Chi no Toorimichi



♥ Far From Normal
♥ Smooth Assassin?
♥ Suzaku Gakuen
♥ Consequences
♥ Helping Hands
♥ Natsume Residence
♥ Single-minded Misunderstanding
♥ Nuisance
♥ Affair...
♥ Reunion
♥ Promise
♥ Playing Fools
♥ False Alarm
♥ The Truth
♥ The Past and a New Student



Updates every Friday of the week!

Author's note:

The earlier chapters are fixed, just wait for updates to further understand the story!

Chi no Toorimichi
Chapters:






Chapter 1:

Far From Normal


Inside a karaoke bar, at room #5, 4 ‘normal’ high school students have fun for except one. Just sitting at a corner, Takada Akira, a studious straight-A student of Suzaku Gakuen, reads her book. Even though her father owns the school, she’s just the president of her class, not of the student body council. She’s cold hearted student yet she has a very good friend, always beside her.
“Akira? Akira?! Can you hear me?” Chiaki yelled as she looks down at Akira.
Sakurano Chiaki, a cheerful, cute high school student, Akira’s best friend. Chestnut brown haired and is always everyday, have different hairstyles.
“I can hear you, you don’t have to shout! Though it normal, it shouldn’t be this noisy here in a Karaoke Bar!” Akira said looking pissed. In the room, across Akira, on the other side of the table sits Kaneyuki Mizue, a half French half Japanese girl with long blonde hair, a blue eyed bishoujo. The one singing and making all the noise is Mizue’s gay-ish assistant, Narumi Tohru, a normal guy, no special characteristics.
*Pachelbel’s Canon in D Major Tone rings*
Akira picks up her phone, “Hello?” she answered. “Takada Akira speaking…”
Tohru has finished his song; he approached Mizue, sat beside her and said,
“What a weird ring tone you got there, geek-face?” Tohru said.
“I understand…” Akira said to the person on the other line as she looks at Tohru whose still complaining, then she hung up, puts her phone in her pocket, and stood up. “Excuse me, I have to go…”
“Where are you going? Chiaki asked worriedly.
“Don’t worry, Chiaki-chan, it’s just the usual!” she said smiling. “Narumi, do take care of them!”
“Who are you ordering around?!” Tohru said as his sight follows Akira who is walking toward the door.
“Just do what I said!” Akira said and left.
“Ren’s coming, why I would do that?” he added.
“For her to call me with a horrific, it must be -” Chiaki thought.

Outside the room, Akira started to walk towards the receptionist’ desk then turned left for the exit.

“Takada, where are you going?” A tall guy with black hair and violet eyes just like Akira’s said.
“Natsume Ren, you’re late! Chiaki’s waiting for you, excuse me!” she said then passed by him. Outside the building, a black car waits; a man with black suit approached her, took her bag and said,
“You have a mission. We have to go.” He opens the car door and Akira enters. He went in as well and the car drove off.

The next morning, an alarm clock rings. Akira woke up and turns off the alarm. She sat up and then looked like she just realized something,
“It’s Saturday, there’s no school, for today…” she said. She gets up from bed and fixed it. After that, she went straight to the bathroom.

Later, in the living room, Akira enters, wearing fresh new clothes and a fresh face. She opens the T.V. and sets the volume up really high and left the room. She enters the kitchen and started to make some breakfast. At the news:
“…and a good day to all. On with the headlines.” said the news man.
“A well known criminal, Shinohara Kenta was found dead in his apartment this morning. The police are investigating the scene, and found the killer’s possible motive: the case file containing data about his murder case which had a trial and results his victory. It seems like Mr. Shinohara cheated on his case. He is indeed a murderer, as said by the –“then the TV was turned off by someone.
“A-ki-ra! ~” a woman yelled as she walked directionless towards the kitchen. She finally enters and Akira, who looked pissed, opened the pancake maker.
“Please don’t shout in my house, Hiragi Ringo.” She said gently and takes the pancakes out. She then looks at the woman. “So, do you have them?” she asked.
“Smiley pancakes, I never thought that you’ll be making some.” Ringo said jokingly as she smiled at Akira. Akira kept silent and then Ringo’s smile turned to a serious face and said, “Okay, here’s what I have for you!”

At a supermarket,
“Are you sure, that’s what you saw?” Natsume Fuyumi asked as she looks at the merchandise.
“Yes, it’s unusual, but maybe because Chiaki was there as well. Takada Akira was in that bar.” Ren answered as he pushed the cart a bit.
Natsume Fuyumi, Ren’s older sister, has short brown hair and green eyes. She’s a teacher at Suzaku Gakuen.
“So, did you hear her angelic voice?” Fuyumi asked.
“She was leaving when I saw her, so I didn’t and please don’t exaggerate!” Ren said as he blushed.
In Akira’s living room, Akira listened seriously at Ringo…
“You got all of them?” Ringo asked.
“Yes, thank you…” Akira said. “The payment has been sent, you can leave now…”
“Okay… I hope you feel better…” Ringo said then left.
Akira stretched her arms and yawned. Her phone then rings, she picked it up, “Hello? Takada speaking…”
“Akira! Are you alright?” Chiaki asked.
“I said don’t worry didn’t I?”
“It’s the guy on the news earlier, right?” Chiaki asked.
“Yes, he’s a cold-blooded murderer… No doubt about that!”
“Oh, uhm… Ren-kun talked to me last night!” Chiaki cheerfully said as she tries to change the topic.
Akira smiled and said, “That’s good, isn’t it? Well, what did you guys talk about?”
“Things you won’t pay attention to…”
Akira was in silence and then she said, softly, “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing! So, for ditching us in the karaoke bar, why don’t we go to the mall?”
“That’s fine with me…”
“I’ll see at the station at 10! See yah!”
“Yeah, I’ll be seeing you…” then they both hung up.

At the Sakurano resident, Chiaki just puts down the phone, sighed and said, “Where should we go first?” then she smiled.

In a room filled with the aura of darkness, 10 men sits on a round table, their silhouettes are all you can see, there’s a woman across the room sitting on a big chair under the huge emblem of Suzaku Gakuen. On her left side, Ringo, and the right, a man… And that man said,
“Shouldn’t you guys give her some time out? Her missions from us aren’t just the problem she’s carrying!”
“I know that, and I know what you feel, seeing your own child kill for money… But still, she’s our best weapon for the job.” A man from the table said.
“Akira’s not a weapon…” the man with Ringo replied. “She’s just 16, no matter what! You should keep her at least a week away from blood.”
“But blood is Akira’s drug…” another man said.
“My dear Mr. Takada, to whom do you think we should give her missions to?” the woman said.
“I’ll take it!” a man’s voice said.
“Does anyone disagree?” Ringo asked.
“None…” everyone said.
“Kagami…” the woman called, “Failure isn’t an option and has its consequences. Kill the target without a trace.”
“I understand, Lady Yuuki…” Kagami finally shows up behind a man, he seems to be that man’s pet… He’s a blonde young man with heterochromatic eyes, the left blue, and the right one green…


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Chapter 2:

Smooth Assassin?

10:56 AM; at the mall…
“Isn’t this great, Akira? It’s been a while since we went out together!” Chiaki cheerfully said as she held Akira’s arm.
“Yeah, and I’ve been waiting for you at the station for 23 minutes! You’re not quite punctual, are you?” Akira said with her eye twitching in anger.
“Now then, where should we eat?” Chiaki looks around…
“Chinese… I want Chinese today… Treat me!”
“Hey, that’s unfair!”
“You’re late!”

11:02 AM; in front of the Chinese restaurant…
“T-Takada? S-Sakurano? What are the two of you doing here?” Ren asked
“Oh, Natsume-sensei!” Chiaki called, “Ren-kun, we’re friends; we go out for once in a while! Plus, it’s normal, right?”
“Well, if he thinks one of us is a lesbian, that’ll make a totally different meaning!” Akira jokingly said.
“That one is funny, Akira…” Fuyumi said. “Ren, do you want to accompany these two, I can handle these myself…”
“Okay…”
“You really have a plan to…” Akira said.
“If it’s alright with teacher, then it’s fine with us!” Chiaki said.
Inside; Akira, Chiaki and Ren enters the restaurant.
“That’s Takada Akira!” Kagami said, he’s inside the restaurant wearing a disguise. He looks at his wrist watch, its 11:10 already. “Hehe, I’ll show you!” he thought.

Earlier that day, Kagami is being briefed with the mission…
“The target always goes to this Chinese Restaurant at the mall at exactly 11:10 AM… He got two bodyguards so be careful…”
“Heh, just two? That’s quite easy!” Kagami boastfully said.
“Being second to that girl humiliates the world of men! I will do this without a single mistake!” Kagami thought.

