A/N This is an Intermission, and has nothing to do with the current goings-on in the actual story. Feel free not to read this chapter, but fair warning, you will not be aware of certain things that occurred in this chapter, that are referenced by the Guardians and Shigemori.

Chapter 19

Intermission III

Drowning in Tears! Linzang and Leo

I woke up in the quad of a school. I looked around and saw Leo lying on grass underneath a cherry blossom tree. It's the not the time of the year that cherry blossoms should be blooming… I shook Leo.

"Wake up… Leo, wake up!" I shouted to him. He jumped awake and looked around. He smiled at me.

"I don't care where we are as long as I get to wake up to your beauty." He said. I blushed and he gave me a kiss on my cheek. I helped him stand up and we looked at the dark night sky. The stars shined brightly in the black sky.

"How'd we end up here? Last time I remember, we were wandering the old village…" I said. Leo looked at me and sighed.

"Don't you remember? We finally decided to leave that homophobic hell whole and we fell asleep in the path. I guess that the wind must have blown us here." Leo said, pulling me closer to him. My eyes widened,

"W-We're solid!" I shouted and Leo's eyes widened in realization to. He looked at himself thoroughly.

"We should find different clothes than this though..." Leo said; looking unhappily at the peasant clothes we were executed in. I shrugged. I looked up at the tree.

"It's really pretty. Maybe we could visit it every time it blooms." I said. Leo nodded and looked at it with me. Suddenly, I heard a loud crashing sound and I turned and saw the head of a large bug-like creature.

"What's that? Is it another ayakashi?" I said, pointing at it. Leo grabbed me and ran over so we could look at it. It was towering over a boy and his ghost dog. He must not know that his dog's ghost has been with his ever since it died…

It made to attack him, but a girl jumped in front of him and protected him. The girl caught the bug in a box thing and destroyed it, and then sucked it into her staff. I looked back at the ground I woke up on, there's a staff similar to it lying there, but it looks more deadly…

"Leo. Do you know anything about where we are?" I asked. Leo nodded.

"I heard stories about an ancient land that attracted monsters, and a school was built on the land. People called kekkaishi protect the land at night. We must have ended up there…" Leo said. I looked back at the boy. He was frantically running off with the unconscious girl. I walked back to the staff and picked it up and observed it more closely.

"Do you think it does the same thing as the girl's?" I asked Leo. He shrugged and I held the staff up to the wall of the school and focused. Suddenly, a blast of water flew out of it and crashed into the wall.

"It's definitely different…" Leo said. I looked down.

"Do you think we're ayakashi now, Leo?" I asked.

"Well, if a ghost doesn't pass on and ends up in a place like this school, it's possible." Leo said.

"B-but, I don't want to hurt anyone…" I said. Leo put his arm over my shoulder.

"You don't have to; we still have our consciousnesses, so we're fine." Leo said. I looked up at him and smiled and he kissed me. I kissed back until I heard a buzzing sound. I pulled away and saw a bug ayakashi. I sliced it in half with my staff and turned back to Leo.

"Can we continue?" I asked. Leo smiled and we kissed again.

"Why do I always end up walking in on people at the worst possible time?" I turned and saw a blue haired woman walk up to us. She had tan skin and icy eyes with a serious, almost emotionless, expression.

"How are you?" Leo asked, moving himself in front of me protectively.

"I am a Guardian, a powerful ayakashi. My name is Christeenala. Would you like to come with me, I can take you to a place where you'll meet people like you." She said calmly. I looked at Leo and he nodded.

"Alright."

Suddenly, we were transported to a white castle. I looked around the majestic castle. Suddenly, a table appeared before us and other, presumably, robed ayakashi sat at specific spot around the table. Their robes are numbered. Suddenly robes appeared on Leo and I and numbers before us.

"You two are the new number 9 and 10." A deep voiced man said.

He nodded and we turned around and sat in the white throne chairs around the table, marked with our numbers. I looked at the other members and cowered a little. They all may have their faces covered, but their aura is immense. Each person's aura is overwhelming, Guardian level ayakashi…. Power almost like a god. Suddenly, my eyes went to number 4.

