Chapter Four: Aftermath
"Did you hear what happened?"
"Yeah, it's totally unbelievable, isn't it?"
"You bet!"
"I mean, they jacked up like, half the clubrooms in the second floor!"
"Uh-huh. Not mention most of the school grounds is all screwed up now..."
"That's true...but still, don't you think it's kinda cool that it finally happened?"
"How so?"
"Well, you can't exactly say all that many would've really liked Kuyo and his lot. I for one sure am happy they're gone!"
"There is that, I guess. But even then, I can't help but think it'd be better if nothing had happened after all."
"What!? How can you say that?" Just think about all that..."
All around the great hall of the Youkai Academy, similar conversations were taking place. Whether in pairs or small groups, the students where abuzz, whispering about the recent events to one another.
Ever since the early hours of the morning, rumours about a violent confrontation between the school's Student Police and a still unknown faction had started circulating. The previous day the school had been closed all of a sudden for a reason nobody seemed to know, but with the loud crashing noises and flashes of light that had been heard and seen, it was a safe guess for anyone that something very serious was going on. When the young monsters had seen the partially destroyed school building, the ruined nearby environment, and the ruins of the Student Police's headquarters in the distance, their suspicions were confirmed.
The opinions regarding the incident were mixed. Some hailed the yet nameless perpetrators as heroes, whereas others labeled them as vile scoundrels. One thing was common for all: the school was in disarray, and as the overthrowing of the campus's former ruler was the issue on everyone's lips, no one was able to concentrate on normal student activities.
"Proud pupils of Youkai Academy!" A voice announced from the front of the hall where the school's headmaster was starting his speech. "I would have all your attention for a moment."
At the subtle yet obvious command of the headmaster, the bustling students in the great hall fell silent at once.
"Good" The extraordinary man in the priestly robes nodded. "I am sure most of you are aware of this already, but I shall make it completely clear to all of you right here and now: this academy's Student Police, led formerly by the law-enforcer Kuyo, is officially no more."
A collective gasp rang throughout the crowd and everybody burst into loud conversation. Like the headmaster said, it was not as if the Student Police's downfall wasn't common knowledge already. But having the news confirmed and announced publicly gave the incident an air of finality, and it was enough to send the students again into a turmoil.
The headmaster silenced the hall with a raise of his hand. "Now, as you surely have seen, the incident has left its violent mark upon our academy." He continued, referring to the property damage the Student Police's fight had caused. "And while complete renovation and readjusting is sure to take time, you may rest assured that the schoolwork will continue as usual."
At this, some disappointed sighs could be heard here and there among the students. Of course nobody wanted to have their daily lives to be overly affected by such unpleasant occasions, but still there were some who had silently hoped the disturbance to cause a few classes to be cancelled and thus allow them more spare time.
"Another thing I would like to remind you of at times like these", the headmaster went on, bringing everyone's attention back to him, "is the fact that although we've lost the authoritative faction of our school, inappropriate behaviour is not any more accepted. That meaning, violating the school rules leads to as severe consequences as they always would. With these points in mind, I wish you all a pleasant and peaceful day at school. You are dismissed."
As the headmaster concluded his speech, the assembled students erupted once again into rumbling conversations while beginning to shuffle out of the hall.
Among them, one pink-haired vampire, a succubus, and a young witch with a pointy hat sought each other and huddled together and left as a group.
"Unbelievable!" Kurumu exclaimed in anger and slammed her fists against the table they were sitting at.
As the morning assembly had taken long enough for the first class to be cancelled, Yukari, Kurumu, and Moka decided to use the remaining time by going to the school's cafeteria to enjoy what breakfast they could and discuss the issue at hand.
"Giving us all high and mighty speech like that and then not bothering to really explain a thing!" The blue-haired succubus went on, her friends making no effort to interrupt her in her wrath.
"I don't like it either", Yukari finally managed, her voice as fragile as her young frame and her eyes fixed on the table's surface.
"Well obviously you don't! Can't you really figure out anything better to say, smart ass?" Kurumu snapped, unconsciously taking her frustration onto the young witch.
"Kurumu!" Moka interjected as Yukari blanched at the succubus's harsh words. "None of this is any of our fault in the least, so let's just leave the accusations out of it, okay?"
