Type Five - Accepting and First Mission
The next day was oddly quiet. Nine wasn't pranking anyone and it surprised everyone when he didn't bother to annoy Kurasame like he usually did. Ace had also noticed that Manami was not in class and he was worried. If she really heard their conversation, then what Nine had said must have affected her emotionally.
"Nine, you know this is all your fault right?" Ace whispered to the dragoon, referring to Manami who was absent.
Nine scoffed silently and for once, paid attention to Kurasame. Ace frowned and turned his attention back to his instructor as well. After class, everyone crowded around Nine, who was getting irritated due to his lack of space.
"Something's wrong with you Nine," Queen frowned, "You don't usually pay attention in class. You are also very quiet today."
"It's nothing. Leave me alone dammit!" Nine growled, glaring at Queen who was unaffected by his gaze.
"This isn't nothing when Nine is being quiet," Trey placed a hand on his hip, "Does this have something to do with Manami?"
Nine immediately casted his glared over to the golden blonde, who smirked lightly, seeing as though he struck a nerve. Trey chuckled lightly.
"So it does involve Manami." He said.
"Does Nine have a crush on her?" Cinque teased.
Nine didn't even blushed, but he did started to growl, "You guys are pissing me off..."
"Enough everyone," Ace spoke up, before letting out a sigh, "Nine is feeling guilty for what he did yesterday."
"I am not feeling guilty!" Nine growled menacingly at Ace.
"He said somethng and Manami probably overhead him and that may explain why she isn't here today." Ace continued on, ignoring the dragoon.
"And this explains why her crutch was abandoned here?" Seven raised an eyebrow, motioning to the crutch leaning against the wall.
Ace nodded. Nine stood up with a rough look on his face. He glared at all of his classmates.
"Just leave me alone! I don't care if I hurt her feelings or not, she should learn to stick up for herself!" Nine shouted, before leaving the classroom.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as he went up to the roof to cool down. As he reached his destination, he stopped in his tracks to see Manami, staring up at the sky, holding what appeared to be Twilight Blue, one of her handguns. Nine narrowed his eyes and was about to turn in the opposite direction, but stopped, realising that this may be his chance to to apologise. He shook his head at the absurd idea. He was Nine, why should he apologise? While he was busy debating with himself, Manami had noticed his presence.
"Nine, I know you're there." She called out as the blonde turned to look at her.
Manami continued to stare at the sky as Nine slowly made his way towards her. She sighed and placed her gun away.
"You...really think I'm a failure huh?" Nine said nothing and Manami continued, "Well, I think so too."
"If you're trying to make me feel guilty, then think again Koizumi." Nine said roughly, but Manami shook her head.
"I'm not trying to make you guilty. I'm only stating the truth. That's why I abandoned my title, because I was too much of a failure to be a the next in line for queen." She said as Nine went quiet.
Nine then folded his arms, "...Why are you even trying to become a paladin?"
"Because being a paladin grants you the power to protect those in need. I promised someone I would help them when I gain my powers," Manami said, turning to look over at Nine with a solemn look on her face, "But, I can't gain my powers until I figure out where my powers would be located and how I
can receive them."
"Right then. Because you feel like such a failure, you decided to become a paladin to make yourself useful."
"That's correct."
"You really are an idiot you know that?"
Manami widened her eyes as Nine allowed a smirk to crawl up onto his scarred face. He laughed lowly and walked up closer to Manami, placing a hand on her head. He then poked her in the forehead, causing her to flinch and bring her hand up to touch the red mark forming on her fair skin.
"But you're also very stubborn and won't give in easily. Alright, I'll accept you as my partner, but don't get in my way, or I won't hesitate to hurt you." Nine grinned, before making his way back to Class Zero.
Manami smiled and ran up in front of Nine, stopping him in his tracks. The dark haired brunette flashed a blonde a smirk of her own.
"And you won't get in my way either." She winked and then jogged back to Class Zero.
Nine scoffed to himself, before chuckling. This mission was going to get interesting.
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"What the hell is up with Nine? He's been grinning like an idiot and hasn't even pranked anyone!" Sice exclaimed, noticing Nine's odd behaviour.
"He probably already did prank someone and was satisfied." King shook his head at his classmate's antics and habits.
Nine ignored his classmates' whispers and watched Manami out of the corner of his eyes. Although he still didn't really like her, he was going to give her
a chance. Her stubborn and strong willed personality intrigued him and wanted him to know more about her. Manami was busy twirling her pencil in her
fingers and looking down at what appeared to be a paper with strange writings on it.
"Oi Koizumi, what's that?" He asked Manami who turned to him with a confused look on her face.
"This is the serpent's tongue. I'm supposed to learn it if I were to unlock my serpent powers. You know, the blood that runs in my veins?" Manami asked.
Nine nodded, remembering Ace telling him about that. At that moment, Kurasame entered the classroom, with a stack of folders.
"Class Zero, these are your information for your mission. I will hand these out to you, but you need to sit with your partner." He said as the students got out of their seats to find their partner.
Manami and Nine stayed seated, seeing as though they were partners anyhow. Kurasame went to each pair and handed them their folders, which some
immediately opened to see what their mission was. Kurasame gave the final folder to both Manami and Nine and went back to the front.
