Hello people! ^w^
Enjoy the new chapter! :3

Hirari arrived to the dojo with a light delay. After the aggression, she had tried to inform Yukimura, but his phone was disconnected, probably due to the intensive meeting he was having that day with Seigaku and Fudoumine's leaders. She had then sent him a message, explaining what had happened and that she was completely safe and heading to her training; then she kept musing about the small battle, and she ended up dozing off.
That's why she had missed the train's stop and had run all the way to the dojo. And that was the reason why she was now in front of a frowning Sanada, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking down at her sternly.
Before she could explain herself, though, Yanagi neared them. He needed just a glance to the girl, and his mind reading ability did the rest.

"Let it go this time, Genichirou." He said. "She was attacked."

There was a general gasp from the other pupils of the dojo that were nearby. They had peaked to know the reason of her delay, since it was rare for her to be late.

"Kikuta-senpai was attacked? Uso!" Akaya exclaimed.

Ann watched her worried. "Daijoubu ka? You're not hurt, ne?"

"How did it happen? Who was it?" Marui asked, popping his gum.

Hirari held up a hand to stop their questioning and focused on catching her breath. Once her heartbeat had returned to normal, she took a deep breath to calm herself and proceeded in answering.

"It was an unknown male Vampire." She explained. "Not that strong actually, I managed to stun him pretty easily." Quickly she told them what had happened, impartially yet in a very detailed manner.

Yagyuu, who was there with the other sensei, smirked lightly. "You are indeed ready for advanced lessons with Elemental Stones." He said with a slightly proud undertone.

Hirari blushed a light shade of pink for the compliment, flattered.

"Does Yukimura know?" Sanada asked after hearing her out.

The girl nodded. "Yeah, I sent him a message as soon as I could; though I'm not sure whether he has read it yet."

"I will discuss the matter with him once he's free from his duties." Yanagi said. "Since Kikuta-kun didn't kill him, and thank goodness she didn't, there is an 88, 54% chance that that Vampire has reported to his superiors."

Hirari felt a shudder at the thought of killing. True, she held a grudge on Vampires for what they did to her family, mercilessly slaughtering them, but she knew that not all were like that; nor she could think of murdering someone, even though she wanted to make them pay, and dearly.

Sanada massaged his temple a moment. "Alright. Well, now we can't do anything else, so everyone back to training!" he boomed. The pupils jumped lightly in surprise at his sudden change of tone, but hurried to do their exercises at once.
Hirari too quickly changed, and was about to join them when Yagyuu went to her.

"You'll start with me today." He told her, and she couldn't feel but relieved: she wasn't in the mood for more action.

They practiced for hours, the Magician giving her several exercises of concentration, like summoning two different Elements, fusing them, dividing them, and so on. In the end, Hirari was left drenched in sweat and frustrated, since those had proven themselves far more difficult than anything she had ever done before, even though Yagyuu, who was a severe and strict teacher, didn't fail to encourage her once they were done.

"It's a matter of focus, and you're also not used yet to use more than one Element at a time." He said, adjusting his glasses.

Hirari was lightly frowning at herself, but nodded. "I'll do my best." She promised, and meant it.

While heading home, sitting on the train, she gazed out of the window, wondering what she could do to improve her concentration skills.
She kept having that thought for the whole evening, during her bath, when eating, even as she was lying in bed. Those thoughts kept her awake so long, that when Yukimura arrived, and she was sure it was far past midnight, she was still awake; but she was also so tired that she didn't go to him to greet him this time.

Said Vampire entered quietly, sure that she was asleep by now. He was worried, he had read her text and Yanagi too had contacted him and told him about what had happened. They had discussed a bit and decided that there was a high chance that she was in danger, especially if someone had managed to recognize her power. He was hoping the news hadn't reached Hyoutei though, but there were no proofs to confirm or dismiss that fact. He could only hope for the best while preparing for the worst.

That's why the next morning, while he was preparing breakfast, Yukimura told Hirari that she had always to be with someone of their clan.

Hirari blinked. "Eh, like a bodyguard?" she asked, tilting her head.

The Vampire nodded. "Aa. It's for your safety as well as the one of us all."
He plated her pancakes while explaining the reasons that had brought to this decision. "You see, strategically speaking, if your power was to go in the wrong hands, it would cause us great troubles."

Hirari nodded in understanding. "True that, but do you think I'd help them that easily? Just 'cause they got me?"

Yukimura chuckled softly. "Oh I know your stubbornness all too well, my dear. Were we speaking about a 'normal' situation, it would be easier. For what we know, out there, there are mind controllers. And that's not the only way to force someone to cooperate, but I'm sure you already know that." He ended, serious this time.
"Of course, you can choose who stays with you. And it doesn't have to be always the same person, either." He added with a soft smile.

Hirari grinned. "Niou-senpai!" she exclaimed at once, making Yukimura twitch lightly.

"He's busy with his mission." He quickly reminded her.

"Aww…" the girl pouted lightly. "How's it going, by the way? The infiltration in Hyoutei?"

"It's going well. He contacts us seldom, but if he did too often they might discover him." He answered. "He's passing us precious information, though. If rumors about you reach them, we'd know at once."

"That's good." She nodded. "Alright then… Let me think."

In the end, they decided that for that day, her fellow disciple Marui Bunta was to stick with her. When they decided to go out to get some ice cream though, Akaya magically appeared and joined them too.

"Let's go to the arcade!" he exclaimed, grinning happily while ignoring his senpai's scolding about teleporting around.

And so the day passed by quickly as they had fun, ate lots of junk food and sweets, and joked with each other.

None of them ever realized that a pair of eyes had followed them the whole time.

Language notes

daijoubu ka?: are you alright?

uso: lie