Gin laughed as he lounged in the chair at the front of the room.
"Sure is good to see everyone. Y'all had to go and grow over the break, didn't ya?" He winked and flashed a grin.
Kurumu was the first to speak up. "Gin…why are you here?"
"Well, that is a good question, isn't it?" he murmured, before turning back. "I guess you durn kids just grew on me. Kinda like moss." He chuckled.
"No, I mean… you were a senior here last year, right? So what are you doing back?" Kurumu inquired.
"Well, it just so happens," Gin started, "That y'all needed a club supervisor. Ain't that right?"
"So, you mean… you're going to be our supervisor? What's in it for you?"
Gin sighed. "And here I thought you'd appreciate having me back. Gosh, yer pretty ungrateful, ya know that?" He shook his head and dismissed his complaint.
"I'm doing this not just fer you guys, but for more job experience. Bein' with the school press for just three years won't satisfy many papers in the human world."
"Well, it's great to have you back, Gin!" Tsukune remarked, walking past Kurumu.
A smile spread across Gin's face. "Well, I'll be! The player himself! Daggum, kid, you got tall on me!" Gin exclaimed, getting up and rustling Tsukune's hair as if he were his older brother.
Tsukune chuckled nervously. It was better than the alternative, he supposed; having his neck in an iron grip while being noogied into saying 'uncle'.
"Moka, yer still as pretty as ever." He said with a wink, accompanied by a smile. Moka blushed slightly, only because she was being pointed out.
"And Kurumu, you seem to have a… bounce to ya." He grinned mischievously, and Kurumu took a swing at him, which he smoothly dodged while laughing. "Ah, I still know how to get to ya!"
Gin went around the rest of the group, smiling, laughing, and catching up with everyone. He had been busy this summer, not just with taking snapshots of girls, but actually applying for journalism jobs in the human world.
They didn't all outwardly admit it, but it was nice to have their werewolf back in the group. All except Kokoa, who hated his guts. Gin didn't seem to notice. If he did, he didn't seem to care.
But his nonchalant attitude was part of his charm. He would probably be a role model for guys everywhere… if he wasn't such a major pervert.
Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu had met Gin early on in the year. At first he was a jerk, and he tried to frame Tsukune for being the school pervert. In the end, Tsukune's name was cleared, and eventually, Gin became a valued member of the group.
Under scrutiny from the females, of course.
It might be hard to tell from just his looks, but back in his freshman year, Gin was actually quite the fighter. He was known as 'Mad-Dog Morioka', and he was undefeated… until he picked a fight with San Otanashi, the leader of the news club at that point. For someone so small (she was actually Gin's elder, despite her size), she was tough. She helped Gin get on the straight and narrow… for the most part. Perversion is pretty much incurable.
"All right, I know y'all have had a long first day, but yer just gonna have to buck up and shrug it off, because we got a paper to write. A very important issue, too." Gin said, with all seriousness. The only time he dropped his laid-back exterior was when it involved the paper.
Everyone groaned. They were exhausted. They wanted to call it a day. It was great to see Gin again, but they needed a break.
"Aw, c'mon, Gin! Can't we get a bit of rest first? We can start tomorrow!" Kurumu begged.
Gin sighed in irritation. "You always were the lazy one. Remember what I said, way back when? When you walk in here, ya hand in yer soul. This club ain't for slackers."
He thought for a moment.
"But… I guess I can cut ya a break. Just this once. I mean, first day of yer last year and all." Gin waved his hand dismissively.
"Go get some shut-eye. But remember—No mercy tomorrow." He said.
Everyone smiled and thanked him. He smirked back.
"Go on and git, before I change my mind!"
They all left. Gin shook his head with a smile on his face.
"Crazy kids…"
The next day was pretty boring for Tsukune. He was in math class while Ms. Ririko was giving a particularly uninteresting lesson. Some students were feverishly trying to keep up, but most didn't care, including Tsukune. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings. He was thinking of Moka.
