(Author's Note: There will be at least one chapter for each pairing. ^^ )
"...I heard that he is always reading hentai-even at school!"
"Pervert. He probably gets off when people catch him."
"What a weirdo."
Eita hugged his manga close to his chest, and his eyes dropped to the floor. His mousy hair fell over his face as his shoulders slumped. He pushed his way through the crowd, ignoring the laughter and jeers that followed in his wake.
"Haru, look." Akihiko watched the humiliated first-year shove his way toward a storage room. The door slammed behind him, and murmurs erupted in the nearby crowd.
"Ohh, he looks like a good one," Haru agreed, grinning. He put an arm around Aki's shoulders, humming.
"Shall we?"
"Of course."
They waited until the crowd dispersed, and approached the storage room together. Neither bothered to knock. Haru pushed the door open, and the two entered together, easing the door shut behind them.
Eita yelped, dropping his manga in surprise. He scrambled to pick it up, too late. Aki saw everything: the scantily-clad magical girl with her legs spread wide and the very affectionate tentacle monster that she struggled against. He raised an eyebrow. "My, my. That's quite a manga you have there."
"No wonder the others bully you," Haru scoffed. He stepped toward Eita, closing the distance between them, and Aki followed suit.
"Wh-what do you want from me?" Eita backed up from them, freezing when his spine hit the wall.
"Don't you want to get back at those hypocrites for bullying you?" Haru leaned close with a wicked smile. "I think they deserve to be punished."
"They might even like it," Aki mused with a smile. "After all... aren't they simply denying their basic instincts, saying that they don't like such things?"
"That... that's right!" Eita regained a bit of his confidence, straightening up. "All of the others-they like the same things, they just don't want to admit it! I wish I could teach them a lesson, once and for all!"
"Would that make you happy?" Aki smiled, leaning close.
"Well, then. It's your lucky day." Haru's crimson eyes narrowed, and his grin spread wider. Starlight erupted around the twins, cloaking them in radiance.
"Hey... do you guys know anything about taking care of plants?" En leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
Atsushi blinked. "Where did that come from?"
"My aunt gave me some kind of a plant, since she forgot my birthday. Ugh... it's troublesome. I have no idea how to take care of it."
"What kind of a plant is it?" Io looked up from his laptop in mild curiosity.
"A rose?" Ryuu perked up, too.
"Dunno." En frowned, trying to remember anything helpful about it. "It was some kind of a flowering vine or something, I guess."
"Oh! Plants need sunlight, so make sure to put it in a sunny place!" Yumoto raised his hand enthusiastically.
"Some plants prefer the shade, though," Io added.
"Ugh, this is so much trouble! Atsushi, just come over to my place after this, okay? You'll probably know what it is." En threw an arm over his eyes, regretting his question. The rest of the Defense Club was only making caring for the mystery plant more confusing, rather than less.
Atsushi smiled. "I'll do my best," he agreed.
"Anyone else feel like heading over to the onsen?" Ryuu pocketed his cellphone and stood, stretching.
"I wouldn't mind." Io tapped a few more keys on his laptop, then carefully shut it.
"Yeah!" Yumoto jumped out of his seat and hovered near the door of the clubroom, waiting for the others. "Oh... have you guys seen Wombat around?" He pouted. "I haven't seen him since this morning."
"I'm sure he'll turn up," Atsushi told him. He stood up, and offered a hand to En. En took it with a lazy grin, and hauled himself to his feet.
"Yeah, he's always around somewhere," En muttered.
"Aw..."
The Defense Club headed over to the bathhouse, chatting obliviously as three sets of eyes watched them. Aki and Haru stood side-by-side, black VEPPer tailcoats rustling in the breeze. Next to them stood what used to be Eita. Red, glaring eyes nestled between pink petals, and a long pollen-heavy pistil protruded beneath like the tongue of a viper. Serpentine vines coiled beneath the flower, and a low hiss escaped him.
"Those are the ones." Haru pointed at the Defense Club, grinning.
"Can we trust that you'll make short work of them?" Aki added with a charming smile.
"Of courssse." A low, raspy chuckle escaped the flower monster. "I'll wait until they are mossst vulnerable, sssoaking in the hot water without a ssscrap of clothing to protect them!"
