Werner Halsey's Story

At times like these, you're supposed to begin with some sort of boring monologue about who you are, what your past is, and how you ended up at where you are at. But, I'm not one of the cliched, idiotic people who decide to narrate their own life.

Well, maybe just this once I will, because you're probably wondering who I am and how I got here ... But I'm so not elaborating on my life, thank you very much!

I suppose I'll be as positively cliched as possible.

Hey! My name's Suzu Yoshiyuki! My grades are average but I'm pretty much the best actress you'll ever meet, and not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm also a great athlete. For some reason - I doubt I'll ever understand why - my parents decided to send me to some stupid private school out in the middle of nowhere, where I'll be staying both day and night for the next school year, and the only chances I'll have to visit home are on holidays and breaks. God knows what kind of people attend school at an Academy out there, so I'm pretty much screwed.

I'm currently on some slightly-battered-down old bus with a creepy, pedophile of a driver, and I feel like I'm about to be raped.

Alright, that's enough of that. I'm done with this cheesiness ... So I bid you adieu!

Suzu glared out the smudgy window of the transport bus, her teeth grinding together with annoyance. Every two seconds they would hit a bump, which would send her nearly a foot above her seat each time. When she'd land, it would jar her entire body and bruise her bottom.

When the clunker of a bus finally came to a stop outside of a long tunnel, directly beside a cliff which met a red sea, and a scarecrow that was undeniably one of the creepiest things that she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Eh, you sure this is where you were headed, girly?"

Suzu paused halfway down the steps and tossed a look back at the bus driver, who was seeming less of a pedophile every few minutes.

She cast a look at the sign beside the scarecrow, which clearly read 'Yokai Academy' on it, and was shaped into an arrow and pointing the direction they had been driving in, before turning her gaze back to the driver.

"Yokai Academy? Yeah, that's where I'm headed. Why do you ask?"

He chuckled a bit, a slight glint in his eye. "Ah, no reason, girly. Hope you have fun. I'll be back next month." With a slight shove, she went stumbling out of the bus, and rounded back to face it and give him the ass-chewing of his life, but the bus was already gone. Her hand lowered and her brows drew together, before she shrugged and started in the direction that the sign was pointing to.

"Strange driver ..." she mumbled, her sneakers squishing slightly with each step. Her bag bounced against her thigh as she walked, and the path between the sign and the Academy was nearly as creepy as the bus driver.

Jeez, if this is what the path to the school is like, I can only imagine what the Academy itself is like ...

A small sound to her right side made her freeze in place. A shifting through the grass and twigs over there?

Suzu turned towards the right, one hand clutching the strap of her messenger bag as she studied the dark mass of nature.

"Who's out there?" she asked, her chin high and her voice unwavering, despite the small upbeat in her heart pattern. "Show yourself or I swear that I will kick your ass into next week," she threatened, her voice soft and dark.

I'm not really expected to do this, am I?
Yes, you aren't allowed to decline this offer.
Fine if you're that insistent.

This was the conversation that a specific vampire had with his inner self on the day of his enrollment. His enrollment happened approximately three years ago, and he was now a Senior.

It wasn't particularly hard to fit in, seeing as he was able to charm most monsters with his personality, abilities, or looks. Although he did run into a few "problems" along the way. Jerks, pricks, and corrupt staff were always a problem, but he usually managed to scare them away. He could have fought them, but most of his power was sealed into his rosary.

He had arrived before a particular human. He had already gotten used to the bus driver, mostly. The scarecrow however, was a completely different situation. He didn't want to admit it, but it looked menacing. Almost as menacing as dogs. How could he be sure that the scarecrow wasn't secretly an S-Class monster that would eat him at night?

The path wasn't terrifying, it was mostly welcoming. It reminded him of his family mansion, but it also made him miss his home. He was a deep into the path when he started to veer from the direction of the school. He still had a bit of time before school started, and he planned on using that time to his advantage.

He maneuvered through a pretty obvious path that he always took, at least it was obvious to him and a certain friend. He was always careful to not let his "fanclub" find out where he went everyday. He didn't want people entering the clearing he held so dearly. That would have been disastrous.

He moved aside some branches and continued walking, tripping once and dropping a reflective piece of metal. He didn't notice he dropped anything and instead worried about his clothes. Luckily, his clothes were mostly dirt-free, but he did drop a reflective piece of metal. He didn't notice that he dropped this piece of metal. He would have picked it up if he did, since it could reveal that someone was going in this direction. He ended up getting to the clearing a minutes after he veered from the path. He moved aside some branches, then entered the clearing.

