Mate of Fate
Chapter 8: Training
It felt great to get back to the Academy, especially now that a new friend was with the group. However the first item of business, at least for the newspaper club, was handing out the papers that had been made. This was done as always near the entrance with the club members having extras in a box and more on a table to hand out. "Looks like we're doing great handing these out," Nicholas said after another stack on the table disappeared.
"It's cause we worked hard on it," Kurumu stated.
"Maybe. I think it's more because of what we wrote about. How many other students can you say here have gone to the human world like we did?"
"Fair enough."
The club members then noticed the rest of their friends coming up to the table, including Liliana, who not only had the human form down well, but also looked nice in her new school uniform. It was the typical one and from the look on the Lereid's face, she was very happy to be here. The new female had been shown around a little already and Liliana was ready for her first day. It helped that most of her classes had at least one person from the group in them to help her out. "Morning!" she said cheerfully.
"Ah, Liliana, doing good?" Nicholas asked.
"I am! And I'm even more so since I'll be sharing many of the same classes you guys are!"
"Ugh, don't remind me," Takeshi grumbled.
The Lereid had an amused look on her face and playfully shoved the blue-haired guy. "Aw, stop being such a downer!" she stated with a teasing grin. His response was letting out a hmph like sound.
"Well, should we do something to celebrate our success after this?" Moka suggested. "I think we'll sell out in just a bit."
"Sounds fun, but at some point I know I'll need to take some time to take care of a little something," Nicholas stated.
"What would that be?" Fang Fang asked.
"Training. After that last fight, I realized I need to get stronger."
"That goes for me as well," Michael added.
"You seemed to do fine during it," Kurumu said to the long-haired male. "You were able to heal from the hits and beat them."
Nicholas shook his head. "Yes, me and those that got hit did heal, but you saw how those bolts were able to put us out of the fight for a bit," he replied. "And there's a few other reasons as well when it comes to me for needing to get stronger."
"Well you'll need to figure that out later; I think it's time for class," Hatasuharu stated.
"Come on Takeshi!" Liliana said excitably, grabbing the blue-haired male's right arm.
"Do you have to grab my arm?" he asked, grumbling again. At the same time, the guy didn't pull away and let it happen.
Liliana just giggled in response and the rest of the group watched those two walk away. "I think someone's got a crush on him," Akito said with a smile.
"He doesn't quiet seem like the romantic type," Yukari commented with a frown. "Is she really going to be okay with him?"
"Oh don't worry," Ayame replied. "Takeshi might not be as social, but he would never break a girl's heart on purpose. That said, I don't think he's going to say no to her anytime soon even if he acts otherwise."
"Yeah, he knows better than to do that," Kabu added.
The newspaper club began to put away the table and things. "We'll see you at lunch," Nicholas told the rest and soon they were all on their way to class.
It did feel good to be back in class after the tough fight during the summer. However the arrival of Liliana was noticed by many of the rest of the males here. And their comments were actually heard by Takeshi as he and the Lereid walked the halls. "Whoa, look at her!" went one. "That girl with grey colored hair!"
"What a hottie!" another stated. "But wait; damn it, Takeshi is with her!"
"It's just like when Akito came here and taken by some jackass!" a third said.
Takeshi heard and had enough. He whipped around, his eyes making contact with the other guys, glaring daggers at them. "If you've got something to say, say it to my face," the blue-haired male snarled. The others took a step back and Liliana looked up to Takeshi in surprise while still holding onto his arm.
Nobody said anything. "I thought so," the blue-haired male said and then turned around. "Let's go, Liliana." The two kept walking.
"Sorry about that, I don't usually react like that," he said to the Lereid.
"It's okay," she replied and looked to him with a smile. "At least I know you'll be there in case some creep comes after me or bad people. Right?"
The guy shrugged as best as he could due to having one arm being wrapped by her two. "I might not be able to always. If there are times like that, you'll have the others or will learn how to handle yourself."
"Yes, but for now…" The Lereid didn't finish the thought but let out a sound of happiness.
Everyone made it to class, and for some it felt great to do so. Others, not so much. "Aw damn it, my head," Michael moaned after leaving his first class. "I think spending too much time in the sun on vacation might have affected my brain."
"You'll get back into the swing of things soon enough," Nicholas stated. He, the white-haired male, Kurumu, and Mizore were walking together like it had been at the beginning of the year. "And hey, at least the beginning of that training session I plan to start this weekend should help you get through this week."
"What did you have in mind?" the succubus asked the male with glasses.
"Well first I need to look around and find a space. There's gotta be something here on the campus."
"Maybe something that will feel more like home," Michael added with a grin.
"More like home?" Mizore asked, confused.
"It's nothing; don't worry."
"In any case, I should have something ready by this weekend," Nicholas stated. "Or at least be close."
The four ended up walking to their next class, but Kurumu and Mizore wondered what the long-haired male had in mind. "It might not be a bad idea to see what Nicholas will do," the succubus thought in her head.
