Disclaimer: Don't own nuthin', don't get any royalties for anything which isn't mine, so leave me alone!

-: telepathic communication.

"_": speech which can be heard through such devices as Phones, TVs, Crystal Balls, etc.


Chapter 7: Calls Made & Ammo Loaded!

6:30 AM. The alarm went off in the boy butler's room. An arm swung out and smashed it into the floor, breaking it. The nightstand fared little better, becoming about ten pounds of kindling.

The bed's occupant put said arm across his face in annoyance. What should have been a leisurely transfer of control while sleeping just got more complicated. The other inhabitant of the body was still unconscious.

Shoujiro sighed. tiredly. Things weren't going according to plan today so far. Hayate was still out of it. Had the shock of being told you were never a human that harsh and unacceptable? Or was it a series of the events going on which contributed to his breakdown? He wasn't a head shrink, so all he could do was make guesses all he liked. Anyway, the day wasn't gonna sort itself out, so he might as well make the most of it and just deal with it.

Changing into the sweats he'd been wearing the night before after the incident with Saizou and Mizore, Shoujiro went into the kitchen area to see if maybe the new uniforms had been delivered yet. Something smelled really good. The box was just inside the door leading to the garage. Looked like Moka had signed for them. Hearing a noise from further in towards the breakfast nook in the kitchen, the cautious incubus padded silently further into the kitchen area. On the other end of the 'L' shaped section of the kitchens he saw the pink-headed Moka setting something up on the table. It was breakfast.

He didn't really want to deal with either of the two Mokas right now, but it was early and this body hadn't eaten since earlier in the evening yesterday, and that hadn't been nearly enough. His stomach gave away his presence to the other person with a loud roar of challenge. She spun around quickly holding a large fork, from which was hanging a sausage. It smelled divine to the young man.

Moka relaxed and gave him a once-over. She raised a cotton candy-colored eyebrow. "Hayate?"

Shaking his head ruefully, Shoujiro sighed. "He's not conscious yet."

For just a moment a look of utter devastation crossed the girl's face before she regained control of her emotions. "If you like... you can join me for breakfast.", Moka offered. There were sausages and scrambled eggs, home-fried potatoes with onions, toast and coffee. A simple repast from a Western point of view.

Smiling a bit, Shoujiro accepted the offer. "Thanks. And thanks for signing for the school uniforms, by the way." He took a seat opposite the pinkette and dug in.

For several minutes, there was no talk but for the clatter of silverware on plates or the swish of napkins being used to wipe grease off chins and mouths. Moka was the first to speak up during a lull in the meal.

"So... Shoujiro, was it?", she put aside her napkin and folded her arms on the table in front of her. "Why aren't you treating me the same way you would my inner self?"

He stopped cutting a sausage... his eighth... and put down the cutlery he was using. "Well, Moka, I don't blame you for what your hyper bitch half does because you're two distinct personalities. Now if she were out here, I'd have some words for her... oh I dunno... say, about how if she has a problem with me she takes it up with me and not someone who won't fight back against her like, say Hayate.", he told her matter-of-factly.

Blushing with embarrassment, Moka apologized. "I'm sorry about that. She's not easy to get along with at the best of times. Even I disagree with her on occasion."

Waving one hand in negation, the incubus demurred. "Nah... like I said, you are your own person. By the way, is she awake right now?"

Shaking her pink head, the teenage girl took a sip of coffee before speaking. "She hasn't said one word to me since yesterday at the cafeteria. The botched explanation and aftermath", Moka said bitterly.

Pursing his lips, Shoujiro whistled soundlessly. "That bad, huh? Hayate's thoughts and actions were barely coherent before I got my rude awakening last night."

"What did happen last night, Shoujiro-san?", Moka asked curiously, all thoughts of continuing the meal forgotten for the moment.

Taking a gulp of his black coffee, the blue-haired incubus thought, 'Well, she was considerate enough to take care of the delivery and had enough breakfast for me, so I owe her for that much.' Clearing his throat, Shoujiro said, "First off, let's skip the formality, Moka. I wasn't the one raised in a Japanese household; Hayate was. Being polite doesn't equate with being nice in my book, and I'd prefer to just say what's on my mind. Second... I'm not sure about everything that did happen last night." He scratched his head in befuddlement. "One minute I'm dreaming of seducing Lady Gaga in her latest dress, a beef jerky number, and the next thing I know I'm catching a straight punch from the gorilla who tried raping you and flattening my other half." Shoujiro didn't pay much attention to her blush at the mention of wooing the pop diva. He'd heard the front door bell ring.

"Expecting company this early?", he asked Moka. It was 6:58 AM. Just another lazy weekday morning at Youkai Private Academy.

"No. Considering how far we are from the dorms, we... Hayate and I... don't meet Kurumu until we enter school grounds, if not in class before the final bell", the vampire girl answered, just as confused as he.

*~Ding-Dong!~*

"C'mon", the blunette boy said and suited action to words. He didn't wait to see if Moka followed him or not.

Both teenagers made their way into the foyer, the door bell ringing for the seventh time. The sweat-suited incubus motioned for Moka to take the initiative and open the front door.

It was Kurumu. The succubus looked a bit distracted because she hadn't noticed the other person next to the pink-haired vampire yet. It looked like it had been a rough night for her as well. Dark circles had made appearances around each eye, giving her a look similar to a raccoon's.

"Morning, Moka! I just thought of a few things to-", she stopped in mid-sentence finally catching sight of the pinkette's companion. Kurumu's purple eyes looked him up and down, finally settling about his face. Her eyes hardened into chunks of amethyst and the fullness of her lips pulled into a thin line. The busty succubus marched through the open door approaching the neutral faced incubus. Her arm moved in a blur.

*Smack!*

Holding a hand to his stinging left cheek, which was already starting to show a palm-shaped red mark, Shoujiro gave a lopsided grin to the seething blunette female. "G'morning to you too, beautiful. Was that more foreplay, or were you just being a big tease again?", he asked Kurumu, his eyes dancing mischievously.

"You big jerk!", the incensed girl retorted hotly. "you didn't even bother to explain things! I spent the other night crying myself to sleep because I thought Hayate had snapped at me!"

Shoujiro narrowed his eyes. "I think I explained things well enough. When a girl starts grinding her ass into your crotch like an electric pencil sharpener (Moka started blushing heavily at this point, imagining the scene playing out), knocks you to the floor for some tongue jousting, and tearing her clothes off one minute to getting redressed and accusing you of duplicity, meanwhile leaving you with a hard-on and nowhere to put it a guy's gotta think: 'either she's bipolar, or she's nothing more than a big flirt and cock-tease'. And although you sure seem to swing from one emotion to another real quick, I don't think you fit the definition of bipolar. You fit the definition of a teenage girl." He considered his next words carefully, because this girl wasn't all there in the brains department, and difficult words might throw her. "And as for you saying you cried yourself to sleep? If you knew... if you only knew how many tears Hayate had shed over the years you'd quit being such a whiny baby and join a convent, because there'd be no hope for you out there in the real world. Grow up, Kurumu-chan." The unsealed youkai boy folded his arms together, his face a stony mien.

"And what exactly is that supposed to mean?", Kurumu asked irately, blowing a strand of light blue hair out of her face.

The incubus just threw his hands up in frustration. "You know what? I give up." He turned to his green-eyed companion. "Shall we finish breakfast? I'd hate to see it go to waste by getting cold, which it probably is now", Shoujiro noted mournfully.

The pink-haired vampiress giggled. "Nothing a few minutes in a microwave won't fix, Shoujiro-kun."

"Ahhh yes, the microwave. The bane of, and answer to, mankind's culinary issues", Shoujiro noted again, mock-sagely. It earned him another giggle from the pinkette cook and a glower from the fuming succubus.

"Hey! Don't go ignoring me! Wait up!", Kurumu yelled out, following the two back to the kitchen.


Laughing with a hand to her stomach while she placed a plate of food next to the still ill-tempered Lilim female, Moka said, "So that's what happened. Now why doesn't that surprise me?" She passed the plate and a smile to Kurumu.

Jabbing her fork into a sausage like she intended to mangle it, Kurumu took a huge bite out of it and grimaced while chewing. "Glad to *chew chew* see you have a *gulp* sense of humor too, Moka", she finished saying throughout the process of demolishing her breakfast.

"I wonder if speaking fluently with your mouth full counts as a learned skill or innate for a succubus?", mused Shoujiro aloud with a grin plastered on his face as he watched both girls talk. He'd cradled his head on his left arm, chin resting between thumb and forefinger, cheek against the palm. This sent the pink-haired girl into a fresh bout of laughter as she caught his meaning. Kurumu gave him a kick under the table.

"Geez! Watch that instep, girl... they're murder on the shins!", Shoujiro complained, rubbing his lower leg where she'd hit with her hard-soled black patent leather loafer.

"I would if you were nicer to me!", the sour succubus huffed.

"I tried that once, and it's gotten me nothing but trouble since!", he retorted.

"Well try harder, then!", Kurumu screamed, looking to get the last word in.

"Nice to see you two getting along so well", Moka interjected, a bright smile on her face.

They turned to her with equal expressions of incredulous outrage on their faces.

"Are you smoking crack, Moka?/You call this getting along?", they both asked nearly simultaneously. The Rosario-wearing girl couldn't take it and broke down into hysterical laughter again.

