Troi Mikagami was not, by natural inclination of being a horribly evil and nasty demon of darkness, an early riser. Unfortunately, old Troi had a job, and so he always got up early enough to get a cup of his favorite coffee, have breakfast, watch his loved daughter dash through the kitchen, and still get to work on time. On this particular morning, Troi ambled down to the kitchen, grumbling. He couldn't believe what his vice-president had planned! The guy could manage books well, but he hadn't an ounce of sense. Troi shook his head grimly and wondered what to do about the idiot. He grabbed his coffee and sat down to read his newspaper. His wife was already there, putting toast and orange juice out for their daughter. He turned to the business section and started reading. Hmm... apparently Devilmoon Delights Co. was on the rise; he'd have to watch out for them. The actress Meimei Murder, star of Dead Men Can Dance, was starring in a new movie... Just then a black and chestnut-colored blur rushed through the kitchen, stuffing her toast in her mouth and gulping down the orange juice in one swig, wiping her mouth and then running out of the house, yelling "ByeMomByeDadGonnabelateforschoolLoveYa!" Troi shook his head slowly. "She reminds me of you," he said to his wife. "Now, dear, I never did anything like that." "However true that may be, dear, I still get images of you and the Great Rutabaga of Love." "Dear, kindly do not ever mention that Rutabaga again in my presence." "Yes, dear." Troi snickered. ------------------------------ Dark Heart High Netherworlds Educational Institution For The Universal Propagation Of Evil Started be Madsman This Chapter by: Mingdi9 Chapter Fifteen: Complications! ------------------------------ Imagine, if you will, a girl, medium height with shaggy brown hair and muddy brown eyes, dressed in a short-skirted navy blue seifuku that might have been pretty once upon a time when it wasn't scuffed and dirty and covered by a brown old dusty mothballed trenchcoat. If you did picture her, then you would have a good likeness of the girl currently meandering around on a sidewalk. The girl looked around the street and stared hard at the passersby. She tried to identify them, trying to figure out where she was. No such luck. Some minutes later she gave up and took out a worn and dirty map from one of her enormous pockets. She unfolded it and intently tried to figure out where to go. However, she shouldn't have bothered, since it really wasn't necessary. It was decided by the fast-moving black and chestnut-colored blur that smashed into her. Both smasher and smashee went down. Hard. "Owiee..." went the smasher. She rubbed her head, and noticed the girl that she had crashed into. "Oh, are you all right? I mean, I'm really really sorry that I crashed into you." The brown-haired girl had a funny look on her face as the other girl helped her up. "So, anyway, I'm Yuri Mikagami!" Yuri smiled in a friendly fashion and the other girl's breath went away. "What's your name?" "I'm... Amy Angeleye," she responded. "Ah..." "I didn't hurt you too badly? I was in a hurry to get to my school." "Really? What school do you go to? Knight School?" Yuri shook her head cutely. "Nope. Dark Heart High. It's really neat and fun and I have so many friends there and the teachers are nice but they're also sorta creepy... is something wrong?" Amy had been staring openly at Yuri, but she quickly shook herself out of it. "Oh, ah, no, nothing's wrong," she replied, blushing a little. "Oh, that's good! What school do you go to?" Yuri was surprised at Amy's reaction, since the girl suddenly seemed to blaze with anger. Yuri shrunk back a little. "I *HATE* those fools who go to my school," Amy growled, blazing with anger. "Those empty-headed idiots don't know how to do ANYTHING. They don't know how to FIGHT, or COOK, or CLEAN, or STUDY, or ANYTHING! I am SICK of it! All they worry about are FOOD, or CLOTHING, or SPEECHES, or BOYFRIENDS! And when I try to tell them this, what do they say? 'How stupid, Amy,' or 'Don't be foolish, Amy,' or 'That's why we're at school, Amy,' or even 'How uncute, Amy!' Aaargh!" Amy suddenly turned towards Yuri, who shrank back a little more. "What do YOU think? Don't you think they're IDIOTS?!" "Ah, um," Yuri fumbled for words. "Sure, Amy, whatever you say." She thought quickly. "Um, oh no! I'm going to be late! Bye!" She rushed off. Amy looked curiously after Yuri, thinking. 