Back at the restaurant, a man in an office uniform entered, he’s alone… He sat down on the empty table beside Kagami’s. He looks around and orders, and then Kagami looks at Akira who seems to notice him. Her friends are ordering from the waitress. Akira looked away and ordered at the waitress as well. Kagami got a bit mocked by Akira’s reaction so he stood up and took a bag with him. He pulled out something from in it and passed the man beside his table. After Kagami was about 4-5 seconds away from the man, he dropped dead. Everyone panics and Akira looked straight at Kagami who’s smiling really proudly.
“What’s happening?” Ren asked.
“Let’s get out of here!” Akira said.
“What about our food?” Chiaki asked.
“Don’t worry, a guy just died, we won’t be able to eat properly here, let’s go somewhere else!”
“Okay!” Chiaki finally agrees and grabbed Akira’s hand and took Ren’s as well. Akira walked first trying to pass the panicking crowd. They finally got to safety and Akira looks around, she sees Kagami entering a being repaired room. She looked serious and thought, “What an idiot!?” She looked at Chiaki and Ren who was catching their breath and said, “Let’s go out of this mall…”

In the room where Kagami entered, Kagami gets himself ready to get out of the mall, changing his clothes and removing his disguise…
“How cool can I get!?” he though proudly to himself, and then after changing, he left the room.

Outside the mall, Akira and Chiaki sits on the bench while Ren stands up eating some crepes. Ren looked curiously at the food.
“How can this fill my stomach?” he asked. “I don’t think this is lunch for me…”
“Well, girls do have smaller stomach than boys! I’m hungry, I’d want something more than this but the mall is in chaos right now.” Akira said.
“Yeah… What could’ve happened to that man?” Chiaki asked.
Kagami approached Akira and company with a smile and said, “Hello!”
“Uhm, is there anything you need from us?” Ren asked.
“What do you want?” Akira asked as she bit from her crepe.
“So, what do you think?”
Akira looked quite pissed and as she looks at Kagami she thought, “Asking me such nonsense, and in front of civilians?! What a huge idiot!?” then she sighed. Chiaki noticed that and held Ren in the hand and said, “Let’s go get some ice cream!” and as she stood up, she pulled Ren towards the direction of the ice cream stall.
Akira looked at them and then at Kagami, she finishes her crepe and said, “That assassination was the worst that I’ve seen.”
Kagami got angry and said, “Heh, then tell me! What could you have done?”
“Don’t let anger get to you, accept my criticism!” Akira stood up and looked Kagami in the eye and held his hand. “You poisoned the man, there’s no need to kill him in the restaurant! Probably, the intel says that he’ll be there, so you finished it just there, I’d stalk him for a while and kill when no one is around… You’re quite in a hurry… Slow is smooth, smooth is fast…”
Kagami looked at the blank space like he’s day dreaming, he got to his senses and pulled his hand away. “What was that?” he said.
“Leave, I don’t need you here! Where’s Eri?” she asked.
“None of your business!” he said and left.
“Eri?” she asked again and looked at Ren and Chiaki who was approaching.
“Here, chocolate ice cream!” Chiaki said as she gives ice cream to Akira.
“Thanks!” Akira said as she smiled.

That night, Akira just got home; she unlocks the front door and entered. She removes her shoes and went straight to the living room and sees Kagami, feeling at home, watching the TV and is drinking some of Akira’s favorite tea. Akira seems annoyed and sat down.
“Is my house that easy to enter?” Akira asked.
“Your father sent me here, gave me a key!” Kagami said.
“Why?”
“You’re off from missions for a week or two… I’ll be staying here with you for that time…”
“I don’t need your company! I can’t see any reason for this, yours is pathetic!”
“I can’t disobey him, my godfather!”
Akira looks down and said, “Fine, if you’re gonna stay here, follow my rules!”
“Okay!”
“I’ll be adding up rules so don’t slack too much! Excuse me; I need to do my homework…” Akira leaves Kagami and went straight to her room, she lies on the bed and thought, “…away from precious blood, huh?”


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Chapter 3:

Suzaku Gakuen

Monday morning, at the Takada residence…
Kagami was washing dishes at the kitchen and then, he sighed. Akira went down from the stairs and was ready for school.
“What was that heavy sigh just now?” Akira asked loudly.
“It’s nothing!” Kagami yelled back. “I can’t believe she just added 23 rules yesterday!” he thought.
Akira was walking on the sidewalk when, from behind, Ren approached her.
“Good morning, class president!” he greeted.
“Good morning, student council president…” Akira replied.
Ren smiled and asked, “Where’s Sakurano?”
Akira sighed and said, “We may be best of friends but we don’t go to school together, our houses’ directions are opposite. Didn’t you notice that?”
“Oh, I do notice that!” Ren smiled pathetically and looked down at Akira seriously. “Why are you so quiet?” he thought.
In front of the huge gate, an old yet beautiful one, Ren stopped and said,
“I have some appointments; you can go onto class before me! I’m sorry!”
“What are apologizing for? I don’t mind…”
The gate opens and Ren entered first, hurriedly. Akira enters as well…

Ren runs towards the huge building of the school, it looks medieval but it was marvelously beautiful. The crest of the school acts as the clock. The spacey stairs occupied by students who are just passing by and are just hanging around… Akira walks the pathway to the building which is adorned by beautiful red and white roses… The cherry trees bloom and compliment the roses below… The wind blows gently and brushes Akira’s long hair. She climbs the stairs and passes through the students sitting on the steps. She finally enters the building, the walls adorned with great architecture and superb stairs; everyone will look like a noble by just entering this school. The symbol, Fleur-De-Lis is on every wall’s design. Phoenix statues and sculptures are on display everywhere. The windows in the classrooms are huge and the chairs look like the ones on a king’s living room. Akira enters her room and looks around…
“She’s not here yet…” she thought.
“A-ki-ra~!” a student called, Akira turned around seeing it was Chiaki, she jumped on Akira and embraced her tightly. “How was your sleep?”
“Chiaki… Please, don’t do that!”
“Uhm, Miss Takada…” a young man’s voice called. Akira turned around. It was her classmate who called, Shibuya Kino… He looked worried about something.
“Is something wrong?” Akira asked.

Akira and Ren stood outside the Researcher’s Club room.
“So, this is the former Alien-believers club I dissolved…” Ren said. “This is bad!” he thought.
Ren opened the door and there stumbled four geeky boys, each in front of a computer.
“Gah! It’s the president!! No, two presidents!!” one of them said. “It’s the alien!” he added.
“Alien?” Akira looked pissed. “Is this really a research club?” she thought.
“You’re wrong! We’re given a wrong information!” one of them said, he seems to be the dominant one.
“Where did this information come from?” Akira asked curiously.
“An unknown informant, he told us to check Miss Takada out! We took images of you and only thing he did was take the copies! We don’t want to continue since all this informant wants was the pictures, but he –“
“What did he do?” Ren asked.
“To keep us from taking your pictures, he’d scare us that he’ll tell the student council about out side business.”
“It was Shibuya, right? He’s the one who told me about you guys!” Akira said.
“No, Kino-kun is one of us! We made the first move so, were expecting you! We sent him because he’s your classmate, don’t worry, Natsume, we’re doing our jobs!”
“I think that’s good enough…”
“Tell me something more about the person that said I’m an alien!”
“Well, he’s tall; he’s always wearing a mask when he enters. I believe he’s a senior…”
“I see, thank you for your cooperation, I believe this guy will stop soon. Excuse me, class is about to start…”
“Thank you!” they said.
Ren sighed and looked relieved. He followed Akira and said, “You have a secret admirer, don’t you want to investigate further?”
“I have no time for such nonsense…”
“Oh, okay… I thought it would be fun to act like detectives…”
“Yes, it would be…” Akira said as she smiled a bit. “But I still have no time to play around…”

Same day, at the school cafeteria, where the tables are really long and there are a lot of chairs, all made of wood!
“So? What do you think? As the student council vice president, I, Kaneyuki Mizue, think that it’s normal for every festival to have a school dance! Thus I propose for one!” Mizue said.
Chiaki, Ren and Tohru were listening while Akira just ignores it and eats some strawberry cake.
“A school dance, huh? I think so too, but that kind of event is under the jurisdiction of the dance club. Am I right?” Tohru said.
“Yes, and you’re a part of that club so make them cooperate!” Mizue said and leaned on Ren, “Isn’t this proposal, great? Ren-kun…”
“She’s annoying! I’m gonna kill her!” Chiaki said in anger.
“Dances are good, but if you guys only concentrate on one event, how about the other events on the school festival… Though it’s still after Golden week, you guys are already fired up for it… I wonder…” Akira said as she held a strawberry and looks at it.
“Yeah, she is right!” Chiaki said.
“Well, we can add that event on the last day, it is normal after all…” Ren said as he pushed Mizue away gently.
“My father’s already on it, it’s already planned out…” Akira said then ate the strawberry.
“Why didn’t you said so earlier?!” Tohru angrily said.
“I was eating!” Akira said.
“That’s Akira for you!” Chiaki said.
“Why is she in this group anyway?” Mizue asked.
“Because…” Ren said as he stood up, “She’s a good friend! Excuse me!” he left.
“Its quite obvious, Mizue, she’s the headmaster’s daughter, its natural for her to be with the student council president so she can control us!” Tohru said.
Ren heard it and stopped, he looked back with angry eyes looking at Tohru then he said, “Take those back…”
“Please, stop!” Chiaki said.
“If you don’t like me, leave this school… I’ll even help you with your transfer papers!” Akira said.
Tohru just looked at Akira and Mizue pings him, and then whispered something to him. Tohru calmed down and continued eating.
“Remove that scary face, Natsume, you’re scaring Chiaki…” Akira said, as Ren looked away and left.

