Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the desire to entertain myself and others using other people's characters.

A/N: Just a short, one-shot drabble that wouldn't leave me alone until I had it written and posted.

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Rosario + Vampire: Strength

Moka was strong. At least, in this form she was. Her flowing silver hair and demonic aura told all who saw her that her physical strength far surpassed their own. The cold, detached look in her crimson eyes and her proud bearing showed the strength of her pride and will to any who dared look close enough. Few chose to, fearing the undivided attention of the vampire. She was strong enough clamp down on the pain she felt, until it was nothing more than a dull ache, rather than the searing agony of loss that the Other Moka was too weak to endure. She was strong enough to bear the loneliness of the solitary walk to classes with sure steps and a regal bearing, betraying none of her suffering to the lower beings around her.

Moka's strength was again tested as she walked into class, ignoring the whispered gossip that faded upon her arrival. Again, her strength triumphed over the desire to crumble as she strode to her desk, meeting the gaze of the succubus who sat in the next row. The succubus was weak, shamelessly displaying all of her pain, grief, and resentment openly in her stare. Kurumu's brazen show of hostility deserved a punishing reply, but Moka was strong enough to overlook it, pausing long enough to place a small velvet bag on the succubus's desk before taking her own seat. Moka was strong enough to make this small gesture in memory of their now-departed amity and friendly rivalry.

Kurumu may have been a succubus, a demon of moderate might and powers, but she was too weak to hold the vampire's gaze for more than a few moments. She was too weak to glance at the empty desk in front of Moka's without tears welling up in her eyes, and too weak to look away for very long. She managed, however, to summon up the strength to take the small velvet bag, and empty its contents into her palm. Her strength was not enough to hide her shock as the twisted and broken remnants of Moka's rosary spilled into her hand. Somehow, she found the strength to catch the vampire's gaze, and give an almost-imperceptible nod of understanding. None of Kurumu's pain or sorrow waned, but her enmity was now blunted by the certainty that she'd never be given the opportunity to act on it.

Moka would be strong forevermore, in all the ways the Other Moka was not. This Moka would guard her heart, and lock away her emotions, lest they lead to weakness. This Moka would be strong enough feed on whoever was convenient, without regard to affection, or permission.

This Moka would be strong enough to stop feeding before she killed her prey.