The guy didn't make any more mention of it to the others until Friday at lunch. By this point, the whole group was used to Liliana eating with them. "So, you enjoy your first week so far?" Tsukune asked her.
"Mhm!" the Levied replied with her eyes closed and a happy smile.
Takeshi whom she was sitting next to was looking anywhere else but her and focused on eating, not saying a word. "Well I know how we can end the first week for all of us in a good way," Nicholas stated. He also had a grin like there was something on his mind.
"You found a place to train?" Michael asked.
"Damn, you should get a prize. Yeah, I did. I figured starting around ten this Saturday would be good." The guy with glasses looked at the rest. "So, who's with me?"
Not everyone could this time, but Kurumu was one of those available to do so. Plus, she was curious as to what Nicholas had in mind. "Great!" Nicholas said with a smile once it was figured out who was going to come. "Oh, and make sure you wear something like gym clothes to this."
"Good idea," Ayame commented. "After all, if it is training, it's going to make sense to be dressed in the right clothes."
"And not be like the cliché and troop we guys seem to go through where we accidently see up a skirt, get called a pervert, and the shit beaten out of us," Kabu added before quickly leaning back to avoid such a thing. This male did get a glare from a few in the group.
Nicholas cleared his throat. "Anyways…" Everyone else turned their attention back to him. "I figured we should meet here at around ten."
The day came and Kurumu was walking to the place with her blue hair in the usual style but had sweats in addition to the usual shirt worn for gym activities at the academy. The succubus made it to the meeting spot and found Nicholas waiting. He was in the same attire. "Ah, morning Kurumu!" he called over to her cheerfully.
The said being made it to where he was standing. "Not surprised to see you here first," Kurumu stated with a smirk.
"And you're the first who agreed to come to get here," Nicholas shot back with his own smirk.
"So then, what's the training going to be like?"
"Mostly working on technique, but maybe also a couple other things. I think you should be able to handle it, no problem."
"Well I certainly know a thing or two about training," Kurumu commented.
Before she could go on to explain a little of that, the others who were coming to this had arrived. Besides Fang Fang and Yukari, Liliana, Takeshi, Akito, Kureno, and Kabu were here as well. "Ah, you made it!" Nicholas said with a grin when seeing them.
"Yeah, we weren't going to miss this," the guy with tanned skin and teal colored hair replied.
"I wanted to, but someone forced me to do this," Takeshi grumbled, his hands in the pockets of his gym pants.
"It's best for you to get out," Akito told him with a grin. "Besides, you also could do with some training like all of us due to that fight."
There was a pause. "Touché," the former replied.
"If we're ready, follow me," Nicholas stated.
The rest followed him, but it didn't take long for Kurumu and Yukari to recognize where they were going. Even if the gateways and fox like statues were falling apart and looked rundown, the two females knew without a doubt what Nicholas had found to use for a training area. "This is…" the female witch stated.
"This was the headquarters of the Academy Police," the succubus finished. That group was no longer around and as a result, the building had started to fall into disarray. But what really stood out to the two was this was where Tsukune had really started to take his first step into the monster world by having Moka inject her vampire blood into him the very first time.
"I had heard about them while finding this place," Nicholas explained. "It should suit our needs just fine. Despite how the first time I came here there was a sense of creepiness and evil intent, I was able to set something up with a little imagination."
Kurumu and Yukari exchanged glances, remembering what happened here. This was noticed by Akito. "Are you okay?" she asked them.
The succubus and witch were a bit torn as the subject was a little bit sensitive with Tsukune's past. On the other hand, it might not be a bad idea to tell their new friends about it. "It's… it's just that me and Yukari have been here before and it led to something we didn't expect," Kurumu replied.
"You want talk about it?" Nicholas asked. The group had stopped walking by this point and everyone was looking at her and the witch. "You don't have to, just so long as it doesn't affect the training."
"Maybe later."
"Okay, if you're sure." He continued to lead the group and it wasn't long before they had arrived in the exact same area where Tsukune had first gotten vampire blood. Only there was quiet a difference now.
"Whoa… damn Nicholas, I think you out did yourself," Kabu stated.
What the long-haired male had done was added support pillars to help with the roof. Nicholas had also cleared out the space as during the fight in the past, parts of the room had been broken, creating a mess. It had also been damp and dim, but now this room was vibrant with light and looked very different. Kurumu and Yukari were stunned; it was almost as if that fight against Kuyō, the head of the Public Safety committee at the time had never happened. "Thanks, it was quite a bit of effort, but I got there in the end," Nicholas said.
"It's a good space, but I don't see anything to help with training," Fang Fan pointed out. "Will we just spar with each other?"
"We can, but I thought it might be better to warm up a little with stretches, and then target practice."
Nicholas pointed to one of the corners of the room that had the said things that were simple circles on wooden poles with dots in the middle. "Oh yeah, those should work," Kabu commented. Even Takeshi looked interested.
"So then, shall we begin?" Nicholas asked.