"S-sorry", the blue-haired girl mumbled, a pang of shame causing her to lower her head as some of the anger drained out of her.
Silence fell over the three as each contemplated the situation for a moment. Over the last couple of weeks the group of friends had been ruthlessly torn apart as the newspaper club had been shut down. Instead of sticking together, they had all retreated to their own shells to mourn over their loss. Tsukune and Gin had begun to display more suspicious behaviour than they ever had, while the girls had all tried to nurse their wounds their own respective ways.
To top it off, their sworn enemy the Student Police had been now causing again chaos in the school, right when things were beginning to turn back to relatively normal.
"Well at least those hoodlums got what they deserved." The little witch broke the spell after a while, trying to lift the atmosphere despite the tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
"Ah, yes...you're definitely right about that one, Yukari!" Moka answered with a weak laugh.
Seeing the gloomy and strained scene playing before her, the fiery-natured succubus decided it was time to do something about it.
"Oh, for god's sake! Alright, me and the two of you", she said while grabbing Yukari and Moka by the wrist, "are going to find those idiots right now!"
By those idiots the blue-haired succubus meant the two males of their gang, Gin and Tsukune. The two of them had been distant and aloof towards the girls for weeks, and now that the situation was even more dire and confusing, they were still nowhere to be seen. Now it seemed the determined succubus had decided the time of secrecy and hiding was over. You'd better have a good excuse for yourselves, Kurumu fumed to herself as she thought about the worry and heartache the two had recently caused for the rest of them.
"B-but what about class?" Moka poorly attempted to argue against her friend's resolve despite having wanted to do exactly the same.
"Screw class, this is more important by far." The succubus stated without missing a beat, voicing simply what everyone was truly thinking.
With no one having nothing to refute Kurumu's course of action with, the small group of girls exited the cafeteria and started on a hunt of one wolf and one man.
When Tsukune woke up from the darkness of his dreams, he opened his eyes to see the surrounding reality to be filled with more darkness.
He blinked his eyes a few times, making sure to himself he was truly awake and adjusting his sight to the lack of proper lighting. When he was relatively certain he was up to the task, he made an attempt to raise his body from whatever surface he was lying on.
A screaming pain in his midsection sent him right back down. Along the pain came clarity, and at once Tsukune remembered everything that had happened.
The Student Police! He thought frantically. I fought that spider-thing and then... His memories were cut off at the point where he had defeated Keito, only to be assaulted and knocked out by a horde of other members of the law-enforcer group.
Panic washed over his mind. D-did we lose? His last clear recollections were certainly not of victory. But if we did...how come were still alive? And where the heck are we? ...w-we? Tsukune inwardly trailed off in confusion as he couldn't fathom why he was thinking as if there would've been more besides him.
G-GIN!, He remembered his accomplice at last, having momentarily managed to forget all about him due to having fought Keito and some of the other law-enforcers on his own. Tsukune grit his teeth, preparing himself to try getting up a second time.
When he finally heaved his body upwards again, he was surprised to discover it was actually manageable. Despite the tough pain which was still present, it didn't bother him now that he had gotten over his initial shock.
Taking in his surroundings, it didn't take long for Tsukune to notice he was in a holding cell of sorts. It was far from the normally dismal prison booths, however, as the room was clean and the beds were modest. But the heavy steel bars guarding the space and the lack of windows made sure the message was cut across: this was no friendly room for resting nor the infirmary.
As Tsukune became fairly certain he was no imminent danger despite the suspicious location, his eyes fell upon the other bed and its occupant in the room. And sure enough there lay the familiar werewolf and his partner-in-crime. Like him, Gin seemed to be fine, with what he could tell from the distance. Tsukune watched the steady rise and fall of his chest, pleased to see he was sleeping soundly instead of fighting for his life.
But after the moment of relief at finding out his companion was okay, the boy discovered himself to be taken over by a surge of irrational anger. Bastard, he snorted to himself. Where the hell were you? He thought bitterly, remembering how he passed out without once seeing his accomplice coming to his aid.
Tsukune had thought it was a good thing the senior youth was resting peacefully, but now he decided the wolf had been lying comfortably long enough.
"Hey Gin!" He called, unconsciously maintaining his voice as a whisper so as to not alert any outside attention.