Wiping tears of hilarity from her eyes, she said, "No and yes, to answer both of you. Like little kids who get into each other's hair but still play together."

Shoujiro just gave Moka a deadpan expression. "Riiight." He stood up from the table and faced her. "Again, thanks for the meal, Moka. I'm off to get dressed." Taking his leave, he grabbed the box of clothes from its spot by the back door and went into the Servant's Wing.

The two girls watched as the blue-haired male left. Kurumu was the first to open her mouth.

"But really, Moka, what's the deal... breakfast with him?"

Moka shrugged. "It wasn't as bad as you might think, Kurumu. At first I thought it was Hayate myself. I had planned on making breakfast for the both of us since I had the opportunity to be up before him and Ura-chan is still asleep." She made herself another cup of coffee from the big thermos she'd left on the table. "Shoujiro was actually pretty down-to-earth and easy to talk to. He's rough around the edges, but I guess when you're 3 to 4 going on 15 with no parents involved in your raising, it's a wonder he isn't somehow worse."

"I'll say he's rough around the edges. I get blunt force trauma just from him talking alone.", Kurumu grumbled. "Anyway, what're you talking about with '3-4 going on 15'?"

"Remember what I said last night about Shoujiro being like Ura-chan?" At the attentively listening succubus' nod, Moka continued. "Well, it turns out he was sealed away for almost 12 years by his mother for reasons yet unknown."

Kurumu whistled in amazement. "How the hell is he speaking so well then? Shouldn't he be using baby words?"

"Your guess is as good as mine there. You'd probably have to ask him yourself."

The usually perky blunette rolled her eyes. "Like that's gonna happen anytime soon."

"Try being a little more open-minded, Kurumu. You never know...", Moka trailed off meaningfully. She finished her coffee and stood up. "Anyway, I have to get the dishes done before we leave. Have some more to eat or drink if you like." So saying, she started stacking the used dishes and silverware and made a beeline to the scullery machine.

While the pink-haired vampire was sticking dirty pots and dishes into the machine, Kurumu chewed on some buttered toast and gave some thought to what had been said so far. The morning hadn't started off on a good note. Hayate wasn't here and the interloper, his original personality, was. Was Hayate hiding in a (figuratively speaking) shell, and if so how to get him to come out?

'Maybe I'll have to skip lunch to call Mom rather than wait until after class. I want the Old Hayate back, not this New one... old new one... ugh.' She grimaced as she finished the toast.


Arriving at the school gates, the group of three were surprised to see four individuals in black uniforms with yellow armbands waiting. Before any of the group could cross the threshold of the gates, the one in front, a tall specimen with long blond hair and a vulpine cast to his facial features spoke.

"Ayasaki Hayate, you have been summoned to the Academy Headmaster's office. Come with us."

"I see", the liveried Lilim said with a half-lidded stare at the four. 'Might as well see what the Old Spook wants'. He turned to the two girls behind him. "I'll meet up with you ladies later." Shoujiro walked through the school gates and was surrounded on four sides by the three young men and one young woman in those black Matrix knockoff dusters. Students who had arrived early for preclass instruction or club activities made rapid and frightened space for the group of five to move through. Most of the watching students had looks of pity, along with more than a few of vicious joy, for the plight (imagined or otherwise) of the blue-haired male.

Shoujiro noted the feel and smell of each of his guards as they drifted close enough to him. The tall blond one smelled of blood and burning... flesh. Not a good sign. His aura flared like a forest fire in angry reds, muddy orange and greyish black shot through with muddy yellow. 'Oh, this guy's a real winner', the incubus thought sarcastically to himself, 'Ambitious, prideful, and pissed as hell about having to pick me up this morning.' Eying the young woman with long black hair to his left, he noticed her eying him with a measuring almost hungry look. That, and what he got from her spooked Shoujiro a bit. The scent of silk and sweet poison. 'Oh yes, a wonderful young lady indeed.' He decided against looking at her any longer, not sure if he really wanted to see what she might be thinking or feeling at the moment. The other two student guards he couldn't really concentrate on enough for an aural reading except for their scents: one smelled like sandalwood incense and also something earthy, like dirt or stone, and the other one smelled of ozone and jasmine incense. Raising both eyebrows higher Shoujiro wondered, 'Elementals?' He ran down the list of evidence in his head. 'Okay, the guy in front is some kind of fire-user, and a particularly nasty one at that. The chippy to my left giving off the Wednesday Addams vibes is some kind of silk-making poisonous insect type. But the other two... let's call 'em mooks... one seems to be aligned with earth and the second one is some kind of air or lightning type. Individually, I could probably take them... that fire-user might be a problem though. All together? It's likely to be a pyrrhic victory. Too dicey for my taste. Better not try anything... yet', he decided. Settling the matter in his mind, he kept pace with his guard detail.


Moka and Kurumu watched as their companion got taken away. Students who had been bottle-necked waiting started to push through the school gates.

"I wonder who those guys were?", Moka asked with a quizzical look.

"That, girls, was the Academy's Public Safety Commission", Kagome Ririko-sensei put in as she came to a stop near the two. The male students hung back for a while admiring the view. Chuckling, the busty brunette math teacher continued. "I always thought Hayate-kun would be trouble, just not how much. What a naughty, naughty boy he is." She pushed her glasses a bit higher on the bridge of her nose and smiled mysteriously.

"Any other day, Sensei, and I'd disagree with you", Kurumu said, giving the bespectacled lady the eye. "This time, however, you have no idea how correct you are. C'mon, Moka. If it's not that bad, we'll probably see him later." She led the still confused vampire away from Kagome-sensei and off into the main school building.

Perhaps calling her mother would be best done now, homeroom be damned.


The black-suited group filed into the Headmaster's inner office with minimal delay. Shoujiro idly thought that the hooded Priest looked more like a white-robed Jawa wearing glasses. With the amount of youki practically screaming from the Old Spook the slightly worried young man pondered if he'd maybe made a mistake somewhere. 'I could go for a thermal detonator about now.'

"Ayasaki Hayate, as you commanded, Mikogami-sama", the tall blond intoned in an almost bored fashion.

"Yes, yes, thank you. You may go, Kuyou." With a dismissive wave the false Priest turned his attention to the man of the hour. The blond gave Shoujiro a cold look and then turned on his heel, leaving the way he'd entered from, his flunkies following in his wake. The door closed.

"Well, well, Ayasaki-kun. I didn't quite expect to have you visit me this early in the morning, but matters are afoot which I cannot nor will not tolerate."

Scratching his head, the blue-headed boy drawled, "Y'know, there is such an invention called the telephone, Old Man. Y'know, that thing by your desk's right side? The old-fashioned thing with the ivory handle? You pick that up and dial the set of numbers you need to in order to talk to someone... you should try it sometime." Half seriously and half sarcastically saying as such, he pantomimed picking up the phone handset and dialing something.

"Some things need to be said or done in person, Ayasaki-kun", the Headmaster replied while taking his glasses off. "Now, tell me what you were planning to do by using gravity to punch a hole in the space-time continuum?"

Blinking, Shoujiro said without thinking too much about it, "Garbage disposal."

Head jerking back in shock, the White-Robed Figure's eyes widened. "Let me get this straight. You used a quantum singularity, in essence a black hole... which consequently nearly broke the Great Barrier last night in doing so... just to get rid of some rubbish?"

Shoujiro thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "That's right."

Trembling with the effort to keep his seat, the false Priest exclaimed, "Are you insane? Do you have any idea of the possible consequences of your actions, boy?"

Having the good sense to at least look sheepish, the incubus smiled apologetically. "Oops?"

Rubbing his face with one hand, the hooded headmaster silently counted down from ten. 'Don't lose your cool. The boy may not understand the nature of what he's doing. Explain it to him so he can understand. Then scare the stupid right out of him.' He cleared his throat.

"Oops doesn't even begin to cover the severity of what you've nearly done, Ayasaki-kun. If the Great Barrier goes down this school, indeed the very existence of the supernatural world, would be unveiled for humanity's disclosure. Imagine, if you would, what might happen if one of your kind were to wind up in some government or private company's laboratory as a specimen. It would be like finding Pandora's Box all over again. And if a single vampire should be captured somehow... well, I shudder to think of the massacre which would ensue as humanity tries desperately to find and remove any trace of monsters from its midst, and monsters would likewise begin to suspect their fellows of being former human spies and saboteurs. Is this a clear enough picture for you, Ayasaki-kun, to see where your reckless action might have led us?" Mikogami folded his hands in front of himself. "What have you to say for yourself, Ayasaki-kun? Aside from 'Oops'."

Opening his mouth and raising a finger to make a point, Shoujiro stopped for a moment and tried to start again. He did this a couple of times while the headmaster watched, waiting for his answer. The nonplussed young man sighed and spread his arms in a shrug.

"I guess... I'm sorry is all I can say. Not that I particularly care about this school or the students here who make life more difficult than it needs to be, but there are a few people here who I wouldn't want to put in harm's way." He let his arms drop to his sides. "So, now what? Am I being expelled? Is that why you called me up here?"

"That is an option still on the table, young man. Your continued enrollment depends on your willingness to make up for your past mistake. Agree to forgo using the same ability which you used to make the black hole last night and this matter will be considered behind us. If you persist in using that power while under the Barrier, well... I may have no choice but to seal your youkai nature away, or at the most extreme take matters into my own hands." The look the White-Robed Headmaster of Youkai Academy gave Shoujiro was accompanied by a very brief wave of killing intent.