'That girl, Yuri, something's just so, so, *beautiful,* so *special,* about her.' Amy Angeleye's family was not called Angeleye for nothing. Her family had a special talent; they could see souls. A soul defines everything about that person, from magical talent to personal personality. Amy had been seeing souls from birth, but she had never seen a soul like Yuri's. She was determined to find out more about Yuri, her soul, and her destiny. Besides, she thought Yuri was damn cute. With that decided, Amy made up her mind to skip school and tried to follow Yuri. Unfortunately, her new goal in life did not help her sense of direction any, and so she ran straight away from Dark Heart High. ------------------------------ Yasuko Wareme was fuming quite nicely in front of the school gates. She had the perfect plan. Yuri had humiliated her for the last time (even though the cookies she made were very very good), and she swore to end the life of that miserable peasant once and for all. She had ordered plenty of knives, a rope, and some knockout gas in a canister. Her plan was simple; when Yuri came barreling into school, she would be tied up in the piece of rope. Then she would use the knockout gas and would then subject to a horrible nasty death involving the knives. There was just one hitch, however. Yuri was late. Which was why Yasuko was fuming around the gates. She was still stewing in her impatience that she didn't notice at first and Yuri had crashed into the rope and was hanging from the ceiling until she went "Help!" Yasuko noticed her quite quickly then, and as befitting an amateur Evil Villain, began to gloat. "So, tramp, you've been caught in my devious web. How does it feel, to be caught by me, the great Yasuko Wareme? OHOHOHOHOHO!" "Let me go! I'm late!" Yasuko started to fume. "What, don't you even care? Were you even listening to me?!" "It's kind of hard to when you're hanging from the ceiling!" "Right, then, THIS will shut you up!" Yasuko took the knockout gas and sprayed it in Yuri's face. "Wha...?" Yuri quickly fell asleep. Yasuko, seeing her plan start to take effect, began laughing again. Unfortunately, it woke Yuri up, and Yasuko had to spray her again. Yasuko was about to laugh again when she stopped, considered, decided not to and found herself staring at a cut piece of rope. Looking around quickly, she stopped a retreating form, Yuri still knocked out and over his shoulder, dashing toward the school. With a cry of "Stop thief! I captured her! She's mine!" Yasuko flew toward the kidnapper. She managed to tackle him, and she soon found her suspicions confirmed. It was Ki Tamaida, released from the nurse's office. "Ha! So you were trying to abduct my prisoner, were you?" "I was merely trying to save her. And I was doing quite nicely too, I might add." "Yeah, well, I'm taking her back." "Just try it." With this said, Ki and Yasuko charged toward each other, intending to do bodily harm to the other. They were just about to start slashing when they were both knocked off their feet by an energy wave. They both turned toward the source, and paled. It was their Principal, Hamaji Amakusa. They both just stopped and stood at attention. Amakusa walked up to them and looked them over, including the comatose Yuri, still tied up and snoring. "Would one of you untie Mikagami, please?" Ki silently cut away the ropes and woke Yuri up. Yuri sputtered on seeing Amakusa. "Quiet, Mikagami." Yuri shut up. "So... what do we have here, hmm? Three students, late for class; two fighting, the last unconscious. What went on here? Tamaida?" "I was trying to save Yuri from Wareme her, who had tied up and knocked her out." "Ah. Wareme?" "I was minding my own business when Ki decided to attack me!" "Oh. And Mikagami?" "Oh, ah... I ran though the gates and, um, got caught in some ropes and, ah, I was knocked out." "I... see." Amakusa smiled at all of them. They gulped. "Well, it seems clear to me what happened, yes? Unfortunately I cannot have students neglecting to remember that there are *rules* in this school, and so, to my great displeasure, I must punish you." He looked them over again. "Wareme, two detentions. You are the instigator of all this, if I'm correct." Yasuko stammered. "But-but-" "So you're saying I'm not correct?" Yasuko bowed her head. "No, sir." "Good. And a free lesson for you; if you are not good at telling lies, then don't try to." Amakusa gave one last smile, and shifted his gaze to Ki, who stiffened. "And you, Tamaida. One detention. You are not here to learn to save people, and even if you're still trying to do so, you should know better than to be caught." Ki glared at the principal and his hand moved close to his sheathed swords, but Amakusa just smiled. "You