Get Schooled [Obsu]

“Keir? Keeeeeir, you there?”

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Just… a little nervous is all,” the young vampireling replied, forcing herself to smile at her caretaker. Liev Aleksandr Ehrlichmann, also known as Facade, had given her so much. A home, a friend, a family. A new lease on life after hers was so rudely interrupted. He had even given her a ride to 13th Jump High even though she could have easily walked. He had insisted that her first day of school be preluded by his presence, at least more than usual. The two had grown quite close during a short amount of time, bonding over the idea of immortality, death, and life itself. She had never really felt close to someone before besides her late girlfriend, but the shapeshifter had a magnetic if not eclectic personality. He had been able to talk her into returning to school despite missing a year after running away and evading the legal and educational system. Education had been the last thing on the girl’s troubled mind, one where drugs and blood took precedence over something as basic as self-preservation. So many people had given up on her and just written her off as a hopeless cause, telling her that she’d amount to nothing and would get nowhere in life. The rebellious side of her wanted to prove everyone wrong while the other side wanted to give up and give in. Thankfully, with the right nudging from a certain golden-eyed guy, Keir Huntsmann had found a firm foothold.

Unbuckling her seatbelt, Keir put her cat-shaped backpack on and nodded. “Thanks again, Liev,” she smiled genuinely, her fangs gleaming in the morning light. As she got out of the car, Facade called after her.

“I’ll pick you up at four. Don’t have too much fun on your first day,” he grinned, waving, and waited until she was inside before driving off.

••••

Keir entered the building, grateful for the central heating. Even though it was June, snow still fell in Jump City and hadn’t ceased just for this occasion. Her newfound vampire abilities had helped her in withstanding the cold, but she still needed a jacket and had traded her usual short shorts for longer jeans. The clothes she wore were all new save for the pair of zombie-printed boots she had always worn since her girlfriend had been murdered. They had once belonged to her and held great sentimental value to Keir. Her hair was currently a light pink and done up in mini buns.

Spoiler:

Feeling confident in her look, the teen made her way to the principal’s office. She had met the woman before briefly when registering and was pleased to see a familiar face. So far, the hallways were bare as she had arrived early upon instruction. Keir greeted Ms. Bellum and received a warm welcome in turn.

“Miss Huntsmann, great to see you!” the abnormally tall lady said by way of greeting. “I’m going to pair you up with another student for the day. She should be here any minute. In the meantime, have a seat. I’ll see you around!”

Keir nodded and did as she was told. ’Paired with another student?’ Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure. All sorts of doubts began to fill her mind, try as she might to push them away. Instinct told her to bolt, but then she remembered how proud Liev seemed. At the very least, she could do it for him. And maybe, just maybe, make a friend in the process.

Lena liked the cold weather.

Normally, by the time summer rolled in, she'd be sweating and steaming underneath her clothes. But the change of weather and the prolongation of winter was nice, whatever caused it. Lots of crazy things have been going on in Jump lately, even going by city standards. Not that the convict breakout and the faceoff between the government and the local heroes made the government shift the dates of the tests this semester though, because of course.

The girl in the helmet sat in the corner of the room, with at least one row of desks between her and everyone else. Her backpack was already filled, and she was waiting for everyone else to leave. Her eyes watching underneath the plexiglass visor, as they went through the door, one after the other. When she was the only one left, she stood up, and prepared to walk through the door, when suddenly, it was pushed on from the other side.

"Eeeek!" - Lena let out a yelp and bolted to the other end of the class. The door opened, and a rather startled-looking boy wearing a hall monitor badge looked inside.

"The hell's wrong with you?" - he asked, looking at the girl.

"Nothing! You should be more careful when you open doors! You might hit someone on the face!"

"Pfeh, as if that'd be a concern to you, helmet-lady. Anyway, I'm here for you. Ms. Bellum wants you in her office, so you better stick ya attitude where it belongs and get over there!" - the boy relayed the message and closed the door. When he did, Lena breathed out in relief, and crossed her arms on her chest.

