Chapter One: Me and a Vampire
Tsukune Aono didn't have much in the way of goals or dreams. An empty bus drove him past the city limits. At least, that was the plan.
"You sure you're coming to Yokai Academy?" said the bus driver, a young man with a thin mustache.
"I think so," said Tsukune. "To be honest, my parents picked this school." He'd overestimated his own abilities and underestimated the studying necessary for high school entrance exams. As a result, he was put in the unenviable position of not having a high school to enroll at. When his parents found out about Yokai Academy, they did not hesitate and enrolled him immediately.
The bus went into a tunnel carved at the base of a mountain.
"I hope you said all your goodbyes," said the bus driver. "Because as soon as we get out of this tunnel, you'll see the Academy and perhaps never see anything again!"
The driver flashed a smile, a lit cigar in his mouth. Tsukune had to do a double-take to make sure he heard him right. A bus driver threatening him? Something wasn't right.
The bus emerged from the tunnel. Tsukune got out, but he wasn't sure he was still in Japan. He was in a rocky wasteland. It was early morning yet the sun didn't shine at all. In fact, there wasn't a sun at all. A blood-red moon bathed the ground beneath it in light. It wasn't as bright as it was before the tunnel, but it would do.
"Have fun kid!" The driver threw his hand up and closed the door, turning back into the tunnel.
There was something weird happening, but he needed to get his keys and go to class. The academy was a cluster of buildings on a cliff overlooking the ocean. As he made his way over, he found other students dressed in the same dark-green blazer he had. Some had slightly off-kilter hair styles and colors, but nothing too weird.
"Look out!" said the voice of a girl behind him. Tsukune turned just in time to see a girl cycling towards him. He took the hit and let out a yelp. Next things he knew, Tsukune was on top of the girl.
He pulled himself up, her light pink hair and creamy complexion intact in spite of the fall. Tsukune had a small scrape on his hand, but nothing more.
"Your blood smells really good," she said.
"I'm sorry?" he said. She got closer to him and put her arm around his neck. Too close for comfort.
"You see, I'm a vampire."
The girl bared a set of fangs and plunged them into his neck. He felt a tiny prickle and pushed her off.
"What did you do to me?" he said, holding onto his neck. Tiny blotches of blood showed up in his hands. She really had sucked his blood, or at least cut his neck open.
"I'm so sorry!" she said, licking her lips. "Sometimes I just can't help myself! Being a vampire sucks sometimes. My name's Moka."
Tsukune ignored the pun and focused on the important matters.
"A vampire? Like afraid of crosses and garlic and sunlight?" he said. Tsukune found it silly to even say those words, but the way Moka bared her fangs and lusted after his neck supported the claim.
"Yeah!" she said, nodding. "Except that last part. I get weaker under sunlight, but that's about it! Your blood's really delicious, I might add."
Tsukune looked at her with a confused expression. He thought of Bram Stoker and how he should have payed more attention in English class.
"Do you not like vampires?" she said. Behind her the sound of lightning ripped across the sky, sending a shiver down Tsukune's spine.
"Me?" said Tsukune. "Don't be ridiculous! I love vampires!" His first day at a new school and he's already had enough surprises for a lifetime. Last thing he wanted was to anger a vampire and be sucked dry.
"I'm so glad! I'm new here, so I didn't want to get off on the wrong foot. Nice to meet you-"
"Tsukune Aono is my name" he said. They exchanged pleasantries and parted ways. All he could think of during the commencement ceremony was about how he was bitten by a vampire. Was a vampire bite poisonous? Would he be OK as long as he didn't drink some of her blood?
He made his way to the classroom building, a gothic structure that looked like it came straight out of 1800s Romania. Tsukune settled inside his classroom of 1-3, along with a smattering of other students. Everything looked normal so far.
Until the homeroom teacher walked in. A bespectacled woman with light brown tufts of hair, she spread her arms wide to welcome the students.
"Welcome to Yokai Academy everyone! I'll be your homeroom teacher, Ms. Shizuka Nekonome! Now, you all might be wondering why you can't just run free with your monster form."
Tsukune's heart dropped. Sweat poured down his forehead and pooled on his desk. The weird bus driver, Moka the vampire, the weird school with the weird name and no entrance exam…
"Yokai is a school for monsters, but like it or not, humans control the world. This is a safe haven for monsters, but please remember to always keep your human form! The goal of your stay here is to not only study up on monster culture, but also learn how to assimilate with humans!"
"But ma'am," said a student in front of Tsukune. "Can't we just eat 'em all? They're all so freakin' weak." Several students around Tsukune cheered, making him sink into his chair.
"Now now, that kind of talk will only get you in trouble! Besides, no human has ever set foot in this school, so there's no eating to do here," said Ms. Nekonome. "In fact, no human has ever set foot inside the academy and left alive. And before I forget! Do not, under any circumstance, bring out your full monster form. It is a violation of school rules!"
Tsukune was in big, big trouble. His parents landed him in a school he had no business attending. It was clear to him that he had to leave, else he'd be in constant danger.