aren't going to try to become principal today, are you? Surely you're not that foolish." Ki's glare intensified, but he took his hand away from his sword. "And last, Mikagami." Yuri gulped. "For you... "...a written reprimand to your father stating that you *will* be punished the next time you are found in the halls when you are not supposed to be, and that *I* will personally oversee it." "...THAT'S IT?!" was Yuri's response. "Would you like it to be worse? It can easily be arranged." He sighed dramatically. "As much as I would just love to punish you for being late to class, I cannot, since it appears that you did not have any choice in the matter." "But she was late before she was knocked out!" protested Yasuko. "Really? Well." He turned to face Yuri. "Were you late?" "No." She quickly replied. "Not at all." "That settles that then. Here is your reprimand," he stated handing Yuri a piece of paper, "Oh, and here-" There was a sudden smell of brimstone and another paper appeared in his hand. "-this is a note for Kurosawa. Please give this to her, would you?" He handed it to Yuri. "All right then, off to class with you. NOW." The three of them quickly walked away from their principal. When they entered the school, they all sighed in relief. "Say, Ki..." Yuri asked, "what did Principal Amakusa mean when he said that you weren't going to try to become principal just now?" Yasuko was incredulous. "What?! You mean to say you don't know?!" "Um...no." "Ha! I should have expected that someone like you." Yuri glared at Yasuko before turning back to Ki. "Well?" "It's actually really simple. Whoever kills the current principal of Dark Heart High becomes the new principal." "What?! But that's-" Yuri was at a loss for words. "A way to ensure that the principal is the strongest person in the school administration." "But, I mean, couldn't they just let them die of old age?" "The older a principal gets, the easier it would be to kill them. That's how it goes." Yuri still looked horrified, but kept her mouth shut. They entered Kurosawa's room in silence. ------------------------------ "Over here, Yuri!" Yuri turned to see her friends Balabalalde and Leilei calling. Leilei was waving merrily, and Bala was gazing at her almost tenderly. They were sitting at an empty table and Yuri gratefully walked toward them. "Man, I can't believe Yasuko!" Yuri said as she sat down with her lunch. Leilei was starting to feed Bala. "She attacked me before I even got to school again!" "Really?" Leilei asked. "Yep. It's so annoying." "You did great on your fencing match yesterday. Me and Bala were in the stands." "Oh." Yuri blushed. "Hmm...you know, I wonder how Mommy met Daddy Helly..." "You should ask them when you get home." "Right." I thought hit Yuri. "Say, who was your father?" Leilei stopped feeding Bala. Yuri and Bala were concerned, though Bala showed it with his eye. "Are you alright?" Yuri asked. Leilei shook herself out of it. "Yeah, I'm alright. I... don't like my father much." "If you want to drop it..." "No, it's okay." Leilei took a deep breath. "My father was Lacrimamus." "Oh." Yuri thought for a moment. "I've never heard of him." Leilei was slack-jawed. "Really? You've never heard of him?" Yuri shook her head. "Uh-uh." "Never?" "Never." "Are you sure?" "Pretty sure." Leilei looked embarrassed. "Oh. Well then... Um..." "Say, have you heard? Meimei Murder is going to be in a new movie." "Really?!" The talk turned to inconsequential things and continued that way until the end of lunch. ------------------------------ Later, as Bala and Leilei were walking to their next class, a vision in brown appeared. "Do you know where Yuri Mikagami is?" It said. "Um..." went Leilei, trying to remember where Yuri went after lunch. Bala stared at Amy. Amy gulped. Bala's eye narrowed. "I think she goes to-" Leilei started. "AIEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeee..." interrupted Amy, who was just kicked hard by Bala. "...nevermind." Leilei finished, glaring at Bala. Bala just shrugged. A few blocks away, Amy crashed into a trash can, where she was effectively knocked out until the end of the school day. ------------------------------ Yuri dashed through the doors. "Sorry I'm late," she panted, "I didn't know there was practice today." Kashin gave her a smirk before answering. "It *was* a last-minute decision, but I felt an extra practice was needed. No one can really blame you for not knowing, but still, be more careful, would you? We can't have our equipment manager miss practice, now can we?" A chuckle sounded and Kashin whirled on its