Shoujiro felt a stab of fear when he thought of the possibility of being locked away in the dark again. Only this time Hayate would also be locked away. This scared the incubus more than the Headmaster's threat of corporeal/capital punishment did. The kid didn't deserve anymore shit to deal with right now.

Seeing his strategy for bringing the Ayasaki boy to heel working, the Headmaster relaxed his posture a bit.

"Now, despite the number of reports I've been getting about your increasingly erratic behavior I'm also hearing some good things about you as well. Mainly things to do with your grades and your duties as a butler. I was considering suspending you from your duties, but I'm not going to until these changes in your behavior start affecting your performance. As it is I'll be calling for an expert to come and test you."

'Shit... the Altar Boy Chaser is bringing in a shrink. Things are just getting better and better', Shoujiro grumbled to himself. He raised a hand.

"What is it, Ayasaki-kun?"

"Will this 'expert' interfere at all in my current lifestyle? In school or outside of it while he's... while I'm working?" '*whew!* I almost slipped up there.' The nervous bluehead sweatdropped.

The eyes of the fake Priest narrowed to slits as they appraised the young man. This time they swept over him from head to toe, paying particular attention to the thoracic region around his body center. Those blazing white eyes then went to his face.

"Tell me, Ayasaki-kun... has anything... strange... been happening to you lately? And although it may be thought of as off-topic, I must say that is a lovely shade of blue your eyes have developed... seeing as how nearly a week ago they were lighter blue in color. Quite remarkable."

Wondering if perhaps the Old Spook really did go to bat for the other team, Shoujiro nervously smiled. "Heh heh, I'm kind of... attached to them myself. And as for strange, whatever goes on around here every day as 'normal' could be considered 'strange' where I grew up, Sir."

Chucking benignly, the Headmaster put back on his glasses. "Quite. Now, I'm certain you wouldn't want to miss the final bell and get a tardy mark on your record, so I'm letting you go with the warning this time. When the time comes you'll be called for those psychological evaluations. Until then try to keep your nose clean, young man", he warned.

"Sure! May I go, then?", Shoujiro half-turned towards the door, relieved to finally have this done and over with.

Gesturing to the door of his office with a casual movement, the school's head nodded. "Go on. Just remember to keep your emotions in check."

Agreeing to do just that, the black-clad young man quickly made his escape. After the doors had shut closed another presence within the room drifted from the corner where it had been silently observing the proceedings from the deep shadows. The figure of the Bus Driver smirked as he placed a Corona Gigantes between his teeth and lit it with a gloved finger.

"That boy positively reeks of Chaos, old friend", the Driver noted while puffing on the clipped end of his Cuban cigar. The air soon filled with the aromatic blend of tobacco and hints of coffee.

"Hmm... maybe I should have put a Lock on him then, just to play it safe", the Academy head mused out loud.

The Driver shook his head. "He would probably just look for a way around the Lock's restrictions, given his act."

Sighing with as much frustration as resignation, the white-frocked figure straightened his posture. "I guess it's time to bring in the other candidate, then. He might be a good stabilizing factor for the Ayasaki boy."

"You want me to bring him in now?", the Driver asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. I think this can wait until the week before Golden Week in Japan. The other students will be going through their midterms, and he should have enough time to get his feet wet, so to speak." Mikogami Tenmei reached for a folder which had been sitting on the left side of his desk, put there earlier by his aide. He opened the folder to look at the inside. On the first page with a photo could be read:

Name: Aono Tsukune.

Age: 15.

Sex: Male.

Birthday: June 22.

Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan.

Blood Type: AB.

Hair Color: Brown.

Eye Color: Brown.

Monster Type: -

Family: Aono Koji (Father), Aono Kasumi (Mother), Aono Kyouko (Cousin).

Physical Traits: Average.

Mental Traits: Average.

Academic Grades: Average.

Supplementary Notes: The subject displays little in the way of notable contributing factors in school life other than his willingness to be open and his gentle disposition. He failed the entrance exam for a local high school and is currently a ronin student. Other considerations aside, the subject scored very highly on the list of qualities wanted for the 'special program' at Youkai Private Academy.

**END REPORT**

The photo shows a young man smiling gently at the camera. His hair is a scruffy dark brown and chocolate brown eyes sparkle in the flash of the camera. The Headmaster of Youkai Academy closed the report folder and put it back on the desk.

'I might as well get started with the first call of the day I'll have to make', he thought shaking his head tiredly while picking up his office phone's handle and dialing a number.


Meanwhile, in the office of the Chairman of the School Board of Directors at a certain academy in the Human World...

... the phone rang prompting one of its occupants, a white-haired young man in a dark gray livery suit, to pick up the handset to answer it.

"This is the office of Board Chairwoman Athena Tennōs. The Mistress isn't available right now so... hmm? Oh! Yes, Sir... Yes, Sir, I'll tell her now." He held his hand over the phone's mouthpiece and said in low tones, "Athena, it's the Head of Youkai Academy on the line for you. He says the matter is of some urgency." The young man held the handset to the blond woman sitting behind her desk sipping a cup of tea. She let out a breath in frustration and set the tea cup down on its saucer.

"I swear, if it's not one thing this morning it's another. First with the building contractors about the new gym being built, and now this", she grumbled quietly to herself taking the phone from her butler's outstretched hand. She put her hand over the mouth piece.

"Machina, please leave the room, and make sure no one disturbs me while I'm on the phone", Athena ordered. The young man, Machina, bowed and left the room, making sure to close the door behind him.

Taking her hand off the mouth piece, the young blond heiress of the Tennōs Family held the phone to her ear. "This is Athena Tennōs speaking. To what do I owe the honor of your call this early, Mikogami-sama?", she asked, stressing the earliness of the call. An eerie chuckle graced her ear.

"If you think having to deal with contractors is bad dear girl, try dealing with the students which necessitate the need for such people on a semesterly basis because of damage to parts of the school. Then come back to me and complain." Clearing his throat, the school head of Youkai continued. "But other than the obvious, how are things in your neck of the woods, child?"

"Well enough, I suppose. The students here don't really cause any trouble, the seasons change on schedule like always, and time marches on. It's too boring sometimes, I think. Now, what urgent matter did you have to talk to me about, Sir?" Athena picked up her cup of tea and took a sip. It wouldn't do to let it go to waste. Good lapsang souchong tea from the Wuyi region was getting harder to acquire these days, and the tea tasted best while still hot.

"I was just calling to inquire about a former employee of yours. It was a while ago, but I believe you may still remember this person. Does the name Ayasaki Hayate ring any bells?"

Athena did a spit-take, spewing her mouthful of tea across the papers on her desk. Coughing violently, she grabbed her handkerchief to clean up the mess. "It has been a while since I last heard that name, Mikogami-sama. How did you come across it, taking into account the type of school you run?"

Seeing the scene in his mind of the little bit of chaos he'd brought into the life of Athena Tennōs, Headmaster Mikogami laughed. "The lad is actually one of my first year students. A rather troubled and troublesome one, to be sure."

A pit forming in her stomach, the young head of Hakuou Academy felt slightly faint. 'What is Hayate doing in a school for monsters?', she thought, her mind whirling with the implications. 'He'd be torn apart if any of those other students even got a whiff that he was a human! I've got to get him out of there somehow, and soon.' Marshaling her voice so as to not let her emotions show, Athena addressed her elder.

"How is it that Hayate came to be enrolled in your school, Sir? I must ask because of his racial origins. You are aware that he's human?" She bit her thumb, worrying it a bit. Not ladylike behavior, but she felt the situation called for it, screw etiquette.

"We have a 'special program' here at Youkai Academy... to foster better understanding with humans, so that the rest of Monsterkind may coexist peacefully with Humankind. Hayate-kun is the first candidate who was tapped for the special scholarship given to select humans to attend here for that purpose."

"So basically you give someone a free scholarship, all expenses paid, to what amounts to a youkai meat-grinder, all to fulfill some long distant and probably impossible goal of coexistence... yet you have that rule where humans are killed on discovery. And you threw Hayate into that deathtrap maze?" Her saffron colored eyes turned completely white and her carefully coiffed blond hair drifted around her head. An aura of ineffable power filled the room as the Hakuou Head Director seemed to gain height in her rising fury.

"Temper, temper, child. As it is the issue of Hayate-kun being in danger of getting killed for being human is now a moot one."

As quickly as the surge of power came it went, causing the young woman to slump back into her chair. "Don't go jerking my chain, old man, just because you can. Now what do you mean by 'it's a moot issue'?" Just talking with Mikogami Tenmei was starting to give her a migraine.

"By that I mean you no longer need worry. He's made a few friends here, it seems. Friends who might be counted upon to come to his aid if he needs it. Unless you'd prefer to come to the school yourself to ascertain his health and well-being. We're a bit off-topic about what I actually wanted to ask you though."

"Alright, Mikogami-sama... shoot." Maybe visiting the school would be useful.

"Hayate-kun came to my office looking for a job last week. I asked for work references and he gave me your name, though not without some pushing on my part." A chuckle. "It seems like someone did something to his body at one time to strengthen it... some kind of reinforcement spell, perhaps. Might you have knowledge of such a spell, given your family's lineage and the blood which flows in your veins?"

