Here we are at Chapter 5. Time to learn a little more about Yukitsuki and Hiei. I do not own Code Vein. They belong to Bandai Namco. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 5. Enjoy.

Chapter 5: Scars

In their dorm room at night, Yuki, Hiei, and Hana sleep soundly. Well, mostly. Hiei had trouble falling asleep, but she pretended to in front of the others. She sat up in bed and stared at Yuki who was asleep. Walking over to her, she stares as Yuki sleeps. Undoing her yukata that she sleeps in, Hiei stares over her shoulder... at the large burn scar that runs across her back. She thinks back to the time when she got that scar, all those years ago.

...Flashback begins...

It was during the empire's attack on the Dragon Alliance, when Fuyumi went to forged an alliance between them and Anatolia. Hiei, a child at the time, was running through the streets of the capital, trying to flee the flames and the Lost. Her mother, who looked just like an older version of Hiei, pulled her along to safety.

"Come on, Hiei, we have to keep running!" her mother says frantically.

"Mommy, what's going on?!" a young Hiei asks, seeing the chaos around them.

Just then, a burning building collapses in front of them and they stop running. Hiei's mother looks for another way out, but then some burning debris from a second building falls and hits Hiei in the back.

"AAAHHH!" Hiei screams.

"Hiei!" her mother gets to her side and tries to put the fire out. She manages to do so, but Hiei's clothes and flesh were burned on the back. "Hiei, I'll get you to a doctor! Just hang on!"

However, the situation goes from bad to worse when three Lost appear through the flames. Hiei's mother hold her daughter close, ready to use her body as a shield. Hiei looks on, terrified at the monsters looming closer to her and her mother. Just as one raises its sword to kill them, the Lost suddenly gets slashed itself and falls to the ground. Hiei looks up, just in time to see a white figure cut down the remaining Lost. Fuyumi Kusanagi.

Fuyumi turns back to them, "Are you two alright?!"

"M-My daughter is hurt. She needs help!" Hiei's mother says.

"Let me see," Fuyumi checks her injury. "I can heal it a little bit, but not much. I've already used up some of my strength those monster," Fuyumi raises her hand to Hiei's back. Hiei feels a warm sensation on her back, but it doesn't burn like the fire. Instead, her wound begins to heal. When Fuyumi's done, the wound remains, but it's better than before. "I couldn't get rid of the scar completely, but she should be past the worst," Fuyumi walks behind them and fires off a blast of lightning, destroying the debris in their way. "Keep heading this way and you'll find imperial soldiers searching for civilians. You'll be safe with them," she explains.

"Thank you, Miss. Thank you," Hiei's mother cries in thanks.

Just then, more Lost suddenly appear.

"Get going. I'll take care of things here. Now!" Fuyumi says before running off to fight the monsters.

Hiei's mother carries her in her arms as she runs to safety. Hiei watches on as Fuyumi takes on the monsters in the flames, fearless of the dangers around her. That encounter would set Hiei on her future path.

...Flashback ends...

Ever since that day, Hiei has lived with this scar in her back. She fixes her yukata and gazes upon Yukitsuki. After that night, Hiei came to admire Fuyumi Kusanagi. If not for her, Hiei would be dead along with her mother. She decided that she never wanted to be that weak and helpless again. She trained hard and studied magic and swordsmanship. She proved skilled in both, especially the latter. The imperial family took notice of her skills and took her into their service, where she rose to become a member of an elite squad of warriors that work from the shadows. Ninjas that obey only the royal family, Kunoichi. Combat, assassinations, espionage, they did it all. Hiei would be partnered with Hanazuki down the road and the two became friends after that. They would work from the shadows for the imperial family for the next few years. Then one day, Princess Hikaru called them to her side for an important mission.

"Fuyumi's adopted daughter, Yukitsuki Crystalglove, will be attending the Royal Academy in Anatolia this year. She does not have her or Emilia's blood, so the noble children there will harass her and torment her when they can. Fuyumi is my mate, which means her daughter is my daughter. She is a part of the imperial family just as much as Fuyumi is. Luckily, there will be an exchange program at the school this year. This is my mission for the two of you. I want you to enroll as exchange students at the academy and watch over Yukitsuki. Become friends with her and watch her back from those that would harm her. But, try to keep the killing to a minimum unless you have to use deadly force. Is that understood?" she remembers Princess Hikaru's commands.

