Hey guys, sorry it's been so long. Let's jump right in with another chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 4

The sky was a bright, clear blue as the plane landed in Japan. Two figures stood out amongst the other travelers who walked through the cool, shaded halls of the airport, partially because of the swords they carried over their shoulders in cloth covers, partly because of the aura they gave out, an aura of elites. One was a man, tall and draped in a long black overcoat, his long black hair hanging in a natural elegance over his pale, flawless face. His gait was smooth, seeming to glide over the ground rather than walk, stepping silently through the airport halls in a natural, relaxed posture, seeming to know his way around better than the employees who worked there. The second figure was a girl, white haired and garbed in black boots, turtleneck, and tights, a Prussian blue skirt completing the picture. She walked lithely by the man's side, and though considerably shorter than him was clearly his partner, not follower.

The two exited the airport leisurely, the girl walking easily by the taller man's side. They carried only hand baggage, but they needed nothing else. They strolled along the sidewalk to where a long row of taxis were waiting, and they entered one.

"Where to, mister?" the driver said, look back through the glass at his passengers.

"Seitetsu Gakuin High School," the man said, taking off his coat as the taxi pulled into the traffic, resting it on his lap as he looked out the window.

"A highschool?" the girl pondered quietly, looking out her window, and the man chuckled, looking over at her.

"A highschool," he confirmed, their grey eyes meeting.

"I thought we were finding somewhere to stay?" the girl questioned, eyebrow raised.

"You will be attending school today, as a transfer student," the man replied, somewhat amused. "In the meantime, I will handle the accommodations for our stay in Japan."

"Why do I need to go to school, Carlisle?" the girl complained, sulking somewhat. "I'm a black kämpfer now…I have no need to spend all my time occupied with school anymore."

"You're a 17 year old girl blooming spectacularly in a foreign country," Carlisle replied, his voice slightly teasing, "you need to be around your own kind. And, more importantly," he leaned in, "there are a certain amount of kämpfers attending the school you shall be enrolling in."

"Do you want me to kill them?" the girl murmured softly, a scarlet tint creeping into her grey eyes, her killing intent.

"You may do whatever you feel like doing," Carlisle responded. "You're no longer bound by any chains, Anastasia." He turned from where he had resumed looking out the window to rest one of his hands on his younger companion's head, stroking her short white hair reassuringly. "Or should I call you Ana?"

"Do whatever you want…" Ana said, looking away.

"I see."

After a moment, Ana broke the silence that had grown between them once again. "Carlisle, can I ask you a question?"

"It seems that you already have…" Carlisle replied, smug, "but you may ask another."

"How old are you?"

"Hmm… well, I'm supposed to be twenty-two."

"Why twenty-two?" Ana asked, confused, but Carlisle waved it away, diverting the subject to another line of conversation.

"More importantly, shouldn't you start using Japanese since you'll be using it so often so soon?" he asked, looking critically at his companion. "Your vocabulary is still shaky, and you're completely hopeless at the written language."

"Agh, I get it, I get it…" Ana sighed, making the mental switch from English into Japanese. "I'll start using Japanese from now on, ok?" Carlisle nodded, satisfied, and returned to looking out his window.

"I'll come to pick you up after school, then," he said, ending their conversation.

"How did this happen…" Ana muttered to herself as she stood in front of the classroom full of girls. She was dressed in the same uniform that they wore, her black bracelet hanging easily from her wrist, and the back of her hair was done up in a hairclip mysteriously – she suspected the not-so-subtle hand of Carlisle. The teacher continued with her introduction, unaware of her discomfort, and she sighed in resignation, thinking about the past half hour.

First, that guy had dragged her to the admissions office, where they were apparently expecting her. Carlisle had introduced himself as her older brother and guardian, and somehow enrolled her for immediate class attendance. He had handed her one of her three given uniforms, pushed her off towards the restrooms, and left her with a schedule, a notebook, and her travel clothes, which she had stored in a locker in the teachers' lounge.

And a sword.

A very dangerous sword.

"…is Nocte Anastasia, who will be transferring in from America this year. Would you like to introduce yourself to the class, dear?" the elderly teacher asked, her huge, circular glasses giving her the impression of slightly queer, very confused person. The longer Ana looked at her, the more she thought this might be the case after all.

"Ah, yes," Ana said, shaking her head and stepping forward, introducing herself with the fake name Carlisle had decided their last name to be. "I'm Nocte Ana! I'll be in your care for this year!"

