After turning onto a wooded lane off the main road from the seaside, the Bus entered the dimensional tunnel and emerged back inside the tunnel at Yokai Academy. Emerging into the harsh red light of a Yokai Academy version of a sunny day just seconds later, everyone's eyes took a few moments to adjust.
Since leaving the seaside, Tsukune had wanted to ask Moka about her eldest sister's plan to find their father. He knew it had to be weighing down Moka with concern, and he didn't want to exacerbate the situation by bringing it up again, but he thought she might also like to talk about it.
Still, he was unsure. Had he been dealing with Outer Moka, talking about it would have been the obviously correct thing to do.
Inner Moka though….
She still held her mysteries for Tsukune.
At last, he resolved to give it a try.
"So, do you think Akua-san might find your father at Shuzen Castle?"
Moka turned stunned eyes towards Tsukune, clearly not expecting this topic to come up so suddenly. Then she turned away with a frustrated look on her face. As the awkward silence between them stretched on far too long, Tsukune moved to correct the issue.
"I'm sorry I didn't ask you before now. If you'd rather not talk about it I'll understand. I'm just worried, for you."
She turned back with a slight smile of understanding on her face.
"It's okay, thank you for asking."
Then her eyes turned from him and took on a distant glaze to them.
"I doubt Father is there. We would have heard from him already. Akua thinks it's a good place to start looking for clues to what might have happened to him though."
Suddenly Kokoa, who had been within earshot of their conversation, popped up and spoke out.
"And she WILL find Father! Have no doubts about that Onee-sama!"
Moka sent her over-eager little sister a rebuking glare.
"I have no doubts Kokoa. Akua will stop at nothing to find Father. What I have doubts about is your ability not to go through the front window if Bus Driver needs to slam on the breaks. Now turn around and sit down like you're supposed to."
Kokoa immediately began to pout as she sullenly descended back into her seat, which seemed to amuse her seatmate Haiji greatly.
"Awe! Precious Onee-sama was mean to the pretty little Kokoa-chan. Awe!"
Having a new target for her rage, Kokoa's mood immediately went back to her usual boisterous defiance.
"Shut it you loli-perv!"
If it had been intended as an insult, it had clearly missed the mark. Haiji just smirked at her even more as he continued to tease her.
"Awe! poor little Kokoa-chan is sad her precious Onee-sama was mean to her."
Now Kokoa's snarling lip was joined by a slight twitch in her right eye.
"You DO know I'm only two years younger than you, right Block-head?"
In the seat across the aisle from them, Gin, finally out of his self-imposed afterglow of saying goodbye to San, sighed and rolled his eyes at the drama to his left.
Now that Kokoa couldn't see her, Moka allowed herself to smile towards her imouto as she bantered with Haiji. Tsukune suddenly leaned in to whisper into her ear.
"So, do you think Haiji is…interested in Kokoa, as a…..?"
Moka sent him a smirk as she replied to him in hushed tones.
"No, I don't get that from him. He's giving off the big brother vibe to me it seems. I think he'd treat Yukari the same way if he didn't think it would bother you."
Tsukune's eyes went wide at this comment and sudden concern welled up inside of him.
"Why… would that bother me?"
Moka's smirk increased as she narrowed her eyes at him. Tsukune suddenly felt his neck and face getting warmer. Just when he thought he might start sweating, Moka turned her eyes back towards where Haiji and Kokoa were still arguing and her expression went soft.
"Anyway…I think Akua is another story though."
Tsukune, glad she changed the topic, immediately joined her new conversation.
"So you noticed that last night too?"
Moka nodded nonchalantly as she replied.
"That could become….interesting."
"To say the least!"
At that moment the Bus rounded the bend and Yokai Academy's main building loomed large in the distance. As they moved closer they could see a stretched limousine waiting at the front entrance. Two tall and thick men emerged from either side of the front of the limo.
From the back of the Bus Ling-Ling spoke up.
"That will be for us."
Fong-Fong sent his sister a very disappointed expression.
"So soon dàjiě?"
She gave him a mildly sympathetic look as she replied.
"Father and Mother want us to come home for a few days. They need help with cleanup work."
Fong-Fong turned around with a pout but clearly couldn't argue his sister's point.
The Bus began to come to a stop beside the limousine when a strange beating sound reached everyone's ears. Sounding very much like the military vehicles they had faced the night before, everyone began to instinctively tense.
"Do you hear that too?"
Gin nodded affirmation to Haiji's question.
"Yeah…sounds like a…..helicopter, sort of."
Kokoa had her head out the window trying to look up towards the source of the thumping sound.
"There are no helicopters at Yokai Academy!"
She wasn't the only one now scanning the skies.
"It can't be a helicopter. How could a helicopter get within the Great Barrier?"
Kurumu looked briefly at Mizore with concern before turning back to continue scanning the horizon.
"You don't think that the government found us and somehow….."
"NO!"
Ruby's response to Kurumu's concerns was emphatic and resolute.
"The Great Barrier is impenetrable to current Human technologies. Except…"
Before Ruby could finish her statement Fong-Fong weighed in.
"It sure sounds like a helicopter though, sort of."
Everyone continued to look upward out of the windows to catch a glimpse of whatever contraption was making the noise.
"Except what Ruby?"
She looked towards Tsukune as he asked her this.
"Well, if the Chairman or Acting Chairman gave prior permission to a vehicle, like the limousine here."
Beside him, Moka shook her head.
"That's not a helicopter. It's doesn't sound….right, to be a helicopter."
"I think our men see it now."
With Ling-Ling's statement, it was clear the two bodyguards were both looking upwards past the right side of the Bus. As if to confirm it the one on the driver's side pointed in that general direction.