Afternoon dismissal, everyone’s walking towards the gate some towards the dormitories at the school. From the second floor of the building by the window, a student overlooks Akira and Chiaki who was waving goodbye to each other, holding a photo of Akira at hand…


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Chapter 4:

Consequences

Akira walks home from school; she looked at the red sky and noticed something odd… Smoke coming from her house’s area, she quickly ran towards it… By standers are crowding the area, Akira tries to get through them.
“What’s happening?” she thought.
She finally passed everyone and sees her house in flames… She dropped her bag and fell on her knees…
“Who the hell did this?” she said then a policeman approached her…
“Are you this owner of the house?” he asked. Akira looked up and just nodded…
“The witnesses stated that they heard some gunshots before the fire started. Some people tried to put it out but it was too late.”
Akira looked down and then suddenly she heard someone call her… “Akira!” it was Chiaki… She stood up and then Chiaki held her hand…
“Are you alright?” she asked.
“I’m fine, but…” Akira said then she looked at the house and back at Chiaki, “What are you doing here? Go home, hurry!!”
“What are you talking about?” Chiaki was confused then Akira just embraced her.

Later, the fire was put out; it lasted for 1 and a half hour, almost… The policeman approached Akira again and with a gloom face, he said,
“We found a body in the backyard, please identify him…” then men with a stretcher went out of the house’s gate and approached Akira. They removed the blanket covering his head but Akira wasn’t in shock.
“Asahina Kagami, my father’s godson…” Akira said calmly.
“He’s that guy from the other day!” Chiaki said.
“He’s full of gunshot wounds, he bled to death…” the coroner said.
“I see… I have to go…” Akira said then she turned to the policeman, “Please take my friend home, and make sure she gets there safely…”
“Where are you going miss, we should take you to safety as well.” He replied.
“I’m safe, she’s not… I’m going to tell my father about this and ask for someplace to stay…” she said turned away.
“Come to my place!” Chiaki said.
“No, I can’t, but thank you! I’ve taken so much kindness from your family…” Akira said and ran off.

At Suzaku Gakuen, in the office of the headmaster, Takada Samejima, a young man of the age of 25-30, has black hair and brown eyes panics…
“My daughter’s house got burned!” he said as he walked around the office.
“Yes, it seems like Kagami wasn’t able to understand the facts in his previous mission.” Ryoko explained. Ryoko is Samejima’s bodyguard and secretary. The door opened furiously and Akira entered.
“Kagami’s dead!” she said.
“Yes, we know…” Ryoko said.
“Give me the information about his previous mission, I was there with my friends, they might be in danger!”
“Here you go…” Ryoko gave Akira some folders containing the data. “We know you’ll be taking on the mission of REVENGE…”
Akira chuckled and then looked at the folders.
“My dear daughter, are you coming back home?” Samejima asked.
“No…” Akira answered. Samejima sulked on his desk. “This isn’t all…” she complained throwing the folders.
“Ryoko, I told you to get everything ready?!” Samejima said angrily.
“I’m terribly sorry but, Ringo hasn’t come yet…”
“…then call her immediately.”
“Yes, master…” Ryoko took her phone from her breast pocket and dialed. Akira sat down on a huge chair and said, “Fleur-De-Lis doesn’t like anyone from it dying because of a mission.”
“I know that…” Samejima said as he played with some chess pieces on his table…
“She’s coming soon…” Ryoko said as she walked beside Samejima.
Akira sat up and looked at her watch and said, “I don’t have enough time…”
“Patience, dear daughter…” Akira got somehow, pissed and said, “I know!”
“Revenge is a natural situation in this organization. Having or not having emotions is fine…” Ryoko said.
The door suddenly opens and Ringo entered. “Informant, Ringo Hiragi at your service.”
“The case on my burned house, do you have any lead?” Akira asked.
“Hahaha! That’s a fresh one; I can’t get information that fast!”
“You’re lying…” Akira said.
“Okay, you got me… This concerns the previous mission, the Chinese guy at the Chinese Restaurant…”
“Well?”
“The guy has bodyguards, Kagami ignored that fact…”
“I see… So, do you know where these bodyguards are?”
“Heh, you’re quite sure they did that to Kagami…”
“Yes, I’m positive!”
“The bodyguards may have acted on their other mission, to kill the person who killed their client…”
“So, they’re no ordinary bodyguards?” Akira asked.
“Yes, exactly, they’re from an organization like ours!” Ringo said.
“Well then, excuse me…” Akira stood up and left.
“Well, good thing it’s not THEM!” Samejima said.

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Chapter 5:

Helping Hands

On a stall on an alleyway, two men are drowning themselves in alcohol with some grilled chicken. They’re chitchatting about something… “Hahaha! Serves that boy right!” says one of the two men.
“Yeah, but, what should we do with that girl, she owns that house, she must know something about us!” the other said.
“Yes, that is possible! But that’s not our problem anymore, we better order more sake!” then the man looked for the vendor but he’s nowhere to be found. “Where’d that guy go?” he said.
“Is there anything I could do for you?” an alluring woman’s voice said.
The two men looked behind them and see a female high school student with a mask and a sword.
“Who the heck are you?” he said.
“Shinigami!” the girl said and then she readies her stance and held her sword tight, unsheathes it and slashes the two men headless in one strike. The two had neither had a chance to shout nor to fight. Blood sprayed up and the girl bathes in its redness. The girl left and the bodies stumbled down. The vendor returned a little later, seeing his customers are dead, he rushed to a telephone booth and called the police.

At Chiaki’s home, she and her family were watching a drama series on television when suddenly a news report came in.
“Sorry to interrupt your series, this just came in. Two men are found beheaded at an alleyway stall this evening. They were identified as Masaki Kenta, age 36 and Kuroda Hiroshi, 41. They were found by the vendor who just left the victims to buy some ice on a nearby store. When he came back to serve the two, he was shocked by the sight of blood and his headless customers and hurriedly called the police. The police are investigating the scene as we speak. The weapon used was a really sharp blade, a Japanese sword. Please stand by for more updates on this news.” The female reporter said then the series went on.
“What was that?” Chiaki’s little sister, Chiko said.
“Who could’ve done that?” Chiaki thought.

At the crime scene, the coroner is checking the bodies. The detectives, Ryuichi Kotaro and Akatsuki Shia are on the case. Kotaro, 33 years old, married black haired and brown eyed leads. Shia, 28, an engaged bishoujo, has blonde hair and green eyes. Her very long hair is tied up in a ponytail.
“The two of them died in one strike!” the coroner said.
“That’s kind of great. Do you have any evidence on them that may lead to the killer?” Kotaro asked.
“Well, nothing was left in the bodies but I can say that blade is really sharp!”
“A clean cut!” Shia said as she approached the bodies. “The vendor said that when he came back, blood was still dripping from the bodies.” She added.
“The person that did this must have some kind of grudge on these men.” The coroner said.
“How can you say that?” Shia asked.
“Slashing two bodies in one strike, you’ll need a lot of energy to do so. Slashing through a bone isn’t easy, for a cut as clean as this. I can also say this person is a professional killer. These two must’ve done something they shouldn’t.” the coroner explained.
“I see, then, Shia!” Kotaro called. “Go check some establishments nearby with security cameras installed, ask for some copies of the footages near this scene.”
“Understood!” then she left.
“What are you gonna do, Kotaro-kun?” the coroner asked.
“Well, the usual!” Kotaro assured.

Akira, soaked in blood, went back to the school grounds and went straight to the headmaster’s office. She enters and went to another room. Samejima, who was smoking that time, noticed Akira’s state. Later, she went back out wearing new uniforms, her hair wet. Then she noticed a woman, she looks rich.
“It’s you!” Akira said then looked at Samejima. “What’s happening here, father?” she asked.
“You remember her!” Samejima said as he stood up. “Lady Viviane.”
“You were given a week off from missions! But now that Kagami is dead, you’re missions are back.” Ryoko explained.
“I understand that. Is Lady Viviane my client on this one? Or is she—“
“Well, it’s about your situation.” Samejima said.
“Protect Ren, that’s your mission.” Ryoko said.
“I know that… Its been my mission since I met him.”
“They’re on the move, Lady Noelle!” Viviane said.
Akira closed her eyes. “Please call me Akira, emit the ‘Lady’!”
“Okay, if that is what you wish!” Viviane said.
“What did Lady Yuki said about this?” Akira asked.
“Well, double the caution…” Samejima said.
“I have to go; if ‘they’ are on the move then I need to be beside him!” Akira said and left.
Akira walks towards a residence gate. She just stood there, in front of the doorbell.
“A-Aki, I mean, Takada, what are you doing here?” Ren said.
“What are you doing outside this late at night?” Akira replied.
“I should be asking you that, it’s dangerous for a girl to walk alone at night!” then Ren looks at Akira’s attire, she’s still in her uniform and is still holding her school bag.
“Did something happen??” he asked.
“So you noticed?” Akira said.

