Thank you all for the reviews :3 Please enjoy chapter six as much as I did.
Disclaimer: I do not own Xiaolin Showdown T^T
"Students," Shizuoka Fung announced at the start of the classes. "I am here to announce that the annual school Foundation Ball is tomorrow."
Waves of excited murmurs and suppressed laughter swept over the vampire class. This ball was the most anticipated ball every year and everyone looked forward to the wondrous food and dazzling aura the event emanates.
"As you all know, one family from the Pur-Sang hosts the said event," Fung continued. "And this year, the family who shall sponsor the ball is the De Luca family."
Kimiko's eyes widened. She did not see this coming. She wasn't even notified in any way by her parents.
"From your expression, I see that you didn't see this coming," Raimundo, who was a seat apart from her, commented.
"No, I did not," Kimiko replied. "So, I should lead the preparations?"
"No, Kimiko-chan," Alix answered. "The school will take care of the ball; your family will just be on the financial side of things."
"Oh," Kimiko said. "That's a relief. The balls I organize back at home then were a disaster."
"How was it a disaster?" Raimundo asked, mildly enthralled by this frank creature that spoke.
Kimiko reddened at this and said, "Well, I personally oversaw the food of a party once. You see, I like wasabi and on everything -"
"What?" Omi said, shocked. "Wasabi on everything? How does that taste?"
Kimiko laughed. "I got the same reaction from Aunt Deoderia. Same statement in fact!"
"Well, she was damn right," Omi mused. "If I were her, I would have also thought you were trying to poison the guests."
"Yeah," Kimiko agreed. "When the food was served, nobody touched a single dish there. They only resorted to drinking and I was glad that was enough. My father never let me touch the kitchen ever since."
Raimundo stared at her with growing interest. She was completely unlike all of them. The change of aura amongst the Pur-Sang was strange but welcoming.
Kimiko was aware that Raimundo was observing her. Strangely, she felt a warm sensation in her chest. She quickly suppressed the feeling and waited for it to subside.
"As you all know," Fung was saying. "This event is a formal gathering so, better put your finest selves forward, not that you all need a reminder, and find yourselves a partner."
A partner? Kimiko's thoughts echoed in shock. How could I possibly find one? I'm a newbie!
Raimundo noticed that Kimiko's cheerful expression changed to anxiety.
Good, he thought. Her worries are like those of normal vampire girls.
The class ended excruciatingly fast for Kimiko. The Pur-Sang walked back together towards their dormitory.
Alix looked at Kimiko with amusement.
"Don't worry, Kimiko," Alix said. "You'll find a partner."
"Yes, but – " she started, but just then, a young man who was a part of their class approached Kimiko with grace, bowed and kissed her hand.
At Kimiko's surprise, she blushed.
"You see, Kimiko?" Alix said, in fits of giggles.
"I see someone has broken the President's record," Omi said, amused. He was silenced when Haruna accidentally stepped on his foot.
"Greetings, De Luca Kimiko-sama," the boy with jet black hair said. "I am Yamamoto Ryou of your class. Can you do me the honor of being your partner for tomorrow night's ball?"
In Kimiko's shock she hastily responded, "Oh… I'm sorry. I'm already going with someone else."
The entire Pur-Sang froze in surprise. Only Raimundo remained passive, as if he was thinking of something deeply as he looked at the boy in question.
"Oh," Ryou said, saddened. "Alright then. I'll just see you there."
He left Kimiko, who in turn nodded mechanically.
"Why did you do that?" Omi asked. "I thought you had no date!"
Kimiko looked at him in her eyes that seemed like it was still in a trance.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I don't know what to say," she said. "I ended up saying what my father told me back then to say to men who were making advances in balls or events."
"De Luca-san," Abassi said. "Yamamoto Ryou wasn't making advances to you. He was asking you out."
Kimiko's eyes widened while Alix patted Kimiko's shoulder.
"Don't worry. I'm sure there will be plenty more who would ask," Alix said.
Kimiko sobered from her trance and said, "But I don't know how to say 'yes'."
"Haven't you had parties back then?" Haruna asked mockingly.
"We had. But my father always arranged someone to be my partner. No one has really asked me."
