Disclaimer: Same as the first. If it wasn't so, I'd be in a better house than this two-story cardboard box.

The sign over the bus's windshield changed to read in Kanji 'Youkai Gakuen'. As the bus started to roll away from the curb and join traffic passersby were treated to a rolling eerie laughter, causing many to sweatdrop nervously. Back on the bus, Hayate relaxed when the Driver's laughter died out. After what he'd been subjected to in his short life, if this was the worst he'd face at his new school then things were definitely looking up for him. But, as always, Hayate was the sort of person who thought deep down that if there was a light at the end of a tunnel it couldn't possibly be anything other than oncoming traffic. A lot of it.

Things couldn't be much worse where he was going compared to where he'd just been.

Could it?

Chapter 2: Welcome to Youkai Academy!

About an hour later, Hayate was checking his luggage to make sure the cord holding it was tight enough to prevent it from falling off the rack.

"If I were you I'd watch myself, sonny. Youkai Academy can be a very scary place -Heh heh heh-", the Driver warned.

Hayate sweatdropped. "Thanks for the advice".

Having made sure his charge was ready, the Driver tipped his cap in salute and closed the door to the bus. Soon enough, the bus had turned around and was headed back up the tunnel it had emerged from, its horn blaring twice. Hayate sighed and took a better look at his surroundings.

Dead trees made up the majority of the forest which abutted the road leading off into the distance. A scarecrow was planted in front of one tree with what appeared to be some kind of sign. He moved to look at the sign. In Kanji, it read 'Youkai Private Academy'. A murder of crows were perched in the tree's branches, making a racket. About a half mile up was a fork in the road with a pair of weathered obelisks where the two roads met. One road lead off towards what appeared to be a cemetery of some kind, past which were a number of large buildings. 'the school?', Hayate wondered. The other road seemed to go off deeper into the forest on the left side.

The right hand road ran alongside a sea cliff for part of the way. Wine dark red waters crashed against jagged rocks at the bottom, throwing up spray as far as the cliff's edge where Hayate had moved to look. The sun was in what he assumed was the eastern sky. Amazingly enough, the moon was still visible somewhat in the far western sky, a large dim crescent. The surprisingly warm breeze carried the unmistakable scent of rotting seaweed and unidentifiable decaying sea animals, proof of life.

'Well... no sense sticking around here', Hayate reasoned with himself. He went back to his bicycle and mounted the seat, his left foot poised to start off.

From behind him came the sound of a small bell ringing several times. He looked over his shoulder, but saw nothing except the dark entrance of the tunnel. He tuned back around and pushed off on his foot, slowly rolling forward.

From directly behind him, too close for his comfort, Hayate heard a girl's voice scream, "Get out of the way!" The next thing he knew he was ass over elbows in the air, a shower of his luggage crashing meteorites around him as he hit the ground in a dust cloud. That didn't keep him from spying the girl flying overhead like a pink-haired comet before she too crash-landed rather ungracefully. He idly thought it ironic, seeing how comets were considered an ill omen long ago.

They were white...

Hayate shook his head as he hauled himself upright using his arms. Still sitting with his legs out he took stock of the situation. Almost unbidden the fleeting image of white panties flashed through his mind. He shook his head much harder this time trying to dispel the distraction. 'Check to see if the other person is alright first!', Hayate chided himself. He crawled over to the girl who was laying in a fetal position. However another problem arose when his sight started going blurry red while he crawled. Blinded, he tried to calmly assess the situation again.

'Okay... I'm bleeding somewhere on my head. Must be a really bad cut for it to get both my eyes in one shot. I can only guess my head got hit with one of the bikes.' He scrubbed at his eyes with the sleeve of his sweatshirt while moving forward, his left hand feeling along ahead of him. It touched something soft and warm so he grabbed at it lightly.

"Ahh!", the girl gasped.

"S-sorry!", Hayate squeaked out in panic pulling his hand away quickly. 'Oh God, did I just do a Bad Touch? It figures', he thought disgustedly at himself. 'The very first girl I run into... actually she ran into me... and I'm probably gonna wind up being labeled a pervert by her from here on out.'

"No, I'm sorry. I'm a bit anemic right now so my sight's a bit blurry", the girl apologized, shaking her head gently.

Having finished clearing the blood from his eyes sufficiently, Hayate got his second look of his accidental assailant. Clear emerald eyes stared up at him from a heart-shaped face which was framed nicely by the aforementioned pink hair. The girl's face registered alarm taking in his appearance.

"Oh no, you're bleeding!", she cried out, pushing herself up onto her skirted bottom. Pulling a handkerchief from her pocket she crawled closer to Hayate. As she got closer to him her nose twitched and her eyes seemed to glaze over a bit.

"No, this scent... my body is...", the pinkette hesitated a moment, trembling. She continued crawling up to Hayate, her face barely inches from his. Her full lips quivered minutely.

"You'll have to forgive me", she apologized again, "because...".

"B-because...?", Hayate questioned nervously, wondering if this was how forward the girls were in this school.

The seemingly amorous girl grabbed the sides of his face bringing herself closer, then turned her head sideways, her head next to his. "... because... I'm a vampire", she stated matter-of-factly.

"Eh?", Hayate intelligently asked.

*Chuuuuu...*

Everything which had happened up until this point had been so surreal that much of it hadn't had time to register that in fact yes, he had arrived at his destination, it was like nothing he'd imagined when he'd started out, and yes he was getting bitten on the neck by a cute girl claiming to be a vampire of all things. The only stimulae that registered in his mind was the brief pinch as her canines punctured the skin over his jugular, the slight pressure as she bit down, and the light suction she applied while taking slow gulps of his lifeblood.

