(A/n: Please enjoy)


Chapter 32: No Plan Ever Goes Accordingly

Stan feels himself coming down with a headache the more he uses his brain. He and his four friends along with many other students are walking down the hallway to the gymnasium, all of them being led by Ms. Biggle, Dr. Kero, and Ebony who were way in the front. Stan at first thought that they could sneak away from the large crowd unnoticed, however the moment they tried it was extremely difficult to turn back let alone move properly amongst the mass of bodies. It was an unnecessary struggle walking forward as is. The hallways may be wide, but it's not big enough for nearly all of the students to be ambling in. It's (un)surprisingly not hot as a result, though it is fairly warm.

"Ahhh Goddamnit!" Stan grumbles as a thought, teeth gritted irritably. Nothing fruitful has come to mind throughout the couple minutes they've been walking in, so he has to settle on asking Gary, Ike, and Gregory for some ideas. He excludes Pip, because he's still bummed about them escaping, trudging behind them that if it weren't for the students he would've most likely been separated from the group.

"Any of you guys know how we can get outta this?" Stan asks the three he included to question, Gary and Ike are on his left whereas Gregory is on right.

While Gary and Ike appear to be mulling on what to do, once Gregory opens his mouth to answer a few taps on Ike's left shoulder has him snapping out of his pondering with a noticeable flinch. He looks to his side, not expecting Firkle to be matching pace beside him.

"-so you should've came up with an alternative for unexpected occasions," Gregory finishes, tone stating it as a simple fact.

Stan rolls his eyes with an exasperated huff. "How the hell was I supposed to know they were gonna do somethin' like this?" Actually while he was coming up with some hopefully flawless ways to escape, he did anticipate the Principal formulating a prudent plan of his own, remembering the man announcing another meeting but for the adults only. But what he didn't know was how they were going handle this predicament, having the students evacuate to the gym as if this is a fire drill was definitely not a strategy he had in mind.

"This is still a school Stanley," Gregory reminds the noirette, shaking his head. "Of course the staff are going to do everything they can to ensure the safety of their students."

Stan opens his mouth to reply back, but ends up shutting it when he bumps into someone. Stunned, Stan blinks his eyes then narrows them slightly at the male's back, his height towering Stan's own by approximately two inches. Afterwards he notices that everyone around him has stopped moving suddenly. The ones up front must be making their way out through the double doors a few at a time Stan assumes, meaning the other half, himself and his friends included, are stuck waiting for their turn behind the corner. This gives them more time to sort things out.

The individual turns his blonde head back with an annoyed glare, only for it to quickly vanish away into discernment. He spins his whole body around to face Stan and his crew. "You guys are Tweek's friends," he says as an assertion and not a question.

Stan quirks an eyebrow of skepticism. "How'd you know? He tell you?" He doubts Tweek sees them as such anymore.

The long haired blonde shakes his head. "Nope, but I've never seen any of you three around before so that's how I know."

Stan lowers his eyebrow, as much as that makes sense he still doesn't completely trust this guy. "Oookay well- wait three?" Bewilderment comes to surface after fully understanding the blonde's statement, sapphire eyes scan for the missing persons that's supposed to be among them. The sentiment escalates when Stan only sees Gregory, Gary, and Pip, position still the same though his head is now angled to look at the floor.

Stan does a double take, however he can't locate the youngest of the group anywhere near. "Where's Ike?" He questions Gary since the boy was previously walking alongside him. Hopefully the younger isn't lost within the crowd.

"I have no clue," Gary answers, looking just as confused. "I saw him talking to Firkle then the next thing I know, they're gone."

Stan can't believe what he just heard. Did, whoever this Firkle guy is, seriously continue their private talk elsewhere? Did Ike seriously forget that they're in the midst of getting their escape plan in order or did he suddenly think because of that he'd spend some time with his friend? And opted not to tell anyone. Stan pinches the bridge of his nose with a deep sigh, ceasing the rise of irritation due to a thought quickly occurring to him. Vampires can teleport, and they can use telepathy. Two very useful factors Stan can utilize for his scheme to work, the main problem now is finding someone who's willing to help them out.

Maybe the guy he just conversed with can assist them, he seems kind enough.

