It was your average day at the less than average school, the newspaper club was having great results handing out the papers.
"Papers here!" Maka shouted, holding them out.
"Get your own copy of the new issue of the Yokai Gazette!" Moka said, also handing out papers, the two of them right next to each other to the point their hips were touching.
"This issue's hot off the presses, people!" Kurumu said, holding them out.
"Wait 'til you take a peek at what's inside!" Yukari said, holding them out.
"Hey, I'll take one." A male student said, reaching out for one.
"Pass one over here, too!" A blonde female student with a pony tail on the right side of her head called out.
"They've even got strategies for the final exams!" Another male student said, impressed.
Meanwhile, Tsukune and Gin were standing behind the… well, stand, set up for the newspapers. "Wow, the new issue sure is selling like hot cakes, huh?" Gin asked.
"Yeah, it's great after all the work we put into it." Tsukune said agreeing
"We did it, we got rid of all of 'em!" Yukari said, holding up the box happily.
"Looks like this issue of the paper was another big hit for us." Kurumu said, wiping sweat from her forehead.
Moka suddenly had an idea. "Hey, you guys! What do you say we throw ourselves a rap party for once, we can all bring some snacks!" she said happily, leaning onto Maka, wrapping her arms around her and kissing her cheek.
"That's a great idea." Tsukune said, blocking his nostrils with tissues.
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" Yukari said, raising her hands into the air.
Suddenly, Moka noticed something. "Wait, has anyone seen Gin? Where'd he run off to?" She asked slightly concerned.
"Strange. He was right here just a second ago." Tsukune said, pointing right beside him.
Maka sighed in an annoyed tone. "Whatever, he's probably out hitting on girls again, don't you think?" She asked.
Meanwhile, Gin was looking at someone rather happily. "Right? That article is pretty interesting!" He said, then it is showed he's walking with two girls. "The newspaper club is looking for sexy models for a photo shoot and I can get you an audition!" He said.
"Wow, she was dead on the money, whee-hee!" Kou said, flying away.
We now focus in on Kurumu just barely at the waist line, to see she had her hands on her hips. "Forget about him, he's not invited." She said in a cold, uncaring tone.
"That jerk's the enemy of all women!" Yukari said, raising her hand with her wand in it way into the air, her eyes closed in a weird way to look like this _.
"One of the few people I can say with a straight face is worse than my father." Maka said.
"More importantly, what should we do for the party?" She asked, getting Yukari's attention.
"We should buy some snacks at the campus store!" Moka said.
"Yeah, they have all the good stuff." Maka agreed.
"Yeah. We should get some drinks, too, right?" Yukari asked.
"Okay, but no alcohol." Tsukune said.
"Alright, then it's a plan! After class, we'll meet up at the Newspaper club with the snacks. So do you guys want to play some games while we're there?" Kurumu asked.
All the time she was talking, the group hadn't realized it, but someone had approached them not too far away, her outfit from what we can see so far is dark and light purple striped leggings, matching panties from her mouth and spoke; it is also revealed at this point she has long, purple hair. "You people are all buddy-buddy, aren't you? You newspaper clubbers." She said.
The group then turned around to see her. We now get an ascending camera view that she has white sneakers, her sweater has a pocket on the front at stomach level, the sweater has nothing on the shoulders, but there are two straps under it, she has some form of necklace and she has purple eyes, matching her hair. "And you all like each other. Truthfully, I've never understood that way of thinking." She said, very little emotion in her voice.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, huh?" Kurumu asked angrily.
The girl put her candy cane back in her mouth. "Newspaper." She said. Everyone looked shocked for a minute, so she reached her arm out. "Can I have one?" She asked.
"Oh, sure, it's a little folded, though." Maka said, pulling one out of Tsukune's blazer pocket and handing it to her.
The girl took it and leaned in closer to Maka, inspecting her deeply.
"Um… What are you doing?" Maka asked uncomfortably.
"So you're the famous demon weapon Maka, huh?" She asked, then took out her candy cane. "You're a lot cuter than I thought you'd be. I kinda pictured you scarier with blades coming out of everywhere."
"Trust me, that's not a side of her you wanna see." Tsukune said, earning him a large dictionary to the face.
