The situation was simple. Kaoru did not know how to punch, kick or grapple, so he had to quickly prepare a plan that could be worthy of trying.
But that was easier said than done. His experience of combat was nonexistent. He primarily read fantasy and mystery fiction, so he had no knowledge at all.
What exactly could he do to perform under pressure? Kicks were out of the question. Not only was he lacking in the flexibility department, he did not even know how to match his timing, since kicks required time for a complete beginner.
Worst of all, there was a high chance of slipping and embarassing himself, which he wanted to avoid at any cost.
Punches were kind of difficult too, since he had to avoid being predictable or missing, giving his opponent a chance to counter-strike.
Thinking it over many times, Kaoru was lacking in everything. He did not even have a hand, let alone a trump card.
At that point, something clicked at the back of his mind.
'Oh, that might work, I got it!'
Tsukishiro's mouth curved upward, and he announced the first pair.
"First match is Kirishima Yoru against Sugiyama Kiyotaka. Please step on the mats."
Kirishima Yoru was one of the students that were quiet and did not speak much, like Kaoru. He has raven black hair and deep, dark eyes.
In contrast, Sugiyama Kiyotaka was a friend of Kojima Daiki and despite only being in the same class as him for two days, Kaoru found his extremely loud nature obnoxious. Not to mention that he and Kojima Daiki had incredible physical abilities alongside huge bodies. While Kirishima Yoru was worse than Kaoru when it came to physical abilities, and was short.
The winner was more or less easy to imagine.
'Glad that I did not get paired with Sugiyama.'
As the two students put on the gloves Tsukishiro provided them with, they stepped closer to each other.
Tsukishiro stepped in the middle of the tatami mats and explained the rules.
The rules were clear and straightforward.
"A punch in the face or body is worth one point while a kick is worth two points. The winner is decided when he gets five points or his opponent concedes. Also, if you knock out your opponent, you win, but try not to do that. Now..."
He raised his hand high up in the air.
"Begin!"
Immediately after hearing that, Sugiyama raised both his hands, charging at Kirishima.
He pulled his right hand back slightly, planted his left food firmly on the ground while throwing his hand forward, striking Kirishima with a mean right cross.
Unfortunately for him, Kirishima raised both of his hands just in time, barely avoiding getting hit with an awkward block.
What he did not expect though, was that Sugiyama snapped his hand back while continuing to punch with his lead left hand in a left hook.
Yoru's hands were protecting the front of his face from straight punches, but were useless against a punch from the side.
Sugiyama's left hook connected on the right side of the dark-haired young man's face.
Sharp pain erupted on the right side of his face. His vision blurred and his body staggered.
He tried to look forward, but suddenly, he felt a sharp pain around his stomach and fell back a meter.
With the breath knocked out of him, he struggled to breathe, while his vision was becoming darker and darker.
Sugiyama stopped right where he was and waited.
A moment later, Kirishima stood up with a stagger, weakly placing his hands in a blocking position.
With a disappointed sigh, Sugiyama charged at Yoru once more.
He threw a right cross at him, which was ultimately blocked.
But, that was the plan.
He slightly pulled back his right hand, signalling another strike.
Noticing this, Kirishima quickly tried to block the right side of his head with his right hand.
Seeing his chance, Kiyotaka pivoted his lead foot and punched the struggling-to-block Kirishima.
And yet again, his punch connected.
He had deliberately tricked his opponent into protecting his face, while he struck at the body with an uppercut.
He immediately followed with a right cross, slamming his fist onto his classmate's face, allowing him no time to react.
Knocked down, disoriented and struggling to even breath, Kirishima did not hear anything around him, not even the voice of Tsukishiro, announcing the winner.
"The winner is Sugiyama Kiyotaka with a score of 5-0. Congratulations."
The victor nodded, pleased with the results. But just before he walked out of the center of the tatami mats, he headed towards his opponent and lent a hand.
His opponent accepted his help and grabbed his hand.
Leaning on Sugiyama, they both stepped outside of the center of the tatami mats, joining the other students.