'Hades' Balls, that's how he got picked! Oh, Hayate, I'm so sorry I ever cast that spell on you now.' The beautiful young woman jammed her other hand in a fist against her mouth to hold back a sob from escaping her lips, not wanting the old ghoul on the other end from hearing (and quite possibly enjoying) her reaction. 'It's always me causing you misery... always me.' Athena pushed down the sorrow and guilt to where it would not bother her for now so she could answer the Youkai headmaster.

"I only know of one, Mikogami-sama. It's a Kabbalistic spell ritual designed to grant the Body of (a) God to the one on which it is cast. That person may then reach their body's fullest potential in time. But what does asking this have to do with Hayate, Sir?"

"Can the spell be reversed, child? Answer truthfully." The youkai Lord's voice held a no-nonsense tone.

"No, sir, it can't."

A sigh sounded from the other end. "Then it seems I'll have no other choice should things get much worse. I'll have to seal away his nature along with his personality."

Gripping the phone with both hands, Athena fought to keep her emotions in check. "It can't be that bad, Mikogami-sama. For a human all that spell would do is allow the body's strength, speed, and toughness to increase. Why go so far for that?"

"The problem isn't in his humanity... of which there isn't any... it's in the fact that he nearly destroyed the Barrier protecting this school last night."

"W-What? How-how did he manage that? And explain what do you mean by him having no humanity, Sir? I lived with Hayate for almost four months, and not once did I see any hints that he was anything other than an ordinary sweet six year old boy."

"An incident at the school involving Ayasaki-kun resulted in his acquiring the form and abilities of a youkai, which seems to be under the effect of the spell cast on him. Using one of the abilities granted by this enhanced youkai nature, he punched a hole through the fabric of reality with an extremely small singularity. For a rather idiotic reason, I might add. He seems to be showing signs of a mental breakdown as well, but so far is still functional. My main concern is that he doesn't destroy the school inadvertently or reveal the presence of monsters to humanity. And I'll take steps to keep that from happening however I must." The voice of the false Priest was deadly serious.

"I-I... wait. I need to see him to know what's happening." 'Hayate, a youkai? Preposterous. Even if it is true, what could have caused that? The Old Man isn't exactly telling me everything I want to hear', she thought to herself.

"I can make arrangement for lodgings here at the campus, if you like. Simply let me know when is a good time for you. But make certain that that time is soon, as I do not want this matter to go for too long."

Flipping her rotary calendar around, Athena checked what was scheduled through April. "I can probably get away from the Academy the weekend just before midterms, The week of midterms and Golden Week I have meetings to attend in Europe and here in Japan. I can give you that Saturday and Sunday, Sir."

"Excellent. I'll have you penciled in for those days. You'll be staying at the Main Guest House here. Bring your manservant if you like, there'll be room for him as well. And while you're here checking on Ayasaki-kun, I have an idea I'd like to run past you. We won't discus it now. I've held you up long enough from your morning break as it is. Aside from the serious business it was a pleasure talking to you again, Athena-chan. Good bye." The phone line clicked as Youkai Academy's headmaster hung up.

Setting the phone back on its cradle, the young blond Board Chairwoman let herself slump into her chair fully. She picked up the teacup. With a moue, she drank down the rest of the tea. It had gone cold, just as she had feared. A pity. Letting out a breath, Athena punched the call button for her aide.

"Please send Machina-kun in."

What had happened to the boy she had pushed away so long ago? If things were as bad as Headmaster Mikogami Tenmei had intimated, then perhaps she might yet make amends for her past mistakes. 'Hayate, please be well and safe', Athena prayed.


It was still early so the girls decided to check the library real quick for some books on Incubi. About ten minutes into searching, Kurumu begged off.

"I'm gonna try calling my one source of information about this. I'll see you in class later. Bye!" The librarian on duty gave the succubus a dirty look as she ran out the door and into the hallway.

Moka shook her head. 'No wonder she's failing in several subjects', the school's top idol thought with a snort and a smile. She'd probably end up tutoring her if Kurumu asked for the help. Finding a couple of likely books on demons and devils, Moka checked the books out of the library and saw she had fifteen minutes before the first bell rang.

'Doing some reading before class starts couldn't hurt', she reasoned, heading for Class 1-3.


The Human World; Phoenix, Arizona; in an undisclosed hotel suite

*Piiirrr Rrriii Rrriii Rrriii!~ *

A slender arm snaked its way out from under the bed sheets and covers. The well manicured hand with red polish on the nails grabbed the flashing cell phone on the nightstand and flipped the phone over until the glowing Caller ID display screen could be seen. A slightly exasperated sigh issued forth from the smaller of the two human-sized shapes upon seeing the name glowing there.

Her daughter knew better than to call unless it was for an absolute emergency. Curious to hear just what Kurumu thought was an 'absolute emergency', Kurono Ageha sat up with the blanket pulled up to her armpits and opened the phone.

"What is it, honey?" This said in tones which asked, 'Is this really an emergency? Because if it's not you'll be so getting it when I see you next time'.

"Momma, please! You're the only one I know who could possibly help me with this." The young girl's usually bubbly voice was tense enough to warrant further attention.

"Well, what is it, baby?" Pushing a stray lock of cyan-colored hair from her face, the mature succubus knew better than to put words in her daughter's mouth. She would get to the point faster that way.

"I... I met a boy here at school, Momma. He's..." By this point Ageha was starting to get angry. Calling this early in the day, now of all times, for a boy? 'This had better be some boy she's calling to tell me about', the purple-eyed beauty grumbled to herself irritably.

"... He's so strong, kind, gentle, considerate, cute... he's everything you could ask for in a boyfriend, or more. I... I think he may be The One, Momma. And what I see happening to him right now is tearing me apart inside!" Her daughter's voice choked out a sob. That was a red flag to the otherwise doting mother.

"Tell me what's wrong with him, sweetie. Leave nothing out." And for the next fifteen minutes or so, Ageha listened intently to the story her only little girl told her without interruption.

"How did you know what he was before you saw him change, Kurumu?" The elder Kurono was stunned. An incubus of age to go to high school? It was possible... just the same as it was possible to win the grand prize for the state lottery. The odds were a lot shorter on winning the lottery though. Succubi who gave birth to an incubus almost always crowed about it to the rest of their kind. So if any incubus had been born around the same time as her daughter, she'd have heard about it from others. And she hadn't.

"Intuition, Momma. He just... felt that way to me for some reason." Leave it to her little girl to stumble onto the one in a trillion shot of an incubus her own age, and a foundling at that. But the emotional instability of this Hayate boy would have to be addressed first.

"You said he had been sealed, honey. Did you find out who might have done that to him?"

"Moka says his other personality, Shoujiro, mentioned it being his own mother."

"Did she ever hear him use another last name, or the name of his mother?"

"Mom, his youkai nature and he were sealed away about 12 years ago as a toddler. I doubt anyone remembers their own last name or the name of their mother that long ago. Anyway, he never mentioned his mother's name, or Moka would've told me."

Ageha sighed dispiritedly. Needle In The Haystack Time it would seem. That would mean either visiting the Village of the Succubi out in the desert... or calling... to speak with the Elders there. Probably both.

"Honey, it might take a while to get anywhere with this, so I want you to be prepared for that, okay? Getting into Youkai with Headmaster Mikogami's permission isn't easy, you know. I'll call him and see if he'll accept my help as a therapist... you do remember I have that license for counseling, right? I'm not going to make any promises, but I'll do what I can. What I want you to do, Kurumu, is keep an eye on Hayate-kun until I can get a chance to interview him. Do whatever you need to to keep near him. You said he works for the school in some fashion? Try to get a job working where he is. This girl Moka is a friend of yours? There's nothing wrong with having girl friends, honey, but she's competition. All the girls there are. Finding your Destined One and keeping him is like hockey, Kurumu: The guy you want is the Goal, and every other girl out there is looking to score with him, so do everything you can to block, block, block." These little pep talks always took something out of her, but this is what a mother has to do for her child.

"Okay, Mom. I'm sorry I woke you up so early." The contrition in her daughter's voice was enough to dispel the remnants of the sour mood she'd had since answering the phone.

"Don't worry about it, baby. You did the right thing in calling me. And you were right; no one there could have helped you with this."

"Then... shoot! That was the final bell I think. I gotta go. I love you, Momma~!" *click!* The sound of the phone hitting the disconnect echoed in Ageha's ear.

"Bye, baby. I love you too", she crooned into the empty air before flipping her cell phone shut. Sleep was something she wouldn't get any more of this morning. There were plans to be made, people to be called, and places to be before laying down to sleep again. Ageha cuddled up to the shape in the bed next to her.

"Sorry, Glenn, but I have to go. My little girl needs me." She gave an apologetic kiss to the man beside her, rousing him from his slumber.

"Don' worry 'bout it, Ageha. These things happen when you have children. Go... do what you have to. The boys'll miss you. I'll miss you." The man's sleepy yet warm brown eyes crinkled at the corners a bit as he smiled up at the lovely Night Mistress.

She gave him her most winsome smile. "And I'll miss them. Give Don and the rest my love, along with this. Mmm..." A kiss even longer then the previous one left the two breathless after it ended.

"I'll give them your love, sweetheart, but not that. Don's whiskers would scratch like hell." A chuckle, rich with good humor chased after the giggle which ran in front of it. "Now maybe you should go before we start something likely to shave time off your schedule."

Ageha's amethyst eyes sparkled mischievously. One of her hands began to play with the hairs on her partner's chest.