"I'll see you later." She said, walking away.
Moka walked up to Maka and wrapped both of her arms around one of Maka's. "Who was that girl, do you know her?" She asked, deeply concerned.
"No, I've never seen her before." Maka replied.
"Whoever she is, I don't like her." Kurumu said with a nervous look on her face.
"Yeah, tell me about it! Ugh!" Yukari said in disgust.
Tsukune raised his hands and tried to hide his nervous look with a happy one. "Let's just calm down and forget about her. Let's have the party of our lives after school today." He said.
"YEAH!" All 4 girls said; Maka, Moka and Kurumu all raising one fist in the air with kitty faces on and Yukari had both hands in the air.
Later, in class, Miss Nekonome was taking attendance. "Kurumu?"
"Here."
"Mr. Sato?"
"Present."
"Miss Shirayuki?"
No one answered.
"Miss Shirayuki?" Miss Nekonome asked as Moka looked at the seat in front of her that had been empty all year. "I guess she must be out again today." Nekonome said sadly.
Suddenly the door opened and the girl from before entered, ignoring the murmurs around her and took her seat in front of Maka.
"Oh, I'm so glad you decided to join us!" Nekonome said as the girl quietly nodded. "Well, since there's a new student in here, I guess introductions are in order. Class, this is Mizore Shirayuki. Extenuating circumstances have prevented her from attending class up until now, but everyone please be nice and treat her like a friend!" Nekonome said, then Tsukune and Moka freaked out like a couple of pussies.
Outside, Moka, Maka and Kurumu were discussing what to get. "Okay, so we'll buy snacks and head to the party." Moka said.
"Yeah, I've got goodies I plan on making for everyone. I've even got little cookie blades for you, Maka." Kurumu said, Maka giggling at the thought.
"I'll get the drinks then." Maka said as her girlfriend and girl friend walked away. Suddenly, she saw someone behind her. "What's that? Hey! Who's there?" She asked.
Mizore then popped out from a corner where she was poorly hidden. "Hello." She said in a slightly friendly tone, still not showing very much emotion.
"Oh, you're Mizore, right? What's up, do you need something?" Maka asked.
Mizore walked up, holding out the newspaper from before. "I read your paper. As usual, your articles are the most entertaining ones." She said.
"You're familiar with my work?" Maka asked.
In a vague reply, Mizore reached into her sweater pocket and pulled out what looked to be a diary with the kingdom hearts symbol on the back. "Even when I wasn't in school, Ms. Nekonome always brought over issues of the Yokai Gazette for me to read. Of all the articles, the only ones I save are yours." She said quietly.
"Oh. Thanks, I'm flattered." Maka said, blushing a little at the fact she had some form of a fan, opening the book. She was then shocked/creeped out to see Mizore's comments about the article.
("Love talk for the people I hope to…")
("Two hearts as one")
("Pure love")
"You like? I scribbled in a bunch of my own comments and ideas." She said.
'What the hell? Is she a stalker?!' Maka thought nervously.
"It's just that, I like all the articles your write. You're always writing from the point of view of the righteous and doing good things and protecting people. I can really relate." She said. There was a pause for a moment, but then they started talking again. "Your personality and the way you think is a lot like me and the way I think." Mizore said, walking closer to Maka, putting her arms underneath Maka's and picking the smaller girl up.
"What are you doing?" Maka asked nervously, also frightened, Mizore's contact feeling rather cold. She took a moment to look into her soul, seeing a purple, lonely soul, similar to Crona's, except Crona's had many more problems besides loneliness, but she also noticed it had an icy look to it and cold wind blowing around it.
"Trust me, I know exactly what that's like." She said quietly, holding Maka close, nuzzling her the way Inner Moka did in the previous chapter after kicking Gin's ass.
Later, in the faculty room…
Miss Nekonome appeared to be writing something when she was approached by a man in a white uniform.
"Miss Nekonome." He said.
"Why yes, hello there." She greeted in her usual happy/ditzy tone.
"Are you aware that there's a girl in your class that's been refusing to attend school? I think her name is Mizore Shirayuki. I just got word that she showed up for the first time." He asked.
