Worries

-----Yui's POV

I made my way back to the cafeteria, not wasting any time as there was no one I knew with me. It did suck that I had to wait till after lunch to finally participate in some matches, but there's nothing really I could do there.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Luna and George greeted me, waving, accompanied by Mark and his two other friends. "No sign of Kaede huh.." I quickly grab some food from the cafeteria lady and head on over towards them, taking a seat next to Luna.

Luna: "So! How'd you go?"

Yui: "I haven't had my matches yet. I'll have mine after lunch it seems. What about you guys?"

Luna: "Mine was actually the first match of our group! I was more nervous from competing first than the fight itself haha."

Yui: "Did you win?"

George: "Yeah! She mopped the floor with that guy."

Mark: "She IS in division 1 after all."

Yui: "How about you two?"

George: "I'm in the same boat as you Ellen, I've yet to compete."

Mark: "...Sadly, I lost. It was a close fight though! But the longer the fight went on the more he gained the upperhand."

Yui: "See~ This is why stamina is important Luna, you don't wanna be like Mark here."

Mark: "Oi-"

Luna: "I promise not to end up like him!"

Mark: "Oi!~"

We laugh at each other as I begin to eat the food that's in front of me, when out from the corner of my eye, I could see Kaede walking together with a shorter girl with long black hair which made her pale skin stick out even more along with her crystal blue eyes. "Is this one of her friends she made?" Suddenly, a guy with the same appearance as her joined the two, almost like he was her twin or something.

It didn't take long till they arrived at our table as my eyes darted between Kaede and the girl.

Kaede: "This is Violet, one of my classmates-"

Collin: "And I'm her brother, Collin. Mind if we join you guys?"

Everyone went a bit silent at their request, Mark in particular was looking at me as if waiting for me to make the decision for them. I don't necessarily think I'm the leader of our group but I suppose me being a duke's daughter has some influence.

Yui: "Not at all, we have some room left anyways. My name's Ellen."

Violet: "Ellen? Ellen von Leinhart?"

Yui: "Yes... You've heard of me?"

Violet: "Yes! I've heard about the mana-less student. I find it rather fascinating that you're unable to use magic despite getting into division 1!"

Her eyes sparkled while talking to me, about me. It felt somewhat awkward being talked about like this.

Luna: "Yes! She's the best out there! I wouldn't be surprised if she wins this tournament with just her sword."

As per usual, Luna was right there to back me up, praising me as some kind of big shot as I struggled to say anything more. Kaede took this time to sit on the edge of the table next to me, my attention now focused on her while Luna and Violet continue their conversation.

Yui: "So? How did it go?"

Kaede: "I- won my first match-"

Leon: "Yup! She totally kicked my ass."

Out of nowhere, Leon has come up from behind, startling the group as even Luna and Violet's conversation halted at the presence of him with Collin's mouth slowly opening.

Collin: "Y-you beat Prince Leon?!"

Kaede: "I... Yeah-"

It wasn't just our table that went silent, but it looked like the entire area of this part of the cafeteria went silent as well from Collin's sudden outburst.

Leon: "It was a fun battle, but yes, unfortunately I couldn't hold a candle to Kaede. I guess experience being a well-known adventure comes with its perks haha."

Kaede: "Hey, you were pretty strong too Leon."

Leon: "Thank you. I'll try and do better in the losers bracket, I'm not out of the tournament yet."

Mark: "Uhm- P-prince!"

Leon: "Yes?"

Mark: "Do you... know how the loser bracket will work? I- also lost."

Leon: "Ah well from what I heard, it's the same as the previous years. Training area's 1 and 2 will be for the winner's bracket and area's 3 and 4 will be for the loser's bracket."

I figured it would be something like that. Since half of the student's would be split between equal amount of winner's and losers, this would make the most sense.

Leon: "Also you guys don't need to address me like that. You're friends with Ellen I presume, so just call me Leon."

Everyone besides Kaede, Luna and I all erupted with a "Yes Prince!" attitude, leaving Leon somewhat dejected as he lets out a sigh.

Leon: "Mind if I join you guys here for a change?"

Yui: "Sure thing!"

He made it way over to where George and Mark were sitting as they rushed to make room for him when suddenly, I felt a tug at my sleeve.

Yui: "Hmm? What's up?"

Kaede: "I... need it again."