Stan looks up at the blonde to see himself looking at the back of his white T-shirt that distanced from him a bit. Stan closes the small gap as have Gary and Gregory did moments prior, and taps the unaware male's shoulder for his attention, getting it a second later. "Hey umm can you do us a favor real quick?" Stan receives observant stares from teal and apricot orbs, unknowing to a pair of light blue ones fighting to give him a look of utter uncertainty.

The vampire teen surveys Stan silently for a moment with furrowed brows. "It depends."

"There's two actually, first could you use telepathy to tell our friend Ike to meet us..-" Shit where would be a decent spot? The ground floor entrance is taken so they can't have him transport them there unfortunately, he could say the courtyard but he isn't sure how far apart it is from the entrance. For a building so big you'd think there'd be a lot of areas for seclusion or at least contain more open spaces similar to the courtyard, but this school gives newcomers false impressions. Then again this was originally a home so- No now is not the time to be thinking of other things that aren't going to pertain to the matter at hand.

Thankfully, Gregory's voice snaps him out of his deep thinking, feeling his headache getting worse as an aftermath. "Tell him to meet us in front of the cafeteria," the British teen says, voicing the place of his choice.

The cafeteria? Instead of expressing his unsureness aloud, Stan looks at him wanting Gregory to see the query in the form of an expression on his face. But alas, he is no longer looking at him and is instead holding eye contact with the vampire. Stan is just going to have to concede with him on his decision, giving him some credence that he chose the right location.

"Yeah the cafeteria," Stan agrees, concealing his minimal doubt as he locks eyes with cynical indigo once more. "And the second one is, could you teleport us there?"

Immediately, the blonde frowns. When the people ahead of them moves up a bit further, the rest follows then stops. "It's not much, but you do know that we just met right?" Before either Stan or Gregory can say anything, the teenager's frown morphs into a small smile free of dubiety. "I don't mind doing them though."

Stan blinks, not hiding the look of slight shock crossing over on his features. Gregory meanwhile, is next to be suspicious. "For real? There's no catch or anything? You're actually willing to do it?" Stan inquires cautiously.

"Yes to all three dude," the blonde says with a faintly wider smile. "It's not my business to know why you guys wanna go to the cafeteria so I'm not gonna ask."

Wow, this guy is really understanding and is in fact kind like Stan thought he appeared. He's probably the only one here who isn't an asshole, and is genuinely a friendly person. "Can we get your name? We'll tell you ours too if you want in return." Gregory shoots Stan a disapproving scowl whereas Gary seems okay with it.

"Nah ya'll don't have to," the indigo-eyed male says, waving his hand to dismiss the proposal. "Plus the guy glaring at you doesn't seem so keen on the idea. But the name's Brendon, and I just told your friend where you wanted him meet you all at."

"Whoa you did that while talking to us?" Stan asks, sounding intrigued. Much to Gregory's and Pip's dissatisfaction.

"I'm good at multitasking," Brendon winks. "Alright, off to the cafeteria ya go."

Pip, who was already listening in on the exchange the instant he heard Brendon's voice, now musters up the courage to get not Stan's, contemplating Gary's, but Gregory's attention. However a little too late. He has a timid finger raised, and it stays aloft even when Gregory's figure is no longer standing a centimeter away from him. The three were gone, with the exception of Pip.

Pip drops his hand back to his side, nervously looking up and meeting Brendon's eyes filled with dark satisfaction, his lips curled upwards showcasing his fulfillment. He turns away shoving his hands into his pants pockets.

Gritting his teeth, Pip stares down at the floor once again as he takes reluctant steps forward.


Micheal, Damien, and Leon observe the fluid yet aggressive strikes Kurai has been trying to land onto Chris for the past five minutes now, who in turn has been dodging and attempting to inflict an attack of his own on Kurai. Both of their cheeks have a seemingly identical thin cut along the skin, though on different sides and of differing size. One was from a blade, and the other a sharp whiff from a fist. Those grazes are the only injuries (if they can even be called that) marred on the two mens' bodies, wanting to deal more than just a meager scratch on one another.

"This hunter sure is something to be on par with Kurai for this long," Micheal commends crossing his arms, Damien and Leon agreeing.