"Oh! Yes, Mr. Kotsubo." She answered happily.
"If I were you, I'd be very careful about that one." He said.
"meow?" Miss Nekonome asked, confused.
"She hasn't attended a single class since she enrolled, it's only prudent to assume she's dealing with a very serious issue." He said.
Then, another female teacher walked up to them. "On top of that, her school records indicate that along with having a very unusual personality, she caused quite a few problems at Junior High." The teacher, Ms. Kagome asked.
"At any rate, to ensure she won't be a bad influence on the other students, we wanna make sure you watch her and keep a tight rein on her at all times." Mr. Kotsubo said.
"Yeah, I'll keep an eye out." Nekonome said, deadpanning, not wanting to have so much responsibility.
Meanwhile, Maka and Mizore were hanging out near the pond, skipping rocks. Mizore threw the next one. "Did you see that, Maka? That one skipped 9 times!" She said excitedly, pointing while Maka clapped.
"Awesome! Sorry, Mizore, but I gotta go now. See you later." Maka said, starting to walk away, until she was picked up by Mizore again.
"You wanna go to that buddy-buddy club of yours, huh?" Mizore said, shocking Maka. "It's your little girlfriend, Moka. She's the one you really wanna see isn't she." There was now mist gathering around them. "If you don't stay, there's really no telling what I'll do to that poor girl. All you have to do is just be mine and mine alone. 'Kay? That's it." She finished.
This was the last straw for Maka. "Leave her alone!" She said, struggling, then making small blades poke out of her and jab Mizore, but only enough for her to barely jab her, enough to make her let go of Maka, who then jumped a few feet away and turned to face her opponent, growing blades from her wrist and shoulders again.
Meanwhile….
Moka was sitting at the table alone with the snacks in front of her and some drinks Yukari had bought. "I wonder what's taking her so long." She said, concerned about Maka. Suddenly she heard the door open and instantly perked up. "Maka?!" She asked hopefully, but turned to see a completely different face… Mizore's. "What are you doing here? Where's-" Moka asked, stepping back defensively.
"Wait for her all day if you want to, she won't come." She said, walking over to Moka, water dripping behind her, then she grabbed Moka by the throat, both of them going to the floor, Mizore sitting on top of Moka.
"But, why are you-?" Moka pleaded.
"Because you're a nuisance, that's why. If you weren't always hanging around, Tsukune would've been mine a long time ago!" Mizore said in cold anger.
'Her hands, they're so cold! What's happening to me?!' Moka screamed in her mind as ice started forming on her neck and chin, until she finally got enough strength to fight back. "Cut it OUT!" Moka shouted, bitch-slapping Mizore across the face.
Ice then began to fall as Mizore's hair and, partially her face, turned to ice, one side slightly shattered. "Well that was a nice try. But the me that you see here is nothing but a puppet made out of ice and a good job at it, don't you think?" She asked, her voice echoing. "Sorry, but now it's time for you to die." She said, raising her right hand, which turned into a large ice katana. "In order for me to get what I desire, you have to go!" She said, moving her hand, pointing it down at Moka.
"No…. MAKA, HELP!" Moka screamed desperately.
Meanwhile, back at the pond…
Maka was pushed back across the ice, using her blades to stop herself. "Why are you doing this?!" Maka asked angrily.
"I'm not going to let you get away from me." She said, her hair now ice like the other one I described before.
"You're a Yuki-onna, or snow woman, aren't you? A rare race of female monsters that can bend ice to their will making it do what they want, right?" Maka said.
"That's right." Mizore said, quickly freezing Maka up to her waist and her arms.
"Let me go!" Maka demanded, trying to squirm, but to no avail.
"Don't you see, it was fate that you and I met. We both do what we think is right and protect people and I'm doing what I think is right and protecting the two of us. I feel the connection between us, I think you and I can understand each other. Embrace me and we can warm each other's frozen hearts." She said, approaching Maka, freezing her more.
"No, stop!" Maka said, making more blades come out of her, but they got stuck in the ice after she stabbed them through it.
"Calm down, just relax. Once I fully encase your body in ice, you won't go anywhere ever again. Once I do that you'll be mine and mine alone, won't you, Maka?" She asked.
