Chapter 2: Vampire + Witch (oopsie…)

Chimera Academy (Yesterday):

The sound of fingers snapping echoed across the gymnasium as the floor seemed to open up under Kai's feet and a long, spiny vine wrapped around his foot lifting him 16 feet in the air.

"You gotta keep your guard up!" came a voice from behind. Low grunting sounds escaped his lips as he tried to struggle to get himself free before he realized it was no use.

Crossing his arms over his chest, his glare locked in on the raven-haired girl.

"Why the hell do you always pick on me?" he asked, sounding rather perturbed. The girl simply walked up to where he hung and lowered her hand, causing the vine to drop down just enough for her to reach him.

"Because, my dear Kai," she rubbed the back of her hand across his cheek, looking him straight in the eye, "it's fun." She walked away and snapped her fingers again, causing the vine to bloom into a flower and let go of his leg. Kai fell two feet and landed face first on the floor before the vine, now flower, sank back into the ground, sealing the opening from where it had come.

Picking himself up, Kai shook his head. A normal foot race. How hard would that be? he wondered. No powers, no funny stuff, just a race!

Once on his feet, he walked over to the bench at the side of the room. He sat down and lifted his leg to pull the leftover spines from his "attacker." He sighed, resting his head on the wall behind the bench. Of course she didn't get called out for using her powers during a non-power activity. After all, he was the one who had been targeted, and he was already convinced most of the people in the school—students and teachers—had it out for him.

The raven-haired girl had been tormenting him since his first day at the academy, and no one ever said or did anything about it. Kokona Haruka, the raven-haired witch. She would take every possible opportunity to use her powers and make his life miserable. When powers weren't allowed, she would either use them anyway or just argue with him relentlessly.

She was actually the only one of her kind attending Chimera Academy, and despite that she was quite popular among the students. Not a lot was known about the young witch, but that didn't seem to matter to anyone. Kai was suspicious. There was a time when he'd thought maybe she had put a charm on the whole school.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt a familiar presence and a hand on his knee. "You think I'm overreacting, don't you?" he asked not even looking up.

"I didn't say that, now did I?" A female's voice rang out. Himari Hinata smiled, taking a seat next to him. "Remember what Mom used to say. Everyone has their own reasons for being the way they are."

Kai rolled his eyes looking over at the short, dark-brown-haired girl. "What if her reason is just to torment me?"

A chuckle escaped the girl's lips. "I'm not so sure, little brother," she said before standing up. "Then again, some people are weird. Just hang in there, Kai," she said before walking away.

Was that really the same Himari Hinata that used to make my life a living hell? he thought. A smile crossed his face as he shook his head. "Man, I've never been good with the ladies, have I?" he muttered to himself.

Present day:

He couldn't believe it. Kokona Haruka was his new partner? How the hell could his luck be so bad?

"What's the matter, Kai?" Kokona asked in her normal taunting voice. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."

Kai's eyes didn't leave hers for a moment. "What are you doing here?" he asked coldly. A smirk crossed the young witch's lips as she pushed a strand of her raven-colored hair from her face.

"My, my. You really don't pay attention, do you?" she asked darkly. "Fine then, I'll just have to educate you," she said snapping her fingers.

Not again, Kai thought to himself as vines shot up from the floor. This time, however, instead of hoisting him into the air, the vines simply restrained his arms and legs as she walked up really close to him.

"I'm here to take care of you," she whispered teasingly as she whipped her right hand, causing a vine to come up from behind and snap him in the ass. Kai gave a low growl as Mrs. Hinata stood up.

"That's enough Ms. Haruka," she said firmly. The simple roll of the young witch's pale, amethyst-colored eyes was enough to show that she really wasn't fond of being told what to do. Nevertheless, with another snap of her fingers, the vines retreated into the floor releasing Kai. "Fine, whatever. What's our first assignment?"

Kai could tell she was going to be just as overbearing at work as she was at school, if not more. Meanwhile, Mrs. Hinata was rummaging in one of her desk drawers. Same old Mom, disorganized as ever, Kai thought to himself as she finally brought out a brown folder and slid it across to him.

Just as she did, Kokona stepped forward swinging her hips and bumping him out of the way. She turned her head and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Too slow, fang-face," she said, grasping the folder. "Let's see what we've got here." She raised her fingers to her lips, licking them slightly to separate the pages in the folder more easily. "Oh, interesting," she hinted while turning to keep the file away from him.

Finally, in a quick motion, she closed the folder and looked him in the eye. "Get your dancing shoes on, fang-face."

Target: Hisao Hitoshi

Class: Vampire Lord S-Class

Crime: Using vampiric powers to lure unsuspecting targets to be his food.

Location: His villa over in Taki City.

