Hi everyone! I'm glad to see the positive reviews for the first chapter.

To Guest: In the re-imagining of the heroes, there will be some reference to their skills lore or quotes, where appropriate. As this is a modern setting, Zilong won't be running around with a spear, and there are no elves and orcs (Miya and Balmond are humans). Other non-humans may appear as humans. The robots will probably stay the same.

To Silver Diadems: Miya and Estes are cousins in this story (you can have the sole privilege of writing this pairing and I am still eagerly awaiting it!). In my story, Estes is a doctor and will appear in a hospital setting with Rafaela and Angela (if I get that far…)

And now, on to the chapter~

Chapter 2: Clubs and Societies Fair

The field was quiet, the band members alert and awaiting their director's cue. The audience watched in rapt attention as the eighty-strong ensemble raised their instruments - trumpets, tubas, trombones, clarinets, drums – and began to play and march at the same time. With well-rehearsed precision, the students arranged and rearranged themselves into various formations, not a note or step out of place.

Zilong stood in the middle of the field, dressed smartly in his red drum major uniform. With a salute, he began to march and twirl the long, silver mace he held in his gloved hands. He could sense that all eyes were on him, but he wasn't nervous, his mind instead wandering off slightly to his other duties for the day. As a Student Council member, he also had to help out with the running of the fair introducing the new students to Dawn High School's various clubs, societies and sports.

Even before he was born, Zilong's parents had named him after an actual military general in Chinese history. They had great ambitions for him, and once he started school, they pushed him to take up all sorts of leadership roles. Zilong didn't mind the extra responsibilities, but sometimes, he secretly wished he was Alucard, running around doing weird things and breaking the rules.

Focus! He reminded himself. It was time for his signature trick. Taking a deep breath, Zilong tossed his gold-topped mace up as high as he could. As it flew up and rotated a couple of times in the air, he quickly did a somersault and came up just in time to catch the falling mace.

The spectators cheered and screamed. He hoped Fanny was one of them, though he couldn't see her.

When the performance ended, Zilong rushed off to put away the equipment and get changed out of his uniform. He strode out of the changing room in T-shirt and jeans and headed back towards the sports field.

Feeling hopeful, he half-ran, half-walked towards the artificial climbing wall beside the field. To his joy, Fanny was there, talking to a new guy who looked like he was interested in the Outdoor Adventure Club. It took a few minutes for the redhead to notice Zilong, but the moment she did, she skipped over to him with a dazzling smile.

"Hey!" She had lipstick on and her shock of fiery hair made his heart burst into flames. Her figure-hugging sky-blue tee accentuated her curves, and her shorts showed off her toned thighs.

"Hello," Zilong said, his heartbeat speeding up.

She gave him the thumbs-up sign. "You were awesome!"

"Thanks," Zilong felt warmth in his face and rubbed the back of his head shyly. "Er…"

Throwing a backward glance, Fanny winked at him and said, "Gotta go! Talk to ya later!" before zipping back to the rock wall. Oh well, Zilong shrugged. He'd try to catch her for a proper conversation when they both were less busy.

His eyes swept across the field. The band had cleared and the area was now being used as a shooting range for the Archery Club. The students were setting up the target boards, and among them was Miss Miya, who was in charge of the club. The young teacher wore a sleeveless azure top, black tights, and a white cap over her long, silvery ponytail.

Out of curiosity, Zilong went closer to take a look, as he'd never really seen the school's archers in action. Miss Miya's back was facing him, and it looked like she was doing a demonstration, nocking an arrow to her bow. She assumed her stance before the target placed thirty meters away, her posture upright, bringing her bow to full draw. Despite her slim figure, the muscles in her arms and shoulders were well-defined. She released, the arrow sailed through the air and hit the inner red ring. A student handed her another arrow, she fired again and hit the outer gold ring. The third time, she hit the X dead center.

"Not bad at all," a moustachioed man in a brown coat and hat ambled up to her and nodded encouragingly. "Just remember to relax your fingers," he said in a heavily accented voice. "Don't squeeze the bow too hard or you'll twist it and it will affect your shot."

Lowering her bow, Miss Miya gasped in surprise when she saw the man. "Mr Yi? Is that really you, Mr Yi? I heard you'll be coaching our club. What an honor to have you here!"

"Ah, you flatter me," the bearded man returned her a polite smile. He looked like he was in his forties.

"Who the fuck is that?" Alucard's gruff voice sounded beside Zilong.

Zilong jumped, startled at his buddy's sudden appearance. "You mean him?" he gestured at the man talking to Miss Miya. "That's Mr Yi Sun Shin, a retired Olympic archer." And then, noticing the blond's grumpy expression, added with a chuckle, "Don't worry. He's way too old for her."

"She looks like she's really impressed with him."

"The Koreans dominate archery. You should know this part at least," Zilong jabbed his arm playfully. "If you're serious about Miss Miya."

"Well…" Alucard raked a hand through his tousled mop of platinum-blonde hair, an uneasy frown between his brows. "I've been meaning to apologize to her, actually."

