Chapter 2
When Elijah's sight returned to him, he found himself seated on a small, wooden bench beneath a bright blue sky devoid of any clouds. Looking around for the bus he was told would arrive, Elijah began to take note of his surroundings. He appeared to be located in a residential area with quaint suburban homes encompassing his field of view. Turning behind him, Elijah could see a group of small children no older than four or five years of age, playing on a pastel blue and yellow jungle gym. Their cries of laughter brought a small smile to his face as he thought about everything that had just been thrust upon him. Checking the bus schedule plastered on the "bus stop" sign to his left, it appeared that the next bus would arrive in around fifteen minutes.
This should be more than enough time to mess around with my new abilities. Elijah thought to himself. Matter manipulation was definitely one Elijah wanted to try first. Its description in the catalog specified that the ability would allow him to pull from any existing matter in the universe to create whatever it was he was thinking of. Wanting to test that theory, Elijah's mind jumped to creating his old cell phone, if for no other reason than to have access to memories of his old life. His hands began to glow a soft, golden color as the item began to materialize. After a couple of seconds, the glow began to fade, as the familiar electronic rectangle became solid in his hands.
Pressing the power button, the phone booted up, greeting Elijah with his old wallpaper. "It really worked…" Elijah mumbled in surprise. Going through his contact list, it appeared that everything had loaded properly. Elijah stuffed the device in his pocket as the fainting rumbling of an old diesel engine indicated the approaching presence of his ticket to the youkai academy.
The air brakes squealed as the bus came to a halt in front of Elijah. The doors opened with an audible hiss and Elijah was greeted with the sight of Youkai Academy's resident bus driver.
The bus driver was dressed in a navy blue uniform decorated with brass buttons and a matching emblem on his hat and shirt pocket. The smell of his cigar was strong and only helped to accentuate his mysterious aura. The driver's glowing eyes seemed to pierce Elijah's soul as he let out a creepy chuckle "hehehe, hop on kid. We've got to get going" Elijah gulped nervously as he climbed the steps to board the small, off-colored, school bus.
The bus ride started off fairly normal. Elijah being the only passenger, used this opportunity to map out the landscape of the world around him. The bus moved quickly through the city streets of what Elijah could only assume to be Tokyo. After around 30 minutes, the bus took a rather strange turn off of the highway onto a smaller road that took the young teen towards an increasingly rural landscape. Traffic dwindled down to the point where Elijah would only count two or so passing cars every 5 minutes.
As road conditions continued to get worse, Elijah found himself beginning to doubt the bus driver's navigational skills. This fear only compounded when the bus driver yanked the bus into a sharp left turn, straight into a tunnel that had large "road closed" signs resting out in front of it. Panic began to build in Elijah, for when the headlights turned on, he could clearly see that the bus was headed straight for a dead end. Elijah tried keeping calm; assuring himself that the bus driver was a paid professional and that he would do nothing to endanger his passenger or himself. His attempts were in vain, and a shout began to form on lips as he felt the bus driver punch the accelerator, sending them hurtling directly into a brick wall. Elijah closed his eyes and braced for impact, praying that his newly gifted abilities would be enough to save him from dying a second time in under a day, but that impact never came.
Like something straight out of a movie, the bus phased harmlessly through the brick wall and into a large empty space that could only remind Elijah of Purgatory. The bus seemed to be floating on nothing, the tires maintaining traction on an invisible surface; bright lights and streaks of color flashed by Elijah as the bus powered forward. Elijah's mouth opened in awe and a soft "wow" slipped from his mouth as he admired the non-space around him. The trip felt over far too soon when the bus came to a stop in a small clearing in front of a vast forest of dead trees. The bus driver opened the door and called for Elijah to exit "Alright kid, this is your stop. Orientation starts in thirty minutes. You don't want to be late. Have a good time, but be warned, Yokai Academy is a scaaary place." Elijah gave the man a quick "thank you" as he stepped off of the bus and began the trek to his new school.
Moka Akashiya was almost in tears. She had awoken an hour early this morning to give herself time to explore the campus of her new high school. Taking her bike, she rode around the school, locating various places of importance. Somewhere along her journey though, she got lost on a bike trail constructed for use by the students during their free time. She didn't have a watch with her, but she knew she had been lost for at least half an hour. She was going to be late on her first day of school, after working so hard to set a good impression on her first day for once. After the disaster that was middle school, Moka was hoping she wouldn't be resigned to being alone once again in high school. Being late on the first day most likely wouldn't help that conundrum.
