Teratos High: Demon Hunters

A/N: Welcome to chapter 7 of Demon Hunters! I don’t want to spoil the surprises, but everyone who has been drooling for more character development and related things… will have to wait for next chapter for the juicy stuff. Sorry! XD

Just kidding! And, since chapter 8 won't be up until next Friday... Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays to everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday, whatever holiday you celebrate, and get to aggravate your relatives and eat obscene amounts of food in the process! (as if you didn't already do that at Thanksgiving if you celebrate it... :P)

As always, many thanks to our reviewers for the encouragement both here and on ff.net. We love you guys! ^_^

And now… On with the story!

~~~~

Yami sighed in relief as he pulled out his materials for World History thankful that, Bakura’s fifth period class, drama, hadn’t been far from Yami’s allowing the chimera to guide him to his next class.

It sure as hell beat getting lost…

The teacher, who had shocked Yami into speechlessness when he’d walked in, was a wheezy old ghost by the name of Dr. Vulmer. And, apparently, insisted on gliding through seated students while lecturing - freezing them all in the process. He would also, much to Yami’s amusement, try picking up a bottle of water off his desk only to become frustrated when he found it slipped through his grasp. He seemed to forget on a regular minute-to-minute basis that he was dead.

Yami guessed becoming senile was part of the package when you kicked the can.

So while the orphan, for once early to class, waited for the bell to ring he reflected upon his previous lesson, which he had found both boring and uneventful: Forensic science. Although Yami was interested in the study and signed up for the class himself, there was a huge difference between human forensics and magical forensics. For one thing, the classes didn’t use DNA matching and PCR like Yami had been taught. Instead, they used magic signature tracking, commonly known as MST. It was used to find a person who had been at a scene of the crime, and they were able to track the person for miles.

Yami didn’t know how to use magic so he was sadly helpless in the class. It hadn’t taken him long before he’d just zoned out of the lesson and focused on the cracks against the stone wall.

They were very interesting.

Really.

In fact, he swore he saw one shaped like a star.

Provided said star was really a vaguely star shaped amoeba…

He would have to get a schedule change once he got the chance. Forty-five minutes of crack staring wasn’t as enthralling as it sounded.

Though, he was somewhat reluctant to bother the nice Naga ladies twice in one day…

Truthfully, Yami just didn’t want to melt into a puddle of his former self. He could just imagine the look on Leo’s face when he was sent back to the orphanage in a plexi-glass bottle. He bet Leo would look at the bottle in amazement before taking a huge sip to see what flavor Yami was. Leo would then cringe and wrinkle his button nose, and Yami would quietly laugh at the liquid cannibalism the five year old just committed.

Yami chuckled; he could just see Leo now. With his wide eyes and open smile, Yami pictured the diminutive boy holding the container of his essence clutched between Leo’s chubby little hands whining, ‘Yami tastes nasty!’ The orphan chuckled aloud. It was a funny image.

But the orphan’s smile soon faded.

Yami suddenly felt horribly, horribly home sick.

And he found himself wishing oddly once again, that he could return to his normal life with Leo. He wanted to return to the orphanage, pick Leo up and prop him up on his shoulders, play with the boy, stay up with him when the boy had a nightmare, and sneak into the kitchen late at night to get a snack for him.

A forlorn feeling ran through Yami and he rapped his finger tips across the desktop trying to distract himself. He returned his gaze to Dr. Vulmer, now beginning the lesson, but soon found himself staring absently through the teachers head.

Was it a ghostly trait to have a voice so monotonous that it could put people to sleep?

He’d have to ask Bakura…

Yami vaguely wondered if he could throw his pencil through the teacher’s eye from his seat when a howl sounded from outside the door and two students ran into the class. Surprised, Yami recognized the first one as Yugi, out of breath and his face lit with excitement. The other was a sandy-haired boy, with two wickedly tapered ears and dark brown eyes. A wide grin was drawn on his face, and as he plopped down in his seat he high-fived the incubus.

“Made it!” He exclaimed, proud of himself, “We rock Yugi!”

“Of course,” Yugi giggled, taking his seat besides his friend, “I thought our greatness had long since been proven.”

“Strangely enough, there are still some people alive willing to dispute the fact...” Yugi’s blond friend joked.

Both teenagers froze, having had the ghost of Dr. Vulmer speed through both of them. The blond student merely shuddered at the feeling and straightened up in his desk, but Yugi’s back stiffened, and pupils dilated. Yami’s quirked an eyebrow at the change in Yugi’s demeanor, but as soon as it happened Yugi returned to normal, looking bashfully at the teacher.

Yami gaped.

Since when was Yugi bashful?

He wondered if the incubus was feeling alright.

“I know the rules of Teratos are: ‘If you’re not caught, you’re not late’, but please try to make it on time to my class Mr. Mouto and Mr. Wheeler.” Dr. Vulmer snipped, “If you are late, please come into the classroom quietly. I will not condone misconduct in my class.”

“Sorry.” The teenagers said simultaneously. Satisfied, the teacher glided off resuming his lecture about god knows what.

“Mr. Sobek! Pay attention!” The ghost slid through Yami, and the orphan was suddenly met with the feeling of his insides freezing.

“S-Sorry” Yami replied, teeth chattering, “You can continue teaching Mr. Casper!”

Unsure of how to respond to the orphan’s blatant response, Dr. Vulmer blinked at Yami until the orphan flashed him a cheesy smile. Deciding to punish Yami later, the teacher glided back through the rows of seats, invoking shudders and winces from the students he passed.

“Let us return back to our lesson,” Dr. Vulmer stated, sounding about as excited at the prospect as the manically depressed robot from Hitchhiker’s Guide, “About holocaustic battle between the demons and...” His transparent eyes gazed at Yami, “The humans...”

Dr. Vulmer swayed back and forth, taking his place beside the podium, “We’ll have a demonstration.” He gestured towards Yugi who gave a grunt of annoyance, “While we’re talking about the Great War, it would be better to use a direct descendent of our dear deceased queen Fantasia.” Dr. Vulmer shot Yugi a glance that promised a semester of repeating his class if the incubus didn’t agree.