"Maybe... one more for the road?"

The older brown-haired man's smile grew devilish. "You must've read my mind, Darlin'."

He pulled the covers over the two of them. The room soon filled with laughter and other sounds best left to the imagination.


Back at Youkai Academy...

With the last chime of the final bell announcing the start of class, a black and light blue streak zig-zagged into the room. It stopped at the fourth seat up from the blackboard and second from the window, materializing into the form of one moody incubus. The back door slid shut seemingly on its own.

Shoujiro took his seat and leaned back trying to catch his breath. He spoke to the brooding bandaged orc behind him in a hushed whisper.

"Change in plans, Saizou-kun. You'll be starting with me the first day." He gave the startled bully boy a wicked grin.

"What the fuck happened...", the blond boy started to whisper until he saw the hard glare from the shorter boy, "... Sir?"

Letting out a tired breath, Shoujiro whispered, "My alter-ego isn't in shape to deal with anything right now." At the orc's puzzled look he clarified, "You try to deal with a week where your entire world turns on its head and see how you take it. Anyway, I'm standing in for him for now. We'll talk more at lunchtime. Teach is giving us the old hairy eyeball." Finishing up, the two return to their original postures as Nekonome-sensei continues with roll call.

Two minutes after Final Bell rang a panting blue-headed girl staggered into Class 1-3. "*Pant!* Sorry for being late, *Pant!* Sensei." She collapsed into her chair at the back of the classroom.

'That's unusual for Ayasaki-kun and Kurono-san', Shizuka Nekonome thought to herself, frowning a bit while marking the succubus as tardy.

"Ayasaki-kun? Kurono-san?", the nekomata teacher called out.

"Yes, Sensei?/Yeah, Teach?", they both said simultaneously.

"I want to speak with the two of you before Homeroom ends." Whispers arose from some of the other students upon that announcement. Clapping her hands together to get the class' attention, Nekonome-sensei said loudly, "Okay class! Let's start on our Literature. Last time..." She went on for the entire period about Murakami Haruki.

As the rest of the class settled down, three other people in the classroom were taking notes of another type.


Nekonome-sensei followed the cyan-haired pair out into the hallway and closed the classroom door.

"Now, I know it's nice that the two of you have such a good friendship going but if you're going to fool around please do it after classes are all over, okay?", she said to both Lilim. Both started sputtering: Shoujiro with laughter, Kurumu with embarrassment.

"I think you got the wrong idea here, Teach.", he chuckled, waving one of his hands in negation.

"M-Me... and him? Please tell me you're joking, Sensei!", she cried out in indignation.

"I've seen you hanging off of his arm many mornings for more than a week now, Kurono-san... there's no need to deny it, is there?" Nekonome-sensei gave Kurumu a knowing smile. "I used to go to school here too... I know how it is. You feel the Call of the Wild and answer it passionately~mrrrooow!" The busty blond teacher got a slightly glazed look on her face perhaps remembering freer times, her tail lashing back and forth in abandon. The succubus' face turned cherry red, steam coming out of both ears.

Wiping tears of laughter from his eyes, Shoujiro was the first to speak. "As much as I love your sense of humor, Teach, you're wrong. I don't know what her excuse for being late is", jerking a thumb towards Kurumu, "but I had to see the Headmaster this morning. If you check with his office they'll clear it."

Nose twitching, Nekonome-sensei shifted over towards the black-garbed incubus. "She sniffed him up and down and stopped upon staring him in the face. "You smell different, Ayasaki-kun. Did you change your cologne?"

"No, Teach. I don't wear cologne actually", the discomfited boy answered looking to the side until he spotted Kurumu gesturing to stop talking then giving up when he finished his statement.

"No? Hmm... maybe it was just me then." Satisfied, the cat demon added one more comment. "The new color contacts are nice, Ayasaki-kun, but I think the lighter blue color suits you best."

Shoujiro sweatdropped. "Yeah, sure Teach. I'll keep that in mind."

After hearing Kurumu's reason for her lateness, the trio moved to re-enter the classroom and found the doorway packed with students who'd been eavesdropping. The rest of the class was pretty uneventful save for a lot of note-passing between different students.


At the first break between periods, Shoujiro walked off to the drink machines. He needed some fresh air. The presence following him did not go unnoticed.

He smiled. -Come out, Mizore-chan. I can tell you're there-. Five seconds after that the blue-headed boy was tackled by a violet-haired pale girl.

"Whoah! Watch it! You almost knocked us both down", he laughed.

"What happened, Shouji-kun? I thought you said..." the snow girl's questioning halted with a finger on her lips from the taller boy.

"Things've changed a bit past what I'd originally planned for. Hayate's not coming out. I'm a bit worried about that, actually. Half of what I've got planned included his participation to make it work. Now I have to do this on the fly", Shoujiro grumbled and slumped against a wall off to the side of the door leading back into the main school building. He slid to the ground against the wall, his knees up into his chest and arms hugging his legs. Mizore took a spot next to him and adopted the same posture, her striped panties showing. She unwrapped a lollipop and stuck it in her mouth. For a few minutes a companionable silence fell over the two.

"You know... I don't think I've ever had a piece of candy, much less a lollipop, at all in my life. How are they?", Shoujiro asked.

Mizore pulled the lollipop out of her mouth and shoved it into Shoujiro's, surprising the incubus. She replaced the lollipop with another one, mint instead of the cherry one she'd given him. "Well... how do you like it?", she asked him, a sly glint to her pale blue eyes.

Mouth working a bit, Shoujiro thought a bit with his eyes closed. He opened and fixed his eyes on his companion. "Hmm... very nice. But I think Mizore-chan flavored cherry lollipops should be a very limited batch."

Raising a lilac-colored eyebrow, Mizore asked, "Why is that?"

Capturing her pale blue eyes with his much darker blue ones, the blunette male answered, "Because having too may would mean having more for others, making those particular lollipops more cheap somehow... less special." His gaze turned somewhat sad.

Blushing a bit, the snow girl reached out with one of her hands and cupped one of Shoujiro's. "The limited batch of Mizore-chan flavored lollipops would all be for you though, Shouji-kun. Just you."

She took the lollipops out of both their mouths and leaned in towards the incubus. Having similar thoughts, he also leaned his head down a bit to meet her halfway. An inch of space separated their lips when the moment was broken by an interruption.

"Ahem~!"

Both lovers, irritated by the killing of that perfect moment, glared at said interruption: 5' 3" and 121 lbs of peeved succubus.

"I just can't seem to take my eyes off you for a minute before you're off flirting with the girls, Hayate-kun", Kurumu said, her arms crossed under her impressive bust.

Sighing, the male Lilim got up from his position against the wall and helped Mizore up.

"It's no use, Kurumu-chan... Mizore-chan already knows about me." He recaptured the cherry lolli from the snow girl's hand and stuck it back into his mouth, the action of which wasn't lost on both girls. Mizore smiled as she put the mint lollipop back in her mouth.

Kurumu's reaction was the exact opposite the Yuki-onna's. She stepped forward and yanked the lollipop out of Shoujiro's mouth and flicked it into the dead grass off to the side. "Get that thing out of your mouth! What are you, a five year old?" She expected him to come back with a snarky remark. What he did next she hadn't expected.

*Smack!*

Holding a hand to her stinging cheek, Kurumu shrieked, "What the hell was that for?"

His body trembling, Shoujiro spoke coldly. "That was the first piece of candy I'd ever had in my life, and you threw it away like it was a piece of shit." The taller boy's head was downturneded, hiding the upper portion of his face under light blue bangs.

"So what? There are better lollipops out there. I could buy them for you if you want..." The rest of Kurumu's statement got cut off when Shoujiro finally looked straight at her. There were tears making twin waterfalls down his cheeks. Yet these were far from tears of sadness, as his midnight blue eyes proved, glaring at the buxom blueheaded girl.

"No, Kurumu-chan, you couldn't have. It could've been a ten yen piece of candy from an assorted jar of them at a candy store and it would have been just as special for being the first one I'd ever tasted. Not only that, but you've trampled all over the feelings... and expression of those feelings... from someone I hold very dear. So Kurumu, I'd suggest you go away and not bother me for the rest of the day, otherwise I'll be forced to do something we'll both regret... me for having to go through with doing it, and you for the pain which you'll so richly deserve."

Having given vent to his displeasure, Shoujiro turned to the quiet violet-headed girl and extended his arm to her. "Shall we?"

Pulling the mint lolli out of her mouth, Mizore kissed him on the corner of his lip. "I'll be in in a couple of minutes, Shouji-kun. I'd like to talk to... her... for a bit."

Shrugging apathetically, Shoujiro gave his paramour a smile. "Knock yourself out, Mizore-chan. God knows I've tried to reason with the... with her." He bent over a bit and kissed the snow girl's cheek in farewell. Kurumu he pointedly ignored as he re-entered the school building.

For a few seconds the area was silent as the two female students stared at each other. The pale, pupilless blue-eyed snow woman was the first to break the ice (pun not intended).

"I don't know what your intent is with regards to Shouji-kun, but I'd stay away from him for now on if I were you. You've done enough damage already as it is." Her eyes assumed an icy hardness.

"And what is your intent, Ms. Candy Dispenser?" Kurumu glared right back at the lolli-sucking ice maiden.

