16 V. I Chapter 14: It's Legal, So Don't Worry About It

Ciel ran a hand through his hair, mind running through all possible drills and the most effective for this group of individuals. He clapped his hands to gain their attention. "I've found the best regiment for you bunch," he said. He clapped his hands three times.

The room shook as some of the padded floor started to rise, until there were different size platforms all over the room.

"This room is special, because it comes equipped with a parkour gym," Ciel explained. "I personally tend to use this mode when shooting. This is the best way for us to test mobility as well as increasing speed. At first, you're most likely going to have to jump and pause on each platform, but as we move on, you'll be able to jump from one to the other in a matter of milliseconds."

"Look!" one of the group exclaimed, pointing behind Ciel.

He turned, just in time to see Jaeyline leaping from one pillar to another, and as she reached the top, she turned. She leapt off, flipping, and driving her heel down, landing with one leg under her in a crouch, the other outstretched in an ax kick that could have broken through steel.

Ciel smiled as Jaeyline rushed back to the lowest platform, jumping back up. He turned himself, appearing to have vanished as he ran to a platform six feet off the ground. He jumped, landing lightly, already moving, sailing through the air to the next platform. He turned, so he was running backwards, flipping backwards as he jumped, landing on his feet on a lower platform. He continued his flips and jumps until he stood on the highest platform, looking down at his students. "Try coming up here," he called.

"But..."

"We can't do that..."

But it was the smallest and youngest that ran forward, trying to jump to the next platform that was too high for the little boy. He managed to get his torso on the ledge, wiggling as he tried to crawl all the way up.

Just as it looked as though he'd fall, one of the men who wanted to join the military caught him and pushed him all the way up, hopping up himself. "He never said we can't help each other. And since we're all new to this, I think that's exactly what we need to do," he said.

Ciel smiled from above them. They were starting to catch on. Even assassins would need to know how to work with others. Though it was a solo job, there were instances where a target needed more than one assassin to take them down, or when rival assassins had to stuff their pride and work together to take one down.

"This was your plan the whole time, wasn't it?"

Ciel looked behind him, finding Enda and Jaeyline standing there. He turned back to watch the students start to climb. "Yes. I gave them a hard lesson because it's good to have this kind of training as your beginning. If they can master this, then the stuff a normal teacher would give them would be considered easy. Drop them into an unfamiliar environment, and they'll be forced to use their resources, including each other. This gives me the chance to see just what kind of person they are."

Jaeyline watched Ciel as he watched his students. "You're actually quite manipulative, aren't you?" she asked.

Ciel looked at her, his smile a bit sad. "I guess so. I learned from the best, after all." Ciel turned his eyes back down. The older students were helping the little boy as much as they could, while still making him do work. They had him jump to them, catching him when it seemed like he would fall, until the little boy was jumping twice his height to a platform four feet away.

Ciel smiled to himself as he watched the little boy jump for joy as he made a five foot jump by himself. But then his eyes widened as a hand shot out, shoving the little boy off the platform. They were already a good thirty feet in the air, and that fall would be lethal for the boy, even with the padding below.

"Ciel?!" Enda cried as Ciel hurled himself off the edge of the platform.

Ciel held his arms and legs closely to his body, until he neared the platform where everyone was watching the little boy. His hand closed around an arm with a bone-crushing strength, hauling the person after him. He flipped, planting his feet on the side of the platform and pushing off, gathering the little boy in his arms, guarding him with his body as he rolled across the mats.

"Ciel! Are you alright?" Jerry asked, running over from not far away. "I can't believe you came rolling this far. Are you okay? No broken bones?"

Ciel let go of the person he'd grabbed, breathing hard, uncurling himself from the ball he was in, revealing the terrified little boy, not a scratch on him. "Are you okay?" he asked, panting, hand going to his ribs.

The little boy nodded, eyes still wide with terror. "T-thank you," he said.

Ciel just smiled slightly painfully, reaching out to rub the little boy's head.

Jaeyline jumped down to help him stand, assisting him as he grabbed the person's collar and the little boy, starting to where the rest of the class was waiting.