Grudgingly, Yugi stood up and slinked to the front of the room. His friend snickered and tossed the comic book he had been reading under his desk back in his bag. He straightened in his seat and blinked his wide brown eyes; feigning an attentive innocence. Yugi glared from his spot and turned to his teacher.

“What should I do?” He asked,

“Just stay there for a moment, we need another volunteer.” Dr. Vulmer stated. Yugi frowned. With the way he had just been assigned to this job and silently threatened with a failing grade, Yugi doubted there would be much ‘volunteering’ in this class. Dr. Vulmer glanced around the class, clear eyes focusing on Yami. “Yes! The human, this is perfect! Come up will you?”

Yugi could see the mortal’s heated annoyance at being called on with such a title, and grudgingly admired him for stubbornly staying in his seat. Yami’s crimson eyes were hardened into fine ruby slits and he stoically shook his head. Yugi doubted the Kraken the oceanography teacher kept in the school pool could budge the human from his chair. “No thank you.” The student said slowly, his baritone voice carrying in the small classroom, “I’m not much of an active learner.”

Dr. Vulmer narrowed his ghostly eyes, but his smile never left his face, it appeared frozen at Yami’s words, “Mr. Sobek if you wouldn’t mind-...”

“But sadly, I do mind...” Yami replied with forced calm. Yugi quirked an eyebrow, surprised at the teenager’s blatant disregard for authority. It began to make him feel uncomfortable; standing up in the front of the classroom all by himself (Dr. Vulmer didn’t count). The students began to stare at the battle between Dr. Vulmer and the human, either this student was trying to show off, or he really just didn’t care...

None of them could have been further from the truth…

Dr. Vulmer’s ghostly spectacles flashed in annoyance, “Mr. Sobek, if you haven’t realized the war we’re discussing in class is between the great queen Fantasia and the humans that who killed her, you’re sadly dull!”

Yugi saw one of Yami’s eyebrows arch in barely restrained fury. A sense of danger began to creep in the belly of Yugi’s stomach, his instincts and every one of his senses flared to heighten the feeling. Yugi shook the feeling off, what could one measly human do?

Besides beat up mud trolls…

“I understand that, doctor” Yami said calmly, his voice thick with suppressed rage, “But allow me to guess who I could possibly represent?” He stood up, gesturing at Yugi, “The evil scourge of society. The nameless human who killed your glorious queen.” His crimson eyes darkened to twin dark pools of blood, “No thanks, I’d rather not be the example for your mockery of the human race.” He sat back down, arms crossed in aggravation.

Dr. Vulmer stared at the teenager in complete shock until his eyes suddenly softened in understanding. So far he had referred to Yami directly as ‘Mr. Sobek’, but when speaking about him indirectly, he had called him ‘the human’ as if he was nothing more than an object. Yami had seen this stereotype all day and so far it was only noon. He was sick of being noted as object, or even a slight nuisance. It bothered the teen and every demon and angel in the room could see that. Just because Yami was the only human, he had to play the part of the evil tyrant who killed Fantasia. Just because Yami was a human, whispers had followed him all day.

And because Yami was human, he had gotten annoyed by the constant label glued to him.

“I apologize.” Dr. Vulmer said tamely, he averted his eyes awkwardly. He too had been human at one point in his life, as had more then half his class.

Yugi felt a sharp pang of guilt shoot through him, and he shuffled his feet distractedly. He had stereotyped Yami as well. And he well knew it. Yugi had only spoken to Yami in the hallway because he was curious about the new ‘human’...and had wanted to see his erstwhile rescuer up close. He hadn’t cared about the fact he was a living, breathing person. Yugi was just interested in the new potential play thing.

Gruffly, the human stood up again, sliding slowly out of his seat. He walked to the front of the classroom and stood there silently, arms crossed over his lean chest. Dr. Vulmer glided over towards Yami and said softly, “You don’t have to do it... I can always pick someone else.” The mortal just stared at the ghost with his stony ruby eyes, challenging him to make any more fuss over the stupid lesson. The teacher caved instantly, not bothering to persuade the teenager otherwise.

“Mr. Wheeler, please come down, you will play Yugi’s advisor.” Dr. Vulmer stated, trying shakily to re-gain control over his lesson.

The blond stood up irritated, “Well... it’s not as though he listens to any of my advice.” He muttered, tossing Yami a wink and breaking the ice almost instantly.

Yami snickered slightly.

Yugi smiled, grateful for the break in the tense atmosphere. He stuck his tongue out at his friend, “C’mon Joey, I listen to you... I just don’t do what you tell me to.”

Joey snorted and smacked his friend on the ear, “And then you wonder when your choices end you in a horribly irritated mood for at least a week and a half...”

“Hey, we heard you bitch and complain about a bruised knee for at least twice that amount of time.”

“That was because someone decided to close their sunroof over my leg!”

“Well it’s your fault for trying to climb out of it!”

“Oh yeah, well what about the time where you–”

“Mr. Wheeler! The lesson!” Dr. Vulmer said, exasperated. The blond looked sheepishly at the teacher, “My bad...”

Dr. Vulmer adjusted his glasses sourly, “Yes... your bad...” He resumed his place behind the podium and flipped a few pages ahead in the teachers edition textbook, “Every one of you know at least part of the story behind our school symbol, the stained glass window which can be found in the center of the school.”

He gestured towards Yugi, “And most of you already know that Mr. Mouto here is a direct descendent from Madam Fantasia.” Yami shrugged, not really understanding the main point behind this lecture.

“But however, as it is in the school curriculum, I’m going to go through the boring process of explaining to you everything you already should know.” He paused giving Yami a wry glance, “Mr. Sobek excluded of course.”

Yami rolled his eyes, but couldn’t quite stop a smirk from forming. It had, after all, been a decent return volley for his earlier comments.

“Now, Yugi will represent the queen Fantasia, Joey the advisor, and Yami the king of the humans, Atemu. We will now use a spell I normally save for my more advanced students... But I feel it would be a waste not to use it now...”

Yami barely had the time to shoot the teacher a confused look before Dr. Vulmer stretched a ghostly hand to Yami’s face and covered his eyes. The world went dark.

