Fortuna Academy-Ch.07 - Part 1 – Promises.

As Miku happily walked through the students' dorm halls, meowing in a singsong voice, she spotted another Felian, a dark-skinned blonde-haired female with long hair and green eyes, slightly chubby, wearing a red and black checkered skirt and a white button up shirt with the academy emblem on the left side, black shoes and white long socks, leaning with her ear pressed against Ryuuga's room's door. The girl was blush and blood flowed out of her nose.

"Um...Sister...what are you doing?" Miku asked quirking an eyebrow. The blonde Felian seemed slightly startled. "Sis! Don't startle me like that!" The blonde Felian scolded in a low voice.

"What are you doing here, Kanade-nya~?"Miku questioned. Her sister signaled her to come closer to the door. "Listen listen!"

"Now stay still, Ryuuga. It might hurt a little, but don't worry. I'll try to be as gentle as possible." Tenshi's voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

"Just take it easy,ok? I'm not used to this." Ryuuga replied calmly. Kanade had an increasingly flustered expression. Then, Ryuuga's moans could be heard from the other side of the door. "Oh that's the spot..." Ryuuga said with another moan.

"Oh gosh...I stumbled upon the boys love paradise~" Kanade muttered, blood flowing from her nose.

"Tenshi hang on." Ryuuga told the male celeste before breathing deeply. "HE'S JUST MASSAGING MY SHOULDERS!"

Kanade, startled, stumbled and fell on her back. She winced in pain, rubbing her ears who were slightly sore with the shout, due to her Felian's heightened hearing. "Are you ok?" Miku asked checking her sister for any bruises. "Nah, I'm good. My ears are hurting a bit tho'..." Kanade replied before a click sound was heard from Ryuuga's door, the silver-haired teen walking out of it. He noticed Miku. "Oh, hey Miku, good morning." Ryuuga greeted in his usual calm voice. "Greetings, Miku." Tenshi greeted as he walked out of the room. "Good morning you guys-nya~"

"Well, I need to go back to Lady Luna now. Unless you have something else I can help with?" Tenshi told Ryuuga. "No, that's all. Thanks Tenshi." Ryuuga replied before Tenshi excused himself and returned to Luna's room.

"Sooooooooo~" Kanade spoke while quickly getting up. "You two seem pretty close~ Are you sure you're not a couple~?" Kanade asked coyly while teasingly nudging Ryuuga with her elbow. "Uh...no, we're just friends." Ryuuga replied quirking an eyebrow. "Aw, what a letdown. You two have so much potential too..." Kanade said pouting cutely before Miku swatted her sister's head with a giant paper fan. "Ow!" Kanade groaned, rubbing the spot hit. "Alright, that's enough, sis. Let's go back to our room~nya." Miku said taking Kanade by her collar.

"Nooooooooo! I must know more about this potential BL relationshiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!!!" Kanade childishly cried as Miku dragged the blond Felian behind her by her collar.

"Huh...never thought Miku of all people would play “Straight man” in a duo..." Ryuuga muttered to no one in particular as he went back to his room.

xXxXx

Later...

The sun shone bright in the Academy Grounds, filled with students enjoying the weekend. Edward, Ryuuga and Shiori were in front of the Academy Building waiting for Yumi and Jin to show up.
"We're supposed to meet up with Hiruma, right?" Edward asked breaking the silence.

"I wonder what that's about..." Shiori muttered to herself. "...Hiruma-kun seemed a bit shaken when he called us..."

"And it's Hiruma we're talking about. For him of all people to be shaken, that's gotta be serious." Ryuuga added.

"Shouldn't Yumi and Jin be here already? What's taking those two so long...?" Edward questioned.

xXxXx

"Ryuuga is gonna be mad at us..." Jin told Yumi as he helped the black-haired girl with getting dressed in her kimono. "...but still, it was worth it." Yumi said with a huge grin on her face. "...you're getting better at this, aren't you~?" Yumi asked the blond teen before kissing his cheek.