Nine grabbed the folder and opened it, revealing a photo of the Crystal Mines. Underneath the photo were documents and information on what they're supposed to do on their mission.
"All of you will be leaving tomorrow, so I'll allow you to take the rest of the day to be prepared. Good luck and I will send you off tomorrow." Kurasame said as the students decided to talk about their mission.
Manami took the documents from Nine's hands and skimmed though the information, "We're suppose to exterminate a Crystal Beast inside the mines?"
"What are you scared are something?" Nine raised an eyebrow, smirking cockily.
Manami glared at him slightly, "No, not at all."
"Remember what I said, I won't back you up if you get into trouble."
"I don't plan on counting on that."
[][][]
Manami sat in her dorm room, looking through the documents once again. Nine had shoved the folder into her arms, expecting her to gather all the items
they needed for this mission. So far, she gotten all the necessities and was re-reading over her documents to make sure she had everything.
She perked up when she heard tapping against her window and looked outside. She saw Nine on one of the tree brances that lead to her window. Manami guessed he wanted to head in and opened the window and locked her door, making sure no one could come in. She sighed as Nine closed her window.
"What is it?" Manami asked the blonde, who shook his head free of leaves.
"I came to make sure you have everything we need for our mission," He eyed her desk where all the items were placed onto, "That everything?"
"From the information I've read, that is all we'll need. I'm just double checking," Manami said, "You do know that boys aren't allowed the the girls' dorm right?"
"I know, but how can I know if you're actually preparing for our mission? I don't have your number on my student PDA." Nine said, arms folded.
"Oh right, the PDA. I forgot I was given one when I enrolled into the school." Manami mumbled, pulling out the aquamarine device.
Nine took the PDA out of her hands and registered ID into it. He then pulled out his own PDA and handed over to Manami.
"Enter your student ID and then I'll be able to contact you." He said, as Manami entered her ID into the device.
She handed it back to him and he raised an eyebrow at her profile picture, "...Your hair looked more wavy in this."
"Really?" Manami touched her dark brown locks, "Has it become less wavy?"
"I guess because you're in Rubrum that your hair has lost its natural environment. You should keep your hair more wavy. It looked...nice." Nine looked away, a small blush on his cheeks, but Manami couldn't see from the angle she was looking at.
"I see. Thank you." Manami said softly as Nine scratched the back of his head.
He then looked at the clock on Manami's desk, "Looks like it's time for me to get going. See you."
With that, he opened her window and jumped onto the tree. Manami closed her window before locking it and watching as Nine jumped down from tree and back to his dorm. She sighed and went back over to her bed and looked at the documents again, her PDA at her side, with Nine's number in it.
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"Today is when you'll embark on your mission and see how far your skills take you. You won't go alone and that is why we have placed you in pairs, so
that you can assist eachother if you are to be in trouble. We do expect you complete your missions with ease, but if you do not come back in a week, we will search for you to make sure you are well. That is all. Good luck." Khalia bid the Class Zero students, before Kurasame took over.
He cleared his throat, "Because you will be sent off to different areas, I want you to turn off the numbers of those that are not your partner in your PDA. You cannot communicate with anyone other than your partner."
The students of Class Zero brought out their PDA and turned off the student's numbers that didn't belong to their partner. Manami only had Nine's number in hers, so she didn't need to turn off anyone's number.
"That is all I wanted to say. Those mini airships behind you will be your only course of transportation to your area. Good luck and be safe." Kurasame nodded to his students as they made their way to their designated airships.
Manami followed Nine as he led her to the airship behind her. She had never been in one of these student airships, only because it was restricted to Class Zero only. She boarded the airship along with Nine, who took the wheel of the ship.
"Since you have never been on one of these, I'll fly us over to Crystal Mines." The blonde said, jumping into the driver's seat.
Manami took the seat beside him and stared at all the controls in awe, "Do you use these airships often?"
"Yeah, but only for missions that are far away from Suzaku Peristylium." Nine answered, getting all the controls ready.
Manami nodded, before letting out a small squeak as the airship was lifted off the ground. Nine grinned at the small reaction his partner made.
"What? Afraid of heights?"
"No! You just lifted us up into the air too fast!"
Nine burst out laughing, "Whatever!"
Manami frowned, before smirking lightly, "Or do you want me to tell everyone you were in my room last night?"
That got the dragoon to shut up and he glared at Manami, "You tell anyone, you die."
Manami laughed slightly, "Okay, I won't."
The flight towards the Crystal Mines were strangely silent. Nine kept his eyes forward so he didn't glanced so much towards Manami, who was busy
looking at the document's list of enemies.
"So the enemies we are going up against are all made of crystal. They have only one weakness and that's fire." Manami read out to Nine, who scoffed.
"I don't care about the weaknesses. I just fight." He said, eyes still on the glass in front of him.
"Of course you do. I expect nothing less from Nine." Manami muttered, putting everything in the folder, which she placed in her waistbag she carried all their items.
Shen sighed, "How much longer until we reach Crystal Mines?"
"Not much further. What? You've never been to Crystal Mines?" Nine raised an eyebrow, but he still didn't look at Manami.
"I live in the Kingdom of Serpentania. We are completely surrounded by seas Nine."