She sat in her light green robe, her legs crossed, resting her head on her arm, bored. Her aura is one of the most powerful here. Suddenly, my eyes went to number 5. The area around her is very…. Abnormal. It's like she can bend the world with just her will.

I leaned towards Leo and looked up at the number 1. The man who gave us our numbers.

"Everyone remove your hood; show you face to our new members." He announced. All of the members removed their hoods. So many different faces.

"So, what can these little brats do? Or are we just accommodating them just for entertainment value?" A rude voice sparked, destroying the eerie silence. I looked at the source, the woman sitting in the seventh throne. She sat similarly to number 4, but she had a much more obvious annoyance and boredom aura. Suddenly, a robed boy walked up behind the woman, but he didn't remove his hood.

All I could see was red hair sticking out and covering one of his eyes. Number 7 smirked.

"Ignore my apprentice; he still needs a bit of training." She said, pushing the boy back into darkness. Another robed member caught the boy as he fell back. She sent a glare at number 7, but number 7 ignored it.

"My name is Tsurosa." Number 7 said. "We all have a title, mine is Manipulative Model. Don't really like it, but it's not wrong or anything."

"I'm Lilium, nice to meet you." Number 4 said. Something told me not to trust her, despite how friendly she seems. "My title is The Serenity of Lavender, a very pretty name for a very pretty girl."

"You to seem to be very overwhelmed." I nearly jumped at the voice. It was from a person standing behind number 6.

"I am Gingross, Number 6's apprentice." He said, bowing.

"I'm Terratina, his master and number 6. I'm leaving now, Xorin." Number 6 introduced herself quickly and then left. Gingross followed her, but her stopped as they passed us.

"You two make a cute couple." He said, smirking. I blushed and he left.

"You two are very funny; I think I'll like you." Number 5 said. She pulled her hand down and smiled.

"Cereza-Torina." She stood up. "I have things to attend to. May I leave?" Number 1 nodded and Cereza-Torina turned.

"Let's go, Zinzin." She said.

"Yes Master Cereza." The short apprentice said, bowing to his master. He rushed after his master, but gave us a look. He turned immediately and vanished into the dark with his Master.

"Your letting many of the members leave Xorin, are you sure that's a good idea." Christeenala said to Number 1. He nodded and stood.

"Your all dismissed, return to what you were doing. Let's go Axis." Number 1 said. Another robed apprentice followed him as he left, vanishing in the white portal.

Christeenala sighed, "Prepare yourselves, the other members like to tease and taunt the new members for fun." With that, she vanished in a blue portal and left a cold breeze behind her.

I looked at Leo and rushed over to his side, grabbing his hand but hiding it in our robes.

"You new members are hiding something and I intend to reveal it." I jumped at the words. Leo and I turned to see number 3 behind us.

"I am number 3, Ziztain. This is my apprentice, Cognizine." Number 3 said, removing his hood. His white hair poured out of the head and flew everywhere, reaching down to his waist.

"Stay away from us, don't make it your mission to learn things that don't involve you, it will be the end of you. You too, Cognizine." Leo snapped at them. Ziztain smiled and turned to walk away, creating a white portal to leave the room in.

"But, knowledge is power, and it interesting to see what secrets simpletons like you hide." He said, before vanishing into the portal with Cognizine.

"You two seem to have gotten yourselves involved in things already." A purple fog appeared from nowhere and started covering the floor. I turned and saw number 8 standing… more like floating there.

He took his hood ff, "I'm Lisnoir, number 8. I do think we'll be seeing each other quiet often, since we are the newest recruits." With that he disappeared into a purple portal.

I turned and looked at Leo and smiled. I reached forward to hug him but he scouted away. I looked at him sadly. I nodded his head and I looked that direction. I turned and saw Lilium standing on the balcony above the conference room looking down at us, smirking. She turned and vanished into a green portal.

I looked around and looked at Leo. He hugged me, surprising me.