"I-I am!?" Jin asked, surprised at the compliment. Yumi nodded in response,secretely giggling at Jin's awkwardness.

"You are. I mean, you're making me feel better than usual, and it feels soooo good~" Yumi said tightly hugging her lover, then noticing the time. "We'll talk more about this on the way to meet up with everyone. Come on."

xXxXx

"Geez, took you long enough..." Ryuuga said with a tone of annoyance as he spotted Yumi and Jin walking towards the group. "Sorry, we got a bit caught up with...something." Yumi replied hesitantly, blushing slightly and nervously rubbing the back of her head. Jin laughed awkwardly.

"Something, huh? Right, right." Ryuuga said with a devilish smirk once once he gathered the reason why they were late from their reactions. "Well, like I said, your sex life only concerns you two. Just make sure it doesn't make us get late again." Ryuuga said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"R-Ryuuga!!!" Yumi blurted out, earning a snicker from Edward, Shiori and Ryuuga. "And I've done my teasing for the day. Shall we go meet up with Hiruma now?"

"Y-yeah, let's!" Yumi said angrily trying to hide her embarrassment. At that moment, from thin air, two figures dressed in black cloaks appeared in front of them. One was a slim person and the other was a bulkier-looking figure. "You are with Hiruma Asashi, correct?" The slim figure, a woman, by the sound of her voice, asked the five students.  "Um...yeah, we are."

"Please come with us. Principal Kyoraku requests your presence." The female figure told the group as both figured walked away.

"The Principal? What could he want?" Jin questioned.

"Well, let's find out." Ryuuga said following the two figures, Yumi, Jin, Edward and Shiori following suit. "And besides, it's not always that we get to see the legend himself!" Jin said excitedly.

XxxXx

After a few moments of walking, Ryuuga and his friends found themselves in front of the abandoned building, and they then spotted Tamashii, Hiruma, Van and Crow talking to the principal.

"Sir, we brought them as requested." The female figure spoke politely bowing. "Shiro, why are you talking like that?" Hiruma asked the female figure, who took off her hood revealing her face of a dark-skinned girl with long,silky white hair and blue eyes, wearing a black beret with straps that fell to each side of her face. "I wanted to try it out once, y'know." She answered before turning to Jin, Yumi, Ryuuga and Edward. "Ryuuga, Yumi, Jin and Edward, right? Nice to meet you all. I'm Shiro . A student from Hiruma's class and a spy working for the principal~" Shiro spoke calmly, bowing politely. "Pleasure's ours." Yumi said returning the gesture. The burlier figure removed his hood to reveal a bald, dark-skinned boy with brown eyes. "I'm Ikki, nice to meet you all."

"Guys, can we save the introductions for another time? We've got a nasty problem right now." Hiruma said in a surprisingly serious tone, which didn't go unnoticed by everyone present. "What's wrong?" Edward said as the group joined Hiruma, Crow and Van. "Yeah, that's not like you at all." Jin added, The trio then finally realizing they were standing in front of the most famous mage in the world. "It's really him! In flesh and bone!" Jin said awed seeing the legendary Kyoraku Kirisaki in front of him.

"Ah, I finally get to meet the new students personally." Kyoraku said with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

"A-ah! K-Kyoraku-sama! The honor is ours!" Yumi said awkwardly bowing to the older man, Ryuuga and Jin following suit. "Oh, no need for such formalities, young ones." Kyoraku told the trio. "If you say so. It's an honor to meet you, Principal." Ryuuga replied.

"Kyoraku's fine." He said back. "But we're going a bit off topic now." Kyoraku said, clearing his throat. "You were the ones who investigated the incident with Dragan's house, correct? Tamashii said a woman named Karin was behind it."

"T-That's right." Jin comfirmed, clearing his throat. "She was the one who attacked the students that wandered around here." Yumi explained.

"Hiruma and I got her before she could get away." Ryuuga added. "We saw her bite the dust right in front of us."

