DAY 3: Class with Divine Part 1
"Well, this is awkward…" Harold muttered slowly while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. He had no one but himself to blame that when he came nobody else was there except Divine. "Should I come there, now? But maybe coming later instead is a better option…" He was hesitant to come closer and reveal himself to his teacher. Chatting with another student is one thing, but speaking with her would be pretty awkward, especially since he was unsure what to call her even if she already told him and his friends to call her Divine.
Coming up on a student standing at the edge of the field and gawking in their teacher's general direction, Kyosei considered the oddity for a moment as he passed. Ultimately he felt no need to speak and simply made his way onto the field proper, dipping his head to Divine when he stopped at what he felt was the proper distance away and was sure she'd seen him.
Another student made its way to the Sports fields shortly after, mostly out of boredom.
Rin had woken up very early once again, so early that by the time he was ready to get to class, his crazy roommate was still asleep. And given how she'd kept ignoring him yesterday, or how Rin was fed up with staring blankly at her while she was asleep, there weren't many options left for the Snowman.
Not even Harold, whom he saw standing mindlessly near the edge of the fields, brightened up his moody, serious expression. But Divine and the other student who approached her managed to… if anything for the simple fact that Rin wanted to look at least decent in the eyes of his teachers.
The Snowman therefore took some steps in the proper field, getting closer to Divine and - now he could see - the Youko who was standing in the first row the previous day, before finally greeting them by bowing his head.
"Greetings." Kyosei said. "I'm glad somebody else showed up so quickly. I was beginning to worry about looking like some sort of teacher's pet but if I wasn't very far ahead of anyone else it puts my mind at ease. I'm Kyosei."
"Hello, I'm Rin!" the Snowman said, smiling slightly. "I'm already here mostly because I always wake up too early… my roommate is still sleeping, I reckon."
The Youko nodded with a similar smile. "I tend to be an early riser too. Probably because I often take naps during the day."
"Well well! Aren't you three early!" Divine spoke rather please and clasped her hands together, showing off a lively smile in the process. "I do hope your classmates arrive soon." Without further ado, Divine finished the last of preparations for her class. It looked like she had been getting a few activities ready. There were striking dummies at the ready but they didn't seem like regular striking dummies. There were also some ropes on the floor. "I hope my father didn't give you all too much homework to deal with."
"Hello!" came a voice that hurriedly came towards the group. It was Olivia, the fanged noble vampire Youkai of the class. She had finally approached the class. "Good day! Hopefully my roommate will arrive soon… but it is nice to see you all!"
Not far behind her came everyone's favorite mermaid, Laguna! Carrying a juice box, of all things. "Hey you guys!" She called out, running over to the group. "The cafeteria had these little boxes of water that
taste like food! Isn't that crazy? What's going on here?"
"Wait, sports means we're fighting?" the latest arrival, Kenta, said in disbelief while looking at the training dummies. His eyes shifted from the somewhat sturdy looking training dummy to the much more fragile looking snowman, before finally returning to the one who presumably organized the whole thing.
"I mean, I'm perfectly happy with this outcome." He shrugged, motioning slightly towards Olivia and Rin. "Just seems a little unfair to… you know… and I spent too much time last night learning two-armed sports in preparation."
"I can see what you're going at bu-" Divine tried to say but was interrupted by her mermaid student.
"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Laguna tossed aside her empty juice box. "Are we fighting each other? Are we hitting those dolls over there?
Can I hit the big guy with a doll?!" She was bouncing in place in excitement at the prospect.
"You will not be fighting each ot-" Divine tried once more but was once again interrupted.
Kyosei winced at the direction things were going. "This should be… enlightening. I've never actually fought anything before, only hunted."
Divine took a deep breath and tried again. "You will not be fighting each other, you'll be
practising on the striking dummies." Divine glanced at Laguna before shifting her face towards the Kenta, who was much taller than she was. "I prepared a few different exercises so no one gets hurt while training. I also prepared some ropes so everyone can test their strength against each other by joining a tug of war! Doesn't that sound like fun?" the young looking teacher clasped her hands together.
"Ooh, tug of war! I love tug of war!" Laguna was still excited, but stopped to think for a moment. "What's tug of war?"
Next to arrive were Lena and Rei. The latter looked notably less tired than the day prior.
Rin greeted the other Yokai as they arrived and fit into the group, while also examining the dummies that Divine likely had prepared. "I've hunted too! Maybe this won't be that different." he then replied to Kyosei.
As the other students talked amongst themselves, Hael slowly flitted over, waiting until the absolute last minute to reluctantly shift into his human form. Loathing the idea of attempting anything athletic in such an uncomfortably gangly body, he had been torn between wanting to avoid the class like the plague and wanting to just get it over and done with. Somehow, that seemed to have balanced out into arriving… actually on time.