After about a minute of this the pistons in Hayate's brain caught up to speed on current events and he panicked. As soon as she disengaged from him, he did a fast backpedaling crab walk, his back slamming into one of the trees hard enough for a shower of dry branches to rain down around him. He clamped a hand to his neck.

"H-huh? No wound?", he wondered faintly.

Her expression almost woebegone, the girl spoke up. "Sorry about that. I'm Akashiya Moka. Even though I look like this, I really am a vampire."

"Is that how vampires say 'hello' these days? No 'Do you come here often'? No 'what's your sign'? Just *Chomp*?", Hayate dryly asked while getting up and dusting himself off.

The pinkette pouted cutely from where she sat kneeling. "Well, is that how guys introduce themselves these days? By playing Inquisition and Twenty Questions?", Moka fired back. She accepted the hand that Hayate offered her and got up off the dirt road.

Something inside Hayate's mind whistled.

Cute and witty? I think I'm in love.

Hayate shook his head to clear it.

He scratched the side of his head sheepishly. "I didn't mean to get off on the wrong foot there Akashiya-san, sorry. The name's Hayate. Ayasaki Hayate." Hayate laughed nervously.

The girl demurred, waving her hand back and forth rapidly, "No no, Moka's fine. Anyway... you wouldn't happen to... hate vampires, would you?" She looked hesitant.

Giving a nervous laugh again, Hayate thought for a moment and then said, "Well, you're kind of the first vampire I've ever met in my life. And after talking to you this far, you seem like an okay person." 'For a blood-sucking creature of the night, at any rate', Hayate thought privately. "Sooo... I'd have to say I don't dislike vampires." He looked at Moka for her reaction.

Moka clapped her hands together just under her nose and gave a relieved sigh. "Thank God. It'd be the worst if the first person I met going to high school decided they hated me." She looked up at Hayate more hopefully. "Would you be my first friend, then?" The girl put out her hand slowly.

The blunette boy thought a bit more and made his second fateful decision:

"Sure, Moka-san. Pleased ta meetcha." His face relaxed by degrees and his smile became less forced and more natural. They stayed like that for a minute or two and then disengaged.. "Now, let's get our stuff together, shall we? If we don't hurry we'll miss the opening ceremony."

Her eyes widened and Moka cried out, "Oh shoot, that's right! Thanks for reminding me. I'll go on ahead, Hayate-kun. See you at the ceremony!" She picked up her bike and waved at him.

Watching the pink-haired vampire roll swiftly away, Hayate sighed. 'Not here more than twenty minutes and already making friends. With a vampire, no less. What's next... an esper?' He gathered all his scattered luggage and re-strapped them back onto the rack of his ten-speed before giving the whole area a last look.

Still, all things considered, so far it hasn't been that bad here. He'd have to play the rest of it by ear, all of his previously conceived notions thrown out the window.

By the time Hayate had handed in his application, been sized for his school uniform, and given his room assignment he'd almost missed the start of the opening ceremony for new students. He'd looked for the girl Moka in the massive crowd of first years, but no luck. And just like that, it was time to head for Homeroom.

First Year Room Three wasn't hard to find, thankfully. Entering, Hayate noticed that a good number of the seats were yet empty meaning he'd be able to choose where he sat... unless the seating arrangements were handled by the teachers here. Most of the students were in little clusters, talking. A few were already seated. One was a blue-haired girl surrounded by several male students with lovestruck gazes aimed her way. Moving to take a window seat three up from the back of the classroom, Hayate caught the sensation of being watched. Sure enough several girls about the room were stealing surreptitious glances at him. Some of them with faintly dusted pink cheeks. He took his seat. 'Ignore it... play nonchalant. Maybe they'll lose interest', he thought hopefully.

The bell rang for first period, and a bunch of stragglers wandered in. Everyone took their seats promptly just as the door on the front of the classroom opened and a svelte woman with tawny blond hair sauntered in. She slid the classroom door shut and walked up to the podium, clutching a clipboard to her ample breasts. Placing the clipboard on the podium, the woman cleared her throat.

"My name is Nekonome Shizuka, and I'll be your homeroom teacher. Welcome to Youkai Academy-nya~!", she enthused. "As you will all know already this is a school for monsters exclusively!"

Eh? Hayate felt his eyes start to shrink in size to pinpoints. He fought to keep an attentive smile on his face while he struggled to marshal the rest of his facial features into a mask of normalcy. It took monumental effort but he managed it.

Oblivious to any of her student's internal struggles, Nekonome-sensei continued on. "The current problem is that the Earth is under the control of the humans, so in order for us monsters to continue to survive we must learn how to coexist with them." She nods once to emphasize her point. "As such, you will be studying how to blend in among humans. And that means the first Rule of living here at Youkai Academy is: You will all be in your human disguises at all times! You are all also to never divulge or hint at what your true forms might be. You got that?"

'Well, no problem keeping those two rules, Sensei', Hayate thought morosely, 'especially seeing as how I have no other form than this one.'

"Hey Teach, why don't we just kill and eat the puny humans except the pretty girls we can molest?" one student, a brutal looking dirty blond boy called out. 'He must be a delinquent', Hayate thought.

Nekonome-sensei recovered from the interruption and went on further. "Your teachers and the rest of the faculty are monsters also, so there's no chance of any of you meeting a human while here, since this Academy is under a secret Great Barrier. And any human who does discovers this place will be given death... or something...", she finished off with. The tufts of tawny colored hair on either side of her head twitched, almost like ears.