"That's just it. That woman...she got away." Hiruma explained, trying to maintain his calm personality, prompting Ryuuga, Yumi and Jin to react with shock. "What!?" The three shouted in disbelief. "She got away!? How the hell is that possible!?" Ryuuga asked increasingly upset. "Ryuuga, calm down." Yumi said placing a hand on his shoulders. Ryuuga took a deep breath and relaxed slightly.

"It's a dark magic called "Fake Corpse"." Tamashii explained calmly. "It's a forbidden spell that creates a fake body to trick enemies. After a while, the body desintegrates itself."

"We were played for fools..." Hiruma said grunting in annoyance gripping his hair and gritting his teeth.

"Why is it a forbidden spell?" Shiori asked tilting her head to the side in curiosity.

"You see...It is rumored to be a spell that is fueled by a soul..." Tamashii said with a hint of disgust in his voice. "And there's been plenty of rumors about people going around collecting other people's souls." Upon hearing those last words, Ryuuga's eyes widened.

XxxXx

My name is Sakki. Sakki Youkai. A member of the demonfolk race...and a necromancer... But that's all you two will need to know before I end both of your lives and harvest your souls...

XxxXx

"Oh yeah, didn't you run into someone who was collecting souls back in Kyoko? With that whole graveyard incident, I mean."Yumi told Ryuuga. "Ryuuga?" Yumi called waving her hand in front of the boy's eyes, and snapping her fingers in front of him. noticing no response from the half-ryuujin. She sighed and summoned her shortsword, poking the boy's arm with it. Ryuuga snapped out of his daze once he felt the stinging pain. "Ow!!! The hell was that for!?" Ryuuga shouted angrily, Edward, Shiori, Crow and Jin laughing at his reaction.

"You were spacing out." Yumi explained nonchalantly. "What the hell is going on with you?" Yumi asked with a huff.

"The person I met that day...mentioned collecting souls as well." Ryuuga explained.

"You think there's a connection?" Van asked.

"Possibly." Ryuuga answered. "But I sure hope there's not..."

"But that aside, is there any other reason for you to call us here, principal?" Hiruma asked Kyoraku.

"Quite hasty, aren't you?" Kyoraku remarked. "Well, Tamashii already filled me out on the details of what was this Karin person's goal, and I just wanted to know if there was anything else to know about."

"Well, that's pretty much it."

"If you find out anything else, please report to me." Kyoraku told Tamashii. "Don't worry sir." Tamashii replied.

"Well, I must be going now. Thank you for your assistance." Kyoraku said with a snap of fingers that created a magic seal underneath him. As soon as the seal appeared, Ikki and Shiro stood next to Kyoraku, within the seal. "Transportatio." He chanted before disappearing in thin air.

"Amazing..." Yumi muttered. "I can't believe I got to meet one of the Three Kings!" Yumi said butting both hands behind her head and grinning widely.

"Don't you already know one of them? I mean, grandpa is one after a*oof*" Ryuuga told in response, getting elbowed by Jin right afterwards. "Don't spoil it for her." Jin said in a serious tone.

"Alright, alright." Ryuuga replied rubbing the elbowed spot."Son of a bitch...that hurt..." Ryuuga cursed inside his mind. Hiruma smirked and started to laugh sinisterly.

"Good...good...things have gotten more interesting now..." Hiruma added licking his lips, his voice sounding deeper and eerier. "I didn't think there existed people who thought that they could get away with threatening the academy like this..." He grinned evilly.

"Guys! You know what this means, right?" Hiruma told Crow and Van. "Uh, recruiting?" Crow asked, blinking. "Yep. Recruiting. We gotta get more members and fast!!" Hiruma said with an even wider smirk.
"Uh...how are we going to do that?" Edward asked.

"That's up to you guys. Go around the academy, see if there's any people out there who fits the profile of a committee member, and snag'em!" Hiruma said, his voice coming out louder in the last sentence.