"Mine? I love him. Unconditionally and unequivocally. I'll do anything to make sure he finds some measure of peace, even if it means having to swat a few bothersome flies to achieve that." Mizore's abrupt and blunt declaration of love took the cyan-haired succubus aback. The temperature of the air dropped rapidly. "And I do mean anything", Mizore finished. Her hair had turned into pale white locks of ice along with her hands assuming the form of sharp ice claws.

Just as it seemed the busty Lilim girl would have to transform to defend herself, the bell rang.

Mizore winced. "Shit... the bell." She eyed Kurumu meaningfully. "Don't think this is over, Cheese Tits." The snow girl let her human disguise reform and she walked into the school building.

After standing there for a minute in stunned silence, Kurumu screamed wordlessly. Her hand clipped one of the walkway overhang's supports. The piece she'd hit collapsed to the pavement, leaving the overhang with one less support. The ends of the piece looked shorn off, as if cut with an extremely powerful saw.

Nothing had gone right today so far. It was all the frustrated succubus could do to not throw herself on the ground, beat on the pavement, and wail at the unfairness of the world. She'd done as her mother had said and tried her best to block any other girls from getting too close to Hayate (and by extension, Shoujiro), and this... this icy bitch was already within striking distance of scoring a goal with him! How? As far as she herself knew, this Mizore girl hadn't even been in contact with either of the two halves of Hayate, so how could she have gotten that close in such a short amount of time? It made absolutely no sense. Unless... but that was ridiculous! His tail was useless for that kind of thing!

Knowing that any further delay would get her another tardy mark, Kurumu headed back for Class 1-3, her mind churning with unrest.


Lunch arrived uneventfully. Shoujiro outlined what he expected of Saizou for the remainder of the day, including after school, before the group sat down to eat. Moka, Mizore, and Saizou sat together... Mizore to his left, Moka in front of him, and Saizou to his right at the same table... with Kurumu picking at her food at another table nearby, her head turned away from the group but still obviously eavesdropping all the same. Any time a male student tried to strike up a conversation with the broody blunette girl, or tried to sit with her, she gave them a red-eyed glare and flashed her impressive set of talons until they backed away, apologizing profusely as they retreated.

"So... let me get this straight. You're the older more bitter half of this Hayate kid?", Saizou asked the blue-haired boy in a low tone. Several bruises on his face had taught him to use his indoors voice when talking.

"No, Nimrod... I'm the older original personality of this body. Hayate is... my younger personality, in a fashion. He was the one raised in the Human World, by adoptive human parents... loosely raised, mind you. Well, anyway, we could be considered twins who just happen to share the same body. And honestly, I don't mind sharing with him." Shoujiro scratched the back of his head while mixing up his curry with a spoon.

The pink-haired debutant raised her hand. "Yeah, Moka? What's your question?", he asked her.

"How is it you speak so well for someone who had no outside tutoring in vocabulary?" The ostracized Lilim girl perked up at that.

"Just because I was sleeping doesn't mean I was inactive, Moka. As I slept I dreamed. My dreams were more about what Hayate was doing at the moment then just my mind wandering. Since I have an eidetic memory, I remember things I see and hear... even things I don't want to remember." The incubus' face darkened. "So in a nutshell, I have the same understanding of language that Hayate would."

Saizou whistled appreciatively. "That being able ta remember whatever you see and hear must come in handy, though. You could read the teachers answer books and then you got it made in the shade on tests." That earned a snort of derisive laughter.

"Right... but first you'd have to be able to read the book, not just memorize the chicken tracks and weird stick symbols that makes up Modern Japanese", Shoujiro said somewhat bitterly, rolling his eyes.

This admission surprised the group. "You... can't read Kanji?", Mizore asked. Kurumu's shoulders were shaking with barely suppressed laughter.

Letting the frustration he felt show on his face, Shoujiro glared at the succubus's back as he answered the snow girl. "No, I can't. Just because I can memorize a page of letters and numbers doesn't mean I can understand them. That takes years of learning under someone else's teaching. Speech is easy. We all learn to speak just by watching and doing as our mothers and fathers do. More than that though, the first time I tried copying something down from the blackboard and Nekonome-sensei was looking over my shoulder she asked me what I was writing. What could I do? I old her it was code, in case anyone else tried copying from me. Luckily she bought it." He shrugged bemusedly.

"Can I see your notes later at home, Shoujiro-kun?", Moka put in curiously.

"Sure, why not? Maybe your other half will get a laugh out of it." The blunette male shrugged apathetically. He was silent for a minute, eating the mess he'd made of the beef curry on his plate.

Her eye on the much larger male in their midst, Moka said, "I know you told us all about Komiya-kun's reason for being here, but forgive me if I'm still a bit... doubtful... about this arrangement you've made with him, Shoujiro-kun."

The male orc had the presence of mind to look a bit embarrassed. "I don't intend ta repeat what I tried ta do at the start of the school year, Akashiya-san. I'll understand if you choose not ta believe me or forgive me for what I did. What he", gesturing to the eating and listening incubus, "reminded me of so painfully last night was that big things often come in small packages."

'So the orc does have some manners. Maybe he can be housebroken, after all', mused the pinkette's silver-haired counterpart.

'Where the hell have you been! A lot's happened in a day', Pink Moka screamed at her more vampiric inner self.

'I was sleeping, Omote. I do get tired on occasion.' A yawn punctuated Silver Moka's statement. The more humanlike personality decided to inform her core self what had been going on in her absence.

'So, he finds me annoying and bitchy but finds you perfectly acceptable? Is he an idiot? I'm as much...'

'... like him than either of the two of you will ever admit to anyone else?', the Rosario's personality cut in smugly. Inner Moka growled, gnashing her teeth internally. 'Face it: you get along with Hayate as well as I do with Shoujiro so far.'

-Something wrong, Moka?-, the intruding mental voice of the boy in question silenced both halves of the female daiyokai. It was a voice laced with some concern. -You've been quiet for a while.-

Her green eyes suddenly focusing on his own midnight blue ones, Moka tentatively ventured in similar fashion. -Shoujiro-kun? How?-

-It seems that Hayate's little experiment just before his breakdown was successful, after all. Huh. I'll have to thank him later.- Amusement colored the male Lilim's internal tone. -As for how I did this, well... let's just say it has something to do with my Charm ability. I didn't Charm you, but I did set up a connection of sorts.-

'Am I to have no privacy at all, even in my own mind now?', the ruby-eyed female asked from her place in the Rosario's Seal.

-Wait, what? I can hear the Bitch? You've gotta be fucking kidding me! I'm outta here.- Shoujiro broke the connection. He pushed his plate aside and facepalmed. Closing his eyes he began to count backwards from ten.

Recovering from the slam of the mental door in her face and the proceeding rant by her other half, detailing the possible parentage of the incubus, Moka posited a question to fill the awkward silence which covered the table.

"So, what happened this morning? Four Enforcers from the Student Police to pick you up at the front gate to see the Headmaster. What did you do? Did he say?"

"Oh, he bitched about what happened last night. 'Great Barrier almost got broken, yadda yadda yadda... Gonna seal me up if I do that again, yadda yadda yadda... psych tests coming so be ready, yadda yadda yadda.' A complete waste of about a quarter of an hour if you ask me." Shoujiro gave a tired roll of the eyes. Both Moka and Mizore gasped.

"Whoah, whoah, hold on and back up there. You almost broke the Great Barrier?", the larger boy jumped out of his seat and almost squeaked. A fist to the breadbasket caused the orc teen to collapse back into his seat and flop down face first into his blood pie, coughing.

"Quiet down, you fucking idiot!", Shoujiro hissed at him. Yet the damage had already been done. Heads at other nearby tables had turned in their direction, expressions of shock present on almost all present. Even Kurumu was staring at him with equal parts shock and another part... something else. "Great. Just fucking great. You might as well come over, Kurumu-chan. I'm about done here", he called out to the cyan-haired girl. Shoujiro got up and made ready to return his empty plate and glass. He hesitated and then faced the crowd in his vicinity.

"It was a joke, guys. Relax!", he grinned good-naturedly and laughed, trying hard to keep the tension out of his voice. Returning his dirty dishware and silverware to the kitchen staff, Shoujiro passed his table on the way out. He stopped.

"I'll discuss this later. Not in school. Ciao." He walked out of the cafeteria passing by a couple of black-uniformed Enforcers who were by the double doors. The shaggy white-haired male nodded to the red-haired female next to him and jerked his head out of the cafeteria. They both walked out of the double doors, not too far behind the blunette incubus.


The two in black hung back for a minute watching their quarry stroll down the hallway towards the front of the school.

"We need to inform Lord Kuyou about this as soon as possible, deshi", the red-head girl said to her white-haired companion who simply nodded. Their eyes tracked Shoujiro as he made his way through a crowd of students heading to the cafeteria.


The rest of the day, Shoujiro tried keeping a low profile. However since the outburst by Saizou in the cafeteria he'd been getting a lot more attention from the other students. The teachers were also starting to give him suspicious looks for the remainder of the class periods. If Hayate didn't wake up soon, the cat would be well and truly out of the bag and skinned. It was the last period of the day, and as his luck would have it one of the worst classes he'd faced yet. That perverted snake lady.

'Although I think he's asleep, it feels more like he's... sulking... somewhere down deep.' The preoccupied boy managed to keep Ririko-sensei off his back by pretending to take math notes. The lamia teacher was a canny one though and tricks like this wouldn't serve for much longer. 'How am I gonna drag him up and out of our subconscious though? It's like a dungeon down there... dark and cluttered, with stuff better left buried.' He noted the approach of the teacher and stopped his ruminations and fake work.