'Great... first day on campus and I'm already at the top of everyone's To-Kill List', Hayate groaned internally. 'Who's bright idea was it to enroll in this place, anyway? Oh wait... that would be me.' He turned his head to the side and rested it on his desk. 'Well, I have no one to blame here but myself, so I might as well go along with it for now.' A commotion at the front of the room pulled Hayate from his inner musings.

'Excuse me. Sorry I'm late", a familiar voice apologized. "I got lost on the way from the auditorium."

"That's fine", Nekonome-sensei waved the girl's apology off. "Just take any available seat."

Murmurs in the classroom become a low roar. Then the dam broke.

"Oh gods, she's so hawt!"

"I'm so glad to be alive today!"

"Please go out with me!"

With the exception of Hayate, and the blond delinquent all the other guys in the room were making idiots of themselves. And the only reason Hayate was silent was that he was wondering once again if God really hated him, or was just being a colossal dick as usual. Because none other than the girl who'd run into him, one Akashiya Moka, had set foot in Class 1-3, and started looking for an empty desk when she spotted him sitting at his a bit further away.

His voice finally recovered enough to stammer out, "M-Moka...?"

"Hayate...? We're in the same class! This is soo cool!" Hayate saw the glomp coming and braced himself. Even so, the surprising show of strength by the teenage vampiress surprised him, rocking him back slightly.

In the rest of the room, Pandemonium erupted as the boys saw their new idol and candidate for Academy Beauty #1 just embrace the weak-looking but cute blunette guy.

"Whaaaaa~t!", was the collective male response.

"What the hell is that guy's relationship with her!"

Much moaning and gnashing of teeth followed, including some rather impressive death glares at Hayate. The girls who'd been checking out Hayate earlier were adding their own, targeting Moka. No one noticed the look the blond bullyboy was giving the ecstatic pinkette.

All too soon homeroom was over, and despite Hayate's hopes and prayers at the start of homeroom it was all in vain. For no sooner did the bell ring then he found himself in the middle of a group of his female classmates. The only ones not among the throng of curious girls were Moka and the cyan haired cutie within her own crowd of ardent male suitors. Moka was trying unsuccessfully to get into the middle of the gaggle of girls, but no dice. "Excuse me... pardon me...". Some of the guys still hanging around the classroom were trying to chat Moka up with little to nothing to show for it.

Meanwhile, the girls were firing off questions like mortar rounds:

"Where are you from originally, Ayasaki-kun?"

What do you think of the Academy so far?"

"Do you have a girlfriend back home, Ayasaki-kun?"

"When's your birthday?"

"What's your favorite food for lunch, Ayasaki-kun?"

"... Do you...?"

"... What is..."

"... Ayasaki-kun?"

"Ayasaki-kun..."

Head spinning, Hayate fought mightily to regain his scattered wits. His Fight or Flight instinct kicked in, and with a panicked 'Sorry!' he jump-flipped over the crowd and beat feet out the door.

From behind in the classroom could be heard "Hey... he disappeared!" followed by a chorus of groans.

Throughout the first floor of the school students in the hallway were treated to a strong wind which whipped the girls skirts up high enough to show thighs and more, prompting several male students to exsanguinate from their nasal cavities explosively.

"Nooo!"

"Damnit! Who left a floor fan on?"

*Splort!* "Gubeh~!"

For the students who could, all they saw passing them by was a blue green and tan streak.

In a deserted alcove under one of the stairways Hayate had taken shelter. Panting mainly from stress rather than exhaustion he tried putting things into perspective to calm himself down.

Okay. One: he's enrolled himself into a school that's not only exclusive, it's exclusive to everyone who is not a monster, namely himself. Two: if anyone catches on to the fact that he's not a monster, they will almost certainly kill him for being here... or just for being human, apparently.

Hayate focused more intensely on this point. That girl Moka. Does she realize that I'm human from the taste of my blood alone? "Hmm... that's a good point", he mused to himself.

"What's a good point, Hayate-kun?", came a voice from next to him.

He almost jumped out of his skin in shock. "Gyaa-!" His outburst was quickly silenced by a slender hand against his mouth.

"Ssh! You'll attract attention again. Isn't that why you ducked in here in the first place... so you wouldn't?", Moka asked, raising a pink eyebrow.

Hayate scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry about that. It just got to be too much and I had to get away."

Moka laughed uncomfortably. "I saw... but anyway, what was that point you were talking about?"

"Oh... nothing. I was just trying to solve a problem I've been having lately. It's not that important. heh heh", he sweatdropped.

"Oh... okay. Well anyway...", the pink-haired girl fidgeted a bit with her eyes suddenly interested in the floor tile's texture. "... I was wondering if..."

"Yes?", Hayate tilted his head to the side a bit, a question mark plainly over his head.

"... well, today's classes are over with... so I was wondering if... you would go around with me to get more familiar... with the school buildings?" Moka turned her face up to look at him. Her face was quite red and her eyes had widened in entreaty. With her pointer fingers poking at each other it presented quite the picture. Unnoticed by either of the two several stars became embedded in the walls of the alcove like shuriken.

'Cuuute!', Hayate's mind squeed. Shaking his head a bit to regain his higher brain functions, he blurted out, "Sure! I'd like that."

Relieved, Moka said, "Great!", and proceeded to grab onto the slightly off balance boy's left arm and haul him out of the stairway alcove.