"What profile is that?" Jin asked with an hint of eagerness in his voice. A blade protruded from Hiruma's white gun and the Black-haired teen stabbed the ground with it. "People who aren't afraid of fighting." Hiruma said licking his lips and chuckling right afterwards. Jin started to get really fired up.

"Now that's a profile I can get behind!" Jin said excitedly.

"That's the spirit! Well, first committee assignment: Recruit more members!!!" Hiruma announced, the group responding with a group shout of "Yeah!!!".

"Well, we're disbanding for now. Try to split up and find as much members as you can." Hiruma said as he left with Van and Crow. "Later guys." Crow said. "Good luck." Van added.

"Well, we should look for some more members too." Yumi told Ryuuga and Jin. "Let's do our best to help out." Yumi said clapping her hands rapidly. "C'mon. Let's go, guys."

"Right right." Jin said as he and Ryuuga followed Yumi. Edward was about to go  after them as well when Shiori tugged at his wristband. "W-wait..." Shiori called.

"Mmm? Something wrong, Shiori?" Edward asked. He noticed Shiori was looking very nervous and uneasy, and he began to wonder what was going on. "U-um..."Shiori muttered, and the black-haired girl began to fidget.

"You..you're blushing a lot, you seem to be getting hotter as well...are you ok?" The tall blonde teen asked, holding Shiori's head with his hand and placing his forehead on hers. "You don't seem like you have a fever..."

Shiori, of course, got increasingly nervous with Edward being so close to her, and her face grew redder and redder. She could feel his breath against her face. "Um...I-i I'm ok!!!!" Shiori blurted out and backed away abruptly.

"A-are you sure?" Edward asked highly concerned, and for some reason, fear started to grow inside of him.

"Y-yeah! Um..s-sorry, I gotta go now!" Shiori said, her voice coming out hastily before she ran away, leaving Edward all by himself.

The blonde-haired boy felt increasingly uneasy and scared at that moment, his breathing became faster as he felt extremely anxious.

"And so it starts again." The voice from inside Edward said, chuckling sadistically. "Shut up!!!! Edward screamed back inside his head. "I won't let that happen again!!!

"Oh?" The voice answered coyly. "What is this? Are you finally showing some backbone? It taunted, chuckling smugly. I won't let you take over me!!!!Edward said challengingly.

"Interesting...But can you live up to that?"

^...dward

"I'll show you!!! Edward barked back. "You won't hurt my friends again!!!"

^...Edward

"EDWARD!!!!!!!" Someone's voice, a male one at that, screamed from behind him before a hand crashed on his head with a chop, bringing the timid boy back to his senses. "Ow!" He let out, rubbing the chopped spot, turning his head to see who the attacker was, to find Tamashii standing behind him with a rather serious look in his face. "T-tamashii!"

"You were spacing out. What's wrong?" Tamashii asked in a stern, concerned voice. "I-i was?" Edward blinked.

""He" was talking to you again, wasn't "he"?"

Edward remained silent.

"I see...Are you...feeling anything different? Anything at all?" Tamashii asked increasingly concerned.

"N...no...not at all..."

"If things start going out of control, don't worry. The academy has a special team prepared for that." Tamashii said reassuringly.

"But...what if that happens again?" Edward asked in response, his hands getting damp "...I..I don't want to hurt my friends again..."

At that moment, Tamashii began to pet the boy's head. "Don't worry. Everything will be ok. But if you feel that troubled, maybe talking to one of your friends might help." The green-haired teacher advised. "I'm sure one of them might offer you some good advice." Edward took a pause to think for a moment, and then an idea struck him. "I think I know someone! Thanks Tamashii." Edward said before sprinting towards the Academy Building.

"Good luck!" Tamashi called out.

XxxXx
"I'm pretty sure he's around here..." Edward muttered to himself while he walked around the Academy Building's halls, looking for one person in particular, scanning the surrounding with his eyes.