source. "Quiet, Maimsworth!" He shook his head in dismay and faced Yuri again. "However, you're not late. We've just started." He turned his back to her and faced the others. "Get in formation." Yuri quietly did so. Meanwhile, Craig Maimsworth fumed silently. Yuri got him into trouble again! It was always that girl who had gotten him humiliated. But he swore that this time would be the last, and waited for his chance. ------------------------------ Amy cackled with delight and insanity. "Finally, I've found her! I've found her!" She had been searching for Yuri ever since that morning, and she had finally gotten lucky, after being stopped by that rude rude rude mummy. But in spite of being kicked from here to Hell, she had still luckily found Yuri, who was in her school's fencing hall. She crept silently up to the fencing hall door, but she was rudely tripped and fell flat on her face. "Hello." Amy lifted her head and saw an Ingram nozzle pointed at her head. She looked up further and saw the black-haired girl that was holding it. Amy took a look at the girl's soul and decided 'not good.' "Um... hi?" Amy said, smiling weakly. The Ingram girl smiled nastily back. "Bye." Amy nervously wondered what would happen to her until a black-booted foot cracked hard on her head and knocked her out. Needless to say, Amy didn't wonder much anymore. ------------------------------ Kashin was addressing his club members when the Ingram girl interrupted him. "Kashin, look at what I've got." "What is it- oh. That." He bent over to examine Amy, who the girl had dragged in. "Where did you...?" "I found her outside, about to sneak in here." Kashin stood up. Yuri caught a glimpse of the face of the girl and thought she was familiar. "A Sakura Art student. Probably a spy." He grasped one of his swords and was about to chop downwards when Yuri finally realized who the student that was dragged in was. "Amy!" she cried out, and Kashin's sword stopped in its tracks. "You *know* this-" He pointed the sword at Amy, "-girl?" "I, uh, met her- Eep!" Yuri dove just in time to miss being beheaded by Craig Maimsworth, who saw a chance and taken it. Craig brought his sword up again, and started to swing it downward. Yuri closed her eyes in fear. Suddenly a gigantic black bolt that seemed to be made of nothingness crashed into Craig, sending him flying across the hall to crash into the wall. Everybody turned to see who had saved Yuri. It was Principal Amakusa. "What's this, Ikimasu? Why is there a-" he took a glance at Amy's prone form, "-Sakura Art student here? I thought you could keep better control of your practices." He was addressing Kashin. Kashin quickly explained, and Amakusa asked Yuri, "You know this girl?" "I met her this morning." Amakusa raised his eyebrow. "I see." There was a moment of silence. "You do know, of course, that Dark Heart High students are prohibited from passing information to rival schools?" Yuri simply blushed. "The price for breaking this rule is to be expelled from this school." It was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Yuri held her breath. "Unfortunately, we cannot prove that you *are* passing infomation. But don't be so quick to relax." Yuri had sighed in relief. "There is a test used when it is foggy whether or not a student has broken a major school rule." Kashin spoke quietly now. "The Duel of Blood." Amakusa smiled a nasty smile. "Correct. Ikimasu, would you do us the honor of telling Miss Mikagami what the Duel of Blood is?" "The Duel of Blood is a one-on-one match which lasts until one of the combatants is unable to fight. The one still standing, the winner, has his or her version of truth accepted as fact, no matter what reality says it is." Amakusa nodded, pleased at his explanation. "In this Duel, Might makes Right. Miss Mikagami, you will fight in one of these duels against whomever Ikimasu chooses to have you fight. The Duel should happen this weekend, as a show. The students, and some staff, I must admit, like to see blood spilled. You shall be there." His voice allowed no argument, and Yuri simply nodded. "Good. Any questions?" Yuri had one. "What will happen to Amy?" "She will be... used in some way or another. Coach Truncheon could probably use another punching bag..." "NO!" "No?" Yuri blushed again, surprised at herself. "I mean, I won't allow you to do that to Amy." Amakusa stared incredulously before bursting out in laughter. "Miss Mikagami, you are in no position to make demands." He stopped laughing, although he was still smiling broadly. "However, let's make this amusing. How about