"But he's not goin' all out though," Damien then states. "I should've went first, the arrogant bastard would've already been dead in the first few seconds." He shakes his head with a faint smile whilst stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Instead of dodging this time, once Kurai brings his katana down again Chris catches it with the clap of his hands, the red razor edge inches away from his face. As they compete to overpower the other, Chris smirks much to Kurai's vexation. No mere human turned vampire should be holding his own against him this well. None have survived Akumu's (The name he bestowed upon his blade) wrath nor his Shuiro Mikadzuki Style. His ancestors would be very disappointed in him if he were to use their sacred arts on a foe that hardly deserves it's recognition. "How long are you plannin' on swingin' this thing around for?" He hears Chris provoke in a taunting tone.

With a guttural growl, Kurai places his other hand on the scarlet metal to apply more pressure onto his weapon, Chris losing his teasing grin as he feels himself promptly getting bested. "Do not mock me fool." A diminutive bead of a red glow sprouts from the hand Kurai has on the blade, Chris being preoccupied not to get sliced in half takes no notice to it. "Kyōfu de kare o mahi sa seru, Jigoku no mōsō," Kurai recites mentally, tone venomous. This will substitute the Shuiro Mikadzuki, and he can grantee that it will be just as powerful.

"Soo what're we gonna do?" Damien asks, looking back and forth between Micheal and Leon. "Just stand here and watch them do jack shit to each other?"

Micheal sighs, keeping his eyes on the dueling vampires. "It's true that neither of them have gained the upper hand yet, but this is Kurai, he'll find some way to kill Chris. This is his plan after all."

Leon nods his head in agreement. "Otherwise he wouldn't have drawn out his katana."

Damien looks back at the duo with a frown. "I guess, but this is boooring," he says loud enough for Kurai and Chris to hear, then he covers up a forced yawn.

"Yeah this is getting pretty-" Chris stops himself upon a burning pain seeping through his gloves, letting go of the source in the process of leaping to the side near the railing of the right staircase. He inspects his palms still feeling the strong tingling singe, although he was exposed to the sudden heat for a short while the center of his gloves made it seem unlikely so with it being seared open to reveal his scorched skin. "How the hell did-" Eyes widening and releasing a startled grunt, Chris gapes in baffled shock at at least several tiny black worms suddenly slithering around his palms, later noticing that the blemishes of the burns followed by the blistering discomfort are entirely gone. He knows for absolute certain that he'd gotten hurt, his gloves wouldn't be appearing as if he came in contact with immense high temperature if he hadn't of. "Been a long time since I've dealt with illusions."

Kurai eyes the dumbfounded man with a small smile of sinister gratification. He doesn't give a rat's ass about Damien's boredom, this fight wasn't to entertain him to begin with. But Kurai has to admit that the hunter has proven his worth by putting up a proper challenge, granting him the privilege of falling victim to his most favored ability of Akumu's. The ignited honing blade radiating in a reddish-orange hue with an indistinct aura resembling flickering flames surrounding it hums deeply in response to it's Master's silent appeasement. "What seems to be the matter, hmm?"

"Tch." Chris narrows his eyes, the shock that was already draining away clears out in one go to allow moderate anger in control of his expression. "You honestly think I don't know what the fuck you did to me?" He glares up witnessing the unforeseen once more, keeping in mind that he's undergoing an illusion though him being all alone doesn't hinder him from going back into a confounded state.

"You should consider yourself lucky, or unlucky, whichever you prefer," Kurai's voice resounds around the entrance lobby. "The numerous bunch of enemies I've fought in the past before becoming a teacher here were awfully far from being of any importance to die by my sword, it was a huge shame that I had to waste even a pinch of energy on their like." An overwhelming ticklish sensation coming from Chris' hands makes him jolt, raising his opened palms into his field of view to see the worms multiplying at an alarming rate and skittering up his arms. "They were just as foolishly conceited as you vampire hunter, and because you've demonstrated your honor in such a distasteful approach, and have yet to back it up, Akumu is going to make you not only deeply regret your actions, but to also make you wish that you'd never even heard about this school."

