A REQUEST TO MEET

With a lot rumbling around her mind, Ramika walked at a brisk pace towards her classroom, dressed in the usual full-neck, full-sleeve red sweater and full-length black pants.

"Ramika! Good Morning!" cheered Sana and wrapped her thin arms around Ramika, who sighed, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, Sana... Good Morning to you too," she replied back in the most mundane tone possible.

"A bad morning I suppose..." she nervously giggled, walking side by side with her.

"At least you got that right... so, what's the first period today?"

"Oh, it's cooking... A trainee professor is the one who is going to teach us today. Heard that he is finally ready to try out real class sessions—"

"Another trainee professor... These fuckers are weird!"

Sana pursed her lips, confused about understanding her friend's sudden contempt towards trainees; If only she witnessed what Ramika went through.

"And hey, have you heard about John Devitto? The handsome fella..."

Ramika's eyes twitched like crazy and she stopped and turned towards Sana, glaring in the most evil way possible; scaring the shit out of her.

Sana got the memo and nodded endlessly, agreeing not to disturb her. "Gotcha! You hate that guy... Thought you liked him as I saw you blushing—"

"I'll chop your tongue off, Sana."

"Okay, ma'am."

-----

After a while, Ramika entered the trial kitchen, wearing her white apron and a small cap around her head.

With everyone assembled, the chef in training entered the kitchen. And Ramika's drooping eyelids flared up in shock as she saw who the chef was up close.

"The blind guy..." she muttered with her mouth wide open. Yohan's eyes neglected her and proceeded to walk over the mounted kitchen appliances and utensils.

Though Ramika was familiar with Yohan's appearances, many of her classmates didn't. The sunglasses, messy hair and sleep-deprived attitude puzzled the students.

"Why the heck is he wearing sunglasses inside a kitchen?" asked Sana, standing next to Ramika who remained silent and just nodded, replying nothing.

'I don't know... and the glasses were the least bothering thing about him.'

"Okay, so... the dish... we are going to make tea."

"The what?"

"Tea... Just a cup of tea by adding milk. Look, I'm not going to say anything... Just make a tea. If you know how, perfect. If not, then use your bloody imagination and come up with something..."

"That's embarrassingly low-effort, Mister Chef..." a student mocked Yohan, which was followed by a huge explosion of laughter from others except for Ramika; who was standing in a mixed emotional state as she knew Yohan's words might seem pointless but always carry a little weight.

'This is the guy who had no problem getting beaten up by a bully, even though having the strength to throw a six-feet human across two buildings... Of course, people won't get his words,' thought Ramika, as she reminisced the 'night' she met him and the words he spoke.

'Why I didn't fight back the bully? Are you an idiot? Do you really think he'll survive if I fight back? I don't wanna be a murderer, for god's sake...'

Recalling the words, Ramika nodded to herself. 'Of course... He's beyond reasoning.'

Hearing the complaint from his student, Yohan snarkily smiled.

"I'm not interested in teaching you dumb fuckers anything. So you cunts either can make a cup of tea for me or get lost and quit the fucking college... You fucktards."

The number of gasps that followed almost formed a chorus. Sana, the righteous yet cowardly nerd, immediately rushed to the principal room and was joined by other students as well, leaving Ramika alone in the kitchen.

"Oooook. No one is around... can we talk now?" Ramik asked, still weirded out by the number of swears she had heard.

"That was partly the intention... Anyways, find a good gown for tonight. The ones that were commonly worn at parties and meetings. We'll leave for an important place—"

"Together?" Ramika interrupted, feeling odd.

"Yeah, together... Any problems with that highness?"

"No, it's just... Why are you helping me?"

Yohan rolled his eyes and poured himself a cup of tea from a tight-lid flask he brought along.

"I owe your father... He is no more, right?"

Ramika's face dulled like a blown-out candle upon hearing the mention of her father. She swallowed the air and nodded with her eyes closed.

"Killed by some masked men... Probably from the underworld—"

"Probably not... Probably maybe. Whatever... We'll go tonight."

"What is it that you owe... to my father?" Ramika asked in a furious tone, stopping Yohan from flinching the topic away.