this... the person who wins the Duel of Blood will get control over the welfare of the girl." Still smiling, he floated Amy's still-unconscious body and brought her next to him. "I will keep Miss..." "Angeleye." "-With me until the Duel. In the meantime, I suggest you go home, Miss Mikagami, as you are most likely going to fight one of your club members, and I doubt they can be restrained from... accidents. I will tell your father that you have a Duel of Blood coming up." He turned to leave when a thought struck him. "Ah, and tell Maimsworth he had a week's detention, hmm?" He called out as he left, Amy in tow. After he was gone, everyone was silent, looking at Yuri. "Um... I think I'll go now," she said self-consciously. Nobody said a word, and she left the hall in silence. "He likes you." Yuri whirled around and saw the speaker; the girl with the Ingram. "Ah... who likes me?" "Principal Amakusa." "Oh. He does?" "I don't know why, but... he does." "How do you know?" Yuri asked, suspicion in her voice. "When *I* was an underclassman, a similar incident happened. A girl from Knight School tried to sneak in, but she was caught. Apparently she came to see her childhood friend, who transferred to Dark Heart High that year. The girl who was the girl's friend fought a Duel of Blood, and won, but as for the Knight School student... there wasn't any hope for her. Principal Amakusa handed her to Vice-Principal Akurei for something, and she simply disappeared." "Oh." "Consider yourself lucky that you have a chance to save your friend." With that said, she left quietly. Yuri stood stock still for a minute before finally going home. ------------------------------ Principal Amakusa walked into his office, roughly throwing the comatose and tied up Amy into a corner. He then stood in the center of the room, silent and thinking. 'So, the Mikagami girl is trying to place spies in Sakura Art, is she? Perhaps she has spies in the other schools as well... I wouldn't be surprised if she did... I wonder if she plans to kill me soon... Well, if she does, she'll have her hands full.' He stared at the gigantic sword on the wall in front of him before walking over and picking it up. Although its height and width were the same as his and that it was made of solid metal and had a razor edge, Hamaji Amakusa wielded it easily. 'Normally, I don't use swords, but I had to for my first Duel of Blood... Swords are required for it, and since then I have grown fond of it... Swords are loyal always, and a good blade shall not betray you... And you have never failed me, have you, my dear Soulstealer?' He replaced the sword on the wall. 'Yuri has some of the most talent I have ever seen... Perhaps she will try to replace me...' At this thought he grinned toothily 'At any rate, she will be interesting to watch.' And somewhere out there, Yuri Mikagami, who was on her way home, sneezed. ------------------------------ Author's Notes Well. That sums up everything right there. Honestly, this is the most writing I have ever done in such a short time. Boggles my mind... Leilei's heritage, father, and powers are entirely up to future writers. Oh, and Lacrimamus is Latin. Translated into English, it means, "We cry." He is completely made up. To make a point clear, Amakusa wants a student of his to become the next principal, but he doesn't want to die. He will try his darndest not to die, so if a student does manage to kill him, he or she would therefore prove to be more powerful than he is, and thus he will be somewhat happy that he left a extremely strong successor. Ikimasu is Kashin's first name. Apparently nobody calls him by it except for the one person that *can* call a student whatever he wants to call them; Principal Amakusa. In fact, I get the feeling that if anyone else called him Ikimasu, his sword would soon start chopping. Very special thanks go to Nicolas Juzda, my prereader. You wouldn't believe half of the mistakes I made. Yay for him! ------------------------------ "HAHA!" "Shut up, Midori." Ki was trying to keep his temper in. "I just think it's funny, that's all. Really, that Mikagami girl doesn't really need your help." "Shut up, Midori." "Oh, did I hit a nerve? HAHAHAHA!" Across the room, past the sleeping teacher who was drugged by Midori... "Hey, can I have some of those cookies?" "No, you can't. They're mine." "Ah, come on. Just one?!" "NO!" "Please?" "NO!" "I'm just going to take one-" "NO!" Yasuko struck Craig with a black energy bolt, causing him to fly over and crash messily on the teacher. The other students just watched silently. "Ah, dragonturds."