~~~~

He was clad in thick armor, animal hind cushioning the metal against his weak skin. Unlike a demon, a mortal’s skin could easily be punctured, and while he was at war with tougher and stronger opponents Atemu had no desire to be staked to a tree. The king of humans stood staring at the Demonic castle, Teratos, from the safety of the foliage surrounding the stronghold. Dark pillars stabbed at the sky, and Atemu gazed at the sinister looking castle with a mixture of longing and respect.

Respect born of the now countless battles fought upon the soil surrounding it; where wave after wave of his troops had spilled their blood, and spilled the blood of demons, in desperate attempts to end the war that had been raging for most of Atemu’s reign.

Longing for the desperate hope that the peace the king sought with equal desperation might at last find fertile ground.

Unable to gaze at the castle soaked in the blood of so many of his kinsmen, Atemu looked away.

Only to be stopped by a sting at his neck.

He was met with the point of a blade, a small droplet of his blood trailing down its steel edge, “You’re trespassing human.” A ferocious growl came from the wielder.

Atemu froze, brown eyes fixated on the point of the weapon. He recognized the voice. It belonged to the werewolf named Katsuya. He was known to be a terror to fight, and was responsible for the deaths of many of Atemu’s friends and soldiers. The king of humans didn’t begrudge him of this though, for he was only a soldier in a war out of control, “I am aware... dog.” A wry smirk drew itself across Atemu’s face, “But you’ll find that I was... invited here.”

The blade lowered a fraction of an inch, but the brown eyes of Katsuya remained skeptical. The werewolf flicked his head to dislodge his blond hair before his growled a low, “Prove it.”

“He doesn’t need to... Atemu was invited by my request.” A soft voice rang from deeper within the forest, “Please don’t kill our guest Katsuya, those would reflect poorly upon your manners.” The voice giggled musically. The voice belonged to that of the Queen of Demons, the succubus Fantasia. One of the many reasons why Atemu thirsted for peace over war: He was madly in love with the Queen.