Cover: Mr. Hiramo and Ms. Hurusha on the guest list for his gala as a happy couple.

Just then Kai's expression dropped. Kokona looked at him rubbing the bridge of her nose. "You can't dance, can you?"

He sighed, turning away from her. "It has never come up," he said almost inaudibly.

She simply shook her head, tore a piece of the folder, set it down, and grabbed Ms. Hinata's pen. "Sorry, ma'am," she said sarcastically before doodling on the torn paper and handing it to Kai. "Meet me here after school. Speaking of which, we better go or we'll be late," she said, grabbing her backpack. "If that's all ma'am?" Mrs. Hinata agreed.

"Go before you're late." Kai simply nodded, grabbing his bag and swinging it over his shoulder. He gave the woman a small wave as he headed out the door. Kokona, fidgeting with her backpack to keep it upright, followed after him.

"Ms. Haruka!" Mrs. Hinata called out before she could leave. Kokona turned around, looking at the woman. "Take care of him."

A smile played on her face as she gave a little salute and followed her new partner out the door. Once outside Kokona ran up, linking her arm with Kai's.

Surprised, he looked over at her. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked.

She looked at him, grinning from ear to ear. "We're partners now fang-face—that means I stick to you like glue. Plus, the cover for our first mission is to play a happy couple." Just then the smile contorted into a smirk as she grabbed the back of his head, pulling it up. "So stand up straight, smile, and shut up."

Kai reached over across his waist and grabbed her hand, unlinking their arms.

"The whole school already knows you live to torment me. If you change that dynamic they will know something is up."

Kokona simply rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you would change that attitude of yours I wouldn't be such a pain in your ass all the time."

Suddenly his eyes went dark before flashing a magnificent blue blaze. He grabbed her shoulder, throwing her against the wall. "YOU THINK I WANT TO BE LIKE THIS?! You have no idea the hell I've been through—what I have to go through every day because of what I am!"

Kokona coughed hard as he suddenly wrapped his fingers around her throat. "K-ai!" She coughed as the air left her lungs. Desperately, she slapped his wrist. "Le-t g-o!" Just then, suddenly as a change in the wind, he released her. She slid down the brick wall as she coughed, trying to fill her lungs again.

Kai backed up slowly looking down. "I'm…" Before he could finish, Kokona's weak voice cut him off.

"You have no idea how similar we are…" she said, getting up on shaky knees. Her hand closed into a tight fist before she sprang up on her heels towards him, bringing her fist straight into his gut and causing him to stagger back in surprise.

"Don't you dare do that ever again! If you do, I'll launch you 100 feet in the air and I will not hesitate to drop you on your head!" Her eyes were dark yet there was something else behind them. Clearly, she really wasn't going anywhere.

Damnit, how annoying, he thought as they headed out the door of the building.

You could cut the tension with a knife as the two walked side by side to school, neither one making contact with the other. Not even the sun could put Kai in a better mood right now. He had lost control, and what was worse, when he had, it had taken all his strength not to drain her dry.

"I don't blame you, ya know," Kokona said quietly. "I'm pissed, but I don't blame you. The director told me everything." With that, she quickened her pace just enough to pass him a little as the school building appeared in sight. As she neared the door, she grabbed the handle and opened it slightly, nodding to Kai as she went inside with him not far behind.

Chimera Academy was one of the institutions that the governments had built after finding out that supernaturals did in fact exist. The hope was that, someday, the barrier between the two species would dissolve. Therefore, students who came from the supernatural world would be put into these special places, along with a few humans to crack and hopefully break the gap. These humans were often the kids of government officials, like Himari Hinata, the human daughter of Mai Hinata. Kai wasn't really fond of this place. But there were a few people he got along with, including, Himari.

Turning the combination to his locker, he let out a long sigh. "Did you know Himari? That's why you were trying to give her the benefit of the doubt, right?"

Himari stopped dead in her tracks. How does he do that? Not even Mom can sense when I'm around. Or if she can, she doesn't make it a point to let me know. Her pale cheeks turned a soft rosy pink. "I knew that Mom was setting you up with a partner, but I had no idea it would be Haruka." She crossed her arms looking Kai dead in the eye. "Are you two behaving yourselves?"

With a small slam, Kai shut his locker. "I had an outburst as we were leaving headquarters," he said softly.

Himari placed her hand on his shoulder gently. "Wow, are you all right?"

Kai simply nodded.

"It's Haruka you should be worried about—I had my hand around her throat," he said, trying not to cry.

Himari just patted his back gently. "You have done your best to hold it together for years. Losing your cool every once in a while doesn't make you a bad guy. Besides, she's a witch, she can handle it." For some reason, Himari was one of the only people he couldn't get mad at, no matter what she did.

