Sooo, I actually failed twice to upload this chapter. This time, I have a "real" reason. I entered a Light Novel translation group and have been typing nonstop since the second half of June (Yeah, I could have done it in the first half of June, but this first page was sitting as it is since then, so… I tried).

I hope a little of typing these great books rubs onto me, and just maybe my style gets a little better. Still need to improve a lot, especially with conversation scenes, as you can see there are almost none of them. This chapter is slightly (like 200 words) longer than usual and I want to make clear: I did my research on the origins, and I ignored completely anything fictional by its name; I didn't follow its original legend strictly either. I want to make it clear that this is MY Alfheim. I'll shut up now.

Yuki Onna

"It's always killing time."

Chapter Five: Conspiracy (I) — Killing Time

Part 1

Alfheim.

This was the name of a mythical place. It was said to be home to creatures, creatures that were amazing, if what legend says is to be believed.

Tradition in Alfheim is quite simple: everyone does what they want to help society, as long as they are doing something. This mentality helped the people living in Alfheim to prosper through the harshest of times. The light elves, as the people there were called, were a peaceful bunch, but not defenseless. Their prosperity was also result of their high magical potential, which was transmitted through the generations without fail.

The magic they used was quite limited in application, but numerous in methods. There were cleaning spells, which came in several different forms to provide the same result. There were also the ones used for playing, ranging from the simplest of card tricks to no-risk fireworks. Their life wasn't truly ruled by magic, but it was always present in one way or another.

The magic they could use extended then to combat spells as well as defense spells. Once in their history, they were attacked for reasons unknown to this day, and the power they showed was massive. A single elf made quick work of the small troop that wished to kill them for some reason.

They were repelled with thunders from above, craters opening beneath their feet and a firestorm meeting them head on. After the decimation of the creatures — for it was nothing any elf had ever seen before —, this hero was thanked and later expelled from Alfheim for his desecration of the woods.

The light elves were quite the pacifists and even the greatest of sacrileges led only to the exiling of the responsible one. The rural country Alfheim didn't take it lightly when any tree present was damaged. The pacific people didn't have any prison either. The only solution was to expel anyone that was bad in their view.

After that one attack, nothing changed, except for the family that lost one of its members. The aftermath was so pacific that the closest to the hero were shocked at how little anyone else cared. So they, too, left the land of Alfheim.

No one ever knew exactly where Alfheim was. A few think that maybe it's not so old, being given form by beliefs that were formed not too many centuries past. This would disregard all of its history as background, claiming that it was simply a record of a fantasy, having never really happened.

Following this logic, the dark elves would have been there from the beginning.

Legend say that the five closest to the hero went out of their peaceful country, something that the hero had been the first to do. Out of Alfheim, forest spammed so long that they had difficulty in discerning where Alfheim ended and where the outer world began.

After weeks of wandering, they managed to get out of the forest. What expected them outside was the war ridden Europe of the middle Ages.

Soon enough, they found who they sought. He was changed. Exposed and adapted to the outside world, he was a little shorter, his ears thinner and his body sick. This encounter led to the creation of the dark elves, a family that number in the dozens, their life spans shorter due to their consanguine relationships.

This branch of elves lived underground, ever adapting, almost blind and ferocious. Their values all but lost, they made their own rules as a clan and lived completely separated from Alfheim.

The glorious elves were thus divided into the peaceful king and the warring kind. The dark elves had what some may think of as a redeeming quality: their union. Being the same big family, in a literal sense, each generation was as united as possible, enough so that these brothers and sisters loved each other enough to continue giving offspring generation after generation, sooner and sooner.

The shorter lifespan they had basically mean that, different from the light elves, which seemed to live forever, their life could be over in a couple of centuries. After all this time in which brothers and sisters had sons and daughters, their lifespan decreased, to the point where a reasonably old elf could pass as an unreasonable old human.

In fact, this helped them pillage quite a few towns. These not so old as they looked non humans were quite ferocious on their own right, and if a couple of them managed to infiltrate their target, it was game over.

So we have the history.