"SHIZUOKA-SAMAAA!" a girl's voice yelled from afar.
The members of the Pur-Sang turned. It was a sophomore student with auburn hair and a beautifully youthful face.
"Will you be my partner, Shizuoka-sama?" the girl said in haste, reddening greatly as she said it.
Omi snickered. Clay closed his eyes in impatience. Abassi adjusted his glasses to hide his amused eyes. Haruna looked at the girl with murder in her eyes. Luna and Alix sighed and Kimiko observed the girl with concern.
Raimundo approached the girl and smiled.
"I'm truly sorry," Raimundo said. "But I already made a commitment to someone else."
At this, Raimundo started walking to the entrance of their dorm, leaving his companions stunned and curious.
In Alix's room…
Kimiko stared at Alix as she prepared a cup of tea.
"What did Omi mean by breaking the president's record?" Kimiko asked out of the blue.
Alix laughed slightly. "You see, Raimundo is always the first one amongst the Pur-Sang who asked by people. Normally, tons of students would ask, but they always get turned down."
"Then, who would be his partner?" Kimiko asked.
"Haruna," Alix replied. "She always has."
"Is she his fiancée?"
Alix smiled. "No. You must know the Blood Orchid."
"Oh yeah, I forgot," the midnight-haired beauty said. The Orchid was the means of selecting the Shizuoka heir's spouse. "A pretty special way of picking a wife."
Alix nodded. "Yes," she said. "We all bet Haruna would be the pick anyway."
Kimiko nodded in agreement. But for some reason, she didn't want Shizuoka Raimundo to be wedded to Xiao-Yu Haruna. The feeling puzzled her.
The two girls went out together to find that the whole school has already found out that Shizuoka Raimundo and De Luca Kimiko already had partners. They also saw Omi observing the students, his eyes with a twinkle of amusement.
Kimiko sighed in exasperation. "Now no one will ask me to be their partner. They already know I have some invisible man to go out with."
"Your fault," Omi said, laughing. "I have never seen anyone quite like you."
"Who is your partner, Omi?" Alix asked.
"Haruna," he answered.
"What?" Kimiko asked. "I thought she was Shizuoka's partner."
"She's not," Omi said. "She's also wondering who Raimundo's partner is. She's distraught."
Morning came and surprisingly, all the students were wandering about. Alix explained to Kimiko that this was because they have to spend all hours finding a partner or getting themselves ready.
Kimiko laughed at this.
"So, who's your partner?" Kimiko asked.
"Clay-kun," Alix answered with a blush.
They decided to leave the dormitory for a while and stretch their legs for a bit. The two waked along the corridors when a girl with blonder hair and her red-haired companion approached them.
"De Luca-sama," the blonde said. "Is it true that you're Raimundo-sama's partner?"
Kimiko was taken aback. "What?"
"So, it's not you," the redhead said after observing Kimiko's shocked expression. "Then who is?"
"I can assure you, we have absolutely no idea," Alix said, moving away with Kimiko.
"I hope Haruna doesn't find out about these rumors," Alix whispered.
"What?" Kimiko said. "I didn't even do anything, I –"
"So," a voice said from behind them, "you're Raimundo's partner?"
Haruna was the one behind them, looking at Kimiko with something that bordered on menace and jealousy.
Kimiko faced her squarely. "You believe these rumors?" she said.
The students around them were backing off. No one wanted to be caught in between a fight of purebloods.
"The evidence supports the rumors," Haruna said. "No one knows who both of you are with. And even though you said your ploy last night was a mistake caused by panic, I still don't believe you."
Kimiko suddenly felt a stinging sensation on her hand. She looked at it and saw a cut bleeding freely.
Xiao-Yu Haruna has lost control.
"Stop this," a voice said, cutting off the tension sparking in the air.
It was Shizuoka Raimundo.
"What are you doing, Haruna?" Raimundo asked in a hushed manner.
Haruna did not answer but simply stared malevolently at Kimiko and her bleeding hand.
Raimundo followed Haruna's stare and his eyes widened.
"What did you do?" Raimundo said, his tone more silenced.