"Hmpf. Jerk." - she shook her head, before doing what she was told, and heading into the Principal's office. It took her a little while, dodging crowds of people and avoiding random passerby students, before she finally reached the place. Pushing the door open, and peering with her cat-helmet-head inside, she first saw the Principal lady. She looked so hot in that tight red costume of hers, and also looked so... tall. Lena felt a bit dizzy just looking at her.

"Hey um, Ms. Bellum? Tis Lena. Am I in trouble? I've been a good girl."

The woman in red chuckled at that notion, placing a hand over her mouth, somewhere up there.

"Oh, not at all! Please come in. I have an assignment for you."

'Great... more work.' - Lena sighed mentally, and stepped in, closing the door behind. Still maintaining a respectable distance from the lady. Her eyes fell on the chairs, and in one of them sat... a girl. A pretty tall girl, wearing turn jeans, a baggy jacket, and sporting an unusual color of hair. And a pair of very nice boots. Lena briefly wondered where one could buy those. She circled the room, placing herself to be at equal distance to both, about three meters away. Not taking the second seat, which remained empty. Rolling on her toes, and then on her heels, back and forth.

"This is our new student, Keir Huntsmann. Keir, this is Lena Lovegood. She's going to be your guide around the school for the following day. Hope neither of you mind. I'd offer a tour myself but with the end of the year coming along, I am much too busy for that sort of thing. If you helped me out, dear, I'd appreciate it immensely." - Ms. Bellum said, leaning on the table a little. Lena gulped, pulling on her collar a bit, and shaking her other hand frenetically.

"Oh, no no, it's no trouble at all! I'll do whatever is needed..." - she said, before turning her head, and meeting the gaze of the girl who had been looking at her all this time no doubt. Instinctively, she'd reach out to feel whatever emotions were emanating from Keir at the time, as she waved a hand towards her.

"... Hi."

Keir stood to meet the student, surprised at her unique attire but happy to have someone to help her. She hadn’t expected to be paired up with another student, but shouldn’t have been too surprised. ‘Lena Lovegood… that’s a pretty name,’ Keir thought. “Hi,” she replied audibly. “Sorry you have to get stuck with the new kid,” the vampireling hesitated. She wondered why the girl was covered head-to-toe and wearing a helmet, of all things. Didn’t normal schools have regulations against these sorts of things? Then again, 13th Jump High was not a normal school by any means. It had only been established recently with about five years under its belt, with the advent of the Teen Titans ushering in a need for specialized schooling. It was a safe place for super-powered individuals with state-of-the-art security systems and personalized rhetorics, staffed by industry professionals from all over the world. While it did offer courses in hero work, its main goal was to help students find a place in the world that best suited their powers. Some had put it under fire, claiming that it supported vigilantism even though that was far from the truth. If anything, a partnership between police forces and prospective heroes was encouraged openly.

The year had been a bit rough, however, what with the insurgence of DOMA and all its insidious anti-powered propaganda. A few teachers were laid off and new ones brought in, while an emphasis on safety and security took center stage. Now, things had been able to calm down a bit and school to return to normal. Sure, the normal school year was about to come to an end, but the beginning of 13th Jump High’s summer school program would start soon. Facade had figured he would get Keir in as soon as possible, to dip her toes, in per se. Speaking of toes, the pink-haired girl realized that hers were floating in the air about six inches off the ground along with the rest of her body. She had to consciously ground herself, cursing her carelessness. Keir was certainly unused to her vampire abilities and had only started floating in the past week. She didn’t have a whole lot of control over it and although it didn’t really pose a threat to anyone, she wanted to get a hang of it as quickly as possible. Standing upright, tall and slender, the pale teen got a bit paler.


“Sorry about that. Still getting used to… things,” she muttered.

Lena tilted her head to the side, seeing the girl float up a bit.

