DISCLAIMER: None of the characters in this fic are my property, except for the few OCs that might pop up in later chapters. Any skills, living locations and employment that certain characters have are of course completely made up. Please enjoy.
The battle against Alucard had been won, it had been quite a success really, with the loss of only one of their friends. However that friend had been outer Moka, and her loss had some dire effects on the rest of the newspaper club. Inner Moka started acting like outer Moka the moment they all returned to school. Acting like she never exsisted, acting like she was never real. This made Tsukune resentful towards Moka, because of how he felt about her outer self. How could she so callously try to replace her outer self like nothing happened? She even went so far as to sometimes say things about outer Moka that bordered on insulting and disrespectful. Tsukune started isolating himself from her. He spent his days in class staring out the window, ignoring the teachers, ignoring Moka, ignoring everybody. The times he wasn't in class or at the newspaper club he spent on the roof, and those times he ended up in tears. Moka's actions was making his mourning period last longer than it was supposed to. All these things also had an effect on the other girls. Yukari, seeing that her dreams of a threesome with Tsukune and Moka were dissappearing became less involved with the two and started focussing her attentions on the budding romance she and Fang Fang started experiencing during their time fighting together on the Hanging Gardens. Ruby, not really suited to deal with emotional damage such as the kind Moka was inflicting on Tsukune didn't know how to react to the situation, and thus decided that she would take a back seat and see how things developed. This left Kurumu and Mizore, both of whom watched quietly as Tsukune drifted further and further away from them all. Moka herself seemed unaware of the damage she was doing, only caring about her own personal growth and gain now that she was in full control of herself.
Tsukune went to the roof during lunchtime again and sat on the bench he and Omoto always shared during their times on the roof. He sighed and looked over the railing at the school grounds visible from his vantage point. All this was his now, belonged to him. He inherited it all when Mikogami died. All this reminded him of the times he spent with Omoto. The tears started forming in his eyes again and he started crying. He heard the door open, he heard someone approach and sit down beside him. The next moment he felt someone take him into her arms and hold him. She was soft and warm. She was stroking his head, his neck and his back. normally she would smother him with her affection but today...today she felt his pain. He glanced up at the blue-haired girl holding him in her arms and saw the tears in her eyes. She just nodded and hugged him to her chest again. Kurumu knew, she understood how he felt. What he was going through.
"I know Tsukune. I know how you felt about Omoto. I know how it feels to see Moka act like she never exsisted. I wish I could take your pain away. I...I..." She fell silent, not knowing how to tell him how she felt. He nodded and looked up at her. Giving her a fragile smile.
"Thank you Kurumu. You and Mizore seem to be the only ones left who really care." She smiled through her tears.
"Of course we do. Omoto may have been our rival for your love, but she was also our friend and we both loved her very much. Losing her was a terrible experience. And it was made so much worse by the way Ura just jumped into her role...or tried to. I know you love Ura, or you used to, but her doing this is very selfish and uncaring." He sighed and looked down at his hands.
"What am I gonna do Kurumu? I don't want to live like this. Ura's presence is making my life a living hell, the way she acts, the things she sometimes say about Omoto. I...I don't know how to deal with that." Kurumu sighed. She knew, she had seen how it affected Tsukune. Every time Ura would say or do something that dishonored their memories of Omoto Tsukune would flinch, like he had been physically attacked. The worst part is Moka wasn't even aware that she is hurting her friends. Mizore tried talking to her about it and Moka brushed her of, telling her that Omoto was never real and that she was the real Moka, and that she was here to stay.
"I...I think we need to get away for a while." Kurumu said quietly. "You, me and Mizore...I could give my mom a call. We can go on a vacation to Las Vegas. Im sure you could unwind there a little. I think we could all do with some away time." He looked up at her again, she could see how he was considering the option.
"You and Mizore aren't going to try and force me to do sexual things with you?" But Kurumu shook her head.
"I won't. I can see how much this whole situation is affecting you. I can't hurt you more by trying to make you love me. I want you to love me like you love Omoto...but I know you won't. And eventhough it hurts...I accept it." Tsukune felt a wave of gratitude towards Kurumu. She really was a great girl. He suddenly wished that he did love her as much as she loved him. She deserved nothing less. He gave her another smile, this one was a bit stronger than the last one.
