The Vampire Prince

Oishi

Echizen jumped down from the tree landing on one foot gracefully. Still smirking he started to walk towards the main school grounds. Meeting Taka-san was unexpected but great. Things were just going his way lately. Now he just needed to find a couple more people. Technically he doesn't need to do what he is currently doing. It's mostly for himself for curiosity sakes.

"You should have learned by now that meddling tends to make situations worse."

Echizen halted in his movements and clicked his tongue. "Nanako I thought you left for the palace. Won't the council get worried or irritated at the 'Puppet Queens' absence."

"You know I don't like to be called that"

"Right sorry, Marionette Queen"

Nanako sighed "Stand-in. Ryoma, the stand-in Queen."

Ryoma turned around and raised an eyebrow at Nanako "Isn't that just as bad a what I said."

Nanako shook her head. "Stand-in sounds better. It doesn't seem as if I'm being controlled by another."

"But you are are you not, being controlled." Ryoma stated. It wasn't a question really because they both knew that it was true. Technically Nanako had no power. The council controlled her every move when it comes to anything with the Vampire community. Nanako follows the council orders, but the council follows Ryoma's. So because Ryoma and Nanako get along, she can have some power. That is if Ryoma would get involved. A big If.

"I did not come here to have this conversation." Nanako pouted, and she placed both hands on her hips. "When will you return?"

"I told you after school ends."

"But you know that this school does not operate like most. There are series of tests you need to complete to graduate. You don't pass them you can't leave."

Ryoma grinned. "You don't believe I'll pass the tests."

"Not what I meant!"

Ryoma laughed. "Trust me Nanako."

Nanako stared at Ryoma, and her eyes softened. "Fine, I'll trust you. But please don't be too long."

With that, Nanako disappeared, and Ryoma smiled softly at where she once stood. Nanako had things pretty rough. Ryoma for sure did not want to be in her shoes. He never liked following orders and preferred to be independent. Nanako was not like that at all; she was too nice for her own good. It did not help that She was going along with the council for his sake. Nanako may not be royalty, but she was powerful, not like anyone knew that part though. If she wanted she could just take down the council and not have to deal with them anymore, but that would cause an uprising within the vampire community. Which would result in Ryoma getting himself involved, something he was avoiding from the beginning. Also by her following the whims of the council, it keeps them from bothering Ryoma too much. Heavens forbid anyone got on the nerves of the vampire prince.

Ryoma continued to walk back to the main school grounds again, but he wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was thinking about what could be currently happening in the palace right now. Perhaps the council was throwing a fit because no one was even there to control, or maybe they were plotting their next 'big idea' because no one would be around to overhear their stupid-ness.

"Echizen?"

Ryoma froze and turned his head towards where he heard his name. He smirked and started walking towards the person standing at the classroom window nearby. Oishi was waving Echizen over with a hesitant smile.

Oishi did not know how to act around the young vampire. According to race standing, he should address him with respect but not too much respect, because they were only one level apart. Him being a pureblood werewolf meant that the only race he had to respect was the pureblood vampires. Although Oishi did not care about race standings and he was sure Echizen did not care either. Then should he address Echizen familiarly, were they close enough to do that?

Oishi was brought out of his thoughts though when Echizen was directly in front of him and spoke. "Fuku-bouchu what a pleasant sight."

"Ah, Echizen I was hoping to speak to you, but did not expect to see you so soon." Oishi respond.

"Oh?" Echizen said in surprise. "I wanted to talk to you too, but first what did you wanna talk to me about?"

"Nothing bad just I have not gotten the chance to ask about your medical needs. I have already asked everyone else if there were any allergies or certain special treatments I needed to be aware of. With me being responsible for medical assistance during the competition I thought it would be best for me to know."

"Of course. I don't have any allergies or need anything special. I doubt you will need to help me at all."

"Echizen it is not good to be overconfident."

Echizen smirked. "It's not overconfidence."

Oishi sighed. "Right. Anyway, what did you need to talk to me about?"

Echizen shrugged his shoulders "Just wanted to ask about your past."

Oishi eyed Echizen weirdly "Eiji did mention you asked him something along the same lines."

Echizen smiled. "Is it wrong to want to get to know my teammates better?"

"No, just it's strange the way you are going about it. To answer your question though, pretty standard."

"Normal is much different for you than it is for others is it not?"

"Perhaps. Most of my childhood I spent learning the ways of medicine " Oishi turned his head slightly glancing at something past Echizen, but his eyes showed that he wasn't seeing instead remembering. "My father was the head medic of the pack you know. He was a very well-respected man, and I looked up to him. Our pack's alpha was best friends with my father. Ah, you remember Atobe right Echizen?"

Echizen nodded. "His father was our pack's alpha. As a child being the assistant of the head medic took up most of my time, so I did not have many friends. Although I did meet this one young werewolf that became a good friend of mine in secret."

"And who was that?" Echizen asked curiously; he wasn't expecting for Oishi just to start telling him his past like this. Oh well, less work for him to do anyway.

"Momo."

Echizen blinked rapidly in surprise. "Momo? He was part of the same pack as well?"

"No, Momo was a lone wolf at the time, it's best to ask him about that stuff himself. It's not my place to tell his story." Oishi paused for awhile before adding "Did you get what you were looking for from me?"

Echizen looked at Oishi confused.

"I may not know you as well, but you would not be going around asking about our pasts if you were not planning anything. Don't worry I won't say anything or pry into your business." Oishi smiled.

Echizen nodded and turned back around. "If that was all I shall be on my way now. See you tomorrow Fuku-bouchu" he said lazily waving his hand behind him.

Oishi kept smiling as he watched Echizen leave. He was already prepared for Echizen's question about his past. He had heard from both Eiji and Tezuka that they had been asked about their pasts from the boy. He suspected that perhaps Echizen was planning something and was waiting for the moment the vampire would come up to him. He wasn't lying about his past, of course, Echizen would probably find out the truth anyway. Besides for some odd reason Oishi trusted Echizen, he felt that whatever Echizen was doing it was for the best of the team. Why he needed information on their pasts, Oishi did not know, but it didn't matter. Oishi closed the window to the classroom and went back to his desk where his medical notes were located.

His past was normal, nothing bad happened and nothing good. If anything the person with the most to look forward to might be Momo. However Oishi did not know about the others past, maybe they had it worse. If so than Oishi felt incredibly sorry for them. Hopefully, once the competition is over everyone will get what they wanted. Even if that meant that they would have to tear apart everything everyone once knew and rebuild from scratch. All Oishi cared about was making everyone he cared about happy, doesn't matter the path they take to get there in the end.