Everyone immediately headed toward the right side of the Bus.
"Is that a…?"
Yukari couldn't finish before Mizore began speaking.
"It looks like a….?"
Haiji suddenly became very excited when his eyes saw the flying machine.
"I'll be damned! It's a….."
With a feral smile, Haiji tuned a mischievous expression toward Gin, who now seemed suddenly very irritated and angry. Haiji finished his statement with a clear understanding that no one other than perhaps Gin seemed to have about this situation.
"…A TILT-ROTER!"
Everyone looked on with stunned expressions as the burgundy and silver tilt-rotor swooped in low over the field towards the front of the Bus and landed softly there with the propellers aimed skywards.
Tsukune's eyes were as wide as everyone else's.
"That's an Osprey! A V-22, but it looks like it has civilian markings."
Yukari exclaimed excitedly as she pulled herself up over Tsukune's shoulders to get a better look.
"I didn't think there were any civilian versions of that thing!"
Haiji was too busy smirking at an awkward looking Gin to spare the unusual vehicle too much attention.
"And it looks like it has a familiar logo on its side too! Hey Trust-Fund Boy, does that logo look familiar to you?"
Gin shot Haiji a look that could kill. In a low growl, he replied.
"Can you ever keep your fat mouth closed?"
This only made Haiji shrug with a self-satisfied smirk growing across his face.
"It's not my fault buddy. No way they won't know after seeing that thing, Mister Money-Bags."
Sudden clarity swept over Kurumu's and Mizore's faces at the same time.
"Hey! That logo looks like….."
"….Gin's necklace pendant!"
The stylized wolf's head logo on the sides of the tilt-rotor indeed looked identical to Gin's necklace pendant. All eyes on the Bus suddenly fell on the back of the agitated Gin's head.
After a few moments of silent contemplation, Tsukune was the first to ask the obvious.
"Gin, is that here for…?"
A heavy sigh interrupted Tsukune's question and was followed by Gin standing up slowly and turning around to face the others.
"Yes, that's one of my family's…vehicles."
He looked downright embarrassed to even say that much. Into this tense atmosphere, Kokoa let out a low whistle.
"Well, now we know why Haiji just called you Trust-Fund Boy, don't we?"
She now joined Haiji in smirking at the obviously put out Gin. Moka's eyes focused intently on the tilt-rotor while she spoke.
"Now it makes sense. I always knew that pendant of yours looked familiar. Now I know why. That's the logo for Morioka International. How did I not put that together before now?"
She looked disappointed in herself when she made that last statement. Kokoa joined her sister in suddenly recognizing the name.
"Hey! That DOES sound familiar!"
Haiji stood up next to Gin and slapped him on the shoulder with a teasing smile on his face, much to Gin's continued annoyance.
"That's right kids; you are looking at the eldest son of his generation. Direct heir and future head of one of the largest and most powerful international conglomerates on the Earth. Our very own Ginei Morioka, captain of industry and commerce!"
Gin angrily slapped Haiji's hand off his shoulder.
"Lay off Block-head."
Seeing everyone's stunned eyes on him then, Gin sighed heavily once more and shrugged before speaking to them.
"Look! It's no big deal guys! I'm the same old pervert you know and love to hate. I'm so far away from that kind of lifestyle I might as well be poor."
From midway back, Mizore spoke up.
"You say that, but that expensive piece of equipment sitting over there says you're wrong."
With another embarrassed look, Gin tried to dismiss her assessment.
"I'm decades away from that kind of money. It's really no big deal, really guys!"
Kurumu had her arms folded over her chest and tilted her head at him with a disbelieving expression.
"If you're so filthy rich, why do you live in that mud hut on the side of the woods?"
Gin ignored her comment and continued with his previous dismissive statements.
"Hell, my Great-Grandfather is still alive and we have to go through Granddad and Dad before I ever see the big office from behind the desk. I'll be as old as Great-Grandfather when that happens."
Suddenly from the other side of Haiji, Kokao became super agitated and began to bounce up and down like a jackrabbit.
"WAIT JUST A MINUTE! WAIT JUST ONE DAMN MINUTE! You're saying YOU are NOKIBA Morioka's great-grandson? YOU? He's a legend in the Yokai World!"
Morioka Nokiba (森丘 の牙), is the CEO and President of Morioka International, and Ginei's Great-Grandfather.
Then she sent him a look that said if the man himself had come in and proclaimed Gin his heir she still wouldn't believe it.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Tsukune had a slightly confused look as he asked his next question.
"Wait, your Great-Grandfather's name is 'Fang'?"
Gin waved his hand dismissively and tried to act nonchalant about the whole situation.
"Come on guys, I didn't tell any of you about any of this because it doesn't really matter to me, and I don't want to be treated any different than what I really am. I'm not my family or their money. I'm just plain old Gin. Nothing's changed; it's no big deal, really."
When no one replied Gin began to get worried. Opening his eyes again he looked at them, but they all were deathly silent. Some had even forgotten to keep their mouths closed. They all glared pasted him now, and through the front windows of the Bus, with disbelieving expressions.
"What?...what are you all doing? What are you all staring at?"
"Hehe!"
Gin turned to look over his left shoulder at Bus Driver as he giggled manically.
Without even bothering to turn to see what everyone was staring at Gin suddenly closed his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose over what seemed to be the onset of a sudden headache, and let out a long and mournful sigh of frustration.
"Damn….it's HER isn't it?"
Bus Driver turned back towards Gin with mirth gleaming in his beady eyes and spoke as he took the cigar out from between his teeth.
"Of course it's her kid, who else would it be?"