They had quite a time of it, wandering from one end of the Main Building to the other end by the cafeteria. Eventually the two intrepid adventurers found themselves in a section of the school outside under a roofed walkway near some canned drink machines and benches. Hayate bought a can of tomato juice for her, and a can of ginseng green tea for himself. They both sat down.

After a long companionable silence spent just drinking, Moka was the first to break it. "So Hayate, what kind of monster are you?"

"Eh?', Hayate answered. What a guy.

"Oh wait... that's right. Telling others about you true form is a no-no, isn't it?", she pensively thought out loud. "Just ignore that question, would you?"

"S-sure, let's go with that", he agreed. Hayate took both of their empties and got up to toss them out in the receptacle next to the can machines for the purpose. Turning around he found Moka cornered where she sat on the bench by the blond boob from before in Homeroom.

"Salutations, Akashiya Moka. I'm your classmate from Homeroom, Komiya Saizou." He gave Hayate a sneer. "I'm just curious, but what is a fine woman like you doing associating yourself with a weedy guy like this?"

"That would be the lady's choice wouldn't it, Komiya-kun?" The words fell coldly from the blue-haired young man's lips as he stared at the bigger boy with an unreadable face.

The blond's face twisted into the rictus of a snarl as he started toward the other boy. "You must think you're some slick shit, zooming the rest of the girls and then pulling a fade like some man of mystery or something, huh? Well I don't buy that." Hayate eyed the machines which were suddenly behind him and put his back against part of one. Saizou towered over him by about a foot and a half, and Hayate was no slouch in the height department as far as Japanese go. He waited for the right moment.

Now!

Hayate hadn't caught the movement, it was that quick and untelegraphed. But somehow he moved before he was aware of it, and he jerked to the side suddenly as a huge fist smashed into the spot he'd just been standing in.

'F-fast!' was his only thought.

His fist embedded in the can machine, Saizou's body started twitching and moving as if to some kind of crazy dance music no one else could hear.

"G-G-G-G-G-G-G B-B-B-B-B-B-Ggbbbbbbrrrrraaaaaooo~!

Eventually his body disengaged itself from the busted machine and fell bonelessly to the pavement stones. Smoke rose from his frizzy burnt locks. Hayate checked his body for vitals and felt a heartbeat. The other boy was breathing also. Sighing in relief, he walked over to the stunned vampire.

"B-but... how...?"

Smiling bashfully, he said, " I used to work with machines like that, stocking them, and making sure they had change as well as emptying the money from the collection trays. I knew where the electrical cables were in that thing and hoped he'd be stupid enough to try something like that. What I wasn't expecting was how fast or strong he'd be." Hayate shuddered. "If that had been one of the older models, or if he'd been able to land one hit on me I don't know how I'd have fared." He looked at the twitching body of the bullyboy and then turned back to Moka. "Let's get out of here before he comes to."

Moka agreed wholeheartedly and they started off towards where the dorms were situated. Along the way they continued their discussion.

'So, Moka-san... what type of family is yours?", Hayate opened up with a standard icebreaker.

Moka thought for a moment and said, "Well, they're not that close-knit. Daddy's got a lot of business interests, so he was often away from home. I'm the second youngest of four girls, all with different mothers. And for the past three years I had been living in the Human World with my mother." She looked at Hayate and smiled. "Your turn."

Hayate moved to the side and sat on top of one of the tombstones they were passing by. Swinging his legs back and forth he sighed. "There's not much to tell really. I'm the youngest of two children. My father is constantly unemployed, and my mother refuses to do any housework, so it's usually just me keeping the place intact. I have had to work since I was eight just to be able to eat, and even then they gambled the money they could get from me away. Until I started middle school they would periodically steal from my classrooms during PE or some other events and I'd get the blame for it somehow. To say my parents are the lowest scum on Earth would be an insult to respectable scum everywhere." He turned his head back down from reciting his usual filial explanation and saw a disbelieving Moka. Her bow was furrowed and her eyes were half-lidded.

"You know it's not nice to lie, Hayate-kun."

He snorted. "Moka-san, the only reason I'm here at Youkai Academy is because I blackmailed them into letting me go. They didn't want me to come here to begin with! If they had their way, I'd still be working my part-time jobs to pay for their alcohol expenses and gambling debts. I wanted out of that hellhole anyway I could, even if it meant doing something dirty like that." He shook his head sadly. "I just wanted something better than that. Something to show for all my hard work. And if I can make some good friends along the way, even better." Hayate pushed off the tombstone he'd been sitting on and stretched.

"And you know, it has me wondering... what exactly do you get out of being friends with a nobody like me anyway? Maybe Komiya-kun was full of it, but he raised a good point. You can do better than a low-life son of scum like..."

*Smack!*

Hayate put a hand to the cheek which he was sure would have a red hand print on it.

"Don't talk about yourself like that, Hayate! You are not nothing! After all, we're...", Moka stopped her scolding and reddened a bit.

"... We're...?"

"... we're... on blood-sucking terms." Hayate promptly facefaulted.

Sweatdropping, he dusted himself off. "So all I am to you is a liquid lunch, huh?", Hayate muttered.

"But... but your blood is sooo yummy! You really get a lot of fresh foods into you and regular exercise, don't you? I can tell. That's the sign of a person who cares about their health. And with the amount of energy in your blood it's no wonder you're so fast!" Moka gazed at him admiringly. "So you are not worthless, and I won't stand hearing that defeatist talk from you again, is that clear?" She scowled him, not unkindly.

"Yes, Ma'am!", Hayate saluted her, chuckling weakly.

