A Feast For The Vampires

XV

“Okay everyone, rooms according to your last names,” Tobe said to the groups of boys before him. “And no fighting and no orgy.”

The boys wrinkled their faces in disgust at Tobe’s words and watched as their teacher adjusted the bundle of keys in his hands.

“Coach and his weirdness,” Raja whispered with a shudder.

“Okay. Group A: Alistair, Bills, Bratt, Brayson, Cedric...” He nonchalantly called out their surnames and assigned each groups their rooms. “... Group F: Jaeger, Ketsueki, Killua, Maikal, Mikaelis and Mikaela.” He peered at the group past his glasses. “Silver, you’re in charge.” He threw the key at Silver and he caught it with his hands and nodded in understanding.

“Well,” Raja started as the six boys moved towards their assigned room. “At least we’re together. Right Rin?” He turned to look at his friend, but was rewarded with a cold yet calm gaze. “Why? Fucking why?!” his hissed with a hushed voice.

Rin raised an eyebrow. “Did I say or do anything?” He stopped with the rest of the group and waited as Silver tried to unlock the door to the room.

Kimi lost himself in the pool of his thoughts—his shoulders and barriers raised—as he studied the faces and movements of his classmate, putting a name to their faces. His eyes moved to Rin’s face and he instinctively dug his fingers into the straps of his bag. Ketsueki, it was one of the surnames his mother had given him. He tried as much as possible to avoid body contact with anybody and everybody, but the boys from the other groups just hastily shuffled past him as they each moved to their assigned rooms.

Silver finally unlocked the door with a tired sigh. “That was stressfully annoying.” He pushed the door open, and the boys were greeted by a neat and simple room of three bunk beds and a fluorescent lightbulb.

“I call dibs on the top,” Raja said and rushed into the room with a wide grin. He looked at the three beds and moved to the one farthest in the room. He climbed up to the top bed and sat on it, his weight making the bed cry out. “Doable.”

Rin shook his head and folded his bulky arms over his chest. “Since Silver is in charge,” he started and looked at Silver. “Why don’t he assign us to a bed?”

Silver shrugged nonchalantly. “You can choose any bed. But”—he shifted his gaze to a tensed Kimi—“Kimi and I will share a bunk bed.”

Everyone looked at Kimi at the same time and got their eyes caught in his cold gaze. He just sighed and seemed to physically dig holes in the straps of his bag with his fingernails. He locked his jaw, and just shrugged stiffly, his throat drier than a dessert.

“Right,” Silver said and moved to the nearest bed. “Top or bottom?” he asked Kimi.

“Whatever,” Kimi answered, his voice coming out like that of a crow. His face warmed up in flustered anger as everyone looked at him like he had miraculously grown into a giant. “What?!” he hissed. The other boy who was closest to him jumped away from him in fright, like he was wild fire, and Silver shook his head with a sigh.

“I’ll just take the bottom.” He neatly dropped his bag on the bed, but did not sit on it; he just stood beside it with furrowed eyebrows.

Duan sighed. “Then I guess I’m sharing a bed with you... Uh...” He looked at the boy with a raised brow. “What’s your name again?”

The caramel colour of the boy’s cheeks brightened, and he hugged his bag closer to his lithe body and stuttered, “Ki-Killua. A-Andrew K-Killua.” He looked at the floor. “U-Uh...”

Duan sighed, folded his arms and furrowed his eyebrows in thought. “Where have I seen you before?”

Andrew stiffened and buried his face in his bag, his fat curls of long hair flying everywhere.