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Chapter 6:

Natsume Residence

Ren opened the door and called Fuyumi.
“I have something I want to talk about, right now!” he shouted.
Foot steps were heard and Fuyumi ran towards Ren at the door.
“What is it? You sound really serious!” she said.
Ren stepped aside and Akira enters. Fuyumi looked at her and then turned at Ren.
“You two are – eloping?” Fuyumi asked frankly.
“No!” Ren said.
“You’re wrong, Natsume-sensei.” Akira said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Then do me a favor, call me Fuyumi-neesan while you’re here and outside school. So, what do the two of you want to talk about?” she said with a smile.

Moments later…
“Oh, I see, so you have no place to stay. You can’t go to Chiaki’s because she’s too noisy and you can’t go to your father’s because you hate the presence of your older sister. You chose this place because, I, as a teacher is here.”
“Exactly…” Akira said as Fuyumi looked serious at her from across the table.
“Okay, we do have a spare room for guests. You can stay here whenever you want, for as long as you need.”
“Thank you!” Akira said and bowed down then sat up. “I owe you, sensei!” she added. “But, I think it’s better if I pay for the room. It’s the only way I can think of to repay you. On the other hand, Natsume Ren –” Akira looked at the sliding door. “It’s bad to eavesdrop, if you want to hear my reason then just come in.”
The door opens and Ren enters, he is pathetically smiling, laughing. “Huh? How’d you know I was there?”
“Kendo, did you take it seriously?” Akira said.
*Doorbell rings*
“I’ll take it,” Fuyumi said as she stood up. “Who could it be in this time of night?” she mumbled and left the room.
Ren looks at Akira and then she stood up to follow Fuyumi. Ren follows as well.

At the door, Fuyumi is accepting some bags from a delivery man. She looks behind and sees Akira and Ren.
“What are those?” Ren asked then the delivery man left.
“Oh, it’s for Akira.” Fuyumi said as she points to some of the bags. “There’s another one there. Ren, go get it. We’re showing Akira her room.”
Ren looks again at Akira, he looked confused. Akira saw the look on his face, she sighs and said,
“It’s probably the work of my father; he knows I’m going to go here.”
“Oh…” he said then somewhat, he looked relieved. Fuyumi lead the way to the stairs, Akira and Ren followed. They entered a hallway and then towards a door. Fuyumi stopped, unlocks the door and opened it. Inside, Fuyumi turned the light on and said,
“This’ll be your room, it’s not so big but I hope this’ll do just fine.”
“Yes, it will! I’m not expecting it to be this big!” Akira praised as she looks around.
“Uhm, where should I put these?” Ren asked as he barely held the bags.
“Just put them down anywhere, I’ll take care of them. Thank you.”
Ren puts them down, and then Fuyumi said.
“Excuse me, my drama series will be on soon!” then left.
“You can leave now!” Akira said. “You still have lots to do, as the student council president!”
“Yeah, excuse me, have a nice stay!! My room is just across this door so; call me when you need me!” Ren said and waved goodbye.

Akira approaches the bags and unzips one of them; she took out one of the clothes, and then looked pissed.
“Father, I hate your taste in clothing!” she said as she held a very feminine pink frilly dress. She puts that one down and looks inside, some school uniforms are there and some everyday clothing on the other bags. Items necessary for protecting Ren, as well as some accessory she might need. She stood up and locked the door, approaches the window and opened it. She stretches her hand out then a sword fell down her hand. She smiled and took it in, closes the window and puts it under the bed. She fixed the room to her liking and sat on the bed. She lies on the bed and looked at the ceiling then hears a couple of knocks on the door, she sat up.
“Yes?” she answered.
“It’s me, Fuyumi-neesan. I just want to say that if you want to take a bath, there’s an outdoor spring here, its better you take your change of clothes when you go there, well, that is –“Fuyumi said slyly.
“What?” Akira asked.
“If you want to walk towards your room with only a towel?” she said as she her grin almost reaches her ears.
“I understand. I’ll go a little later…”
“Okay…” Fuyumi said and left, still with the big grin on her face.

Across Akira’s room, inside Ren’s room, Ren is sitting in front of his desk. It looks as if he stopped from writing just recently and cannot write anymore, means, he’s frozen with his eyes twitching.
“…with only a towel!?” he thought then blushed.

Later that evening, Ren came out of his room and headed towards the kitchen downstairs. In there he sees Akira, seeping some coffee, wearing the clothes from earlier, the pink one. Ren stopped and is in a daze.
“What? I look funny, right?” Akira asked.
“Well, it’s not bad…” he replied.
“It’s comfortable, that’s why I wore it. My day has gone from bad to worst. It’s such a long day! What time is it?”
“11PM, I think…”
“I better sleep!” Akira said and finishes her cup. “I just finished my homework, good luck on yours.” And then she leaves.
Ren just smiles and approached the fridge.

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Chapter 7:

Single-minded Misunderstanding

The next morning, Akira and Ren were walking to school. Akira looked usual, while Ren looked like he hasn’t had a single wink of sleep. They were about to enter the school gate when Ren stopped and said
“I still have to go to the student council; you’d better go to class…”
Akira stopped and said, “No, I’m going with you…”
Ren got surprised and somewhat his energy level rose.
“W-why??” he asked.
Akira looked serious then asked, “Is there a way for me be a part of the student council?”
“Well, there is, but why are you asking this question?”
“Is there any?” Akira asked again.
“The President’s assistant!” Ren said hurriedly.
“Okay, I’ll take that part!” she said then she kept on walking.
“W-wait! Why do you want to be a part of the council so suddenly?” as he walked hurriedly to catch Akira’s pace.
“It’s just that –” Akira sighed then looked at Ren, “I’m bored… I don’t do much even though I am the class president. I’d also like to help you, just now; you look really tired, it would be best if I help you, since I stay at your place. Not only that I also think I should do something for this school as the headmaster’s daughter…” then she looked the other side and thought, “I also need to be by your side at all cost. I have to protect you…”
She looked back at Ren, smiled and said, “Well, I was thinking that if there’s no vacant position in the council then I’ll just tag along and help you out! Don’t you think that’s a great idea, Ren?”
“You just called me by my first name?!” Ren said as he blushed.
“So, shall we, Natsume-kaicho?!” then Akira’s face turned back to being the usual emotionless one.
Ren got confused…

At the student council room, Mizue and Tohru were sitting on their respective places writing stuffs…
“What’s taking the President so long?!” Tohru angrily said.
The door opens and Ren with Akira enters.
“Sorry, I’m late! Anyway, from now on, Takada Akira will be my assistant.” Mizue stood up furiously and asked, “What’s she doing here?” as she looked at Akira with glaring eyes…
“Oho, what a scary face you got there, Lady Vice President!” Akira said.
“I think it’s quite unfair, having Tohru helping you out with your work here, I do need one assistant too, so I chose Takada!”
“But, I’m already your assistant!” Mizue objected.
“Yes, but she’s my PERSONAL assistant!” Ren said as he smiled. “She’ll help me with stuff here after school hours!”
“You’re getting angry at such nonsense!” Akira said and Mizue just looked at her, with a tiger look on her face. She walked towards Tohru and whispered something to him, and then the two of them just continued on what they were doing…
“Alright, Takada, it’s time for work!”

At the classroom, Chiaki searches for Akira.
“Where is she? Is she late or something? She’s the president here!” Chiaki said to herself.
“Good morning!” Ren said as he entered the classroom. Chiaki looked happy and then her expression changed at the sight of Akira, behind Ren. She approached the two and then Chiaki looked at Akira.
“Were the two of you together?” Chiaki asked.
“Yes, from now on, I’m his assistant.” Akira honestly answered.
“Why? I was aiming for that position!” Chiaki whispered.
“It has something to do with my job! Please understand…”
“Yeah, you’re job! That’s what you always say!” Chiaki angrily said as she was heard by everyone at the room.
Akira looked at everyone then pulled Chiaki. “Excuse us!”