"True, but does that even matter? What if next time it's a human?"

Himari took a step forward and swung, backhanding him across the face. "Kai Hinata, that is quitter talk! Kai Hinata is no quitter!" she said crossing her arms. "Thinking that way, asking 'what if?' That is a sign that at least part of you is quitting and I won't stand for that!"

The sting of the slap caused Kai to stop for a second. Then, rubbing his cheek, he smiled. "Yeah, sorry about that."

Himari's face was stern as she turned away from him. "Good, now get to class!"

He nodded, picking up his bag and swinging it over his shoulder, then heading to his first class of the day. He slowly walked down the hall until he reached the "cross relations" classroom. Sighing he walked in, taking his seat right next to Kokona.

"Done with your little tantrum?" she asked.

Kai nodded, "Yes, I'm fine."

She looked at him for a moment then turned away. "Okay fine," she said, moving her arm in a quick motion, causing his chair to fall backward and him to tumble onto the floor. "Business as usual, right?" she asked with a smirk. Small chuckling noises came from the students already in the room as he picked himself back up, flipped the chair back over, and sat down.

"Yaya, nice one spell caster," he said rolling his eyes. Just then the teacher came through the door, briefcase in hand, heading to his desk.

The teacher set his briefcase down, clicking it open and drawing out a book. It had a red cover with a black and white photo of a man.

"Good morning class," the teacher called out, followed by variations of "Good morning Mr. Sato." Mr. Sato raised the book up in his right hand. "Now, why are we reading a book that a human wrote? Can anyone tell me?"

Kokona raised her hand and smiled. "To better understand their culture," she said with confidence.

Mr. Sato shrugged slightly. "Yes and no, thank you Ms. Haruka. thirty-something-year-old man smiled. "Perhaps I should have been more specific. Does anyone know why we are going over this book?" When no one raised their hands Mr. Sato set it down on his desk.

"We often fear what we do not understand. That goes for us and that also goes for the humans, as I'm sure some of you can testify to. In fact, there is no greater description of this, I believe, than this book, Romeo and Juliet. I'm sure you all have heard of it but, let's break it down and see how the way that people normally view it isn't the see all end all of how it is."

He turned and wrote something down on the board before turning back to face the class.

"This institution, and many more just like it, was built on the premise that people from the human world can coexist with people from the supernatural world. I mean, why not, it's technically the same world. However, there are those that believe that the two worlds, or rather the two perspectives of 'our' world, must stay separate.

"In this book, two families are at war, the Montagues and the Capulets. Neither family can see eye to eye and neither one wants to back down. Sound familiar?" There were a few head nods from the students as he continued. "Romeo and Juliet didn't care about their families' feud, in fact, they longed for it to stop. Who here can guess why a man named Tybalt killed another character named Mercutio?"

This time Kai raised his hand. "Because Mercutio was helping Romeo," he said softly.

Mr. Sato nodded. "Yes, and because Romeo, Juliet, and Mercutio, though he played a smaller role, were trying to change the social norm. They had the courage to act out against their families for something they believed in. Now, let me throw you a curveball. Were the Montagues and Capulets wrong?"

Again, Kokona raised her hand. "Well, yeah, I mean they were trying to get in the way of the happiness of their children."

Mr. Sato stuck his index finger straight in the air at that point. "Ah, but were they trying or was that simply the result of another goal? They had all been raised to hate one another, and just then, something was trying to shift that balance. We can neither say if this is right or wrong. We can only say that it had a tragic consequence. So, if we can't really say if the two families were wrong or not, what can we actually learn from this? Or, should I just toss this book out the window right now?" Realizing his mistake he put his hands up before anyone could respond.

"Let me answer that for you. The thing that we can learn from this story comes at the end, and that's your assignment for tonight. Read the end of this play, but don't just read it, think about it. You might be surprised just how much you learn." He smiled, putting the book back in its place in his briefcase as the bell rang releasing the students to go to their next class. The class exited promptly, all except Kai who was struggling with something in his backpack when Mr. Sato walked up to him.

"Mr. Hinata, are you all right?" the man asked kindly. The wrinkles around his eyes made him seem a bit older than he was.

Kai looked up, still fighting with the zipper on his backpack. "You know, you and Himari are the only ones who call me that since I moved out."

Mr. Sato and Ms. Hinata were good friends, and every once in a while he would come over and have dinner with the family. "You're avoiding the question, Kai."

He just simply shook his head. "I just have a lot on my mind now, Mr. Sato. But I already got a pep talk from Himari."

The man smiled. "Kai, can I ask you something?"

Kai nodded reluctantly.

"Does it have something to do with your new partner you got assigned today?"