She reminded her of a balloon, in a way, filled with helium. And wondered if it'd be up to her if she accidentally flied off somewhere. Ms. Bellum looked at the two, and clapped her hands together, before turning her hands and making her fingers crack a bit. "Alright, it is settled then. Have a good tour, dears. But I have work to do."

With that, the two girls were told to leave the office. Lena would go first, along with her escort, so to speak. As soon as the door was closed, she turned around to face Keir, before taking a good 6 feet away, to keep distance. "So, a flying brick, huh? Must be tough being able to fly! Don't worry though, I don't mind touring a new kid, 'specially if it earns me kudos points with Ms. Bellum." - she laughed a bit, pressing a hand to the bottom of her helmet, where her mouth was, before making a gesture to follow, and starting to walk down the hall.

"Right, first rule while on tour - you can look at me..." - Lena said, placing her hands on her hips and moving them left and right a little. "But no touchie. I mean it. Come to think of it, you'd be better off without touching anyone in this school."

With that, she continued to walk down the hall, turning her head a bit to look over her shoulder, to watch Keir.

"This place is full of all sorts of freaky folks, some more so than others. So what can you do, besides flying? You look kinda pale."

Keir noted Lena’s distancing and momentarily wondered if she had forgotten to shower or something. Of course, that wasn’t the case, and the pink-haired girl chalked it up to something to do with Lena’s getup. ‘Is she really dangerous?' she thought, allowing the space between them to widen. Whatever the reason, she agreed that no chances should be taken. But there was no doubt that Lena smelled really good, and didn’t smell like a human, either. Keir felt a little silly, being able to smell people so well, but that was part of her new life. At least she didn’t offend, that was certain. When asked about her powers, Keir balked a little. She wasn’t sure how much she should share, or how she might be perceived. Still, if there would be any place where the abnormal became the normal, it would be at 13th Jump High.

“I’m, uh… kind of a vampire,” Keir stammered, making a point to keep herself from floating. “Very new to it, and I don’t think I’m a full vampire yet or ever will be. Right now, I can make small explosions with my mind, levitate certain things so long as they’re not heavy, and of course… float a bit.” Everything was still a mystery to her. “What about you?”

Lena tilted her head to the side, upon hearing the girl being a vampire, instinctively reaching up and placing a hand on her neck, as if to cover it. it was followed by a scratching over the fabrics, as not a single inch of the helmet-girl remained uncovered. She shrugged.

"Vampire, huh? You better not be looking to bite me then. I'm like heroine. Addictive. So... best stay away. Everyone should stay away."

The girl replied cryptically towards Keir's question, though her answer left much more room for other questions. 'Flight, explosions with her hands, vampirism... Okay, the last one is pretty bad... But others are cool. How come I didn't win any cool powers with my lottery... Hmpf.' - she thought to herself, upset, and the mental wave of envy washed over the surrounding area, briefly. She kept walking, and the barely traceable scent about her beckoned to follow. Curious. Tempting.

"Right, so! Second rule! Don't pick up fights. Just don't. Have you ever been to a normal school before getting here? It's just like that, lots of bratty kids with attitude, bullies and whatnot. Only with superpowers. You don't know what they can do, so... chances are they just might kick your ass. And nobody wants their asses kicked." - Lena instructed, as they turned around corner, towards wide gray double doors. Scents of food were coming from the other side.

"Hungry? Wanna grab some chow?" - Lena turned to face Keir, and pointing at the door behind herself with a thumb.

Keir processed very little of what Lena said after mentioning heroin. Such a specific reference… did she know about her? About her past? 'No, that’s not possible. Nobody in this town except Liev knows. It’s just a phrase, just something that people in Jump must say…' sure, she could tell herself that all day and all night, but Keir wouldn’t believe it. She had read the statistics: only less than one percent of all age groups in California reported the use of heroin. In Jump City, even less. The pink-haired girl suddenly seemed uneasier than she already was, wobbling a bit in the air before crashing down. She fell to her knees and scuffed them pretty badly. For someone so tall and lanky, the drop was more significant.