"You were incredible! Sugiyama you are strong!" Said one of his classmates.
"Yeah, you won 5-0, really impressive."
While they were all praising Sugiyama, Kaoru secretly glanced at Kirishima, who was slowly coming back to his senses.
'To be able to take so many punches from that gorilla and standing up was what was really impressive, though.'
Tsukishiro checked something on his notepad and told them the next pair.
"The next pair is Takahashi Riku and...uh, Akira Nemu? Please step in the center of the mats."
Takahashi Riku. Kaoru knew nothing of him, like he did with most of his classmates.
He was above average in height, and he had a lean build.
Akira Nemu. Kaoru had no information on him, either.
He too was above average in height, but that was not where everyone's attention was focused on.
What they were really looking at was his hair.
'White hair? That's weird.'
Yes, Akira Nemu had pure-white hair. As everyone watched with weird expressions, the two young vampires took a fighting stance.
Tsukishiro initiated their fight with exasperation.
"Begin!"
Akira Nemu took a step forward, attempting to kick Takahashi.
Takahashi flinched, but was too late to react, or rather, unable to.
Akira's shin connected on his left side, sending a sharp pain through his ribs.
Clearly damaged, he instinctively held his side with one of his hands.
Akira did not let this chance get away, so he took another step forward, this time punching his opponent in the face, the soft material of the glove burying itself on Takahashi's face.
There was a very obvious gap between the two vampires.
Knocking down Takahashi with his strong straight right, Akira moved fast and looked down at his opponent, ready to strike.
But at that moment, Takahashi surrendered.
"I-I give up. You are strong as hell."
With a calm and aloof nod, his white-haired peer joined the rest of the students.
They were all looking at him with strange expressions. After an awkward period of silence, one of them mustered the courage to speak.
"Damn. He did not stand a chance against you. Do you have experience with this kind of thing?"
Sighing in exasperation, Akira shook his head.
"Not really."
Feeling as though he shouldn't ask more, the classmate stayed silent.
And the fights continued, every student trying their best.
...Almost half of the class had participated in the duels, with the rest of the matches after Akira ending up being very close.
And now, Tsukishiro was about to tell them the next pair.
"Igarashi Isamu and Fujimoto Kaoru."
It was finally Kaoru's turn... unfortunately for him.
Even worse for him, his opponent seemed really athletic.
...Without wasting any time, the two boys walked to the center of the big tatami mats, preparing to fight.
Kaoru's plan was simple. He would try to either punch his opponent — as it was the obvious option — or trip him and throw him to the ground.
Tsukishiro spared a glance at them and raised his hand in the air, again.
"Begin!"
Kaoru immediately jumped back.
Approaching slowly, Igarashi nervously breathed through his nose.
Stopping for a second to think, Kaoru lowered his chin subconsciously.
A punch will not work.
What must I do? I'll just have to keep my distance.
Ignoring his thinking moments, the student suddenly exploded forward with a big first step.
He pulled his right arm back and swung it with great force.
Avoiding the strong blow with a step back, Kaoru observed his opponent who almost tripped by the momentum of his blow.
Is this an opportunity?
He seized it without hesitation, gripping his hand into a fist, pulling it back and unleashing it on his opponents face.
He exhaled slowly, one side of his mouth curving upwards.
The athletic enemy staggered after Kaoru's blow, a little disoriented.
He stood upright, trying to shake the confusion in his mind.
But Kaoru was already moving.
He swiftly got closer to strike again.
Shaking his head, Igarashi finally came to his senses, saw Kaoru and threw a punch on the approaching Kaoru. At random.
Practically smashing into his fist, Kaoru fell down, his nose stinging.
Even though they wore gloves, it still hurt.
His vision was turning dark and he felt a very warm liquid leaking out of his nose.
In a last resort attempt, he closed his fist and randomly reached out.
His effort was fruitless, as he felt his hand falling back down, hitting nothing but air.
His mind was thinking of one and only thing.
Make sense of your surroundings!