Gin turned back towards the others, refusing to look at the oncoming "storm" approaching the Bus from the general direction of the tilt-rotor. Yukari was practically drooling, so was Haiji and Fong-Fong. Kokoa was holding her nose as if a sudden explosion of blood would release at any second. Even Tsukune's mouth was hanging loosely from its sockets. Kurumu became the first on the Bus to move again, directing an oddly disappointed look at the back of Tsukune's head. The other girls were too stunned to react. Even the mighty Moka seemed mesmerized by what her eyes were seeing.
Haiji very admirably became the first of them to refind his tongue.
"That right there could permanently cure my loli-ism for sure! What a woman!"
The spell over them all only now slightly lifted, Fong-Fong added his own bewilderment over the vision of beauty approaching them.
"My GOD! I think I'm going to faint!"
"Admittedly, she's pretty damn hot!"
Yukari seemed as excited as the boys.
"Yeah, well, she's no ME or anything, but…"
Kurumu tried to be dismissive, but Mizore shot her down.
"You are delusional Kurumu, that woman is hotter than even Moka."
Moka sent her a strange look, but then basically agreed with her.
"Well she's….well….um….yeah, she's pretty hot."
Ruby asked Gin the obvious next question.
"Gin, who is this….gorgeous woman?"
She was about Ruby's height and obviously was well built. She had a heart-shaped face like Moka's, but her flame red hair was curly and blew around her face in ringlets. Her chest might have been the same size as Kurumu's, but unlike the later her cleavage was on full display, pushing its way upward between the two halves of her low-cut red blouse and the brassiere under it was clearly struggling to contain the two bouncing mounds of flesh. Her skin was a perfect alabaster that could rival even Mizore's. She wore a remarkably tight black miniskirt which even Yukari might have trouble getting on. The outline of her perfectly round, apple-like posterior was clear to see even from this oblique angle. Her sharply ivory legs pulsated with seductive strength with every single movement as they rode atop mid-thigh high black leather high heel boots.
Even with all this amazing eye-candy available, it was her face that drew one in. Perfect red and luscious lips, an exquisite nose, and the eyes. Two fiery golden orbs blazing with intensity.
Those eyes were locked squarely on only one person.
Gin still refused to turn around. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose again in frustration.
"That's Akaio."
He sighed heavily once more with his arms now crossed defiantly over his chest.
"…she's my…Nee-san."
"YOUR SISTER?"
Morioka Akaio (森丘 赤尾), Gin's older sister.
Stunned eyes rapidly moved from the flame red goddess now waiting beside the Bus door, and Gin at the front of the aisle. None seemed capable of processing that these two were siblings.
Haiji finally vocalized what they all seemed to be thinking.
"There's no WAY you and HER have the same parents!"
Gin simply ignored Hajij's rude assessment. From outside, the flame red goddess whose name was Akaio looked upward through the Bus door lovingly at her otouto inside, who still hadn't bothered to spare her a look.
Bus Driver chuckled at the display as he spoke.
"Anyway, this is the last stop for Miss Huang, Mr. Huang, Mr. Morioka, and I suspect Mr. Miyamoto as well."
With that, he swung the Bus doors open.
Tsukune was perplexed.
"What? We're not getting off here? Where are the rest of us going?"
Moka was equally confused.
"Aren't we going back to our dorms?"
Bus Driver answered them with a knowing smirk as the four getting off here shuffled out past him.
"You let me worry about destinations kids. You just sit back and relax till we get to where we're going."
Despite this new mystery, all eyes quickly returned to the left side of the Bus and the drama that was about to unfold.
Haiji, Fong-Fong, and Ling-Ling all descended to the ground from the steps of the Bus. The two young men both almost tripped as they continued to stare in amazement at Gin's sister. They both seemed to skirt well away from where she stood as if she were a literal flame that could burn them if they got too close.
For her, part Akaio's golden eyes never left her brother as he finally stepped off the Bus. He still refused to even look at her.
Akaio, in a surprisingly timid looking manner, stepped up to right under her brother's chin, staring up lovingly at her him as he continued to appear disinterested and annoyed.
Ling-Ling watched them with a curious expression as Haiji and Fong-Fong continued to try to contain their drool. Both looked as if they'd faint if she looked in their direction.
From inside the Bus Tuskune also seemed quite interested, much to the other girls' mutual annoyance; but they too also wanted to see what was about to happen.
Akaio was practically laying against her brother's chest now, with her hands resting on them. She closed her eyes and sniffed him vigorously. A slight twinge of disappointment stained her perfect features for a split second but she quickly recovered. She apparently enjoyed his scent otherwise and she finally laid her head into his chest with a giant smile and a sigh of relief.
Gin's face started to redden, and he was clearly still irritated, but he did finally speak to her.
"….hello Nee-san."
She opened her gorgeous golden eyes and looked up towards his face with obvious adoration. The girls on the Bus began to share awkward looks with each other. It was clear they didn't think this was how a sister should ever react to her own brother.
"Hello, my precious little baby brother Gin-Gin-kun. Your Nee-chan has missed you so very much. Why this cold treatment of me? Didn't you miss me at all? This isn't how you greet your beloved Nee-chan now is it?"
Gin finally made eye contact with her. He didn't look happy to see her in the least. His tight-lipped response seemed to be biting back his anger.
"It's how I greet her when we're in PUBLIC."
Akaio pouted up at him and pretended to be saddened by his response.
"You know I can't bear it anymore my precious baby brother. Two and a half years and no Gin-Gin-kun to nuzzle with! You couldn't even bother to come home on vacations and holidays? Not even to see ME? I just can't stand it anymore!"
This response made Gin bow his head down, close his eyes, and pinch his nose bridge again in frustration. Akaio took the opportunity to run her well defined and sharpened ruby red fingernails through Gin's tasseled hair.