At the females’ comfort room. Akira checked if there’s anyone at the stalls. Seeing that there is no one there she turned to Chiaki, and said, seriously.
“You saw that my house got burned down, right? The two men that were beheaded were killed by me; they’re the ones that burned my house and killed my colleague. Kagami who just died was supposed to be my stead on some missions, now that he is gone, my missions are back. After I got back to my father’s office, I received a mission…” Akira explained.
“It has something to do with Ren, what, are you going to kill him now?!” Chiaki said.
“You’re wrong… It’s the opposite of killing; it’s saving a life, protecting it from death. Ren’s life is in danger…” Akira said as she looked down angry. “I have to protect him, forever… It’s a mission from his mother…”
“Forever…? No, you’re lying!! You like him too, right, Ren?!” Chiaki said angrily.
“No, you’re mistaken, don’t you understand?! I can’t tell you everything! Please understand me!”
“You just want him for yourself. All along, you’ve been backstabbing me! There’s nothing more to talk about here, I’ve had enough of your lies!” Chiaki said and ran out.
“It’s not a lie! Wait! Chiaki…” Akira said as her hand that was trying to reach Chiaki closed to a fist. “Chiaki, don’t leave me…” she mumbled as she kept her hand close to her chest.

Akira went out of the comfort room and bumped into Fuyumi.
“Huh, Akira, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing…” Akira said and walked towards the opposite direction.
“Where are you going, class is about to start!”
“I need time alone, ma’am… I feel sick; I’m going to the clinic.” She said sadly…


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Chapter 8:

Nuisance

At the classroom, Akira opens the door and entered.
“Miss Takada, where have you been?” the teacher said.
“Clinic…” Akira said and headed to her chair, Ren notices her and when Akira sat, he asked, “Are you alright?”
“Don’t worry…”
“Did you – “Ren wants to ask but Akira seem like she’s trying to ignore the world…

“There’s absolutely nothing!” Shia shouted.
“Please, don’t yell in here!” the video / audio specialist said.
“Why not? These damn videos are useless! No trace of our killer!”
Kotaro hurriedly entered in reaction to Shia’s load voice and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing!” Shia replied.
“Anyhow, I asked some people around I got us a lead!” he said.
“Really?!” Shia stood up in surprise.
“Yes, a teenager who was hanging around that alley passed our crime scene saw our killer. A high school student, a young girl wearing a mask and holding a sword as if she doesn’t want to let go of it… He thought she was a cosplayer!”
“That’s a good lead, right?”
“This girl is a student of the private school, Suzaku Gakuen. A black haired young girl…” Kotaro said as he reads from his notes and closes it. “The girl’s mask was stained with blood, plus, there was an anime convention around that block as well, so that may be the reason our witness thought of such nonsense.”
“So, Kotaro-chan… Shall we go to that school?” Shia asked.

Lunch break; at the cafeteria, Ren approaches Akira and sat beside her.
“I can’t help but worry…” he paused and looked at Akira. “Did you cry?”
Akira was surprised as she looks back at Ren… And then she looked away… “I said don’t worry, didn’t I?”
“I asked Chiaki to have lunch with us, but she seems to be angry…”
“Idiot…” Akira whispered.
“What happened between the two of you?” he asked.
“Nothing, it was just plain nonsense!” Akira said softly but she is, undoubtedly, angry…
“You’re not eating?” Ren asked.
“No, I don’t seem to have the appetite for it…” Akira said.
“Alright, then let’s have a walk!” Ren took Akira’s hand and pulled her of her chair. Akira was surprised as she was pulled outside all the way to the school’s enormous garden. Ren seems to be carrying a bag of food with him and showed them to Akira as he smiled.
“Shall we eat here?” he said as he pulled and lead Akira to a bench beside a fountain. Akira just smiled and sat down…
“You’re such a good person…” she thought with her eyes closed.
“Here you go, have some pudding!” he said as he handed a pudding to Akira, she looks kinda surprised. “Thank you…” she said. Ren sat beside her and ate some sandwiches.

“This is much too easy…” a man from the trees behind Akira and Ren said as he overlooks them from a branch… A man with a sniper rifle in hand, targeting Ren and is ready to shoot…
“Natsume, I’m thirsty…” Akira said.
“What, you’re kinda bossy now!” Ren complained.
“Just go get me some water!” she ordered.
“Alright! Stay here!” Ren puts down his food, stood up and entered the building which was too off from the sniper’s angle.
“What an idiot, to think that I don’t know you were there…” Akira said.
“Damn you!” the sniper aimed at Akira and suddenly she disappeared. The man looked left and right and then looked away from the scope to look around him and there she was. Akira on another tree branch, her eyes glowing red, and her evil smile shows her fangs…
“A monster!” the man yelled and then as he aimed at Akira, she again, disappeared. The man was so scared and tries to catch his breathe… Akira reappears behind the man and said, “I hate snipers, they’re cowards who shoot when the enemy isn’t looking! Like most of them, you’re weak and vulnerable!”
The man tries to look behind him but before he could, Akira stabbed him with a small knife… The man fell from the tree, and then Akira jumps down, cleans the knife and hid it under her skirt. She puts out her phone and called someone and left.
Akira went back to the bench and finishes her pudding, Ren returns with a great smile on his face…
“What happened?” she asked.
“My mother! She’s coming to see me!” he said happily…
“Oh, her, I’ve seen her… So –“ Akira looked at Ren, “Where’s my water?”
“Uh?”


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Chapter 9:

Affair...

“Natsume Ren, as far as I can remember, he was sent to Japan to hide from Lady Viviane’s eldest son, he wants Ren dead because he was an unwanted child, not from the Baron’s bloodline…” Akira thought as she looks at Ren.
Viviane Watson, a daughter of a noble, Ren’s mother was engaged to one of Britain’s Barons when she was very young. It was a forced marriage since Lady Viviane tried to run away, several times. Years after the marriage, she bore two children from the man she hated the most. At the party of her eldest son, there she met a noble of her age, and at that very moment, the two fell in love with each other… They meet up secretly while the Baron was terribly ill. The Baron fought a short fight with the disease and lost his life. At the funeral, it was known then that Lady Viviane was bearing a child. Such a situation is impossible since the Baron is ill, well unless she’s seeing someone other that the Baron.
The elder sons, who was angry at Viviane threatens to kill the child if she is proven guilty of having an affair. In fear that they might find out the truth, and them executing her child, after his birth, he was secretly sent to Japan. Natsume Fuyumi took custody of him as a guardian and named him Ren. She was given the duty to protect Ren because I, a child can’t take care of him. Ren’s real father was assassinated by another organization when Ren was 10. Lady Viviane, who was under the care of Fleur-De-Lis, did all she could to save her son.
Ren has communication with his mother but they can’t be together, I always wonder… What if Ren wasn’t chosen for it? What if I wasn’t born in this world? His fate wouldn’t be like this… You’re probably wandering what I’m talking about, I’m not Akira…

Akira looks at Ren and said, “Can you accompany me to my father’s office?”
“Okay…” Ren said. Akira stood up and the two of them entered the building, they reached the office and Akira left Ren to wait outside.
Inside, Akira approached her father and looked at a box on the desk.
“Those’ll be your uniform for tonight!” Samejima said.
“I see…” Akira said.
“You shouldn’t be recognized or you’ll blow up everything. Act like the best bodyguard for the job!” Samejima jokingly explained.
“Don’t talk too much…” Ryoko said.
“I understand… I’m not a newbie!” Akira said. “Excuse me!” then she look her leave.
Outside, the door opens and an angry Akira went out.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Yeah!”
“What are those?” he asked again pointing at the box.
Akira just kept her silence and walked on.

That night, Akira and Fuyumi say their goodbyes to Ren at the door. Ren was wearing formal clothes; his tie was being fixed by Akira.
“Don’t be too stiff! Relax!” Fuyumi said.
“I understand!” Ren answered.
“Don’t panic!”
“Yes!”
“I think that’s enough reminders, Fuyumi-neesan…” Akira said as she finishes the tie.
“Say hello to her from me!” Fuyumi said as she waved goodbye, Akira turns and went up her room. Ren opens the door and leaves.
“Alright…” Ren said as he waved back looking quite sad. A car parked in front of the gate and then a man went out and bowed down.
“Don’t worry; Akira’s just sad that you won’t be around tonight!” Fuyumi yelled and from the second floor window Akira yelled! “I heard that, sensei!!”
Ren smiled and walked towards the car. A woman in black bodyguard uniform, wearing sunglasses and a hat approached him and bowed. She escorts him to the car. Ren entered the back and the man entered the driver’s side. The woman entered with Ren at the back. Ren looks at her with curiosity.
“Have I met you somewhere?” he asked.
“Are you a playboy or something? I just saw your girlfriend earlier…”
“Huh? My girlfriend? Well… I uh…” Ren was blushing.
“Don’t get carried away!” Akira said. “Please be quiet!” she added.
The car drove on the busy streets of Tokyo…


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Chapter 10

Reunion

The black car parks in front a huge building. It was a hotel owned by a rich English noble… The driver comes out and headed for Ren’s door, and opens it, Akira, the bodyguard, exits and then Ren.
“We’re here, young master…” she said bowing and showing the way inside. They enter the huge glass door.
“Whoa!!” Ren said as he looks at the exquisite architecture of the place. Akira walks ahead of Ren and opens the elevator door. Ren enters and she followed. Ren smiles happily and Akira just glances behind at him.

