starting that sentence with 'for one' implies you have alternatives."

"Yokai Academy does not discriminate based on prior experience," DiZ proclaimed. "If the child is not capable of handling her transformation, and wishes to live in the human world, she is welcome to come to Yokai Academy and study here until such time as she is of age to graduate."

"Thaaat's... not gonna fly with Barret," Sora muttered. "Last time someone associated Marlene with Yokai he almost crashed a pickup truck on an empty four-lane street."

DiZ turned to Vincent. "This sphere of yours - its magic does not do any harm to your monstrous self, does it?"

"Not that I can tell," Vincent confirmed.

"Then why do you not seek out another learned in magical arts, and have them replicate the effects of its magic?" DiZ asked.

"For one, the jackass who made this said it was the fruit of 'decades of labour'," Vincent replied. "If it takes half as long to replicate it, that's not an option we can take. For another, I don't know any others learned in magical arts - least none I can trust."

"Rufus Shinra knows magic," Kairi observed.

"I said trust."

DiZ turned to Ramza.

Ramza's glared. "No. On seven grounds."

Vincent sighed. "If that's all the suggestions you have," he proclaimed, "and you're still not going to let me watch, I'll leave this school peacefully, and find my own means."

"Very well."

He started out; Xion glanced after him for a moment before turning to the headmaster and making an awkward gesture along the lines of "I'm gonna go after him" and following. Ramza sighed, stepping towards DiZ's desk. "I assume these circumstances will not-"

"You will be compensated as promised," DiZ confirmed.

"Then I shall be taking my own leave shortly thereafter," Ramza observed. "And I would have you know that I will not be accepting further work on this front again."

DiZ nodded. "I shall keep that in mind. Mr. Kingdom, Miss Chikai, you are dismissed."

The three of them stepped out of the office; once the door was closed behind him, Sora turned to him. "Does that mean you were BS-ing me about liking how Yokai is working towards coexistence?"

"Not in the slightest," Ramza insisted. "Coexistence is beautiful. But I was here for an unnecessary period beyond what I had been told in advance, leaving my sister to worry herself sick. The cause was a man trying to help a child, and the headmaster told me to disbelieve it when I first told him of it. Kurai was right, someone trying to mind something precarious can be trusted with little else."

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you refuse to help Vincent before DiZ asked you to help Vincent?"

Ramza began to count on his fingers as he spoke. "I can't handle magic that fine, I don't believe in forced constriction of a monster's form, I don't trust myself to cast anything that will be used on a child, I don't entirely believe his claim that the sphere doesn't hurt his form, I agree that anything that required decades the first time will take a similar timeframe to replicate, I can't understand what kind of caretaker would refuse to consider Yokai Academy as a solution, and if I delay my return home for another reason Alma will be outraged."

"She gets that worried about you?" Kairi asked.

"Last time she and I were apart longer than we planned to be," Ramza confirmed, "she was nearly sacrificed to a false god and I fought my way through the rest of the pantheon."

+x+x+x+

"Vincent, wait!"

Xion's call drew Vincent's footsteps to a halt, though he didn't speak as he turned to her. "The headmaster didn't bring this up, but... I think I know another way you might be able to help Marlene."

Vincent crossed his arms, inviting her to speak.

"How much do you know about holy locks?"

"Holy locks...?" Vincent's gaze narrowed. "Cloud mentioned this when he brought Marlene and Barret to me. I thought that was for holding back a-"

"A monstrous infection in a human body," Xion finished. "Yes, that's what they're usually for. But, they can also be used to hold back the form of a monster proper. Kishin use them all the time because of how unstable they get when they're strong enough. It's not without its dangers, but I thought you should be considering all the options."

"What dangers?"

"If a monster spends too much time constricted by a holy lock," Xion explained, "their mind gets accustomed to their human form. So if the seal gets broken, they go feral. If Marlene wants to stay in the human world, there shouldn't be a whole lot of risk, but..."

Vincent shook his head. "Marlene started out in denial that she was anything other than human," he insisted. "As much as I respect her wanting to stay in the human world where she's lived so long, she needs to come to terms with her existence as a thunder beast. If what you're saying is true, a holy lock would do more harm than good."

Xion let her gaze fall. "That makes sense. Sorry, I just... wanted to make sure you were aware of the option."

"...It would pass, as a last resort," he conceded. "Assuming we could even find one. I'll keep it in mind."

+x+x+x+

Vincent left Yokai grounds, and Ramza followed shortly thereafter; Kairi, Sora, and Xion shared what had happened with the others during club period the next day.

"So," Kairi asked, "what was that about Cloud kicking Leon's ass?"

"Yeah, I wanna hear that, too," Xion agreed. "I thought Cloud was human."

Sora chuckled. "You remember Aerith used to hang out with Cloud and Tifa, right?" he asked the snow fairy. "Those days, way back before I was 'Cloud's charge', Aerith was the only monster on a team trying to stop hell, and she was the weakest fighter. He told me, after we got back from that business in Anvāsu, he and Tifa had a couple run-ins with Leon and Heartilly. And they won the second, third, and fifth bouts."

Riku raised an eyebrow. "So why would you assume that's why Vincent was on bad terms with the Yokai staff?"

"I thought him saying 'me and Tifa' was just saving breath on giving the list," Sora admitted. "I'd love to know how he made Y'shtola threaten to 'put leaves in his lungs', though. She doesn't even seem like she could get that mad."

Unbeknowst to Sora, passing by the news clubroom at that moment was Professor Y'shtola - and the closed door did not keep his voice out as much as he it ought've. On hearing his utterance, she glanced at the door for a moment in horror; then, mortified, she buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, Feymarch, that wasn't a fever dream...?"


Draco: Ending based on a situation in which I uttered something behind closed doors and turned out to have spoken of the devil.

Rejected version of the hangar scene
Kairi - "Is there something attractive about this place?"
Vincent {immediately to Kairi's right} - "What do you mean?"
Kairi - {holy lock cracks a chain, punches the wall where Vincent used to be}