Ciel set the boy down gently, throwing the figure into the padded surface of the pillar. His eyes turned from cold and serious to wrathful and murderous. "Helping each other is fine, but pushing someone off is not. What were you going to do if he died?" he asked the trembling girl. "What would you have said to his parents if he died? Did you think I'd miss you pushing him?" Ciel stomped his foot barely an inch from her head. "What would you have done?" He felt an arm on his shoulder as the girl started crying.

"That's enough, Ciel."

Ciel looked behind him, at Jaeyline. Her face was grave and cold, but he could tell she was a bit shaken from his outburst. He ran a hand through his hair, growling. "You know what? The best way to train someone is to force them to think on their feet," he said. "Stand up."

The girl looked at him.

"I said STAND UP!" he shouted.

She did, shaking slightly.

Ciel spun on his heel, seeming like hew as going to walk away, but his pivot went all the way around, and his leg caught her in the chest, knocking her off the pillar. "Someone he size won't die if they fall from here," he said. He took his teaching job seriously. "At least if they know how to break their fall." He watched coldly as she screamed and flailed. But last second, she flipped her body, landing in a rough roll. His lips twitched, something in between a sneer and a cruel smile. "Everyone, let's get down."

Ciel ran through a few more tests, and by the end, everyone had improved their speed by at least half. "Now there's training with everyone here. We have a special arena for that. And once you see what you're up against, don't pass out. It's a pain for us to fight and protect spineless wimps."

Enda jumped down with Ciel and Jaeyline, grinning. "Are we really doing that?" he asked.

Ciel nodded.

"Will you be okay? It looks like you got more hurt than you let on," said Enda, eyes slightly worried.

Ciel replied, "I'll be fine. I've fought enemies with injuries worse than this."

"True."

"Why did you kick her off the edge?" Jaeyline asked. It was a purely curious question, with no trace of blame or disgust. If she'd been in charge of a class and someone had pushed a little kid off the edge of a platform, she would have snapped their spines.

"Because I knew she'd be forced to the edge, once again, and she'd have to attempt the same maneuver I pulled off. That would be the only way for her to survive. I have a feeling she won't be pushing anyone again."

Jaeyline was kind of shocked that Ciel put so much thought into his every move when teaching. Then she smiled. That was her assistant. "How are your injuries?" she asked.

Ciel ran a hand over his chest. "Fine. Nothing broken. Just a bit winded and shaky. I didn't have the mindset to guard myself as I landed, so I gained a few more injuries I could have avoided. Of course, if I had avoided them, then the child might have gained some."

"Hey! Are you alright?" Laksa asked, running up to them. "I saw the fall. Thank God you're trained."

Ciel nodded. "Fine. Jerry! We're going to arena E!"

"I thought this place only had up to D," one of the students said.

"E is the most dangerous arena. That's why it's not open to the public. Today, we're doing a good thing for a nearby zoo. Community service, you can call it," Enda said.

Everyone walked to Arena E, which was heavily locked. Ciel pressed his finger to the scanner as he opened his eyes for the retina scanner.

The doors opened without a sound, exposing what seemed to be an arena in the shape of a circus ring, with the tightrope and trapeze above. There were also solid blocks of stone resembling the parkour course in the other room.

Ciel pointed to a rack off to the side. "Pick a weapon. Rely on your own strength, but don't hesitate to use it."

Everyone looked slightly afraid. "What's going to happen?"

Ciel chose a long dagger and a a bow, tying a quiver of five dozen arrows across his shoulders. These arrows were slightly different than normal arrows. These ones were thinner and longer, barely the width of a wooden skewer, but still strong. The arrowheads were blunted, but still looked deadly.

"You were in the archery club for a while, right?" Enda asked.

Ciel nodded, reaching down to grab the end of the bowstring. It was an eighty pound draw weight, but Ciel had no problem stringing the bow, the tensing muscles in his back the only hint as to the difficulty.

Jaeyline took a long spear with a crossguard under the foot long, razor-sharp blade.

Once everyone got a weapon, whether it was modern or medieval, they gathered in the center of the circus ring.

Ciel snapped his fingers, and the wall opposite the one everyone entered opened, revealing long prison bars blocking dozens of wild lions, tigers, cheetahs, and even alligators and huge iguanas. "Just make sure you don't kill them," he called.

"This is illegal! It's animal abuse!" someone shouted.

Ciel raised an eyebrow. "Technically, it's not. Self-defense, remember? Not to mention, it's legal because it's community service."