"Maybe one day Kurumu. I don't want to give you false hope, but what you've been doing since we returned from the fight with Alucard has definitely made me feel allot more for you." Kurumu smiled happily. It was a start. Tsukune had cared about her as a friend since she first met him, she had never been more than that to him in almost 3 years. She had tried to hurt him and even kill him when they first met but her intentions and feelings for him had changed since then. He had saved her life more than once, and she knew that now she had to be patient with him.
Right," She got up, pulling him with her. "I will organise everything and speak to Mizore about our plans." He stood there looking at her blankly. "And you, stop crying alone Tsukune. Me and Mizore are there for you. If you need a shoulder to cry on just ask." He nodded. "Now go pack, and I'm sure you have to make arrangements with Nurari to leave the school." With that they both left the roof, Kurumu gently holding Tsukune's hand.
It was the next day, and Mizore, Kurumu and Tsukune were on a plane heading for Las Vegas. They had arranged everything and gotten away as quickly as possible. The only one who seemed bothered by them leaving was Ruby, who looked unhappy not to be going along. Yukari expressed her wish that Tsukune get time to heal, while Moka just looked at Kurumu sullenly when Kurumu told her they were going away for a while. Kurumu wanted to grab her and shake her. What the hell was wrong with Moka? Was this what she really was like? Did she not care about Tsukune? Did she not care about how he felt? Did she not care that he was in pain and Moka was causing it? All these questions flew through her mind as she looked at the vampire...but instead of asking her Kurumu just sighed dejectedly and walked of. She had told Moka about their plans in the hopes that Moka would wake up, would realize she was losing Tsukune to whatever was changing her, but Moka seemed less than concerned about Tsukune's mental wellbeing. What the hell was she thinking? Mizore touched Kurumu's arm and she jerked back to reality, shaking her head.
"Are you okay?" Mizore asked quietly and Kurumu nodded, giving her a faint smile.
"Just thinking about Moka." Mizore nodded in understanding and sighed.
"I wish I knew what's going on in her mind." Mizore stated and this time Kurumu sighed.
"I...I don't know. Something isn't right with her. I thought she loved Tsukune as much as Omoto did."
"May...Maybe...Her love for him was never real? Maybe she only loved him because Omoto did? Maybe Omoto loved him so much that it spilled into Ura's emotions and dominated them?" Mizore guessed.
"And now that Omoto is gone so is the love for Tsukune?" Kurumu added. Mizore nodded. They didn't notice Tsukune was awake until he spoke up next to Kurumu.
"I...never thought of that." They looked at him in shock.
"Tsukune! We're sorry. We thought you were asleep." Kurumu apologized and Mizore nodded again. He sat up with a gentle smile.
"Don't worry you two. I've been trying to figure out what could be the reason why Ura was acting like this and I think you two just gave me the answer. The love Moka had for me...It never belonged to inner Moka, it was always outer Moka who loved me like that. And her feelings were strong, I mean they were strong enough for Akasha to commit suicide. I...I'm sad that Ura doesn't feel the same way about me than Omoto did, but now I understand why she has been acting this way. We never really were her friends either, we were friends with Omoto, and she basicly forced Ura to be friends with us too." He didn't look very happy about what he was saying, but it all made sense to them. They sighed in unison and then looked down at their respective feet. Kurumu looked up and forced a smile.
"Come on guys. We are going on holiday. This is no way to start a vacation." Mizore smiled as well, followed by a hesitant one from Tsukune. "Things will be okay Tsukune. We are here for you."
"At least I know your feelings for me is real." Tsukune said with the same smile still on his face. Kurumu and Mizore both nodded. He looked down at his feet again. It had been proven to him time and again how much especially Kurumu loved him. When he was still human and Moka was drinking his blood daily she was always the one who had the most objections about it, she always led the other girls in their attempts to stop Moka from drinking his blood. Kurumu was also most upset when she found out that he was turning into a ghoul, not even outer Moka cared as much about that. She was the one who saved him during his training with Fuhai, he still remembered that kiss, he still felt her lips on his. Her feelings for him was strong enough to return him to humanity after his ghoul had taken over. Wasn't that reason enough to consider that maybe his feelings for Kurumu weren't just platonic either. He remembered the day she charmed the P.E class. He was still in her room when the charm wore of. She was trying to get him to say he liked her and she was crying. He felt horrible when all he could manage under her charm was to sound like a robot. He now wished he could go back and tell her that. That he really did like her, but he didn't worry about going back too much. He had a full 2 months to explore these new feelings, clear them up, make sure they were real, and then admit to her how he felt.
End of chapter 1 out of a possible 6 or 7. Please R&R. Will post the next chapter as soon as possible.