"Thank you dear, you can take the seat at the back, right behind Mikoto over there. Yes, that's it. There. Now then, class, let's begin today's class as usual."

"Yes!"

As the class began, Ana looked around, listening intently to understand the quick-paced Japanese words engulfing her. A trio in one corner of the room caught her eye, though, standing and laughing together as the teacher prepared the lesson for the day. One of the girls had blue hair, another had red, and the last was a soft brown, an arbiter between the hair colors of her two friends, it seemed. A sudden ray of sunshine hit something on each of their wrists, and Ana looked away smoothly, not hurriedly, deliberately diverting her eyes from those three.

As she opened her notebook, she felt eyes watching her, and she returned her gaze cautiously to look at the three girls. They had stopped talking and were staring intently at Ana. Taking the opportunity, she let her eyes slide naturally down to their wrist, confirming what she had seen earlier.

Blue.

Red.

Blue.

Three kämpfers.

And they were looking straight at her.

Stifling the excitement burning inside of her at the prospect of a fight, Ana smiled glowingly back at them, watching their careful expressions for any signs of what they may be thinking. The teacher called for all the students to return to their seats, and Ana – still smiling – returned her gaze to the front of the classroom. There would be more than enough time for the three's plotting later.

School passed quickly, and Ana was surprised at the amount of Japanese that she had understood. The day had passed without incident, and the three kämpfers had seemed focused on refusing to acknowledge that she was in the class.

Sighing, Ana stepped out of the school building, amazed once again that the boy and girl sides of the school were isolated from one another. It seemed incredible that something like that existed, but here she was, attending this strange, foreign school.

There were a lot worse things that could have happened.

All the students had left – she had stayed behind to work out some things with the help of the English teachers – and as she walked across the empty schoolyard it was hard not to notice the three shadows that closed around her, blocking her escape. She stopped, eyeing the three students who surrounded her appraisingly. It was as she thought – the three girls from earlier were kämpfers after all.

"Hey, the white-haired girl over there," one of the kämpfers called as Ana turned to look at her, "who are you?" This kämpfer also had white hair, though her face was the same as that of the brunette from earlier – her hair had clearly changed along with her transformation into fighting mode. She held a long, wicked-looking katana, leveled evenly at Ana, apparently at ease with the traditional weapon. If she remembered her kämpfer types correctly, she would be a schwert kämpfer.

"Damn monkey," the red haired one growled, leveling her gun at the back of Ana's head. "I say we shoot her now and send her crawling back up the swollen asshole of her moderator puppeteer." Ana's eyes narrowed at the gewehr kämpfer, a deep loathing beginning to set in at the sight of her enemy's arrogant, confident face. She blinked, her eyes turning a violent scarlet, seeping through the grey like blood.

"Hey…you two…" the remaining kämpfer said, running her hand through her blue hair. "Why don't we talk it out, right?"

"It's too late for that, kill the scum!" the red-haired kämpfer shouted, firing at the back of Ana's head.

Several things happened at once. As the bullet sped towards Ana's head, she leaned to one side and drew her rapier from where it hung, sheathed, at her shoulder. As she slid the blade out of the sheath, she allowed the bullet to strike the edge of the rapier, the sword's sharpened edges easily slicing the metal slug in half. Twirling, Ana thrust at the red-haired kämpfer, only to be met with the clash of steel.

She stood in shock for a moment, trying to understand what had just happened. A hand slipped over her eyes, plunging her into darkness, and she felt herself being pulled back, being absorbed into the reassuring folds of someone's clothes. She tried to move her sword arm to free herself, but it was pinned against something. She felt the ground slip away from her, and then suddenly they were by the gates, the three other kämpfers standing in surprise where they had surrounded Ana. The hand had been removed from Ana's eyes, instead moving to protectively hold her shoulder. Looking up, she saw the familiar smile of Carlisle's face as he calmly faced off against her attackers, his sheathed blade blocking her own. She relaxed, leaning into the safe, warm body of her protector, smiling contently.

Nothing could touch Carlisle.