But now we have an unreasonable and impossible situation.

I want them. Those Dark Elves, I mean. Make them yours and destroy their counterparts.

Faced with such unreasonable orders, he gritted his teeth. It was not the first time he had to do some seemingly unreasonable work, but all of those times, he was following his leader, and in the end of each, he was proven wrong about their seemingly inexistent purpose and excessive cruelty. Now? Now he was indirectly following what his leader commanded, that couldn't be denied. And yet…

"Tsk… How would you deal with deal with this?"

He asked the ether. The answer never came. The man gave a dried laugh before stopping to think. Thinking wasn't really of any use now; if he did found a countermeasure it would surely be too late.

"!"

Or not.

The battle between light and dark elves was occurring before his eyes right now, and he was the one responsible. It was funny, a month ago he didn't know this place existed, a week ago he didn't know where and now he of all people was helping to bring down the great kingdom of Alfheim.

A few casualties down the way, the solution presented itself to him. The dark elves were slowly gaining ground because of the light elves' hesitation in striking back. The dark ones used more forms of melee combat, but had a few of what would be popularly called 'xaman'.

These 'xamans' unleashed elven magic with no restrain, and the only reason this forest was intact was the strength of the light elves' defensive spells. All the while, he who caused this situation watched with frowned eyes, thinking even now, wondering if his solution would work.

"Well, no other way to find out".

Muttering these words, he approached the xaman closest to him and asked for a special spell. It was all in fate's hand now.

Part 2

A pretty uneventful week passed. Our new P.E teacher didn't show up in class, so we all assumed that he was still getting something ready. That monk character didn't seem the type to teach, let alone teach P.E, but it wouldn't be worse than him. For me, that is an undisputable truth.

The club started activities back at the start of the week, and by the time the first day was over, we had already found that there is a pervert close to us. Yes, Ginei Morioka, our senior in the newspaper club is a pervert. Moka and Kurumu had the intelligence manga heroines at the time; I mean, he was kneeling to look at their panties while they were stretching more and more on their respective chairs trying to fix a poster on the wall in a place that no one would bother trying to read it. Yep. The stretching was all so that Gin could peep. And I tough he looked like one who would be popular…

I would have taken care of the situation, or tried to, but Tsukune got ahead of me. The guy actually kneeled as well to confirm our suspicions, and actually let out a scream and had a nosebleed when he confirmed it was true.

In a quick succession of events, Gin got up and managed to get out of harm's way, leaving Tsukune to be punished. By the way, while this happened, Mizore and I were fixating the posters in reasonable places, with a reasonable height. After Gin gave the girls a flower's bouquet each (Yukari received a single rose), I made a point of keeping myself between the wolf and the Yuki Onna.

Oh, that's right. Yukari ended up joining our little group. We also consisted of the whole of the newspaper club (excluding Gin). So Mizore, myself, Kurumu, Moka, Yukari, Gin and Tsukune. We were the ones responsible for everything related to news on this school. If that weren't enough, we only joined this club because of the lack of existence of a decent club in this school.

I tough of jumping to Tsukune's defense, but it would probably result in myself being accused of being a pervert as well. At that time, I decided I wasn't very fond of Ginei Morioka. The contraptions in my head started to turn as I started playing out what a pervert's routine would probably consist of. Ignoring the speck of shame that came with the fact that I managed to lay out quite a plausible scenario, I called Mizore and arranged for a trap. A trap to catch a pervert no less.

She agreed with me, and we soon ended club activities. I don't even know if I want this trap to work or not… If it doesn't, that's just a fail. A fail is something undesirable, so there's the reasoning. But if it works… It means I correctly predicted the time and place a pervert would be for tomorrow. It would mean I can perfectly read a pervert's mind. And I don't want to think about what this would imply on…

Part 3

5:30

— She woke at her usual time, little before the alarms sounded. Alarms. As in, other people's alarms. She didn't need one. As proof, she was up always a little before the others' alarms ringed. Maybe part of the reason was her constitution. Needing to cool off, Mizore would bring a lollipop to her mouth first thing in the morning.