"Hey, jackass!" Edward heard Ryuuga's voice calling out someone. He turned to where the voice came from to see Ryuuga arguing with Lloyd, the tall green-haired student with green-eyes that antagonized him and Shiori when they first ment, and Tenshi fallen on the floor. "You bumped on my friend." Ryuuga told Lloyd aggressively, pointing at Tenshi. "Apologize to him!" Lloyd chuckled and smirked smugly. "Oh please. He's the one who should apologize for being in my way." Lloyd arrogantly spoke. Ryuuga's lips curled in disgust. "Commoners should know their place."

"I'm giving you the option of settling this peacefully. Are you going to cooperate or are you things going to get rough?" Ryuuga said back crackling his knuckles, his voice becoming more intimidating. Edward was about to rush in when someone grabbed his shoulder. He turned back to see Jin standing behind him.

"Don't worry. Just let Ryuuga do his thing." Jin told Edward as they both watched the argument's development. "Ok..." Edward hesitantly replied.

"Do you have any idea of who I am? MY father is-"

"Look, your father can be the freaking King of Celestia for all I give a fuck about, but I still won't hesitate to kick your ass all over the island if you harm my friends." Ryuuga shot back. "And as a Disciplinary Committee member, that's also my job, so I'm giving you one last chance to apologize." He added.

"What makes you think you can back up those words, trash?" Lloyd asked in a taunting voice, smirking evily as he glared at Ryuuga. Ryuuga didn't even flinch. "Um...Ryuuga, you don't have to-" Tenshi was about to tell Ryuuga to not pay heed to Lloyd's attitude as he got up, but nothing seemed to reach the half-draconian in his current state.

"Don't think that just because that sucker-punching tramp got the best of me the first time you'll be able to do the same!" Upon hearing those words referring to Yumi, any trace of solving things peacefully Ryuuga had were vanquished, and replaced by killing intent. "Well, that guy is dead." Jin said flatly with a shrug and a slow headshake to the sides. Edward noticed Ryuuga's eyes changing to their red colour and slitted pupils.

"I'll show you my magic whose power rivals Laura's!" Lloyd said summoning his wand, its tip producing a green ball of light, causing a magic seal to form on the academy floors, a green portal-like energy forming above it.

"I summon thee from the other world. Guardian Golem, answer my call and come to my side and smite my foe!" Lloyd chanted, creating a flash of light that, once it dissipated, revealed an emerald-colored, humanoid-like statue wielding a spear and an axe. It resembled a knight armour, and the helm resembled a wolf's head.

"Summoning magic, huh?" Ryuuga said. Lloyd smirked. "It's all over for you." Lloyd arrogantly announced.

"Now my guardian, smite my foe!" Lloyd shouted thrusting his wand forward, signaling to golem to charge at Ryuuga ready to strike. Ryuuga didn't seem fazed by the statue's charge at all. "*hmph* That's it?" Ryuuga taunted, his sword being coated in flames. Ryuuga dodged the guardian's axe by leaping over it and parried the following spear strike with his arm by hitting the staff.

"What!?" Lloyd asked in shock seeing Ryuuga dodge his guardian so easily. Then Ryuuga struck the statue twice with swift slashes and charged at Lloyd as the statue crumbled behind him. "My statue so easily was-" Lloyd muttered, but he couldn't finish that sentence as Ryuuga struck his midsection with an arm thrust. "Ghrk...I can't...breathe...My voice too..." Lloyd thought as he collapsed on the ground, defeated. Ryuuga looked down on the fallen green-haired arrogant teen with disgust.

"Oh, what are the odds? Our great "Summoner whose power rivals Laura" goes down like a BITCH." Ryuuga said in a mocking surprise tone, adding emphasis on the last word. "On par skills with Laura?" Ryuuga asked Lloyd rhetorically, remembering the heated battle against the Green-haired elf. "Don't make me laugh." Ryuuga huffed before walking away.

