I'm sorry for the delay this time. The original idea for this chapter actually got split in two because this first part was 5 pages already. Enjoy and comment/review if you have time.
Also an upcoming fight scene preview is on my fanfiction.net page.
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Chapter Five: The Final Piece
Waves of heat and acidic blood washed over him, drenching the scene in a red haze as the chilling laughter echoed out. Silver hair dancing in the wind of the swaying predatory plants, Youko's eyes fixed on him. The golden eyes burned alight with pleasure and both hands were dripping crimson.
"Now you know."
Shuichi started, dropping his pencil. Its rolling across his desk onto the tile floor merged with the soft scraping of dozens of pencils and the more distinct scratching of a few pens. Behind him, a clock ticked. The professor turned a page in his book. Shuichi sighed and look down at his test booklet. The sinuous red lines on the graph stayed firm, not sending him into another relapse as the sight of red had done twice in the enforced silence, once just beforehand.
Kurama closed his eyes. What is past is in the past, he repeated slowly, as a mantra to himself. The clock hand moved with a pronounced click. It is not a part of my life now, no matter how prominent in my mind. Opening his eyes and picking up his pencil, Shuichi perused the diagram one more time before turning the page. He read the instructions and began his preliminary calculations. His slight smile resurfaced.
The crimson stalk swayed with lethal intent.
Kurama turned back to the questions.
Another guard screamed as a head clamped on his leg and tossed him into the air, blood splashing the walls.
Blinking, Kurama traced the slithering line and noted the axis' key one more time before answering.
The warm dampness of blood falling onto his cheek seemed to calm his rage momentarily.
Kurama flipped the page, pencil moving to hover over a paragraph. Time slowed. Shuichi checked off the answer and moved onto the page of matching. Quick, precise letters filled the spaces in between. Another page turned.
"15 minutes remaining, class."
The pencil snapped!
A few distracted curses and a dozen groans filtered through his ears, yet Kurama didn't react further. The bottom half of his pencil rolled down the aisle. Pulsing pounding, Kurama stared at a groove in his desk, a drop of sweat slipping down his throat. Someone waved a page in the air.
Kurama sighed. It would be the first time he hadn't finished a test by this point, but there was nothing he could do about it. Taking a new pencil from his bag, Kurama’s eyes gleamed. Bundling his youki into a tight ball deep in the back of his mind, he pushed all stray thoughts aside, locking that part of himself down. Only logic and action remained. Narrowing his eyes, Kurama glanced down at the insignificant test, counting the remaining pages and dividing the time available. 12 minutes.
Such measures shouldn't be necessary. He did not have the luxury to wonder why it had. His pencil flew across the page.
Shuichi Minamino handed his test in with two minutes to spare on the clock.
. . . . . . . . .