Sucking on the flavorless candy, she stayed in bed for a few minutes before getting up and changing into her usual clothes and going out of the dormitory. It seems she would rather buy her breakfast.—

6:00

— She took an ungodly large amount of time to decide what she would be eating. I don't particularly mind, but she chose a vegetarian set. Not that they sell breakfast in sets, that's only the lunch. Still, the final mix was missing any type of meat possibly imaginable. Is she a vegetarian?

She seems to care enough about her health to bring in some protein, but it's making me nervous. That breakfast has way too much food… —

6:25

— I feel like an idiot. I have a lot of reasons to do so. One of them is the fact that I'm giving myself more work by writing the time. Other can be considered that I'm writing that I'm an idiot and giving examples of why. At present time, what occurred to me is that I didn't seethat, or rather, him coming.

The only thing the boy with the bandaged arm didn't do was to kiss her, but they acted like valentines alright. It all seems calculated, as if giving off this aura consciously… I'm afraid he'll do more than heal her.

They shared what she bought of food. As in, he ate the most part of it after making sure of what exactly he was going to eat. His face contorted in many different expressions, and I think he didn't like all that was given to him. Maybe he's the vegetarian one? Anyways, they finished and are in route to class. —

8:00

— Second class is about to start. The boy has a worried look on his face, quite different from the one he had when they met up earlier. Maybe he scored low in a test? No, you told me he is intelligent, and that his grades were almost calculated… But what if he lied to you and actually gets depressed with low scores?

She has a bored look herself, but seems weary as well. It's just like she's his bodyguard, or something, like she's sniffing around for anything that could damage him… I think—

"I think it's about time you show up for class! I'm supposed to be doing this!"

Kuro's hand slid of and emended a distorted 'o' to his 's'. Annoyed, the monk turned and found Ao complaining to his face.

"I can't, Ao! Those monsters looked at me with eyes that screamed 'no way is this a teacher, let alone a P.E teacher'! I said you're a million times better for this role!"

"But you're the one who lost at the end! And look how many useless passages your report has! Lady Tsurara won't find it amusing to read through all this!"

"Oh yeah? How would you summarize it then?!"

Kuro passed his journal to Ao, who proceeded to skim through it. In fact, that really looked like a personal journal, not a report of last week.

After quickly skimming through a week's worth of report, Ao wrote in a single page:

Report of the week:

It seems like they're dating. What's the course of action in this case?

Kuro sweat dropped. Then he himself fell to the ground.

If you read through all that he wrote while he furiously evaded teacher's work, that first sentence resumed it all, and the second asked for more orders. Defeated, Kuro took off his hat and marched to where he was supposed to be in the first place.

Part 4

I'm getting good at ignoring it, but I still have this fear that someone who shouldn't know I'm human knows. And that I'm really, really exposed here. In this classroom full of monsters, only Tsukune is a human besides me, and even he doesn't know that I am. In fact, only Mizore should know.

This last week was uneventful, but I dreaded the moment that I would be found out. A part of me doesn't want my circle of friends to grow. It means one more monster will be spending enough time with me to suspect that I'm human.

Yes, I'm quite worried about Yukari at the moment. Mizore knows and is my childhood friend, Moka and Kurumu seems more of the type that would get shocked rather than try to kill me, and Tsukune is human as well. While I could include Gin in this, he's looks like just a pervert being a pervert. That leaves Yukari, the one that joined our group while I wasn't present. That makes her a mystery to me.

I heard about witched later, about their social standing as an excluded from human and monster world. As sad as that might sound, there is a possibility that a bullied might start to think he is wrong and deserves it all. What I mean is, even if doesn't look to be the case, what if Yukari, who fights so hard to not be ostracized from the monster world, adopted a full monster's mentality? What if she started thinking of witches and, that's where I come along, humans as disgusting and undeserving to live?

I doesn't seem to be case, for sure, but telling myself that won't ease my worries. For sure, I'm felling terrible for having these thoughts about her, but the only way to prove to myself that all this is wrong is spending more time with her, which is exactly what I want not to do in case all this is right.