They arrived at the floor where Ren’s mother is waiting… Akira leads the way to a room and opens the door, they entered.
“Mother!” Ren called then Viviane stood up from her chair and was approached by Ren. They embraced each other and they looked really happy then Viviane looked at Akira and smiled.
“Thank you!” she said.
“It’s nothing, Lady Viviane!” Akira said and bowed. The two sat down at their respective chairs and the maids and butlers came in serving dinner. They started to eat as soon as they left the table.
“You’ve grown so big my dear…” Viviane said, trying to start a conversation.
“I was taken care by Fuyumi really well…” he replied. Viviane looked at Akira and that startles Akira for a bit. Viviane looked back at Ren, smiled and asked.
“Is there a person that you care for or maybe, a girl that you like?”
Ren was quite surprised at the question and then he drank some juice.
“Well, I’m not saying that there is none…” he answered then Akira looked quite interested at the topic.
“So, who is it?”
“The headmaster’s daughter, Takada Akira…” he said honestly.
Viviane looked relieved while from behind her sunglass, Akira looked a bit surprised and annoyed.
“Why choose me? Why not like Chiaki?” Akira thought.
“That young lady is quite far of your grasp…” Viviane said.
“No, I won’t think that way…” Ren said. “I know she’s very intelligent, beautiful, a lot of men want her to go out with them, but she’s got something that other girls don’t. They can’t see that, I can… She’ll be mine!” he said.
“Don’t talk like I’m an item, you dummy!” Akira thought as she blushed a bit.
“My, my… Such strong words…” Viviane said then looked at Akira… “Shall we talk about something else?”
“I’m sorry, I go carried away!”
“It’s okay, I’d like to know more about you in this short time!” she said the smiled.

Later, they finished their dessert and it’s almost 9pm…
“You should be heading back, time flies when you’re doing something!” Viviane said.
“It’s already 9, I can’t believe it! I still want to talk to you, mother…” Ren replied.
“I do too, but both of us still have some work to do, have you done your homework?”
“I did, but not all…”
‘I’m sounding more like a mother now, am I?”
“Yes…” Ren answered with a gentle smile on his face.
Viviane stood up and so did Ren, they embraced each other and then as Ren passes Akira, she said, “Please wait for me outside…”
Ren just nodded and exits on the door. Akira stayed behind, Viviane smiled and asked,
“What do you think?”
“I was there when he was born, got separated and met him again, 5 years ago… I never thought this would happen, for him to –“ Akira’s unfinished words confused Viviane; she turns to the door and approached it.
“Can you do me a favor?” Viviane asked.
“I already know that!” then she left. Viviane, who’s all alone in the room approached the window and overlooked the city.
“What do you feel for my son, Lady Noelle?” she thought as a tear drop rolls down her cheek.
“Please, don’t worry your self too much…” a voice said.
Viviane was surprised and turned around, “Who’s there?” then she looked around seeing no one. She looked down and fell on her knees…
“I understand…” she mumbled.

At the car parking lot at the basement of the building, Akira led the way to the car and opened the door for Ren.
“Have a nice sleep, young Master Ren…” she said.
“You’re not coming with me?” he asked.
“No, sir, I’ll have to stay here…”
“Oh, okay… I hope to meet you again!” he said and entered the car. Akira closes the door and as she watches it leaving, she said, “Play boy!”
When there was no longer any sight of the car or any person in that parking area, Akira turns around and vanished.


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Chapter 11:

Promise

Back at the Natsume residence, Ren walks the long hall towards his room. He stopped in front of it, turned around and walked towards Akira’s room. He loosens his tie and opened the door. Inside, Akira was on her desk, doing her homework. She turns around, crosses her arms and asked,
“What can I do for you?”
“You’re thinking of something weird that I might do to you, am I right?” he replied with an evil smile on his face.
“If you’re here to mess around, leave! Idiot!” she said with an annoyed tone and turns back to her desk.
“You’re face looks really cute!” Ren muttered. Akira stopped writing and again, turns around to look at Ren.
“What are you saying?” Akira said boastfully yet angrily as she stood up. “I am cute!” she added, confidently. Ren chuckled and laughed at what Akira just said then he removes his black coat and sat on Akira’s bed. He pulled himself to bed as if it was his and looked as if he is gonna sleep there. Akira looked furious at Ren and approaches him and poked his face. She comes close to him as if she’s gonna kiss him and then,
“Don’t sleep there!” she yelled. She tried to grab Ren out of the bed when Ren opens his eyes and pulls Akira in making her fall beside him. He looks at Akira and with a gentle tone, he said, “I love you, Akira…”
Akira wasn’t surprised at all, she just looked at Ren with her empty, emotionless face, she tried to speak but Ren stopped her with a caress on her face. Akira felt his warm hand and couldn’t say a thing, she held Ren’s hand and with a serious expression on her face, she said, “It’s impossible!”
Ren was surprised at what Akira said so he sat up and asked, “Why?” Akira sat up as well then Ren grabbed her on her shoulder.
“What should I do to have you?” he added.
“You can’t!” Akira said, “Not yet…” she thought.
“Please, tell me!” Ren said and the sad expression on his face somewhat made a difference to Akira’s emotion. Akira removed Ren’s grip gently…
“There is… something you can do for me, I won’t hate you, but if you don’t I would…” she said then smiled at Ren, “You don’t want that to happen, right?” she added.
”Off course, not… But I think it’s better if you accept my feelings… I’ll do anything for you, anything, for Akira’s happiness!”
“Happiness, huh?” Akira smirked. “Only you can do this, Ren!” she said.
“Say it!”
“Chiaki…”
“What about her?” Ren looked confused.
“Ask her to be your girlfriend!” Akira ordered.
Ren looked surprised, really surprised! “Why?” he asked.
“Chiaki is angry at me because I came to close to you, I want her to be happy, and anger doesn’t suit a person like her. She was the first person to ever recognize me…” she explained and she looked down and thought, “The first person to recognize me as human, not as a cold blooded human killing monster.”
“So, please, for me, love Chiaki for me! I promise I will be by your side if you need me, anytime, even eternally…” she pleaded while some tears flow down her cheeks. Ren looked at Akira with a worried face; he caressed her head, removed her hair from her face and brushed her tears away.
“Akira…” Ren said.
“Ren, is your love for me enough for you to say, ‘I want to be by your side, forever’ just like I did?” Akira asked and held Ren’s hand again.
“Off course!” Ren answered.
“If you’re able to do this and when Chiaki comes to hate you, I’ll be yours forever!” Akira said and releases Ren’s hand.
Ren blushed and Akira stood up, wiped her face and sat on her chair. She went on with her homework and then Ren just lies on her bed and closed his eyes.
“Goodnight…” Akira said.

The next morning, Akira and Ren walks on the corridors side by side. She looked kinda annoyed while he looked happy. They entered the student council’s room and inside, Mizue and Tohru are leaving.
“Where are the two of you going?” Ren asked.
“At the classroom…” Mizue answered.
“What? Why?” Akira asked.
“It’s nothing that concerns you! You and the president better finish our unfinished work!” Tohru said.
“What?” Ren was furious at the two who left them. Akira looked at the papers and said, “All these things need are compilation and the signature of my father …”
Akira took the papers and cleans up the messy table.
“I can do this myself, though my father’s not in the office today, I can leave this to Ryoko, she’ll understand…” she said.
“Okay…” Ren replied.
“I have made the necessary preparations for you and Chiaki, you’ll just have to do whatever it is that you can and say the line that you said last night… It’ll be in the school garden this lunch break. Ask her to go there…” Akira explained.
“Aren’t you hurting her this way?” Ren asked.
“She won’t stop until she is either hurt or killed, that is human nature…”
“She’s your friend…”
“Yes, that’s why I’m making you do this! Even if it’s fake, a slight smile from her would make everything better! Excuse me, I’ll take these to the office now…” she said and left Ren at the room looking gloomy and down.