The clearing was fairly sized, and was free of trees. It seemed strange to have such a place in the middle of the "scary" woods, but Araragi had gotten used to this little spot. Werner had found this particular spot, and Araragi had come along. He felt that the two tombstones and the couple of rocks were to most convenient things there. He could relax here without worrying about much. And he could act like a kid without anyone to tell him to 'stand up straight and act like a respectable young vampire'.

He closed his eyes and walked towards a familiar rock, then sat down. He didn't know if he was ready for another hectic year of school. "At least I wont be bored." He pulled out a can of blood, poked two holes in it, and sank his fangs in.

---

---

The first words that crossed her mind were, He's unnaturally handsome ....

The next words to cross her mind were, There's something weird about him ....

Despite his abnormal attractive appearance, something about him caused the hair to stand up on the back of her neck. Whether it was the coolness of his voice, the way he spoke, or how his eyes studied her, there was definitely something weird about this guy. He was taller then her - that she could tell, even from a distance. Although he seemed to be about her age, they were polar opposites in every other way. With black, messy hair, and red-brown eyes, which were quite unnatural for a person, but what would she know? She had unnatural eyes, too, so who was she to judge? Her eyes locked on his, hard and searching.

]Just my luck that the first person I meet is attractive and creepy at the same time.

She unconsciously took a step back and away from him as he moved closer, slowly, as if treating her like a frightened, wounded deer faced by a human being. True, she was uncomfortable, but a Yoshiyuki never becomes frightened. Instead, she tilted her head back, her chin in the air and her eyes shrouded with defensiveness.

"Yes ..." she said slowly, making her way around a bush that the calves of her legs had brushed against as she backed up. "My name is Yoshiyuki. Suzu Yoshiyuki," she told him, adjusting her hold on her bag. "And who are you?"

She really didn't know how to react to his presence. He had appeared almost out of nowhere, a fumble in the bushes alerting her of his presence, and what if he had been watching or following her?

He was definitely creepy.

Everything about this place was creepy. She could even see the top of the school, which was less then a half a mile away if her estimates were correct, and from what she could see, it was creepy as well.

What was with this place?

Having put some distance between them, she stopped retreating, and instead fumbled in her bag for a moment. She retrieved a small bottle of pepper spray, along with her pocket knife, and snapped it out.

"What do you want?" she asked, one foot behind her. She didn't know who this guy was or why he was walking around in the middle of a dark and intimidating forest, or why he gave off such an odd vibe, but she wasn't going to take any chances. She had learned more then once what taking chances like that could gain you, and it wasn't a fun experience.

---

"Werner ... Halsey," Suzu said slowly, staring at him. There was always something untrustworthy about a person who could meet another person's gaze, and the fact that he kept avoiding hers and then meeting it again chimed bells in her mind. Just who was this guy? And there was also the fact that she could see his amusement when he looked over at her weapons. Did he think this was some kind of joke? The guy was seriously starting to creep her out, and she was this close to stabbing him in that annoying, yet devilishly handsome, smirking face of his.

"I desire nothing from you, my darling." There he went with the abnormal speaking again. The words that he would say and the small, lilting accent that accompanied them were undeniably charming, but at the same time, something in his face sent chills up her spine. Darling and Dear were things that either old people or rapists would call you, and she was pretty sure he wasn't the first, and weary of him being the latter.

"It was you who asked me to present myself, when I was casually going for a walk... I hadn't noticed anyone would be lurking around." He had a point, but that wasn't to say that he wasn't lying. He may have just been walking around without knowledge of her presence in the forest with him, but on the other hand, he could be lying straight out to her in an attempt to gain her trust in some way.

When he finally meet her eyes again, she felt her breath catch. She hadn't noticed it before, but his eyes ... Despite their odd-coloring, they held a strange allure to her.

And she couldn't move.

Against her own will, Suzu felt her hands moving to her bag and slipping the pepper spray in. A snap of her wrist caused the switchblade to shut with a soft shisk, and she returned that to her jacket pocket. Before she had known what had occurred, she was left completely defenseless, and of her own body's movements.

When his eyes left hers, she was able to move again.

"You won't be needing those. I never planned on hurting you ... Or meeting you honestly."