"And for the record, insult one of my friends again and I'll break you like a twig." Ryuuga added as he walked towards Tenshi, who seemed to be blushing profusely.

"You ok, buddy?" Ryuuga asked gazing over Tenshi from head to toe. "You don't seem to be bruised anywhere. That's good." Ryuuga said letting out a small sigh in relief. "Uh...thanks...you really didn't have to do that...but...thanks." Tenshi said, bowing as a gesture of gratitude. "No big deal. Just doing my job as a Disciplinary committee member" Ryuuga replied nonchalantly. "Don't worry about it."

"I-if you say so..." Tenshi spoke nervously. "Hey Ryuuga, we gotta get going. We need to look around for more members to recruit, remember?" Jin called. "Ah, yes. Well, I gotta get going now, Tenshi. Stay outta trouble." Ryuuga said as he waved goodbye to the brown-haired celeste. "Ok. Bye Ryuuga." Tenshi said calmly before the two parted ways.

XxxXx

"You haven't changed at all..." Sora thought to herself as she walked through the halls as her Tenshi persona. "You...always go out of your way to stand up for the people you care about..." She giggled to herself.

"You've grown so much...It makes me really happy...!" She thought as a tear ran down her face. "I'm really glad...I can see you and our friends again..." Sora added to the thoughts, which were cut off when she bumped into someone. "Ah, sorry about tha-" Sora spoke accidentally in her normal voice, instead of her Tenshi voice. "O-oh no-" She said realizing she had just blown her cover. "*ahem* I-i can explain tha-" Sora said using her Tenshi voice, then noticing who she had bumped into.

"S-Sora?" Yumi asked hesitantly, instantly recognizing the Celeste girl's voice. "U-uh...what are you talking about Yu-" Sora was talking in her Tenshi voice trying to divert Yumi's attention but she was cut short by Yumi.
"Too late for that, Sora. Cover's blown."

"Oh snap..." Sora muttered. "Look, I can expla-" But before Sora could finish the sentence, Yumi hugged her tightly. "E-eh?" Sora blinked.

"You goddamn idiot..." Yumi said tightening her embrace, unable to hold back her tears. "...do you have any idea of how worried we were about you...?" Yumi blurted out, her voice shaky. "You stopped contacting us...we were worried sick..."

At this point, Sora was unable to hold her own tears and she returned the embrace. "I'm sorry...I...really couldn't contact you..." Sora explained, her voice very shaky. "...I've told Ryuuga in that letter...I ran away from home...And..."

"...No need to explain anything." Yumi said as she let go of Sora and wiped her tears. "...you probably have a good reason to hide it and I won't pry into it. I'm just...so happy to see you again..."

"I'm so happy I can be with you all again..." Sora replied smiling warmly. Yumi grinned widely.

"Welcome back!"

XxxXx

"Eh? How were things for me after that accident?" Ryuuga told Edward as they leaned against the wall while waiting for Jin, who was in the bathroom. Ryuuga couldn't help but be quite perplexed by Edward's question.

"S-Sorry if I'm poking any old wounds here...but...you were feared by the people in your hometown after that accident, right?" Edward asked hesitantly.

"Well...not feared,per se...Like, people didn't openly call me a monster or anything like that." Ryuuga answered in an oddly calm demeanor. "But most people would still avoid me like hell." He explained.

"And...how exactly did you deal with it?" Edward asked. "Uh...I-i mean, I'm sure that must have been tough, even for you."

"Well, I won't deny that it was tough. I mean, it's pretty hard to deal with people giving you the cold shoulder, but I wasn't really affected by it."

"How did you...deal with it?" Edward asked nervously.

"Well, I had my friends and my family backing me up." Ryuuga explained looking over his shoulder towards the sky through the windows behind him. "I'd probably have lost it if I didn't have them around." Ryuuga added. "And well..." Ryuuga spoke once again, looking even higher in the sky. "...I've made a promise to someone. And I'll not break that promise."  Ryuuga said turning his gaze back to his front.