He leaned into her right ear and whispered intently to her.
"Please don't do this, not here, I'm begging you. Not in front of them."
"Oh, Gin-Gin-kun! I'm sorry to embarrass you in front of your friends, but…..I just have to! It's been so LONG!"
With her delicate hand right behind his left ear, she began to vigorously scratch him there.
"I JUST MISS MY BABY BROTHER SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!"
"No…..PLEASE!"
Then as if he could fight it no longer his right leg began to bob up and down in rhythm with his sister's scratching motions.
"…..OH!...MY!...GOD!"
Several wide-eyed females on the Bus exclaimed this at the same time in utter amazement. Ling-Ling looked on with the curiosity of a scientist making an unexpected discovery.
"Who's a good brother? Who's Nee-chan's good brother? Gin-Gin-Kun is! Yes, he is Nee-chan's good brother! He sure is!"
Gin's face was a shade of red now darker than his amused sister's hair, but for some reason, he seemed incapable of freeing himself from this infinitely embarrassing display. His right leg throbbed up and down with each hand motion his sister made.
"This is how his sister does him? Why am I jealous of THIS?"
Kokoa was clearly embarrassed to even have this kind of thought in her head.
From his seat directly beside and slightly upward from the action, the Bus Driver just slowly shook his head in sympathy.
"That poor kid. Having a sister like that."
Then Akaio showed them all that she wasn't done ruining Gin's life just yet. She effortlessly jumped up on Gin's right side and straddled him around the waist while rubbing her face into the side of his. He couldn't even react to this escalation of his embarrassment. Everyone still couldn't believe what they were witnessing. Haiji and Fong-Fong had already fallen to their knees in amazement.
"Oh, my precious baby brother! Finally, we're back together! I love you so much! Come on and nuzzle with me! You know you want to! NUZZLE ME, PLEASE!"
Akaio dug her face into Gin's and under his neck. For his part Gin was doing his best impression of an upright corpse.
Moka finally found her voice again.
"I have no….words…for what I'm seeing…..it's….."
Yukari continued the rolling statement.
"It's like a car accident, it's horrible to look at but you can't turn away."
Kurumu shook her head as she spoke.
"I actually feel sorry for the pervert."
Mizore nodded to Kurumu's words.
"You can see why he's the way he is now."
Kokoa had yet another errant and deviant thought.
"If only me and Tsuk….um….ah…Onee-sama, where this affectionate."
From their knees, Haiji and Fong-Fong finally dared call out to the red goddess in mutual adoration.
"YOU CAN BE OUR NEE-CHAN TOO!"
At that moment Fong-Fong screamed out in pain as Ling-Ling grabbed his queue and began to drag him away unwillingly towards their waiting ride.
"You already have a Onee-sama brother, and you will be getting nothing like that from me."
Fong-Fong cried out in dismay.
"But I didn't even get to introduce myself to HER!"
Yukari teasingly called out to them from the open Bus windows.
"HAHAHA! Give him a good hair jerk for me Ling-Ling!"
A few moments later the limo drove past with Fong-Fong drooling on the rear window. Trying to get a final look at Akaio.
She was too busy rubbing herself into her dumbfounded brother's side to notice anything else.
"Why doesn't my Gin-Gin-kun want to nuzzle his Nee-chan? You used to nuzzle me all the time. I had to practically push you off me back then to ever get any sleep! Now you don't even like me anymore? Is it because those girls on the Bus are watching?"
She smiled up towards the eyes looking down on her from the Bus, but she never looked at the girls. Tsukune could feel her penetrating golden eyes boring into him. He began to feel way too warm. Not a single female left on the Bus had failed to note Akaio's eyes and their intended target. Five young ladies tensed up as if preparing for a fight.
Gin finally cried out in desperation.
"For the love of God! It's because EVERYONE is watching!"
Akaio smiled seductively up at her little brother.
"Well, that's just not acceptable Gin-Gin-kun!"
Akaio placed her high heels back on the ground and gently turned her mortified brother back towards the Bus to face the others.
Gin practically whimpered a plea to her then.
"NO! PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! I'LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT, JUST DON'T DO….."
Akaio directed those sultry eyes of her back towards her audience looking down from the Bus's windows, then, much to Gin's obvious horror, she tenderly placed the tip of her tongue against his right cheek.
Kokoa and Yukari both grabbed their noses to prevent sudden massive blood loss. The other four women on the Bus all gasped in unison and moved to cover their stunned open mouths.
Tsukune's mouth was stunned to open too and drool threatened to drop unchecked from it at any second.
Haiji, who was seeing this from ringside on his knees couldn't even muster enough strength to stay upright, falling to his side as if suddenly paralyzed.
All Bus Driver could do was sigh sympathetically and continue to shake his head at what they were witnessing.
Akaio slowly dragged her tongue up her catatonic brother's cheek right cheek, clearly either enjoying the sensation or enjoying everyone's reactions. When she finished and flicked it off the point of his cheekbone, she turned those mysterious eyes of her's back towards the Bus's windows, and seductively moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue.
"OH MY GOD!"
The girls once again chorused in stunned unison.
Tsukune couldn't even form coherent words.
"yyu….umm….yuaa…"
From his place on the ground, there was great concern Haiji was about to go into convulsions.
Bus Driver finished shaking his head and clamped his cigar back between his lips.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THIS GIRL?"
Another stunned female chorus was followed by Bus Driver chuckling before adding a statement of his own.
"Hehe! Miss Akaio has always really loved her baby brother."
Gin stared blankly at the side of the Bus with a completely defeated look while Akaio stared with a self-satisfied smirk at the girls on the Bus.