She felt her chin tilt up, a bit of fear coiling back inside of the pit of her stomach. Who was he? And how did he do that?

She was in some deep shit.

Just what exactly had she gotten herself into by transferring into this school?

She was so intensely focused on her thoughts that she didn't fully realize what he had done until he spoke.

"Do you trust me?"

He was asking this after he had done something to control her and take away her free will over her own body, and after he had stepped towards her again. And yet ...

She couldn't move.

She was practically rooted to the dirt beneath her feet. And to be honest, she didn't want to move.

Just who was this guy?

Before she knew what had happened, Werner was standing before her, his head tilted down to look at her. She tilted her head back and looked up at him, blinking several times. Her mind was blank for once, and hadn't any clue as to what to say as a rebuttal to his question?

Perhaps ... She should just be honest for once.

"I ..." She let out a breath that had been held for far too long, and drew in a fresh one. She squared her shoulders and looked him firmly in the eyes, her own confident and unafraid.

"I don't trust you because I don't know you. Or who you are. Or what you did to me. But ... I'm not uncomfortable around you anymore. You'll have to earn my trust first. Besides, I only know your name," she said in one breath, one hand lifting to grip the strap of her brown bag. "You can start by showing me the quickest route to the school and where I can check in at. Seeing as I'm transferring in at thee middle of the semester, I'm probably going to be stared at, and I really don't feel like being swarmed and peppered with questions by preppy bitches and stupid jocks. So you can show me to the Admittance Office as well. That is, if you want to earn my trust," she said with a raised brow and a smirk on her face, openly doubting that he would want to.

---

Araragi opened his eyes as soon as he heard some rustling near where he was. He continued drinking blood from the can, his head turned in the direction of the emerging beings. He recognized Werner instantly, but he had no idea who the girl was. He wasn't particularly upset, but he did wonder if the girl was going to end up being a bother.

Werner had better have a good reason for bringing her here ...

Araragi guessed that Werner did in fact have a good reason, seeing as this was a meeting place specifically for the two. He noticed that the girl didn't appear to be under Werner's control, and Araragi smiled at this fact. He took his fangs out of the can and retracted them, having left the can at half capacity. He noticed crimson drops of red dropping to the ground, cascading down to it and coating it with red. He knew that he had probably just given his species away, but then again, he could always say it was tomato juice. Although, there was still the chance she would still investigate it. He stopped the train of thought before he could worry himself too much.


"Human?" He said this with a skeptic frown on his face, but he soon figured out that Werner wasn't kidding. He had a sudden urge to bite the girl and drink from her. It was a primal urge, one that he could just barely control - for now. He didn't know if he would be able to resist long enough to show Suzu around the school.

He jumped off his rock and walked closer to the girl. "You have a lot of guts to come to a school like this." He said this matter-of-factly. He stopped for a second to search for the correct way to phrase what he was about to say. "Let's just say that the people here can be monstrous when they want to be." He was speaking literally, but the girl probably didn't know this. The monsters at the school may look human at first glance, but they had quite a bit of abilities and many would kill Suzu without a second thought.

"Let's get to the school building and you'll be able to see what it's like for yourself," he began, but stopped almost immediately, only for a moment, "Just please don't freak out." He didn't want people suspecting her of being weak on the first day she was here. That would be dangerous. He wasn't sure he could protect her against a horde of hungry monsters while he had his rosary on.

He faced Werner with a smile, "Let's show Suzu Yokai Academy and its varied students." He didn't exactly know if he was getting himself into something much larger then himself, and any more dangerous, but he didn't really care. If this year was going to end up being hectic, then so be it. After all, he kind of did want to experience some excitement for once.

He began to walk in the direction of the school after giving the two some time to react, speak, or punch him in the face. He couldn't just leave without letting them respond, that would be rude. Although, he would go to the school regardless of their words or actions.

She wasn't expecting him to touch her. Far from that, in fact. She had expected him to turn and walk away. But not touch her, especially in such a private and vulnerable area. She hadn't even noticed that her hair had slipped into her face, let alone his rising hand to brush it back and tuck it behind her ear.

Suzu couldn't control the breath that she sucked in. There she was, in the middle of a dense forest, readying herself to attend a new school, with an abnormally attractive boy touching her.

It was almost too much to handle. Almost.

His hand was stroking her face now, his eyes following the course of his fingers, as if he were attending an art museum and studying the most puzzling and intricate Grecian statue there. He left goosebumps in his wake, both from the coolness of his hand and the odd spike in her body his touch caused.