"Well, here are the dorms!", she announced cheerfully. "Aren't they great?"

Now, Hayate hadn't taken the time to really examine both the dorms and the other school buildings he passed by during the earlier part of the day due to being in a rush. but with the time to really see it for the first time he was quite taken aback. If the main school building and it's annexes were styled after Early Thrown-Away Gothic, then he'd have to classify the school dorms as Retro Ghetto. All that would be needed to finish off the look would be a few chalk lines with blood splotches inside them on the outside walkways, bars on all the windows, and a couple of drive-by shootings daily to complete the feel. He thought he saw a spider the size of a basket ball dragging a struggling smaller bundle into the undergrowth.

"Ah! Such dignity and character to this place... lovely" Moka enthused.

"I think I just saw some of this place's character drag off some of it's dignity into the bushes there," Hayate deadpanned, pointing.

She tittered. "This place may be under a barrier, but living things do call this place home, silly!"

"You know... the way you act, it's really hard to tell that you're a vampire, Moka-san. " 'hat is, if I hadn't seen the whole pointy teeth and drinking blood thing firsthand', he added on to himself.

Moka smiled. "But I am a vampire. And if I take this Rosario off," pointing with both forefingers at the silver cross hanging from her neck, "I'll become an even scarier and evil super vampire."

Hayate didn't know why he'd never paid the cross she was wearing much mind before, but now he did. A red gem was fastened into it's center, winking in the wan sunlight coming from he west as it swiveled on it's chain.

"A Rosario has the ability to seal a vampire's power, so before I went away to live with my mother in the Human World, I had it placed on me so I could make friends without worries." She looked a bit thoughtful.

'Vampires, Rosarios, Sealing powers... I should probably get all this down so I can write a fiction novel later...' he chuckled to himself. 'But wait... what did she mean by 'Human World?' And nearly jumped when he'd noticed Moka being closer than she'd been just before.

"Sealed or not, we all still have one weakness though..." she hummed knowingly. Her face was again flushed, and her eyes were lit up with desire.

Nonplussed, Hayate croaked, "And that is...?"

"... Blood."

*Chuuuuu...*

The next morning, Hayate glumly strolled along the path to the Main Building from the Cafeteria. He was in a quandary.

He'd spent a couple of hours last night writing a Note of Withdrawal before finally sleeping. His bike was packed with his stuff and hidden behind a large amount of the bushes and underbrush not far from the area where the Boys Dorm almost meets the main road. Now he was debating the choices and options left to him. Thankfully there weren't many students using this path on the way to class.

'Stay and run the risk of being killed for being a human being... or go back home and admit defeat to those two deadbeats? Not to mention the fact that I'm probably nothing more than a juice box to Moka', Hayate thought sadly. He sighed deeply. 'Even so, I can't help but feel like something is holding me back...'

All of a sudden he was tackled from behind. A couple of soft somethings were smushed into his back, and the smell of strawberries wafted into his nostrils.

"Morning, Hayate!", Moka chirped brightly. "If we don't hurry it up, we'll miss roll call." She disengaged from her perch on the flustered boy's back and noticed something missing.

"Where are your books, Hayate?", she asked quietly.

"I decided last night, Moka-san. I'm going to go back and enroll in a Human World school."

"Human School?... No!" Before the blunette boy was aware of it, Moka had gotten hold of both his shoulders and was shaking them hard enough to rattle teeth. "You can't just give up and go off to a Human School now! Besides, I hate humans!"

Eyes and mouth open wide in shock, Hayate could only listen as she continued her diatribe.

"I went to a Human Middle School, y'know, after moving in with my mother. I hated it. I was lonely there. I had no friends. Everyone there treated me as though I were weird and shunned me." At this point Moka gave him a bright smile. "And then I got here, and you became my friend and it seemed like it didn't matter to you if I was a vampire or not." Her bright smile darkened a bit. "Please... don't go, Hayate. Let's just do our best here at Youkai, okay?"

Hayate interrupted her, raising one of his hands. "If...", he started. His head was facing the ground so the pink-haired bombshell couldn't read his expression. "... if I were one of those humans you claim to hate so much... would you stop me from leaving, Moka-san?"

Shaking her head in disbelief, Moka said, "Please, Hayate, don't ever joke about that even half-seriously. Now c'mon... if we hurry we can still make the final bell." She grabbed one of his arms and began pulling him towards the main building. She was surprised when he pulled strongly enough in the opposite direction to dig her heels into the dirt.

"... I'm human." It was softly said, yet to the other person hearing it it may as well have landed with all the thunder and fury of a hellfire missile. When no questions came from the stunned vampire, Hayate continued. "I don't know why it wound up in my path while I was working, but the application I found seemed like a way out of my dead end home life. My being here is an accident, Moka."

"B-but... your speed! Your strength...!", Moka tried countering. He shot that down quick.

"From the time I was little... about 6 or so... I've been training myself day after day. Exercising, bicycling, moving heavy stuff around while working. And now this unusually tough body is the result. It's my only redeeming feature, after all." Hayate turned his head around to look at her one final time. There were tears making tracks down the sides of his face.

"I'm only sorry you had the bad luck to run into me and taint yourself yesterday. But that won't be any problem for you now. I only wish... I... only... wish..." The trembling in his body getting worse, Hayate turned and choked out, "Goodbye... Moka...", and ran for his bike.

In his wake he left one very shaken and silent vampire girl.