On top of that issue, she was feeling woozy. Suffering from anemia, Moka could barely keep her eyes open as she headed towards what she hoped was the main path to the front entrance of the school. She blacked out for a moment, and when she jerked her eyes back awake, she looked up to see herself barreling towards another student. "LOOK OUT" she shouted as she squeezed the handbrake with all her might, it wasn't enough though; her bike slammed into the young man in front of her as he let out a pained "oof". The pair tumbled on the ground for a couple of seconds before finally coming to a stop a couple of yards away from the bicycle.
She groaned as she grabbed the back of her head nursing a spot that she had hit pretty hard on the rough, dirt trail. "Sorry, I suffer from anemia and got all dizzy" she said as she opened her eyes to look down at the young man beneath her. The boy looked back at her wide eyed and muttered something along the lines of "wow...cute" under his breath before regaining his composure. He stumbled back a couple of steps, his face bright red, certain that she had heard him. He cleared his throat and extended a hand to her to help her off of the ground.
It was then when Moka noticed the cut along his left hand. "Ah! You're bleeding!" she noted as she pulled a handkerchief from out of her uniform's front pocket. Reaching in close to clean the wound that to her surprise was already almost healed, she caught a whiff of blood and her mouth began to water.
Feeling her instincts start to take over, she began repeating in her head, Don't bite a classmate on the first day! Don't bite a classmate on the first day! desperately hoping that she could bring herself under control. Her will was losing the battle however, and before she knew it she exclaimed "Sorry! I can't help it; you smell so good!" and latched onto the young boy's neck.
A yelp of surprise left Elijah's mouth at the sensation of being bitten. His day couldn't possibly get any weirder. First there was the strange bus ride, then he got run over by a girl on bicycle, and now said girl was drinking his blood. Finally, after a couple of seconds, the girl detached from his neck and sighed "ah... so good! The flavor and complexion is perfect!" looking back at her victim she gasped as the realization of what she had just done set in. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed "You see, I'm a vampire, and your blood smelled so good, it tasted good too, and ooooh I'm rambling aren't I"
Elijah watched her amusedly as she apologized, her emerald green eyes were darting all over the place and her hands flew everywhere as she desperately attempted to correct her previous mistakes. He gave a light laugh and said "Hey, it's no big deal. To be honest it didn't really even hurt that much." He extended his hand out to her as to offer a handshake "My name is Elijah Zebulon by the way. Nice to meet you." The girl froze, a perplexed look on her face, I bit him after running him over with a bicycle and he's not even upset? Not to mention he seems to have no issues with the fact I'm a vampire... she reached out and took his hand "Mine's Moka Akashiya; you aren't angry with me?" Elijah gave another small laugh and smiled "No not at all. Accidents happen."
Moka's face visibly relaxed with his response, relieved she didn't blow her first chance to make a new friend. With a little bit of her confidence restored she looked over to Elijah and asked "Say Elijah, you're a first year too right?" Elijah nodded thinking quietly to himself how strange it was to be a freshman in high school more than once in his life. Moka continued "So would you mind going with me to the orientation ceremony? I would like to go with a friend." Elijah saw her face tighten a little when asking that question, as if she was afraid of his response. "A friend huh?" Moka recoiled a little, fearing rejection "Sure I wouldn't mind... friend." Moka's face brightened and she tackled him in a hug. For the first time since before middle school, Moka Akashiya had someone she could call a friend.
The pair walked to the school auditorium, making small talk along the way, in an awkward attempt to get to know each other. Settling down towards the back of the filled facility, the couple waited in silence for the ceremony to begin.
The headmaster, who didn't give his name, had very little to say to the students. He gave a quick welcome and explained the school rules. While his interaction with the man was brief, Elijah noticed that the headmaster, like the bus driver he met on his way to the academy, had a deep voice that dripped with power and commanded attention. Also like the navy clad employee, Elijah couldn't help but see that the headmaster's eyes glowed as well. Perhaps it's a mark of power of some sort Elijah thought to himself. He decided to ask his new friend about that later. One other thing that stood out to Elijah, was that when greeting the freshman class, the headmaster had called out "Welcome class of 2006!" alerting Elijah that this world was behind his old one by a whole eighteen years. Learning that the Japanese high school career only lasted three years instead of four was also a small comfort to Elijah, knowing that he was a year closer in age to his fellow classmates than he originally thought.