Haru laughed, almost doubling over. "This is going to be great," he told Aki between bouts of snickering.
Haru's good mood was infectious. Aki grinned back, slipping his hand into his twins'. "It should be pretty entertaining," he agreed.
The three watched the Defense Club enter the bathhouse, and waited a few minutes. Fortune shone down on them, today-Gora was absent from his usual post at the front of the bathhouse. A small pang of regret shot through the twins. They would have liked to see him, but his presence would have complicated things, so it was for the best.
Haru and Aki slipped through the entrance of the bathhouse, and the flower monster slithered in behind them. Clouds of steam billowed between the twins and the Defense Club. Haru crossed his arms, unimpressed. Aki studied them with slight amusement. The Defense club looked so carefree. They didn't even look over at the twins—or at the monster.
"They really have no idea." Aki shook his head.
"They're idiots," Haru scoffed.
That seemed to get the Defense Club's attention. Yumoto stood, pointing an accusing finger at the three. "It's you!" The rest of the Defense Club stood with a variety of exclamations, as well.
"Flower monster, that's your cue." Aki winked at the monster who used to be Eita.
"I am the flower monssster, the harbinger of love and lussst! Prepare to face your darkest fantasiesss!"
"What the hell?" En raised an eyebrow. "This one is weird."
"Nevermind that, we have to... to-you know!"
"Transform?" Aki smiled. "Go ahead."
"Yeah, why don't you?" Haru teased.
Yumoto turned red, and looked back at the others. They shrugged and nodded, and Yumoto reached up to kiss his True Lovelacelet. "Love Making!" Light gathered around Yumoto and the rest of the Defense club. Radiant colors mingled with the steam of the onsen, then wrapped around each Defense Club member. One by one, they donned their Battle Lover attire, eyes glowing with power.
"We are the heirs to the throne of love! Battle Lovers!" Yumoto announced them to the monster, standing straight with pride. "Feel the power... of love!"
A low, menacing chuckle escaped the flower monster. "Feel the power of love?" The twins grinned, watching with some amusement as Yumoto's words were turned against him. "Maybe you should feel the power of love!"
Vines wrapped around Yumoto in a flash of green, coiling around his petite figure. The monster dragged him close as he kicked and squirmed, and the other Battle Lovers let out alarmed cries.
"Prepare yourself," Aki told Yumoto with a small grin.
"You've never faced a monster like this," Haru added, laughing. The twins watched Yumoto struggle against the vines, trying to tug his arms loose, but the flower monster's grip was as sure as iron. It pulled Yumoto closer to the fragrant petals, and a cloud of yellow dust erupted from its center. Pollen coated Yumoto's skin and hair like golden dust.
The monster's eyes narrowed with wicked amusement. "Love pollen... attack!"
Yumoto twisted this way and that, and eventually his shoulders sagged with exhaustion as he fought to catch his breath. "Let me go!"
"Yumoto!" Ryuu's fists whitened around his love stick, and Atsushi's eyes widened with worry.
"Huh? That attack didn't even do anything..." En raised an eyebrow.
He was quickly disproven, though, as Yumoto's face grew flushed, and his intermittent struggling weakened. His breath came in ragged, hitched gasps. His head drooped, and his normally wide eyes grew lidded and heavy.
"Scarlet!" Ryuu rushed the monster, aiming his love stick. "Vesta Ign-"
"Vesta, watch out!" Io rushed forward, too late. More emerald vines slammed into both of them, sending them flying into the far corner of the bathhouse. The two let out matching pained groans. They struggled to right themselves. Water cascaded off of the two from their soaked outfits and hair, and Ryuu choked, coughing up the water he'd inhaled.
"Now you've done it," Atsushi growled, leveling his love stick at the flower monster. The monster only chuckled.
"Don't worry, I'll get to you soon enough," it promised. The petals on the monsters serpentine face folded, and its body trembled ominously. En and Atsushi exchanged a worried look. The flower burst into bloom again, petals stretched wide. Smaller blossoms popped open along the length of its vines, and fine, yellow powder puffed out from each one, filling the entire bathhouse with a haze of glimmering gold. "Love pollen burst!"