Chapter 29
The next morning, after plenty of hours of rest (even Reiji was surprised he had slept more than usual, wondering if it was that city's effect), the vampires were awakened by the sweet smell of pancakes and chocolate.
Leaving aside Subaru and Laito's perplexity when they saw no Shuu in the bed nor in any corner of the house, the ten vampires could have sworn they were feeling at peace: like they never had any problems in the past.
Leaving their respective rooms, they had sat at the tables around the kitchen, where there was already a fresh and cheerful Yui- Ayato had had to hide the redness on his cheeks – who had pleasantly chatted with Morten until then, busy at preparing breakfast; there were a huge teapot with berries flavoured black tea and a ceramic pitcher full of hot chocolate waiting for them to be consumed.
- I'm in heaven - Kanato said, nearly drooling in front of Reiji and Ruki's disgusted faces.
The wizard greeted them with a gentle nod of the head and invited them to sit down.
- Please, help yourself, there is enough for everyone. The girls went to school – he replied immediately before Azusa or Laito could ask - Theo is at work, Mark is who knows where as usual and...
Morten glanced at everyone.
- Do you know where's Cho-hime? Wait. Where's the other blond? - he asked, counting the present vampires and confirming that one was missing.
Silence.
Ignoring the triplets' immature and indecent comments, the vampires had gone out into the city with Morten, who pointed at the site including shops, schools, and dwellings, explaining how the narrow streets above the entire city had been designed: he revealed that they were held up through a complex network of resistant material attached to the huge and cylindrical white structures that they had seen on the edge of the island (but no one remembered: too tired for the trip, and too proud to admit it) .
The wizard told them about the several woods and the thick forest siding the road that led straight to the city on the island's other side; he also revealed the important presence of a river that crossed the entire territory, branching into much smaller streams.
As they were moving towards the city's outskirts, where the schools, control buildings and training centres – to practice with their own powers- were located, Morten had to keep his nerves steady: some individuals of the group, initially quiet, had got a little tired, and as a result they had begun to annoy the others; Laito, then imitated by Kou, was teasing Subaru about a certain amber-eyed witch, Azusa was irking Kanato in order to get hurt (he had calculated that he was the only one who could have given in and violently vent on him ), Reiji and Ruki were throwing snipes at each other about how teach their brothers how to behave properly, after the chaos during breakfast.
And then there was Yuuma, with the sprite Freckle who knows how was found next to him on the pillow in the morning, and Ayato with Yui, both of them quiet, the first especially since they were all busy and thus they wouldn't be interested in his girl.
As they went past the schools, Morten heard the bell ringing the break and thanked the Creator, thinking that they could have been distracted by the girls if they would have appeared in the hallway whose inside could be seen through the windows in front of them; and so happened, the first leaning out being Claire, greeting the vampires enthusiastically and in particular turning a sweet but mischievous smile to Laito who blew her a kiss, his usual smirk on his face.
Anna had to wrap her arms around Finn's shoulders to prevent her from leaping over the window to reach Azusa, with whom she was exchanging longing looks; Kou noticed Isa's absence and, knowing her interest towards Subaru, asked where she was, impatient to find the right opportunity to embarrass the albino.
- Isa is a year younger than us, so she's in another class. But if you wait a few minutes, she should come here too – Anna said, complaining to her friend to stand still and not to squeeze her hands, reminding her that her too strong grips could break someone's bones (they had had to pay several broken door handles to the school because of her strenght).
Finn pouted and hid part of her face in the high collar of her vest, still staring at her vampire, who was nibbling a finger, also unhappy because of the permission Ruki had denied him to reach her inside the school.
- Shall we all go and eat at Miko's restaurant, for lunch? He always prepares such delicious meals... and I'm sure, Laito-kun, you'll like his macaroons~ - Claire giggled.
Morten turned to Reiji and Ruki, waiting for an answer to that suggestion and, before they could agree (the first with less enthusiasm, vampires need only blood!), their brothers had preceded them, accepting with an euphoric "yes" - excluding Subaru who snorted annoyed, not very thrilled by that.
Yui noticed Isa greeting her from some windows nearby on the left and she leaned out among the other three witches, smiling happily; Laito and Kou glanced at Subaru, grinning, and the albino felt his nerves throbbing painfully on his forehead and neck.
- So it's decided, we'll see each other there at eleven o'clock - Morten sighed - If you see Mark, tell him, he's probably in the music room preparing the instruments for his afternoon lesson... and also warn Baka-Ouji by text. Oh, have you seen Cho-hime?
