“What do you think the purpose of that little trip was?” Chikaze asked, looking at them as they sat back in the classroom.

  “To make us look like fools,” Alacard said.

  Isabella sat up rigidly. “To learn about how to deal with the unpredictable nature of the unexpected.” Why was she even answering? She didn’t like this woman, her class, or her tactics.

  “That is an interesting assessment, Isabella,” Chikaze said.

  “Teacher’s pet,” Alacard said under his breath.

  Isabella glared, both at being mocked by Alacard and at not being told that she was correct, which she was. But, more important, why did she even care?

  “Balance is instrumental in the art of self-defense, as well as offense,” Chikaze explained. “Defensive techniques involve two things,” she continued, lifting two fingers. “Protecting yourself and making yourself hard to hurt.”

  “What if you take them down before they can hurt you?” Mizuki asked as she slammed a first into an open palm.

  “That is one strategy,” Chikaze said. “But offensive maneuvers exhaust energy, and energy saps strength. The more strength you lose, the less advantage you have.” She stepped to Mizuki as she explained. “The goal is to use as little energy and effort as possible, while making your opponent exert as much as possible, so that when the moment does come for you to strike, you can make sure it counts.”

  Alexander frowned. “That sounds like a lot of work. I like the Mizuki plan much better, because if you take them out quickly and efficiently, then there is less time dawdling, right?”

  “Again, I did not say that Mizuki’s strategy was wrong, Alexander,” she said, looking at him. “I merely said it was less efficient because the goal is to maintain as much strength as possible, while exerting as little energy as possible. Sometimes, though, it is proper to take out your opponent, quick and hard, as context, in assessing each situation, matters. But that is a lesson for another day.”

  “How do we master this technique you speak of, teacher?” Max asked in an ingratiating manner. “And why would exhausting energy matter for beings like vampires and werewolves, with the former having what seems to be unlimited amounts.

  “Ah, but they don’t,” she said with an indiscernible smile as she glided over to him. “Vampires may seem unlimited, and werewolves may seem beyond being exhausted, but they both have their limits, their weaknesses, their moments of exhaustion.” She held her eyes on him, and he leaned back and blushed. “Which is why practicing the art of balance, like you did on the bus, will effectively deal with randomness as you come to understand the subtle nuances of balance, as Isabella explained a moment ago.”

  Isabella wanted to roll her eyes, scoff, let out her anger, but she held onto it at being called out again by the teacher. So, was she right or not? It really infuriated her.

  “You master it by learning about the functions of the body,” Chikaze continued. “By understanding how it moves and where it’s strongest and weakest. By understand what beings have more energy to exhaust, like vampires and werewolves, and ones that do not.

  “That does seem like a lot of work,” Max said, snuggling against his arm as if he was going to take a nap atop his desk.

  “Indeed,” she said, her eyes alight. “But this is why you experiment with it, to discover the truth and understanding of what it means to be to be hard to hurt as you protect yourself, and others, from danger.”

  “What if someone uses magic on you?” Alexader asked.

  “Defending against something like the Usages of Magic is a bit more technical and beyond the scope of this class,” she explained. “However, there are things you can do to evade spells as well as protect yourself from magic, even if one is not a magician.”

  Vincent couldn’t help but speak his mind, thinking on her words. “I never really thought how something so universal as balance could be such a useful thing when it comes to self-defense.”

  Chikaze nodded. “The more you experiment with it, and experience it, the more you will discover.”

  “I agree,” Alacard said with a chuckle. “Vincent really doesn’t think a lot.”

  Vincent glared at Alacard. He disliked how Alacard took every opportunity to try to ridicule him. He really was a punk. He wanted to growl at Alacard, but held himself back as he surmised it was the Beast Mind wanting to unleash its animal instincts.

  “I appreciate your participation and focus today,” Chikaze said, looking them over. “That is all for now.”

  As the students got up to leave, Chikaze turned to Isabella. “Isabella? May I have a word with you out the hallway?”

  Isabella blinked and nodded slowly, not expecting this at all. “Y-yes, teacher.” She stayed behind, watching the others go, a worried look in her eye. Why did the teacher want to talk with her? Could she somehow sense her animosity toward her? Why couldn’t she figure these types of things out?

  Alacard watched her standing there like an idiot, chuckling to himself. “These teachers really love little Miss Bloody Fangs, don’t they?”

  “Shut up,” Isabella hissed before making her way over to Chikaze.

  Alacard placed his hands behind his neck and yawned as he moved out into the hallway with the rest of them. “Another lame day down.”

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  “Only thing that’s lame is you,” Vincent whispered under his breath.

  “What was that, chump?” Alacard said, turning to him. “If you got something to say, say it to my face.”

  Vincent looked to the ground, clenching his fists in frustration as he was too tired to do this with Alacard right now.

  Mizuki raised an eyebrow, smirking. “You’re jealous of her, aren’t you?”

  That got his attention. “I ain’t jealous of some stupid bloodsucker,” he said, slamming his hand against a locker.

  “Sure, we believe you,” Max said with a chuckle, taking a stance next to Mizuki, the three of them facing Alacard.

  Alacard tilted his head at them, a smirk forming on his face. “Look at the brave little trio. It’s cute when you stand together like that.” He still looked annoyed, sounding defensive at being called jealous of Isabella. “That bloodsucker’s existence is nothing more than to suck the life out of other beings. She’s no better than a junkie, sucking blood and hiding that reality from everyone she knows. She’s a good for nothing vamp that can’t never be trusted.”

  Vincent wanted so bad to stay something, his fist clenched tightly, thinking about charging him in that moment, screw the outcome.