"I do believe you're in for a surprise ... This school is not like any other."

Immediately missing the touch of his hand, Suzu had to force herself to restrain from capturing it and lifting it to her face again. What a peculiar urge ... But it was an urge nonetheless, and one that she fought valiantly to keep at bay. The small smile that he gave her tickled her to her toes, causing her to want to curl them, for the smile seemed to be one that was designed especially for her.

Dear God, what is wrong with me?

"I'll let you figure out that for yourself... I'm no welcoming committee, but I won't let you be eaten by the wolves."

When he turned away from her, his hand no longer touching her person, she was free of the small spell that had been cast over her mind. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, but after a few slow, deep breaths, it had slowed to it's normal pattern. He was ... An interesting character, to say the least.

"I suppose I know someone who could help. Follow me, love."

Love? Was this guy serious or was he just that insanely weird? She couldn't deny the smile that wanted to break free at her being called that, but she didn't allow it to succeed and reveal itself, either.

It was then that he touched her again, this time grabbing her wrist in a gentle, cool grasp, and pulling her after him. Without much of a choice in the matter, Suzu hurried to catch up with him before he pulled her onto her face, and ended up walking alongside him. The path he chose was puzzling, to say the least, and there was a fleeting moment where she felt a desperate urge to yank her wrist from his grip and flee, due to the odd direction they were heading in.

"Do you trust me?"

Strange as it was, I do.

The sight she was welcome with when they broke through the trees almost made her regret her choice in trusting him. A boy sat on a rock, who was cute in his own way, and was drinking blood.

Dear God, what the Hell have I gotten myself into!?

A gentle nudge from Werner alerted her of the release of her hand and the fact that she now stood between the two otherworldly boys, her entire body taut defensively, and her eyes dark, as if she were readying herself for a fight.

"The new transfer student.. Human." What a strange thing to say ... Of [b]course I'm human ...

"She's called Suzu... I found her lost in the woods by the entrance."

At that point, the alluring sound of Werner's voice faded off, and she cast a glance back at him, her gaze helpless and uncertain.

Just what had he gotten her into?

A sound of movement and the odd sensory she often got when someone approached her slithered through Suzu, and she turned back to look at the boy who had been drinking what at first she thought was blood, but in actuality was undoubtedly tomato juice. An odd choice in a liquid to drink, but who was she to judge? She once mixed five different sodas together and added coffee to it and thought it was delicious.

And her she was thinking that they were the odd ones.

"You have a lot of guts to come to a school like this. Let's just say that the people here can be monstrous when they want to be."

Again with the weird speaking. Monstrous? A school like this? Just what the hell kind of school was it? It couldn't be a coincidence that she had bumped into two guys in the middle of a dark forest who talked in old-fashioned ways. But then again ... What if they were a part of some sort of occult and wanted her to join?

Yikes.

"Let's get to the school building and you'll be able to see what it's like for yourself ... Just please don't freak out."

At that, the uncertainty flowed from her body, and instead was replaced by amusement. She smirked, her arms lifting and crossing over her chest, her eyes glinting as she looked over at the boy.

"As if I would freak out. Seriously, the only thing that could make me do that would probably be finding out I'm attending a school with blood-thirsty vampires and that I'm the new sacrifice," she joked, turning to face Werner as the other boy spoke again.

"Let's show Suzu Yokai Academy and its varied students."

On a whim of her own, she linked her arm with Werner's, and her other one with the other boys'. "Why thank you, my dear Charles," she teased, starting in the direction that he had begun in. "I'd be mighty grateful if you did that for lil' ol' me," she said with a false southern-bell accent, obviously as a slight tease of Araragi's willingness to help her. She batted her eyelashes up at him, and then looked forward again, tugging their arms.

"Come along, my dears," she said, this time the teasing aimed at Werner and his way of speaking.