Lowering his arms down slowly, Chris moves the corners of his lips with matching movement up into a smile, his teal eyes glinting to showcase that he isn't going to back down nor is he afraid. "Hmph, we'll see about that." His grin doesn't waver even as his vision goes completely dark, Kurai's low chuckling being the last thing he hears.


*Ike and Firkle: Meager Seconds Prior Before Leaving Stan and the Others*

"I need to talk to you for a minute."

Ike frowned. "About what?"

Firkle shook his head. "Not here."

The precise moment Ike blinked, he found himself standing in the front of an empty classroom, the lights were off. His cinnamon brown eyes filled with arising confusion directed themselves toward a stoic faced Firkle who's still situated on his left, his lips curved in a faint frown. Ike turned his body to face him. "We're gonna get in trouble if they find out we're gone."

"I highly doubt they'll notice two people missing out of over a hundred students," Firkle reasoned.

Ike knew he was undoubtedly right so he didn't bother to dwell on the subject any longer. "Well what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Firkle's lips went into a straight line. "The book you checked out last week, how much have you read?"

Ike blinked again, his perplexity increasing. He wondered what led the other noirette to bring up the human written book about Purebloods and Mixed Bloods, did he know...? "I'm in the middle of chapter three. Why?"

Firkle looked unconvinced with his answer, and it made him feel a little nervous. "What did the librarian say about you getting it?"

As if on cue, Ike's mind decided to voice the forewarning Ms. Faith gave him last Wednesday. "Also I'm warning you now, do not let any other person see this book. In fact this wasn't supposed to be in here anyway, let alone still be out in the open." No he shouldn't even think to tell Firkle, not only that-

"Why would she question me about checking out a book?' Ike counter-asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

Firkle rolled his eyes with a sigh. "Fine let me come out and say it then, I know you have "The Difference Between Purebloods and Mixed Bloods" crap of a book." He narrowed his apparent eye. "I'm not sure whether if I should be surprised that they let you take it, or that you even bothered to get it." He then shook his head. "Actually never mind, you're a human so of course you'd get curious."

"But didn't you have it before?" Ike questioned, his brows still creased.

Now it was Firkle's turn to be puzzled, but only for a brief moment then his glare reappeared looking offended. "Hell no."

"Oh..." Ike felt like an idiot for some reason.

Firkle lessened his scowl a little bit, pocketing his hands into his black sweatpants, this one having white parallel lines going down vertically on the outer parts of his legs. "What gave you that impression anyway?"

Ike rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, it's cuz I thought you were-"

"Stan wants you to meet him and the others by the cafeteria. Asap."

Flinching in shock at the voice that came out of nowhere, Ike was left in a daze once he finished speaking. Who was that just now, and how did he know Stan, Gregory, Gary, and Pip?

"What is it?" He locked his widened eyes with Firkle's singular one, the others look of irritation gone without a trace.

Then it hit him. Whoever the mind intruder was didn't matter, he most likely delivered the message because Stan must've asked him to. Meaning the mysterious male must've helped his friends get to the cafeteria with his teleportation, additionally meaning that Stan was now ready to put his plan into motion.

"I..I have to go." Ike hurried towards the door.

"Hold on."

Firkle caught his wrist as soon as he went past him, preventing him from taking another step. Holding back a shiver at how cold the boy's hand was, Ike turned his head back, his countenance of urgency not going unmissed but Firkle wasn't planning on letting him leave just yet.

"Dude let me go," Ike demanded, trying to free his hand to no avail. The young vampire's grip was delicate, but strong enough to keep the human preteen where he stood.

Firkle frowned. "Why are you in such a rush all of a sudden?"

"I don't have time to explain, just let me go." More like Ike couldn't explain it. If Stan's idea of getting the vampire hunter to help them out of here succeeded, then Ike would never see Firkle ever again. This moment that started minutes ago until now would be the very last he spent with Firkle. Such a thought saddened him, done making an effort to unrestrain himself as he looked down at the clear wooden flooring beneath his feet.

When Stan announced that they should abscond this school, Ike did not imagine his time together with the only vampire he'd grown closest to would end like this. He kept the envisage realistic, as long as his lips were sealed about him leaving then the relationship they had would remain unchanged. They would continue going to their shared classes together, Firkle would continue to train him to build up some muscle—which was beginning to show in his arms more than just a smidgen now, and Ike would continue to get beautiful roses from him as a reward for all of his efforts.

