Chapter 15: Chapter 13: Old and New

Old and New [Begin]

It's been slightly over a month since the beginning of the school year at the Academy. Things have happened, friends gained, enemies made, people lost. Hyuri and his friends have been through things no one would have even imagined. And every time he always wondered one thing.

"Where were the teachers?"

They never once had said anything about the matters. In fact, the only thing they have done was remove all the uniforms since they've been ruined many times. They gave each student enough money to buy at least enough clothes for a week. But that's all. 

Nothing about the war. And especially the disappearance of Drew Casey which the students always wondered about. They never revealed nor intervened. They just watched. Which would explain the absence of security. The school was already cut off to most of society as is. A giant forest surrounded the entirety of the school complex and all the land it owned.

***

Hyuri's POV

April 16th, 2000 [3:50 PM, Training Arena]

Clang! Clang! Clang!

I clashed blades with Kaizu in the training arena. We had been training for an hour or so. I was exhausted but didn't want to admit it. Everything that last month was insane. I never saw Drew after what had happened.

Clang!

My practice sword flew out of my hand.

"What's up?" Kaizu asked me.

"It's nothing," I replied. "I'm just gonna sit down for a while."

I walked toward the bench and sat down.

"You know the Aura Exam preliminaries are growing closer."

"I know. I know. It's just these past few weeks I haven't been getting sleep."

I was saying the truth. The amount of sleep I was getting was lower each week. I don't know what caused it, but the results were definitely showing. The new automatic doors opened. Haruka stood at the door, breathing heavily. Was she running?

"Yo, Haruka. You okay?" I asked.

"No! I am worried about you," she seemed very worried about me.

"Look, Haruka I'm fine," I walked off.

***

The hallways felt very empty for some reason. Hardly anyone was around. Until I heard distant chatter. My pace quickened toward the sound of a crowd. It was a circle of people surrounding a person. It was a girl. She seemed familiar. She turned toward me.

"Hyuri!!" She shouted pushing her way through the crowd and running at me.

She hugged me tightly. Suddenly, I remembered. She was one of my childhood friends. Her name is Akari Nekoichi. The "Aka" part means red. The "Neko" part means cat. Which fits her nickname the "Red Cat".

"Akari. Why are you here?" I asked her.

The boys of the crowd glared at me. They were jealous.

"Well, my papers were finally reviewed and now I'm here! Isn't that great?!"

"Yeah, I guess. Let's talk somewhere else. I feel like I'll get shot any moment."

***

We were behind the school building. We lost the angry group of guys after me.

"How have you been these past two years?" She asked in her usual high-pitched voice.

"Getting better I suppose. Some weird shit happened last month that won't get out of my mind though."

She just stared at me. She didn't know what had happened.

"Hyuri?"

Haruka was behind me. Akari and I turned to face her.

"Are you one of Hyuri's friends?" Akari asked as she deliberately held my arm.

She wanted to make sure Haruka wasn't close to me. But what would Haruka's reaction be? I know she doesn't like me like that. She liked someone else from our classes (or so I was told).

"Yeah, I'm his childhood friend. My name is Akari Nekoichi," she tightened her grip. Her chest brushed against my arm.

I just wanted out. There was something I had to do.

"All right. You two have fun. I need to go do something. I'll be in my dorm."

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3rd Person POV

[4:24 PM, Hyuri's Dorm]

Hyuri sat down on his bed thinking. Thinking about the fact of his childhood friend just now being enrolled. He hopped down and stood by the window. He opened the window for "fresh air". He stood by it, leaning against the wall. A piece of paper flew into the room. A crumpled piece of paper.

Hyuri picked it up and tried to smooth it out.

It read, "Meet me in the woods. (Midnight)"

Hyuri crumbled it up and threw it away. He didn't know the sender nor the matter of why. But he would surely show up. He felt like he had to.

"Guess someone wants to see me."

***

April 17th, 2000 [Midnight, Restricted Forest]

The air wasn't exactly cold, but it wasn't warm. The night sky was pitch black except for the glowing full moon. Hyuri had walked through the bushes near the waterfall which was at the end of the forest. The only place suitable for a "meet up".

Hyuri looked around searching for the sender of the crumbled paper. His first instinct was: to look up. There he saw a figure. The low light made it hard for him to see exactly who. The figure jumped down right where the small lake was. Only he didn't fall into the water. He landed. He didn't land on water though. There was no splash.

It was ice. He turned the area where he'd land to ice. At that point, Hyuri knew who he was.

"Wow. You showed up, Hyuri."

"I knew I was gonna see you sooner or later, Satori."

The two stared at each other intensely. The boy's name was Satori Leone. They stared at each other still. It lasted a few seconds before they burst out laughing at the same time. Satori walked onto land. The young man had very light blue hair as if it was almost white. His eyes were rather a darker shade. His hair was a bit messy.

"I guess you've seen Akari already, huh?"

"Yeah. We talked briefly yesterday."

Satori was one of Hyuri's childhood friends alongside Akari. They've been friends since primary school.

"Now, isn't the time for catching up though. I called you out here for a reason."

"Which is?"

He pointed at the lake. There was nothing. Then a giant cross rose from the water covered in ice. Hyuri's eyes widened. He knew who the person crucified was. Drew Casey.

"Was he your friend, Hyuri?"

"No, my enemy..."

Hyuri now knew why nobody has seen Drew. He was killed. Satori conjured an ice whip and dragged it onto the shore.

"Something wasn't right when I passed these woods yesterday. Off instinct alone I came here and saw blood mixed with the lake water. I swam down to take a look. And yeah..."

"B-but who could've killed him? This is school property," Hyuri said more frightened than anything.

"It obviously wasn't a student. It had to be an outside force," Satori stated. "But who would kill a student like this?"

Neither of them knew. Satori put the cross back in the water.

"The school should have said something about this," Satori shouted.

"Maybe they don't know. We should report this right-"

They heard the bushes rustle. Both turned to see who or what it was. They couldn't see anything. Suddenly, two illuminating blue eyes came into view. Hyuri had seen them before.

"G-Gabriel..."

The pair of eyes grew closer and closer until you could see its wielder under the moonlight. He didn't have short blonde hair this time though. His hair was black and quite a bit longer than its blonde counterpart.

"Who are you?!" Satori shouted at him.

"Who am I...?" Gabriel said before laughing maniacally. "You must be new to the show, huh? I am Gabriel the Archangel himself."

Satori was confused but knew this guy meant business.

"I am in no condition for a fight now. But I will be back. Just wait."

And with that said Gabriel vanished. Satori glanced at Hyuri. He looked angry.

"We'll be ready next time he strikes. Don't worry," He reassured Hyuri. "We should head back now though."

"Yeah."

To Be Continued...

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