Firediva0: Thanks! It's not too bad. It's definitely different than middle school. I have to get up an hour earlier, and that's only because I'm a car rider. I have five classes a day instead of eight, and the lunch schedule is separated by three time periods instead of grade. I don't know; maybe your high school is different from mine, but those are the biggest differences to me.

HanyouExorcistAlchemist48: Thank you for your review! I hope to get a chance to find out what it tastes like! I think….

Hisuiryuu: Thanks!

Rebellious Lover: Thank you!

Ern Estine 13624: Thanks!

Abattles2: Thanks!

Inuyashamunkey: Thank you!

CrescentMoonTenshi: Thanks!

Alaina Kuski: Thank you!

MaxAngelOfDeath: Thanks! I wish you luck! And here I was complaining about getting up at six.

Adelsaro: Thank you!

AliceXxX: Thanks!

MedeinaYuri: Thank you so much!

The Lycanthrope Trilogy: Heart

Chapter 11: Games

"Kanda," I ask, "is it possible for Klaud to do physical activities?"

He glances at me. "What are you thinking in that maze of mind?"

I shrug. "I thought the pack could do something together. I mean, it's been over a month since Lavi's party, and things are really tense. Haven't you noticed?"

Kanda nods. From the floor, Alec says, "It sounds like a great idea. We can do some sports and maybe a campfire. It's been forever since my last cooked rabbit!"

"You two seem to have everything planned out. I'll put both of you and Lavi on that little committee. Two days," Kanda says.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

I stand in front of the game court. "It's kind of ugly, but volleyball can happen."

In the clearing, a volleyball net hung between to oak trees, courtesy of a few Air lin-lins. Sticks marked the boundaries. The trees around us towered so high that even in a large clearing, sunlight barely dappled the ground.

Lenalee smiled. "Looks good to me!"

Everyone but Tiedoll, Hevlaska, Alma, Chaoji, and Winters stood behind me. Hevlaska and Tiedoll volunteered to babysit Secret, while the others simply weren't interested.

I stand on one side of the net, Alec on the other, and say, "Fou."

She walks to my side, and Alec says, "Kanda."

Gasps released as the bluenette reluctantly joined Alec.

"Lavi."

"Lenalee."

"Klaud."

"Komui."

"Reever."

"Bak."

"Marie."

Miranda stood alone. "I-I'll keep score!"

I smile sadly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm not good with sports anyways."

"Miranda," Klaud said, "if I can hop around preggers then you can deal with your clumsiness and play."

"Yeah, come on. They have more boys anyways," I say. Lenalee stuck her tongue out. "And what's up with that? I'm alone in a testosterone filled world!"

"You're telling me," Klaud and Fou mutter.

We huddle up. I glance around my team. "Lavi, Reever, and Klaud, you guys take the back. Fou, Marie, and I will keep the front. Miranda, you stay middle. Okay?"

Fou says, "Shouldn't you put Marie in the back instead of Klaud? He can receive Kanda's serves better."

"You guys play volleyball?"

Lavi shrugs. "Sometimes. Kanda and Klaud are best, but Kanda can jump serve."

I face palm. "Why didn't you tell me this first?!"

I glance up for a moment, and Kanda looks over his shoulder, a smirk on his face. After a short glare, I turn back to my team. "Well, my thought was Klaud wouldn't have to jump much, but you're right. Marie and Klaud switch."

Once everything's settled, we put our hands over each other's. "One, two, three, SPIKE IT!"

"You ready to get creamed?" Alec asks. "We get ball first since you have an extra player."

I toss the ball to him. "All bark, no bite."

"You want to bet?" Kanda asked. I stick my tongue out at him.

Alec overhands the ball and barely gets it over the net, to which Fou has to dive before I can bump it back over. Komui sets it to Bak, who sets it over. Klaud bumps the ball over. Lenalee sets it to Komui, who bumps it straight up. Then, to my horror, Kanda runs from the back, jumps two feet in the air, and spikes it right at Miranda, who squeals and ducks, and the ball buries half of itself in the dirt.

I gape at Kanda, and he smirks. "That's two points."

Once Miranda gets over her trauma and Lavi digs up the ball, Alec serves again, but this time, it goes into the net. Since team captains have to serve first, I take the ball. I played volleyball in high school as part of PE and I got many people telling me I was a great player. Well, let's see.

Nervously, I overhand the ball. It soared into the back row, and Bak returned it easily. Marie bumped it to Fou, who set it, and Klaud spiked. Lenalee dove to get it, but it landed somewhere in the bushes. I got in two more serves and three points before Lavi hit it out of bounds. Two to five….

When Alec tossed the ball to Kanda, everyone stepped to the sides, barely in bounds, while Marie stood in the middle of our side of the court.

Come on, he can't be that good!