Seeing that his effort had no effect on the sleeping werewolf, the boy muttered a string of curses under his breath and swung his legs over the side of the bed, intent on rising to his feet. Remembering the pain his earlier rushed endeavor had caused, Tsukune took care to assess his condition and make sure to adjust his body up to the task.
It was only then he noticed that sometime during his unconsciousness, his wounds had been tended to. The treatment had been done quite professionally no less, with lots of bandages tied around his chest and abdomen tightly. With some trepidation, he found the Whip of Belmont from around his leg was also gone. Really, considering I'm even able to be awake and think clearly, I should be more than grateful, he mused with no little amount of awe.
Well, here goes nothing! Tsukune gave one last mental push to himself and heaved his body upwards. Wobbling on his feet a minute or two, he finally deemed he could manage the few paces it took to get to Gin's bed.
But when he reached the werewolf's side, he could feel most of his anger drain away immediately. Unlike Tsukune, Gin's bandages didn't stop at his midsection. From the crown of his head down to his ankles, the wolf was completely wrapped in the white stripes. Only his hands and feet and the small area around his face was left uncovered, and what little could be seen of his skin was a mess of burned flesh and abscessed blisters. From the way the bandages conformed his head so closely, Tsukune could guess that the werewolf's rich dark hair was no more.
Shocked and suddenly ashamed he'd even thought about disturbing his companion, Tsukune abruptly made to turn around and go back to his own bed. But flustered as he was, the boy stumbled in his hurry and fell to the floor with a loud thud.
"Ugh..." The awakened Gin moaned painfully, aroused by Tsukune's clamoring.
The young boy cursed his mistake and darted to the other's side, readying comforting words and gestures in his mind.
"You okay, Gin? Shh, it's alright, it's just me, Tsukune. Can you hear me?"
Confusion arose to the older man's features, his eyes narrowed and staring at Tsukune's face as if trying to bring his vision into focus.
"Wh-where are we?" He finally managed to ask, his voice a whisper as he was getting accustomed to speech after such a long time.
"I'm not exactly sure, it looks like some kind of prison cell or something." Tsukune explained and added, when he saw terror momentarily flashing across the werewolf's countenance: "No worries though, it doesn't look so bad and they've even bandaged us up some."
"Bandaged...?" Gin murmured, perplexed. It was then that he seemed to notice something was truly wrong, for his next question brought Tsukune to the uncomfortable position of explaining his condition.
"Tsukune...my skin feels kinda funny...what's going-"
"You were injured. No, we both were." The boy cut him off, not needing to hear the rest to understand what the other wanted to know. "It looks", Tsukune gulped before continuing, "It looks like you were burned pretty bad.." He concluded softly, averting his eyes.
During the next few moments Gin looked and felt over his own body carefully, inspecting the extent of the damage as the memories returned to him in bits and pieces.
"Well shit", he finally breathed with a mixture of humour and bitterness. "Thank you Kuyo, thank you so fucking much." The muttered to himself and shook his head.
"What happened, Gin?" Tsukune interjected to his elder's grim monologue. "I mean, I fought Keito and some of the others like you told me to, but then you never showed up..."
"What happened, huh? I met up with Kuyo, led him to where you were, and got myself beaten and burned by him, all the while protecting your sleeping lazy ass! That's what happened, you dimwit." Gin snapped, irritated by the barest hint of accusation in his younger companion's words.
"I-I see", Tsukune flinched. "Sorry, I just kinda passed out before you came, so I just thought...yeah." Tsukune mumbled in embarrassment, the whole truth behind the affair dawning to him only now.
"Nevermind, kid. It's not your fault you didn't know, and I guess I too could've come to help you a bit earlier. Besides", Gin spoke as he noticed he'd unintentionally upset the boy, "you did well with those guys. Beating one damn powerful spider-chick and a whole bunch of other monsters by yourself, now that's quite a feat right there, dude." He commended heartily, flashing Tsukune a wide, boyish grin.
"I-I'm just happy we both made it out alive.", Tsukune laughed nervously at the other man's compliments. "I certainly could've gone a lot worse."