Before Fairy Tale kidnapped her, Tsukune, Tohofuhai, and Mizore got trapped in Moka's seal, and saw memories that the seal had blocked from Moka's consciousness. They almost got trapped there, but Kurumu used her succubus powers to dive in and save them.
One memory nearly sent Tsukune over the edge of despair; he witnessed Moka's sealing ritual, and it was revealed that the 'outer' Moka that he was in love with was a pseudo-personality, a sort of artificial intelligence. At that point, he had let go of Kurumu and fell deeper into the dream-like state of Moka's seal.
As he drifted deeper into the abyss, he witnessed a final hidden memory; it showed the 'outer' Moka crying as the headmaster discussed with Moka's caretaker that Moka's mother, Akasha, had created a perfect pseudo-personality, one that was becoming self-aware, as if Akasha had been reincarnated to protect her daughter.
Tsukune realized that even though the outer Moka had been created artificially, it did not mean that she wasn't any less real. It just meant that Moka had two personalities that shared the same body.
He confessed his love to the memory of Moka, a confession that she would not remember once she woke up. But it was one that everyone else who witnessed it would remember… especially Kurumu, who broke down into tears. He really worried about her, because she seemed so weak after hearing it.
Ms. Ririko's reprimanding of a student brought Tsukune back to reality. For a moment, he thought it was directed towards him, but she was looking—rather, leering—at a student sitting next to the window. He saw that it was none other than the blond boy from lunch yesterday.
"Katsutoshi-san, I would advise you wake up and join us! You have been absent from class for a while, and now that you've finally come back to us, you would rather stare out the window than learn!" Ms. Ririko huffed.
"For the next few days, I want you to come and study here during your lunch break. Are we clear?" She finished.
A few students laughed lightly, but ceased to do so when the blond boy turned to glare at the teacher with eyes that could pierce metal.
The temperature in the class dropped a few degrees. Not by much, but it was noticeable. His icy aura was amplified for a few seconds, but then he closed his eyes and sighed. The temperature returned to normal.
"Of course, ma'am. I understand." He said, looking up with a warm smile that no doubt hid his contempt, after which he rolled his eyes with a scowl and shook his head before returning his gaze to the window again.
Ms. Ririko just sighed in annoyance and continued the lesson.
The day after that, Tsukune had to go to Ms. Nekonome's classroom during lunch to retrieve some documents for the first edition of the Youkai Times. As he walked down the hallway, he passed by Ms. Ririko's room and glanced inside.
Of course, he saw the blond boy that Ms. Ririko chastised in class yesterday, scribbling notes intently.
At least she didn't brainwash him. Tsukune thought.
His last name was Katsutoshi, right? He seemed different from yesterday. He was paler and… was he a bit skinnier? Tsukune couldn't really tell from this distance. Also, it may have been the light, but he could've sworn that his eyes were normally icy blue, not blue flecked with amber. He looked pretty hungry, but he did have to skip lunch to come and work on math. That would make any guy hungry.
But it shouldn't look like he had gone two days without anything to eat.
Tsukune just left it at that and continued on to get those papers. As he sauntered down the empty halls, his mind drifted to thoughts of Moka, both the sweet, kind, pink-haired outer Moka and the strong, gorgeous, silver-haired inner Moka. How he loved them both.
He started out loving the outer Moka, but lately he couldn't help but think about inner Moka as well. Whenever she was around, his blood just… resonated. It pumped faster whenever she got close. His heart thudded against his ribs whenever he saw the silver-haired beauty. He wanted to confess so badly… but his fear of rejection made him refrain from speaking to her about it.
She had high standards, and pointed out on several occasions that his chances with her were low. He didn't think that he could live with her rejecting him, after all they've went through. He couldn't think of going back to the life he had before he met her. He wasn't the same average human boy anymore. He had strength. He had friends. He had a crush. For all purposes, he had a new life.