“You’ll face triggers everywhere you go. It’s up to you whether the gun is fired.”

Wise words came back to Keir, said by the illustrious and ever-theatric Facade. She forced herself to breathe, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Lena had not meant to upset her, it was just a cruel jab from the universe. “Shit,” she swore, standing up as she did so. “Sorry, it’s uhh… the new powers and everything. Still getting used to them.” It wasn’t the full truth, but it wasn’t a blatant lie. Having missed most of the conversation during her mini panic attack, Keir only caught the tail-end, something about getting something to eat. “They serve breakfast here?” She was surprised, but it made sense. There was still some time before regularly-scheduled classes would start, and being only half-vampire, the tall girl still craved regular food. She had been too nervous to eat at the shelter. “Sure. I can go for some.”

Lena felt a strong wave of emotion suddenly erupting from the girl behind her, making her turn around and take a few steps back. It was ... dark. A mixture of anger, pain, and fear, which, in her experience, usually followed by a punch to the face. But it did not happen. Instead, she saw the vampire girl collapse on the ground, and try to shrug it off as something to do with her powers.

'Struck a nerve huh?' - Lena thought, but the girl would not be able to see the look of sorry on her face. Only the impersonal sheen of the visor. She'd first inch forward, to offer a hand to stand back up, but pulled the hand away almost immediately, wrapping another over it, as if preventing it from going any further.

"Yeah I can tell. Maybe focus on walking instead of flying till you, yknow, get it right. And sure, we have a cafeteria around here. Food's free, but you can take only one of each. C'mon."

With that, Lena would push the door and lead her new friend into the cafeteria. There weren't too many folks around, but some of the tables were occupied. At the stand there were two older women, who looked equally grumpy and dissatisfied with their jobs. They looked at the girls with judging, impassionate stares.

"Order?" - they asked in a unison, as though they were twins.

"Yeah uh... I'll take a bowl of puree soup and a glass of juice. Oh, and ten straws." - she pointed at some of the stuff available, and soon enough, she was given what she wanted - on a platter, a bowl of grayish mushroom puree soup, a glass of juice, and a handful of straws just dumped on the corner of the plate. While they were busy, Lena nodded towards Keir.

"You can ask them for tomato juice and stuff. That substitutes for blood right? Oh, and don't take the other soup on the menu, it has garlic in it."

Soup for breakfast? That was certainly interesting. Keir was glad she had more or less evaded the whole heroin thing. Food seemed a good bet at the moment, and there were plenty of options. The vampireling took Lena’s suggestion.  “I’ll have the tomato soup and a plain milk,” she said a bit shyly, and waited for her order to be completed. When it did, she took the tray and sat at one of the tables. Her meal smelled good, but she suddenly felt queasy. The soup didn’t exactly look like blood, and the color was too light to resemble the stuff, but it still made Keir pause.

Drinking blood had been a… rough experience for the teenager. With her newfound vampirism, she craved it and had the bodily changes to be able to process it, but the concept of drinking it still weighed her down. Facade had helped her by suggesting she freeze the blood in popsicle molds and ingest it that way. Somehow, having it in the form of a frozen treat was more acceptable. As for how she acquired the blood, that was another story for another time. What mattered was she didn’t feel bad getting it, and Facade had applauded her solution. Well, the solution that her late girlfriend had come up with.

Looking up at Lena, Keir realized something. “You never told me what you do,” she observed, and found enough of an appetite to sip some soup. She didn’t like to waste, at any rate.

As the two sat down, Lena reached at the back of her helmet, and pressed on a few things to unseal it. She slid the helmet a bit up, to reveal her jawline, her chin and lips. She certainly had a pair of delicious looking lips... or was it just the air? She fished one of the straws and put it into the soup with one end, and began to sip, as though it as a smoothie. Making a loud gulp, from time to time. When asked about what she could do, Lena smiled.