"I'm sorry, it's just... I have the feeling that we shouldn't be lovey-dovey in front of them. They all seem a bit…. Suspicious." Leo said. I nodded and buried my head in his chest. I'm happy I'm shorter than him… only by a little. He gently grabbed my chin and pulled me into a kiss. I blushed deeply and moaned a little into the kiss.

"My, my, do you look like a good kisser." We immediately broke apart and saw Lilium, back where she was.

"You two are so stupid; these portals are silent, you can have company without even knowing it." She said, disappearing in a green portal and reappearing besides us.

"Now, if I let this little secret slip to Xorin…. Things could get interesting." She said, slipping around his, annoyingly. "He's not very fond of things he deems, useless and in the way." Her smile, how can you say such awful things while smiling?

"Is that a threat?" Leo asked. She smiled. Within an instant Leo took Lilium's head off with his claws. Her body remained standing, walking around casually as her head regenerated. I looked at the old head, seeing it vanish into black gaseous dust.

"You can't kill me, but if I were keeping count that would be the 752nd time I've 'died'." She said. She jumped back into a portal.

"These things, so useful. Too bad it takes to much focus to keep them up or I would use them in battle." Lilium said jumping into another portal and reappearing on one of the gargoyles perched along the walls, merrily kicking her feet as they hung down.

"Now, Xorin already knows. My lovely apprentice Derra made sure of that. Expect to have a meeting with him very soon." She said. She jumped down from the gargoyle and vanished into a green portal n the floor. The portal closed, leaving me and Leo standing there alone.

Suddenly, a girl came running in with long purple hair. She stopped and took a deep breath,

"I'm so sorry! She made me do it!" The girl confessed. She looked at us with teary eyes.

"I-I'm Derra…. She made me tell Xorin y-your secret…." Derra said, falling to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I-I have a secret too… I'll tell you it to make it fair…" She took a deep breath, "My real name is Sincide, and I was born a boy…."

I looked at her with a "like, really?" face. I nodded, "I guess that kinda makes up for it…."

"Why do you listen to her if she makes you do bad things?" Leo asked.

Derra shrugged, "She was appointed my master; I have to listen to her. Emerix has the same problem with his master, Tsurosa."

Suddenly, a gray shimmering portal appeared and Xorin stepped out, followed by Christeenala. Suddenly, he summoned a silver claymore and immediately struck Derra sown, she fell to the ground. I looked at her in shook, but Leo held me back.

"She's still alive; otherwise she would have faded away into dust." Leo whispered to me. I nodded.

"You two are in a relationship, which will be nothing more than a distraction. Your sentence is execution." Xorin said, "I will not let anyone stand in the way of my goal."

"Wait, Xorin, this punishment is too harsh. I will lock one of them in the dungeon. They won't be a distraction if they are separated." Christeenala intervene. Xorin's claymore disappeared,

"Very well, see to it they are separated." He turned and vanished into a gray spiraling portal. Christeenala turned to us and gave us a sad look.

"I'm sorry, but one of you has to go to the dungeons." She said sadly. Leo stepped forward.

"I'll go."

"No, I'll go! You stay out here." I jumped in front of Leo. Leo leant over and gave me a kiss, and sneaked pat me. "We owe you our lives, Number 2." Leo said. He looked back at me.

"We will repay our debt and then leave this place, right Linzang?" He said. I nodded, tears falling from my eyes. He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug.

"You'll be ok, right?" I asked, shaking.

"I will, just don't get yourself hurt. We'll figure out a way to get out of this mess, don't worry. Be strong." Leo said. I nodded and wiped away my tears. He smiled at me and I smiled back. Christeenala gave us a sympathetic smile, before Leo disappeared into a blue portal under his feet.

I sighed as they disappeared. Derra stood up shakily and looked at me, tears falling from her eyes. I helped her up and she smiled at me.

"I'll help you get him out of the dungeon." She said, confidently.

"Thank you…." I replied, looking down.

Suddenly, a loud scraping sound screeched beside me and I looked over at Derra. She fell back, a giant golden claw striking her head. I looked up at the balcony, to see Tsurosa and a robed character standing there.

The claw retracted and returned to Tsurosa. She smiled.