At their feet, poor Haiji may have already died from shock.
Akaio was very pleased with herself.
"Let those disgusting hussies spread this around the school and Ginei will be home where he belongs right after graduation."
"Did you….have to do that to me?"
At her brother's words, Akaio sent him a concerned look and stroked the back of his head lovingly.
"Did you have to completely abandon your family when you came here baby brother?"
Gin whined at her words.
"To answer your question, yes, I had to. You clearly need to be reminded that your family comes first, middle, and last, baby brother. You have only yourself and your own actions to blame. Be grateful I didn't put on a full display for them."
She turned towards the Bus slightly but then turned back to whisper to him again.
"And don't think for one second I can't smell that disgusting bird-girl all over you. Nasty!"
Her smile never broke, but Gin knew she was angry, but he was even angrier.
"Now that you have…..completely ruined my existence….can we please go?"
She smiled indulgently to him.
"In just a minute baby brother. I have some business to take care of first."
She turned back towards the Bus then.
"Too bad I don't see bird-girl on here. I know that was her with them last night. I can smell her stank all over my Gin-Gin-kun too, which means he was nuzzling with HER! She's the one who needs to see exactly which pack Gin-Gin belongs too."
"Of course."
She could hear the sarcasm dripping from Gin's mouth.
"…..family business, always the family business."
For the first time, she gave a true frown. She knew they were dangerously close to Gin abandoning the family entirely. She couldn't live with that. SHe WOULDN'T live with that! She didn't reply though and moved toward the Bus door.
"I…..love….you…."
If she heard Haiji's whispered plea to her from his place on the ground, she ignored it.
Gin looked down on him in disgust.
"Get up Block-head! Show some dignity!"
Haiji began to sit up but threw a reply barb up at Gin.
"That's rich! You talking about dignity after THAT!"
Gin turned away annoyed as Haiji found his feet and dusted himself off.
Then there was the sudden crack of a sound like thunder, and Akaio had suddenly disappeared to everyone's astonishment.
"Where did she…"
Moka never got to finish her question.
"Over here dears!"
They were all stunned to see her leaning near the front of the Bus beside Bus Driver.
Akaio then turned a bright smile down on Bus Driver.
"Long time no see Mr. Bus Driver! How's it hanging?"
Bus Driver took his cigar out and smiled upwards towards her.
"The same as always Miss Akaio. I can see you are also the same as always. Still love to make as much trouble as possible, huh?"
She shrugged at him with a happy smile.
"You know me!"
"I sure do! How's working for the family business going?"
"As you'd expect with a family business. It has its good days and bad."
Bus Driver nodded his understanding. Akaio then took on a sad expression.
"Too bad about the Chairman. I always liked him."
He beamed back up at her.
"Cause he always let you off the hook."
She smirked down at him viciously.
"Let's just say, he understood the individual needs of his pupils. Congrats on the promotion though."
Bus Driver shrugged awkwardly.
"Well….it's only temporary, till we get the permanent replacement ready. Too much desk work for me to do on a regular basis."
She smirked back at him.
"I know, the open road is your one true love."
Suddenly Akaio began to sniff the air around her with pleasure, then she leaned in and began sniffing Bus Driver, who took such strange actions with solid stoicism. He had apparently expected her to do such a thing.
"Oh MY! I have missed that scent almost as much as brother's! You didn't think all that nasty cigar smoke was going to cover her scent up from my amazing nose, did you? Has Mr. Bus Driver been petting my favorite sensei lately?"
Bus Driver smirked up at her with a gentle smile.
"That's really none of your business, now is it Miss Akaio? Anyway, your sensei is too busy to play with you today, and I suspect your Great-Grandfather expects to see his heir sometime today as well."
Akaio playful smacked his shoulder.
"AWE! You're still mean as ever! You never would let me catch my pretty sensei! I just wanted to play with her a little."
This made Bus Driver laugh hard.
"Hehe! That was for your safety more so than for her's."
In the privacy of his own mind Bus Driver added additional comments that Akaio or anyone else didn't need to hear.
"Though she did seem to be quite terrified you would catch her eventually."
Between the two women, there were two wine glasses and two and a half empty bottles of wine. The two obviously drunk women were laughing near hysterically at a kitchen table in someone's house. Sudden one of them wobbly jumped to her feet in sudden fright. Staring confusedly up at her drinking companion, the woman with long dark hair fumbled to push her glasses back up her nose as she inquired what was wrong with the other woman.
"What's wrong with you? Step on your own tail again?"
She laughed at her own sense of humor, but her companion was suddenly in no laughing mood.
"Um….well….no. It's just I suddenly got a really bad feeling."
She rather clumsily scanned the area around them as if expecting an intruder to pop out from the living room or one of the bedrooms at any second.
"It's like someone is talking about me behind my back, or something or someone from my past is going to jump out and…chase me….."
In her mind, the blonde woman with slightly shorter hair remembered the last time she had been chased, by a redheaded demon dog of a student by the name of Morioka Akaio. A shiver ran down her spine thinking about that crazy redheaded werewolf chasing her around Yokai Academy while she screamed in terror, the crazy girl's tongue flopping behind her as that feral grin got closer, and closer, and closer…
"No Shizuka! The she-wolf hasn't been back here since graduating, not even to see Gin. IT'S NOT HER! IT'S SURELY NOT HER! It's all in my head!"
Kagome reached up and pulled Shizuka back down into her chair.
"You either need to stop drinking or have another glass of wine. One or the other."
With these words, she emptied the contents remaining in the third bottle into both their glasses. Shizuka turned hers up and swallowed it in one gulp.
Akaio began to profess her innocent intentions to Bus Driver.