I watched as Kanda threw the ball about fifteen feet in the air. He then proceeded to jump several feet up and when he hit the ball, he front flipped. The ball, hardly a white streak, came straight at me. Not knowing what else to do, I hop to the side and kick it. The force took me to the ground, but apparently, I'm a lot stronger than I thought, because that ball? It went through the net, nearly decapitated Lenalee, and hit Kanda, who flew into an oak tree twenty feet behind him and when he fell, left an imprint.

I gasp and run to him. "Are you okay?! I'm sorry!"

He coughs and shoots the ball at me. "Our point."

"Whatever. I'll remember that," I say as he stands.

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"And who had no bite?" Alec asked me. I glare. "Shut up. Our team was two points behind."

Alec rolled his eyes.

Lavi says, "Hey, Yuu, tell Allen and Alec about Falling Rocks."

"Falling Rocks?"

Kanda nods. "A long time ago, there was an Indian tribe. The chief, Black Feather, had two sons, Strong Oak and Falling Rocks. One day, Black Feather fell ill, and since Strong Oak and Falling Rocks were twins, there had to be a test of some sort to see which one would be the next chief."

I frown. "They didn't have to fight to the death or anything like that, right?"

"No one fought," Kanda said. "Strong Oak and Falling Rocks had to go into the forest for three months, and whoever brought back the most animal pelts became chief. Three months later, Strong Oak came back with fifty-two pelts. The tribe searched, but couldn't find Falling Rocks. They continued looking for six months. Nine months. A year. And they're still looking for him to this very day."

"Really?" Alec and I ask in unison. Kanda nods. "Because when people drive down the road, there are signs that say 'watch for falling rocks'."

I smack him. "That wasn't funny!"

"Yes, it was! It was hilarious!" Lavi laughed. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Klaud's smile turn to a grimace. She quickly got up and walked into the dark woods. Kanda glanced at where she disappeared. "KlaNii?"

"I'm fine. I just want to be alone for a while."

He frowned and stood, but I did the same and put my hand on his shoulder. "No, I'll go talk to her."

He hesitates. Marie asked, "Kanda, Miranda has wanted to hear your version of 'Dark Horse' by Katy Perry for a while."

Kanda sits again as I walk into the forest.

As I pick my way around the trees, I illuminate the area with a ball of Light held in my palm. My eyes land on a figure curled up against a tree. "Klaud?"

She doesn't look up. "Leave me alone."

I kneel beside her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"It's not nothing," I say. She rests her chin on her knees, tears in her eyes. "The baby kicked."

"Congratulations!"

"Thanks," she murmurs. "But I promised YuKa that I would tell the pack who the father is when he kicked the first time."

I nod. "He told me. You don't have to be scared."

"But―"

I interrupt, "No buts. The pack will understand. Lavi and Alec already know, and they didn't reject you."

Amethyst eyes widen. "Lavi knows?"

"Yes," I say. Klaud quiets.

After a few minutes, she wordlessly stands and walks out of the forest. I follow her. When we get to the fire, I sit beside Alec while Klaud sits beside Kanda. They stare at each other before Kanda nods and kisses her forehead. He says, "Fou, come over here."

The woman gave him a confused look and moved beside him. When he slipped an arm around her waist, everyone else gave him a confused glance, especially Bak.

Klaud took a breath. "Um…I know that you guys have been wondering who the father of my baby is. It's…I…um…."

She looked at Kanda. "I can't do it."

He slipped his other arm around her. "It isn't possible for KlaNii to be a suspect any longer. Keep that in mind. Four months ago, she went out to a convenience store a little after midnight. Devit, one of the Noah, raped her."

Fou's face turned red from anger in an instant. Kanda glanced at her. "Calm down."

Her eyes blazed an ice blue. "You don't know what it's like to be raped! You don't know what it's like to have a monster's child inside you! To have no power whatsoever!"

"Fou, cool it," Kanda repeats.

"How can you be calm about this?! Why haven't you launched an attack on the Noah?! Do you care about Klaud at all?!" she screamed. Kanda closed his eyes. "Yes, I do. Launching an attack would only get people killed."

"Stop using that as an excuse! You only care about this pack when it benefits you, so―!"

She's cut off by Shadow blasting over the area. The fire went out. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. My ears picked up coughing, followed by a low, seething growl. I reach beside me and grab fabric. "Alec?"

"Shh," he said. "Kanda's going through an authority battle."

"Huh?"

"He's talking to Fou. Just in a different way."

"He's not hurting her, right?!"

"No, he's just talking, but while he's talking, she's unable to interrupt or respond. It's hard to explain."

I don't reply. As the Shadow slowly cleared, I see Fou crying in Kanda's arms.

"I'm sorry!" she cried. Bak didn't move from his seat, even though his face portrayed his worry for his mate.

Oo_oO_Oo_oO

"What did you do to Fou?" I ask as I walk next to Kanda back to the Order. I had pulled him away from the rest of the group to go to long way.

"Something from my past," he replied.

"What, like you were raped?"

He doesn't answer and glances at me, as if to say, "I don't know". I stop him. "What did you tell her? I mean, if you want me to drop it, I will, but―"

"Do you remember what I told you about my past?" he cut. I nod. "Your parents abused you until you ran away when you were twelve."