"For what?"

"For that parasite question the other day. She must have thought I was harassing her, because she's been frosty to me ever since."

"Good luck to you then," Zilong shrugged, amused that Alucard had come close to slashing Balmond's face with a knife the other day, and yet, when it came to his crush, he became as timid as a hamster.

The blond nudged him with his elbow. "Hey, I need your help to ask her out. Can you be my wingman?"

"Um…." Zilong hesitated, uncomfortable at the thought. "Dude, she's a teacher. And do you even have enough money to date her?"

"I do," Alucard replied simply, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket while admiring his crush from a distance. "I'm working at night."

"At the gas station? Does that pay enough?"

"Nope, I'm working at Kagura's now. I get tipped a lot there. That was how I managed to save up for a motorcycle."

"The umbrella shop?" Zilong frowned in confusion, unable to wrap his head around the idea of Alucard getting tipped for selling umbrellas.

"Kagura's is a sushi bar," he gave an impatient sigh. "You need to get out more."

"Oh," Zilong said, still puzzled. The place really looked like it sold umbrellas instead of sushi, from the outside at least. Whatever it was, he was glad Alucard wasn't spending all his nights drinking or getting into street fights like in the past.

Their gaze travelled back to Miss Miya again. This time she was coaching a maroon-haired girl, who was taking aim with her bow and arrow.

"Use your back muscles, Irithel," she said. "It's less tiring than using your arm muscles."

The girl named Irithel nodded and pulled her bowstring back.

"So are you going to help or not?" Alucard pressed on.

"Sorry bro, I'm busy now," Zilong declined. "Besides I'm totally the wrong person to ask." Arms folded across his chest, he merely stood and waited in anticipation as Alucard tried to work up enough courage to 'one-v-one' Miss Miya.

It seemed he couldn't. "Forget it then," Alucard muttered and stomped off the other way instead.

Zilong smirked under his breath.

Just then, a bunch of students – two girls and a nerdy-looking guy - ran up to him. "Hi! We need help!" The girls chirped, probably recognizing the words 'Student Council' on his T-shirt. "Where's the library?"

"The library's quite far from here," Zilong replied. "I could take y'all there."

"Oh that's so nice of you!" The girls then started giggling and whispering while stealing glances at Zilong. One of them was cute and had a nice figure, and the other one was a little plump. He wasn't new to girls behaving like this around him, and tried to ignore it as he led the way to the library.

Inadvertently, his mind drifted back to the time he'd gotten to know Alucard, two years ago…

The sun was already setting. He'd just finished a particularly intensive band practice, gotten changed and was getting ready to go home when he spotted the security guard, Mr Roger, in a heated argument with a student.

"No sleeping in the library!" Mr Roger growled.

Alucard explained he'd been locked out of his foster home and had nowhere to spend the night. Feeling sorry for him, Zilong took him out and treated him to fast food that evening.

The strange thing was, throughout it all, Alucard never said a single 'thank you'. Instead, the only sentence that came out of his mouth, just before they parted ways, was: "I'll never be your friend."

Zilong's jaw dropped at his shocking rudeness. "Who wants to be your friend, anyway?" he'd spat back, vowing never to help Alucard again. "You're weird and you stink."

A year went by, with them treating each other like strangers. One afternoon after school, Zilong was trying to stop Balmond from extorting money from a kid. It wasn't like he wanted to play the hero; he simply couldn't stand bullying of any form. The notorious school gangster then turned on him and overwhelmed him with his sheer size and strength, slamming him to the ground. Just when Zilong thought he was going to be beaten into a pulp, Alucard suddenly appeared and kicked Balmond in the nuts.

That was one more thing he found out: Alucard was never afraid to play dirty if needed.

Even though what he did landed him in detention and raised him up the ranks as Balmond's number one enemy.

Zilong and his entourage had just reached the building of the school's main office, when a tall and lanky figure whizzed past them on a skateboard. The new students stopped and gawked when they realized the skateboarder wasn't a kid, but an adult with graying hair, wearing an electric-blue long coat.

"Haven't you guys seen him before?" Zilong asked the students. "That's Mr Gord, Deputy Principal and Head of Discipline. We call him The Gord."

"I've never seen a deputy principal who rides on a skateboard," the guy remarked in amazement.

"Well, here's one for you. Just remember this rule: Do not piss him off," Zilong advised.

Mr Gord skidded to a halt when he'd reached the front gates where there was a bunch of tardy students trying to slip in. He got off his skateboard and crossed his arms, towering over the students like a stone statue.

"How dare you be this late!" the discipline master's voice echoed over from the school gates which was some distance away.

The students flinched, seeming genuinely afraid of him. Zilong had no idea why. Maybe it was his permanently scowling face, which looked as hard and rough as cracked cement. As a goody-two-shoes, Zilong himself had never gotten into Mr Gord's bad books. But Alucard had, more than once, and had claimed that Mr Gord used electric shock as punishment. Zilong thought that was ridiculous.

"STOP PISSING ME OFF! Or you'll regret it!" Mr Gord roared. The sky seemed to tremble at his anger.

