Hearts of Monsters. Chapter 5.
Authors note: Hello once again everyone. Before we get started I would like to personally apologize for how long it took me to publish this. I know I keep apologizing for how long it takes for me to publish each chapter but at least I didn't take 4 months before now. And with that said, I hope you enjoy.
The walk to Ruby's apartment was long and silent, the only noise came from the crows roosting on all the tombstones and dead trees of the creepy forest surrounding the school. Eventually they came to a large gothic looking building with two extravagant gargoyles on either side of the front door, this was the faculty apartment building. Before they entered said building, Ruby turned on her heels to face Sora. "All right, Sora, listen," she told the other teenager. "If anyone asks, or my cousin who's staying with me while your parents are working abroad."
There was a brief pause before Sora spoke. "Did you just now think of that?" he asked in confusion and curiosity. "And why can't I just tell people why I'm actually here?" he questioned further.
"Because, Sora, if we go around blabbing to people that there are bunch of hooded lunatics that are hunting people down odds are that they'll panic, or at the very least worry. So until we know more about who and what were dealing with, we keep our mouths shut," Ruby explained to the boy. "And no, I didn't think of your cover story just now, I've been thinking about it for the entire walk here."
"Okay?…" Sora said in confusion, he wasn't used to working in secrecy and he wasn't entirely sure how he was going to be able to look around the school to get answers without causing the panic that Ruby's worried about. He would have to think about that later on, now he was following the young brunette like duckling followed its mother. And eventually, they arrived at her apartment. It was a fairly roomy place that was neatly organized with a large but simple black couch against the back wall with a glass coffee table in front of it. Opposite to the lounging area was a shelf with an average sized TV with a few different books and movies sitting above and below it.
"Make yourself at home. I'll go get some blankets," Ruby told the teenager and left for the back room. Sora walked around the room looking over some of the books by the TV until his saw one that caught his interest, a large tattered book with a magic circle on it. Feeling curious, Sora decided to pull the book from its spot and took a closer look, it was an aged, thick, brown leather bound book with a larger version of the elaborate circle on the cover that was on the spine. Curiosity guiding his fingers Sora flipped the book open around the middle and what he saw was a little surprising. The outside was ragged and old, but the pages inside were like that of a brand-new magazine and on these pages were numerous handsome men all dressed like wizards and warlocks. Each page had a different man in a different pose, but one thing they each had in common was that each position showed off their flat stomachs and toned muscles and that almost all of them weren't even wearing shirts, there was one picture that had a muscular young man in a forest with short black hair, tan skin, and was wearing only shorts, with a large wolf that had read fur by his side. This page of the book had large pink and red hearts drawn all over it and 'Jackson' was artfully written in the corner.
In the back of the room Sora heard the door open, he turned around and saw Ruby entering the room holding a gray blanket with two pillows on top of it. "Hey, Ruby," he called and the girl in question looked at the spiky haired teen. "Exactly what kind of magic book is this?"
When Sora asked his question, Ruby gave a small, high-pitched yelp as her face turned beet red and she dropped the blanket and pillows as she ran over and snatched her 'collection' out of the boy's hands. "I-Its reference material for physical education," Ruby stammered snapping the book shut and pulling it to her chest. Ruby, her face still red as a fire truck, then pulled her wand seemingly out of nowhere and pointed it at Sora's nose. "If you tell anyone about this book, I'll turn you into a frog," she said in a threatening growl.
"Yes ma'am," Sora responded almost immediately.
After Sora stumbled upon Ruby's secret book she decided that he would be sleeping on the couch until further notice, she was going to offer him her bed at first but decided not to, both out of anger and worry that he'd find the rest of her stash.
The next morning Ruby woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, she whacked the snooze button and begrudgingly pulled her face away from her comfy pillow and sat on her knees for a moment. Her once finely groomed hair was now a complete mess sticking out in every which way. She was currently wearing a black tank top with one of the straps drooping down her shoulder and baggy red pajama bottoms. Ruby's eyes were closed and she was still half asleep when she finally left her bed and entered the main room. Once there, she heard someone lightly snoring to the left, she turned to face the source of this noise and saw a teenager with spiky brown hair, and dark clothing comfortably and happily sprawled out on her couch, that's when she remembered that she agreed to let Sora crash at her place. He just looked so vulnerable sleeping with his tummy out, his mouth was wide open with a small trail of drool in the corner, and his blanket only barely held onto his legs. Ruby couldn't help but smile warmly at the defenseless boy sleeping in front of her, she then pulled Sora's blanket back over him and carefully closed his mouth and wiped the drool away with her thumb and wiped it away on her pants. After Sora was straightened out, Ruby trudged over to the bathroom for she was in desperate need of a shower.
Ruby stood directly below the running showerhead, the warm water flowing down her face and hissing across her skin. Now that she was fully awake, Ruby's mind was buzzing with thoughts of creatures covered in chains and black hooded figures; why were they here, what did they want, and why were they attacking other people? That one with the strange blue weapon seemed especially interested in Mizore, but that alone wasn't much to go on. Ruby heaved a heavy sigh, so many questions with almost no answers.
When she was dressed and done cleaning herself, Ruby exited the bathroom once again looking finely groomed and well-dressed. Sora on the other hand somehow managed to turn himself into sprawled out mess again. With a slightly exasperated sigh Ruby once again straightened up the sleeping Sora, only this time she used the blanket to wipe away the drool on his chin. She left a note on the coffee table with a spare key to the apartment telling him to lock up if he decided to go out, as well as what kind of food was in the refrigerator if he felt hungry. And with that done she quietly took her leave to begin the day at Yokai Academy.
Now it was just another Thursday morning in class 2-3. Since their homeroom teacher, Ms. Nekonome, was late the room was abuzz with idle chatter, even Tsukune and his friends were engaged in smalltalk. Yukari was trying to express some concerns about yesterday's events, but as usual, Kurumu just patronized the little witch and brushed off her words. Fifteen minutes after the first bell rang, the door to the classroom opened and everyone turned to see not the usual, flighty, bespectacled blonde that they all knew, but a tall young man with golden eyes, snowy white hair tied into a ponytail, and a very deep tan. He wore a white button down dress shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his forearms, black pants, and dark brown leather shoes.
"Sorry I'm late everyone, I got a bit turned around," the man apologized as he made his way to the front desk. Tsukune, Moka, Mizore, Yukari, and Kurumu all stared at the man with great surprise and the small amount of shock; to everyone else this man was a complete stranger but for Tsukune and his friends the snowy haired man's face was a familiar one that they had not seen in many years. "Now then, I believe an introduction is in order," the man said with a friendly but businesslike tone. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Xemnas, and I'll be your substitute teacher until further notice."
Authors note: Before I do my usual thank yous and shameless self-promotion, there's something things I'd like to address first. First of all, some of you have been writing saying that it felt like I was implying that Xemnas is the leader of Organization XIII, I would just like to clarify that was never my intent. I was merely trying to say that he was a part of this story, as much as I'd like to tell you how, I'd rather not spoil it for you. And now back to the usual spiel. Thank you guys so much for reading, I know it's been a while since I've last posted chapter for this story not the last one was pretty… Lackluster, but I assure you that I have not been slacking off for these past 4 months, I've been writing and publishing one story after another all of which I would highly recommend you check out, especially "Project DxD" which is arguably my best fanfiction to date. (And the beauty in those stories is that you don't really have to be familiar with the source material.) So yeah… It took a long time to get this made and I have a sinking feeling in my gut that the next chapter could take just as long, if not longer, to make. So until that time Follow, Favorite, and Review and I'll see you next time.