---

Callie never really had friends. Or at least, real ones that lasted for awhile. She enjoyed the attention of new people constantly, and found herself as a social butterfly more than anything. Her freshman year at Yokai Academy had been a fun one for her, being a fairly attractive girl who was very outgoing. She easily caught the eyes of many boys of all ages, and she'd soaked up all the attention she could. This of course, only added to her current reputation. She got around often, but she saw it all as fun and games. She was a sweet girl when she tried, but didn't really have female friends that honestly cared for. She was a bit selfish and snooty, and she had a lovely group of girls just like her as her possy. It wasn't uncommon to see the five girls associating together, all sirens and all very beautiful. But Callie was also alone a lot because being in a group meant it was always a battle for the spotlight, one she hated losing. Maybe all the attention went to her head, but that never stopped her from being slightly obnoxious and flirtatious with every male she met. Her revealing clothing and constant physical contact always gave off the impression she was interested, and in the middle of her sophomore year she'd easily lived up to her title as an attention-whore. She'd never let something like that bother her though, deciding that everyone was just jealous of her.

So there she sat, by herself today, scoping the area. Even with her reputation she had many boys still fawning over her, it was just a lack of popularity she'd first wanted when she'd entered the school. She watched as others talked and interacted, and she occasionally adjusted herself, and checked her appearance. She'd already grown bored though, she was extremely extroverted and needed interaction with other at almost all times. Which was why a sly smile slipped across her face when she saw two of her favorite boys, Werner and Araragi.

She'd basically not even noticed the girl who stood between the two, as she stood up and strutted over to the three. "Araragi! Werner!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around the neck of the vampire first, hugging him and letting her leg kick up, then with a giggle she jumped over to Werner, and slipped her arms around his waist. She gave him a squeeze, then loosened her grip. Being pretty familiar with the two, and considering there was an odd shorter girl on Araragi's arm, she took Werner's arm and put it around her shoulders and began to walk with them.
"How are you boys doing on this fine day?" she chimed, her voice always seemed to be a lovely sound.
She then cut in before they could really respond, "Oh pardon me! Who is your little friend?" she asked.

Araragi smirked internally at the mention of 'blood-thirsty' vampires. He only smiled when Werner shot him a look. The irony was perfect, and he would undoubtedly mention this when she knew of the school's inhabitants. Vampires wouldn't be her only worry at this school.

He had felt slight guilt at the fact that he didn't tell her that the school was one for monsters or the fact that he and Werner were both monsters, but he decided that it would be easier if she saw for herself. And he wasn't entirely sure he could show her his nature without having his rosary removed or sucking her blood, and he wasn't sure he could do either. He was physically capable of sucking her blood, but he didn't think it would be a good idea. Removing his rosary on his own was next to impossible, and he didn't want to try.

He found it strange when his hand was interlocked with hers, but he didn't flinch at the touch. He was used to this, or rather he was already prepared for such a thing. He laughed slightly when she teased them, and a bit more when she had used an accent. "This year might not be so bad." He spoke one his thoughts quietly, not knowing that he did so.

Araragi internally frowned when they reached the school, worry creeping up on him. He was worried about the commotion that would be caused if word about Suzu's species came out. He composed himself internally and smiled confidently.

He was Araragi Koyomi, a vampire, and he wasn't going to let this slight problem worry him too much, at least that was what he told himself. And then he saw his fanclub. If this were an anime, his face would have comically drained of all color. But this wasn't one, and he didn't change much visual appearance, other than a slight lowering of his eyebrows. He wasn't fond of revealing his emotions or to be more specific, his true emotions.

His worry faded from the 'club', being replaced by slight confusion aimed towards the blonde girl. It took him approximately three seconds to notice that the girl was 'Callie Troxell', someone who seemed to have common traits shared with Araragi. He punched himself internally for forgetting the girl's name. She was someone with a similar reputation as his.

He didn't dislike her, in fact, he enjoyed her presence if anything. She hadn't done anything to anger him, at least she hadn't yet. It would by hypocritical of him to dislike her due to her possible enjoyment of flirting, seeing as he was occasionally called 'The Flirt'. He found the nickname to nicer than Callie's, and felt sorry for the girl being given such an insulting nickname.

He had gotten used to her loudness, but the touching still slightly flustered him. He was usually the one flirting, and not the one being flirted on. He only remembered that his arm was still linked in Suzu's arm when Callie hugged him. The hug felt awkward, mostly due to the fact that he couldn't hug with one hand. He felt relieved when the hug ended. He wasn't sure that rumors wouldn't pop up due to the current situation, seeing as this was still a school and most schools just loved gossiping. He turned his head towards Werner and smiled when he saw that he was having the same done to him. At least he wasn't being forced to endure the flirting on his own.