"Maka! Just hold on!" Moka called from the sky, carried under the arms by Kurumu.
"But how? My puppet killed you." Mizore said, without emotion.
At this point, Kurumu had a sly look on her face. "Sorry to disappoint, but I swooped in and saved Moka at the last minute. I baked a secret love potion into a cake I made just for Tsukune and now it's COMPLETELY ruined, thanks to you!" She said angrily, swooping down.
"You stay out of my way!" Mizore shouted in rage, making giant ice spikes rise up at them, which Kurumu barely managed to dodge, causing them to crash, Moka crashing chest-first into Maka's face.
The three heroines laid on the ground, stunned, but then they recovered. "You two okay?" Maka asked.
"Fine." Both answered, but then Kurumu saw Mizore approaching. "Or not." She said.
"All of you trying to get in the way of the true love between Maka and myself? You all need to just disappear, especially you, miss Moka. I've had enough." Mizore said, raising her clawed hand.
Maka then got up and stood between them. "Just stop it! Stop this before we hurt anyone else! You say you're doing what's right and trying to protect us, but you're only doing wrong." Maka said.
"But, Maka, I'm trying to protect you." She said weakly.
"By freezing me solid? How can that do anything besides hurt me?!" Maka demanded.
"You're rejecting me?! MAKA, WHY?!" She screamed in rejected sorrow, making a giant mist, then vanishing in it.
"She's gone." Maka said.
"Where do you think she went?" Moka asked.
Kurumu looked confused, but then heard a cracking noise and looked down to see the ice at her feet cracking. "Oh, no, the ice!" She screamed as it broke beneath the 3 girls.
Later, at the track, 2 girls were walking to the dorms or something, after telling the Mr. Kotsubo to have a good day, but as they passed him, we see where his view is aimed: the girl's asses. "Damn. I'll tell you what, students these days develop way too freakin' fast." He said. He then walked into the woods and encountered Mizore, who was on her knees, crying into her hands. "Hey, you! What are you doin' out here, huh?" He asked, then he recognized her. "Oh, it's you." He said, then Mizore turned to see him.
Meanwhile, Maka sneezed as her, Kurumu and Moka were wrapped up in blankets in the club room to get over the freezing cold from the frozen water, Tsukune and Yukari were also present.
"Man, my cake's ruined thanks to frosty the snow-skank!" Kurumu shivered.
"I know what you…" Moka started before sneezing.
"Wow, you guys must've had a rough time, huh." Yukari asked.
"I know things seem kinda dreary at the moment, but we did plan the rap party and…" Tsukune started, but was stopped by the girls sneezing in a chain reaction: Maka, then Kurumu.
"Damn." Kurumu said.
"Jeez, you guys, you're all like a bunch of old farts." Yukari said annoyed. Then, suddenly, they heard a commotion outside. "I wonder what all the racket is out there?" Yukari said, getting up to investigate. She opened the door just as Miss Nekonome was about to run by.
"Oh, thank goodness, you're still here!" She said.
"What's going on?" Moka asked.
"Yeah, did something happen?" Maka asked.
"Yes, you're classmate Mizore has gone and gotten herself into a lot of trouble." She said.
In the nurse's office, Mr. Kotsubo's body was wrapped in bandages up to his neck and he had bandages on a few parts of his face and around his forehead.
"Mizore did this? She went and froze Mr. Kotsubo?" Moka asked.
"Yes, I'm afraid so. He was discovered right away, so his life isn't in danger or anything." Nekonome answered sadly.
"Wait, where's the proof she did this?" Maka asked, not wanting her to get in trouble if she didn't commit the crime.
"What are you talking about, she tried to freeze you and kill Moka and Kurumu." Tsukune whispered in an accusing tone.
Then Miss Ririko walked up from nowhere, her boobs bouncing as much as Kurumu's. "Proof? Who needs proof? When we found him, Mr. Kotsubo told us Mizore was the one who did it." She said.
"Miss Ririko." Tsukune said.
"She was a problem child from the get-go. We REALLY should've expelled her from school A LOT sooner." She said.
"Yeah, but she-" Miss Nekonome started, but then stopped and looked down.