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Chapter 12:


Playing Fools

Lunch break, Akira leaves her desk and headed out. Ren noticed her and thought of executing Akira’s plan. He stood up and approached Chiaki who was chit chatting with her other friends and Mizue.
“Ladies…” he greeted.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” Mizue asked.
“Not from you, but from Miss Sakurano…” he replied.
“From me? What is it?” Chiaki confusedly asked.
“Can you have lunch with me?”
Chiaki blushed for a bit and then looked at Ren’s face. Her face turned from pink to red and then she looked away…
“W-why?” she said, as she stuttered. “I-I mean, s-sure, its okay with me…” then she smiled.
“I’m coming too!” Mizue said.
“Sorry, it’ll just be the two of us!” Ren said then he took Chiaki’s hand and said, “Shall we?”
Chiaki nodded and she and Ren took off. Ren led the way as he took Chiaki to the school’s garden. Chiaki and Ren, both stunned at the view, looks at the table set beside the fountain. Ryoko appears from behind and said,
“Please, go ahead, sit over there!”
The two approached the table and the kind Ren, acting as if he fully knows what’s happening, pulled the chair for Chiaki. She sat down and so did Ren. Ryoko approaches and called in the maids. Two maid came and behind them, Akira who’s holding a violin. They approached the table and served lunch, Chiaki, who was looking at Akira with an angry expression, didn’t say a word. She looked at Ren, smiled and said,
“This is a bit too much for just lunch…”
“It suits a girl like you!” Ren said smiling.
“Playboy…” Akira thought and as the maids leave, she started to play the violin at hand.
Hearing Akira’s music, Chiaki blushed and Ren was at awe.

After two pieces, Akira bows and sat on the other side of the fountain, leaving the two alone. Chiaki looked at Ren and asked.
“Why?”
Ren was startled by the question but got his composure back.
“Why am I doing this? Is that the question?” he asked back.
“Yes…” Chiaki answered as she blushed.
“I… I like you! That’s the reason for this!” Ren said with shaking voice.
From the other side of the fountain, Akira chuckled. She was heard by the two and Ren got a bit nervous…
“So please, Sa— no, Chiaki!” he said.
“Yes, what is it?” Chiaki got startled by Ren’s tone!
“Please don’t be angry at Takada anymore! There’s nothing going on between us!”
“What?” Chiaki got confused.
“Idiot!” Akira shouted.
Chiaki looked at Akira’s figure behind the fountain; Akira stood up and approached the two furiously.
“I see, so this is the plan…” Chiaki said sadly. “You’re just trying to make me forgive Akira!” she said angrily.
Ren was surprised at how Chiaki reacted.
“Chiaki! I’m not helping Akira for anything…” he said.
“What?” Chiaki said and Akira thought at the same time.
“I asked Akira for help, I couldn’t confront you, I really like you…”
Akira seemed to get what Ren was trying to say and said, “I can’t tell you that’s why I had to say that, but still, it’s the truth!”
“It’s impossible, Takada…” Ren said.
“What are you talking about? One more question and you’re done!” Akira said. “How did you confess when you don’t have the strength to ask her?”
“Ask me, what?” Chiaki’s a bit confused at Akira and Ren’s conversation.
“Natsume… Face her, and tell her!” Akira turned around as if she was gonna leave.
Ren looked sad at Akira and looked back at Chiaki with a determined look on his face.
“You’re just wasting my time!” Chiaki stood up and started to walk away when Ren grabbed her hand, pulled her and kissed her. Akira looked back and saw everything. Chiaki was surprised and then Ren stepped back, looked Chiaki at her face and said, “I’m in love with you!”

The heart stomping atmosphere stopped when suddenly, an announcement came in.
“To all black haired female students, please head to the gym! Those who dyed their black hair after Monday, please head to the gym as well! The reason for this announcement will be met when you head to the gym!”
Akira looked up at a window where a student was looking down at her; she looked at Ren and Chiaki and smiled. Chiaki, though her anger hasn’t vanished yet, looked quite worried.
“That smile…” she thought.



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Chapter 13


False Alarm

Chiaki looks at Ren who was watching Akira leaving… She looked worried at her two friends and then she asked.
“Is something the matter, Ren-kun?”
Ren doesn’t seem to have heard the question and was in his own world when he somewhat snapped out of it. He looked at Chiaki and then looked worried as well.
“Was that thing you told me true?” Chiaki asked.
“Are you telling me that, I’m a liar? What makes you doubt my confession?” Ren answered.
“I am worried about Akira, you were too…”
“She’s a good friend, are you still mad at her? Takada helped me a lot; I’m the one who asked for too much for today’s sake. I wonder why only black haired female students were called.”
“Let’s check it out, then! We’ll turn back to our feelings later!” Chiaki recommended.
Ren just nodded, held Chiaki’s hand and went off. Chiaki blushed as they walk the corridors and out to the back entrance of the gym.

From the backstage of the gym, Chiaki and Ren looked at what was happening. The young man, the witness, looked at every girl, when he shakes his head; the girl is allowed to leave.
“What’s going on here?” Ren thought.
The detectives, one is Kotaro, and the witness approached Akira, the last girl on the line and the only one left at the gym.
“Alright young man, she’s the last one!” Kotaro said.
“It’s her, no doubt!” the witness said as he pointed at Akira furiously.
“What is this thing about?” Akira asked.
Kotaro ordered for the witness to leave and then he turned to Akira showing an image, the image of the crime scene at the alley.
“Do you remember them? They are the two bodyguards that were found dead, decapitated in an alleyway stall last Monday evening. You were seen by that young man, our witness, with a mask holding a sword, the murder weapon, tight.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about detective… I neither have a mask nor a real murder weapon in custody. You can search my house, but it seems impossible since it was burned down earlier that day.” Akira explained.
“Revenge is the motive then…” Kotaro stated.
“You don’t even have proof!” Akira said.
“Yes, that young man was our proof and we’re looking up at another one right at this moment!”
“For me to kill brutally as to make the victims lose their heads literally, I don’t have that much strength not skill.”
“I’m quite confident, I looked up every data concerning you, Miss Headmaster’s daughter, and I learned that you were a high grade kendo student!” he said arrogantly and then his phone rang, he picked it up,
“Yes, Ryuichi here… What?” he was furious at what he just heard.

At the crime laboratory’s audio visual room, Shia was examining the footages taken on the area of the crime scene. She was viewing a video that was playing a part over and over again.
“The witness is lying… By the time he said he saw the girl, he was looking at nothing. No one, no ghost, no pet passed him at all!”
“So you mean we can’t have this girl in custody?”
“There’s no visual proof, if you take her in, it’ll be against the law. Anyway, this man must be under the influence of drugs, he’s hallucinating. His head is following something illusionary in this video. We even checked the videos surrounding the area, we saw nothing!”
Kotaro, in disappointment, hung the phone and looked at Akira and then to his men.
“We’re leaving!” he ordered.

Akira was left alone at the gym. The detectives left and then she looked at the stage and said,
“You two eavesdropping love birds can come out now!”
Ren and Chiaki stepped outside and Akira fell on her knees, the two ran towards her. She took a deep breathe and sighed.
“My heart’s gonna explode!” she acted scared as she smiled pathetically.
“Akira, you –“ Chiaki said.
“Yes, I did…” Akira replied.
“What are you talking about?” Ren asked.
“Chiaki knows what I do, I’m an assassin!”
Ren was stunned at his beloved’s revelation, he was speechless. Akira smiled at Ren.
“That’s a good decision, am I right? Telling the truth to Ren-kun, now we’re all in this together!” Chiaki said.
“Yes, now Natsume, I’ll let you hear my part of the story! Let’s go to my father’s office, I have complaints to submit!” Akira stood up and started to walk with Chiaki. Ren was still speechless and could not move.
“Natsume Ren, time to walk!” Akira yelled.
“Yes, ma’am!” Ren came to his senses and ran towards Akira and Chiaki who were waiting at the entrance.
“Then you did, to those two…” Ren said.
“Yes, I’ll explain… Hurry!”




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Chapter 14


The Truth

“Is it important for Chiaki to come in as well?” Ren asked.
“No, Chiaki, it’s better if you stay here or wait for our return at the classroom. You choose!” Akira said.
“I already know what Akira does, I don’t like reruns…” Chiaki said, turned around and waved good bye.
“Thank you for understanding…” Akira said.