"Don't worry!" Kimiko said, smiling a quite childish smile. "I'm fine."
Just then, out of nowhere, two vampires that were clearly of the Sang-Contamine class jumped at Kimiko. Raimundo started to react but almost instantly, the vampires turned to stone and crumbled into nothing.
It was Kimiko who took care of the vampires. It seemed obvious since her eyes turned red. She stared hard at her wounded hand. A silver glow erupted and healed the wound.
Raimundo was surprised at how near the Sang-Contamine seemed to be to the school let alone how fast they reacted to the smell of a Pur-Sang's blood.
The smell of a Pur-Sang's blood and its taste – the most sought after and the most delicious. When a Sang-Contamine tastes the vampire race's purest blood, they gain their sanity. But it takes a huge toll on the pureblood's part because the law prohibits that they give away their blood for someone who is not a part of their class.
Kimiko's expression was somehow blank. Raimundo stared at her as she made her way out of the fray.
Raimundo was also somewhat surprised at how Kimiko could heal herself – an ability he has never heard of. He knew of regeneration, but that was when a vampire drinks blood. It wasn't even a complete healing process depending on the extent of the damage and the amount or value of blood drunk.
But Kimiko healed her wound without drinking anything.
Another mystery.
"I am sorry about that," Kimiko said, bowing to the people around her in apology.
Raimundo's eyes turned to Haruna, who was somewhat shocked by what she saw.
De Luca Kimiko had tremendous powers, from what Raimundo saw. She also had amazing reflexes. It was very much unlike the usual ever-smiling and cheery self. It was like another person comes into her body. But Raimundo did remember her acting defiantly in the first night they were in school. Then again, things aren't always what they seem in the vampire world. He had to do a closer watch on De Luca Kimiko.
"Alix, Kimiko, Haruna," Raimundo called. "Come with me."
The three followed Raimundo as they made their way back to the Gehenna dormitory.
When they arrived, Clay, Omi and Abassi were already there.
Raimundo turned to all of them, his eyes unfathomable.
"Haruna," Raimundo started in an eerily soft voice. "Kindly explain yourself."
Haruna's dark eyes lowered in reluctance. Then, they turned hard, as she faced all of them with held back tears.
"Forgive me, Raimundo," Haruna said. "But I cannot stand those rumors that you will be going to the ball with her!"
She gazed at Kimiko with utmost loathing.
"I heard of that rumor," Raimundo said. "Isn't that a very shallow thing to get upset over? Moreover, don't I have the option of choosing my partner, Haruna?"
The girl in question froze, as if she had been slapped by an icy hand.
"Shizuoka," Kimiko finally spoke out, her face back to its usual, caring self.
"Yes, De Luca?" Raimundo inquired.
"Is it not normal if a vampire, more importantly, Xiao-Yu-san, feel offended or hurt that you have someone else as a partner?" Kimiko asked. "From what I have heard from Alix-chan, she has been your partner for social occasions. I guess this reaction to the sudden change is expected."
The others looked at Kimiko in surprise. She was defending her attacker, an unusual thing to do. Especially standing up for your offender at the face of Shizuoka Raimundo.
"Even though those words compel me to understand more of Haruna's side, it still does not excuse her from the fact that she acted out of reason," Raimundo said. "May I remind you all that we are the model vampires of the society? We are the Pur-Sang. Any action we take can affect the vampires around us. Imagine how the others will react, Haruna, when they saw you lose control and attack Kimiko-san. That behavior was low and disgraceful."
Haruna's eyes filled with tears again as she lowered her head in pain. Kimiko, on the other hand, stared at Raimundo hard. This boy was acting like the leader of this group. And everyone besides Luna listened to him. According to her father, since she has already undergone full maturity over her powers, she was more powerful than the Shizuoka heir now. Even the others who had reached maturation can compete against him. But, they still followed him, which shows the extent of power and influence the Shizuoka heir has.
"Now I will see no one from this group who shall commit an act like that again," Raimundo said. They all nodded in obedience.
"As for that rumor," he continued. "I intend to turn it into a fact."
"WHAT?" Kimiko said loudly, almost instantly.
I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry it was so short :(
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