"That's not fair! I wouldn't have hurt Sensei-chan."
This fake innocence made Bus Driver chuckle again.
"Hehe! Sure kid! And she wouldn't have hurt you either, I'm sure."
They both laughed then.
While the two continued to reminisce up front, the others had come together to whisper among themselves.
"Damn! She was on the Bus faster than even I could track her. She's faster than Gin for sure."
Kurumu nodded agreement to Moka.
"Yeah, and she's clearly insane too!"
"Crazy and fast are always a bad combo."
Ruby added on to Mizore's assessment.
"And what's all this she's saying to Bus Driver about a sensei?"
Kokoa, as usual, took Ruby's words too literally.
"Clearly knowing him and talking about a sensei means she's a former student, duh!"
Yukari glared past them up towards the front of the Bus.
"Well, there's no way we'll let her get to our Tsukune."
Tsukune, having been wisely quiet so far, let an errant thought cross his mind.
"You guys do remember I'm a shinso vampire now, right?"
To his surprise, they apparently had forgotten that fact as they spoke in complete agreement with Yukari.
"RIGHT!"
Tsukune didn't even consider that the girls might have meant defending him from Gin's sister in a different form of "combat".
When the girls turned back toward the front of the Bus to form their solid "wall" to defend their Tsukune, there was a sudden inhale of air from each of them. Only Bus Driver was there, smiling back at them.
Tsukune was equally stunned, but for a slightly different reason. He was certain all the other people on the Bus were in front of him, yet he felt fingers parting his hair, and warm breath on his neck.
"Apparently your Harem doesn't realize that with a werewolf's excellent speed comes outstanding hearing as well?"
The girls turned in horror to see Akaio staring back at them as she stroked a blushing Tsukune's hair.
"Not surprising, Gin tends to be a bit reserved for a werewolf about showing off our abilities."
Tsukune, with six angry women leering at the person whose mouth was dangerously near his neck, tried not to show he was getting aroused by her proximity to him.
"Isn't the silver-haired one supposed to be a shinso like you too? I'm honestly not impressed just yet. She seems kind of slow, really."
This comment made Moka suddenly smile. Tsukune knew that that was the worst thing to see on Moka's face in this situation. Suddenly a blindly fast fist grazed Tsukune's right earlobe.
"Damn, no way she'll dodge that one."
Tsukune expected to hear the sickening sounds of Akaio's facial features succumbing to Moka's knuckles.
"My, my, my! Such a temper!"
Tsukune turned to see Akaio sitting on the back of the last row of seats wagging her finger mockingly towards a fuming Moka.
"I guess there's no mistaking who the Alpha female of this group is? Must be hard to stay on top with these other females always nipping at your heels though. Always trying to nuzzle with the Alpha male behind your back? Baying loudly for his...'attention'?"
"HEY!"
Kurumu suddenly called out to her in defiance.
"None of us try to hide nuzzling with him!"
Yukari shook her head in amazement at her elder friend.
"She completely missed the metaphor, as usual."
Ruby whispered into Yukari's ear.
"And the point."
Akaio had crossed her legs at an angle that exposed her thigh to Tsukune's line of sight. He was having a hard time not looking at it as she dangled the other leg dangerously on top of that one.
"They sure are a protective bunch when it comes to their Alpha male, aren't they? You have a whole pack of wanton females baying at the moon for you to mate them. It's amazing they can cooperate this much with them all wanting your puppies. Does "silver-hair" share well or is she a greedy Alpha?"
Moka practically growled back at her now. Tsukune thought he could hear her teeth grinding, and her eyes were taking on a dangerous shade of red.
"Why YOU!"
"Did she just say "puppies"?"
Yukari looked like the thought of having Tsukune's "puppies" was going to make her nose bleed again. Mizore as always was perfectly blunt.
"Awe! I would like to have Tsukune's puppies."
Akaio smirked with amusement and then turned those mirthful golden eyes back on Tsukune.
"You know Dear, I can see why they're so defensive. You sure do smell great, and you're a super cutie on top of that. Add that amazing shinso power and the fact that you're now a celebrity to boot, and these girls will be fighting off tons of lusty girls and slutty women throwing themselves at you! Miss Akashiya here is going to need the rest of these girls just to help her manage THAT full-time job. Lucky YOU! HUH? Even her sister is guarding you like she's ready to breed."
As six girls reset their fighting stances with these words, Kokoa's "war-face" suddenly cracked and was anything but intimidating as she tried to overcome Akaio's accusations.
"I…ah…I, I don't even like the Maggot! But I'll kick anyone's butt that tries to mess with Onee-sama!"
Then they all gasped again at Akaio's sudden disappearance.
"Whatever you say cutie."
When they turned around to see Akaio with her arms crossed back next to a very amused Bus Driver, she winked knowingly at Kokoa, which made her already pink cheeks flare up bright red.
A sudden blur pasted them forced them to turn once more to see Akaio playing with a still blushing Tsukune's hair.
"You know sweetie, I am tempted to try you out myself. Show you what a real woman can do, a real Alpha female."
With these words, she gently bit Tsukune's right earlobe, which made him blush profusely and made the girls' already boiling blood seem to be on the verge of explosive release.
"But alas, I don't have the time and it looks like your pack is getting angry over my…'friendly' nature so I'll…."
"HAHA!"
Moka interrupted her with a surprisingly defiant laugh and a smirk.
"I see you like to talk as much if not more so than that pervert brother of yours. Well, I am sorry I haven't impressed you yet, but seeing how we just met, and you are Gin's sister, I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt and hold back on you."
Tsukune say the whites of Moka's glowing red eyes go black, and he knew she was about to unleash her full power against this teasing woman.