"There are people going to be here after me and that feels extremely wrong," he said to himself with a sigh, starting to casually sidle backwards away from the group in hopes of escaping - at least for a while later.
Divine couldn't help herself and chuckled at that.
Vivi arrived not far behind Hael, hoping he would draw people's attention more than her. She was silent, but the disgusted look she gave the striking dummies spoke volumes.
"Now that everyone is here." Divine looked around the field at the students who had arrived. Only one was missing and she knew exactly who. It was the girl she accidentally doused the other day. She had heard an ear full about the accident from her father and how she should act more mature. "L-Let's begin!" the young teacher quickly disregarded the thought of the Yasha girl who had not shown up.
"As some of you might have noticed from the striking dummies I deliberately placed here on the sports fields. The sports classes you'll receive from me are a little, tiny bit different from what you might be used to." Divine held her hand up and moved her index finger and thumb closer towards each other to make the "Little tiny bit" sign with her hand. "My classes will be mostly to help you all control your own abilities. It's quite common for students to not know their limits when it comes to using their own abilities and skills since we live in rather peaceful times." Divine smiled all the way while saying her piece before officially beginning her class.
"My father told you all about the mana organ yesterday, didn't he? Is there anyone here that can elaborate on that?" The blue haired woman asked around the students, glancing shortly at each and every student.
"As I recall... each Youkai has an organ to store their magical energy into, correct?" Olivia spoke. She then glanced at the flower shaped jewelry she always kept on her personage. "...Except for vampires, who don't specialize in magic at all."
"That's right, Olivia!" Divine spoke and smiled. "However, I'm searching for a little bit more detailed answer that that. Does anyone know where we can find this organ?"
"Maybe we'll dissect one of us and find out," Hael said,
supposedly under his breath, but in actuality plainly clear. "I'll volunteer if it means I don't have to listen to more of the lecture."
Hael's voice was already familiar to Rin, and caught his attention. He had paid no mind to the fairy until that moment, however that remark was enough to make the Snowman chuckle slightly. "Can I volunteer as the knife then?" Rin whispered, thinking about what they went through the day before, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"Go for it, I offer my life to you," Hael shot back dryly, spreading his arms wide in mock surrender.
"No dissecting." Divine interrupted their conversation strictly.
"Damnit," Hael grumbled.
"G-got it!" hastily replied Rin, now back to his more serious self. "Anyways… I'm afraid I don't know where that organ is…"
Karma nonchalantly made her way onto the sports field and looked around before sighing and reminding herself that it was yet another day in Hell. She felt admittedly rather uncomfortable compared to the classroom where she could hide behind her desk and phone. Here there was no cover, no Duel Links, and from her perspective, rampant stupidity. "Can we get a rain check on that, Div? I could really use a dissection at the moment," She said with a shaky smirk.
It seemed as though Divine was sighing in relief. Sighing that despite the hostility Karma showed yesterday, she still decided to come. "You're late, Karma. Please don't make it a habit." Divine said, strictly as a teacher should. "I'm glad you're here though but no. I will not allow dissections." She stated again. "... not yet at least."
Divine looked around the class at the faces of her students, searching for some surprised ones. "It's a joke! Now please, would anyone else like to give answering my question a try?"
"Come on, don't get our hopes up," Hael interjected.
"Honestly," Karma chuckled. "Way to threaten us with a good time."
Kyosei was beginning to grow impatient as the other students continued to interrupt the satiation of his curiosity. "So, where is the organ, Sensei? I would have expected it to differ from species to species since Youkai are all so different."
"Astral body," a quiet voice briefly responded off to the side—the answer came from Rei, fed up as well. "It's not physical."
Divine's eyes widened upon hearing a small peep from the crowd, but it was just the right peep she was looking for. She was speechless for a small moment but after mere seconds, her face started to gleam. "Very good, Rei! The mana organ is indeed located in the astral body." Divine repeated what the small girl had said.
"The astral body is not physical. It's your body located in the astral plane, a different dimension of sorts. The astral plane preserves your Youkai body when you are in human form but also preserves your human body when you are in Youkai form. You can view it as a sort… closet!" Divine seemed excited talking about this topic. "Your mana organ is also located in your astral body. It preserves the mana you are holding. Otherwise humans would've found out we weren't quite like them a long time ago! Haha!"
"Astral… body?" Laguna was just confused now, but shrugged it off. "Here I thought it was in my legs, not my butt."
"What?" Hael said flatly.
"Excuse me?" whispered Rin shortly after, visibly puzzled.