"She means a lot for you, doesn't she?" Edward asked, not feeling as nervous as he did before.  "Sora, I mean."

"We all have someone special like that in our lives." Ryuuga answered. "Hey, do you have someone like that? Someone that makes you feel happy just by the mere thought of that person?" He asked the tall blonde-haired teen rather amiably for someone as distant-looking like him.

"I...used to..." Edward said with a depressed expression, painful memories haunting him.

"What? Did something happen between you and Shiori?" Ryuuga asked raising an eyebrow, causing Edward to be highly flustered. "E-eh?" He blinked. "Wh-what do you mean?" He asked blurting out.

"I heard Shiori and Yumi talking earlier. Shiori was talking about inviting you to something, but I didn't quite hear what it was." Ryuuga spoke in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Uh, what does Shiori have to do wi-"

"She's your important one, isn't she? I mean, she really cares about you, you know. Did she ever get to talk to you?"

"Uh...s-she wanted to talk to me about something...but all of a sudden...she ran away...She started to get really red and hot and nervous...and she ran away just like that."

"Oh...so she didn't get to invite you, huh?" Ryuuga said with a sigh. "And the poor thing was so fired up about it too..."

"...I'm an idiot..." Edward muttered to himself hanging his head.

"Hm? What was that?" Ryuuga asked.

"How could I think she was scared of me?" Edward said. "How could I doubt her like that?"
"Why would Shiori be scared of you?" Ryuuga asked, before his eyes shot open as a omnious feeling coursed through his body again. "That feeling again..."

"You can feel him, can't you?" Edward asked clutching his chest with a expression of fear and sorrow in his face. "This omnious thing inside me..."

"So it's thing now, huh?"

" Hey guys, sorry I took so long." Jin apologized as he walked through the

"I am feeling something omnious from you, yes..." Ryuuga replied hesitantly. "...like an eerie presence..."

"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" Jin asked feeling lost. "Eerie presence? The fuck is that?"

"It's...someone living inside me...Someone dangerous...there's no telling the kind of harm I could cause if he took over me again..." Edward explained, Ryuuga and Jin listening attentively, Jin trying to understand what was going on at the time.

"Again? So...it made you cause some sort of catastrophe before?" Ryuuga asked hesitantly. " I hope I'm not poking any wounds here..." He thought to himself.

"I really don't want to talk about it..." Edward replied, cringing at the memory of the incident. "...let's just say...if he ever takes over again...it's gonna be highly dangerous to stay around me..."

"Is that why you were worried about Shiori being scared of you?" Ryuuga asked one more time. Edward nodded without saying a word. There was a moment of silence.

"So what?" Jin asked nonchalantly, which surprised Edward greatly. "H-huh!?" Edward exclaimed, his voice coming out louder and in a higher tone. "Weren't you listening!?" He voiced loudly.

"Yeah, I don't know what exactly you're talking about, only that it's a really dangerous guy. But still, what's the big deal?" Jin replied flatly. " If something like you losing control happens, all we have to do is kick it's ass and force it back, right? Simple as simple can be." Jin said pounding his open right palm with his left fist.

"You know...it surprises me to say that,but he's got a point." Ryuuga said, the surprise at Jin's statement being obvious in his voice. " Don't worry about anything, ok?" Ryuuga said placing his hand on Edward's shoulder. "If the worst happens, we'll stop it. No question." Ryuuga assured. “I promise.” Edward was...shocked, to say the least.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, I believe you have something to clear up with a certain girl." Ryuuga said with a teasing smirk. Edward took a moment to take in everything that was just said to him, curled his lips into a smile and nodded as a response.

"Got it! Thanks guys!" Edward said before he sprinted off to search for Shiori. Ryuuga watched Edward walking away with a smirk on his face.

"You...you're just like me, aren't you?"

As Ryuuga thought that, Jin's PC rang the message tone. "Oh, I've got a message from Yu." Jin said as he flipped his PC open and searched through his messages.