Araragi was about to respond to Callie's first question, but she asked another question before he could respond properly. He waited a bit before responding to both questions. "I'm doing just wonderful to answer your first question," He paused for a second. "And to answer your second question, her name is Suzu." He hoped that Callie wouldn't reveal the nature of the school, then again, it would be extremely convenient. He began weighing the pros and cons of revealing the school's students, then ended up deciding that it would be better to do so at night or somewhere where the Suzu wouldn't be heard.

It didn't take long for them to reach the school. Almost as soon as they reached the gates to it, Werner retracted his arm from her grasp, causing her smile to waver slightly. Was he really so embarrassed of being friends with her that he wouldn't even let her hold his arm? Maybe she had only imagined the wanting look in his eyes when they had been alone in the forest.

Yes, she must have just imagined that. After all, if she hadn't, why would he pull his arm away from hers as if her touch made him ill?

What a jerk.

She turned her face away, her nose in there and her slowly steaming anger evident by her slightly flushed cheeks and the heated look in her eyes. It really didn't help when a blonde ball of skin and hair, with a bit of noticeable clothing, darted up and threw her arms around Araragi. She was beautiful in an otherworldly way just as the two boys were, and the smallest hint of jealousy formed in the very pit of her stomach. In fact, when she wrapped her arms around Werner's waist and put his arm across her shoulders, Suzu felt her jealousy expand into a large ball, which combined with her earlier fury. Instead of speaking, she chose to stare at the ground, her teeth grinding together and her eyes dark and blazing.

The mere fact that Werner stood there and allowed the girl to practically fall all over him was sickening, and enough to make her tighten her grip on Araragi's arm, until what would be a bruising fashion for a human.

Bitch ...

And of course it was at that moment that the girl decided to take notice of Suzu's presence long enough to stop fawning over Werner and Araragi.

"Oh pardon me! Who is your little friend?"

Instead of answering, she bit down hard upon the insides of her cheeks, so hard that she could taste the metallic of blood.

"I'm doing just wonderful to answer your first question ... And to answer your second question, her name is Suzu."

Suzu shifted her weight a bit, her hard eyes still focused on the ground and swirling with hidden anger.

"Suzu Yoshiyuki," she managed to grind out through clenched teeth, her voice a bit muffled and slightly strangled due to the restraint. "If you'll excuse me, I think that I'll just find the Administration Office on my own," she huffed, releasing Araragi's arm almost roughly. She turned on her heel and, with a forced calm appearance, walked at an average speed away from them, her fingers curling and uncurling with the effort that it took her not to strike out at and punch the annoying tramp that had scampered up as if she owned Araragi and Werner.

With a flick of her wrist, Suzu removed the crappy school map that she had been mailed by the Academy, turning her eyes down to it as she walked. Her anger was slowly fading, and was replaced by a slightly emotionless state, and by the time she reached the corner of the school, it was gone completely.

As soon as she rounded the corner, however, it was replaced with regret and eventually fear, for due to the fact that she had been studying the map, she therefore had not been watching where she was walking. She suddenly met a solid wall of flesh, which sent her hurling to the ground, her map flying out of her hand and catching in the breeze.

"My map!"

Her worry for her map was quickly demolished when she turned to face who she had slammed into. And of course, with her ever-present good luck, it was a large, slightly fatty teenage boy, with a pudgy, scrunched-up face, who smelled like a mixture of a bad case of B-O and a sewage drain.

"S-Sorry?" she squeaked, the slowly-reddening and obviously angered face that belonged to the over-weight guy an extreme deterrent to her courage. His face stopped changing in fury, however, and he drew in a deep breath through his nose, which resembled a disgusting snort of mucus. After a moment, his lips pulled back to reveal crooked, yellow teeth, causing his grotesque smile to appear feral.

"Ah-Ha, Um, well ... Nope! Nope, nope, nope!" she laughed out, her nervous state evident. It was something she hated about herself. Whenever she was in pain, afraid, or extremely uncomfortable, she would laugh, although her face would betray her true emotions like an open book. As she nearly shouted those words, she began to scuttle backwards in a crab walk, her previous plans swiped from her mind.

"You smell ... Delicious. Almost like ... A human," the blob of a teenager said, his voice guttural and almost a growl. He reminded her oddly of a wild boar mixed with an extremely fat hippo, only ten-times more disgusting then that combination would be.

Out of nowhere, his tongue of all things, flew out of his mouth.

"What the Hell!" she cried as the disgusting length of it curled around her.

