I worked out in the dojo for an hour or so. It was lonely practicing all alone, but I was safe in the locked dojo. I was grateful again that Professor Kinoshita had given me a key so I could practice somewhere safe. I carefully locked the dojo when I left and double checked it. I didn't want to ruin the privilege Professor Kinoshita had given me. I headed back to the house, still in my gi, I wanted to make sure it got laundered before class tomorrow.

"Apprentice, why aren't you in uniform?" a vampire I didn't recognize demanded as I was heading back to the house. I turned to face the vampire and offered him a bow.

"Apologies, sir, I was returning to my dorm after karate training," I told him. They usually didn't say anything if we were wearing workout clothes after club activities or phys ed.

"Clubs were cancelled today," he glared at me, as if he didn't buy my excuse.

"Professor Kinoshita gave me special permission to train today." He still glared at me, but finally seemed to give up on causing me trouble.

"Very well, get back to your dorm." I bowed again and rushed off more quickly. I didn't want to be out here any longer, especially when there were no other students milling about tonight. It seemed they were all staying in the dorms. Or were hanging out in the cafeteria or something. Regardless, it was better for me to get inside before I drew any more unwanted attention.

I entered the house to find that it was completely pitch black and empty. I locked the door behind me, no reason to be careless. It was still strange that Professor Rhodes wasn't here. I'd expected her to be home by now. I got a shower and changed into my pajamas and called my dad while I heated up something for dinner.

"Is there a problem?" dad asked without preamble when he answered his phone.

"No daddy, I just had a question for you," I heard his sigh of relief.

"What can I do for you, kitten?" he asked, sounding much warmer now.

"I asked one of the professors here about potentially allowing some of the shifter girls, namely Katie and Abi to come train at the dojo on campus. She and I would train them, they'd be perfectly safe surrounded by vampires, and I'm sure a male shifter escort, and they wouldn't get outed by being in a dojo with humans. She's still working out details on her end, but do you think that's something the shifters might agree to?" I asked him, babbling out my thoughts and plan. He paused and that gave me hope. He was giving my plan actual thought.

"As long as the parents of the girls in question agree, I don't see anything wrong with the girls learning to defend themselves. I endorsed your training after all. Eric can stand as escort for them while they're on campus. I'll bring up the idea with the others and let you know how it goes. You probably won't get many girls interested."

"I know, daddy, but I want them to have somewhere to train and learn if they are interested. I know Katie is terrified, and I want her to feel safe again,"

"Then I'll submit your proposal to the shifters and you work with your professor to get the buy-in from the school. It can only help them to have allies among our people,"

"Of course," My food beeped from the microwave. "My dinner's done. I should go eat it before it gets cold. Tell mom I love her?"

"Of course kitten. Goodnight,"

"Night, daddy," I hung up and went to go eat my dinner alone at the table. I had no reason to stay downstairs after I had done my dishes, so I went up to do homework.

Professor Rhodes still hadn't come home when I decided to go to bed. I went downstairs to check again before I actually went to sleep. I also double checked the locks on the door. I didn't think anyone would mess with me, just because she wasn't here, but I didn't want to take that chance either.

-How was school?- Caleb texted me while I was lying in bed.

-They cancelled clubs and phys ed because of the tattoos, so we had a short day today. I also got a key to the school dojo. I'm the only student on campus who has one- I texted him back. I was proud of that fact and wanted to share my good news.

-Congrats. Sounds better than my day. The only thing I had was a stupid spanish test. And Katie begging for more training. She said I'll do as a substitute until you can come back to train her yourself- I chuckled at that.

-I'll train her more as soon as I can-

-Oh, your other suitors went to your house and bothered your dad looking for you. They didn't seem to understand the concept that you live at school. I heard him telling my dad earlier. They were both laughing their asses off about it-

-Poor daddy. And poor dead boys- Dad wouldn't have actually killed them, but he would have lectured and scolded them for a long time for wasting his time. -Hope you have a better day tomorrow- I put my phone down, determined to get some sleep.