Trying to get back into the swing of writing. Tell me where I can improve my oneshot-fu.

Tsukihime is the property of Type-Moon.

Graduation Day

The school's front yard was packed to the brim with anxious looking teenagers. Clad in robes and squared caps, they anxiously fidgeted in place before the eyes of their family and friends who sat in front of them as they rose up a set of stairs.

“...Hitoshi Kanesaka...”

One of them in particular wore an expression of complete befuddlement as she adjusted her glasses. Ciel, distantly known as Elesia and most recently known as one of the members of the Burial Agency of the Catholic Church, looked lost as she shuffled closer to the pedestal set in the middle of the stage she was climbing.

Hitoshi, who Ciel recalled having once shared her bento with, let out a squeal of happiness as she took her graduation diploma from their principal. Before the elderly man could pull away, she gave him a terrific hug as she broke down in tears of joy, unnerving the man.

The short haired girl felt completely out of her depth as she looked around hazily. The crowd of onlookers watching her graduation made strange feelings surge within her as the chatter of people she had known for a while now chatted amongst themselves. Their voices, ahead and behind her, were tinged with an edge of nervousness but were predominately happy.

The crowd was filled with nothing but joyful tears and smiling faces.

And she was standing in the middle of all this like a sore thumb.

'Why am I here?” Ciel thought dazedly. 'I shouldn't be here.'

Fear surged within Ciel, akin to the sensation of claws ripping through her torso. The faces she was observing in the crowd began to blur together into a mass of stark, gaunt faces reaching towards her to pull them into their embrace.

Fangs and claws began to tear into her and...!

“Woah! Careful there, Ciel-san!” Kanjiro Minase, the former captain of the Archery team, reached forwards and grasped the upper half of Ciel's shoulder, arresting her forward momentum. His green eyes were dim with the weight of the ceremony, but they showed a spark of concern for her. “Are you alright?”

Ciel's senses, hauled back into the here and now, briefly stuttered. “Y-yeah...” She gasped, expression taut.

Kanjiro gave her a wan smile. “Take deep breaths.” He advised, thinking she was worried about going up stage next. “It helps.” The boy let go of Ciel's shoulder to discretely point off in the distance as his expression briefly lightened up. “Besides, you can't go passing out in front of your kohai, right?”

Ciel couldn't quite hide her joy as she followed her classmate's finger. At the end of Kanjiro's finger stood Shiki Tohno along the edges of the crowd with his friend Arihiko Inui. The dark haired teenager, having blended into the crowd - despite somehow wearing an orange and blue t-shirt - briefly met Ciel's gaze with an open, guileless expression of happiness.

Ciel suddenly remembered why she was here.

The principal offered an awkward smile to the crowd as Hitoshi was pulled away from him. “Continuing on, I'm most proud of our next student.” He briefly coughed, voice gaining confidence as he composed himself. “She has managed to transfer in during her final year of studies and still managed to graduate at the top percentile of the class.” The man glanced at Ciel with a pleasant and slightly proud smile. “Please come up and receive your recognition, Ciel Lavoie.”

“Good luck.” Kanjiro whispered in her ear.

Shiki and Arihiko let out cheers as Ciel's name was called up.

Ciel's legs began to carry her to the principal, a camera going off to take her picture when she firmly shook the man's hand while taking a diploma from him. With a watery smile and shining eyes, she turned to face the crowd.

Ciel offered a beatific smile to them, faint trails of tears running down her face.

A rooftop and two blocks away, a sleepy looking blonde in a white sweater and purple skirt lowered her hand from where she had been shielding her eyes. “It'll be fun playing with her more now that she's done with that place.” With a faint smile and a yawn, Arcueid turned and started walking back in the direction of her apartment to go to sleep.

Only one more left to go!