"Oi! Who're you, then?" the red-haired girl said arrogantly, firing off a few rounds at Carlisle. Ana wanted to warn him to dodge, but Carlisle merely stood there, as though above even a minor inconvenience such as moving. As the bullets passed within a foot of him, they disintegrated, turning to dust, shimmering in the afternoon sun.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you have my precious kämpfer today," he said, amused, looking at the three formerly dangerous people. They were still stunned from his casual display of power, but he ignored them, turning on the spot and heading to a waiting black car. Getting in, he started the car very normally and set off, as though nothing in the world had just happened.

"Carlisle…" Ana said gently, ashamed that she had to rely on her benefactor's strength so often. "That's another time you've had to help me..."

"It's the least I can do for my precious kämpfer," he teased, his eyes dancing. Ana smiled, blushing, savagely proud to be this Moderator's kämpfer.

"Ugh, I don't feel like fighting a Moderator today, y'know?" the red-haired kämpfer shrugged indifferently, the smug expression disappearing from her face as a cut opened beneath her left eye. Staring in horror at the ease with which Carlisle had injured her, her eyes met the violent red of Carlisle's, recognizing his killing intent. His eyes were still threatening, but he smiled at the three kämpfers, making them a promise.

"I won't be so lenient next time."

"Let's go home, Ana." With that, the three kämpfers lowered their weapons, staring in horror at the dark aura that was Carlisle. Turning, he and Ana walked out the gate, walking along the road instead of getting in a car, the place Carlisle had found obviously being quite close.

"Home..." she sighed, the stress from traveling finally catching up to her. At a sudden thought, though, her eyes flew open suspiciously. "Wait a minute…"

"No time," Carlisle said, picking her up and sprinting down the street, the passing buildings becoming simply a blur as they passed. After a few moments Carlisle slowed down, coming to a stop in front of a weather-beaten, homely old restaurant that opened up onto the street they had been walking down. It was two stories, and on the upper floor Ana saw an old man looking out his window. He waved to them cheerfully and walked away.

"Is…this…" Ana started shakily, looking doubtfully at the restaurant.

"This is our restaurant now," Carlisle said, happily aware of his young charge's displeasure. "The old man you just saw was Bumi: he's a nice old man who looks after and works in the restaurants that open up below his house. Our house is around the back," he explained, pointing to a small alley that was to the side of the restaurant. "It's a modern house, but nobody wants to buy it-"

"-Because they don't want to get jumped in an alley getting into their house, right…" Ana finished for him, sighing mournfully. She had no faith in Carlisle's judgment after seeing the state of the restaurant he had recently "acquired". "Carlisle…why did you buy a restaurant…?" she asked cautiously, afraid of the answer she may hear.

"I thought I might open a restaurant," Carlisle smiled, obviously amused with Ana's response.

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"You're a Moderator!"

"And?"

"And….and…"

"I'm supposed to be respected, right?"

"Right! Yes, that!"

"Don't worry, I'm going to be the chef - my recipes will earn me respect nationwide."

"What? No, I-"

"Ok, to the kitchen then. Oh, hello Bumi-sama, would you like me to make you something?"

"S-sama?!"

"Yes…that'd be hugely appreciated, Carli-kun. My old bones aren't what they used to be."

"Carli-kun!?"

"Of course."

"W-w-wait, I don't think-"

"Is Thai alright? I'm afraid I only have those ingredients, as I'll be opening the restaurant tomorrow. It's a Thai restaurant, by the way."

"Oho…I see…I see…"

"Thai? I guess I'll have some too, then…"

"Oh, Bumi, this is my sister, Ana. She's attending the highschool down the road."

"(So soon?!) Ah, nice to meet you, Bumi-sama."

"Ohoho…just call me Bumi, Ana-chan. You too, Carli-kun."

"Of course."

"How long have you lived here, Bumi?"

"Oh, all m'life, I guess, hehehe. I remember the shenanigans we used to pull at your school, oh yes, I remember those. Why, back in my days-"

"Ah, the curry's done, Bumi. It's best while it's hot."

"Oh…thank you Carli-kun…Now, what was I talking about?"

"I believe the previous owners of the restaurant."

"Oh yes, I remember now. Yes…that one was pretty bad, not a very good person to work under either. Oh, and this other one was arrested after a few days in business. The things he put in his food…ohoho…"

"I see, I see…"

"WHAT IS GOING ON!?"

So how was it? Hopefully you enjoyed it - it was one of the more fun pieces of writing I've had recently, and significantly easier to write than the last chapter.

I'm still trying to erase those memories.

Anyways, leave a review, and I'll see you next chapter - whenever that may be, haha~