Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to R+V.

Chapter 1

"It's amazing!" Kokoa Shuzen gasped out, her emerald eyes roving over the sight before her.

Having just stepped off of the bus for Youkai Academy, she could barely contain her excitement. She was finally going to be attending the same school as her beloved Onee-sama and her best friend. Grinning widely at the thought, the teen found it hard to contain her excitement. However, her years of training as one of the heirs to the Shuzen family helped her keep her emotions under control. Letting herself bask in the sight of the campus for a while longer, the redhead felt a surge of hope course through her. She was hopeful that her relationship with her sister would be able to be repaired in this time away from home. It had been so long since she had last seen her and so she was especially excited over the prospect.

Suddenly realizing that she was being watched by many of the other new students, Kokoa let out a shocked squeak. She was one of four heiresses to the Shuzen household and these past few moments did not paint her in a light that her family would be pleased with. Forcing a calm and collected mask over her nervous and embarrassed features, the young vampire gripped her bag tightly and stalked off past the crowd of students.

Stepping onto the wooded path, she started her way towards the main school building. The building she knew would house the opening ceremonies, as well as any activities that any of the second years and higher would be participating in. Keeping up her calm and collected mask, Kokoa found a quiet spot for her to stop before letting it fall.

"Why do I have to be so stuck up?" she questioned the tree-blocked sky. "I'm excited. Is that so wrong?"

Her question was left unanswered. Not that she expected to receive one, but it still bothered her. She wished that there could be a different answer than the one her mother had drilled into her growing up.

"Kokoa, always remember that you are a Shuzen. We stand above the other youkai. As paragons of vampire society others bow to us and worship us. Never mess that up."

Those words were some of the only wisdom that her mother ever imparted on her. The redhead spent a lot of time clinging to her father. He always seemed so lonely, but she could manage to pull smiles out of him. Her eagerness to become stronger and worthy of her family's status clearly pleased him. It also allowed her to spend a lot of time with her personal knight; a young boy who had been brought into the family thirteen years earlier.

Drawing away from her thoughts, Kokoa could hear the sounds of students walking along the path that she had recently left and felt panic shoot through her. Pulling out her pocket watch, a going away gift from her father, she took a look at the time. Squeaking once again, the vampire shoved it back into her skirt's pocket and ran back up the path. If she didn't move quickly, she was going to be late.

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"Tsukune-kun, settle down. Your pacing will wear a hole in the ground," the soft voice of Mizore Shirayuki chastised.

The brunette male standing near her didn't seem to hear any of her warning though. His mind was caught up in other thoughts. Thoughts that he wanted to share, but knew that he wouldn't be able to eloquently state.

"Tsukune-kun, are you listening to me?" Mizore asked him after two more cycles of his pacing.

The boy still didn't respond, sparking a nearly unnoticeable twitch from the violet haired girl. Entering into a known blind spot of the teen, she followed behind him, matching his pace. She had only done this to him twice before in the year that they had known each other and each time, it was justified by his refusal to listen.

"Tsukune-kun," she growled out as she placed an icy clawed hand on his shoulder.

This simple action elicited the reaction she wanted as the brunette let out a surprised squeak and leaped out of his skin. Eyes wide in panic, he tried to place himself into an inconspicuously stoic position, but found that difficult to do with Mizore's pale eyes boring into him.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, unaware of the reasoning behind why she would startle him like that.

"You've been pacing for the past hour. Is there a reason for that?"

Tsukune smiled as he thought about what the day was.

"My Lady Kokoa is coming today. I haven't seen her in a year, so I'm nervous to see how she's changed."

"So that's why you're dressed up so fancy. I thought you were finally accepting my proposal of marriage," Mizore teased.

Tsukune blushed furiously as he adjusted his clothing. Wearing a dark blue jacket and black slacks, the teen looked very clean and professional, despite his blushing face. Throw in his long hair, nicely tied back in a ponytail, and the family crest upon his back and his looks would appeal to many women.

However, she had learned very soon after she befriended the brunette that he was unattainable; at least for the time being. He was a servant first and foremost and he belonged to the Shuzen family. Due to this, his mind was focused almost entirely on the upcoming arrival of the vampire he served.

"So, are you going to introduce me to her?" she asked Tsukune, as he ignored her previous comment.

Tsukune seemed to take a few moments to think about it. He seemed to be debating the idea, determining whether it was worth it. Letting out a sigh, he knew that it would be useless to hide her from Kokoa. Mizore would purposefully mess with him if he neglected to introduce her. And the end result would not be pretty for him. As the years had gone on past his introduction to life within in the Shuzen family, Kokoa had proven to have a very strong jealousy streak. As well as being very possessive. Two traits he knew that would come into play if he didn't immediately introduce his yuki-onna friend to her.

"Alright," he finally answered. "I'll introduce you to her. Just give me a few hours before showing up."

Mizore allowed a mischievous smile to spread across her face, prompting a sigh from Tsukune. There was no way she was going to wait. The temptation to see Kokoa would prove too much for her. That and messing with him was her favorite past time (or so he believed).

