Chapter 31

Yuuma and Subaru were watching the students with great admiration, occasionally grinning and making some mocking remarks about someone a little clumsy; surely, despite being vampires, they would have thought twice before challenging Ms Lalla, aunt of Finn and Morten, and her same niece, one of the three people who had been accepted in the most advanced course of those trainings. As proof, it was enough to see those stone columns being almost pulverized by a single fist of the little witch, whose skin was covered by luminescent blue lines while attacking.

She was busy in a hand-to-hand battle with one of her two comrades, a fight that had proved to be a bit monotonous after half an hour (didn't they get tired...?), thus the two vampires had left to roam around the fields, observing the other students, followed by Isa; whereas Azusa, resisting the temptation to get in the middle of any lesson to be crumbled by punches and kicks, had remained to witness the fight between Finn and the other boy, a bit envious of the latter, staring at her as if she had been his queen.

After another half an hour the two opponents had finally stopped and, after respectfully saluting each other, had left the ring, leaving the third comrade, the strongest, to instruct a couple of potential candidates to be welcomed in their course; breathless, the witch had reached the smiling vampire and had nodded to follow her up to the bench, where she sat, wiping the sweat off her neck and face; Azusa gazed at her, fascinated.

- Finn-san... you're wonderful... one day... may I be your opponent...? - he asked, already imagining the pain caused by her; the little witch, at first silent and with her eyes on her shoes' tips, took a sip of water from a little bottle, before looking at him expressionless.

Azusa, however, glimpsed fear in her eyes.

- Azusa-kun. Are you sure it's okay?

The young man tilted his head, a little confused by her words; the girl turned her face back to her shoes, making their tips touch each other.

- I... since I was born... I've always had this strength. It is hereditary. Just, as in the past my great-grandmother was much less strong, I'm too much strong.

Azusa took her hands in his own, preventing her from keeping on torturing her fingers so that she could vent her emotions on his, which she began to crush, a little hesitant.

- I couldn't hug anyone in school because I would have risked breaking some bones. They were all afraid of me. I was afraid of hurting them.

The vampire nodded, confirming that he was listening to her, and urged her to continue, happy that she was struggling to confide in him even though she was taciturn.

- Then... I met Claire, who told me she would have hugged me... and then Anna, who would have caressed my head... and then...! - her eyes lit up, so excited that she didn't notice the suspicious crack coming from Azusa's fingers, as he enjoyed that bliss - Senpai...! She let me hug her as gently as possible, patiently...! But she had to wear an orthopaedic corset for a few weeks, afterwards.

Finn was impassive again and stared at the vampire, who smiled, adding that Mary had urged her to practice and moderate her strength; pleased, Azusa thought that she didn't have full control yet, judging by the pain in his hands, but that was fine with him.

- Pain... I love it... especially... if it's caused... by a person I adore...! – he explained to the little witch who gave a small smile and dived into his arms, joyful; the other was joyful as well, perceiving some fractures adorning his ribs.


Yuuma was completely focused on observing Mr Flyer, who was teaching one of his youngest pupils how to use a sword without being hindered by its weight; the giant stifled a laugh as he heard him mumbling that the boy should have contributed with constant exercise to build more muscles and stamina, noting that he was a little thin.

The vampire avoided a katana's sheath from hitting his head and glared at Anna, who had approached and leaned back against the wooden fence, glaring back at him.

- There's no reason to laugh. If someone seriously wants to pursue such trainings, work hard is necessary - she stated sternly, while watching her teacher with adoring eyes.

Yuuma raised an eyebrow and muttered:

- Are you in love with that old-... - he dodged another attack with the katana's hilt, yelling at her to calm down.

- Don't you dare suppose such conjectures, you vulgar oaf! - she replied indignantly, her face red out of annoyance – My teacher is my role model!

- Okay, okay - he said, holding back a laugh because of the way of talking about the witch – Role model, you say... – he repeated, recalling the figure of that boy who had been the boss of the small band which had welcomed him in the past.

Anna examined him silently, considering that the vampire was probably thinking seriously about it; maybe he also had had a similar figure in his life.

- What kind of person is he? - Yuuma suddenly asked; the blonde, a bit taken aback, took a few minutes before answering.

- Teacher is... he always looks like tired, or indifferent to everything. He simply doesn't express his feelings in gestures and expressions. It's from his words that you can understand what he's feeling at the moment. He's the most sincere person I've ever known, probably. And if you ask other people, they'll tell you the same thing.

The giant blinked, thinking that Kou would have personally tried to verify if Mr Flyer was really so truthful; he kept on listening to her.