Isa and Claire blinked and exchanged confused looks, and then turned to the wizard who narrowed his eyes, annoyed by Anna's exaggerated reaction, having mumbled something and raised her eyes to the sky, while Finn had simply tilted her head.
- How can we know, we went out this morning thinking that everyone was sleeping! - Anna snapped, annoyed by his expression, and Morten gritted his teeth.
- But Cho-hime wasn't in her room!
- I'm not her baby-sitter and I don't care where she goes! – Anna replied; Claire raised an eyebrow and blew a raspberry at her, ignoring her glare, then shrugged, turning to him.
- You know, having returned home... Maybe she's gone somewhere to be alone, maybe the old school... - Isa shyly suggested, with sympathetic eyes; Finn nodded and Claire went silent as she realized Shuu's absence, smiling like an idiot.
The three witches chatted a few minutes with the vampires, answering mostly to Ruki and Reiji's questions, curious if their lessons focused on the usual school subjects or if they would study other stuff; Anna, after a few minutes, was about to add information to what Isa was telling about the exercise of her powers, separately carried out with appropriate teachers, when her eyes widened as soon as she opened her mouth, staring at a person behind the vampires who was approaching them.
- Te-Teacher...! - the blonde exclaimed, her eyes shining with joy, though not concealing a certain fear, or respect, towards the person who reaching them.
Yuuma raised an eyebrow at her expression, thinking it was hilarious, and turned around, not realizing some of them were gaping and some went just stiff and wide-eyed: the giant himself almost let his jaw fall to the ground at seeing the broad-chested and tall, very tall, man in front of them.
He was wearing dark clothes under a large dark brown jacket, whose pockets were occupied by his hands; the dark brown hair was tied in a short and untidy ponytail, leaving some locks framing his manly and rigid face, just covered by a little beard; he had a slightly tanned complexion.
His brown eyes, with a spot of green, stared impassive at vampires, focusing in particular on Yuuma who, recovering from the initial surprise, noticed the shape of his eyes, similar to his; he, Ruki, Azusa and Kou understood that he was Mary's father, Mr Flyer.
- How tall is he, what the heck - Kou said in a choked voice, his head raised to the man who was towering over them all, including Yuuma himself.
- He's probably more than two meters tall - Laito murmured with a twitching eye, thinking that his Micchan had probably taken more from her mother than her father in height (and probably more of the physical aspect, excluding face, eyes and hair ).
Morten cleared his throat and politely greeted the man, who continued to scan them silently with his dark eyes, and introduced him.
- This is Mr Flyer, Cho-hime's father. He is known as one of the few wizards who can manipulate fire, and is the reference teacher for learning sword art. Anna is his student - he scratched his neck, keeping his head bowed; if Yuuma's height was already bothering him, it was possible to imagine how much that man's height was tormenting him (and Kanato was feeling the same as him).
Reiji and Ruki examined the man carefully, a little fascinated and at the same time confused by his slightly weak figure, as if he had seen everything and if he had been tired of it; Kou and Laito had their eyes still wide opened; Ayato and Subaru were still gaping and almost doubted that as vampires they could have succeeded in a fight against him; Azusa smiled: after all, he was Izanami's father, he couldn't help but like him!
- Mh - Mr Flyer nodded, likely to greet them (perhaps Mark had inherited his taciturn character from his father?), and focused on each of them; he seemed to smile at Yui, and at last he stopped his eyes on Yuuma, observing him carefully.
The vampire had never felt this way in all his life, not even with Karlheinz: the feeling was a mixture of fear and respect, and perhaps he could understand how Anna felt about her teacher, who had given informed her that they would go on training in the afternoon.
- You're Yuuma, I suppose – the man said in a deep, calm, possibly a little tired voice; Reiji thought he could have compared it to that of an older and presumably more responsible Shuu (pretty unlikely). Yuuma swallowed before nodding and Mr Flyer sighed.
- At the moment I'm busy, but soon we'll talk together – he put a hand on his own shoulder, rubbing it while his expression appeared absorbed - My wife has told you that you could be a relative of mine, hasn't she?
Yuuma nodded again and, after a few seconds, the man took his leave, moving to the right, towards the school building's entrance, as Anna was holding back an euphoric little cry, stared at by an annoyed Claire, a confused Isa and ignored by a silent Finn.