"I can't really say anything about that, you see... It's a favour I asked. And your father made sure I get all the help I needed. So, as his daughter, giving a new life is part of my responsibility—"

"So, you're the one who helped me to escape back then—"

"Do I have to repeat everything like a broken radio? Yes. Bitch, I am the one who pulled the strings... by asking others to pull the strings, but doesn't matter. Just stop bothering me... My ears are already hurting." Yohan ranted his heart out, shutting Ramika down for the moment who walked away from the kitchen; to look out what her classmates were doing.

--

Among the hills, a car passed through the gate to a lavish palace. A muscled man dressed in a violet tuxedo welcomed the woman inside the car.

Diana stepped outside and threw her long coat right back to his butler's face. Anya Rose, her secretary apologised to the butler, David and received the robe he was carrying and hurriedly covered the naked Diana who was high in anger to bother.

"Ma'am, just hold on a moment... Wear this—"

"Get away from my face before I chew off your head..." she hissed, scaring Anya away. She tied the silky red robe herself and walked past the horde of servants, bowing down in front of her.

"That woman needs to learn what is being chill..."

"Cry me a river about it."

Both Anya and David exchanged their thoughts, sighing.

Inside the palace, Diana grew miffed by the emptiness and lonely feel of her home. Once upon a time, it was crowded by various politicians, clan leaders, and young assassins who were eager to meet her father, but ever since he died, she and her clan, both lost their appeal.

As she was sulking, recalling the past, a meek servant was carrying a plate filled with goat meat and goat blood, which irked Diana.

"Who is it for?" she asked, halting the shaking servant.

"To the Highness..."

"Why the fuck are you carrying the goat meat then? Go and grab a human. Slice and dice him."

"It was an order from the Highness..."

Diana rolled her eyes and reached her hand to the servant, asking to give her the plate. The servant nervously handed it over and scrammed away like a scared cat.

Diana let a deep breath and carried the plate all the way to the Dining hall, located upstairs.

"Mom... Food." She called for her mother, who was busy reading the book, 'An interesting myth of Vampires'. Seeing Diana with the plate in her hand, she closed the book and placed it aside, which was picked by her assistant, 'Leana', who grabbed it and vanished away like a cloud of smoke.

"Bestowed by the shadow lords? That's impressive..."

"Yeah... if you followed your father's words, we could have trained n number of soldiers like her," Veronica Violet, the vampire queen and a former shadow lord, softly berated her daughter, whose eyes flared up with anger.

"Not a topic I'm willing to discuss right now, Ma... But have you heard the news?"

"What news?" asked Veronica before signalling Diana to pass down the plate. Standing opposite her mother, Diana pushed the plate across the table, which went sliding towards Veronica.

"He's requesting the Judges to arrange a meeting... A meeting with us in their presence. Seems like he wanted to nullify an assassination assignment."

"Yohan? That kid? Oh, dear—"

"Stop calling that asshole, a kid!" Diana screeched, gritting her teeth.

"Why not? He's a lovable soul. A pacifist born among the assassins... Do you know how rare it is?"

"YEAH, so rare that your husband wanted me to marry him—"

"He did it because he knew the truth all along... Unlike the dumb you—"

"Then you could have told me, right? Why hide the fact that he's not what he was claiming to be?" Diana screamed. A painful tone haunted her voice, baffling her mother.

"Why are you getting emotional all of a sudden? Your father wanted you both to fall in love! For fuck's sake... He did, and you didn't. Whose loss was that?" she chuckled, carelessly poking fun at her daughter, who was raging for some reason.

"You despised him, tortured him, showered endless hatred... And what did he do? He respected you. Respected your decision. Your consent. He formally apologised to your father and backed away from engagement, honouring your wishes... A gentleman—"

"Do you think I hate him?" Diana softly asked while keeping her head down, refusing to show her face to her mother.

But Veronica was clueless about why the question was being asked and chuckled hard, giggling at Diana.

"What's there to think, honey? Of course, you did... You placed a bounty on his head, wanting him dead..."

*Bam!* Diana furiously kicked the eight-feet long table, flipping it over.

*CRASH!* It landed on the floor upside down, crashing; The utensils were crushed under the table's weight along with Veronica's food, while she looked perplexed at her daughter and her confusing behaviour. While Diana walked away, holding back her tears.

"Nobody... Nobody! Not a single fucking soul understands me..." She screamed aloud.