"But since you insisted on pressing the issue, and you want a proper demonstration of shinso ability. Allow me to finally introduce you to whom is the only true Alpha female on this Bus as I show you your proper…"
Moka, in a blur as fast if not more so than Akaio had been, launched herself for the woman's face with her claw-like fingernails extended from her right hand.
"…PLACE!"
Akaio, already too late to dodge the attack, could only think about her mistake in underestimating a shinso's power, or how jealous she can get.
"Damn! I knew she wasn't trying yet but I didn't expect this!"
Moka's smile let Akaio know she also knew she had won. Her nails were only millimeters away from giving Akaio a permanent daily reminder of her folly every time she looked in a mirror.
"And here I allowed myself to think I could match her. Even if the full moon were out, there's no way I'd get my face out of the way in time. Great-Grandfather wanted confirmation of the shinso abilities, I hope my scared face will be enough…"
Akaio wasn't just sitting there waiting for her delicate skin to be ripped open. She was moving as fast as she could to get out of the way. She did have enough experience with high-speed movement though to know her efforts would ultimately prove futile.
"This is going to hurt."
She braced for the blow and the tearing sensation.
It never came.
From the corner of her eye a large hand, a man's hand, moved even quicker than Moka's and grabbed her by the wrist.
"Gin-Gin-Kun?"
Then she realized Gin couldn't have gotten in position fast enough to be there.
She saw an equally stunned expression on Moka's face as she looked down on the surprise intruder's appendage now pushing her hand away from Akaio's face
"…..WOW!... How did he do that?"
Akaio watched in amazement as Tsukune wrapped his free hand around Moka's waist as the two twisted horizontally in midair down the aisle past her. Moka seemed just as surprised by Tsukune's eyes looking at her's just millimeters away.
"He's…I can't believe how fast….he's….."
Then he impressed them both once more. Once he was at the lower end of the twist his right foot planted in the aisle and using their combined momentum he forced them both into a standing upright position on just his one leg.
They finished in what looked like a flamenco pose with their hands above their heads and the other set of hands on the small of each other's backs.
The look they shared was beyond "warm". They were painfully in love. Akaio even felt a twinge of jealousy.
"He's next level. He's truly amazing."
Having just escaped a near scrap, Akaio wasn't foolish to stay in arms reach of Moka, even if Tsukune was there to stop her. She wasn't as fast as him, but she was close enough for Akaio to be wary of.
By the time she finished this thought she had moved pasted the other stunned girls and was again by Bus Driver's side.
He smiled knowing up towards her.
"Impressive, ain't they?"
She smirked while still looking back at the young lovers locked in their dance pose.
"A bit."
This made Bus Driver chuckle again.
Moka looked into Tsukune's eyes with amazement and wonder.
"…..how?" was all she could ask him, which made him blush profusely. He leaned in to whisper into her ear. It took effort on her part not to show how much she wished it were a kiss on her neck instead.
"Let's not injure Gin's sister. Seems to be a bad way to end the day."
When he parted from her to look into her eyes again she lowered her hand to touch his cheek as he wrapped the other hand around her waist as well.
"Well…if you insist."
They then turned back towards the front of the Bus at the sudden sound of enthusiastic clapping.
"BRAVO!" Akaio called out as she clapped.
"Now THAT is more like it! THAT is what shinso power should be!"
Akaio then stood and bowed lightly in their direction.
"I'd truly love to stay and get acquainted with all of Ginei's good friends, Kurumu Kurono, Mizore Shiriyuki, Ruby Tojo, Yukari Sendou, and Kokoa Shuzen."
She nodded to each in turn. She even winked again a Kokoa knowingly, which made her target flare red around her neck as she glared back at the audacious woman.
Everyone seemed put off by the fact that she had known them by name this whole time.
"And I would just love to have a complete sparing match with you Moka Akashiya, you indeed have lived up to your illustrious reputation, as only the daughter of Issa Shuzen and Akasha Bloodriver could."
Then she very deeply bowed in Tsukune's direction.
"And of course the greatest honor is having met you, our new Dark Lord."
"New Dark Lord?"
More than one voice repeated her words in surprise.
"It is truly an honor to finally meet you, Tsukune Aono-sama."
"Um…..what?"
These were all the words a stunned Tsukune could muster.
"On behalf of our esteemed Great-Grandfather, Nokiba, and the entire Morioka Clan; please accept our humble greeting and salutations oh Great Dark Lord! Please know that Great-Grandfather is most appreciative that you have befriended our Ginei and taken him under your wing…"
Gin screamed to her through the open Bus windows.
"WHAT!? Damn it! I'm HIS Sempai!"
Akaio ignored her brother's protestations and continued.
"…and he looks forward to the day soon when he can meet the New Dark Lord in person."
Tsukune continued to have a confused look on his face, but beside him, Moka looked at him with concern. She clearly understood the implications behind the title this woman had used for her Tsukune.
Akaio was gone then. It took them all a second to realize she had again wrapped herself around her defeated brother.
"Don't worry guys! I'll have Gin-Gin-kun back to you all soon. Make sure you tell all these other hussies here at the Academy to behave themselves around him or they'll answer to me!"
Kurumu leaned out the Bus window and called down to her.
"Feel free to keep him as long as you want!"
"Yeah! Don't bring him back till you get your 'feel' of him! Hehe!"
Mizore followed in on the teasing right behind Yukari.
"Two, maybe three years' worth even!"
Gin only had enough energy left to glare at them in annoyance.
"Can we please…just…go now?"
Suddenly Akaio crawled up on her defeated little brother's back, forcing him to give her a piggy-back ride to the waiting tilt-rotor. She only then gave the way too excited Haiji a glance.
"You are….Haiji Miyamoto, right?'