"Astral body?" Laguna explained, like it was obvious. "So it's in the ass? Hello!"
"Wait a minute…" Karma said aloud to avoid Laguna making an even bigger ass out of herself, "You're trying to tell me that you guys, like...have other forms? Like out of an anime or a movie or something?"
"What's an… annie may?" It was Laguna's turn to be confused. Again.
"My aunt, sweet lady," Karma responded sharply. "Makes the best cookies you'll ever fall into a sugar related coma to." She turned back to Divine and swept her eyes over her classmates. "But...really, do all youkai have a human and youkai form?" She asked somewhat desperately.
".... yes." Divine had wished she could give the desperate Karma a different answer but all she could give was the truth. "Laguna's tail is safely stored in the astral plane. As is your human body. Mages are the only ones without a Youkai form as they are physically indistinct from humans." Divine told Karma, perfectly aware that Karma was still in her Yasha form and also aware that Karma probably didn't know that judging her reaction.
Laguna kicked off her shoes and helpfully transformed into her mermaid form, then back to human after a sharp look from Divine.
At this, Karma fell silent. She touched her forehead, gently touching where her third eye used to be and seemingly lost all means to function. She dejectedly fell to the ground, apparently processing too much at the time for her to handle.
"So we
are dissecting people then?" Hael quipped at this.
This time Divine's words completely overshadowed Hael's muttering, so much so that Rin only focused on the former. "First of all… this mana organ
is the closet with my bodies inside?" he timidly asked. "And what kinda body would this be?" the Snowman continued, alluding to his own.
How would Divine explain this? His transformations weren't perfect. His hands and hair weren't ice spikes anymore, that's for sure: but his body was still cold, and there were quite a lot of… imperfections. "Try to touch my hand, please, and... you'll see what I mean…" Rin added, knowing that it wasn't going to be quite the pleasant experience for either of them.
"Calling it a human body might be a bit misleading." Kyosei wondered aloud now that they were on a topic he understood to an extent. "It's just the closest thing we can manage to one, for blending in. No matter how you look at it, the two are inherently connected at the roots, much like many believe Youkai and Humanity themselves are. As a result, we all seem to have at least some human traits even in our true forms, and our human forms have at least some of our species' traits. I can still feel my ears and tail even when they aren't here… and my body temperature is higher than any healthy humans. I was always told I was very warm when I was a kit. It concerned the adults and delighted the children."
Divine was waving a finger around. "Don't get ahead of yourselves now." She spoke playfully. "You have just demonstrated exactly the reason why you need help controlling your abilities." Her gaze paused on Rin's exterior. "In Rin's case, I am aware of your inability to contain your natural cold body temperature. I can feel it even from standing over here. It's not that your transformation is imperfect, many snow women and men have trouble containing their natural coldness...ess." Divine stumbled over her own tongue on that one.
"Not everyone's transformation works the same. It's as Kyosei said, we call it the human body but it's just an exterior. One that
is determined at birth, however. You've probably noticed that your more human body has traits that are similar to your Youkai body. Olivia for example still looks the same except that some features like her eyes and hair changes. Kenta is still as tall as he is in his Youkai body. We aren't all that different from humans, even when they tend to think so." Divine's gaze fell upon the young Karma who seemed to have a lot of trouble accepting the fact that she also has a human body.
"You are able to use illusions on your bodies. Both Kyosei and Rin need to learn how to cast illusions on their bodies that will make it seem like they have a normal human temperature. It's not easy though."
"U-understood! Thanks." replied Rin, bowing his head at the teacher. To tell the truth, though, he was still trying to process all the new information… and the fact that, by doing that, he'd just given away the fact that
he wasn't able to keep himself warm. At least, the Snowman thought, his classmates (Kyosei especially) seemed to have similar concerns.
"It's also extremely uncomfortable, so can we get a move on?" Hael groaned.
"But I like being warm…" Kyosei said quietly, sounding as dejected as a child who'd just been scolded.
The young blue haired woman held a hand before her mouth and giggled. "Well then, let's start the class." She said once she got the giggles out. "I want to start with the striking dummies. I want everyone to show their abilities and skills by punching, kicking and throwing at the striking dummy as hard as you can! This way I know your control level and can help you improve it." Divine took out a small notepad in which all the names of the students had already been written.
Divine had barely pulled the notepad out when Laguna charged forward, leaping toward a dummy and tackling it to the ground. She wrapped her arms around it, biting into the neck area with her sharp teeth, then picked it up and threw it away from the others. She was grinning like crazy, and pumped both fists into the air. "Yeah! Like that, Divine?"
"Which one is the dummy again?" Hael questioned.
"What the fuck…" muttered Vivi.