And that was how she and Hanazuki came to enroll at the Royal Academy, masquerading as the daughters of noble families from the Dragon Alliance. Well, Hiei may have been lowborn, but Hanazuki actually came from a noble family back home, so it was easy for her. She wanted to repay her debt to Fuyumi, who saved her life. What better way to do that than to protect her daughter? But, as she got to know Yukitsuki better, she saw how pure she was, how strong she was. She may not have had an easy childhood, but it's nothing compared to Hiei's. Hiei's body and soul are scarred and blood is on her hands. Could someone like her, who has spent so much time in the shadows, stands beside Yukitsuki in the light?

"Hiei?" Hiei looks and sees Yuki staring at her, realizing that her thoughts wandered off long enough for the girl to wake up and notice her. "Is everything alright, Hiei?" Yuki sits up.

"Y-Yuki?! Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I'll leave you be," Hiei quickly turns away.

"Wait. Hiei, I wanted to apologize for earlier," Yuki stops her. "I'm sorry about asking about your scar. I shouldn't have asked you something so personal,"

Hiei shakes her head, "No, it's not your fault, Yuki. I just..." she trails off.

"Would it make you feel better if I showed you mine?" Yuki asks.

"Huh?" Hiei slowly looks back, not expecting that response. Yuki starts pulling down her nightgown. "Y-Y-Y-Yuki, what are you doing?" Hiei blushes a deep red.

She then freezes when she sees it; the large scar over where Yuki's heart would be. Gasping, she can't turn away.

"When Mother Fuyumi found me, I already had this scar. I don't know how I got it, and I honestly don't remember much of anything before she found me. But, over time, I stopped worrying about it," Yuki takes Hiei's hand and places it upon her scar, which makes her jolt. "It's okay, Hiei. I just wanted you to see that we're the same. I don't care that you have a scar, and you shouldn't worry about mine. I don't want you to distance yourself from me, Hiei. I want to be close to you, okay,"

The moonlight sneaks in through the window and falls upon Yuki. Hiei freezes upon sight of the night beauty before her. Seeing Yuki's signature smile only makes her even more beautiful.

"Yuki," Hiei is mesmerized.

They stare into each other's eyes for what feels like an eternity until...

"Uh, sooooo... should I leave the room or something?" they look up to see Hana smirking down on them, having witnessed most of the show.

Hiei then realizes that her hand is still on Yuki's chest over her scar... and over her cleavage. Blushing madly, she retracts her hand and glares up at Hana.

"Hana!" Hiei exclaims.

Hiei didn't get much sleep after that from all the embarrassment.

...

School continues on for the next few days after that without much happening. Less students were being rude to Yuki after she continued to show off her talents, though that may be because she has the good favor of popular people such as Princess Iris or Sophia. Hana still gets the fearful looks from most students, except for those in her and Yuki's performing arts class. The female students in there are always looking forward to hearing her sing. Of course, there are still plenty of students that still give them grief for one reason or another. Just like right now.

"Hey, plebian, I've decided to eat here for the day, so get out of my seat," Raul barks off orders.

It's lunch time and the girls are all eating in peace. At least until that peace was shattered by this idiot.

"These seats are taken, so beat it," Hana retorts.

"You would do well to know your place, commoner beast girl. You are speaking towards a noble," Raul mouths off.

"Really? It that's the case, then you should mind your words as well. Yukitsuki is the daughter of a duchess, and therefore outranks you. And while I may be lowborn, Hanazuki also comes from a noble family. Our ranking system is different from yours, but in your kingdom's customs, she's the daughter of a marquess, which means she outranks you," Hiei notes.

"Oh, you never told me you were a noble, Hana," Yuki focuses on that part alone.

Hana shrugs her shoulders, "Eh, we're not that special. My family are the ones in charge of designing all of the imperial family's clothes. Heck, even the dresses and Alliance outfits that your two mothers wear were designed by us,"

"Hey, I'm still standing here!" Raul yells, causing a scene.

"Why are you yelling? We're only eating our meals," Yuki replies nonchalant.