"Rule number 3! Don't tell people about what you could do. Heh-heh. That way they won't be able to counter you! And they will think twice before looking for trouble. I managed to stay out of trouble for like 4 years around here because of the mystery gimmick. So, even though you told me about yourself, I cannot return the favor!" - the girl chuckled, and tried to sip more of her soup. But the straw was already clogged with bits and pieces, so she put the straw away and replaced it with another.

"Mnn... I suppose it'd be unfair if I told you nothing though. Lemme just insinuate a few things. If I ever take this off..." - the girl lowered her voice and tapped against the surface of her helmet; "A calamity would surely befall the whole lot of ya. I wish I could though, this thing is stuffy!" - Lena added and pulled on her collar, to let some air inside the suit. She soon returned her attention at Keir, and resumed her 'guiding'.

"But yeah. News portray this school as a way to 'let meta-kids feel like normal kids among themselves' and stuff, and the staff's nice enough most of the times. Don't be fooled though. The fences are high and reinforced, and the guards are armed to the teeth. This place seems more like a prison than a school to me." - Lena shrugged and resumed eating her food.

‘Interesting way of eating soup,’ Keir thought, sipping on her own. She had figured that the straws were for that purpose, but it was something else to see it in action. More importantly, Lena was very close to showing her neck. For a hot second, Keir held her breath, then calmed down. She certainly smelled good, that much was certain. Beyond that, her helper appeared to enjoy speaking. That was fine with her, seeing Keir preferred talking little. Well, at least at first. She felt a bit jilted with “Rule Number 3,” but didn’t feel like it would cause her any problems. Lena didn’t seem to be like the type of person to crow about someone else’s personal history… or did she? So little was known of the girl by Kier, so she couldn’t really tell. She did gather that she was a fourth year like her, and that her power could be potentially dangerous.

What was more interesting was the fact that Lena Lovegood saw this place as a prison. It certainly looked like one, and Keir wasn’t under any reservations about it being another Professor X’s Academy for Mutants that she had read of in comics. She had taken a grain of salt with its praises, and both Liev and Ryuuzaki didn’t know much about the school seeing that they were fairly recent transfers. But this was okay with Keir. She felt that with her vulnerability and uncertainty in her abilities, extra precautions were necessary. As she processed this, she finished her soup, having been famished. She waited until after her next question to drain her milk.

“Alright. I get all that. I’m curious, though. Do you want to be a superhero? Or something like it?” she inquired. "Cause I'm just here to learn how to control my powers. Shit gets real really quick with me, you know?"

"A superhero?"

Lena tilted her head to the side. She never really thought too much about that, or for too long. Of course, this being Jump, she heard of the Teen Titans, and even seen them on TV more than once! But... now that she got to think about it, she doubted she could. These guys were brave and strong, and superfit! Could dodge bullets and fly cool planes and whatnot. And had powers that would help fight! Lena was ... none of that. She was fit, but not an athlete, and most of her powers were ... hardly heroic. The girl remained still as she thought through all that, before snapping out of it and shook her head.

"No no. I'm hardly a hero. I just wanna be... normal again, I guess. Go to college, find a decent job, get to live with mom and dad a bit more. Haven't seen much of them since 13. They visit ... what, once every two weeks?" - Lena muttered that last line, almost to herself, her shoulders drooping a bit. She slurped on her soup for a bit more in silence, before looking at Keir again.

"As for controlling powers... Huuu, there are a few experimental classes for that, but the majority of other subjects are just... normal school things. We've not been put here explicitly to learn to he the next Superman. More like... to be able to continue schooling without threatening to murder the normies during a freak accident in a PE class or something." - Lena hummed, as she kept eyeing her new friend.