"Makes sense."
Manami squeaked again when Nine stopped abruptly and started to land. She shot him a glare.
"Will you stop trying to give me heart failure!?"
"That actually sounds pleasing."
"You are not getting away with this Nine!"
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"This mine is really beautiful." Manami said in awe, seeing the glowing blue and pink crystals with her own eyes.
Nine just rolled his eyes, "We're on a mission. Not sight seeing."
"I know, but they are so pretty. Compared to the gems in the Kingdom of Serpentania." Manami touched a crystal, enjoying the cool surface against her fingers.
Nine walked past her and into the mine, "Come on Koizumi, you're not getting anywhere through that mission if you don't come along."
Manami followed him, bidding one final look at the crystal. Unbeknownst to both her and Nine, the crystal started to glow brighter as they ventured into
the mine.
"Just how big is this mine anyways?" Manami asked, walking beside Nine who made his way deeper into the mine.
Because the crystals help to illuminate the mine, there was no need for flashlights or magic that generates light.
"Big. If you were an idiot like Deuce you would get lost in here." Nine said bluntly, causing Manami to slap him at the back of his head.
"Don't call her an idiot!" Manami hissed, narrowing her eyes at Nine, who only scoffed.
"Hey, I'm only saying the truth. That girl's a real airhead you know?"
"And what does that make you?"
"A real good looking lion."
Manami rolled her eyes, "Keep telling yourself that."
Nine only grinned, "You know what you are?"
"Do I really want to know?"
"You are a stupid snake."
The next thing Nine knew, he had a red mark against his cheek. Manami's eyes were narrowed into a fierce glare at the dragoon. She had back handed
him.
"I'm not stupid!" She growled, before walking ahead of him, who rubbed the red mark on his cheek.
He grumbled lightly, "That girl packs a powerful slap."
Following the dark haired brunette, he noticed something different about the crystals. Some looked like they were moving and were dimmer than the ones before.
"Oi Koizumi stop." He called out to Manami, who stopped.
"Yeah I know, I noticed it too." She said to him, eyes on one particular moving crystal.
She summoned her twin handguns and aimed Navy Dusk at the crystal, before shooting it. The crystal was chipped and shot through, glowing brighter than before.
"A Crystal Behemoth." Manami muttered, watching the monster appearing out of the darkness, growling and roaring at her.
"Oi! Are you just going to stand there!?" Nine shouted, pulling out his spear and stabbed it at the behemoth, who recoiled back.
Manami snapped back into reality and aimed both her guns at the behemoth, shooting barrages of bullets. Within seconds, the behemoth fell to the ground, defeated. Nine raised an eyebrow, dismissing his spear, before walking over to Manami and swiping Navy Dusk out of her hands.
"H-Hey! Nine!" She exclaimed, trying to retrieve her dark blue gun back from Nine.
"Just what did you do to the behemoth that made it fall down faster? Behemoths aren't easy to beat you know?"
"I shot its crystal. That's another one of their weak points I figured out. Now give me back Navy Dusk!"
Nine scoffed, threw the gun back at Manami, who caught it swiftly with her right hand. He then placed a hand on his hip.
"And you figured that out how?" His stare was piercing into Manami's eyes.
Manami dismissed her guns and brought a hand to her face. She brushed her bangs away to reveal an eye, white with black markings. The wheel, supposedly her pupil, spun around in a hypnotic circle.
"This is my Scanner Eye. It was built into my eye socket when my previous eye had been killed," Manami said, bring her hand down so that her bangs cover her white eye, "This eye allows me to find out enemy weaknesses and that's how I figured out that behemoth's weakness."
"...You're a freak." Nine said bluntly as Manami shrugged.
"That's exactly what the people back in my kingdom called me. I am a freak for having the serpent's blood in my veins in the first place." She said
nonchalantly.
Nine stayed silent, before grunting, "Come on, let's hurry and finish this mission."
"Whatever you say Nine."
[][][]
A few hours have passed and Manami was beginning to get restless, annoying Nine. She folded her arms and sighed.
"You said this mine was big, but I didn't expect to be endless!" She exclaimed, her eye twitching in annoyance.
"Quit complaining Koizumi! Damn, you're about annoying as Cinque when she fawns over celebrities in her magazines." Nine grumbled.
"I can't help that this mine is huge! Even with all these crystals illuminating the area, it's hard to see where I'm going!" Manami countered, shortly before she tripped.
"Uwa!"
"Uwah!"
The next thing both students knew, Manami was on top of Nine. Both flushed at the close contact, but neither made the effort to move. They were so
close that they could feel eachother's breath on their faces. Finally, Manami got up and held out a hand to Nine, who just stood up on his own.
"S-Sorry Nine." Manami mumbled the apology, while Nine turned his back to her, hiding the blush on his face.
"It's nothing. Get moving." He said gruffly, walking ahead, with Manami following afterwards.
The two walked in silence, neither one sparing a glance at the other. Manami made sure to watch her steps, not wanting the same thing to happen again. Nine on the other hand was so deep in though, he accidently walked into a wall.
"Oomph!"
Manami stiffled her laughter as Nine removed himself from the mine walls, rubbing his nose and forehead. The dragoon turned to look at her with narrowed eyes.