Hey dummy, can you come to our room?
                                                                           Yumi
P.S I love you~

"Well, the lady is calling me. I gotta go. You'll be fine by yourself, right?" Jin asked Ryuuga as he typed his reply. Ryuuga nodded in response. "I will. Go see what Yumi needs you for. Don't worry."

"Alright. Catch you later." Jin said as he sent his reply and ran back to his room.

Coming~
                                                      Jin
P.S I love you too~


XxXxXx

Edward leapt down the stairs hurriedly as he searched far and wide around the academy trying to find Shiori.

"You should give up." The voice spoke again. "You can't delay the inevitable. One day, sooner or later, I'll take over and then...well, you know what happened the last time. Kukuku..."

"You know what? You're welcome to try! If you think that's gonna happen again, you're horribly mistaken! If my friends say they'll stop you, I'll...I'll believe in their strength!" Edward barked back.

"Is that so?  Well, let's see how far that'll take you."

Edward, caught up in his internal argument with the voice, wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, and so, he bumped into someone, hearing a female voice saying "Ow!" as he tumbled back. As Edward lost his balance, the blonde teen pressed one hand against the floor and performed a reverse cartwheel, landing straight on his foot. "Whoa. Almost got hurt there." He said to himself.

"Woooow~" The person he bumped into said in awe. Edward looked up to see he had bumped into none other than the very girl he was looking for. "Ah, S-shiori, I'm sorry, I wasn't loo-"

"That was amazing!" Shiori said clapping her hands in applause. "I've never seen someone pulling a trick like that~" Edward blushed at the sudden compliment. "Um...it's no big deal...I just practice a lot..." Edward rubbed the back of his head timidly. "Well, it really pays off~" Shiori said giggling.

"I was looking for you." Edward told the celeste girl. "I wanted to talk to you about something too~ I got really nervous at the time and I couldn't say anything, so...sorry I ran off like that..." Shiori told the tall blonde boy. "No...I'm the one who should apologize." Edward replied with a serious expression. Shiori blinked and tilted her her head to the side. "Eeh? Why are you apologizing?"

"I...thought you were scared of me when you ran off earlier..." Edward answered, hanging his head feeling ashamed. He then felt a smooth hand petting his head. "Don't be silly~" Shiori said with a gentle voice and an equally gentle smile. "Why would I be scared of you~?"

"...you're right. I was being silly." Edward answered, Shiori playfully pinching his nose.

"There's no reason to be scared of you~" Shiori told tapping Edward's forehead. "You don't have to worry, ok?" Shiori said pinching the boy's cheek lightly. "Shiori-chan will always be here for you~"

"Let's see if she thinks that when she knows the truth"

"Shut the hell up!!!"

"Hey...you're sweating again..." Shiori said watching Edward with concern in her eyes. "Are you ok? You're breathing too frantically..."

"I...don't...feel..." Edward couldn't finish the sentence as his body tumbled forward and fell in Shiori's direction. The black-haired celeste caught the boy. "Edward?" She asked, shaking him lightly.

No response.

"Edward? EDWARD! Hey hang in there!" Shiori said becoming increasingly desperate and worried about the unconscious teen's situation. She started to scan her surrounding to find someone to help her. A wave of relief washed over her when she spotted a very familiar person.

"Y-YUMI-SAN!!!" She called. Yumi and Tenshi turned to Shiori and saw her tending to Edward. Both students instantly hurried to the bespectacled Celeste's aid. "Hey, what's the matter?" Yumi said looking over Edward.

"I don't know...I was talking to him, and all of a sudden he began to sweat and his breathing became more intense and then...he just passed out..." Shiori said trying to calm herself down. Yumi started to pet the girl's head. "Don't worry, we'll help." Yumi said putting Edward on her back.

"Should we take him to the medical center?" Tenshi suggested. Yumi shook her head. "No, it's too far away. Let's just take him to my room for the time being."

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