He and Moka split off when leaving the auditorium. The pink haired vampire decided to take a bathroom break before she headed to home room. Elijah arrived ahead of most of his class, taking a desk in the middle of the row nearest to the outside window. Watching his classmates for the next three years file in, Elijah noticed that some of them had an easier time concealing their transformations than others. On more than one student Elijah noted oddities such as scales, fur, or strange skin pigmentation. Huh, this really is a school for monsters…. He thought to himself.
Every seat save the one directly behind him filled up by the time the teacher walked into the room. Writing her name upon the chalkboard, Ms. Nekonome introduced herself to the new class of high school freshmen. As she began to talk, Elijah couldn't help but laugh inwardly as he thought about the fitting name of his home room teacher. Her cat ears and tail moved vivantly while she went over the school rules again. Elijah smirked as he imagined the reactions of his old friends if he told them that he had a cat-girl teacher.
At the end of her lecture, Ms. Nekonome cleared her throat and addressed the class "Now, are there any questions?" It was at this point that the delinquent Saizou Komiya decided to make his presence known. He raised his hand, a malicious smirk plastered on his face "Yeah teach, if all of the humans are so puny and fragile, why do we hide from them? Why can't we just run out there and kill all the men and take the women?" Ms. Nekonome's face scrunched as did the faces of Elijah and several of his classmates at the absurdity of the question. Just as she was about to give a response, a familiar face bursted through the classroom door. "Sorry I'm late!" Moka Akashiya exclaimed "I got lost after on my way here." Elijah looked at her with a small smile and a shake of his head. Noticing her friend at the far end of the classroom, her face lit up and she dashed over to tackle him in her second bear hug of the day "Oh Elijah! You're in this class too? How wonderful!" Ms. Nekonome cleared her throat again, and a blushing Moka quietly muttered "sorry" and took her seat behind her only friend, leaving the class in an awkward silence.
It was in that moment that Elijah noticed the death glares of his fellow male classmates as they silently cursed his good fortune of somehow knowing the class beauty before anyone else. Elijah exhaled through his nose and gave an involuntary roll of his eyes Jealous are we? Guess I'm not making any male friends in this class…
After a few more moments, the class settled down and returned their attention to their increasingly impatient teacher. Class proceeded normally from that point until class released for lunch around an hour later.
Exploring the school together, Moka and Elijah soon found themselves sitting on a bench by a vending machine, using the last twenty minutes of their lunch break to actually eat lunch. Stepping over to the bathroom to wash his hands before he ate, Elijah noticed that the water coming from the sink had a slight green tint to it. Bringing the water up to his face, he observed that it had an herbal smell to it. Curious about the anomaly, he brought it up to his emerald eyed friend as he sat back down.
"Hey Moka, I noticed that the water in the school bathrooms seemed to be treated with some mix of herbs" "Oh yes" she replied "You're correct. Some students, including vampires like me, have issues with untreated water. It's actually quite painful for me to touch because it drains my youki." Nodding his head as he followed along, Elijah took mental notes as he learned about his new friend.
"So I have another question. You say you're a vampire, and I'm not doubting that; I just thought that a vampire would have the iconic silver hair and red eyes, you know…" Moka let out a giggle as she pointed at the silver rosary hung on the choker resting around her neck. "It's because of this. The rosary seals up my vampire side. I look like this now, but if it gets removed, I take on the traits you described. Also, not every vampire looks like that, even unsealed. Red eyes are a definite trademark, but the silver hair is typically only present with those with the highest levels of youki." Elijah raised his eyebrows and made a small grunt of understanding. I bet her vampire side would be hella cute. He thought as he tried to imagine the pink haired beauty in front of him with red eyes and silver hair.
A sharp yank on the collar of his shirt interrupted his day dreaming as Saizou Komiya decided to make his presence known to the couple. "Hey dude, what the hell?" Elijah questioned as he dusted himself off and stood up in front of the delinquent that had so rudely interrupted his lunch. "I should be asking you the same question pipsqueak!" Saizou retorted as he shoved Elijah into the vending machine "You listen here! Moka's my woman whether she knows it yet or not! If I find your puny ass hanging around her the next time I come by, I'm gonna do far worse than just throw you into a vending machine!" He kicked Elijah once more in the gut and walked off, leaving the injured boy and Moka alone once more.