She could... sense something about her. Traces of desire, though not the usual kind she felt whenever someone was exposed even to the smallest amounts of her pheromones. The vampire girl was eating, and yet the look on her face was almost... hungry. It was unnerving a bit, and the feeling started to wash and emanate off of Lena. She figured to try and distract the girl with... something. Her eyes fell on that pink hair.

"Oh, oh heeeey... Nice hair by the way! I really like the color and the shading... Did you do it yourself? It's so cool!"

She was genuine about the compliment too... Keir did have very pretty hair.

Normal again. That made Keir really think. She had gone back and forth as to whether or not she wanted to be “normal.” In her case, becoming the opposite had saved her life. Were she normal, she’d be dead. As for going to college and getting a job, that seemed doable. There were scholarships out there for powered people, and that might be a way into a higher education. She could pass as human albeit with extra-sharp canines, and if she got a hold of her floating, that would help. So far, her abilities didn’t completely inhibit her. She just had to be wary of her emotions. As for parents, Keir couldn’t relate. But she wondered why Lena’s parents visited sparingly. Did this school serve as a boarding house as well? She hadn’t heard that, but it could be true. The vampireling was just happy to have a roof over her head. The company was a plus, and the fact that Little Nightmare was nice served as another welcomed bonus. She had a room to herself, the other boarders were congenial, and its owner, Facade, proved to be not only a valuable asset, but a great friend. Keir wondered if she and Lena would end up being friends. Stranger things had happened.

When the girl in question mentioned her hair, Keir smiled. “Thanks,” she said sincerely. “It’s a kinda long story, but I was born with this color. It changes randomly, though. I have no idea why or how. Been that way since I was a kid.”

As Keir told her about the hair, Lena could not help but just ... stare. Her eyes were hidden under the helmet, but one could almost feel her eyes burrowing into the girl's face and hr hair. She couldn't help but gawk.

"Holy shit. That's... like... the best superpower ever. I'd trade mine for that in a heartbeat!" - she laughed and slurped her soup through the straw, periodically replacing them as they got filled with stuff the soup was made of. The talk was getting to a bit of a halt, anyway. Lena talked for both of them, but even she eventually ran out of juice for small talk.

'It takes two to tango, right? Maybe she's shy. Tis not like we know a lot about each other anyway. We've been at this for... what, ten minutes?' - the helmet-wearing girl provided an explanation for herself. Still, the looming silence felt awkward, even with the distant rumblings from other tables.

"So uh... anything else you wanna know? Ms. Bellum placed me as your guide so... if ya need to go anywhere or ask anything, can't find a better time!"

Keir wasn’t sure of what else to say, instead vying for watching in awe at Lena’s strange way of eating soup. It was honestly kind of gross, but she imagined that drinking blood would seem a lot grosser to most. As for her hair… the best superpower ever? She wasn’t sure. The fact that it randomly changed color seemed like the only thing people were interested in when it came to fostering her as a kid. Some saw it as an indicator that something bigger and more exciting would happen later on in life, and bank on that instead of what the parentless kid had to offer. She had even been placed in the home of a metahuman geneticist who was only interested in her color-changing hair genetic coding and had no idea what it meant to be a parent. If only that scientist had actually cared for her, they might have had a vampiric teenager on their hands later down the road.

Now that Keir was free of the system, she loved her hair. Stranger still, the color always seemed to change to something that matched her outfit. With a pink, green, black, and white ensemble, any of those colors were in the mix. In fact, as Keir was about to reply, she felt a tingling in her scalp. Not seconds later, her light pink tresses were turning mint green, the same shade as her cat-shaped backpack. Her hairstyle changed, too, this time providing bangs and a longer, slightly wavy length. Her signature mini bows stayed in place.

Spoiler:

“…and that’s about as cool as I get,” Keir laughed once the transformation was over. A few students stared, but she was used to it. "As for any questions, I guess I should know if there are any cliques here or people I should worry about. I’ve never gone to a real school for more than months at a time, so I’m always the new kid.”