He thought maybe the outer Moka would accept him, but… it was pointless unless both aspects of Moka were in agreement. He couldn't just settle for outer Moka, because her inner self would just stop them from being together. Anytime he would get too close, the Rosario would jab him in the face with inner Moka's disapproval, making him keep his distance.
The inner Moka always said that Tsukune was only in love with her 'outer' self, and what went on between the outer Moka and him had nothing to do with her.
Tsukune was now finding that to be untrue. He was hopelessly and madly in love with both of them. But, would he have to choose between the two sides of the one he loved? He didn't want to only pick one. He wanted both. He had always been modest, but he couldn't get past this one fact; he couldn't live without either aspect of Moka.
He sighed as he arrived at Ms. Nekonome's classroom and began to search for those documents.
The scar-faced boy was in hell.
Not only was he being forced to give a desperate attempt to learn math (which he hated with a passion) he was being forced to skip lunch.
He had cleared out all the food in his dorm room, and lately he hadn't been successful in his attempts to catch anything nourishing in the forested parts of the school's grounds. What he did find didn't hold him over very long.
He was becoming increasingly aggressive and reclusive. His blood sugar was low. Very, very low. And for someone like him, that was dangerous. He wouldn't be able to control himself. He would become unstable.
The slightest irritant would make him snap and lash out. He had to get something to eat, soon. He couldn't remember the last time he went this long without eating.
At least, he didn't want to.
The voices that only he could hear were all but screaming at him. He felt weak and nauseous. He wasn't going to last much longer.
He could hear the wind calling to him.
Each subsequent day that Tsukune saw the Katsutoshi boy, he looked worse for wear each time. Tsukune felt bad for him, but he couldn't really do much. Gin was keeping his promise of keeping the club busy.
Tsukune got very little time to rest, and when he got a break, he used it for himself. They weren't even halfway done making the first issue of the year. His schedule consisted of school, newspaper club, homework, and sleep, in that order. He was running on fumes.
One day, the Katsutoshi boy didn't show up at all. Due to his appearance lately, and the recent fact that he hasn't appeared at all, Ms. Ririko began to get worried. So the next time she saw Tsukune and the others, she approached them.
"Aono-Kun…" she called as Tsukune was leaving class. Tsukune froze in place.
Oh, dammit… he thought with a shiver. Please don't make me go to a study session!
"Y-yes, Ririko-sensei?" Tsukune stuttered. He gulped anxiously.
"I have a favor to ask of you and your little friends. As you might have noticed, one of your fellow students, Katsutoshi-kun, has been out for a while. His increasing rate of absence is starting to worry me." Ms. Ririko stated. "I would like you to go find him, if you don't mind."
"W-well, actually, ma'am…" Tsukune said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Our club supervisor, Ginei Morioka, really has us busy lately, and we don't have a lot of time to-"
"Oh, don't worry about Morioka-kun, Tsukune." Ms. Ririko interrupted. "I'll talk to him… personally." She smiled warmly, and Tsukune shuddered. He felt bad for Gin.
"I-if you insist, Ririko-sensei…" Tsukune agreed. He couldn't say no now.
"Thank you Tsukune. I appreciate it." Ms. Ririko said, and walked off.
And with that, Tsukune went to find the others.
"So, his last name's Katsutoshi, eh?" Kurumu asked. "What's his first name?"
"I don't know. It was never mentioned." Tsukune replied.
They were walking out of school grounds, since no teacher has seen him recently. There was no other place in the buildings to look. He wasn't in any of the classrooms, and he wasn't in the dorms. Finally, Yukari decided to try a divination technique, which pointed to the forest.
"Come on guys! We're getting close, I can tell, desu!" Yukari exclaimed.
"And we didn't resort to this to begin with because…?" Kurumu trailed off.
Yukari was about to summon a wash-bin to hit her head when Mizore piped up.
"Hey, who's that?"
They all turned to look.
