HelloOoOoOo! Here I am with a new chapter! Enjoy! \^w^/
Everyone at the dojo looked surprised when Hirari entered with Yanagi; the Data man usually stayed researching in his study when he wasn't teaching or attending meetings.
The girl shrugged at the questioning expressions of her friends. "He was free, so he came." She simply said, before heading to change.
Sanada approached Yanagi. "We need to discuss something."
He nodded, and together they left the main training hall.
"I wonder what they have to talk about." Ann commented, watching the two men as they walked off.
"Probably something important, or Sanada-sensei wouldn't leave us alone." Jackal answered her.
Akaya grinned. "This means that we'll start later!" He cheered. "And so we'll have less training!"
"If we start later it also means we'll finish later." Marui pointed out, causing the youngest of them to sulk lightly.
"Unfair…"
"I'm her- Eh?" Hirari came out of the changing room, perfectly dressed in their uniform, and blinked, looking around. "Where's Sanada-sensei?"
"He left with Yanagi-sensei to talk with him just a moment ago." Marui informed her.
"Sou ka…" she nodded.
"Senpai! Did you manage to defeat that boss?" Akaya asked her, just like he did every time they met. Hirari had promised him to lend him that new videogame for Nintendo DS as soon as she had finished it. But with the recent events she really didn't have the time nor mind to play.
"Gomen, Akaya. He's a tough guy." She apologized.
The boy sulked more.
The pupils of the dojo spent about ten minutes chatting casually as they waited for their teacher to return.
When he finally came out, they stood up at once and built a row, just as usual.
Sanada looked at them severely, his presence always intimidating. It made them wonder every time if they were about to be scolded for something, so in those moments of silence they all dug in their memories to see what he might have been angry about.
"You were being noisy." He grumbled. "Go run till the train station and back. Whoever needs more than 10 minutes will be punished with extra work for a week!"
They gasped in shock at the harshness.
"B-but sensei, we normally need half an hour on foot to get there!" Akaya whined.
Only Hirari didn't seem affected; if anything, her face showed confusion, and she kept looking between her fellow students and their teacher.
"Off you go!" Sanada boomed, and the four sprinted to the main door; all except for Hirari, who did not move.
"Oi!" Marui called. "Hayaku or you'll get punished!"
"Don't be stubborn now!" Ann whispered to her quickly.
"Oi. Kikuta." Sanada said with a deep, threateningly tone. "Are you defying my orders?"
Something like understanding flashed in the girl's eyes. She crossed her arms, and smirked at the teacher. "What if I am?"
Her friends gasped and stopped, watching the scene with their breath held. It wasn't like her to show that attitude against a superior; usually she was obedient and abided at the rules…
"Last warning, Kikuta." Sanada growled, raising a hand.
She didn't even tense, simply standing there, her chin held high and her eyes meeting his.
Ann cringed lightly and looked away, awaiting the typical sound of a slap.
"You cannot hit me." Hirari said mockingly, a light triumphant smirk on her lips. "Niou-senpai."
They all froze at those words. The pupils' eyes widened, and they looked at the two surprised.
"Niou-senpai…?" Akaya muttered, confused. "What is she talking about? Did she turn blind?"
Sanada stared at her for a long moment. Then suddenly burst out laughing, causing the people there to gasp and look at him, shocked. They had never seen such a miracle; something terrible was soon to happen, for sure!
"Puri~." He said, still chuckling, and suddenly his figure trembled lightly before changing into a slightly smaller young man, with spiky bleached hair and a small rat-tail.
"Niou-senpai!" Akaya gasped. "Wha-?"
"Where is Sanada then?" Jackal blinked.
"Did he knock him out?" Marui wondered, knowing how he sometimes did it for his pranks.
"No, the real one is here with me." The voice of Yanagi came from behind a door, which opened right after, and he and Sanada stepped inside the training hall.
"I asked Niou-kun to do it." The Data man explained, amused at their still shocked and confused expressions.
"Why?" Ann asked, curious. It wasn't like him to join in a mere prank.
"We wanted to test an aspect of Kikuta's power." Sanada explained. "We already knew that she can see a person's race, and we weren't sure whether it would work with a Human's disguise."
"So we tested it." Yanagi simply finished. "And I dare say that it was a success."
Hirari nodded. "Yeah, I couldn't understand at all why they were so afraid of him." She chuckled.
Akaya grinned. "But senpai, I heard your heart beat wildly when he was about to slap you!"
"Urusai!" the girl quickly exclaimed while her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. That was true, but it hadn't been fear what she had felt.
Ann snickered softly, knowing the cause of her friend's reaction; in fact, probably everyone knew by now, except poor innocent Akaya.
Niou chuckled lightly. "Well then, I'll be back spying on Hyoutei. I better be off before they realize that their tensai is missing."
He said bye to everyone, then, as he walked past the group, he winked at Hirari, causing her to blush madly once more.
"Niou and Kikuta, sitting on a tree…" Marui started to sing in a low tone.
The girl smacked him hard. "No more sweets for you as present."
"EEEH?"
That afternoon, Hirari returned home not too late. When she entered the house, she realized it wasn't even six yet, so she decided to go work on a paper due in a couple of weeks. The exams were done alright, but the professors kept filling them with homework. And so, laptop under her arm, tea in her free hand, she went to the living room and plopped down on the couch. Soon she was typing fast on the keyboard, transcribing and formulating ideas while searching on the internet. At times she'd sip on her tea, which gradually became less and less warm. As usual, she made a face when its end was cold. She glared lightly at the empty tea cup before returning to work.
Not too much time later, the door of the house opened. Instinctively, Hirari glanced at the clock, and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the time: it was just past seven.
"You're early." She said to the Vampire that had just entered. Even if from her position she was giving her back to the door, she didn't need to turn to know who was inside. The only person living in the house with her was Yukimura, after all.
She tried to focus back to the paper, but only ended up wondering how it was possible that he had come back so early, when usually he didn't return before midnight when he had meetings.
Hirari felt the Vampire near her, and soon he was hugging her from behind, his warm arms wrapping around her.
The girl smiled softly and leaned back to him, when he nuzzled her neck gently, causing her to shiver lightly.
"Hungry?" she asked, closing her eyes and tilting her head to expose more of her skin. She smelled a different scent than the usual one that Yukimura used, but she didn't give it importance.
What did surprise her, though, was that he bit down harshly, so hard that a pained scream escaped her lips.
She frowned lightly but decided to mention it later, once he was done feeding. He must have been very hungry, because he was gulping down great amounts of her blood, not the usual small sips. Yet again, she didn't complain.
Only when she started to grow weaker, she started to lightly protest.
"Mura…" she murmured. "Enough…"
But he didn't stop; if anything, he seemed to drink faster.
She frowned. "Oi, Mura…!" She was lightly panting by now and gently tugged at his hair.
"Stop…"
A deep growl was the only answer she got.
At that, she started to feel uneasy. Her eyes shot open - and she gasped, seeing who was feeding on her.
She did not recognize the Vampire, but sure it was not Yukimura: his eyes were navy, not silver. She tried to push him away, but was too weak already, her heart starting to slow down while she took in gasps of air.
"Yamero…" she whispered, her vision starting to blacken.
In that moment the Vampire withdrew and looked at her with glinting silver eyes, his lips and chin red of her blood.
He smirked triumphantly and leaned down to her ear. "What a delicious Scanner we have here…"
Her heart skipped a beat, her last thought before fainting being 'How does he know what I am?
Language notes
sou ka: I see
urusai: shut up
New character infos
Rikkai
Niou Masaharu: Human Magician; specializes in illusions; is currently undercover in Hyoutei