Jerry explained, "This is the only way to tame animals like these. We need to show them we're not going to be pushed around and declare ourselves as the alpha. The zoo trusts us to tame these animals. Not to mention it's good practice. I assure you, the normal taming methods have already been attempted on these animals. We only handle the one that still won't submit and have attacked and harmed at least three trainers. We can either accept this role, or the animals have to be put down."

Ciel clapped his hands, and the bars started to rise. As soon as a foot of space was cleared, animals already started to run into the ring. "Remember, use your physical strength to get them to submit! And don't kill them!" he shouted, running to meet the first tiger. He jumped as it did. He used a platform to give him a bit of extra spring, before stepping on it's head and sailing even higher. He stretched out his fingers, until they closed around a cool metal bar. he changed his position on the trapeze, so he was hanging upside-down, the metal bar under his knees. He thanked the heavens he had the sense to reverse the quiver a he jumped. He drew three arrows, holding them between the fingers of his right hand. He nocked the first, drawing back to his ear before letting the string go.

The arrow landed just before the feet of a lion, causing it to startle, giving Enda time to kick it in the side of the face, sending it flying a few feet. Enda looked up and grinned as he saw Ciel nock another arrow.

Ciel saw Jaeyline charging a tiger. He whistled as she stuck the tip of the spear into the ground, catching the tiger in the chest with the butt and using its momentum to fling it over her. He brought the next arrow to his mouth, using his teeth to snap off the sharp end. He fired again within the second, catching a bear in the claw, giving time for one of the students to run back.

Ciel's mouth curled into a smile as he saw the little boy darting around like a bullet, his bamboo sword flashing out, rendering a line of animals unconscious. The little boy was a kendo genius, it appeared. Out of everyone, that boy had probably taken away the most from the lesson.

He jumped up to one of the pillars, getting to the top before jumping off, flipping and driving his heel into a bear's head. He landed in a crouch, the bear toppling over, before darting to attack another.

Ciel was still smiling as he fired ten arrows in rapid succession, corralling a dozen animals in the circle of arrows.

Jerry took them out, using the club he was carrying. He gathered the arrows, tossing them up one at a time to Ciel.

Ciel caught and fired each, using their broken tips and nailing the feral animals in the throat or temple.

It took about thirty minutes for all of the animals to be rendered unconscious.

"Great job, everyone," Ciel said.

"What if the animals don't behave?" someone asked.

"They will. We have them for a whole week. Every day, we fight. And one of us is always right there when they're being transferred to the zoo," Jerry said, wiping sweat off his face with a towel.

"Be sure to come back tomorrow," Enda said.

Ciel nodded, smiling slightly as he watched the instructors talk with their students. Enda and Jaeyline gave theirs hugs, and even Laksa and Jerry rubbed their students' heads. He even saw Laksa kiss the girls on the cheek in farewell, probably something he picked up on in a foreign country. That, or Laksa was just being a flirt. Chances were fifty-fifty.

"Mr. Michaelis, can I get a hug?" the little boy asked, seemingly appearing before Ciel, stretching out his arms.

"Ah. Umm..." Ciel was slightly on edge. He wasn't a huge fan of contact, especially from men. But as long as the child didn't touch Ciel's skin, he should be fine. Ciel reached down, wrapping his arms around the kid, careful that their bare skin did not touch. But the child's finger touched the skin on the back of Ciel's neck.

Ciel almost shoved the kid away, backing up quickly, hand over his mouth, fighting the nausea. "I've got to go. I forgot I had an appointment," he said quickly, an excuse, before disappearing, the door closing.

"What was that?" someone asked.

Jerry sighed. "Just remember one thing, should you ever choose to fight Ciel. Never, under any circumstances, touch Ciel. Fair warning, if you want to live."

"Why is that? Does he have a fear of touch?"

"I guess you can say that. It's more like any touch is just a bad reminder."

Jaeyline walked toward the door. She said, "So, unless you really do want to die, I recommend keeping your hands off of him." She sent one warning look over her shoulder before walking after Ciel.

She wouldn't let them near him. He was hers. Nobody else could have him.

Jaeyline snapped out of her thoughts, calming herself. It's not like she could just kidnap him away from everyone. She'd just have to wait for Ciel to come out and say it.