It's been a while since my last update, and I really missed this story. But here I am. Study a has been taking up all my time, and slipping in a chapter or two was really hard.

Too lazy to do the disclaimer, but you know already.

Let the show begin!

Chapter VI

Why was Haruka there? Why was Eiichi in front of her? What was going on?

As much as I wanted to know, I stayed in my place, watching from afar. Haruka looked…hurt… Was it because of Eiichi, or the three students? Haruka crouched down to the floor, while Eiichi approached the students.

"I think this is more than enough." He said, but his tone was different. He was stern, and the way he looked at the three students was almost...threatening. The students complied and walked away. It was the best time to approach the scene. Doro hid behind my hair as I moved, but once again, I stopped. Eiichi turned to Haruka and pinned her to the wall.

"What would have happened if I was not here?" he said. Haruka gave him a glare.

"I could handle it, snob." She replied, voice cracking a little. It was the same masculine voice I heard on that day, when she saved me from Eiichi. Eiichi smirked and leaned closer to Haruka, and I couldn't help but blush and hide when his lips crashed on hers. I didn't see what happened next, and I didn't want to look. Doro also seemed to not like that. I knew it was safe to look when I heard Eiichi speak.

"They would have found out about your secret." He said, pulling Haruka close. Haruka yanked her hand away, but Eiichi growled and pulled her again, a little bit roughly. "Listen. I can simply tell everyone the truth, and it wouldn't be of any problem to me. If you don't obey me, you're done for." He said, tone rising a little in annoyance. Haruka clenched her fists, but did nothing. Eiichi's expression turned to a pleased one. "Good." He pecked her lips twice, the second one being longer than just a peck, then left. Haruka stood where she was, a frown taking over her pale face. I wanted to go talk to her, but was afraid that she might notice my face, and thus find out I was watching them. I waited for a while, but she didn't leave. She sat down again, pulling her knees up and hiding her face in her arms.

Something was definitely wrong. I couldn't stay there not doing anything, so I walked over to her. She didn't seem to notice me. I sat down to her, the grass rustling as I did, and then, she looked at me. No words were exchanged, I just locked my eyes with hers, and we stayed like this for a while. I was lost in a trance when she spoke to me, and my face immediately went pale.

"How much did you see…?" she asked straight, voice not shaking a bit. I felt my heart pound faster, and was afraid she might have heard it. Her eyes narrowed at me, but then her face relaxed again. "Silly me… Jumping to conclusions like that…" she smiled, a mocking smile, like she was mocking herself. I felt it, and it hurt.

"Haruka…" I murmured. She turned to me.

"Nanami…" she said quietly. I waited for her to go on, but she said nothing. Instead, she got up. "Never mind, you should go back to your dorm. It's getting late." She said and walked away. I sighed and stood up, watching her walk away.

"Haruka…" with a squeak, Doro climbed onto my head. "I know, Doro… It must be Eiichi. He is making her miserable." But why would he threaten her? What is that that he knew about her that was hidden from everyone? Asking Eiichi was one way to know, and asking Haruka was another, but both were hard. Haruka would never tell me that easily. And Eiichi… I wouldn't try and get involved with him in anything at all.

Maybe Haruka will tell me, when she wants to. Like she said, it was getting late. I walked back to my dorm only to be greeted by a very worried Leon.

"Nanami, where were you?" he asked in a tone of deep concern, mixed with some anger. "I was really worried something happened to you."

"S-sorry…" I bowed. "I'm really—"I stopped when he pulled me to a hug. My face heated up, but his touch was more fatherly than intimate, like a father who has found his lost daughter. He was warm and gentle. I was tired, so I gradually started to fall asleep. Leon noticed it, because he lifted me up gently.

"I'll take you back." He smiled sweetly. I nodded, drifting to sleep quicker than I thought. His steps started to fade as I finally made it to the inviting darkness of sleep.

Next day, Tomo kept talking and talking about how gentle Leon was, and how stupid I am for staying out at night, and how annoying that one student at her class was and how she wanted to punch him. She was pretty normal that day.

