Lady Vampire Knight (Vampire Knight Fanfiction)

Chapter 31: Day One

"Okay, we'll begin with breathing exercises," he instructed. The two of us sat under some trees, cross-legged, as he began taking in deep breaths, slowly, his eyes closed.

"Just follow me," he said, his eyes closed. "One, and two, and three..." I closed my eyes, forcing myself to begin taking in deep breaths. One, exhale, two, exhale, three, exhale.

"How do you feel?" he asked me. "Do you feel calmer now?"

I nodded.I felt kind of calmer. Kind of. I could still remember how angry I was about that darn Zero.

"Well?" The headmaster's voice pressed. I realised he probably had his eyes closed, and didn't see me nod.

"Yeah," I muttered, willing myself to continue breathing steadily.

"Chairman?" A voice interrupted out lesson. Both of us looked up to see Yuki, looking at us curiously.

"Yagari was looking for you," she said. "He told me to give you this." She handed over a small piece of paper, which Kaien took. "Sorry to interrupt you two, I'll see you later." With that, she skipped off.

"Hmm," Kaien read the note. "I see." I looked at him curiously.

What was that note about?

"Well, going back to the lesson," he announced, tucking the note into his pocket. "Now, breathe in, then out, for the count of seven seconds, and I mean slow, deep breaths." I had a feeling that this one and a half hour was going to drag on.

"And that's it for today," Kaien announced with a clap. "Try practising those exercises at the dorm, and maybe tomorrow we could see if you could control your light." I nodded, itching to get to my feet.

"Thanks, headmaster," I thanked him, then a thought came to mind. "Does this school let students ride the horses here?" Kaien looked at me curiously, rubbing his eyes from under his glasses. He stretched, while I waited for an answer.

"If they are of expertise," he yawned. "And if they have the time. Sorry I'm so sleepy, meditating always makes me feel sleepy. Are you thinking of riding one of our horses?"

"Yes," I replied. "I met one of them, Firefly, and I was wondering I could ride him."

"I see," Kaien studied me closely. "Are you an advanced rider?" I felt myself redden.

"Well," I began. "My Mum used to take me for a ride sometimes, but normally she would lead it, or she would let me ride at a walk." I thought I saw Kaien hide a smile, and stared at the ground. Maybe I shouldn't have asked.

"I see you're very keen," he remarked, amusement dancing in his eyes. "I know that Shina, your mother did some horse-riding, and I think she might have wanted you to learn as well." He stopped, deep in thought.

"I'll see what I can do," he finished. "Now go and have a nice lunch, Saki, then go to the archery range."

"You're finally here," Yagari grunted. "Get a bow and quiver while I finish setting up. Actually, how about you come and help me set up, so you can set it up alone, if I'm away." He turned back to where he was setting up something, in the middle of the archery range.

I set off towards him, wondering what he was doing. As I reached him, he turned and scowled.

"What was taking you so long?" He snapped. "Now take these pieces and set them in a line down the range. Make sure you connect each one securely." After dumping a load of metal rail-like pieces, he turned back to whatever he was setting up, which I couldn't see, because his back hid it. I frowned at him. What was with his bad mood? Either way, I walked down the archery range putting a piece down, and connecting it with another piece.

The pieces worked like the toy rails I would play with. Each piece was identical, a metal track, which had a clip that connected with the next track I put down.

Finally, I was done, the track leading from where Yagari was, to the far end of the archery range, about 70 metres I think.

"Pass me the metal rod over there, and the mini-trolley," Yagari ordered, turning around and gesturing to the rod and mini trolley leaning against the fence. His temper seemed to have died down, but now, he looked as though he wanted to ignore everyone around him.

I grabbed the metal rod, and picking up the trolley-like thing, handing it to Yagari. He didn't say anything as he took it, just turning back around and beginning to attach the two pieces to whatever he was making.

Finally, he stood up, something in his hands. I peered at it, to see a very weird looking figure.

It was about as tall as my shoulder, and it looked like a weird version of a voodoo doll. Its face was kind of creepy, and I think Yagari stuck a halloween mask on it. It resembled a scarecrow, in the way its arms stuck out to the sides, as it leered at you. The mini-trolley was its base, making it able to move around. I stared at its base, then at the tracks. Was he-?

"This," Yagari said, walking over to the far end of the tracks I had laid. "Is for target practice." He plonked the dodgy figurine down onto the end of the tracks.

"You might have noticed that the archery range goes slightly uphill," he said, walking back over. "So this target will roll down the tracks at you, which means you're going to have to shoot it before it gets to the end of the tracks. Think of it as timing. We'll see how many arrows you can put through that thing before it reaches the end."

THWACK! One arrow flew straight through the scarecrow's head, but I knew better than to stop, despite having hit a vital point. For the majority of the hour, Yagari snapped at me if I ever stopped shooting before the target had reached the end of the tracks.

"I said how many arrows!" He shouted. "Not how long it takes you to hit the head! If you shot it straight at the head, and your target ducked, what do you do? Stop, thinking you've aimed straight at the head? NO! You keep shooting!" So, basically, he was telling me that I can't hit someone's head since they would duck, and I would miss. So I kept firing.

Reaching into the quiver on my back, I drew back, aimed, and fired again. This time, it hit one of its legs. In reality the person would have begun stumbling or probably fallen over. In target practice, it meant I had to keep shooting, because they 'most likely' dodged it. As if someone can dodge an arrow aimed at the knee in a split second...Well, maybe a vampire could.

Focus, Saki, I told myself, taking another arrow, and firing again.