Morten mumbled that he had forgotten to ask him if he knew where his daughter was, but he shrugged and decided to continue the tour in that area, not before he had reminded the witches of the appointment at the restaurant.
While heading to what he had called a control site, Yuuma distractedly followed the guide's words, overwhelmed by several questions; if Mr Flyer was a wizard and his relative, then was his family also endowed with magical powers? Was he himself?
- I had worked at the restaurant for a month: it was such a stressful job that even Cho-hime had given up after a week... - Morten informed in the meantime, muttering, his expression changing into a contemptuous grimace at remembering that period.
- You start working when you're fifteen years old, right? - Reiji asked, chin in his fingers.
- It's all about part-time jobs to earn some money and learn something, not just the job itself; the aim is getting an idea for the future. For example, Cho-hime, after different work experiences, chose to join the external security and to work as a mailwoman – Morten explained, warning them that they were going back to have lunch and that in the afternoon he would have taken them to see some practice exercises.
- And you, Morten-kun? And Theo-kun, and Mark-kun~? - Laito asked curiously.
- Baka-Ouji fixes and builds machinery or any device; Mark wanted to work as an internal security officer, but in the end he chose to teach music to the younger ones; I work as a hacker... ah, Mary did that too, but then her headaches worsened and Elena-sensei told her to stop.
Ruki thought those headaches were probably not due to the time spent in front of the screens, but to the process to become Izanami.
Seriously, where's that girl?!, he thought, before reproaching Kou who had stopped in front of a small group of girls who had recognized him and were asking for his autograph.
Shuu, before Mary could wake up, was almost tempted to throw her cell phone directly out the window, aiming for the river; fortunately, he had just hidden it under a pile of pillows (which made up almost the seventy per cent of that tree house interior), muffling the ringing of an incoming call from Theo.
He had returned next to the witch, still wrapped in the blankets, breathing a sigh of relief that she hadn't been awakened by that absurd noise; what kind of "music" was that, anyway? One day he would have changed her playlists with his own favourite pieces, he would have converted her to classical music.
He stroked the half-witch's forehead, picking up all her hair and moving it to the side; he hugged her from behind and rested his forehead against her shoulder, closing his eyes and preparing to fall back into a deep sleep.
Or at least he tried to; he couldn't fall asleep again since he had woke up hours before. He couldn't explain the cause... or perhaps he didn't know it was the happiness he was feeling deep down. Or the relief that it wasn't a dream.
Mary was finally his: on his and her right ring fingers was a mark that looked like a sea green coloured ring tattooed on her skin, proof of the promise they had exchange with each other, which had been approved and blessed, before his eyes, astonished by that secret event that only they would remember, a miraculous and private ritual that only some communities of witches and wizards knew and practiced.
The vampire hugged the girl who grumbled, waking up because of that intense grip; Mary took a few minutes to regain her lucidity and blushed slightly, turning in his arms and looking at him timidly.
With eyes shining with joy.
- Good morning, Shuu – she smiled softly, squeezing his right hand with her own.
The blond stared at her at first impassive, then cracked a serene smile, and brought his face to hers, kissing her.
- Hey, wren...
Mary felt her cheeks heat up and hid her face against his chest, making him laugh; the young man kept on teasing her, tickling her and occasionally talking briefly about random thoughts suggested by their minds.
- What time is it? - the girl asked at last, while stroking his fingers.
- I think it's noon... - Shuu yawned with his eyes closed, still basking among the blankets and pretending nothing as she murmured that it was strange that no one had even looked for them, not even to plan lunch together.
Then, seized by a bizarre feeling, she raised her head to the place on the table where she thought she had left her cell phone: not there, she confirmed her hypothesis and, sitting down, gave an accusatory look to the blond, demanding explanations .
Shuu opened one eye, stared at her and raised an eyebrow, questioningly.
- Don't feign innocence, where's my mobile?
The vampire snorted annoyed and pulled her down in his arms, muttering that she didn't need it and that she should have stayed there with him.
After a short fight, between her pulling his cheeks and him trying to stop her by laying on top of her, Mary managed to escape and crawl towards the pile of pillows that had surely been moved, not remembering it looking that way the night before: rummaging, she got her cell phone back and paled at the several missed calls and unread messages.
Shuu ignored her glare, keeping on complaining like a whimsical child that he didn't want to leave that shelter, that they were just fine staying there, that it wasn't necessary to join the others and continued to mumble complaints even when the girl picked him up with difficulty in order to leave the little tree house, heading for the city.
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