  Mizuki, though, didn’t skip a beat, and kept up the pressure. “Yep. Definitely jealous.”

  “I’m not jealous,” he said, letting out a low growl as he narrowed his eyes on her.

  But she didn’t take the bait, looking like she was enjoying herself.

  “Dude,” Max said, finding his confidence as he stood with the two of them. “That’s kinda lame.”

  Mizuki smirked and laughed, as if agreeing.

  Alacard growled, his eyes alight and angry as he stared down Max, thinking he could knock him out before the others stopped him. Then who’d be laughing. But it wasn’t worth it. He was just another chump, acting big with his friends nearby. He waved them off. “You ain’t worth the trouble,” he said, lowering his aggression, and sauntering off with his hands behind his neck. “You’re all a bunch of losers.”

  Vincen glanced back into the room for a moment, wondering what Isabella and Chikaze were talking about. Was she scolding her for talking back, or something else?

  “You were scared, weren’t you?” Mizuki said, pulling Max into a choke hold and ruffling his hair as they made their way outside.

  “I was not, Mizuki,” he said, trying to break from her grasp.

  Vincent smiled, feeling lucky he had friends to back him up. Still, while Alacard was a punk, and unrelenting, he wondered why he was that way? He said he didn’t trust vampires. Why was that? And what was his beef with Isabella anyway? Was it because she was a vampire, or was it her, specifically, he had a problem with? He shrugged it off, as Alacard seemed to have a problem with everyone he was around, so there wasn’t much to do about it.

  . . .

  Back in the classroom, Isabella stood with Chikaze, wondering what she wanted. The woman had been staring at her for a long moment, not saying anything. Was she just trying to mess with her, get under her skin, see if she could illicit some sort of emotional response from her by standing and staring like that? What was her deal? Flustered and frustrated, Isabella opened her mouth to speak when Chikaze spoke.

  “While I feel that you may have a certain idea about me, I have felt something special about you.”

  “Special about me?” Isabella wondered with a blink of confusion.

  “I had the opportunity to teach your elder sister, and I believe that you have a similar potential, maybe even more.”

  That… was a first one. No one had ever said that about her, especially not when comparing to Alicia. What was this woman’s game? Isabella felt guarded, and so she folded her arms and kept her wits about her, going into a mode of figuring out this woman’s angle.

  And why did it always have to involve Alicia? Why couldn’t it just be her and her alone? When compared to her sister, or connected to her sister, her value went up. But alone, she had no value. Still, this teacher claimed she had potential, which was odd to her because Isabella did not like this woman, nor her little… whatever she was playing. Then again, the woman seemed to have an inkling that Isabella did not like her. And yet still wanted to talk about her potential. To what end, she wondered?”

  “What gives you that impression?” Isabella said with an almost mean tone, her arms remaining folded, her body language closed. Why was this teacher so interested in her? And how could she know these things so easily? Just because the boys fawned over her didn’t mean she was some goddess to worship. Was that why she didn’t like her? No, it wasn’t just that. Still, Isabella needed to stay wary about her, whether she mentioned her sister’s name or not.

  “Just a feeling,” she said, without explaining more. “Nevertheless, while you may hold a certain animosity toward me, I cannot deny the feeling I have about you. It is not every day that Castile decides to train someone personally.”

  Ah, Isabella thought. So that was the reason she was talking to her, because a co-worker vouched for her. “What is it you want from me?”

  “To mentor you,” she said. “If you will allow me.”

  “Uh,” Isabella said, shifting her weight from one leg to another, arms loosening a bit, holding back her jaw from dropping. What?! “Why?”

  “Because I admire you,” Chikaze said, her eyes alight with passion, which made Isabella flush a little in the cheeks for the first time, totally caught off guard. Was this woman into her or something, or did she see something that clearly wasn’t there? Either way, this was weird. However… an opportunity to train with a teacher in private wasn’t something to pass up, so she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and agree to whatever ploy she had.

  “Fine,” she said in more of an angry tone than she realized. At the same time, she wasn’t quite sure why she disliked this woman so. She hadn’t harmed her, ridiculed her, or done anything to warrant this kind of animosity. So why did she feel this way?

  A better question, though, was why did she agree to train with her? Why couldn’t she keep her emotions in check? Was her blood balance low or something, or was it her cursed raging emotions leading her astray? She didn’t know. But to pass on an opportunity to become stronger would be foolish, right? At least, that is what her sister would think, and she really wanted to be more like Alicia, even though another part of her hated Alicia.

  “We’ll start tomorrow then,” Chikaze said with a smile. “First thing in the morning, say an hour before classes start. Can you arrange for that?”

  “I can,” Isabella said, feeling her jaw tense at the thought of taking on this woman as a mentor. It was as weird feeling, disliking her but accepting her at the same time, just like Alicia. Curses. Speaking of her blood balance, though… She’d had to go replenish some blood after this, and she had plenty of blood bottles in her locker for that as she never wanted a bloodlust to happen ever again.

  Perhaps, though, she was angry because of something else. Of someone else, like Vincent and his focus on Alicia as if she was the loveliest thing in the world. He wasn’t wrong, though. It was just… she was hoping Vincent saw her that way, not her sister. Even though she knew he didn’t, it still hurt, still burned. It was always her sister. And because of this, she felt a whirlwind of mixed emotions that was a constant in her life of being a vampire with raging emotions.

  She re-focused on this strange woman that was her teacher. “Where will we meet?”

  “The field in back of the school,” Chikaze said.

  Isabella nodded. “Okay. I will see you then. Good day, teacher.” And with that, she turned and scurried toward the exit to catch up with the others.

  “Good day,” Chikaze said under her breath as she watched the girl go.

  . . .