"What are you laughing at Koizumi?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I never knew that Nine could get so deep into his thoughts. Care to share, hm?" Manami smirked.
"Mind your own business Koizumi," Nine growled, "I don't have to share everything with you because you're my partner."
Manami shrugged, "Yeah sure. I don't think you would anyway. You're too much of a jerk."
Nine narrowed his eyes further before closing them and chuckling, "A jerk huh? Well if that's the case, then you're a brat."
"Is that all you can think of?"
"No, but we need to finish this mission. We're wasting time."
[][][]
They reached the end of the mine and Manami noticed the end was more illuminated than the mine passages. She stopped, realising how empty the
mine was.
"Nine, wasn't there suppose to be a Crystal Beast in here?" She asked the blonde, who placed a hand on his hip, looking around.
"Is this some kind of joke!? I did not travel through this mine for hours to find nothing!" He shouted in rage.
Manami's ears twitched when she heard low growling and the sound of a boulder being lifted. She snapped her head over to Nine.
"Nine!"
The blonde looked at her with a confused look, before his eyes widened as Manami pushed him to the ground, before jumping away from the falling
boulder that nearly crushed him. A cold sweat ran down his face and he noticed red glowing eyes in the corner.
"That the beast?" Nine asked Manami, pulling out his spear, pointing the blade at the beast that was moving towards them and out of the shadows.
"It's not just any beast. It's a Crystal Dragon." Manami said, the beast emerging from the shadows to reveal its blue and pink crystallised skin and red eyes that glare at both Class Zero students.
She brought out her twin handguns and aimed them at the dragon while Nine chuckled, "This will be interesting! Huh, Koizumi?"
"I agree," Manami smirked as the dragon bellowed and rocks started to float, "Careful Nine. Those rocks seem to be the dragon's defense."
"I figured that much!" Nine exclaimed, annoyed and lunged at the dragon, only to be hit back by the rocks.
He grunted as his back collided with the ground and he wiped the dirt from his face. Manami sighed.
"I warned you."
"Shut up!"
The dragoon got back up on his feet and glared menacingly at the dragon. His head then snapped over to Manami.
"Is there any weakness to this damn dragon!?" He shouted as Manami moved her bangs out of the way to scan the enemy clearly.
The dark haired brunette jumped out of the way of the dragon's claw as she continued to scan her enemy. She then shook her head.
"There's no weakness!" Manami called to Nine, who growled when he heard that.
"Damn dragon!" He cursed, running back at the beast, spear in hand.
He dodged the rocks this time and jumped off one so that he was high up in the air. Nine brought his spear down, blade crashing agaisnt the dragon's head as it bellowed and blue blood appeared from the wound. Nine smirked when he landed on the ground.
"Too easy." He muttered, jumping away from the dragon as it shook his head from the excrutiating pain.
It let out an ear piercing growl and Manami narrowed her eyes when she saw something glowing in the dragon's mouth. She pulled out her Orichalcum Knife and aimed the curved knife at the dragon's mouth, before throwing it. The dragon noticed the knife coming right at its mouth and instantly closed it, allowing the knife to rebound off its thick crystallised snout.
"I see. Nine! The dragon's weakspot is its mouth!" Manami exclaimed to Nine, who nodded, keeping his eyes on the dragon.
Manami allowed her knife to return to her and aimed her guns at the dragon, before shooting them consecutively. The bullets did no harm to the dragon, but it angered the beast further. It let out another bellow at Manami and Nine took the opportunity to jump at it, once again dodging the rocks. With a battle cry, Nine jammed his spear into the dragon's mouth so that it couldn't close it. He gave the thumbs up to Manami as he jumped away from the beast.
"Now!"
Manami nodded, merging her guns together as they created her rifle, Midnight Blue. She aimed the gun into the mouth of the dragon, who was busy trying to break the spear with its powerful jaws. Manami pulled the trigger, allowing the bullet to hit the dragon in the mouth, stopping its struggle. Both students watch the beast's eyes turned black and it fell to the ground with a loud crack. Nine went over and grabbed his spear.
"That's over and done with. Now what?" He asked Manami, who went to inspect the corpse.
She kneeled down and noticed the same thing that was glowing in the dragon's mouth. She reached over and touched it. As soon as her fingers made contact with it, Manami felt voices inside her head, talking over each other.
The first piece has been retrieved...nine more to be collected...
Manami let out a gasp when the voices inside her head disappeared. She panted and felt something cool and hard in her hand. Manami opened her hand to reveal a gem crystal, the same as the crystals in the mine.
"Oi Koizumi! Koizumi!" Nine's voice made Manami snapped out of her trance and blinked.
"Nine?" She asked, her voice lower than usual.
"What's up? All I heard was you gasping," Nine's eyes travelled to her hand where she held the pink and blue crystal gem, "Is that...?"
"The crystal of this mine? Yeah," Manami heard something inside her head and muttered it absentmindly, "Crystal of Wisdom."
"What?" Nine raised an eyebrow.
"I think it's the gem's name." Manami said, eyes locked on the mesmorising crystal.
Nine grunted, pulling Manami back onto her feet, "Come on, if we don't leave the mines now, it'll be too dark for us to to make our way out of here. The crystals don't shine brightly at night."