What they saw was the Katsutoshi boy, but he didn't look well… at all.
He was very emaciated, to the point to where it looked like he hadn't eaten in weeks. His skin was paler than Mizore's.
His eyes were no longer icy blue… they were a bestial shade of goldenrod, and they were wide with frenzy.
He was looking around with those burning crazed eyes, growling and swinging his…claws… in wide arcs at something only he could see.
After about a minute, he seized up, and fell to his knees.
Everyone rushed to him. He was slouched against a tree, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His wide eyes didn't seem to gaze at everything, but through them.
Everyone circled around him, panicking.
"What's wrong with him!?" Kurumu exclaimed.
"He's starving, and is going into shock because of it!" Yukari answered. "But it doesn't make sense… if he was only gone a few days, even without food, he shouldn't be at this level of starvation!"
"Zenyeshth!" The scar-face boy shouted, spouting insane gibberish. "Gudsneshth Nyekth!"
He coughed up blood, and stopped moving. He was unconscious.
"Come on guys! We need to get him to the infirmary! I can't lift him by myself!" Tsukune cried out.
The others nodded. Tsukune wrapped the boy's right arm around his shoulder, while Moka took his left.
They dashed as fast as they could to the infirmary.
Everyone was outside the infirmary waiting anxiously. Had they gotten the boy here too late?
The nurse walked out and smiled at them.
"You got him here just in time. Who knows what could've happened to him if you didn't."
"So… he's going to be alright?" Tsukune asked hopefully. "How is he now?"
"He's going to be just fine. He's stable now. All he needed was a good meal. He surprised us though, it usually takes time to recover from the effects of severe starvation, but he returned to normal within the hour. He doesn't seem to remember much." The nurse explained.
"Can we see him?" Tsukune asked. He felt obliged to see for himself how the boy was doing.
"I guess you can. Be careful though, he might be resting." The nurse cautioned.
"We'll keep that in mind! Thanks!" Tsukune said as he brushed past her excitedly.
He and the others walked in to check on the scar-faced boy. There he was, lying in bed barely awake. When he noticed them, his eyes opened fully. They were blue again.
"Hi there!" Tsukune said warmly. "You gave us quite the scare!"
The boy didn't respond. He just shifted in his bed nervously.
"Um…" Tsukune started, feeling awkward. "I'm Tsukune Aono. These are my friends."
He motioned to everyone. The boy looked at them while they introduced themselves.
"I'm Moka Akashiya." Moka said, smiling.
The boy tilted his head to the side curiously.
"I'm Kurumu Kurono!" Kurumu chirped. "And I'm sorry about what I said before… I didn't mean it."
The boy nodded, waiting for the next person to be introduced.
"I'm Yukari Sendo!" Yukari exclaimed. "It's good to see you're well again, desu!"
The boy smiled lightly. Then he turned to Mizore.
"…I'm Mizore Shirayuki." Mizore stated in her cool, level voice and bored expression.
The boy's gaze lingered longer on Mizore than the others. He blushed slightly, then looked down.
"So, what about you? What's your name?" Tsukune inquired.
The boy was silent for a moment. Then he looked up, and spoke.
"Kiba. You can call me Kiba."
[[[…Finally… another chapter down… this one took all day and part of the previous night to write. And, finally, the scar-faced boy's name is revealed. Yes, my character's name is the same as my pen name. That's pretty much the name I give to all of my characters. And Yes, Last chapter I did say that it would probably be a chapter or so before we saw him again, but I found a way to piece together some of my ideas that I've been having, and this is how it worked out. My apologies.
Also, I explained that 'outer' Moka is just part of the same person. It was even explained that she became self-aware in the manga. So there! On a final note, the 'insane gibberish' Kiba was saying was actually inspired by similar gibberish that the wendigo victim John Chanler, who would give in to the curse later, said in the book "The Curse of the Wendigo". So, that was my homage to that. Peace! ...this is exhausting…]]]