"Let's get moving," Zilong urged the new students, turning away from the scene. Soon, they'd passed by the clock tower and reached the building that housed the library on the second floor. They climbed up the steps and pushed open the library's doors.

The first sight that greeted them was a bunch of students sitting on the couches, playing games on their phones.

The librarian, Miss Natalia, was busy at the reception desk, her gray hair falling over her hooded midnight-blue jacket. A few seniors were at the tables and computer terminals doing work. To the left of the study area, was a conference room with long windows. It was empty at the moment.

The five kids playing their mobile games on the couches were whispering to one another, their voices getting more excited by the second.

"Hey let's get the lord now!"

"Not now, stupid. It's too obvious. They can see us."

"Come on, hurry up! Let's go!"

"No! Back off!"

"Guys… er…"

"Noooo you idiot! You got us killed!" There was a chorus of dismayed groans, drawing annoyed looks from the seniors who had been trying to focus on their work.

The gamers didn't realize how loud they were getting until the librarian's stern voice cut through the air like a dagger. Glancing up, they saw Miss Natalia standing over them and glaring at them through her glasses perched on her nose.

"Shush!" she ordered sharply. "Silence in the library!"

The kids quietened down, sneaking a few guilty looks at one another.

Zilong turned and whispered to the new students beside him. "If you're interested in joining the library club, you can speak to Miss Natalia."

They thanked him, and he left the library.

Walking out of the building, he bumped into Alucard again. This time, the blond had a rather disgusted look on his face, the same one he had had after biology class the other day.

"She's running a blood drive! That creepy woman is," he exclaimed with an urgency that Zilong thought was overdramatic.

Zilong knew, without asking, that he was referring to Madam Alice. Alucard never called her by her name, only 'that creepy woman'.

"And what is wrong with that?" Zilong mumbled absently, pulling out his schedule from his pocket and peering into it.

Alucard continued his rant. "I just found out she has her own fucking blood bank too! You know, I'm pretty sure she takes the blood for herself. She drinks it like water, or juice. Maybe she even bathes in it."

"Are you nuts? So you think she's a vampire? Why is she walking around in broad daylight then?"

"Sanguinarians," Alucard replied without hesitation. "These are real people who feed on blood. There are thousands of them in our country."

Zilong had almost forgotten the fact that Alucard was in the school's Occult and Paranormal Society. This was the only other reason he came to school, besides Miss Miya. The society was full of weirdos, goths and rebels who had special interests in ghosts, vampires and anything paranormal.

"Hey Alu," Zilong looked at him earnestly. "I just realized what your name is spelled backwards."

Alucard rolled his eyes.

"It's ... DRACULA!" Zilong declared. "Maybe that explains why you're into blood drinking?"

"Dude, I'm not the one into blood drinking!" Alucard said defensively. "And I'm serious here! That creepy woman keeps running those blood drives. She tells the students it's for charity and helping sick people, which is a fucking lie! Plus the fact that she looks so young despite her age! If you put two and two together - "

"Well she could have had tons of plastic surgery," Zilong reasoned. "Dude, this isn't 'putting two and two together'. This is what I call a 'loony theory'."

Undaunted by Zilong's dismissive attitude, Alucard rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I'm gonna sign up for the blood donation, and see what happens."

"Go ahead," Zilong said. He'd never donated blood, but he knew that Madam Alice took the students to the downtown branch of the Dawn Blood Center, where the actual drawing of blood took place. "Tell me what you find out."

"Wanna join me?"

"Sorry, I'm busy."

"Busy?" Alucard sneered. "What else do you have to do besides staring at Fanny's boobs and spelling my name backwards?"

"I have lots to do, dumbass!" Zilong snapped, pushing the blond out of his way. "And besides, I'm not the nut who's obsessed with not one, but two biology teachers."

"I'm not obsessed with that freak," Alucard retorted. "Fine, since you don't believe me. Tell ya what, let's have a bet."

"What kind of bet?" Zilong narrowed his eyes.

"If I'm wrong about the creepy woman, then I will willingly be your slave for the whole year. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

"Uh… okay, but…"

"But if I do manage to find evidence that she drinks blood," Alucard smacked his lips deviously. "Then you'll have to be my slave. Up for the challenge?"

Zilong took a step back and grimaced. Alucard was always coming up with stupid ideas like that. In truth, the thought of being at his back and call made him shudder and his stomach lurch, but the blond probably just wanted him to help him woo Miss Miya, which wasn't that difficult.

Anyway, Zilong didn't think he was going to lose - Alucard's theory was too far-fetched. As for the idea of Alucard being his slave... hmm, that sounded like fun, Zilong thought as the wheels of his mind spun with imagination.

(End of Chapter 2)

Looking forward to reading your review!

Heroes featured:

Zilong (student)

Alucard (student)

Fanny (student)

Irithel (student)

Miya (teacher, archery coach)

Yi Sun Shin (archery coach)

Roger (flashback - security guard)

Gord (deputy principal)

Natalia (librarian)

Alice (biology teacher)