"Um... yes, Kagome-sensei?", Shoujiro asked nervously. Letting her get close enough to see him messing around spelled doom. He'd almost blown it this time.

"Would you be so kind as to answer the problem on the board, Ayasaki-kun? Since you were so obviously paying attention to the lesson, weren't you?", the bombshell brunette pushed her glasses further up onto her nose and smirked, thinking she'd caught him loafing.

Shoujiro got up and approached the blackboard, scoffing at the algebra problem in his head. 'Easy Peasy', he gloated, putting the finishing touches. Ririko-sensei narrowed her eyes as she checked for errors. Finding none, she started erasing the problem and then got an idea.

While the insouciant incubus was on his way back to his seat, the teacher called him back to the front. "You got one error in your computation, Ayasaki-kun. Try again with this problem." She stood next to the blackboard this time watching him as he worked. The rest of the class was buzzing, most in sympathy for the blunette. A few of their comment could be heard.

"What's Kagome-sensei trying to prove?"

"Dunno. Maybe she's on the rag?"

"She's on something. Making poor Ayasaki-kun go back and forth like that."

"Shh! She'll hear you, and then you'll get it! 'Remedial lessons', that is."

Much quieter: "I've heard about those. Guys go in and come out... different. And the girls won't even talk about what they go through in there." *shudder*

Shoujiro looked over the problem in front of him. It wasn't even in their grade level. 'What's she doing putting Third Year Calculus up there for? None of these guys, with maybe the exception of Inner Moka could solve this one! ... Spiteful bitch.' He looked to the side glancing at the teacher, who wore an openly smug look of superiority. 'Okay... she wants to play that game? Let's give this cunt's mind a workout if possible.' Shoujiro doubted he'd succeed. Kagome Ririko wasn't considered one of the most diligent and brilliant mathematicians in the Youkai Realms because of her cup size. Still, this woman was owed a bit of humiliation herself for her own failings. He carefully examined the problem, ran it through his head on the blackboard he used internally to do such work, and then made sure to put up examples of the computations in his head on the actual classroom's blackboard. Satisfied with what he'd done, Shoujiro turned his head to see the teacher's reaction.

Kagome Ririko's jaw had fell open in shock. Not only had the boy answered the problem correctly, but he'd even openly left proof he hadn't screwed up. Recovering from her momentary lapse in composure she opened her mouth to congratulate him and was nonplussed even more by what she was seeing. Shoujiro had just erased his work and was writing another math problem on the board, this one dealing with Binary Cubic Forms! He glared at the teacher and put the chalk down.

"I dunno why you decided to turn this little bit of work into a math pissing match, Teach, but I'd say it wasn't very professional of you. You should be ashamed of yourself... as a teacher, and as an adult. Now, if you don't mind, I think I'll take the rest of the day off. Ciao." He walked back to his desk and put his things very quickly into his bag.

Kagome-sensei was still trying to put together a coherent sentence as Shoujiro made his way out to the door past the silent class. Moka gave him a worried look. Mizore's face was as calm as always but her eyes held such fear of what might happen in this collision of Teacher V.S. Student. In light of her own experiences, the Teacher usually won. Kurumu? Well, she was chewing one of her thumbs a bit in agitation.

'In trouble at nearly every turn! He doesn't seem to care that this affects Hayate-kun as well at all, doesn't he?', she thought bitterly.

The bespectacled brunette math teacher had decided to act first then speak after. She cut out of the classroom through the front sliding door, her quarry right in front of her getting away.

"Ayasaki-kun! Class isn't over. If you don't return to your seat, I'll have no other choice but to give you three days detention, starting today after school", she called out to him, her arms crossed under her Size H bust.

The irritated blunette was losing what patience and control he had rapidly. "Piss off, Teach. I don't wanna have to see you anymore today then I have already."

Through both opened sliding doors could be heard a chorus of gasps and 'Oooo's. A crowd of students had already started to gather just inside both doorways watching the two out in the hallway. It had the feel of an old Spaghetti Western where two gunslingers are talking, right up until they get to the part where both would draw their guns and attempt to kill each other.

"That's three days detention you just earned for yourself, young man. Do you want to try for a week?" Her eyebrow arose in challenge.

"Ask me if I give a flying fuck." More shock from the watching students. It was better than the human movies!

"That's a week, Ayasaki-kun. How about going for a solid month?" Kagome-sensei seemed a little too... eager... to get a full month.

"Zero! Zero flying fucks given! Ah ah ah ah!", this announced in a fake Eurotrash accent by the rebellious boy. Shoujiro leaped up and caught the railing on the second floor and hauled himself up and over the rail, disappearing from the view of his other classmates and his frustrated teacher.

Kagome-sensei made rapid pursuit up the staircase near the classroom after chasing her dithering class back to its seats. She came up to the Second Floor landing and found... nothing. Her ears hadn't betrayed her. There had been no sounds of movement from the spot her errant student had last been heard from. The lamia female tested the air with her tongue. 'His scent ends right here, but where did he get to?', she wondered. The boy couldn't have gotten far unnoticed. Giving up for now, she went back downstairs to continue the rest of the period.

'No matter... I've got a full month with him to readjust that attitude of his.' She flushed a bit in excitement. 'After all, it's my sworn duty as a teacher to lead my young and brilliant charges on to the right path.' Pushing her glasses back further onto the bridge of her nose, Kagome Ririko smiled. It was definitely not a good day to be a certain blue-haired boy.


In an old Shinto temple on the school grounds, a meeting between the head of the Student Police and his Lieutenant was taking place. The two Enforcers of Justice were both standing around a table which had seen better days. The blond Captain had his gloved hands behind his back, staring out of a slatted window into the rock garden behind the temple.

"So what is to be done about this First Year, Ayasaki Hayate, Lord Kuyou? You've heard Deshiko and Aencarr's report about what they heard in the lunch room today." The black-haired young woman speaking kept herself a respectful distance from her Captain.

"For now? Nothing. This boy has already felt the Headmaster's displeasure directly. Rare is the person who can take any of that man's warnings lightly, and rarer still those who survive such infractions." Kuyou turned his head to the side to let his eye fall upon his second-in-command. "That is not to say we shouldn't keep a careful watch on such an individual." A canny look flashed across his face a moment before disappearing. "Send two of our own to keep an eye on him. Both female and in the normal student uniforms. I leave the choice up to your discretion, Keito." He chuckled darkly.

An eager light showed in her black eyes. "And if one of those females were to be myself...?"

Shaking his head, the vulpine male said, "No. You're too well known. Both girls should ideally be First Years themselves, so if they say they were dropped from the Public Safety Commission due to not being qualified enough to serve, they should pass muster among the other students."

Keito saluted. "Yes Sir. By your leave?" At his nod, she smartly turned on her heel and left the room quietly so as to not disturb her leader's peace.

The tall blond young man with the Captain's braid on his uniform took a position of Parade Rest as he continued to watch the birds search the rock garden for tidbits of seed that had been thrown earlier.

'This boy... this Ayasaki Hayate... if matters have indeed been settled by the Old Man, then perhaps I may be getting a new Lieutenant soon. Such power in his body I felt, that close to him. He showed no fear of us either. Whether bravado or genuine courage remains to be seen. It would be a shame to leave such a promising young man loose when he could be better served keeping the peace at this school instead of disrupting it.' A large bluebird landed on one of the nearby rocks, trilling happily, an earthworm in its clutches. The Student Police Head put one of his gloved hands up onto the window with his fingers sticking out of one of the openings in the slats.

'Of course, should he not accept my offer of membership in our glorious organization, then maybe some further encouragement may be needed. And if he should prove to be weaker than he seems in character and actually try to destroy the school from the inside out... well... that would be most unfortunate...' A burst of flame shot from his forefinger, hitting the bluebird dead on. Scorched feathers drifted down to settle about tiny blackened bones one step away from complete ash.

"... for him", Kuyou finished aloud. A smirk slowly turned into a full-on grin. And a solitary man's laughter arose from within the darkened room.


Homeroom was next, finally. Kagome-sensei had cornered Nekonome-sensei about her missing student before class resumed. While the two talked out in the hallway... mainly consisting of Ririko browbeating Shizuka about her failing to spot such a trouble student before he could incite further rebellion from the rest of the students... the three concerned girls gathered loosely together to talk.

"Is he out of his mind, getting into that kind of trouble?", Kurumu had opened up on the others.

The ice maiden shook her head in blatant denial. "I don't think any of you know what brought it on. All I care about is the fact that that woman has locked on to him. I've heard rumors about her from older students. She's into making her female students dress up in skimpy maid outfits while serving her in return for her 'lessons'. And the boys get it much worse." Mizore's voice was matter-of-fact, betraying no emotions whatsoever.

Moka had a difficult expression on her face. "He was trying so hard to pretend to be Hayate, and was doing so well up until Kagome-sensei's period."

Passing by the girls on his way out of the classroom, Saizou had an awed look on his face.

"Balls of Steel, that guy. Balls of Steel", he muttered.

The frustrated succubus turned on him like a heat-seeking missile. "Didn't you just hear what we said? He's about to get those steel balls crushed!"