Doing those things until the time came for them to part ways was how Ike wanted it be. Not this - not Firkle interrogating him about some measly book.

"Ike?" The soft spoken call of his name has him raising his head, unable to see the deepening frown on Firkle's face due to the blur in his vision. "Hey what's wrong?" The tears hadn't fell just yet, but if Ike heard Firkle speak in that caring tone one more time...Firkle closed the distance between them with one step, still maintaining a hold like Ike's skinny wrist was one of the flowers he always plucked out of the bushes during Mr. Thorn's class; afraid that if he increased his pressure in the tiniest bit he would break it.

Ike used his free hand to wipe the blear away, to think he would get teary-eyed after reminiscing the good times he had with Firkle, guessed he cherished those moments deeper than he thought. A frigid hand carefully stopped him and gently pulled his own hand away from his eyes, Ike blinking them open only to enlarge them at the abrupt closeness of Firkle's face. Ike felt heat ascending within his cheeks the longer he stared, and he looked away again.

Knowing that he meant no harm from doing it, Firkle couldn't help but feel hurt by it nonetheless. Slowly, as if he's about to over-step his boundaries, he trailed his hands down to Ike's slim fingers, fearing once again that his abnormal strength would snap his feeble bones easily into pint-sized pieces.

Ike's blush darkened causing it to be more accentuated than previously, the unilluminated classroom failing to help his embarrassing cause thanks to the widespread windows. He refused to lift up his head when Firkle calmly told him to do so, he's absolutely sure that the other could hear his fast paced heartbeat loud and clear amidst the silence.

Firkle honestly didn't know what was coming over him, this..attraction he's feeling towards Ike was nothing he'd ever undergone not a single day in his life. Perhaps it was because he saw him as a friend- no his best friend that this strong affection being centered at Ike had him bemused about his current actions. He believed he began to feel this way after giving Ike his second or third rose...But did friends in general...have tendencies to embrace each other? Whether they're male or female, or whether if one of them was upset or not, was that normal? Was that something humans did? He understood it being the norm for couples, even going as far as to kiss their significant partner. But what he didn't get, was when Ike did it. They weren't even friends at the time of them being assigned training partners, yet after Ike successfully lifted up the rose he tackled Firkle into a joyous hug.

Firkle stopped his thoughts right there with a light shake of the head. Even though Ike hugged him before doesn't mean he'll be comfortable with Firkle doing that to him. Firkle didn't want to sabotage their friendship by doing such a thing. Relishing every aspect of the warm smooth skin on Ike's fingers a second or more longer without being creepy about it, Firkle reluctantly let go.

Ike willed for his heart to return to it's steady beating and for his cheeks to hurry up and cool down already, he turned away from Firkle. "...I'm sorry," the violet-eyed boy apologized bashfully. "That was..really weird wasn't it?" Ike shook his head slowly after a ephemeral second, not confident in his voice to speak. Firkle smiled weakly at him, thankful that he wasn't unsettled about what he did. "Well let's get outta here now."

The teleportation process ended as quick as it had commenced, the floor irradiating to the ceiling lights above.

"The door was locked." Ike hummed in reply, then followed a short pause. "Aren't you gonna get moving? You were in a hurry earlier."

Ike curled his hands coated with persistent tingles into fists, then with his head still down turned and enveloped Firkle into a hug, greatly taking him aback. "I'm sorry..." Ike whispered solemnly. He pulled back not sparing his frozen stiff friend a glance, and took off down the hallway. Firkle watched him go with lingering aghast, recalling the words the human boy uttered to him the last time he embraced him.

"Thanks Firkle, for not giving up on me."

Cheeks flushing a bright pink, Firkle was left with only one question that would haunt his mind until given an answer.

"...Why..did he apologize?"

(A/n: Words in italics:

Shuiro Mikadzuki: Vermilion Crescents

Akumu: Nightmare

Kyōfu de kare o mahi sa seru, Jigoku no mōsō: Paralyze him with fear, Hellish Delusion

(I hope you enjoyed and the next chapter will be up soon)