The next day was oddly quiet. Nine wasn't pranking anyone and it surprised everyone when he didn't bother to annoy Kurasame like he usually did. Ace had also noticed that Manami was not in class and he was worried. If she really heard their conversation, then what Nine had said must have affected her emotionally.
"Nine, you know this is all your fault right?" Ace whispered to the dragoon, referring to Manami who was absent.
Nine scoffed silently and for once, paid attention to Kurasame. Ace frowned and turned his attention back to his instructor as well. After class, everyone crowded around Nine, who was getting irritated due to his lack of space.
"Something's wrong with you Nine," Queen frowned, "You don't usually pay attention in class. You are also very quiet today."
"It's nothing. Leave me alone dammit!" Nine growled, glaring at Queen who was unaffected by his gaze.
"This isn't nothing when Nine is being quiet," Trey placed a hand on his hip, "Does this have something to do with Manami?"
Nine immediately casted his glared over to the golden blonde, who smirked lightly, seeing as though he struck a nerve. Trey chuckled lightly.
"So it does involve Manami." He said.
"Does Nine have a crush on her?" Cinque teased.
Nine didn't even blushed, but he did started to growl, "You guys are pissing me off..."
"Enough everyone," Ace spoke up, before letting out a sigh, "Nine is feeling guilty for what he did yesterday."
"I am not feeling guilty!" Nine growled menacingly at Ace.
"He said somethng and Manami probably overhead him and that may explain why she isn't here today." Ace continued on, ignoring the dragoon.
"And this explains why her crutch was abandoned here?" Seven raised an eyebrow, motioning to the crutch leaning against the wall.
Ace nodded. Nine stood up with a rough look on his face. He glared at all of his classmates.
"Just leave me alone! I don't care if I hurt her feelings or not, she should learn to stick up for herself!" Nine shouted, before leaving the classroom.
He shoved his hands in his pockets as he went up to the roof to cool down. As he reached his destination, he stopped in his tracks to see Manami, staring up at the sky, holding what appeared to be Twilight Blue, one of her handguns. Nine narrowed his eyes and was about to turn in the opposite direction, but stopped, realising that this may be his chance to to apologise. He shook his head at the absurd idea. He was Nine, why should he apologise? While he was busy debating with himself, Manami had noticed his presence.
"Nine, I know you're there." She called out as the blonde turned to look at her.
Manami continued to stare at the sky as Nine slowly made his way towards her. She sighed and placed her gun away.
"You...really think I'm a failure huh?" Nine said nothing and Manami continued, "Well, I think so too."
"If you're trying to make me feel guilty, then think again Koizumi." Nine said roughly, but Manami shook her head.
"I'm not trying to make you guilty. I'm only stating the truth. That's why I abandoned my title, because I was too much of a failure to be a the next in line for queen." She said as Nine went quiet.
Nine then folded his arms, "...Why are you even trying to become a paladin?"
"Because being a paladin grants you the power to protect those in need. I promised someone I would help them when I gain my powers," Manami said, turning to look over at Nine with a solemn look on her face, "But, I can't gain my powers until I figure out where my powers would be located and how I
can receive them."
"Right then. Because you feel like such a failure, you decided to become a paladin to make yourself useful."
"That's correct."
"You really are an idiot you know that?"
Manami widened her eyes as Nine allowed a smirk to crawl up onto his scarred face. He laughed lowly and walked up closer to Manami, placing a hand on her head. He then poked her in the forehead, causing her to flinch and bring her hand up to touch the red mark forming on her fair skin.
"But you're also very stubborn and won't give in easily. Alright, I'll accept you as my partner, but don't get in my way, or I won't hesitate to hurt you." Nine grinned, before making his way back to Class Zero.
Manami smiled and ran up in front of Nine, stopping him in his tracks. The dark haired brunette flashed a blonde a smirk of her own.
"And you won't get in my way either." She winked and then jogged back to Class Zero.
Nine scoffed to himself, before chuckling. This mission was going to get interesting.
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"What the hell is up with Nine? He's been grinning like an idiot and hasn't even pranked anyone!" Sice exclaimed, noticing Nine's odd behaviour.
"He probably already did prank someone and was satisfied." King shook his head at his classmate's antics and habits.
Nine ignored his classmates' whispers and watched Manami out of the corner of his eyes. Although he still didn't really like her, he was going to give her
a chance. Her stubborn and strong willed personality intrigued him and wanted him to know more about her. Manami was busy twirling her pencil in her
fingers and looking down at what appeared to be a paper with strange writings on it.
"Oi Koizumi, what's that?" He asked Manami who turned to him with a confused look on her face.
"This is the serpent's tongue. I'm supposed to learn it if I were to unlock my serpent powers. You know, the blood that runs in my veins?" Manami asked.
Nine nodded, remembering Ace telling him about that. At that moment, Kurasame entered the classroom, with a stack of folders.
"Class Zero, these are your information for your mission. I will hand these out to you, but you need to sit with your partner." He said as the students got out of their seats to find their partner.
Manami and Nine stayed seated, seeing as though they were partners anyhow. Kurasame went to each pair and handed them their folders, which some
immediately opened to see what their mission was. Kurasame gave the final folder to both Manami and Nine and went back to the front.