Shaking his head, the blond orc chuckled. "Not that guy. You girls weren't there when he unloaded that can of whupass on me. He almost sent me back into Intensive Care, I swear it!" His smile dwindled. "Anyone who tangles with him is gonna be in for a world of hurt. Either that or a short trip ta the crematorium, if you catch my drift."

Moka looked disgusted. "Why did Shoujiro invite you to lunch for anyway? You don't seem to be the type of guy who socializes well with others, Komiya-kun."

Saizou scratched his head behind an ear. "Funny you should mention that. I gotta get going. Got places to be and people to see." He lifted a hand in farewell, walking out the back door and sliding it shut behind him. The girls heard one of the teachers raising a ruckus in his wake, something about another student rebelling against teacher authority. They all winced. Kagome-sensei was really laying into poor Nekonome-sensei about this.

"We'll just have to stay until after school to do anything about this. This whole situation is getting out of hand", Kurumu finished up grimly.

Glaring at the succubus from narrowed eyes, Mizore demurred. "What do you mean 'we'? I'm not sticking around waiting to find out what happened through second-hand information." She stood up from her chair and moved to open the window next to her. Mizore hopped out of the open window and turned back to face the other two girls. "Let me know what the teachers decide." She ducked down for a moment... and then hopped back through the window and closed the window. Quietly, the snow girl retook her seat as though nothing had happened.

Succubus and vampire looked at the snow girl and then back to each other, blinking a few times. Not sure what to make of it, they both sat back down at their desks.


It had been a pretty good day overall. Shiori and Kumiko had come over and shared a lively leisurely lunch with her, chattering about their own sons and daughters. Who had gotten engaged and who was left to grow up until they too would be up for developing those close ties which led to matrimony.

The wall phone in the kitchen rang just as Tsurara put on the finishing touches, cleaning up after two of her closest friends had left to do the day's shopping. She hung the dishrag, now damp, over the oven to dry faster and picked up the earphone and receiver. Flicking a few loose strands of silvery gray hair from blocking her sight, the Yuki-onna put the phone to her ear.

"Hello, this is the Shirayuki residence, Tsurara speaking."

A breathless whisper answered her. "Mother... I need to talk to you."

Raising a silvery eyebrow in surprise, Tsurara said, "Oh my. Are you cutting from class, Daughter, to make this call?"

"Mother, you can scold me later on. This is important." Was that impatience in her little girl's voice just then? It must have been her imagination. 'Mizore would never raise her voice to me', Tsurara thought placidly.

"I've found him, Mother. The One for me. I only met him last week, and had just gotten to know so much more about him last night, but already we share so much in common." Her daughter's voice had seldom held that tone of excitement in it. The last time was when Mizore had met that boy from one of the nearby human villages. That hadn't ended well. 'Maybe this one would?'

"That's wonderful, dear! What kind of monster is he?" Sometimes a snow woman would make an error in judgment and bring back someone from outside the village who would be unsuited to life in a near-Arctic environment. They'd freeze to death, get a cold-based illness (such as her own husband had, rest his soul) like pneumonia, or just give up on life and fade away until they died. What the snow girl said next wore that celebrated Yuki-onna calm down to raw nerves.

"He's an incubus... Mother? Are you still there, Mother?" Silence reigned on the other end from the talking girl.

Tsurara's mind flew into a panic. It wasn't noticeable in the visible sense... until you saw into what state her kitchen was becoming. Hoarfrost was collecting on the walls, and sheets of ice were forming over the windows. The water left in the wash basin in the sink grew into a miniature ice tree with jagged sharp branches going in every which direction.

She remembered from her own time in high school how it had been. That cow-uddered skank had made it impossible to snare the man of her dreams then. The only saving grace out of that whole debacle was that her love interest had settled on someone other than the disease-ridden whore. There had been rumors of an incubus, either on staff or as one of the students, but no one was completely sure which at the time. She'd heard some horror stories about what an incubus was capable of. Taking a girl or woman, it didn't matter how old, so long as they were moderately attractive and full of life. The fiend would leave those poor unfortunates broken and empty and move on to the next victim. They would pursue their chosen target unerringly, to the ends of the Earth if need be, until they had them. And this was the monster her daughter had run into and fallen for?

Feigning a calm she didn't feel, Tsurara finally answered her daughter. "That's nice dear. Did he look you in the eyes and say how special you were? Did he follow that up with a kiss to show his sincerity?"

"It... didn't quite happen that way, mother." Mizore sounded relieved. "A lot happened that night, some of it's still muddled in my head. I do remember it was me who kissed him, not the other way around."

'She doesn't sound like she's under a Charm or enslaved. I can only hope she remains so.' The street-walking trash she knew in school had been rather infamous for the large number of boys she'd kept Charmed, a few of those enslaved even.

"Oh my... ufufufufu! I didn't know you could be so bold, Mizore."

"Stop it, Mother."

Tsurara was sure her little girl's cheeks were candy apple red right now. Teasing your daughter showed you cared about them. The joy in her voice was unmistakable though. Preparations needed to be made. "So, what is the name of your beau, Daughter?"

"He actually has two names. The name I know him by is Shoujiro. The other is Hayate. I fell in love with him as Shouji-kun though." Tsurara didn't hear the first part of her statement, only picking up what Mizore was saying at and after '... Shouji-kun...'. She was too busy thinking of how she'd get into Youkai Academy, and under what pretense, to help her daughter bring this boy home.

"I'll talk to you later, dear. I'm so happy for you." The gray-haired Yuki-onna put as much warmth into her voice as she could convey through the inadequate phone line.

"Goodbye, Mother. I'll call next week."

Both mother and daughter said their respective farewells and hung up. Putting the phone back in its cradle, Tsurara moved with practiced swiftness to the living room. There she pulled on a cleverly hidden catch on a wall light fixture. The bookshelf which took up half the wall space slid over to reveal an opening in the wall big enough for one person roughly human-sized to fit through.

The snow woman moved with graceful steps through this alcove and into a room hidden behind the wall. A few racks were mounted on three of the walls, along with one long rack in the middle of the room, all holding firearms of one type or another. There was even an M-79 'Blooper' grenade launcher on one rack. Another rack had plaques above the firearms with names engraved on them. This rack was the one Tsurara now strolled slowly past, inspecting the weapons for the appropriate one(s) for the upcoming mission.

She eyed one plaque with the name 'Widow Maker'. It bore an AK-47 with spare banana clips under it in a metal case. Snow People never divorced, never separated from their spouses. Her people often took 'Until Death Do You Part' quite literally. Tsurara moved to the next weapon. This one wouldn't do.

The next firearm bore the name 'Husband Catcher'. A full bore rifle with a sighting scope, it had two types of ammunition on display: tranquillizer darts and .22 rounds. The darts could inject enough anesthetic to knock an ogre out and the bullets were in case you didn't want him able to run away very fast before you caught up to him. Sometimes the old fashioned way of husband-catching was best. Tsurara recalled how she'd met her own husband long ago.

He'd been freezing to death on a mountain ledge, his way blocked by an avalanche, with no one around for miles. It had been an easy thing to convince him to go with her back home where it was much warmer than up on that mountain, which would have certainly ended with his death... a frozen corpse that might not be found for weeks or months. It took time for him to get over the fact that he was a virtual prisoner in her Village, but he adapted to it. It was a clearly Human advantage, quick adaptation. And although it had taken a while longer than adapting to life in her home village, he eventually started to love her too.

His loss had been a severe blow to her. Yet he had left something behind when he passed on... her little girl. The only thing of him she still had. And she would make certain that Mizore would find her own happiness... or at least contentment such as she herself had found. Tsurara continued moving down the line of lethal and nonlethal weaponry.

'Son-in-Law Catcher' was the next plaque's inscription. 'This one might be acceptable', she thought wryly. Two weapons sat on the shelf: one, a blowgun with tranquillizer darts on a box alongside it. The other, a taser. The taser was outfitted with an extra-strength battery pack plus an electrical adapter, and a wall-mounted electrical outlet made it possible to charge the pistol. This Tsurara did, noting the orange light which showed the pack charging. It would turn green when at 100% power.

'I'll need to stop by the apothecary's before leaving the Village', she noted.

Both weapons could be concealed in the sleeves of a kimono if one wished it. Tsurara pulled a sawed-off single barrel automatic shotgun off a wall mount with the title 'Negotiator' inscribed on it. She'd take this one along, just in case. It paid to be careful. If this boy was everything Mizore wanted and he was enough of a gentleman to her, perhaps all this preparation would be unnecessary. She certainly hoped so. However she would leave nothing to chance. Too much was at stake, most of all her little girl. Pulling back the pump handle, she chambered a round.

*Ker-Chack~!*

Time to set about bagging a son-in-law.


Author's Notes: Sorry for the late update. That's what happens when you promise something and Real Life makes a liar out of you. November sucked, and now that the Holidays are about to hit, things're gonna suck even more. I'll make a New Years Resolution for all you guys a bit early: I resolve to not make any more promises about how early an update of my stories will be. It's done when it gets done.

I think that's a resolution I'll be able to keep. Don't you agree?

As you all can tell, things are starting to snowball for Hayate (and Shoujiro). This chapter was mainly about setting up future events and introducing some others into the chaotic mix which has become Hayate/Shoujiro's life at Youkai Academy. Will things ever stabilize for them? Who knows.

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas/Kwanza/Hanukkah/New Year everyone!

This is the Priest, signing out.

-Prodigal Priest.