- He's not just a talented wizard and swordsman - the witch let out a sigh of admiration, making Yuuma roll his eyes - he also worries about morally encouraging his students. I... – she swallowed, a little hesitant, but the silence and his gaze urged her to continue - Among my sisters, I am the less gifted in terms of magical powers. Teacher taught me to value what I own, what I am, even if it doesn't seem enough to me.

The witch was smiling unconsciously; the vampire couldn't help but crack a smile, too.

- At last, he has... very strange hobbies, if you judge him only by appearances.

- Are you talkin' about gardenin'? - the giant murmured, recalling Theo's words; she nodded - I also love gardening. Does it run in the family, if it is true that we are relatives?

Anna stared at him carefully, dwelling on his facial features; Yuuma would have never admitted to anyone that he had felt like blushing at those grey eyes, cold but intense.

- You both have the same eyes; if you're not a close relative, you'll have a common ancestor - she replied.

- Hm - Yuuma nodded; the silence fell for a few seconds, interrupted by a student complaining about having dropped the heavy sheath on the foot and their consequent giggles - You know, you're a bit nicer, now.

- A bit? - the blonde arched an eyebrow, sardonic - If you're trying to flirting with me, you're failing miserably.

Anna turned away, unaware of the raspberry secretly blown at her by the vampire; she was more focused on Isa's exalted voice, who had from the beginning accompanied Subaru everywhere, and according to the blonde she was clinging to him too much: in truth, she had no idea how much fun the albino was having, fascinated by that world so new and different from the environment in which he had grown up.

- Yuuma.

The giant jumped and looked at the person in front of him, raising his head to meet his eyes, so similar to his own; he was usually used to lower it...

- M-Mr Flyer... - he mumbled, cracking a nervous smile.

The man frowned.

- Don't be so formal. My wife and I would like to invite you, with your brothers, to have dinner with us this evening; and if it's not a problem for you, you stay at our home for the night he said in a deep voice.

The vampire blinked, then nodded with his mouth slightly ajar.


Nothing in her life had ever been more exciting than sitting right next to her favourite idol and talking with him; not to mention that the blond had complimented Lucy for her cloud of hair: golden candy floss, so he had named it...! On the other hand, Kou felt a little guilty about flattering the witch a little dishonestly: his red eye had discovered that the affection, admiration and devotion she felt towards him were sincere; he was particularly amazed at how intense they were and wondered if he shouldn't have been a little more serious than usual with the young woman.

Mark, in the meanwhile, was instructing a pair of children, probably eight years old, on how to hold a violin and its bow, carefully observed by Shuu who was sitting far from the students' curious eyes and the small group of girls' bewitched ones staring at him, giggling and blushing; the vampire snorted at their reactions and, staring at the ring tattooed on his right ring finger, pondered about breaking their hearts by showing it off.

Two slightly older boys had approached Mark, asking him to listen to a short piece played a the violin and a clarinet; the handsome blond listened attentively to the melody and to the half-wizard's comments, agreeing with him, as he pointed out the two students' mistakes and also their improvements in relation to the past lessons.

The two young men exchanged a knowing and smiling look, gave him a respectful and grateful bow, then got back to their chairs to focus on some other pieces to exercise with.

Shuu observed all the other similar moments that followed with a strange expression on his face and an equally strange feeling inside him, beyond the admiration felt for that dull-eyed and undoubtedly talented wizard, proved by his skills at playing a wide range of different musical instruments; something pushed him to think that he wouldn't have minded being in his brother-in-law's place, but at the same time he mocked himself, thinking that he wasn't one to move a single finger for similar activities, besides probably not having the same patience as Mark at managing that group of apprentices...

… but maybe

The vampire snorted annoyed at hearing another noisy chat between Kou and Lucy, glaring at them; the idol blew him a raspberry and justified that the lesson was already coming to an end: after about ten minutes, all the students had got up and left, after saying goodbye and exchanging some friendly words with Mark.

- Mark-kun~, besides playing these instruments, can you also sing? – he asked, curious.

- Mh... I do sing, but rarely... when I was younger I used to sing more frequently, along with Aneki - he quietly murmured, while putting the instruments back in their cases, after caressing their shapes and hearing their sounds to distinguish them.

- Neko-chan sings, too?! - the vampire exclaimed, surprised, immediately interrupted by Shuu before he could add anything else.

- If she was good as a child, now she isn't anymore: she's very off-key.

- I confirm - Mark simply said, cracking a slight smile, as Kou giggled that perhaps they had been a bit too cold towards the poor girl. Lucy had approached them and asked if Mary would have come home safe and sound: after all, she had just returned home and had been already instructed to deliver so much letters, as she had complained about.