"Lilium is disappointed by your insolence. She asked if I could take care of you, and I gladly agreed…. to take care of my precious apprentice's girlfriend." She smirked with every word. Suddenly, Tsurosa burst into flames, screaming the top of her lungs. I looked back to see Derra, barely standing. She spun around her weapon again, dual pistols. And fired again, sending huge fireballs directly at Tsurosa.

Tsurosa jumped out of the way and growled at Derra. I stood in front of Derra, just as Tsurosa lunged at me at a breakneck speed. Suddenly, the robed apprentice grabbed me and pulled me out of the way. Tsurosa crashed into Derra, and Derra blocked, but slide back and collided with the wall.

Tsurosa smirked and looked into the cloud of flaming dust. Derra stumbled out, pieces of her fading the way a fire fizzles out. She stumbled, dropping he guns on the floor, which reverted into the swords they truly were. She collapsed onto her knees and looked up and smiled at the robed boy that saved me, before vanishing in a giant red explosion.

The boy let go of me and dashed at his master, a weapon drawn from nowhere. Tsurosa kicked him aside easily.

"You let your emotion effect you the wrong way, let them empower you, not blind you." Tsurosa lectured, smiling the whole time. I shook my head and stood up. I focused my energy, and a large staff appeared in my hands. I looked at it, a metal circle with a knife decorated it's top, while blue cloth hung down from the circle. I held it in front of me and a blast of water shot out and collided into Tsurosa.

Tsurosa shouted in surprise and crashed into the wall opposite of me. She stumbled out of it, anger seething from her.

"Bastard! I'll make sure you never see your precious boyfriend again!" Tsurosa shouted at me. Suddenly, the apprentice, Emerix, jumped forward and swung his chainsaw against Tsurosa. She ducked backwards easily and kicked him into the air.

"I'm done playing around, dumbfucks! I think I'll let you join Derra now!" Tsurosa shouted. Her claws elongated and the chains wrapped around Emerix. The claws spun around him wildly until finally connecting with his body.

She gave the chains a sharp pull, and Emerix flew into the ground. He stumbled out, his chainsaw still roaring. He fell back, but caught himself and leant on his chainsaw. He looked at Tsurosa and vanished into a red portal.

"Ha, he ran away, the cowardly ass." Tsurosa said. She turned around and jumped up to the balcony, 3 stories up. She looked down at me and smirked before vanishing in a purple portal. I sighed and collapsed to my feet.

"Because of me, Leo is imprisoned and an innocent young ayakashi was killed, along with another seriously injured." I said. I shook my head.

Be strong.

"I'll be strong, and I'll save you this time Leo, just you wait. " I said.

"Are you OK? I saw what happened and I went and got Master Christeenala." I looked up to see a young girl with snow white hair looking at me worriedly. I nodded and stood up.

"Lilium and Tsurosa will be investigated, but I cannot do anything to them till I have proof, I am sorry." Christeenala said, "The only witness is you, and Amara, but that evidence is circumstantial."

I nodded, and looked at Amara. "Thank you for getting her." Amara smiled happily and rushed off, a trail of ice left wherever she stepped.

Christeenala looked back and sighed before returning her attention to me, "We've lost two apprentices today, and Number 3 has been killed by the Karasumori Kekkaishi. His lust for knowledge did prove to be the end of him. His apprentice Cognizine has taken over that number."

I nodded... looks like I don't have to worry about Ziztain.

"Our numbers a dwindled, so many of us have been killed. We are only down to 10 numbers now, 9 is you considering that Leo is…. Anyway, I've scheduled you to train with Amara today. You need to learn how to control that Water element of yours."

"Yes, and will you teach me how to use the portals too?" I asked. Christeenala nodded.

"That is a more advanced technique, even the most powerful Ayakashi, cannot multitask while creating a portal. Except for Cognizine and Axis, both have been blessed with power over space, although Axis had control of gravity specifically." Christeenala said "he will be joining our training session too. Be ready."

I nodded, Axis is Xorin's apprentice; I hope the superior hasn't corrupted him….

TO BE CONTINUED….

In INTERMISSION

Life in Training; Linzang and Leo part 2