Everyone chose a spot in the center of the room to stretch their muscles. But while that was going on, the long-haired male couldn't help but notice Kurumu since she was pretty much right in his sights. He tried not to stare but he couldn't help but notice how the succubus looked in her gym outfit. Sure, Nicholas had seen her in a bikini not that long ago. But with this, the male really saw how her curves were, her ass, and just how lovely of a view this female was. Especially when she was bent over. Nicholas had to mentally slap himself to return back to the present. "What the hell?!" he wondered in his head. "What is wrong with me?" It was just like that time at the beach.
Luckily the stretching was soon finished and causing Nicholas to snap back to the present. But what just happened still lingered in his mind. "So, what should do first?" Akito asked.
"I think we should, for those who can use ranged attacks, is to hit the targets," the long-haired male replied. "But there's gonna be a twist to them."
"What do you mean?" Fang Fang spoke up. "They look pretty normal to me."
"Watch this." Nicholas snapped the fingers on his right hand and the targets began to move so it was harder to hit them.
"I see, that's gonna add some difficulty," Takeshi said. "Good, I think it'll work."
"And one more thing. Every time one is hit, the difficulty increases."
"Shall we get started then?" Akito suggested.
The small group were soon doing their own thing, some at the targets while the rest were sparing. The former discovered the targets were more durable then they looked, so there was no worry about destroying them. These did prove to be a good challenge. At one point, Nicholas would find those strange thoughts and confusion when it came to Kurumu pop up again while taking a break. He then noticed the succubus also doing the same thing, but talking to Akito. The long-haired male couldn't make out what the two ladies were saying. However, it seemed whatever it was, the two were happy and Kurumu had a loving smile on her face. Then adding how she looked with her shinning purple colored eyes and the way her blue colored hair moved when her head turned, seemed to make sparkles come out to Nicholas's eyes. The guy then found himself starring and blushed. "What is going on…?" he thought in his head and then felt something with his heat. "Wait… what is with my heart…?" Nicholas glanced down and then back up. Was it possible? Could he actually be…?
Just then, the male was snapped out of his thoughts by having his name called. It was enough to distract Nicholas for now. But then the male would figure it out at the end of this training session. "I think that will do for today," the guy with glasses then said.
"It's a good start, wouldn't you agree?" Liliana asked Takeshi with a smile.
"Meh, it was okay," he replied with a shrug.
"Well I enjoyed it," Fang Fang commented. "We should get the rest of our friends to join next time."
"Oh I'm sure we can, I for one know I can get Tsukune to come," Kurumu replied and got a dreamy look since the succubus was still in love with the former human even if he was dating Moka. The female still held onto the hope that she could beat Moka without using her power to seduce him.
Nicholas looked to Kurumu and felt a different kind of feeling in his heart. He and the others who had come here had noticed a few times since the ludicrous fighting that sometimes happened with all the original newspaper club members and Tsukune. It hadn't bothered Nicholas before and had once found it humorous. But now images of Kurumu trying to win his heart with her tactics came into the long-haired male's mind, causing the feeling in his heart to increase. However, before Nicholas could think more on that, he was brought back to the present by the succubus then turning to look at him to speak. "That shouldn't be a problem, right?"
He was now struggling emotionally in a storm of emotions on the inside. Nicholas didn't want to fight or argue with Kurumu. Not just because of her being a friend, but now because of something else. And the way she was looking at him made it so hard to say no. "Well.. er…" the guy with glasses muttered and then cleared his throat. "Let's try a couple of the others first, okay?" It wasn't say no, just not for next time which was more neutral ground.
"Might be for the best," Kabu added. "I bet Michael would get a kick out of what you did here Nicholas."
"We can see if anyone new wants to join tomorrow before next week starts," Liliana commented.
"Very well, that's settled then," the long-haired male concluded before turning to Kurumu. "Here, why don't we both ask Michael and Mizore?"
"Sure, I think she'd like this to," the succubus replied with a smile.
Nicholas felt himself blushing again seeing that come onto her face. He swallowed and ended up standing there like an idiot, just watching her begin to walk away. It didn't help the situation seeing how her lower gym were hugged her shapely legs and ass along with how it moved. And that feeling from before came back. But now the long-haired male realized what it was and that there was no going back. "I… I love her…" Nicholas thought in her head. It wasn't like for a friend, but a love for someone to be with that had happened in a short amount of time and hard. The new guy was in love with the succubus and she hadn't even used her abilities on him. And there was more and he was aware how that monster always chose a mate of fate, the male destined to be more than just a lover. Was it possible he could be Kurumu's? True, it was up to her in the end and there was the problem with Tsukune. But Nicholas wasn't going to kill him in cold blood just to get to the succubus. The only way was trying to win her heart, even if it wasn't going to be easy.
"I don't care how hard it's going to be; if there is even a chance, I will take it." Nicholas had made up his mind to go for Kurumu. There was no point in thinking about if this wouldn't work for now.
"Hey are you alright?" Akito then called to the latter. "You're going to get left behind!"
"Yeah, coming!" Nicholas ran up and caught up with the group. The guy had optimism he could make this work with Kurumu. Either way, things were going to get a bit more interesting for sure.