"Taste like a human, too," he grinned, what little showing of his eyes almost hungry. She was being held in the hair by a fucking tongue, while an ugly-ass teenage guy stared at her as if she were food? What the Hell kind of school was this?

Suzu felt herself snapped to the side, and a sharp cry tore from her lips as she came into contact with the side of the Academy. She would undoubtedly have bruises all along her back, and once she came back into contact with the ground, she slowly pulled herself up and onto her bottom. She was drenched completely in what could only be called slobber, and her entire back and head were throbbing from the contact with the wall.

"What the ... Hell," she grimaced, black and grey spots dotting her vision. She managed to look up at the boy, who was more monster then man at this point, and saw two of him instead of one - of course, due to her bleary state. His tongue flashed out at her, and with a shout of alarm, she threw up her hands in an 'X' fashion before her face. It wrapped around her wrists, slamming her arms completely together, and yanked her hard. She would have hurtled towards him had she not dug her heels into the ground, kicking up mud and grass in the process. "Let go!" she grunted, her entire strength put into not allowing him to pull her closer. And yet, she was being tugged closer and closer, inch by painstakingly inch, every second his tongue was around her arms.

---

Araragi didn't particularly pay attention to Suzu putting her head down. He assumed that she was simply nervous, and her squeezing his hand only strengthened this assumption. He did wonder why she wanted to find the administration office on her own, but he decided not to question it. He was most likely stupid for not noticing what was going on. Although he had never experienced jealousy himself, if that counts for anything.

It took him approximately a minute to figure out what had happened after she released his arm and walked away. He felt stupid, and would have gritted his teeth if he wouldn't accidentally bite himself in the process. He stopped shortly after Werner did, and he had a look of embarrassment. He had been too busy worrying that he forgot about the girl, the human girl.

Araragi continued walking, deciding that she would probably get lost or worse, see one of the monsters at this school. There was still a third option however, seeing one of the corrupt teachers at the school. Araragid absolutely despised some of the teachers at the school, although he couldn't do anything to them without proof. He could smell Suzu's trail or at least the scent of blood, tantalizing human blood. He stopped his thoughts from venturing to dangerous places and got back to the task at hand: finding Suzu. He followed Werner, assuming that Werner had seen where Suzu went. Araragi hoped that things wouldn't end up too complicated, but had known that from that day on, things would be much different. He wouldn't have worried if this was a human school seeing as Suzu seemed completely capable of taking care of herself against humans, but a monster school was a different situation.

He smiled solemnly when they rounded the corner. It was pretty obvious what was happening.

Araragi was angered by the yelp. Sure, he was 'The Flirt', but even he knew that what the monster had and was doing was unacceptable. Then again, monsters didn't have that high of an opinion concerning humans, so he couldn't exactly judge monsters. He heard the dragging of Suzu's feet and snapped back to attention. "This is bad," He was going to attack the monster, but he noticed that Werner was already transforming. He watched with an amused and worried stare. He was amused due to the fact that the monster was weak, and he was worried that Werner broke a rule.

He walked towards the monster which was motionless. "Pitiful," He said this while getting out a piece of paper and a pen. He had begun writing a message. The message read: "Don't do that again." It was a simple message, and one that was written in red ink. Araragi loved the color red, as quite a few vampires did.

He left the note on the monster and turned back to Callie, or where she was last at. He had his eyes closed, so he couldn't exactly tell if he was talking to air or Callie. "I have no idea where the went, so you're stuck with me." He smiled as he said this. He guessed that Werner brought Suzu somewhere away from the school, seeing as she probably wouldn't want to be going to a school full of monsters.

"I'm guessing you want details, right?" He was pretty sure she did. If he hadn't known Suzu was a human, he would have wondered why she didn't fight back. And he would have done everything in his power to figure out the context. He opened his eyes, now clear of any worry in his body.

Callie was only a little confused as the girl walked away. She easily knew it was because of her, but she imagined the girl would've stuck around a little longer before Callie really pissed her off. Obviously she didn't care why the girl had left, or where she was going. She'd just met her, and barely at that. The girl hadn't even said ten words to her and she'd left in a huff.

It didn't bother Callie too much, worse had happened. She also didn't mind that Werner slipped his arm off her shoulders, and they began to follow the girl once again. Though Araragi was the more outspoken of the two, it seemed as though he followed Werner occasionally. She found it somewhat interesting, but didn't give it much more notice or thought.