'It's been so long since I had someone to talk to like that. Someone who I could relax around... when she's wasn't staring at my neck, that is..' Hayate kicked his bike stand out and waited next to the dead tree near the tunnel. 'Well, I won't have to deal with the outright hatred for being what I am... but is this alright... leaving things like this?' He glanced at the bus schedule and then to his wristwatch. The bus wouldn't be long now. Another half an hour and... he'd be on his way.

Racing full tilt towards the bus stop, Moka waged an internal battle. 'He may be human, but... but he was my first friend. This whole thing is messed up!' In the home stretch before seeing the tunnel Moka didn't notice the large shadow following her from behind among the trees.

Running footsteps made Hayate look in the direction of the noise. From the turn in the tree covered path came a now familiar pink-haired figure. "Moka...? What... Why?", he asked quietly.

She stopped a few meters from him and crouched down slightly, panting heavily. Her body was trembling. At first the bewildered blue-head wasn't sure he was hearing correctly, but soon it was confirmed when the sound of sobbing touched his ears softly.

*Hic!* "I'm...so *Hic!*... sorry, Hayate. I didn't know... *Gulp!*... that you'd had it just as bad *Sob!*... if not worse than I did. I was st-stupid to *Hic!* ... assume my life was the only one that was so tough." She picked her gaze off the ground and stared directly into his face. Tears were making a small puddle on the ground at her feet. "I don't mind if you never forgive me *Hic!*... I deserve it... but please... please don't go away like that *Gulp!*." Moka wiped her reddening eyes on her sleeve, making a mess of it.

If there was one thing Hayate couldn't stand to watch, it was a crying girl, human or otherwise. He stepped slowly forward and placed his hand on Moka's trembling shoulder and grasped it gently.

"There was a time long ago when I said the wrong thing to someone I cared about very deeply. Someone who I hurt with my careless words, so I'm not one to judge you unfairly when I'm just as guilty of the same mistake. The difference between us is it's too late for me to apologize to that person and ask for forgiveness. Nine, ten years is a long time and the pain still hurts even now." Hayate looked uncomfortable talking about such a personal issue but he continued. At any rate he saw he had the sniffling girl's undivided attention.

"So what I'm trying to say, Moka-san, is that I forgive you." He gave her a slightly watery gentle smile.

Hayate's arms filled rapidly with a sob-wracked pink-haired vampire. His shoulder was becoming quite sodden but he didn't care at this point. Tears of joy were a hell of a lot different than those of sorrow. He'd take those any day.

"... I'm so sorry for hurting you like that... *Sniff!*", Moka mumbled into his shoulder. He shook his head.

"That doesn't matter now, Moka-san. If all I got out of this whole school deal is one good friend, then it'll have all been worth it. I do want more friends, but I'll take one to start with."

She lifted her head from Hayate's shoulder and would've said something, but was rudely interrupted from behind by the sound of clapping.

"D'aaawwww... that gets me right here it does. Warm and fuzzy feelings all around, yes? Manly tears, I'm telling ya." Saizou stopped clapping and wiped imaginary tears from the corners of his eyes, sneering at them both the whole time. "That there's some great Oscar material, chief. I'd say 'break a leg' but I'll be doing more than just that to you in a moment, which is a shame now that I think about it. Such a promising future in show business, cut tragically short." The blond serial rapist cracked his knuckles and called out louder. "Hey! You can do your thing now!"

From behind them came a gurgling noise. What Saizou had distracted the two of them from noticing with his entrance was another person sneaking up. Suddenly Hayate's arms and waist were caught up in another boy's slimy embrace. He struggled, but it felt like his body wasn't receiving the signals from his brain and wouldn't do what he wanted it to.

"Hey... Saizou... you said I could eat this one, right?", the other boy gurgled out.

"Yeah yeah, sure. Knock yourself out. The girl is mine to sample though... until I tire of her, that is", Saizo laughed crudely.

Putting all his strength of will and body together, Hayate struggled to twist his body this way and that to loosen the slimy boy's hold on him. He found purchase on the ground under both of them and began to spin himself around rapidly, faster and faster and faster. Pretty soon portions of the other guy's body were flying off into the roadside, the treeline, and the dead grass around them. Partially numb and still unable to move the way he wanted to exactly, Hayate shook his head to try and stop the spinning. It wasn't helping.

The delinquent, who'd been in the process of removing pieces of Moka's uniform with his overly long tongue (ewww!) now stared at this scene in disbelief. He tossed the girl to the side roughly, and she hit the road hard. His height and width started jumping up exponentially, and bony spurs and talons appeared. A deep snarl worked itself into a basso roar as Saizou approached the still-recovering human boy.

"This shit is getting pretty old, chief. Why don't you be a good bug and go splat for once?" Suiting action to words, Saizou's fist, with all the finesse and inevitability of a Mack Truck barreled into Hayate's torso smashing ribs and knocking him backwards a dozen yards... not more than a few feet from where Moka cowered. An impressive trail of broken ground marked his passage.

Hayate rolled painfully onto his side, facing the distraught vampire. "Moka... run... *Cough!*", he got out between clenched teeth. Blood-flecked spittle hit the dry ground when he coughed. The badly beaten boy grabbed onto Moka's uniform front to try and push her away towards the school, but as was still the case his hands didn't do what he wanted them to exactly. His left hand closed over the silver cross hanging on her chest and clung to it. His falling weight was all that was needed to pull the cross off the chain.

*Clink!*

Moka's eyes widened in shock. "The Rosario... came off?"

Assaulted by a sudden increase in pressure from the pink-haired girl, Hayate collapsed into unconsciousness. Saizou, on the other hand, trembled mightily. Something was wrong.