It was Kai's belief that sometimes Mr. Sato was too much in the know about the organization, but that was Ms. Hinata's choice after all. "I'm just not used to it, that's all."

The man nodded slowly. "Are you sure it's the fact that you got a partner, or who your partner is?"

Kai wasn't very thrilled about getting called out like this. "This has nothing to do with Kokona!"

Mr. Sato put up his hands as though to try and calm Kai before continuing. "She's the only one of her kind in this whole school, right?"

"Yeah, so?" Kai asked, feeling rather annoyed.

"She picks on you and has since the first day of school. If you ask me, I think you might be a bit biased."

Kai rolled his eyes, holding his backpack on his shoulder. "She said we were more alike than I think. How the hell can she even say that?"

A chuckle escaped the man's lips. "Kai, you're a daywalker correct?"

He nodded his head in response to the man's inquisition.

"That means you walk a sort of line. You live with that every day. Not one of them, but not one of the humans either."

Kai nodded. "So what's your point?"

The man simply sighed. "You really don't see it? She is a human born with the knowledge and power of a supernatural. It doesn't take much to see you both walk the tightrope along that very thin line between man and, well, something else."

Truth was, he had never thought of it like that before—all he really knew was how annoying she had been to him all these years. But hearing it like that really made him think. He smiled and hoisted his backpack again with one motion, finally getting it balanced. "Thank you, Mr. Sato, I'll definitely think about that!" he called out as he went out the door to try and make it in time for his next class.

Meanwhile, the teacher poked his head out waving his hand. "Mr. Hinata, don't be a Tybalt!"

Kai rolled his eyes, slightly hearing the man's voice echo from behind him. He did have a new outlook on things; unfortunately that only made him feel worse about the events that had transpired that morning.

Next up was speech and debate. Chimera Academy didn't really follow the same traditional curriculum as other institutions, but that was okay. They taught what the students needed to learn to hopefully make a difference in the near future. This, however, was one of the classes Kai was not particularly fond of.

It was taught by a human who, in his mind, really didn't understand the concept of teaching a class of both humans and supernaturals. She was quite strict and had a bit of a temper. He walked into the classroom, looking around until he found Kokona. They had most of their classes together, actually. He gave her a wave and with a flick of her wrist, she moved a chair out for him, instead of pulling her usual prank.

Unfortunately, the teacher was already in the room and she was less than amused. "Ms. Haruka, please refrain from using that…magic in my classroom if you don't mind." Kai hated that voice. To him, it was like nails on a chalkboard. The woman wagged her wrinkly index finger as though scolding a child. Normally, Kai would have let this go. After all, Kokona would usually be doing something at his expense, but this time she was trying to help.

As Kai sat down he raised his hand and cleared his throat. "Mrs. Saki, this academy is supposed to be a place where we learn to live side by side with one another, and yet when a student does something that makes them a little bit different, you reprimand them. Kokona was only trying to help me. Do you really think she should be scolded for that? It seems to me that you have a problem with students of supernatural descent. Maybe you shouldn't be teaching here at all."

The woman's eyes went wide as she pointed out the door. "Headmaster's office. Now, Mr. Hinata!" Kai sighed, grabbing his backpack. The rest of the students watched in complete surprise as he left the room.

"That's not fair!" Kokona suddenly blurted out. "This is speech and debate and yet if it doesn't fill your little box of acceptable topics, you won't let us speak our minds!" With that, she got up from her desk, grabbed her backpack, and ran off after Kai catching him about halfway down the hall.

"Hey, fang-face!" she called out. Kai turned his head just as she caught up with him. "Thanks," she muttered before giving him a right hook to his jaw. "But I can defend myself!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms before walking ahead of him.

Damnit, there really is no pleasing her, is there? Kai thought as he rubbed his jaw, continuing his journey down the hall.

Rin Saki was in her 60s, with bags that had bags under her eyes, wrinkly skin, and a personality that made Oscar the Grouch from that old kids' show look like a powderpuff. Kai and Kokona weren't the only students that had issues with her, in fact. Even some of the staff complained about her from time to time.

The truth was, she really didn't even want to teach at Chimera. Six years before she had taught at a normal human school, and she'd been satisfied there, but due to budget cuts, the school had let about 300 jobs go, including hers. And this job was a government subsidy. Despite her crabby nature, and the issues that the other students and teachers had with the woman, Kokona's family were actually good friends of the Headmasters, and they got off pretty leniently. The rest of the day went by fast. A few of Kokona's pranks were followed by arguments between her and Kai, but nothing substantial happened.

What he dreaded most was what he was going to do after school. Kokona had gone on ahead to get things ready as Kai looked down at the paper she had given him this morning, dragging his feet with every step.

Here we go, he thought to himself.