"Say, Haruka," she addressed me all of a sudden. "Do you know a student named Otori Eiichi?" I stopped walking all of a sudden at the mention of his name, shivers running down my spine as I remembered what happened the night before. I nodded slowly. "Oh, he mentioned you the other day, and I was puzzled. He has nothing to do with you, does he?"

"He…is the son of my previous mistress…" I replied, not wanting to talk about the subject. Tomo seemed to notice, and I was so thankful when she dropped it and switched it to today's lunch.

"Oi, Nanami!" The ever-so-energetic Otoya waved to me as I wandered around the Knights' dormitories. He, Syo, Masato and Tokiya were having lunch together again. I approached them and greeted them.

"Hello." I bowed. "How are you doing?"

"Good," Otoya smiled. "My trials are in two days. I have been training hard."

"Eh? You didn't look like it yesterday." I blinked in confusion. Otoya laughed nervously.

"He is always like that," Tokiya sighed. "He rarely shows real worry about anything." I glanced at Otoya and smiled. He was indeed bright and cheerful, which was why I liked him. "I should go now," Tokiya stood up.

"Eh?! You just arrived!" Otoya whined.

"I have to check up on Haruka." He said. I didn't realize I turned to him immediately and asked:

"Did something happen to her?" Tokiya seemed surprised for a second, but then his face turned back to his stoic expression.

"No, nothing serious, but she hasn't been to classes today…" then he started walking away. "I wonder what's up with her…" I sat down again, feeling a bit disappointed. What could have possibly happened to her? Thoughts raced in my head, and only stopped when Otoya shook me gently.

"Nanami…?" he asked gently. "Are you okay?"

"You are crying." Syo pointed out. I felt my cheeks and indeed, they were wet with tears, but I couldn't help it. I felt angry, annoyed, and sad—I didn't know how to put it. I wiped away my tears, but more kept flowing. I stood up.

"Excuse me," I said as I hurried out of the dorms, to that narrow hallway that lead to the dormitories. I stopped to breathe, and didn't feel the presence of Leon behind me.

"Nanami, what's wrong…?" he asked gently, placing his hand on my shoulder. I shook my head and said nothing. Leon rubbed my chin gently with his thumb and smiled. "Come on… I don't like seeing you like this." His tone became more playful, like a father talking to his child, as he leaned to my height. "Did someone bother you?"

"No…" I shook my head again. Leon didn't seem convinced.

"I'm not leaving you till you tell me." He folded his arms. "Now, what is it?"

"Where was Haruka last night?" I asked straight away. Leon's eyes widened slightly, but he tapped his chin like he was remembering.

"I don't quite remember…but I think…she…came back late, like two hours after curfew." The way his speech cracked midway was not making me feel comfortable. "It that what's bothering you…? You are worried about her?" I didn't realize I nodded. Leon smiled sweetly. "That's nice of you, Nanami…Haruka… she talks to me about you when she comes back from training. Are you two close to each other?"

Haruka talked about me? To Leon? And I thought she didn't care… But wait… her actions… They were—Ah, why did she have to be so complicated?! I wish she could just tell me everything about herself. But she liked being secretive about her life and past.

"We are…I think." I said, my voice wavering a little. Leon chuckled.

"You know… You…look a lot like my daughter." He said. "Every time I talk to you, it's like I'm talking to her." Then he paused. "I haven't seen her is 6 years, since her last visit. Her mother stopped writing to me…"

"But… why are they living away…?" I asked. "You are family, right?"

"We...are no longer married…" his tone dropped. I regretted asking the question. "She took my little Maria with her, and I've never seen her ever since that time." His tone was breaking, and I could feel my heart break too. Tears formed in the corner of Leon's eyes, but he held them back. "I'm sorry…I should not have bothered you with my personal issues."

"No problem." I found myself tempted to pat his back gently. The aura around him felt so familiar that I usually forgot he was an instructor of higher status. He didn't seem to mind that.

"Thank you for listening." He said after a while, his cheerful smile finding its way back to his face. "I will get back to my work now, and I will check up on Haruka for you as well."

"Thank you, Master Leon—"

"Sir is fine."