A slightly awkward silence descended over the two. Tsukune sat beside Gin on the bed, supporting the werewolf as he was still somewhat tired due to his injuries and the long time in dormant sleep. His eyes fixed absently on one corner of the room, a tinge of red colored the boy's cheeks after the unusual conversation with his senior. Gin, on the other hand, seemed more calm, for his lips were curved in a thoughtful smile and he appeared to be in a content reverie.
"Speaking of which", the older of the two finally broke the daze, "how did it go in the end? I mean, you passed out long before me, and I sure as hell didn't beat Kuyo either, so...what's up?"
"I believe I can provide an answer for that." A voice boomed from the door to their cell, effectively cutting across any thought or say the boys might've had. They snapped their eyes towards the sudden speaker and found themselves staring at the whitely cloaked figure of the school's headmaster.
"M-Mr. Chairman!" They gasped in shocked unison, their first thought gushing out of their mouth before they knew it.
"Ah, I'm glad to see you have recovered your wits enough to recognize me." The headmaster replied with a mixture of sarcasm and pleasantry. "After what you two did and the damage that followed, I dared not hope so much."
The look on the werewolf's face darkened. A powerful man or not, Gin was not one to swallow such mockery from anyone without biting. "And I hope you have something more intelligent to say than that."
"You do much in assuming that you are in position to hope for anything from me, especially without showing the least bit gratefulness for what I've already done for you." The headmaster warned, losing some of his humour.
"Well thanks", Gin deadpanned. Though it didn't appear like it, the headmaster had already put Gin in his place by making him comply to his subtle commands.
"That's better." The man in white garbs commended softly.
"So, could you finally tell us what you know, now that you've taken the time to come see us here and all?" Gin prodded now that the situation had settled.
"Ah, yes indeed. There actually isn't very much to it, really." The white-clad figure began nonchalantly. "You two simply created a mess, one that you weren't able to clean up yourselves. That's when I came up and did only what was necessary." He explained as if everything should've been as clear as day.
"Could you...be a little more specific?" Tsukune ventured this time, having been quiet until now and deciding he could just as well be the one to voice his and his companion's shared confusion.
"Why, I arrived just in time to see Gin go up in flames. Satisfied there was only one ruffian, that being Kuyo himself, left to take care of, I did just that. What more would you need to know?"
Slack-jawed, Tsukune and Gin just stared at the headmaster of their school, staring them back with shining eyes and the ever-present wicked smile plastered on his face.
"Y-you removed the highest ranking security officer of your own school?" Gin managed to stammer out at last, incredulous.
"Security officer? Fancy hearing you using that name of him, Gin." The headmaster chuckled before continuing: "Yes, I did. And truth be told, I had been planning to do so for a good while. He and his lot had grown quite troublesome as of late, and your antics gave me a good cause to do away with them in one fell swoop. So in that regard, I suppose I should be thanking you as well." He finished, musing to himself absently.
The two young students had trouble breaking free from their amazement. "So...what happens next? Earlier, you called us ruffians and said you were pleased we were down. How come you spared us?" Gin pushed onward, deciding to take advantage of the headmaster's willingness to speak, even though his words didn't seem to make much sense to them.
The wicked smile on the face of the mysterious man turned to an evil grin. "Why, I spared your lives because I might have use for them."
"That meaning...?" Gin pressed, instantly wary and suspicious of the man laying their conditions.
"From now on, you two will work for me and be under my constant surveillance." The headmaster explained curtly.
"And what if we say no?" The werewolf challenged, offering a defiant grin despite the growing dread inside of him.
The smile on the headmaster's face curved almost pityingly. "I will have you know the second you do so."
Gin couldn't hold back the nervous snort escaping him and he had to struggle to keep his composure. Tsukune sat in silence with all color steadily draining from his face, having willfully surrendered the task of negotiating to his more experienced senior. "What will you have us do, then?" The sophomore finally asked.
The headmaster let the waiting silence linger in the air for a while, keeping his smile in place as he answered:
"You may start with fixing some of the problem you've caused. As you know the Youkai Academy, where violence is an everyday issue, has to be kept in order. To do this we need a law-enforcing faction, of which you two have just disposed us of."
Seeing the lack of understanding on the boys' faces, the headmaster paused. Before long he concluded, making his intentions clear once and for all:
"You, Aono Tsukune and Ginei Morioka, are to form us a new Student Police."