Elijah gave a sigh as Moka rushed over to him, fear present in her eyes as she scanned him for damages. Elijah was fine. His regeneration ability had already mended all the wounds Saizou inflicted on him. However, as nice as that ability was, regeneration couldn't save his freshly ruined school uniform. Giving another sigh of frustration, Elijah gave a quick "excuse me" to Moka as he ran back to his dorm room to change clothes.
Saizou was standing a few yards away from the couple waiting to make his move. Mistaking the other man's temporary departure as a success, Saizou quickly moved in on his prey. Doing this now would make him late for class, but Saizou couldn't care less. A few absences meant little to him compared to the fun he was planning on having with the unsuspecting woman sitting in front of him.
Saizou reached in and grabbed Moka, giving her only the chance to let out a startled yelp before placing his hand over her mouth, muting any noise of protest she might attempt to make. He quickly made his escape to the woods just outside of the school grounds. While it was illegal to use monster abilities on the main campus, doing so outside of school grounds was completely legal. Saizou planned on using his monster form to keep his prey subdued should she try to fight back. Unfortunately for Saizou, he wasn't quite the sharpest tool in the shed. The woods he retreated to resided just behind the student dorms, the place where Elijah was currently leaving to head back to class.
Moka, for her credit, was putting up one hell of a fight against her stronger male assaulter. After a vicious kick to Saizou's groin, Moka got him to release his hand off of her mouth just long enough to scream "ELIJAH HELP!" at the top of her lungs. Saizou shut her up again with a quick punch to her face, but help was already on the way.
Elijah had little fighting experience. He was normally a docile soul who had no interest in making confrontations physical. But hearing the shrill cry of a friend in need quickly turned Elijah into a force to be reckoned with. Teleporting to the location from which he heard Moka cry, Elijah beheld a pitiful sight. Moka, with tears running down her face and her blouse half unbuttoned, was pinned beneath a grotesquely transformed Saizou. Anger boiled quickly within Elijah, and he willed a pair of steel gauntlets to appear on hands as he rushed towards the orc. Smashing into Saizou with all the force he could muster, Elijah was rewarded with the satisfying sound of bones crunching beneath his fists. Saizou was sent flying off his victim and crashing into a tree. Helping Moka up, Elijah stood in front of her guardingly as Saizou began to get back up. "That was a pretty good hit, pipsqueak. But I'm afraid that's the only one you're gonna get!" Taking a step back to prepare for Saizou's charge, Elijah unknowingly unhooked Moka's rosary. An unnoticed *plink* sounded as the artifact came off, right as the pair rushed at each other once more.
Inner Moka was somewhat impressed with Elijah. While he clearly had no experience fighting whatsoever, his raw strength and speed was doing a real number on the pathetic orc in front of him. She watched contentedly from the sidelines as Elijah dealt the final blow to his opponent in the form of a crude, but devastating uppercut.
As the orc dropped down, out cold, Elijah turned around to look at where Moka was once standing, as the woman in question came into view, Elijah felt his breath catch in his throat. "Wow… I was wrong earlier, cute doesn't even begin to describe that...she's beautiful…" The changes in the unsealed Moka became more clear the longer he looked at her, the slight shift in her posture, her long, platinum hair, the simultaneously firm, yet soft look in her now scarlet eyes; Elijah was mesmerized.
Noticing not only his staring, but the quiet words he mumbled under his breath, Inner Moka tried her hardest not to blush. With it being the first time she was awake in years, the last thing the proud vampire wanted to be seen as was a blushing school girl. Granted, she wanted his companionship as well, but years with no social interaction and her ever present vampire pride left the unsealed Moka in a state of uncertainty about how to accomplish that task. Regaining her composure, she addressed the young man in front of her "I appreciate your help in keeping the outer me safe, you did a decent job fighting, but if you're going to continue helping her, I insist that you train with me, so that I may teach how to fight properly." Not even waiting for his response, she continued "Meet me out here in this clearing Saturday morning at five. You better not be late Elijah~" she finished her statement in a sing-song voice, placing her hand on his shoulder as she walked by him. Clipping the rosary back on, Moka's hair bled back to pink as she collapsed into Elijah's arms.