The half-wizard hesitated a little before answering, but was preceded by the idol, who was smiling ironically:

- Yeah, as if, she went to do her job as a postwoman...! – he commented ironically, staring intensely at the half-wizard in front of him who felt his head sting because of that look; the other vampire moved his eyes from one to the other, confused, and then widened his eyes at the following words - Why did she lie~? It's not like her~!

- Actually, Aneki - Mark stood up, rubbing his shoulder - went to the hospital...

What?, Shuu thought, and within a moment he had teleported elsewhere.


After accidentally bumping into Claire's little group and scolding the triplets, Reiji had noticed how quickly his mood had healed as soon as they had retraced their steps, him, Ruki, Martha and Lily; especially with the latter he had resumed to discuss about chemistry and biology, dwelling on experiments and interesting things that had occurred: he was pleasantly impressed by that vampire's intelligence and her wide scientific knowledge, so that his esteem towards her had increased.

On the other hand, he wondered how the two could be sisters: the other freckled-faced vampire was trotting along the hospital hallways while greeting the staff with exaggerated euphoria and the few (young) patients with lively pats on their shoulders; on the contrary, the elder sister was walking with her head held high, straight and giving off a certain sense of competence through her composed and serious figure.

Ruki, two meters away from the three, was looking around with disinterest and absorbed in his own thoughts; and as they made their way to the room where the blood supplies reserved for the vampires were kept, he seemed to hear Mary's voice coming from a room in the adjacent hallway.

He halted, looking in that direction, and after glancing at the little group that went on without caring about his presence, he had taken advantage of it to turn and stretch out his ears: he heard her voice again and found where it was coming from, then he approached a door ajar.

Inside, he saw Mr Ari sitting lazily on a chair, with a look of annoyance on his face, and mumbling something incomprehensible; there was Mrs Elena, standing with her hand covering the lower part of her face and her eyes veiled with slight worry, or perhaps stress; in front of the door he recognized the profile of Ryan Plum, who was looking at the ground, thoughtful; finally, widening his eyes, he found Mary sitting on a bed, her upper body almost completely transparent except for her head, her neck, some spots around her shoulders and maybe even under the only garment she was still wearing along with her jeans trousers (that was a sports bra).

- I thought that with that vial the process would have slowed down... - the green-eyed woman murmured, in a weak voice - If you tell me that in two days your legs have become transparent and now your chest also has...

- Poor Shuu-san - Ryan suddenly commented, apparently impassive, dodging in time the bedside table that slammed against the door, closing it; fortunately, Ruki had been able to react rigidly, so as not to draw attention.

- Avoid these futile and insolent remarks, please - Elena reproached him, giving him a dry look, while Mr Ari mumbled to the half-witch if she had noticed any changes in her "telekinetic" powers.

- I did - Mary whispered, trying to remember what she had observed a short time ago - It happened that I couldn't make myself be understood by them... and I think the regenerative process has accelerated a bit.

The vampire couldn't see well, but from Mrs Elena and Ryan's frightened cries and the smell of blood he deduced the girl had probably gotten a wound on her arm, or anywhere else, to prove her hypothesis; he thought of how much pain she had felt, how much courage she had put, and how hard she had struggled to not let out any moan of pain.

After a moment of silence, he heard Ari.

- It usually takes a little more time to heal, a cut like that... What about the operation?

Ruki felt himself stiffen and wondered what he was referring to, strained by the gravity of their voices and the dark atmosphere hovering in that room.

- We can't carry out the operation with this state... - Elena answered, this time clearly anxious; Ryan gave a slightly unnerved sigh and a rustle was heard, as if he had pulled his hair back in frustration.

- What if I kept on taking that medicine you gave me together with the other vial? - the half-witch suggested.

- No, it wouldn't help much.

Silence fell.

- That's a ring of the ritual, isn't it? – Mr Ari suddenly asked.

Again, everyone was silent, just a few rustlings of clothes and movements were heard, then the frantic noise of heels on the floor tiles.

- Mary-chan! Don't tell me that... ?! - Elena cried, somewhat shocked.

Suddenly, among the various scents, he recognized that of another vampire who had just teleported in that room; he thought he'd better get away before being noticed by him.

- What's going on? - Shuu asked, with a tone demanding explanations and from which it could be deduced that he had been worried about Mary; she was about to tell him that he shouldn't have been there, but was interrupted by Ari, who answered in a cold voice.

- Her artificial lung must be changed, but the operation isn't doable in her current condition. Furthermore, the process to become Izanami is very close to end. And, all of this, could cause her serious problems if a new creature is growing inside her womb.

The following silence was the most disturbing that had ever fallen.

And Ruki had immediately disappeared.


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