Her body moving into a standing position, Moka's appearance underwent a drastic change: The color of her hair went from pink to silver, and her cup size also went a size higher. What was once timid now stood proudly... what was once weak now stood with overwhelming presence.

This was no ordinary monster. This was the power of an S-Ranked Monster. The Super Vampire!

The Silver-haired Moka opened her eyes and blood-red orbs of a slitted nature stared across the tableaux at the startled orc. Her full lips quirked as she sneered at him, much larger canines than she usually sported poking out.

"So... this is the little man who thought to make me his plaything, hmm?" Moka's voice, usually a dulcet one had tumbled down somewhat in octaves until it sounded like nothing more than the husky feminine purr of a big jungle cat.

Shaking badly, Saizou disbelievingly said, "I'm afraid? Me? You're not Akashiya Moka... you can't be!" His eyes widened further and even greater shock than he'd shown before shut him up as he raised a talon pointing to the side of the reborn vampire.

She turned her head to the side and gasped herself. Standing unaided with his eyes hidden from view was the previously unconscious blunette boy. He lifted his head slightly and both the other two combatants could see his featureless white eyes, glowing with a bright white light. Slowly he stalked forward step by step towards the two.

How she had missed his awakening she couldn't begin to guess. That and the fact that his energy level, which had been admittedly higher than a normal human's to start with had now climbed higher. Almost equaling... no... starting to exceed her own! It wasn't youki at all, which was perplexing. Moka couldn't tell what was happening, frustrating her to no end.

Both the vampire and the orc jumped a bit when a sharp crack was heard. It seemed whatever was giving the boy the strength to move had also realigned his ribcage. By now the power of his aura was sufficient for both to see a bright blue light coruscating off of Hayate's body. He stopped abreast of the watching super vampire and turned his head to look at her. He brought his gaze back upon the cowering orc, then turned back to Moka. With a small smile he sketched a bow to her with his right hand pointing to Saizo as if to say Ladies First.

The Silver-haired Moka's mouth opened into a smile and her eyes widened in pleasure.

"An enigma and a gentleman. Very well, I accept your kind offer, Sir." She answered his bow with a curtsy of her own, then faced off against Saizo. "It seems your punishment was left to my tender mercies, orc."

"I don't know what happened here, but neither one of you are getting out of this alive! Hedoro! Do your thing!" The furious delinquent looked about the area for his slime ally. When nothing happened, he called out again. "Hedoro, where the fuck are you!"

"A wiser monster, he. Small fry such as yourself though should...",rocketing forward on her right leg, Moka leaped into the air corkscrewing her left foot into the bully's face knocking him back until he hit the rock cliff face on the roadside leading to the tunnel, "... Learn Your Place!" Standing poised with her left leg out and in a guarded position such as a Muay Thai fighter might use, the argent-haired vampire watched the devastation for signs of renewed activity. When none was forthcoming from the orc's impromptu stone cairn, she relaxed a bit.

Moka turned her attention back to the watching human boy. He hadn't moved from the spot he'd stopped in while she took the delinquent to school, but now he shambled toward her. She took up a defensive stance until her battle senses told her there was no killing intent there. So she merely stood and watched as he approached her. His energy was behaving erratically, flaring at times and then guttering like a torch in a strong wind.

Upon getting within a few feet of her, Hayate's eyes suddenly returned to their original baby blues and he looked upon his female classmate in wonder.

'Silver hair... red eyes... is that Moka? Am... I ... dreaming... this?' His eyes glazed over at this last thought, and his consciousness started to slide back down into darkness.

Hayate collapsed into something soft... something which smelled of strawberries. And just before the blackness claimed him he heard the husky velvet voice of an angel:

"He smells human... and yet that strength... what are you, Ayasaki Hayate?"

Having not been seen by anyone back at the ambush point, the slime creature Hedoro made good on his fastest getaway on record. He couldn't believe anything could resist his paralysis ability so easily.

"Too many strong ones at this school", the badly frightened creature gurgled. "Should never have come. But parent said I was smartest in the nest, so I go." He slid around trees and tombstones in his mad haste to find shelter.

A legwarmer-clad limb came down, blocking his forward progress. A silken voice called out in the air,

"Oh-ho~? Why not tell me more about these 'strong ones' you've seen, hmm?"

Hedoro looked up with his head from the pile of slime which made up the majority of his body. Large batlike wings sprouting from the back, long talons coming out of slender fingers, bright points of light where eyes should be, and a lazily moving spade-tipped tail were the only other distinguishing features that could be seen of the shadowy figure.

This had not been a good day for the slime, and was looking to be getting worse by the minute. He gurgled and burbled incoherently in fright. The figure, however, took the other creature's noise as a 'no' and narrowed it's eyes. It slowly moved in.

Had anyone been close enough they would have heard an inhuman screech cut off by the sound of something large and wet exploding.

Hayate awoke with a start. Giving himself a moment to collect his wits, he sat up.

As it turns out the makeshift pillow his head had been resting on was Moka's lap. Moka was dozing, her head bobbing gently back and forth. He turned his face away from her to hide the growing blush on it. Looking to the sky Hayate was startled. The sun looked to have moved quite a bit since the last time he'd seen it. His watch read 4:38 PM, which meant that he'd been out of it for the past seven to eight hours.

The pink-haired girl was just starting to stir and stretch her arms out when she looked at him with concern.

"What is it, Hayate?", Moka asked. "Is something the matter?"

