Part of me

Chapter Three - Prove yourself

I pulled my jacket off and handed it to Zero, who took it without complaint. "Momo dear, don't be too harsh." Papa told me as I walked around us in a wide circle, dragging my artemis rod along the round to make a ring. "Whoever can knock the other out of the circle will win. Although, I don't think you will be able to do this much." I said, ignoring him completly and concentrating on my task at hand. "Fine." Yuki replied, being just as stubborn as me on this as me. I don't intend on ever giving her this bacelet, even if she does win. She'll have to pry it from my cold dead hands before I will let her have it. "What are you doing?" Takuma asked, him and the other vampires suddenly appearing. "You should be sleeping." I said, looking over to them as Yuki immediatly ran to Kaname, fawning over him like a child. "Kaname - Sama felt a stir in activity down here." Ruka told me, seeing the circle and then smiling. "Ah, a fight? Now this will be interesting." Hanabusa noted, inspecting my circle carefully. "Let's just get this over with." I said, throwing my Artemis rod upwards and catching it gracefully before drawing it back and twiddling it around my fingers. "I won't lose. Not this time." Yuki told me, obviously showing off because Kaname is here. I took off the bracelet that controls Zero and handed it to Takuma, giving it to him to hold onto. "You're fighting over a bracelet?" Shiki asked me lazily, scratching his bed head with his long nimble fingers. "She believes that we think she is incompetent of owning a bracelet that can restrain a vampire. I think she is." I admitted, Yuki pulling out her rod suddenly and jumping at me. I simply held my hand out and caught the rod, gripping it tightly as she attempted to keep driving it down to the floor. No scary bolts appeared as I am human, but I could feel the power surging through the weapon. "Nice try. But that won't work on me." I told her, bringing my own rod around quickly and getting her in the stomach. She reeled backwards and I let her re-gain composure. She breathed hard and stood herself up, me putting away my rod and taking out my gun instead. I lifted my hand, slow and began taking shots at her. The vampires, ducked out of the way; Yuki barely able to actually dodge. I thought that he had taught her better than this. It's probably because she is thinking to much and doesn't have the same field experience that I do. Typical. I let Yuki have a few hits on me when my gun ran out of rubber bullets, me instead pulling out my katana. "Momoko no!" Papa yelled at me as I ran at Yuki, jumping slashing straight downwards. She held her Artemis rod horizontally and held her ground as I forcefully drove my weapon down. I pressed down harder and watched with bright eyes as her Artemis rod began to crumble under my weight. It snapped suddenly, lightening coming out and surging in all directions. The force of the blow made both Yuki and I fly backwards, her crashing out of the circle first to my content. Zero had quickly moved and stepped into the circle, catching me easily as I got flung backwards. "Momoko!" Papa exclaimed, rushing over to me as I cradled my arm in my right hand. "It's fine." I sighed, my eyebrows furrowed together in worry. "That was so dangerous!" Takuma exclaimed, Zero cringing back a little as the vampires came closer. He didn't move back however, as he was holding me bridestyle and the fact that it was their right to be worried. Zero was probably doing this for my sake too. "I never thought vampire hunter weapons could be broken so easily." Hanabusa said, playing around with some ice in his hands. "They can't be." Kaname said, removing my hand so that they could all see. Shiki's eyes widened as he took in the large burn mark on my arm, the others faces mimicking his. "Let's get her inside. We have to discuss this immediately." Papa said, using his stern voice. Zero nodded and turned, everyone heading in together; me noting that my sister is brooding behind the lot of vampires; no one even paying mind to her.

"Is this okay?" Hanabusa asked as he held my burn in his hands, him using his abilities to make his hands very cold. "Move up a little." I told him, me hissing a little when it hit the right spot. Zero, Kaname and Papa are soaking bandages with some sort of weird mixture over on his desk. The other vampires all sitting close to me and giving me worried looks. "Are you okay?" Rima asked, her holding a stuffed bear that she'd brought with her from the dorms. "It hurts a lot, but I think it will be fine." I replied, Akatsuki shifting in his seat. "That was really dangerous. You could have been hurt a lot worse." Ruka said, Takuma patting my head gently. I turned my head a little, looking to Yuki who is brooding in a corner, not daring to look at us. She is more than a little upset that she lost and the fact that I broke her only weapon. . . "There is something resounding in you that worries me my dear." Papa said, him coming over with the bandages that he prepared. "Not just anyone can break an anti vampire weapon in half with just one blow." My nose crinkled as he wrapped my arms in the sour smelling bandages. Kaname coming over with regular ones and wrapping it overtop. "I have never heard of that happening." Takuma agreed, him knowing a lot about history and things that I personally have no interest in. I have a theory about why this happened, but it would surely get turned down in an instant. Kaname would deny it to my grave. "What are we going to do about my Artemis Rod?" Yuki asked, her finally speaking. "We'll find something as a replacement. Perhaps you can lend Yuki yours?" Papa asked, looking to me. "No." I replied, getting up and taking the bandage from Kaname, finishing it off myself. "Momoko." Kaname said, trying to reason with me. "I said no. If she can so carelessly allow it to break, then she should find a way to fix it. It wasn't my fault Kaname. She was the one who challenged me and what was I supposed to do? Let her win?" I asked, me voice rising a little. Why does he give me that look? That look that tells me he is disappointed in me, it makes me feel sick. "I don't mean it like that and you know it." Kaname said, the vampires looking surprised as Kaname had dropped his usual formal way of speech. "You make it sound like that. Your eyes say it all." I said, Hanabusa tightening his grip on my arm so I wouldn't go anywhere. "No fighitng today, please. We just want to care for you." Takuma pleaded with me, me looking over at Zero who nodded, telling me that I could go with him and that he'd see me later. "Alright." I agreed, following the vampires out of the office, keeping my head low.