A match made in Hell.

Literally.

At once Atemu felt as though someone was trying to strangle him with a damp pillow. His heart rate accelerated and Katsuya, hearing and smelling Atemu’s spike in blood pressure, mistook the mortal’s excitement upon seeing the Queen as nerves and raised the sword point back to the curve of Atemu’s tan throat.

“Play nice Katsuya. What would your sister say?” The Queen emerged from the trees, the very epitome of beauty and grace. Atemu felt as though he should fall to his knees before her, and he would, if not for the sword that would cut his head off if he so much as blinked too much at Fantasia, “And what have I told you about pointing weapons at guests?”

“Not to. But, your Highness...” Katsuya didn’t remove the sword from Atemu’s neck.

“Fantasia.” The Queen corrected automatically.

“Sorry, but what if the mortal tries to...”

Atemu cleared his throat, “The mortal is right here,” He raised a hand slowly and gently pushed the blade away from his neck, when he met no resistance, he continued, “And isn’t capable of hurting anyone.”

“Right” Katsuya snarled, “As if we haven’t seen the carnage you’ve unleashed upon Touzokuoh’s army single handedly.”

Atemu raised an eyebrow. He felt strangely pleased that Katsuya acknowledged his strength in battle. That was a very high compliment considering the werewolf’s own prowess. Atemu was sure that Katsuya wasn’t aware that he just gave him a flattering remark, he had meant for the King to be insulted by the wolf’s remarks against his character. Atemu didn’t care, they were at war for a reason.

Hell, if he were in Katsuya’s hairy shoes, he wouldn’t trust himself either. Luckily however, he was not in the werewolf’s shoes, and in his own.

“If it puts your mind at ease, by all means stay in the conference room with us for Fantasia’s safety.” Atemu said, not noticing the pointed glare Fantasia shot Katsuya. The werewolf ignored her disappointed glare and nodded.

“That is Queen Fantasia to you, mortal...” The werewolf snarled. Atemu flinched inwardly, astounded that he had let Fantasia’s honorific title slip in his haste to put Katsuya’s mind at ease. The werewolf continued, “And I hope you won’t object to a weapons search.”

Atemu shook his head, “Not at all.”

Queen Fantasia stepped forward, resting a white hand on Atemu’s forearm. Almost immediately the king was distracted by the contact and his skin burned under her strong, yet simple touch. If the Queen noticed his sudden change in temperature (which he was sure she did), she didn’t show it.

“That won’t be necessary.” Fantasia said firmly, “He’s a guest in my castle, not a prisoner.” She shot Katsuya a stern glare, “You might be my advisor, and I understand that you are concerned for my safety, but I trust Atemu to behave himself accordingly.”

She looked pointedly at Atemu, and the King of mortals jerked his head in agreement, “Of course!” He stuttered, “I wouldn’t dream of being a horrible guest while you are so generous in allowing me to stay in your castle.” He glanced at Katsuya, “Shame on you for being so untrusting. I follow strict etiquette and killing my hostess violates one of my unyielding rules.” He smiled at Fantasia, who returned it with bright grin of perfectly straight, white teeth.

Atemu felt his heart skip a few beats... He gazed fully into Fantasia’s expressive eyes, gently taking one of her hands in his own. “Shall we go...?” He asked.

A small blush ran over Fantasia’s sweet face, her expression softened. “Yes...” She replied quietly.

~~~~

The spell broke abruptly, jerking the three students from the play they were displaying to the class via the spell Dr. Vulmer cast over them. Yami and Yugi found themselves holding hands and entangled with one another, the soft blush Fantasia had when looking at Atemu was still dusted over Yugi’s cheeks, the gaze of longing Atemu looked at Fantasia with still etched on Yami’s’ face.

Startled from their stupor, they separated as though they were electrocuted.

“W-what the hell was that!?” Yami panted, gazing wildly at Dr. Vulmer.

The ghost looked at his clear nails, inspecting them for non-existent dirt, “It was just a little trick I picked up from the Drama teacher.” He waved at them idly with his hand, “It helps beginning acting students get more comfortable in their roles...” He rapped his finger against his chin, “Although I am surprised all three of you took to your characters so well.”

“Joey and I are related to Katsuya and Fantasia, maybe that’s why...” Yugi muttered, trying to fight back the blush spreading on his face.

“But how does that explain me?” Yami questioned.

“Maybe you’re related to Atemu.” Joey quipped, slapping Yami on the back.

The teacher quickly drifted through all three students, freezing both Yami and Yugi - Joey appeared unaffected.

“That’s impossible.” Dr. Vulmer interrupted vehemently, “All of Atemu’s children and descendents were killed a long time ago.” The three teenagers looked at each other, confused.

A student raised her hand, “What do you mean killed, sir?” Yami and the two other teenagers stood straight up, having been unaware to their audience until the girl asked the question.

Dr. Vulmer shook his head, “That’s a lesson for another day.” He winked at the three volunteers, “Good work guys, you may sit down now.” The teacher directed his attention back to the class, “Now we’ll be looking at short clips of how the relationships between these three characters progressed. I would like a one page paper summarizing the cause and effect of Peace and War between Queen Fantasia and King Atemu turned in tomorrow.”

The students were given the rest of the class time to begin writing their papers. When the bell rang, an embarrassed Yami and Yugi were the first to run to the door, each avoiding eye contact.

