It was the following day, and Vincent in his usual fashion was running without looking where he was going. Not only had he increased his workouts, strength, and just about everything, he was really starting to enjoy this new life, new abilities, and transforming in and out of his werewolf form. As he moved around a corner without a care in the world, he knocked into Alicia, making her fall back on her butt. There was a quick flash of pink panties as her skirt fluttered, which he thought would be black, like her heart. Still, though, he couldn’t help but notice how sexy they were even in that quick glance.

  Then again, was that something he should enjoy or increase his excitement? He did know about these sorts of things. Teenage hormones, and the talk of sex and biology and procreation and all that. Yet was it bad to feel a little leap of anticipation at enjoying a glance of her underwear? Or did that make him a creep? He wasn’t sure. She wasn’t just an object for his desire, obviously, so why did it make him desire her more to see that?

  The scent of strawberries was particularly strong today. Or was that his increased sense of smell since mastering the Transformation at Will?

  He noticed a slight flush of her cheeks and a rhythmic beat of her heart that sounded surprised and angry. The dark abyss of her eyes set him ablaze, especially her red-ringed irises.

  He felt different, held himself differently, and even looked down at her differently. And then there was that sense of wanting her, needing her, yearning for her. He didn’t want to come off as desperate, but he desired her in so many ways. Not just physically, so he wasn’t sure how to make sense of it except to move forward and push for what he wanted.

  Alicia glared up at him with icy eyes, looking like she wanted to stab him with a cold dagger. At the same time, she appeared embarrassed as the slight flush of her cheeks conflicted with disliking him. She looked like she wanted to jump up and retaliate, split him in two with her sword, but she relented and slowly brushed herself off.

  He thought everything was fine until she made a move and grabbed him in a quick motion, jerking him toward her. It caught him off guard, and he raised hands defensively as if expecting to block a strike. The movement made her skirt and hair flutter forward, giving Vincent a refreshing whiff of her strawberry scent and lingering coconut. It made him think of summer and her in a bikini all lathered up in sunscreen. Ginga, he needed to stop, but the pulsating in his heart and… other areas… was hard to contain.

  “In two days,” she hissed, hot breath against his ear, flashing fangs as she did. “We will meet for battle after nightfall.”

  She looked like she was going to continue forward, sink her fangs into him, or at least that is what Vincent thought from her look and the way she leaned forward, giving him a full whiff of her aroma. It was making him wild, and he did everything he could to hold himself steady, hold himself back, keep himself calm.

  He just nodded, keeping his hands up as she was inches from him. She blinked, backing off as she noticed how he was looking at her, and she flushed furiously. Vinent wasn’t sure if it was out of embarrassment or something else, because he couldn’t help but look at her in a hungry manner. And so, she stepped back, let out a frustrated huff, and pushed him backward with enough strength that he stumbled over his own legs and fell on his butt.

  She glowered, her cheeks still pink as if she had let her guard down in more ways than one. Then, she turned on her heel, her skirt fluttering with the quick movement, and left.

  Vincent smiled and rubbed his neck, thinking about her hot breath against him, her sharp fangs revealed, and that desirous look in her eyes, even if it was in a flash of a moment, and he chuckled. “I’ll be there.”

  As he watched her stomp away, he admired the sway of her hips, the flutter of her black hair with a flash of red highlights beneath, and her fiery disposition. He wanted to know more about her, so he was going to face her, and win. Then she’d have no choice but to go out with him.

  Alicia breezed by two female students before turning a corner, the two of them looking at her with curiosity as one spoke to the other in a hushed whisper. “That was Alicia Dawn. She placed second in the Outer-School Tournament?”

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  The other girl leaned back, a smug smile on her face as she folded her arms. “She’s talented, no doubt, but she certainly wouldn’t have gotten that far without Yuki Dormanhein. Then again, perhaps the two of them were able to unite under some sort of dark banner like in the olden days to find a way to win.”

  The other one scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know about that. She’s not a Crimson Vampire.”

  “It’s basically the same thing.”

  The other girl pondered this, then said, “I think it was just luck.”