"One, YOU are not of noble blood, just some commoner trash that woman happened to pick up off the street out of pity. And two, even if you're a noble from your nation, you are only a noble from the Dragon Alliance. This is the great Kingdom of Anatolia, the country that won the war against the Gravlon Empire," Raul looks smug now.

"Funny, from what I recollect, you sought out our country for aid against the empire and needed are help to win that war," Hiei notes.

Raul flinches as Hiei was right. Yuki's mothers told her about that. If the Dragon Alliance hadn't become their ally and aided them in the war, they might've lost to the empire. The situation was simply that dire.

"You should know your place, commoner. Just as you pointed out, you are lowborn, and therefore have no place at this prestigious academy, just like that piece of trash there," Raul points at Hiei and Yuki.

Hiei glares at him, "Do you want a repeat of what happened last time you and I fought?"

Raul sweats at that painful memory. Not only did Hiei defeat him when they sparred, she completely dominated that fight.

"That's quite enough, Lord Raul," they hear to see Princess Iris walking forth. "For one who claims to have such respect for nobility, you are severely lacking in its decorum,"

"Y-Your Highness, of course I respect the prestige of the nobility and our decorum. I was merely trying to educate these people here on the complexities of it so they don't make any mistakes," Raul says, but he's not very convincing.

"Before I speak on that, let me remind you that noble rank does not matter at this school. What matters here are our own efforts and the results we produce from them. But, if you value social status so much, then let me remind you of something else. These two are part of this school's exchange program with the Dragon Alliance in order to further strengthen ties with our ally. More importantly, Yukitsuki Crystalglove's status as Duchess Emilia's daughter has been recognized by the royal family, MY family. If my family has the highest authority in this fair kingdom, then our decision might as well be the law. So respect it and go eat somewhere else. There are plenty of other seats to dine at," Princess Iris shuts him down completely.

Not wanting to insult the princess, Raul takes his leave while glaring at Yuki's group.

"How tiresome," Yuki sighs.

"He's all bark and no bite," Hana notes.

"I'd say that hopefully he changes his ways, but something tells me that won't happen anytime soon. If it's alright with all of you, may I join you?" Princess Iris asks.

"That's fine with us," Yuki nods.

As the girls eat, Raul leaves the cafeteria, steaming.

"Those filthy degenerates. How dare they insult me. The princess won't always be there to protect them. I'll make that commoner wench regret it and begging me for mercy. I swear it," Raul seethes as he walks off, not noticing Sophia Ramona watching him from the shadows... and she's not smiling.

After lunch they all have combat class. Captain Cruz stands in front of them.

"Today is a day I'm sure some of you are eager for. Sparring day. To the side are an assortment of training weapons that you may use at your disposal. I am also aware that some of you are very adept at magic. Magic is very good to have, but it won't always save you, and it has its flaws. That's why sometimes, cold hard steel is the best option. I'm sure you all have at least gone through the basics of swordcraft in your youth, but how far have you come and how far will you go? I will determine that myself today. The only weapons at your disposal are those on display and your own bodies. Remember that. If anyone gets injured, we have mages on standby for healing," Cruz states.

Students who are chosen walk over to the weapon selections and choose one. As the matches go on, eventually it's Hana's turn. She grabs a pair of daggers and heads to the combat zone. A boy who's her opponent grabs a spear. They take their positions.

"And... begin!" Crus starts the next match.

The boy charges with his spear. Hana smirks and waits for him. He gets close and thrusts his spear at her face, but Hana parries it with her daggers. The boy makes several more thrusts, but Hana deflects each one. The boy swings his spear at her legs, but Hana stops it with her daggers. She smirks again and throws up one of her spider legs at his face. Her opponent barely leans back in time to dodge it. Hana rears up on her back four legs and then starts attacking with both her daggers and her front four spider legs. It doesn't help the boy that her legs end in sharp points.

"Hey, you can't do that! That's cheating!" the boy yells as he gets pushed back on the defensive.

"I said use your own bodies as weapons if need be. This is perfectly within the stipulations since she is an arachne. Continue the match," Cruz says.

Seeing his only lifeline cut clean off, the boy freaks out from Hana's onslaught. She continues the flurry of attacks until he loses his spear and falls to the ground. She stands over him with a leg aimed at his throat.

"Enough. Match over. Well done, Miss Hanazuki," Cruz calls the match.