"Sorry I'm late!" said a familiar voice. "I got lost on the way here!"
When Moka came in through the doors of the school, the mood of the room changed. All eyes shifted to the girl and followed her as she walked to her seat.
"Oh, it's Tsukune!" she said. "I'm glad we're in the same class."
Moka shot Tsukune a wink, making him the object of everyone's attention now. Murmurs sprung up around the room, and he could understand why. He was your run-of-the-mill black-haired Japanese youth.
When the school day ended, Moka ran to his desk.
"Let's leave together," she said, tugging at his arm. Tsukune smiled, briefly forgetting that he was in a terribly dangerous place.
"Hey," said the student that spoke about eating humans. He was much taller than Tsukune, a fact that became apparent when he stared down the lost boy.
"What's a girl like you doing with a thing like this?" said the tall student as he took hold of Tsukune's collar and lifted him off his feet.
"Please put him down," pleaded Moka. The bully conceded.
"Saizo Komiya's the name. Why hang with trash like him when you got me?"
Moka took Tsukune by the arm and ran off, stopping only when they were out of Saizo's vision.
"Why are you being so friendly?" he said between gasps. In addition to being human, Tsukune was far from being fit.
"Well, you didn't get mad at me when I crashed into you and…"
"And?" said Tsukune.
"And your blood tasted so good! Much better than the transfusion blood I've had all these years!"
"Nice to know I make a good blood bag," he said.
"You're not just a blood bag!" said Moka. "You were also the first person I've ever sucked from."
Tsukune found the comment heartwarming. It was really sweet, in an incredibly twisted way. During their extended break from class, Tsukune followed Moka and her map to the dormitories, stopping to look at the gargoyle statues that littered the campus. He felt at peace, the grim reality that he lurked among monster far behind him.
"According to the map, these are our dorms!" said Moka. They stopped in front of an apartment building lined with dead trees and nameless tombstones. Crows perched atop the highest branches looked down, their beady eyes set on Tsukune.
"They can't expect us to live here for three years?" he said.
"I think it's perfect!" said Moka. "So much personality, you know?"
"I guess our tastes differ," said Tsukune. He couldn't forget that this wasn't a normal school. "You don't look like a monster at all, Moka."
Some students, like Saizo, could pass off as human but barely, baring their killer intent. Moka wasn't like that at all.
"When I take off my Rosario, my true vampire form comes out," she said, pointing to a cross dangling from a black choker. The silver cross had a bright red circle in the middle.
"It's a cross, isn't it? Does it hurt you?" said Tsukune.
"It's specially made, I think. I don't understand it much myself. But it doesn't hurt."
With Moka's map, Tsukune was able to find his apartment. It was a sparse room with a futon, desk, closet, and nothing else. He wanted nothing more than to drop into the futon and fall asleep, but he needed to make a decision.
Moka had been so friendly and welcoming that her smile almost made staying at Yokai Academy worth it. It was almost enough to make him forget that he was in a school filled with monsters. It was a different world, both literally and figuratively. In a school with people like Saizo breathing down his neck, Tsukune would never be safe. With that decided, he sat down to write a letter of withdrawal addressed to the principal.
The next morning, he relived the dilemma. Tsukune held the letter in his hand, but he could not bring himself to give it to the principal. He decided to do it at the end of the school day.
"Yo, ladykiller," said Saizo. He took hold of Tsukune's tie, bringing his face close. "Heard you spent a long time with my girl yesterday. That's not nice."
"She's not yours or mine," said Tsukune, trying his best tough guy face. "And what I do with her is none of your business."
An irked Saizo pushed Tsukune against a wall, tightening his grip on the boy,
"What's your true nature? Show me the kind of monster you are," said Saizo. Tsukune swallowed hard. He had to say something.
"I'm a vampire," he said.
"Bullshit!" said Saizo. He launched a punch just above Tsukune's head. The hit cracked the stone wall behind him, sending a shiver down his spine. "Speak to her again and you're dead."
Tsukune took a second to gather his bearings. If he waited anymore, he'd be dead. He needed to leave now. As he walked to the administrative building, a familiar voice sprang behind him.
"Good morning!" said Moka, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We better hurry or else we'll be late."
"I'm sorry Moka," he said, taking her hand off him. "This school is too much for me. I want to go to a human school."
"A human school?" said Moka, her lips creasing to a frown. "You can't do that! Humans are the scary ones! I went to a human middle school. I tried telling them that I was a vampire, but they would never believe me. I couldn't just take off my Rosario, you know? But they kept pestering me, calling me a liar and a weirdo. I thought I was doomed to be a freak all my life until you said it."
"Until I said what?" said Tsukune. He took offense at Moka's comments that humans were scary, but he understood where she came from.
"That you love vampires!" That comment took Tsukune by surprise. The same fish-out-of-water feeling he felt during the last two days, Moka had faced her entire life. He was different from Moka, but he wasn't alone. At that point, Tsukune felt like he needed to be honest.