Nine grabbed the folder and opened it, revealing a photo of the Crystal Mines. Underneath the photo were documents and information on what they're supposed to do on their mission.
"All of you will be leaving tomorrow, so I'll allow you to take the rest of the day to be prepared. Good luck and I will send you off tomorrow." Kurasame said as the students decided to talk about their mission.
Manami took the documents from Nine's hands and skimmed though the information, "We're suppose to exterminate a Crystal Beast inside the mines?"
"What are you scared are something?" Nine raised an eyebrow, smirking cockily.
Manami glared at him slightly, "No, not at all."
"Remember what I said, I won't back you up if you get into trouble."
"I don't plan on counting on that."
[][][]
Manami sat in her dorm room, looking through the documents once again. Nine had shoved the folder into her arms, expecting her to gather all the items
they needed for this mission. So far, she gotten all the necessities and was re-reading over her documents to make sure she had everything.
She perked up when she heard tapping against her window and looked outside. She saw Nine on one of the tree brances that lead to her window. Manami guessed he wanted to head in and opened the window and locked her door, making sure no one could come in. She sighed as Nine closed her window.
"What is it?" Manami asked the blonde, who shook his head free of leaves.
"I came to make sure you have everything we need for our mission," He eyed her desk where all the items were placed onto, "That everything?"
"From the information I've read, that is all we'll need. I'm just double checking," Manami said, "You do know that boys aren't allowed the the girls' dorm right?"
"I know, but how can I know if you're actually preparing for our mission? I don't have your number on my student PDA." Nine said, arms folded.
"Oh right, the PDA. I forgot I was given one when I enrolled into the school." Manami mumbled, pulling out the aquamarine device.
Nine took the PDA out of her hands and registered ID into it. He then pulled out his own PDA and handed over to Manami.
"Enter your student ID and then I'll be able to contact you." He said, as Manami entered her ID into the device.
She handed it back to him and he raised an eyebrow at her profile picture, "...Your hair looked more wavy in this."
"Really?" Manami touched her dark brown locks, "Has it become less wavy?"
"I guess because you're in Rubrum that your hair has lost its natural environment. You should keep your hair more wavy. It looked...nice." Nine looked away, a small blush on his cheeks, but Manami couldn't see from the angle she was looking at.
"I see. Thank you." Manami said softly as Nine scratched the back of his head.
He then looked at the clock on Manami's desk, "Looks like it's time for me to get going. See you."
With that, he opened her window and jumped onto the tree. Manami closed her window before locking it and watching as Nine jumped down from tree and back to his dorm. She sighed and went back over to her bed and looked at the documents again, her PDA at her side, with Nine's number in it.
[][][]
"Today is when you'll embark on your mission and see how far your skills take you. You won't go alone and that is why we have placed you in pairs, so
that you can assist eachother if you are to be in trouble. We do expect you complete your missions with ease, but if you do not come back in a week, we will search for you to make sure you are well. That is all. Good luck." Khalia bid the Class Zero students, before Kurasame took over.
He cleared his throat, "Because you will be sent off to different areas, I want you to turn off the numbers of those that are not your partner in your PDA. You cannot communicate with anyone other than your partner."
The students of Class Zero brought out their PDA and turned off the student's numbers that didn't belong to their partner. Manami only had Nine's number in hers, so she didn't need to turn off anyone's number.
"That is all I wanted to say. Those mini airships behind you will be your only course of transportation to your area. Good luck and be safe." Kurasame nodded to his students as they made their way to their designated airships.
Manami followed Nine as he led her to the airship behind her. She had never been in one of these student airships, only because it was restricted to Class Zero only. She boarded the airship along with Nine, who took the wheel of the ship.
"Since you have never been on one of these, I'll fly us over to Crystal Mines." The blonde said, jumping into the driver's seat.
Manami took the seat beside him and stared at all the controls in awe, "Do you use these airships often?"
"Yeah, but only for missions that are far away from Suzaku Peristylium." Nine answered, getting all the controls ready.
Manami nodded, before letting out a small squeak as the airship was lifted off the ground. Nine grinned at the small reaction his partner made.
"What? Afraid of heights?"
"No! You just lifted us up into the air too fast!"
Nine burst out laughing, "Whatever!"
Manami frowned, before smirking lightly, "Or do you want me to tell everyone you were in my room last night?"
That got the dragoon to shut up and he glared at Manami, "You tell anyone, you die."
Manami laughed slightly, "Okay, I won't."
The flight towards the Crystal Mines were strangely silent. Nine kept his eyes forward so he didn't glanced so much towards Manami, who was busy
looking at the document's list of enemies.
"So the enemies we are going up against are all made of crystal. They have only one weakness and that's fire." Manami read out to Nine, who scoffed.
"I don't care about the weaknesses. I just fight." He said, eyes still on the glass in front of him.
"Of course you do. I expect nothing less from Nine." Manami muttered, putting everything in the folder, which she placed in her waistbag she carried all their items.
Shen sighed, "How much longer until we reach Crystal Mines?"
"Not much further. What? You've never been to Crystal Mines?" Nine raised an eyebrow, but he still didn't look at Manami.
"I live in the Kingdom of Serpentania. We are completely surrounded by seas Nine."