See? Thinking about it doesn't help in the slightly. I'll have to focus my thoughts on happy thoughts… About the trap. Maybe thinking about the trap will help…

Club time came. But here's the thing: no Gin, no Tsukune. Half of it was on my plan, but what is Tsukune doing? Anyway, Mizore should have infiltrated the girl's changing room by now. The other members of the club are with me, waiting with me, with the exception of Kurumu, so, really, that left me with only Yukari and Moka. That's just how small this club is. What is Kurumu doing as well?

As bad as I was with it, I tried to strike to start a conversation.

"So, Yukari?"

"Hm?"

The girl looked bored if I had to describe it with one word. Bored.

"What's your opinion on humans?"

Moka was the one who gasped instead. Way to go, me. It's a sore spot for witches and for Moka in particular, yet you spill it out like it's nothing. I just hope they don't go asking me why or joking that I'm human. That's a way too used scenario.

"Well, I never really stopped to think too deeply about it. You heard about how we witches were ostracized by both sides, right?" I nodded. " Thing is, since humans had a deeper hatred for us back in the Middle Ages, so much that it led to the 'Witch Hunting' period, my family in particular chose to stick to the monster world. On this side, I've been excluded enough, but I've always been afraid to cross to the human's side."

Understandable to say the least. Humans can be scary and such terrible creatures. Says me, the hypocrite.

"What do you think about them?"

"What can I say? I lived with humans all my life." True enough. "I've seen lots of different kinds of humans, and I believe they're just like one more species in the ecosystem. It seems like humans wanted their monstrous enemies to exist, because they started seeing it in each other, and every single difference was excuse to extermination. But that has passed, for the most part. I'm sure some of them would accept you, Yukari. "Tsukune was proof enough. "Just as some monsters accepted you."

I gauged her affinity. It seems she wouldn't attack me as well if I'm ever found out. By luck, I'm making the right friends.

A scream interrupted my thoughts. But it was not a scream I expected to hear… Could it be that…?!

Part 5

Even if it was not the right time and she wasn't a part of any club that would require this after class, Mizore Shirayuki was heading towards the changing room. Why? To catch a pervert, that's all.

She arrived together with the other girls that would be using it and blended right in. Once inside, she moved to the window and waiting, taking off a few clothing articles just to belong there.

It didn't take that long. As soon as she felt the slight opening of the window, she sent a cold wave all the way up there and froze a section of the wall along with two arms. After a surprised gasp from the other side of the window, all of the girls finished changing and made their way outside.

Mizore did as well. It was a shock… With arms frozen to the window and building, Tsukune stood, helpless. Wrong person, she simply though as the other girls moved on to beat on him.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

I prostrated myself before the unfrozen Tsukune and brought Mizore's head down as well. I predicted that Gin would peek through the window, not that he would make a trap for Tsukune. That's the version Mizore told me: when she froze poor Tsukune, she heard a different gasp and someone running away. That definitely was Gin. Morioka, you're a devil.

"Why didn't you save him, Mizzy?"

"Because that would start a rumor about us dating."

I don't really see the problem with an easily dispelled rumor like that, but whatever she says. Tsukune looks like he's at the peak of depression right now. He has his reasons.

Moka came with me, and Yukari came as well, and while Yukari was still here, Moka ran away like he had the plague. It must be hard for a love struck boy like him to be dejected to this degree by the girl he likes.

That still leaves our remaining missing member: Kurumu. Oh, there she is.

Mizore didn't save Tsukune because she didn't want other people to think they were dating. Besides, these people are immortal. But shouldn't there be a little bit of remorse after she was the one ho froze him there?

Nope. That's what she came with. If she didn't freeze him there, then he would run away, be caught, be beaten and be most likely tied. All that said, it didn't make much of a difference on Tsukune's fate if she froze him or not. Yet he made her say sorry, so sorry she said.

From there, it was back to the usual routine of constantly checking one's surroundings for attacks. After last week's one, the care she put into her steps rose exponentially, and even if she wasn't expecting another attack so soon, she hoped for one. She still needed to know why she was attacked.