~~~~

Yami stomped down the hallway aimlessly. He was supposed to be eating his lunch in the cafeteria right about now, but he simply didn’t feel like submitting himself to further embarrassment at the hand of one of his peers, or at the very least, one of his teachers.

The orphan kept a steady pace, not in the least worried about being late, and not really knowing where he was going. So, needless to say, Yami was surprised when he found himself once again staring face to face with the stained glass version of Fantasia.

Although the piece was skillfully done, Yami felt like the work didn’t capture Fantasia’s true beauty. In the memory he had re-enacted, Fantasia was displayed as a beautiful woman, with deep violet, cascading hair. Gorgeous and elegant, while at the same time playful. More stunning yet, Yami found, were her eyes. They were deep pools of amethyst, like gems custom cut and fitted into her lovely face...

...Jesus, he was beginning to sound like a crappy poet. Yami checked his pulse to see if he was dying. Nope, he was still alive.

In the window, Atemu was displayed as a dark man, looking sorrowfully at Fantasia, but with a hint of contempt and evil buried in his soul. Glowing red eyes shone from a curtain of straight black hair.

Yami frowned, finding it strange that the man was depicted in such a way. From what he recalled, Atemu was a good king who desired peace over war. A sudden thought struck him. While acting as the King of Humans, Yami didn’t voice any of his thoughts aloud, he was imagining everything silently. So maybe no one ever really knew what the monarch was truly assuming.

Perhaps that was why the stain glassed image depicted fiery red eyes over the solemn brown Atemu recalled. Maybe the red was a symbolic shade for demons as it was for humans. He recalled the moment when he was staring into Fantasia’s wide eyes; he had been able to see his reflection shining in her purple orbs. That’s how close he had been to her... or rather Yugi.

Yami’s face flamed red, the shock of the in class performance had not been forgotten, just pushed away. Now when he remembered being entangled with Yugi, the shock was still fresh in his mind, and the burning touch of his skin still tingled on his arms. Yami didn’t know what was happening to him, and he didn’t plan on finding out.

The last thing he was interested in was dealing with that obnoxious incubus any more than he had to.

“Why isn’t Yami at lunch?”

The orphan started in surprised and spun around.

“Mariku!”

“The one and only!” The vampire pranced over towards Yami, stopping short of him and swaying on the spot like a child. Strangely enough, Yami didn’t question this behavior. By this time he found such antics normal for Mariku, “Well?” He cackled, “Why isn’t Yami eating ‘food’?”

The orphan shrugged, “I didn’t feel like it...” he replied truthfully. “What about you Mariku? Why don’t you-... oh yeah...” Yami took a step away from the vampire. Mariku pouted.

“‘Oh yeah’ He says...” Mariku smirked dangerously, “Might Mariku remind Yami... that Mariku is very... very... hungry.” His two long fangs reflected the many colors of the stained glass window. Yami wasn’t intimidated though, he could see the mirth behind Mariku’s eyes. But feeling a rare mischievous spark, he allowed the blood to drain from his face and his eyes go wide.

“Juuuuust kidding!” Mariku closed his mouth with a snap. He blinked worriedly at the orphan, “Yami? Yami? Don’t freak out...” When Mariku received no response from Yami, he quirked a tan eyebrow, “Damn, did he go into cardiac arrest?” He picked up Yami’s arm and let it fall limply back to his side. He pressed his ear against Yami’s chest, over the place where his heart should be, “Oh Jesus...” he said with violent blasphemy, “Crap, Crap, Crap...”

Yami had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing.

Yami mused that Mariku was likely a fairly young vampire and was probably on a ‘vegetarian’ diet. Either that or Mariku was touched in the head, a fact which had long since been proven. He obviously didn’t know the difference between a person whose heart had stopped, and a person who was faking. For one thing, the person wouldn’t be standing up still that was for sure...

Yami wasn’t sure if he ought to point this fact out to Mariku or not; it was very entertaining to watch the distraught vampire run around in miniature circles whimpering, “I killed Yami, I killed Yami, I killed Yami!”