"What if I told you that I'm one of those scary humans? Would you still stop me from leaving?" said Tsukune. Moka stared at him, her eyes wide in disbelief.
"It's not true, is it? No human could ever…"
Tsukune read her face. Moka's raised eyebrows, the way her mouth gaped. She didn't see Tsukune as a friend anymore. He was an enemy.
"I'm leaving," said Tsukune. "I thought you might understand, but I guess not." He ran to the bus stop, ignoring Moka's pleas. In a few minutes, he found himself in the same that the bus stopped at a day before. It was a sign that read "Yokai", adorned with a pumpkin head and black cape.
He told himself it was for the best. The last two days with Moka were nice, but not worth dying over. Besides, their friendship was over now.
The bus driver pulled up, his cigar in hand.
"Knew you'd run away," he said. "I can see it in your face. If you got nothing more to do, then climb aboard."
Did he really have nothing more to do? Tsukune had few friends to speak of back home, and parents that were all too happy to send him to a boarding school. It was probably too late to start at another high school, assuming he could find one without an entrance exam. He didn't belong in Yokai Academy, but he didn't feel welcome at all anywhere else.
"What are you waiting for boy?" said the driver.
"I'm not leaving," said Tsukune. "Not today, at least." He broke out into a run. Maybe he had a purpose after all, he thought.
He ran to the same spot he left Moka, only to find her alone with Saizo. At least, something that looked like him. He was three times his human size, his limbs decked out in muscles. Saizo's black eyes became porcelain white, his tongue slithering out of his mouth and reaching to wrap itself around Moka's body.
"So this is a monster," muttered Tsukune under his breath. He was scared to death, sweating up a storm under his school blazer.
"Just who I wanted to see," said Saizo. With one swipe of his arm, he threw Tsukune back several feet, sending him crashing into one of the tombstones that littered the campus.
"I guess vampires aren't so tough after all," he said, cackling.
Moka ran over to Tsukune. His eyes flickered in and out, his breathing ragged.
"I'm so sorry," said Moka, cradling Tsukune's head in her arms. "This is all my fault. I should've accepted you from the beginning, the way you accepted me. Instead I just hurt you."
Tears streamed down her face. Tsukune grit his teeth and summoned all the strength he could muster to stand up.
"I'm weak and lame, but I can't just run away," he said, eyeing her Rosario. "If you could face hardship for so long, then maybe I can too. More than anything, I want to be your friend Moka."
"Enough of this," said Saizo as he kicked Tsukune's head. He stumbled forward, just close enough to touch Moka's Rosario. With a decisive tug, he yanked it out of her choker.
The area around them was flooded in light. The ground Tsukune and the others stood on quaked, but Tsukune managed to steady himself long enough to watch as Moka transformed. The girl's long bubblegum pink hair turned a sterling silver. Her pupils turned a crimson red, the same color as the orb in the center of the Rosario.
"So the legends are true," said Saizo. "The most fearsome of all the monsters. Vampires!" He tried to keep a tough expression, but Tsukune could tell his voice broke.
"What's the matter, little boy?" said Moka, her voice deeper. "I thought you wanted to snuggle." Moka reached out her hand. Saizo, seizing the opportunity, threw his fist at her. In Saizo's monster form, his fist was almost as big as her entire body. Moka took the hit straight on, but didn't budge an inch. Tsukune thought she looked annoyed more than anything.
"Is that all you got?" said Moka as she pushed Saizo's thick hand away from her body. "Learn your place!"
Moka kicked Saizo across the face, sending him crashing against the trunk of a tree. Blood spurted out of the monster's mouth. He wouldn't get up for a while, Tsukune thought.
"Typical monster," said Moka. "Size isn't everything that matters."
When Moka turned to face him, he found himself quaking in fear as well. This Moka was brash and brimming with confidence. She walked over to him, and Tsukune cowered.
"You afraid of me?" She took the Rosario off his hand. "Don't be so jittery. It's been awhile since I've been awakened. Still drowsy. I won't hurt you. Your blood tastes too good."
She tossed the Rosario in her hand, then used it to lightly caress Tsukune's blood-stained cheek.
"Watch over the other me, will you?" Tsukune nodded, then watched as she hooked the Rosario back on her choker. Her hair turned pink and her pupils became green again. When the transformation was complete, she slumped on Tsukune's shoulder.
By the time she came to, Tsukune had ripped his letter to the principal. Even in the extraordinary place that was Yokai Academy, Tsukune found himself surrounded by an even more extraordinary person. This was where he was meant to be.
When Moka woke up, she yawned as if she had the most satisfying sleep of her life.
"Did we win?" said Moka.
"We did," said Tsukune. "Rather, you did. I'm glad you're OK."
"Forget about that! We're going to be late," she said, picking up her bookbag.
"We already missed first period, I'm afraid," said Tsukune, but he really didn't care. As Moka took his hand and ran to class, Tsukune couldn't help but smile.