And he tried to do so. At first, his vision was very hazy and weirdly swirling.
Eventually, he managed to make out a single male figure standing above him.
His teacher ended the match, seeing that Kaoru was in no state to continue.
"The winner is Igarashi Isamu."
Kaoru's opponent lent a shoulder to Kaoru and carried him over to the others.
"Hey, I'm really sorry."
Kaoru forced out an answer, his voice hoarse.
"Don't mind it. Can you just put me down?"
"Oh. Sure."
Igarashi set him down and lingered a little, waiting to see if Kaoru was fine.
After confirming that he was...maybe fine, he turned to his other classmates, who were watching the whole thing.
Sugiyama emerged from the crowd and stood before them with a shocked expression.
" That was one hell of a blow."
Igarashi laughed bashfully.
More and more of the students joined in, praising him for the hard blow he dealt to Kaoru.
Meanwhile, Kaoru was wiping the blood that had leaked out of his nose, empty of thoughts.
Some of the students glanced at him in pity.
He sighed tiredly.
' Don't rub salt in the wound!'
He redirected his gaze back to Tsukishiro, who was now announcing yet another pair.
He was so done.
Getting hit in the nose was a highly unpleasant experience.
Not only did it hurt, his nose was numb and his energy was drained.
... In the end, the last pair of the day was Sakurada Nanami and Kojima Daiki.
Their fight was nothing short of amazing.
Their skill, experience and quick exchanges made the previous fights before them seem like children's ones.
None of the two was getting tired, and they were going faster and faster.
After a while, Nanami was the one who won, due to her being a vampire for a longer time. As opposed to Kojima who had turned two weeks ago.
Tsukishiro explained some more details about what they would have to face going forward, and dismissed the students.
Kaoru absentmindedly opened the gymnasium's door, leaving.
The sports tests, the sparring and most importantly, his mental fatigue were apparent.
He was exhausted. If every day was going to be like this, he was going to die...
But now, his long-awaited return to his dormitory room was finally happening.
All of the students returned to their dorms, chatting a little on the way.
But Kaoru did not care about them.
As soon as the elevator door opened, he rushed to find his room.
323.
He took his keycard out of his pocket and entered inside.
Walking over to the kitchen table, he poured himself a glass of blood.
Drinking it in one go, he exhaled in satisfaction.
Then, he ran to his room and jumped onto his bed.
His face drowned in his soft pillow, making Kaoru close his eyes submissively.
The blood he had just consumed was being digested, sending waves of warmth throughout his body, prompting him to sleep.
Kaoru's consciousness slipped, darkness enveloping the world.
He just fell asleep.
***
A strange sound came from somewhere near.
It was a...bird singing?
Kaoru slowly opened his eyes, yawning.
'Where am I? Oh right. In my dorm, as a Vampire.'
He sat up, a deep frown on his face.
'Right. I immediately went to sleep after coming back yesterday.
Anyway, what time is it?'
It was seven and twenty three am.
Classes started around half past eight, so he still had a little over an hour.
He was still sluggish from his sleep.
Glancing at the empty glass in the kitchen table, his frown deepened even more.
'Seems like I had no problem drinking that, huh.'
Suddenly curious, he poured another glass of blood and drank it.
He licked his lips and smiled.
The refreshing feeling blood gave him was intoxicating.
He headed for the bathroom to take a shower, since he slept without showering last night, despite doing all of those tests and fighting.
'That's disgusting.'
Hot water hit his back, washing away the sweat he had worked up yesterday.
His shower was short but very rejuvenating for his sore muscles and sluggish body.
He dried himself and stared into empty space for a few moments.
The clock was showing the time to be a quarter past eight.
'I thought I showered for a couple of minutes? Why is it 8:15?
Kaoru took the uniform the school had given him, and started getting ready.
A minute or two later, he was ready.
With deep grey pants, a dark-blue blazer and a red tie, he looked just as any other average japanese student.
But that was not the case. The truth was much more complicated.
He was a vampire student...