With reckless abandon, the orphan planted his feet shoulder width apart. He waited until Mariku turned his back and began waving his arms like a bird, screeching something about the Archangel Michael when he sprang forward and tackled Mariku to the floor. The vampire let out a surprised screech, and swiveled his head around to see who had attacked him during his mournful rant. Lavender eyes opened wide, “Yami!” The orphan scrambled to his feet, laughing at the look of rage Mariku had on his face.

“Hey, at least I’m not dead.” Yami said patronizingly. Mariku stared at him, considering the human’s words. Soon he leapt to his feet and gave Yami a bone crushing hug... literally. The orphan felt as though bat-man sound effects were coming from his back. KER-SPLAT! BA-BANG! There went his spine.

Again.

“Mariku...” He wheezed, arms milling wildly around the vampire. He smacked the vampire on the head until he attracted Mariku’s attention.

“What –oh! Sorry!” Mariku apologized, seeing Yami’s slowly turning purple-faced. He released the human who gulped grateful lung fills of air.

Yami moved to Mariku’s left after the vampire let go, “So really.” He gasped, wondering how long it would take a chiropractor to fix the damage to his spine, “What are you doing out of the lunch room?”

Tan eyebrows shot to the vampire’s hairline, lavender eyes looking at Yami as though he matched the intelligence of a barely evolved single-celled organism, “And here I thought you were somewhat smart...” Mariku gestured towards his fangs very slowly, as though trying to explain something very simple to a very stupid child.

Yami flushed, crimson eyes narrowed, “Well, I’m ignoring the obvious reasons...” he snarled, “I meant why you weren’t physically in there?”

The vampire’s mouth curved into a small ‘oh’. Yami rolled his eyes. This was part of the reason why the orphan preferred to avoid people, human or not. They didn’t follow his odd track of mind, although he didn’t blame them. Truthfully, he simply did not like people. But so far, the people he had met at Teratos High didn’t irritate him beyond the point of sanity... but that wasn’t saying much. Yami was very proud of himself that he hadn’t killed anyone thus far.

Although the reason probably rested in the fact that anyone in this school could wipe the floor with his ass. And if they felt like it, the walls and ceiling could be cleaned with his butt as well.

Mariku turned to Yami and said something so fast Yami thought the vampire had sneezed.

“God bless you...?”

Mariku glared.

“What?”

“Bless me?” The demon snapped.

“Oh... sorry, what do I say?” Yami asked in confusion, “May Satan damn you?”

Mariku snorted, “You’re being stereotypical... Human.”

Oh the delicious irony... Yami pinched the bridge of his nose, “Then what do I say?”

“Nothing. I didn’t sneeze.”

“Oh.” Yami blinked, then frowned angrily, “Then what the hell did you say!” He demanded. This conversation was beginning to give him a migraine, he was now wishing he’d gone and eaten his lunch after all...

“Have you ever tried to dine with a werewolf before?” Mariku asked. So surprised was Yami at the question, he intelligently muttered an incomprehensible, “‘Huh?’”

“Have you ever tried to eat with a werewolf before?” Mariku repeated the question, this time much more slowly.

Crimson eyes looked at the ceiling in a mock attempt at thinking. Aggravating vampires. Yami looked at the vampire from the corner of his eye, “Sadly, I live in middle-earth, I can’t say that I’ve ever knowingly eaten with a dog before.”

“Werewolf.” Mariku automatically corrected, “And you really ought to try it sometimes, it’s disgustingly hilarious.”

“Disgusting I can see, but the ‘hilarious’ part I’m having difficulty imagining.” Yami replied, walking back towards where he remembered the front of the school to be.

“You’d have to be there to see what I mean... It’s almost pure carnage... They sometimes get over excited when eating and forget to use silverware...” Mariku tapped a tan finger against his chin, “Or sometimes they just end up eating it on accident... and boy do things get interesting then!”

Yami grimaced. He wasn’t sure “interesting” was the right word here…

The flash of color on the opposite wall reminded Yami of what he’d been doing before Mariku showed up, and he frowned shooting one last look at the stained glass window. Mariku caught his eye and smirked, “Are you learning about Queen Fantasia in one of your classes?” He asked Yami.

Surprised, the orphan nodded.

A dark shadow seemed to cross over Mariku’s face, “I believe our history has been edited.” He said quietly.

Yami looked at Mariku in surprise, “What do you mean?”

The vampire shrugged, “It’s just a feeling... but there are just so many unanswered questions.”

“Like what?”

The playful light re-entered the vampire’s eyes and Mariku giggled, “You’ll find out!!” He sang.

A bubble of frustration inflated itself in Yami’s chest, “Man!” He complained, “I hate it when you do that!”

Mariku just laughed.

Damn aggravating vampire…

The two teenagers walked on in silence until Yami saw something that made him break the silence.