"O-okay, sir." I bowed. Leon patted my head and walked away, wishing me a good day. Lunch time was almost over; I had to get back to class. Tomo was waiting for me, worried, of course. We headed to class where we would be having our history lessons. Our teacher was a nice man with an attitude very similar to Leon, but a bit more cheerful. His name was Rupert. History was somehow boring, but his classes were anything but that. Students liked him, and most female students would giggle each time he spoke to them. Tomo always denied liking him, but I knew she did. Everyone did.

"So, Nanami, when was Sword Magic discovered?" The question was directed to me. I hurriedly searched through the book, but alas, he knew I was not focusing. Rupert flicked my forehead gently. "Ne, ne~ Focus please, Nanami." He said playfully. I hid behind my book as the students laughed.

"Hah, of course she has no idea!" It was Eiichi and his cronies. Tomo hissed silently and broke her pencil, earning a giggle from me. Rupert glanced at Eiichi and smiled sweetly, though his eyes said otherwise.

"Fine then, Eiichi. When was Sword Magic discovered?" he asked. Eiichi's laughter died down, and soon, everyone was laughing at him. Even Rupert. "Good. Next time, please put your personal grudges aside and spare yourself the joy of being laughed at in class."

"..Tch…" I heard him scoff. I laughed quietly and focused during the rest of the class. After we were done, and as I left, Rupert called me.

"Nanami, please excuse me," he said. I walked over to him with a puzzled face. Eiichi was standing there too. He looked like he could strangle anyone who dares make him angry. I silently hoped it wasn't me.

"Y-yes, sir?"

"You and Eiichi seem to be having a problem with the history of Sword Magic." He said, motioning for me to sit down. Eiichi sat down as well, but Rupert immediately turned to him. "Oh no. You don't sit." Eiichi growled and stood up again, folding his arms in anger. "Good boy. Now, you two, I have chosen the academy's best student at History to be your tutor. You will be having extra classes, and that student will be deciding when and where you are having these classes." We both nodded. "Now, Haruka, you can come in."

It was her, but she wore the long white robe teachers wear. She had glasses on, and her hair was tied back. Her face looked sterner than it usually was. She had a couple of books with her, and they were nothing near small. I felt myself swallowing heavily. What was Haruka like as a teacher?

And I soon got the answer.

"Eiichi! Focus!" Haruka stopped what she was explaining to hit Eiichi's head with a small book she had in hand. Eiichi muttered some curses under his breath and hid behind his textbook. "You will never pass the exams if you do not focus."

It was like that, every five minutes, she would snap at him. It was fun to watch, but I also had to focus. It seems I was doing better job at it than Eiichi. Haruka seemed pleased with me, and I was grateful. She was really scary. After two hours, our extra session was over.

"You two will meet me tomorrow one hour after dinner. Tokiya will escort you to my room. You better not be late." With that, she walked outside. Eiichi was going to mutter something again, but I could care less. I followed Haruka hurriedly.

"Haruka!" she stopped and turned to me. I stopped in front of her and looked up straight into her eyes, only then I had realized she was way taller than me. "Haruka, I—"

"Leon told me." She interjected. "I'm sorry for being so secretive; Nanami, I cannot tell you everything… Not yet…" she fell silent for a while.

"Haruka…"

"Anyway," she looked at me and smiled. It was a smile that I could actually see, and it was beautiful. "Thank you."

"Eh?" I tilted my head to the side a little with apparent confusion on my face, because she was chuckling.

"For caring about me…" with that being said, she left. I smiled wide, feeling all warm and happy. Eiichi had long walked out of the room, sulking. He looked at Haruka before he looked at me.

"Such a weird person, you are." He said. I glanced at him.

"Why?"

"Why do you care so much about Haruka? What do you possibly think you can gain? After graduation, she will forget you." He went on. I shook my head.

"No. I don't know why, but I'm sure Haruka will not forget me." I said. Eiichi scoffed again was walked away. I was feeling contented with myself. Well, all until my stomach grumbled. It was almost dinner time. Tomo would be waiting for me at the dinner hall. I hurried there as soon as possible. We had dinner like we did every day, and then we headed back to our rooms for the night. Everything seemed good enough…

Well, till next morning came…

All done for today. Hope you enjoyed, that is if anyone still reads this. I enjoyed writing it, and I'm not stopping. I'll try to make a quick update.

KuraiHaru17