"And at twelve, I had the same body I do now, save for a few minor differences."

I look down. "You said your dad drank too much."

"Yes, so I knew exactly what would happen every Saturday night after he got home from the bar."

"I-I'm sorry," I whisper. Kanda continues walking. "Fou didn't know that. Actually, other than Marie, no one knew, not even Klaud."

I follow him. "You don't exactly…you know…act like you were ever sexually abused."

"There are two different types of people in this world. One type gets hurt and holds on to it. The other type gets hurt and realizes no matter what they do, nothing will change."

"But didn't you ever want to get even?"

"Didn't have to. Bad things happen to people who drink and drive."

"What about your mother?"

He shrugs. "Two years ago, I heard she got AIDS. I haven't checked recently."

"Checked?"

"There are lycanthropes out there that didn't like pack life. Same for vampires. I know a vampire that works at the university you used to attend. He's a normal human as far as I'm concerned, but I keep an eye on him regardless."

"So you've bitten people who went back to normal life?"

He nods. "Suman Dark. Timothy Hearst. They didn't have happy lives before I bit them, but they wanted to see what they could do with themselves. They have elements and transformations, but don't use them."

When we get to the Order, Kanda leads me to our room, something about knowing I'll ask something else. He knows me too well.

"Was there anyone who asked to be bitten?" I ask.

Kanda stares at the ceiling. "Yes. Lavi. Lenalee. Winters. Daisya. Hevlaska. Komui. Shiloh."

"Shiloh did?"

He pauses. "Shiloh wasn't exactly in a good arrangement. He had no relatives, so it was hard for him to pay for college. Prostitution became his answer."

I draw circles on his stomach. "I guess I was pretty lucky."

"Definitely. I guess you were bullied to some extent, but since you ignored it for the most part, I wouldn't consider it a big part of your history."

"Was anyone here bullied?"

"Well, I'm not going to say anyone who I have doubts on whether or not they would mind, but Lenalee was cyber bullied."

"Lenalee?"

Kanda nods. "Looking at her now, I wouldn't have thought she was either. When her parents divorced, people at her high school began picking on her. It became so bad she stopped talking at school or anywhere her classmates could hear her. Then it started on her Facebook account. When she was eighteen, I saw her cutting in her room. Granted, she was freaked out when a random man crawled through her window to take away her knife, but when I asked her if she wanted to get away from it, she said she'd do anything."

After a moment, I ask, "Did turning her heal her scars?"

"It can only do so much. If you really look, you can see the scars on her wrists from when she slit them once. Luckily, Komui found her before she bled out."

I wipe my eyes, knowing they're wet. "I want to hug everyone now."

"I won't stop you."

I laugh. "Yeah, but I might freak them out to some extent. Besides, I'd be scared to hug Marie."

"Are you still worried he'll eat you or something?"

"No, but he's scary."

Kanda doesn't reply. With a sniffle, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. He doesn't react at first, but after a moment, he slips his arms around my waist and moves his lips against mine.

When I pull away, he asks, "What was that for?"

"I don't know. Can't I kiss my boyfriend?"

He gives me a look, and I confess, "I just wanted to give you some love."

"I don't need―"

"I know, I know. You're too strong to need support, and what your parents did doesn't affect you anymore," I say. "But news flash, I don't fall for that crap."

He remains silent. I smile sadly and nuzzle into his side. "Kanda, it's not healthy for you to hold in things. I don't have a clue what it feels like to go through something like that, but you need to let it out to someone. Marie and Fou may know, but I doubt you vented."

He still doesn't reply. I turn out the light and roll over, my back pressed against his side. "Goodnight."

Where'd you go? Where's your home? How'd you end up all alone? Can you hear me now? There's no light. There's no sound. Hard to breathe when you're underground. Can you hear me now? Hear me now!

oO_Oo_oO_Oo

"I didn't have a choice!"

I frown and rub my temples.

"You don't understand."

I grab a cushion from the other side of Alec and scream into it in frustration.

"Um, you okay?" he asks. I don't reply and turn to Kanda, who sat on my other side. "I'm going hunting."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Okay?"

I stand and walk toward the mouth of the cave, but Kanda says, "Take someone with you. It's too dangerous to go alone."

"I can take care of myself!" I protest as I turn to look at him. Kanda replies, "I'm not taking that chance. I don't go out alone anymore either, so it's not that I don't think you can take care of yourself."

I sigh. "Alec?"

The ravenette stretches and nods. "Sure. I could use some exercise."

As we walk through the forest, I say, "I need you to promise something."

"What is it?"

I stop and face him. "I'm going to the border to get some answers. Don't tell."

"Of course," he says. "I figured you'd do something like this soon anyways."

"Then let's go," I say before I leap into my lycanthrope form.

Author Note: It's been too long since I added a cliffhanger! Let me know what you think and please, Please, PLEASE REVIEW! Hear Me Now-Hollywood Undead.