“Hey Mariku?” Yami asked softly, “What’s in the mausoleum?”

The students were passing the front of the building and Yami’s eye had caught the stone inscription of Hades, rekindling his curiosity.

Before Mariku could open his mouth, Yami cut the vampire off, “And don’t say ‘evil’! Do you even realize how clichéd you sounded? I ought to have buried your head in quicksand for that comment.” The orphan snipped.

Two of the Naga in the glass attendance room smiled and waved at the two passing students. They raised their hands in greeting and continued on.

Mariku glanced at the mausoleum before a violent shudder racked through his body. He rubbed his arms, trying to create heat with the friction, “Rumor says that the Living Dead dwell in there...” Mariku said lowly. He flashed Yami a grin, “Congratulations, this was the only thing Hollywood ever got right, well... besides the original Batman - that movie was sheer genius.”

Yami ignored the extraneous information and reeled back metaphorically from shock, “The Living Dead?” He breathed, “As in Zombies?” Mariku scratched his ear, bored. “Yes, Zombies. At least you know one of the sub-categories.”

“There are others?”

Mariku pinched the bridges of his nose, rubbed his temples, and counted to ten, “Of course there are!” he said a little bit chaotically, “But as far as I know there are only three types: Zombies, which are basically the exact same thing as a human except- “

“They’re dead,” Yami injected.

Mariku nodded, “Yeah, and they also possess the gift of ESP.”

Yami flushed in embarrassment, remembering the girl he had thought (very loudly) was stinky. She was probably a Zombie...

“The other two categories are the Living Dead and the Undead.” Mariku said, “The Undead are basically just that. They’re Undead, and the only thing they do is walk very slowly to their prey –which will of course, inevitably run away.” Mariku shrugged, “They don’t really hurt anyone, and since people die all the time everywhere, the Undead are very common. No one notices them simply because they’re just too darn useless.”

He walked over to the mausoleum and Yami could see a small quake in the vampire’s hands.

“But the Living Dead are formed only from truly evil beings. Unlike the Undead, they can come at their prey in a dead sprint. It usually freaks the humans out, because they’re expecting a slow moving Zombie. The Living Dead are able to communicate with one another, although I can’t see why they’d want to… And they like to bite victims to infect them. Just in case they managed to escape. Who would then infect their friends and family. They’ve bitten thousands and thousands of humans, all of whom eventually turned into the Living Dead themselves, throughout history.”

He shrugged, “They were eventually hunted down and mostly destroyed by some very energetic priests and angels, but no matter how hard they tried they couldn’t destroy the entire race.” He frowned, “That is what has been so very odd… No one has seen any of the Living Dead for eighteen years. They were rare and hard to come by, and had developed a habit of keeping to themselves, so except for a few people who wondered where they’d got to, no one ever missed them.”

Yami was beginning to see where this was going, “I take it you fell under the category of ‘Wondering where they’d got to’?”

Mariku nodded and grinned shakily, “Bakura and I wanted to see one for ourselves, and since the Living Dead only have the strength and speed of an average human, Bakura, a Chimera with at least the strength and speed of fifteen men, and myself, already a being of the undead with the strength that paralleled Bakura’s, we thought we would be fine.”

Yami, only human, just had to ask, “What happened?”

Mariku’s eyes seemed to grow a darker shade, “The rumors were right,” He sighed, “There were beings of the Living dead in there, but the problem was...”

A loud roar, similar to the one Yami had heard hours earlier, rang through the hallway and front entrance. The ladies in the front office barely lifted their pens. They were obviously used to the noise by now.

“The Living Dead weren’t in there alone...”

Yami jumped back in surprise. “What was that thing? And why are they in there with it?”

“The Living Dead are being used as its food.” Mariku muttered, looking back at the door, “The creature has been kept in there for years. It’s practically starved for fresh... living meat...” He looked pointedly at Yami. Right. He was living meat. Lucky him.

The orphan shrugged, “Do you really think I’m going to skip into the crypt like a flower girl at a wedding?” He snapped sarcastically, “All I want to know is what’s in there!” he paused for a moment, “And I swear, if you say ‘The embodiment of evil!’ I’m going to punch you.”

Mariku cackled, gaining some of his old vibrancy back. Vibrancy translated to insanity in this case. Lavender eyes gleamed with Yami’s challenge, “Bakura and I beheld the terrifying sight of the embodiment of evi-” Mariku’s sentence was muffled by the orphan’s right hand.

Now every How to survive Vampire/ Werewolf/ Zombie Attacks or Surviving Monster Attacks in General handbook would scream at Yami to remove his hand from the vampire’s mouth. Most vampires had to constantly fight against the compulsive urge to bite human flesh when it’s brought into close quarters like Yami was. The orphan could feel the long vampire fangs moisten under his fingers, and before he could think, ‘Now this is odd…’ Mariku’s lips curled up and...