"Moka-san... what happened? The last thing I remember was getting hit by Komiya-kun's fist and being shoved along the road. I tried... pushing you away, then I must've blacked out. By the way, where is Komiya-kun?"

By way of answer, Moka sheepishly pointed in the direction of the rock cliff face. Hayate saw the huge pile of rocks and shuddered. He turned his head and looked at the embarrassed vampire.

"Okay, that answers that question. Now, the 125,000 Yen question is: what did that to him?"

Again, she pointed her finger, this time at herself. If anything the blush got worse as she fought not to stare away from Hayate. The blue-haired boy sweatdropped. It was a regular sweat drop convention.

"Remember how I told you I become an extra scary vampire when my Rosario comes off? Well, you pulled my Rosario off before, and she appeared", Moka meekly explained.

'When it comes off 'she' appears? Multiple personality Disorder? Disassociative Personality Disorder? Exactly what am I dealing with here?' Hayate shook his head. 'Doesn't matter. A friend is a friend. And I definitely want her as a friend.' Nodding to himself, he got up and dusted his clothes off. He offered his hand to Moka, which she gratefully accepted with a smile.

'Well", Moka began speaking hesitatingly, "if you really want to leave, I'm not going to hold you back. Though I'd be lying if I said I wanted you to." She stared into Hayate's blue eyes with her own watery emerald ones.

Hayate nodded to her firmly. "I've made my choice and I'm sticking by it." He went to the tree where his bike still stood and pulled the kickstand back. Walking to the debarkation point, he spotted the bus coming out of the tunnel ahead. It had just turned to 4:44 PM.

The Bus pulled up alongside the boy and it's doors opened. The Driver greeted him.

"I see you decided to leave after all, sonny boy. If that's your choice, that's fine. Let's get started then." He got out of his seat and waited until Hayate had removed his luggage before grabbing the bicycle and moving it to the rack in front of the bus. The Bus Driver waited a moment with his hand out for the bungee cord, and then raised an eyebrow.

Hayate put his bags down and bowed deeply to the Driver. "Thank you, Bus Driver-san, but I made my decision before you arrived. I'm staying." He straightened up from his position and smiled at the Driver. "In return for your help I'm giving you my bike. It's old but still serviceable. I won't be needing it here anyway it seems." He handed the Driver the bungee and then picked up his luggage, one hand for each case and the straps of his other bags over each shoulder reversed. That done, Hayate walked the short distance back to the crying Moka. She promptly tackled him with a squeal of delight, knocking the two of them down.

The Driver secured the bike then pulled a fresh cigar from his uniform chest pocket. He lit the clipped end with his gloved thumb and grinned, blowing out a cloud of rich tobacco smoke. The Driver tipped his hat unseen to the departing duo.

"You've a long way to go, boy. Make sure you keep up that level of courage and you'll do just fine."He went back on board the bus. Pretty soon the bus made the turnaround, and horn honking twice in farewell re-entered the Tunnel.

"But what made you decide to stay, Hayate?", Moka asked curiously, clinging to the burdened boy's right side.

Hayate tried choosing his next words carefully. Emphasis on tried.

"Well, to be honest... I want you (to help me). I need you (to help me)." He looked with all seriousness into her blushing face. "I don't think I could make it here without you (helping me)."

Face as red as an apple, Moka quietly said, "B-but... are you sure?" She fidgeted. 'You know I can become an evil vampire who does a lot of damage when my Seal is off... that doesn't frighten you?"

Hayate smiled and countered, "That's not important. Sure your other self scares me a little,but if I can get along with you and eventually get along with your other self, it shouldn't matter, should it?"

The pinkette vampire demurred. "B-but, it's such a huge step. I feel a bit overwhelmed."

"No problem! We can start small and work our way up from there. And if I can genuinely get to know and befriend your other half, I should have a good chance of making other friends here." He smiled at her brightly. "It's win-win for both of us!"

Moka moved to face Hayate while he was talking. Her face was bare inches from his.

He was suddenly apprehensive. "M-Moka... san?"

"Don't you think we should seal this... with a kiss... Hayate?", Moka murmured, her face closing in on his slowly. Her slender hands grabbed his shoulders tightly and pulled him in. Hayate panicked a bit and reflexively closed his eyes. When her hot breath touched his throat, they popped back open in confusion.

"Eh?"

*Kapu-Chuuuuu...*

Author's Notes: God, this turned into a long ass chapter. I just hope it slakes your literary lusts like I hope and pray it does.

I tried keeping the two primary characters featured so far IC, but it's been tough. Moka may usually be all deredere, but meeting a character who's as cynical as Hayate is might change that a bit. Hayate himself will also change based on his past experiences and how others treat him from here on out. I decided he wouldn't be used to getting that much attention from a large group of girls as opposed to say a few. That and since weird things have been happening since he arrived at Youkai he's gonna be a bit more aware about his surroundings and a bite less air-headed. That doesn't mean he'll lose his obliviousness entirely, though. He's also had a lonely life up until now, and usually if he was lucky he'd just be ignored. But being shown hatred to him, especially by a girl he's gotten to know a bit and liked would probably end with him acting as he did when he and Athena parted almost ten years before: he'd just cry and walk away. Those wounds are still festering deep down, and only with the right care will they heal. How will all that happen? You'll just have to wait and see, Dear Readers!

As always, read and review if you wish. I'm also looking for others to help me proofread my work. It does help to have the point of view of others when writing... unless you think I'm doing a good enough job proofreading. If so, read, review and tell me so! I need input. :(

Take care all! This is the Priest, signing off.