With the mischievous smile still on her face, Mizore walked away from Tsukune, only looking back momentarily to call out to him.

"Don't be too rough on her then!"

Tsukune's scarlet face switched Mizore's smile into a smirk as she walked off, leaving the blushing boy behind.

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Kokoa's heart was pounding. She had just finished the opening ceremony and was awaiting her chance to receive her assigned class. Everything had been going smoothly so far and she was hoping that it would continue; giving her a chance to meet up with her Onee-sama and her knight as soon as possible.

"Shuzen-sama," a chipper teacher called out. "Shuzen-sama, I've got your schedule here!"

Turning to look at the owner of the voice, Kokoa was bowled over by an over excited Neko.

"Hello there my lady," the teacher said once she allowed Kokoa a moment to recover. "My name is Shizuka Nekonome. I was requested by your father to make sure that you got settled in at Yokai Academy."

Kokoa looked at the woman quizzically. She hadn't heard anything about her father trusting anyone outside of Tsukune to help her acclimate. It was suspicious, but not something she was going to delve too far into at this point in time.

"You'll be under the care of Kagome-sensei during your time at Yokai Academy," Nekonome said. "She'll be your homeroom teacher."

Kokoa nodded in understanding. Taking the slip of paper that was being offered to her; she clutched it tightly and bowed politely to the Neko. Standing back up, she tried to get out of the room before she could be forced into further conversation with the teacher.

Getting out into the halls of the school, she finally took a look at the paper she had been given. Reading over the information, Kokoa took a deep breath and prepared to head to the classroom. Wandering through the halls, she hoped that she would experience an encounter with either her sister or Tsukune, but knew not to put too much hope in it.

The school grounds were massive and the chance that two second years would be wandering around the main building three days before they were needed to was next to nil. Letting out a sigh, the young vampire composed herself before heading through the door to her classroom.

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Tsukune stood patiently outside of Kokoa's classroom. He had already been given the information on the teacher she had received for homeroom. It was information that he needed; a prerequisite of being her knight. For that reason, he decided that surprising her once her class was over would be the best thing for him to do.

Sensing that the students were starting to move about in the classroom, Tsukune braced himself for Kokoa's arrival. After all, being separated for a year, he didn't know what the young vampire would now look like. When he had last seen her, she had been a small, yet feisty, girl.

Standing to the side, he watched the crowd of people filtering out of the room. His chocolate brown eyes scoured for the familiar reddish orange hair. Catching sight of it, he allowed a small smile to spread across his face. Stepping back and out of the way, he wondered if Kokoa would notice him, or be too caught up in her thoughts.

"Tsu…Tsukune-kun?" her voice called out to him, causing his smile to widen.

Running out of the crowd, the vampire nearly leapt into his open arms. Embracing her, Tsukune nuzzled his head into her hair, assuring her that he was really there. She pushed him away swiftly though, clearly shifting her mindset back to the "proper lady" that she was raised to be.

"Kokoa-hime, it's a pleasure to see you," Tsukune said with a bow. "It's been a year and you've grown wonderfully."

His words caused a bright scarlet blush to spread across her face. He knew that she understood his meaning. The fact that it was literal and not a lie meant to placate her. Lying had been something he swore he would never do to her. It was something that Issa Shuzen had helped him to work on, especially when topics that she wasn't yet meant to know were brought up.

"It's wonderful to see you Tsukune-kun," Kokoa finally said, having reacquired her poise.

Smiling at her, Tsukune could easily see how the last year of lessons had helped her. When he had been preparing to leave, Issa had confided in him that Kokoa's manner classes were going to be increased. She could be a very respectful girl, a true example of vampiric nobility. However, she did have an issue with keeping her actions in check. Excitement would tend to override her education.

"Hime, have you been to your dorm room yet? If not, I can accompany you there, before taking you on a tour of the school," he told her, another bow accentuating his statement.

Kokoa's excitement lit up her face. Grabbing his hand, she began to lead him away from the gathering crowds. Looking back at the gossiping students, Tsukune gave them a cold smile, stopping their conversations.

Allowing his lady to lead him, they began their way to her dorms.

End Chapter 1

A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first full chapter to Masquerade. It took a long time to decide on how I wanted to take the story. I truly enjoy my version of Issa Shuzen. For that reason, I nearly went with a purely chronological order to the story. However, upon further reflection, I found that the story was becoming too much about him. So, I returned to this time skip idea. In the end, it works better, but that does not mean my Issa content has been destroyed. Oh no, that will be coming up far in the future of this fic. Anyways, I hope all of you wonderful readers enjoyed this chapter and are excited to see more in the future. It shouldn't take too long to write more chapters now that I've got my basis set. So expect to see more frequent updates. On a different note, I have to say that there's a lot that's going to occur in the next few chapters. It's all meant to be set up, but it will be vital set up for the story ahead. I hope you all look forward to it. And please leave a review if it suits you. Until next time,

Nanashi Wanderer