  At mention of the Outer-School Tournament, Vincent remembered admiring how she moved when she fought. Like a glorious dancer on a ballet stage, mixed with a furious power and motion of her forward momentum as she, and Yuki, bested their opponents. So, she had gotten second place, eh?

  She wasn’t immortal after all, nor the best.

  He smirked and stood. While her skills were impressive, and the thought of him facing her made him a little nervous, he welcomed the challenge to face her in a dance of battle.

  “Admiring the local beauty, are we?” came the voice of Alexander from behind. Vincent turned to face him, Alexander’s usual sly smile bringing a warmth to Vincent’s heart. “You know, I’ve heard Alicia’s quite a dangerous girl.”

  “Oh yeah?” Vincent asked with a knowing smile at seeing his friend. “Who told you that?”

  “My new friend and trainer, Yuki Dormanhein.”

  “Oh, another friend, eh?” Vincent said. “Is she aware of your other friends?”

  “They’re always aware, Vince.” He patted Vincent on the shoulder, and they walked down the hall together.

  “I heard they placed second in the Outer-School Tournament,” Vincent said as they rounded a corner.

  Alexander winked at the two girls that were talking about Alicia a moment ago. Both girls blushed and giggled, scurrying away in an excited manner as if they had been noticed by a celebrity.

  “They definitely did,” Alexander said. “I looked into it, as Yuki wouldn’t divulge who they were, just that they had the advantage, and that’s why they lost. Apparently, it was a werewolf-magician duo that did them in.”

  He winked at Vincent this time, then yawned and stretched, holding his sly smile. “Still, fighting her for a date does not bode well for you, my friend. Even so, I commend your efforts and will throw you a glorious funeral.”

  “Ha-ha,” Vincent said. “Very funny.”

  “Hey,” Alexander said with a shrug, throwing a friendly arm around him. “I do what I can. Now, let’s get to class, shall we?”

  .   .   .

  When they entered the classroom, Alacard watched them with judgmental eyes as he lounged at his desk. While he looked like he wanted to say something, he stayed silent.

  Vincent took a seat next to Isabella who was writing notes on her tablet with a stylus.

  “Now that everyone’s here,” Mr. B said, folding his arms as he leaned against the desk. “Let’s begin our lesson.”

  Vincent couldn’t help but stare out the window and think about the upcoming fight with Alicia, a mixture of angst and anticipation at how it would pan out, how he could win, and how they would get away with fighting on school grounds?

  Mr. B’s voice was drowned out by the image of Alicia.

  He shook that off and sat up straight as Mr. B brought up a slide that had the title The Usages of Magic: Enchantments – Enchanted Weapons. “Today’s topic: Enchantments, one of the Usages of Magic. Specifically, we will discuss details on enchanted weapons, which I hope you all read the chapter on.”

  The rest of the day went smoothly, with Vincent glossing over the topic of enchanted weapons, and Catalysts, and something about Great Weapons of Power, and how magicians could use the latter two to augment their magic, or so that’s most of what he got. Like his regular classes, he only took in so much of what was explained.

  Chikaze’s lesson involved learning more about balance, where they went through basic exercises like standing on one leg for as long as they could, performing handstands against the wall, or if one was so inclined to dare, do them without the assistance of a wall, which ended up in some hurt pride. Max took a nosedive as he slipped and fell flat on his face trying to show off skills he didn’t have while trying to get a peek of panties from the girls doing handstands. What he didn’t realize is that they were all wearing shorts underneath skirts just for this class, just for him.

  Again, the girls seemed to be superior in this area as Vincent and Alcard sucked at trying to maintain the handstand, but Alexander, surprisingly, was quite nimble and flexible in this regard, even showing off some skills on a balance beam as he got bored with holding his handstand. After Mizuki and Isabella saw him do some fancy moves on the balance beam with flawlessness of a pro athlete, they tried to match his skills, but both ended up slipping and falling off and hurting pride. They ended the class with a routine where they walked around the edge of the roof of the school to focus on balance.

  All in all, it was a good day filled with too much knowledge and expectations of homework from teachers of both regular and supernatural courses, culminating in physical and mental exhaustion.

  If knowledge was power, Vincent thought, the only power it had was the power to knock him down with its overwhelming nature.

  .   .   .