What they came to when they rounded the corner surprised her, but she only showed it with a raise of her eyebrow. Some random monster was from the looks of it trying to eat the small girl, but why? Had she said something rude to him and he decided to.. eat her? She became confused more than anything, but her attention was suddenly drawn to Werner, who had broke into running, then shifting. There had to be rules about that... But she realized of all people, Werner probably wouldn't care.

His wings that tore through his shirt are what attracted Callie the most, she'd always wanted to fly. She leaned her weight onto one of her feet, and crossed her arms as she became a spectator like the forming crowd. Callie glanced to Araragi's expression, viewing the amused but worried looks crossing his face. She herself wasn't worried, but slightly entertained. She doubted the school would really punish him, he was doing a good thing in a way, and he'd never acted out much before. Why he thought he needed to shift was another story, but Callie supposed it was the only way Werner could know he'd knocked out the beast, and then safely be able to get away.

She watched as Araragi put a note near the monster, and wondered what it said, but wasn't curious enough to ask. She held her hand out in front of her, checking her nails, seeing if any had been damaged in the twenty minutes she'd last looked at them. She then heard his voice, and looked up.

"I have no idea where the went, so you're stuck with me." he said with a smile.

"Probably the main office..." she start, then cut in again, "But I have no problem with that," she replied with a flirty smile he was familiar of.

"I'm guessing you want details, right?" he asked, referring to the fight and the situation.

She was slightly puzzled as to how he would know anything, but nonetheless she agreed. Was there something about the small girl that no one knew?

One moment she was being yanked towards the beast of a boy by his tongue, and the next, there was a swish of air and an arm wound around her waist. She was torn from the grip of the boy’s tongue, and despite her pounding head, could recognize that it was Werner who had helped hr – who wasn’t Werner. Yet he was. He was, but he wasn’t. He was, but he wasn’t. He was, but he wasn’t. The throbbing intensified as she attempted to mull over what was happening, and when he placed her on the ground, she crossed her legs and lifted her hands to grab either side of her head. It felt as though it was going to split apart. She lowered on hand and dimly noted the blood that was smeared across the tips of her fingers, which all seemed to be doubled in numbers.

Suzu looked up in time to see Werner slam into the boy, who went flying backwards in much the fashion of a man who was head-butted by a bull, and dropped to the ground. He went still, his tongue lolled out in a disgusting and pathetic fashion, and for a moment, she feared that he was dead. But then he twitched like a dying fly, and she felt relief beyond any that she had ever felt before. At least Werner wouldn’t be in too much trouble – Hell, it was doubtful that he’d be in any at all, seeing as he was defending her from the boy, who had attacked her first.

She couldn’t find the strength to move and avoid Werner’s hands, whom had plucked up her weak body and clutched her to his chest. She grimaced at the jostling as it caused the throbbing in her head to intensify, and had no choice but to grip the front of his shirt and allow him to carry her.

The sudden shot upwards stunned her, and she drew in a quick breath, her eyes shutting tightly.

[color=]Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down … Aw, Hell, I’m going to die. I’m going to die![/color]

She didn’t die, of course, but was more than happy when she was returned to solid ground instead of hovering in the air – which hadn’t surprised her in the least, after all that had just happened. Why would it? A fatty teenage boy had tried to eat her, and she had watched one of the first people that she had met at this school turn into some sort of mutant bat-thingy that could do God-knew what.

She’d be more surprised if anything managed to surprise her at this point.

For several moments, Suzu chose to lie on the stone bench that Werner had placed her on, attempting to push down the pain in her head and to sort through everything that had just occurred. Finally, she pushed herself up, first onto her elbows, and then completely straight. She swung her legs over the side of the bench and folded her hands on her lap, her head slightly bowed.

“I guess that I probably shouldn’t have wandered away from you,” she said dryly, an attempt at a joke. She was quiet for a few more moments, and when she spoken again, her voice was slightly choked, as though she were crying.

“The funny thing is, is that this place is better than my house. I’ve been here for little more than five minutes, and some thing has already tried to eat me. The first person I met turned out to be some weird bat-thing that could fly, and … Well, actually, that’s pretty much it, other than having to ride with a creepy bus driver that I swear was going to rape me. But the point is, it’s kind of pathetic when I think about it,” she said with a sigh. She lifted her head to look up at him, her expression showing how incredibly tired she was. “So, can you explain to me what’s going on here?” she asked quietly.