Hana bows and walks off while her opponent slumps away in defeat. The next match is Hiei's. Though she can't use her own sword, she makes quick work of her opponent with a longsword at the ready. Yuki was happy and impressed with how skilled the two of them were in swordsmanship. At least she has the edge in magic between the three of them. Then came her match. Wielding a longsword of her choice, she walks up to find Raul as her opponent, wielding the same weapon as him.

"I was hoping I'd get to fight you, commoner," Raul growls.

Yuki sighs, "I was hoping to have a peaceful afternoon today. Guess not. I'll just have to make this quick,"

"You little- you think you can beat me that easily?! I'll make you regret those words," Raul grits his teeth.

"Enough with words. Use actions now. And... begin!" Cruz starts the match.

Raul charges at her, swinging his blade down. Yuki parries the strike and he runs past her. Stopping, he turns and makes a thrust at her chest. Yuki parries it again. Remembering her mother Iris's sword lessons.

"Use your enemy's momentum against them. Keep your emotions in check, and make them move as you want them to. Control the flow of the duel and you can control the outcome," Iris's words ring out in her head.

Raul swings at her side, but she flips over the swing. Landing behind him, Yuki kicks his back. Raul stumbles but stays upright. Growling, he lunges at her again. He makes a series of swings, but Yuki sidesteps each one.

"Stand still and let me hit you already!" Raul yells.

"Why would I want to do something foolish like that?" Yuki replies.

Raul swings low at her legs, but Yuki jumps over the swing. Deciding that enough is enough, Yuki goes on the offensive. She makes a series of quick thrusts at Raul, forcing him to step back. Yuki manages to get a strike in on his left knee, making him buckle. She follows it up by holding her sword in a reverse grip and wings low to knock him off his feet. Landing on his ass, Raul looks up to see Yuki standing over him with her sword aimed at his head.

"Enough, that's the match. Good work, Lady Yukitsuki. Lord Raul, don't just rush in blindly like a mad dog. Keep your emotions in check and decided when to attack. You have a lot to improve on," Captain Cruz critiques them.

While Yuki calmly walks away, Raul glares menacingly at her back. The class ends not long after that and Yuki's day goes by without much else happening after that.

...

Meanwhile, in a dimly lit room where only candles give light, several men in dark cloaks, their faces masked by shadows, convene around a round, stone table.

"So, we are sure Fuyumi Kusanagi is outside Anatolia right now?" one male voice asks.

"Indeed, though for how long, we don't know. If she wants to, she can return to Anatolia at a moment's notice with her powers," another says.

"As long as we have a window, even a small one, that's enough. The members of her family are too strong or too heavily guarded to go after. At least, most of them. We've learned that her adopted daughter, Yukitsuki Crystalglove, is currently enrolled at Anatolia's Royal Academy. Security there won't be as heavy, and this presents a golden opportunity. We can't go after the leadership of the Gravlon Empire, or the Kingdom of Anatolia; the architects of our demise. Especially since the former leadership of the empire has already been dealt with during the war. However, that vile woman was still a major thorn in our side. This is how we get our revenge and set things right," an older voice says.

"Do you think this 'Yukitsuki' is the one we previously lost?" a fourth asks.

"I believe so, which means we must retrieve her, no matter what, so that we may finish what we started. This way, we can kill two birds with one stone," the first asks.

"What about HER? She's still searching for us. Worse, what if she finds out about Fuyumi's daughter and gets to her before we do? And no doubt she still harbors a grudge against us for stealing her research materials and stabbing her in the back," the fifth and final voice asks.

"All the more reason to get Yukitsuki before she does. Yukitsuki is the key to solving all of our problems, claiming our revenge, and bringing us closer to our final goal. We will act as soon as preparations are ready. For the will of our goddess," the older voice says.

"For the will of our goddess," the others voice out together.

...

Late at night, outside the capital of Anatolia, a cloaked figure gazes upon the city from a hilltop.

A smile is seen from within the cloak, "I finally found you... my lost little gem," a female voice mutters.

And that's the chapter. Yukitsuki continues her time at school, and growing closer to her friends. Meanwhile, forces lurking in the shadows begin to make some moves. What will happen next? Who are these mysterious figures? Until then, please Read and Review.