"Makes sense."
Manami squeaked again when Nine stopped abruptly and started to land. She shot him a glare.
"Will you stop trying to give me heart failure!?"
"That actually sounds pleasing."
"You are not getting away with this Nine!"
[][][]
"This mine is really beautiful." Manami said in awe, seeing the glowing blue and pink crystals with her own eyes.
Nine just rolled his eyes, "We're on a mission. Not sight seeing."
"I know, but they are so pretty. Compared to the gems in the Kingdom of Serpentania." Manami touched a crystal, enjoying the cool surface against her fingers.
Nine walked past her and into the mine, "Come on Koizumi, you're not getting anywhere through that mission if you don't come along."
Manami followed him, bidding one final look at the crystal. Unbeknownst to both her and Nine, the crystal started to glow brighter as they ventured into
the mine.
"Just how big is this mine anyways?" Manami asked, walking beside Nine who made his way deeper into the mine.
Because the crystals help to illuminate the mine, there was no need for flashlights or magic that generates light.
"Big. If you were an idiot like Deuce you would get lost in here." Nine said bluntly, causing Manami to slap him at the back of his head.
"Don't call her an idiot!" Manami hissed, narrowing her eyes at Nine, who only scoffed.
"Hey, I'm only saying the truth. That girl's a real airhead you know?"
"And what does that make you?"
"A real good looking lion."
Manami rolled her eyes, "Keep telling yourself that."
Nine only grinned, "You know what you are?"
"Do I really want to know?"
"You are a stupid snake."
The next thing Nine knew, he had a red mark against his cheek. Manami's eyes were narrowed into a fierce glare at the dragoon. She had back handed
him.
"I'm not stupid!" She growled, before walking ahead of him, who rubbed the red mark on his cheek.
He grumbled lightly, "That girl packs a powerful slap."
Following the dark haired brunette, he noticed something different about the crystals. Some looked like they were moving and were dimmer than the ones before.
"Oi Koizumi stop." He called out to Manami, who stopped.
"Yeah I know, I noticed it too." She said to him, eyes on one particular moving crystal.
She summoned her twin handguns and aimed Navy Dusk at the crystal, before shooting it. The crystal was chipped and shot through, glowing brighter than before.
"A Crystal Behemoth." Manami muttered, watching the monster appearing out of the darkness, growling and roaring at her.
"Oi! Are you just going to stand there!?" Nine shouted, pulling out his spear and stabbed it at the behemoth, who recoiled back.
Manami snapped back into reality and aimed both her guns at the behemoth, shooting barrages of bullets. Within seconds, the behemoth fell to the ground, defeated. Nine raised an eyebrow, dismissing his spear, before walking over to Manami and swiping Navy Dusk out of her hands.
"H-Hey! Nine!" She exclaimed, trying to retrieve her dark blue gun back from Nine.
"Just what did you do to the behemoth that made it fall down faster? Behemoths aren't easy to beat you know?"
"I shot its crystal. That's another one of their weak points I figured out. Now give me back Navy Dusk!"
Nine scoffed, threw the gun back at Manami, who caught it swiftly with her right hand. He then placed a hand on his hip.
"And you figured that out how?" His stare was piercing into Manami's eyes.
Manami dismissed her guns and brought a hand to her face. She brushed her bangs away to reveal an eye, white with black markings. The wheel, supposedly her pupil, spun around in a hypnotic circle.
"This is my Scanner Eye. It was built into my eye socket when my previous eye had been killed," Manami said, bring her hand down so that her bangs cover her white eye, "This eye allows me to find out enemy weaknesses and that's how I figured out that behemoth's weakness."
"...You're a freak." Nine said bluntly as Manami shrugged.
"That's exactly what the people back in my kingdom called me. I am a freak for having the serpent's blood in my veins in the first place." She said
nonchalantly.
Nine stayed silent, before grunting, "Come on, let's hurry and finish this mission."
"Whatever you say Nine."
[][][]
A few hours have passed and Manami was beginning to get restless, annoying Nine. She folded her arms and sighed.
"You said this mine was big, but I didn't expect to be endless!" She exclaimed, her eye twitching in annoyance.
"Quit complaining Koizumi! Damn, you're about annoying as Cinque when she fawns over celebrities in her magazines." Nine grumbled.
"I can't help that this mine is huge! Even with all these crystals illuminating the area, it's hard to see where I'm going!" Manami countered, shortly before she tripped.
"Uwa!"
"Uwah!"
The next thing both students knew, Manami was on top of Nine. Both flushed at the close contact, but neither made the effort to move. They were so
close that they could feel eachother's breath on their faces. Finally, Manami got up and held out a hand to Nine, who just stood up on his own.
"S-Sorry Nine." Manami mumbled the apology, while Nine turned his back to her, hiding the blush on his face.
"It's nothing. Get moving." He said gruffly, walking ahead, with Manami following afterwards.
The two walked in silence, neither one sparing a glance at the other. Manami made sure to watch her steps, not wanting the same thing to happen again. Nine on the other hand was so deep in though, he accidently walked into a wall.
"Oomph!"
Manami stiffled her laughter as Nine removed himself from the mine walls, rubbing his nose and forehead. The dragoon turned to look at her with narrowed eyes.