"I'm….I'm…I'm…..a…."
Gin sighed heavily as he answered for his dumbfounded friend.
"That's Haiji."
"Yeah!...I'm Haiji."
Akaio appraised him briefly before speaking again.
"He'll do, I suppose."
Gin sent her an agitated look over his shoulder.
"What do you mean 'he'll do'?"
Akaio smiled down on Haiji from Gin's back as Gin looked on in suspicion.
"So you're my Gin-Gin-kun's little friend?"
Haiji replied with way too much enthusiasm.
"Yes O Great and Gorgeous Wolf Goddess!"
Akaio smirked at him with mirth showing in her golden orbs.
"Well, you want to go keep him company? It's only for two nights and you'll be back after that."
"What the hell?"
Gin clearly put off by this suggestion, but Haiji didn't let the grass grow under his feet before responding.
"I get to be near you, ride in the tilt-rotor AND stay at one of your family's undoubtedly amazing homes? YES, MA'AM! I'd love to!"
Akaio nodded, before adding a caveat.
"I of course plan to spend as much time with my Gin-Gin-kun as I can, but Great-Grandfather does expect me to work some. He can keep you company while I'm working."
Akaio then leaned in and in a sultry whisper let her hot breath carry her words to Gin's ear.
"But don't you worry my sweet Baby Brother. The first thing we'll do is get in the bath together so I can scrub every inch of you clean. I'll get my fingers in every nook and crease and make sure none of your pretty fur is matted. I CAN'T WAIT!"
Gin winced and blushed at this suggestion, only to have her add fuel to this particular fire with her next words.
"And you can return the favor. I'll let you scrub every inch of me too baby brother."
Gin looked mortified, which only made that wicked sister of his happier.
"Let's just go already!"
With these words, Gin stomped off with Akaio riding him like a horse. Haiji was quick to move after them in fear of being left behind.
"Really nice to meet you all!"
Akaio waved to them all as they departed. Near the Bus door, she hollered up towards Bus Driver.
"You tell sensei that I'll be back day after tomorrow with Gin-Gin-kun, and I'll make sure I've budgeted enough time for me to come to play with her properly, Okay?"
Bus Driver chuckled at this as he waved bye to her.
"I'll be sure to warn her!"
Once again a very drunk Shizuka drunkenly jumped up from her chair, knocking it over this time.
Kogame stared back through alcohol dimmed eyes with a frustrated expression.
"Again?"
As she looked around nervously. Shizuka screamed out at her companion in obvious fear.
"I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING STALKED! THERE'S EYES ON ME EVERYWHERE!"
Kogame sighed and shook her head.
"I'll open another bottle."
As she stood she began to stumble and fell in the floor, laughing. Shizuka practically leaped up onto the table at the sudden sound and let out a cat-like screech and hiss which only made Kogame laugh even more.
As the siblings and Haiji moved off towards the waiting tilt-rotor Tsukune tried to avoid looking at Akaio's rear end.
"How in the world does she not show some panty in that miniskirt sitting that way?"
The errant thought made Tsukune spare her rear another quick glance in a final hope, then suddenly a pain struck him from the right side of the head.
"Did Moka see me looking?"
When he looked in her direction she looked back more concerned for him than angry.
It was only then that he realized that from across the aisle from them, Kurumu was sending him a downright vicious look.
"Huh?"
Her angry expression changed suddenly to shock, and then to an awkward smile before she turned away from him.
"Damn, I need to stop that. I shouldn't have this lack of control!"
Kurumu berated herself for having done that without thinking.
Tsukune wasn't the only one to see that Kurumu had sent him a rare angry expression. Mizore and Ruby caught each other also witnessing the act, and awkwardly exchanged curious expressions.
"Here we thought Kyoko had a brother complex…."
Only Mizore, Ruby and Kurumu could hear Yukari's whispered words. They all began to snicker.
"What's that guys?"
Tsukune called back to them to see what they were laughing about. They answered him in unison.
"OH! NOTHING!"
For some reason that made them all snicker more as they moved back to take their seats now that the Bus was moving again. Tsukune seemed confused, but Moka sent them rebuking glares.
Once back in their seat, Yukari again whispered to Ruby.
"I wonder who Akaio's 'sensei' is?"
From Akaio's own words Ruby suspected that a certain feline teacher was undoubtedly Akaio's "sensei", but Ruby had a more pressing issue on her mind at the moment.
"I'm more interested to find out more about what you told me last night."
Yukari's mirthful expression took on a momentary cast of confusion before clarity shown in her eyes.
"Oh yeah! I just know there's got to be something in his medical records that was bothering Dr. Yuji."
Ruby pensively looked out the window as the Morioka tilt-rotor's two propellers began to whirl up for take-off.
"I hate to pry into his business, but it's our duty to protect him. We need to know if there's something that threatens him."
Yukari's eyes flowed Ruby's line of vision just in time to see the helicopter/airplane hybrid lift off the ground.
"We can't let another incident like what happened with the Protection Committee last year. We have to know everything we can about our Tsukune to keep him safe. He may no longer be a simple Human, but his powers and notoriety make him an even greater target than before."
With her eyes never leaving the tilt-rotor until it was beyond her ability to follow it any longer, it was clear Akaio's "interest", really Morioka Nokiba's interest, in Tsukune had reinforced Ruby's suspicions that Tsukune was not going to be left alone by anyone.
It was only then that Ruby and Yukari both looked at the back of Tsukune's head a couple rows up from them.
"Right! Now we just have to figure out how to get our hands on that file."
Ruby threw her right arm around her exuberant young co-conspirator's shoulder and gave her a reassuring half-hug.
"All in good time Yuki-chan."