Ren and Akira stood in front of the headmaster’s main office. Ren was quite nervous, Akira opened the door and the two entered. Inside, the headmaster’s chair turned around and there sat Samejima Takada. Sitting on the guest’s chair, surprisingly, was Lady Viviane. Ren was surprised and then he approached his mother.
“Why are you here?” he asked.
“My, my, is my son prohibiting me from coming to his school? Anyway, it seems like you just discovered one of La- I mean, Akira’s secrets.” She replied smiling at her son.
“How can you smile at a time like this? Aki- Takada said she was an assassin, a murderer!”
“Don’t worry Natsume Ren, all your questions will be answered in just a matter of moments.” Ryoko said as she enters holding a tray with some brewed tea.
Akira nodded at Ryoko and then turned to her father and said, “First of all, I want to ask, why you let those detectives in?”
“They have a warrant; I can’t go against the law…” Samejima answered while looking down, scared at Akira.
“They have no proof; the witness they got was stoned with drugs.” Akira stated.
“I never heard the guy say that!” Ren was puzzled.
“Yes, but the woman on the other line, the one that that Ryuichi was talking to said it.”
“How could you have heard that? Is that the skill of an assassin?”
“Even if an assassin is well trained and is skillful, when it comes to sensing presence of any physical thing, breathing or not, it’s easy but to hear a soft sound coming from the phone, only a monster like me can do it… No assassin can do what I do…”
“A monster, what are you talking about? You may have killed but you’re still human, not a monster!”
“I’m not proud of my job Ren! Killing humans is a sin, I’m not human so I don’t pay much price, that’s because I’m already –“ Akira said with clenched fist. “Suffering so much lost…”
“Akira, what do you mean by not being human?” Ren said as he acted like he wanted to embrace Akira.
“In some countries, they call us strigoi or upir…” Akira said while Ren started to get scared, knowing the meaning of the words Akira just uttered.
“Vampire…” he muttered.
“Yes, you’re quite a knowledgeable young man…” Akira said with a different tone in her voice, a more sophisticated voice.
“But, how can that be? Vampires are just fictional characters made by the human mind. Even if they exist, why can you go out with the sun blazing at you, eat cuisines with garlic, and even went to church?!” Ren said.
“Hahaha! Ren-kun’s such a kid…” Samejima said.
“Well, it’s all thanks to Ren that I am like a normal human but if this body turns eighteen, it’ll stop aging… It’s all thanks to you that I am no longer feared.”
“What do you mean?”
Akira just smiled and removed her coat, her tie and started to unbutton her shirt. Ren was turning red while Akira removed her shirt and stood there with just her underwear and her skirt. Ren was startled by the necklace that hung on Akira’s neck and then he pointed at it.
“What is that?” he asked.
“This necklace nullifies my vampirism… It has my blood from 17 years ago and your blood when you were born…” Akira answered while she held it tight. Ren was speechless and then Akira pulled off her necklace and threw it to Ren. He caught it and looked at it…
“It’s moving…”
“Will you…” Akira said smiling and then Ren looked at her. “Step back a bit?”
Ren nodded and stepped away from Akira, her eyes turned red and her hair color started to change as well. She slightly opened her mouth as her fangs grew; Ren looked scared at what’s happening to Akira then finally, her true form shows itself. Akira’s black hair turned to wavy dark red hair; her eyes are glowing red while inflicting fear into Ryoko. She smiled like nothing happened to her, she turned around and her clothes change into 18th century clothing and said,
“You may call me Noelle…” as she bowed down at Ren.
“N-Noelle?” Ren called.
“Yes?” she stood up and smiled.
Ren was mesmerized by Noelle’s beauty and then she looked at Ren face to face… Ren’s heart jumped and he blushed as he stepped back. Noelle giggled and smiled at Ren again. Samejima stood up, approached Noelle and kissed her hand.
“It’s been a while, my dear father, William…” Noelle said as she looked down at Samejima.
“What just happened?” Ren asked.
“Would you like to know what happened, it’ll take us back many years ago…”
“Go ahead!” Ren said.
Noelle sat on Samejima’s chair and then looked at Ren who was walking to his mother.
“I am a red-eyed vampire, feared by humans, vampire hunters and even by my own kind… A pureblooded vampire with red eyes is a rare sight; their blood kills humans and even vampires except for one, the person that is destined for that vampire, a human… Half a century from today, my brother, the one whom I thought I can trust, betrayed me and sent me to sleep. Years after that incident, I woke up, woken by a young man, a dhampir… William took me in; he looked a lot like the father I killed. In the next five years, I was in Japan, so was an English lady, she was pregnant… Lady Viviane was pregnant, bearing Ren in her womb…”


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Chapter 15:

The Past and a New Student

“Meeting a vampire, face to face, she was never scared… I explained myself and she cooperated without any complaints.”
“She’s so pretty, that’s why!” Viviane jokingly said.
“Mother…” Ren was a bit confused at why his mother acts the way she does.
“When you were born, some of your blood was taken, it smelled so nice… After that, they mixed it with mine, after seeing that we’re compatible by blood, I suddenly transformed into a baby, and they named me Akira. I looked a lot like you though unlike a human baby, I can understand what the people around me, though I can’t reply them… They put out blood in a vial and tied it on my neck like a necklace then changed into the fine necklace that you’re holding! As I said earlier, it nullifies my vampirism, you made me human… I’m happy!” Noelle said as she blushed then she looked at Ren. “You are…” she hesitantly said. “You’re my groom… It’s our destiny to be together!”
Ren kept his silence looking more surprised than earlier. Noelle looked down and she said in a low voice, “Not as Noelle, though…” she stood up from the chair, stepped closer to Ren and then transformed back to Akira and said, “…but as Akira!” as she caressed Ren’s cheek.
“What do you really feel for me? Tell me like you said before!” Akira said. “I…” Ren said as he tried to back out a bit.
“Are you scared of me?” Akira’s eyes turned red and then she untied Ren’s tie. He got distracted and then he held Akira’s hand and looked seriously at her… Viviane and the rest left the room.
“I love you!” Ren said.
Akira smiled and then she embraced Ren, her fangs grew out, and asked, “Do you want to be with me?”
“Yes!” he answered.
“Forever?” Ren got surprised, Akira licked Ren’s neck and when she noticed that Ren isn’t answering, she stopped. She took her necklace from Ren’s hand, her clothes turned back to her uniform. She sat on Samejima’s chair and puts her necklace on.
“Leave!” she shouted. Ren looked down at Akira and saw tears flowing down her cheeks.
“Akira…” Ren murmured.
“No, it’s not you!” Akira turned the chair making it look at the window. “Please leave!”
Ren clenched his fist and just left.

The next day, Ren and Chiaki walked the corridor leading to their classroom.
“She didn’t come home nor called.” Ren said.
“Darn, if she just told me that she’s allowed to stay at your place because Natsume-sensei was with you…” Chiaki said as she pouted.
“Are you even listening to what I just said?”
“Huh? I’m sorry! My mind was full of thoughts just now! Anyway, what did you guys talked about yesterday? You seemed worried about Akira, what do you think could happen to her?”
“About yesterday, it’s just about that secret of the two of you, plus my mother seems like she want to see me, so she’s there. You shouldn’t worry about her too much; she’ll get too worked up if you do…”
“Okay!” Chiaki cheerfully said.
The two arrived at the classroom, just in time before the bell ring. They both entered and sat on their desks. Chiaki looked at Akira’s desk which was empty then she looked at Ren who was looking at the same desk. The bell rang, the teacher entered in time and then Chiaki raised her hand.
“Teacher!” she called.
“Yes, what is it, Miss Sakurano?” the teacher asked.
“Where’s Akira?” she asked as she stood up.
“Oh! Lady Akira is out somewhere, doing some important errands for her father.”
“Huh? That’s peculiar, Akira never does that before!” Chiaki thought.
“Alright, is that all you want to know?”
Chiaki nodded and took her sit.
“Okay, before I start the lesson, I’d like to introduce 2 new students.” She turned to the door and called. “You two can come in now!”
A girl came in, shoulder length black hair, her eyes were brown. She was alone…
“Where’s Mr. Kusanagi?” the teacher asked.
“Lost, I guess…” the girl replied.
“Anyway, that student that was lost is named Kusanagi Shin… This is Miss Uchiha Eri… Let’s welcome her!”
“Welcome to our class!” everyone said.
Eri bowed, stood straight, and said, “Uchiha Eri, I’m from Hokaido, nice to meet you all! Please, don’t act so close as to call me by my first name…” she looked at the teacher who was a bit surprised at Eri’s introduction.
“Okay, Miss Uchiha, you can sit there, behind that empty chair.” She was pointing at the chair behind Akira’s. She started walking and on her way, she noticed Ren looking at her. She stopped beside him and looked back at him with an angry face.
“You made her cry,” she said with a whispering voice, “I won’t forgive you!” then she continued walking towards her designated chair and sat on it while staring at Ren.

Lunch break, at the cafeteria, at the school’s corridors, everywhere where Ren goes, Eri follows him. Ren doesn’t seem to care about her but Chiaki was annoyed. She turned back at Eri and the she said, angrily,
“Will you please stop following us around? Please, give us some privacy!”
Eri bowed and said, “I understand, if that is what Lady Akira’s friend’s wish, then there’s nothing more I can do!” she stood up, “I have but one request, please be careful… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to find my friend!” she turned around and then Ren called her.
“What is it, Master Ren?” she said.
“Master?” Chiaki was surprised.
“Eh… *ahem* Do you know where Akira is?”
Eri didn’t answer, she stood there staring at the two of them and she said, “I can’t tell, she might get angry at me…”
Chiaki ran off towards Eri but she just passed by her.
“Wait, Chiaki, where are you going?” Ren called.
“To the headmaster’s office, he might know!”

Ren walked towards Eri and the two of them were alone in that hallway, when suddenly, the windows broke down, the shattering glasses sinks into Eri’s back who was protecting Ren.
“What’s happening?” Ren thought.

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End of Part 1
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