"What are you laughing at Koizumi?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I never knew that Nine could get so deep into his thoughts. Care to share, hm?" Manami smirked.
"Mind your own business Koizumi," Nine growled, "I don't have to share everything with you because you're my partner."
Manami shrugged, "Yeah sure. I don't think you would anyway. You're too much of a jerk."
Nine narrowed his eyes further before closing them and chuckling, "A jerk huh? Well if that's the case, then you're a brat."
"Is that all you can think of?"
"No, but we need to finish this mission. We're wasting time."
[][][]
They reached the end of the mine and Manami noticed the end was more illuminated than the mine passages. She stopped, realising how empty the
mine was.
"Nine, wasn't there suppose to be a Crystal Beast in here?" She asked the blonde, who placed a hand on his hip, looking around.
"Is this some kind of joke!? I did not travel through this mine for hours to find nothing!" He shouted in rage.
Manami's ears twitched when she heard low growling and the sound of a boulder being lifted. She snapped her head over to Nine.
"Nine!"
The blonde looked at her with a confused look, before his eyes widened as Manami pushed him to the ground, before jumping away from the falling
boulder that nearly crushed him. A cold sweat ran down his face and he noticed red glowing eyes in the corner.
"That the beast?" Nine asked Manami, pulling out his spear, pointing the blade at the beast that was moving towards them and out of the shadows.
"It's not just any beast. It's a Crystal Dragon." Manami said, the beast emerging from the shadows to reveal its blue and pink crystallised skin and red eyes that glare at both Class Zero students.
She brought out her twin handguns and aimed them at the dragon while Nine chuckled, "This will be interesting! Huh, Koizumi?"
"I agree," Manami smirked as the dragon bellowed and rocks started to float, "Careful Nine. Those rocks seem to be the dragon's defense."
"I figured that much!" Nine exclaimed, annoyed and lunged at the dragon, only to be hit back by the rocks.
He grunted as his back collided with the ground and he wiped the dirt from his face. Manami sighed.
"I warned you."
"Shut up!"
The dragoon got back up on his feet and glared menacingly at the dragon. His head then snapped over to Manami.
"Is there any weakness to this damn dragon!?" He shouted as Manami moved her bangs out of the way to scan the enemy clearly.
The dark haired brunette jumped out of the way of the dragon's claw as she continued to scan her enemy. She then shook her head.
"There's no weakness!" Manami called to Nine, who growled when he heard that.
"Damn dragon!" He cursed, running back at the beast, spear in hand.
He dodged the rocks this time and jumped off one so that he was high up in the air. Nine brought his spear down, blade crashing agaisnt the dragon's head as it bellowed and blue blood appeared from the wound. Nine smirked when he landed on the ground.
"Too easy." He muttered, jumping away from the dragon as it shook his head from the excrutiating pain.
It let out an ear piercing growl and Manami narrowed her eyes when she saw something glowing in the dragon's mouth. She pulled out her Orichalcum Knife and aimed the curved knife at the dragon's mouth, before throwing it. The dragon noticed the knife coming right at its mouth and instantly closed it, allowing the knife to rebound off its thick crystallised snout.
"I see. Nine! The dragon's weakspot is its mouth!" Manami exclaimed to Nine, who nodded, keeping his eyes on the dragon.
Manami allowed her knife to return to her and aimed her guns at the dragon, before shooting them consecutively. The bullets did no harm to the dragon, but it angered the beast further. It let out another bellow at Manami and Nine took the opportunity to jump at it, once again dodging the rocks. With a battle cry, Nine jammed his spear into the dragon's mouth so that it couldn't close it. He gave the thumbs up to Manami as he jumped away from the beast.
"Now!"
Manami nodded, merging her guns together as they created her rifle, Midnight Blue. She aimed the gun into the mouth of the dragon, who was busy trying to break the spear with its powerful jaws. Manami pulled the trigger, allowing the bullet to hit the dragon in the mouth, stopping its struggle. Both students watch the beast's eyes turned black and it fell to the ground with a loud crack. Nine went over and grabbed his spear.
"That's over and done with. Now what?" He asked Manami, who went to inspect the corpse.
She kneeled down and noticed the same thing that was glowing in the dragon's mouth. She reached over and touched it. As soon as her fingers made contact with it, Manami felt voices inside her head, talking over each other.
The first piece has been retrieved...nine more to be collected...
Manami let out a gasp when the voices inside her head disappeared. She panted and felt something cool and hard in her hand. Manami opened her hand to reveal a gem crystal, the same as the crystals in the mine.
"Oi Koizumi! Koizumi!" Nine's voice made Manami snapped out of her trance and blinked.
"Nine?" She asked, her voice lower than usual.
"What's up? All I heard was you gasping," Nine's eyes travelled to her hand where she held the pink and blue crystal gem, "Is that...?"
"The crystal of this mine? Yeah," Manami heard something inside her head and muttered it absentmindly, "Crystal of Wisdom."
"What?" Nine raised an eyebrow.
"I think it's the gem's name." Manami said, eyes locked on the mesmorising crystal.
Nine grunted, pulling Manami back onto her feet, "Come on, if we don't leave the mines now, it'll be too dark for us to to make our way out of here. The crystals don't shine brightly at night."