The fangs pierced through Yami’s tender flesh, breaking his hand with powerful jaws in one smooth bite. Yami’s blood ran into Mariku’s mouth, who swallowed it greedily, overcome by his vampirism. For a moment human and vampire stared at one another identical expressions of shock on their faces.

Then the pain hit Yami with the force of a tanker truck.

The blood drained from Yami’s face, and his bellows of agony were strangled in his throat only by the equally powerful waves of nausea crashing over him. He didn’t know which was worse, the urge to projectile vomit, or pass out from the sheer pain of having his hand bitten through. Yami teetered on the spot until Mariku’s weak arm caught him. Together, they sunk to the floor.

“Sorry...” Mariku gasped.

“Sorry?” Yami asked faintly, his head spinning dangerously, “No problem man, I get my hand broken in three places all the time...”

“The clinic can fix you up quickly.” Mariku mumbled faintly. The vampire ran one hand up his throat, the other curled around his stomach.

Yami squinted through the pain induced fog, searching for Mariku. His vision was fuzzy, but he thought he could just make out the form of the vampire, crouched on the floor and doubled over in pain.

“Hey, are you alright?” Yami asked dizzily. His hand gave an angry throb, white hot fissures stung through his elbow from his hand, making his ruby eyes water. His hand was turning an odd shade of angry purple, blood pooling from half his appendage. He needed to get to the clinic quickly.

“No.” Mariku said weakly, “Your blood is disgusting.”

The orphan was surprised to find Mariku’s iris’s losing their deep purple shade; he watched them slowly turn to pale lavender.

“Mariku... your eyes...” Yami muttered, “What’s wrong with them...?”

“I haven’t fed off a human in five years.” Mariku slurred, his black pupils beginning to contract and dilate. Each second that passed drained the lavender to white, “I guess my body rejects the blood of a mortal and converts it to a poison...” He looked at Yami, “Vampire eyes change colors depending on their health. White is... well,” He smiled weakly, “Well, it’s bad...”

Right on cue, the vampire kneeled over and vomited. It was charcoal black from the poison and red from Yami’s blood.

“Yeah, definitely poison...” Mariku looked at Yami with lavender-tinted eyes, he looked from Yami’s face to his hand, “You will be able to make it to the clinic if you hurry and leave now... I can’t move.” He smiled wryly at the expression on Yami’s face.

“What will happen to you?” Yami asked slowly, his hand gave another throb, as though reminding him that the wound was still there and bleeding.

Mariku shrugged, “I’ll ‘die’.” At the look Yami sent him, Mariku corrected, “I’ll fall into a comatose state and never wake up...” He smirked weakly, “Does that make you feel better?”

“Not really.” Yami muttered. Balancing his weight carefully, he hedged and wiggled his way over towards Mariku.

“What are you going to do?” Mariku questioned, watching Yami nudge his way towards him with faded eyes. They were only faintly tinged with purple now. Mariku’s question was answered when the orphan grabbed the vampire’s hand with his good arm and rolling him onto his back.

“You know you’re not supposed to move a person who’s been poisoned...”

“Shut the hell up.” Yami grunted. His odd position and Mariku’s added weight made what little blood he had left in his body, that wasn’t gushing to the floor, rush to his head, giving him one of the worst headaches of his life.

Mariku was astounded, “You’re not planning on carrying me to the clinic are you...?”

Yami swayed, “I’m not teetering like a damn seesaw for nothing...” He growled and began to walk. Each step painful, and causing a long trail of blood to follow them, from Yami’s hand, and from Mariku’s occasional spurt of bloody vomit. The orphan was thrilled that the hallways were deserted. The hallways were empty, lunch was still in session. But the orphan’s internal clock told him that soon the students would be released. He picked up his pace, not wanting to be caught in the wave of demons.

Yami continued walking, the pain in his hand almost completely numbing his arm. Several times Yami had to stop and vomit, unable to take the stress on his body. The punctured ligament hung uselessly by his side, as though it were no longer attached to Yami’s body. Yami rounded a corner as instructed by Mariku, who once again told Yami to put him down and seek help for himself. The orphan just ignored the vampire and took his directions.

Soon Yami found the sight he searched for. A white door with a red cross emblazoned across it starkly stood out against the black granite wall. Thank mercy for universal symbols…

‘I wonder why I never saw it before...’ He thought idly. The edges of his vision were rimmed with black. Something, he realized vaguely, was a bad sign.

The realization came too late.

Before Yami could take another step his exhaustion crippled him, and with a last ditch effort to get Mariku to the clinic, he collapsed with the vampire tumbling sideways off his back and bumping against the door.

Then his world went black.