So, while the others went after Moka in order to explain Tsukune's trap, she went 'hunting'.

Measuring steps, taking longer roads of no apparent use and a care so camouflaged she looked like a victim straight out of a horror movie. She was being watched, no doubt, but by who, why and by whose orders? In this particular case, was it benign or malign?

For her, freezing her surroundings, as tiring as it was, was a simple feat, but a move so slow that no answer would come of it. She would just scare him or her away. Her excessive care had an extra reason.

At the end of that fight, that Lamia got her. She had no excuse for that to have happened; it was utter and simple carelessness. It almost cost her life, and if the scythes' girl was mentally stronger it would have — almost every angle with which she could thrust the snake's body had a good chance of hitting a vital area, and even if it didn't, it would reveal her condition, which would lead instead to the vital blow.

Yes, that was too close a call. Luckily, a murder was nothing grand in this school, so even if she was framed by that Lamia' death, it didn't have any repercussion. But who was that Lamia? And who was that scythes' girl, for that matter?

It was pointless to just wonder these things to herself while she wandered the school grounds' forest. Better to ask the culprits, as always, no?

She sidestepped when it finally came and a smile found its way to her face.

Hitting the tree by her side was a combat knife with another written challenge. Why do these anyway? They just confessed to have been following her around, why not just attack her instead of sending a written challenge?

A simpleton's mind. That's what she thought until reading it, and a sharp pain burned in her back.

Here. Now.

Looks like these written challenges aren't so useless after all. A self depreciation smile rose to her lips while a trickle of blood passed them.

Part 6

Long story short, Gin is a werewolf. That's pretty much what I got of useful information with this entire situation. Gin tried to play the 'comforting' role with Moka, after 'discovering' that Tsukune was a pervert. Moka refused, as she should, both by her personality and because Gin is Gin.

After an embarrassing testimony from me, and a not so embarrassing one by Kurumu, we explained my trap to catch Gin, who in turn caught Tsukune in a trap and ended up making him fall for my trap instead of Gin. I think not everyone present could follow it to the end, but we explained that Tsukune was not a pervert, and a furious Gin turned into wolf form.

Tsukune removed the rosary, and I managed to see that other Moka again. Moka and Gin fought briefly, but he was no match. I mean, with a moon he was utterly fast, but didn't pack that much of a punch, then when clouds covered, he lost speed as well, and a well placed kick, as Moka would say, put him in his place.

It was a decision from the rest of the club to make this our first piece of news, something about Gin framing Tsukune.

So, today's findings amount to A) Perverts are smarter than I thought, in a bad way; B) Gin is a werewolf; and C) Yukari is not particularly afraid of humans. Maybe she knows some alchemy or something like that and maybe, maybe, I can learn a bit of it. That would be superb.

With major incidents following, I assumed Mizore just went first to her dormitory and went to my own. I parted with Tsukune in the building and managed to sleep pretty quickly. Well, all comes with a price…

Part 7

"Only the leader will do?"

"Yes. As I recall, you're all quite the united family, so if the leader and I drink together, he would swear loyalty to me, and you would all follow me through him."

He had stopped the battle and was striking an agreement with the elves.

Beforehand, it was agreed that they would drink with him as the price for entering Alfheim again, a location all had forgotten so long ago.

He has now just finished convincing the leader to pay before the extermination of the other elves. The leader agreed, seeing no reason to distrust this man. He led them to Alfheim just as he said, after all.

So drink they did.

"Alright, now that that's settled… I want you to hold the attack. And I'm sure you don't want to present even the concept of treason to your brethren.

Without even checking to see if his orders were followed.

He just walked in the direction of the light elves and stopped before their barrier, bowing his head.

"I'm really sorry for all this. I ended up bringing the dark elves here, but it was never my intention to really attack you. Can I go in? I'm called Kubinashi, and I think I know the only way to keep you safe.

That's it for now and I'll post the next one as soon as I'm not overloaded with Index this and Hyouka that. Review? I feel like nothing happened in this chapter at all…