She spoke softly in between her breathes as she looked to be in quite a bit of discomfort with sweat starting to build up on her forehead.

Yui: "Okay"

I spoke quietly to her before looking over to the others.

Yui: "Sorry, we'll be back."

Leon: "Oh. Okay, we'll be here"

Luna: "..."

I stood up with Kaede still clinging to my sleeve as we both make our way out of the cafeteria in somewhat of a hurried fashion.

It was lunch break so our options were limited, but as I was figuring out where to go, Kaede pulled me through one of the doors, my eyes darting around the room looking at the stalls and the white tiled floor. "The toilets?". I would think this would be the worst area to do this no? It's lunch break so students would surely come in to relieve themselves before the upcoming matches. But looking at Kaede's face, she seemed to have gotten worse as more sweat began to build up, her face becoming meek. "I guess, this'll have to do."

Thankfully there was no one in the toilets from what I could see as we entered one of the stalls, Kaede now pinning me against the inside of the stall after closing it. Her breathing is getting worse by the second. I quickly unbutton my shirt to quickly reveal my neck to her as she almost immediately sank her fangs into me. It was more painful than the other times, but I pay it no mind as she seemed to be quite desperate. Not too long after, I could hear her breathing slowly calm down, becoming more steady as I could hear the familiar sound of her swallowing my blood.

Yui: "Hey... You think if we keep doing this, I'll turn into a vampire like you?"

Kaede: "I hope not. I wouldn't want you to feel this pain every day."

Suddenly, I could hear the door to the restroom open as the sound of a group of girls talking amongst each other grew louder.

Girl1: "Did you hear? Prince Leon is in the losers bracket?"

Girl2: "I hear he got beaten from someone who joined late."

Girl3: "His parents must be furious right? Who beat him anyways?"

Girl2: "A girl from the summoning class I think."

Girl1: "He got beaten by a summoner? Aren't they like bad at combat?"

Girl2: "Beats me. I think her name was Kaede. We should keep an eye on her."

All the while during their gossip, Kaede was completely focused on me, drinking my blood. I felt my knees start to get a little weak as I try to hold my body up against the stall walls, which ended up making quite a bit of sound.

Yui: "Kaede, that's enough."

I spoke as quiet as possible to not give us away.

Kaede: "A little more, please."

Yui: "Mmm- okay."

I was relieved to hear that she was still conscious, so I let her continue for a bit longer.

Girl3: "Come. Let's get out of here."

Girl1: "I can't believe they're-"

Their voices trailed off out of the restroom as I could feel Kaede gently pulling away from my neck.

Kaede: "Sorry. Did that hurt?"

Yui: "A little, but it's okay. Did you get enough?"

Kaede: "Yes. Thank you... for telling me to stop."

Yui: "Mmm. I promised didn't I?"

Kaede: "You did, thank you. Let's head back now."

Yui: "Yeah."

I walk out first to see if those girls from earlier were waiting for us, but thankfully they weren't around as Kaede followed behind me.

Sitting back down at the table, we were greeted once more by everyone as we took our seats again.

Luna: "Ellen... Your face. You okay?"

Yui: "Oh yeah, I'm fine! Just very hungry haha."

I begin to eat away at the food I left behind, trying to dodge any further questions with the excuse of eating my food.

George: "You think you'll be fine for your match after lunch?"

Yui: "Mmm! I think so-"

Kaede: "Wait, you haven't had your match yet?!"

Yui: "N-no... Mine is after lunch."

She looked bewildered at the sudden news, her face contorting a bit as she breaks eye contact with me. Kaede did join us late so she probably didn't catch me saying that I haven't had my fight yet. I go to place my hand atop of hers that was clenched around her skirt.

Yui: "Hey, I'll be fine. I'm in division 1 so it should be easy enough."

Kaede: "... I hope so."

She was clearly worried about me. Maybe if she knew that I had a match she might've held herself back a bit, but what's done is done.

Leon: "Yeah we wouldn't want me AND you to end up in losers bracket haha."

Yui: "I'll do my best to not disappoint!"

I needed to, not only for Leon who was rooting for me, but also for Kaede who was still worrying for me. If I lost this match then Kaede would blame herself all over again, maybe even reverting back to square one. There's also my family who I desperately need to impress if I'm to be called the daughter of a duke.