"But, what about Mizore, where is she?" Moka asked concerned.
"For now, the entire faculty is out combing the grounds for her. And of course, when we find her, there's not a doubt in my mind she'll be expelled at once." Miss Ririko answered uncaringly.
"It just doesn't make sense, why would she go and do that to Mr. Kotsubo of all people?" Moka wondered.
Yukari raised her hand with a happy look on her face. "My guess is she went ballistic because Maka rejected her." She said happily.
"Yeah, that's probably true, given her personality; I wouldn't put it passed her." Kurumu answered.
"There may be another reason." Maka said, not believing Mizore was guilty, or if she was, that it was Maka's fault.
"Maka?" Moka asked, concerned.
"Maybe Mr. Kotsubo did something to offend her or threaten her?" Maka asked.
"I doubt it, that girl's crazy!" Tsukune said in a scared tone.
"Oh, please, that's a load of crap, there's no sense in blaming anyone but her for this." Kurumu said.
"She did this and she deserves whatever's coming to her!" Yukari said.
"Wow, if judges in the human world were as straight-forward as you guys, there would be a lot of over-crowded jails. Haven't you ever heard of the benefit of the doubt?" Maka said. Then she looked at Miss Nekonome. "Miss Nekonome!" She said, startling the teacher. "I'm going out to look for her on my own." Maka said, shocking everyone in the room.
Maka quickly left the room, just as Gin was entering. "Sorry to barge in, guys." He said, bumping into the exiting Maka. "Whoa! Man, what the hell's gotten into her, anyway, she's sure in a big hurry, huh?" Gin stated, looking as she was rushing out.
"Wow, well look who it is." Kurumu said in a cold, uncaring tone.
"What the heck are you doing here?" Yukari asked in an angry tone.
"Don't give me those dirty looks." He said, dismissively waving at them, then held up a camera. "I was out getting snapshots for an awesome new scoop." He said.
"Snapshots for…" Moka and Tsukune said, both in a distrusting tone.
"An awesome new scoop?" Yukari and Kurumu asked in the same tone.
Later, near a cliff, Mizore was on her own, near the edge, looking out to the sea, in the background.
"Hey, Mizore! Listen, you're in trouble back at school, so I need to know the truth to clear your name!" Maka said.
"You want to help me?" Mizore asked hopefully.
"Of course. We both want to protect people, right?" Maka said, smiling in a friendly way.
Mizore looked shocked for a moment, then smiled, walking over, picking Maka up and hugging her. "Okay, I'll tell you." She said, then put Maka down. "Mr. Kotsubo tried to molest me, so I acted out in self defense, but he shouldn't have been all beaten up like that…" She said, now looking like she was wondering about something.
"Maka!" Moka called as the 3 other girls, 4 if you count Tsukune, came running up to her. "There's been a terrible mistake, it turns out Mizore didn't do anything wrong!" She called out.
"I know! She just told me!" Maka called back.
"We found out what happened from Gin's pictures!" Yukari said.
"Here, look!" Kurumu said, holding them out. They showed Kotsubo turning into something big and red with tentacles and possibly fins, then him in this new form lurching over Mizore, then the last one was Mizore trying to get away with tentacles stretching out passed her, then more of basically the same thing.
"Yeah, I guess Gin comes through every once in a while." Tsukune said, chuckling nervously.
Then, all 6 of them heard a noise near the cliff as large tentacles came over the cliff. It was Kotsubo in his monster form, a Kraken! "So, you know my secret. So I'll have to deal with all of you now, starting with you, Shirayuki!" He said, rushing at Mizore.
"Not if I have anything to say about it! Time to make sushi!" Maka said, snapping off Moka's Rosary before rushing at Kotsubo, slicing off tentacles with blades from her wrists and toes, while she had small, but long blades curving around her like armor.
By the time Moka completely transformed, Kotsubo's tentacles were all severed, but growing back. "So, the giant sushi pedo is the reason I'm out here, huh? Know your place!" Moka said, kicking him over the edge, but he grabbed Mizore on the way down.
"Mizore, no!" Maka said, retracting the blades and diving, catching her with one arm, Kotsubo having slipped due to lack of consciousness from getting kicked. Unfortunately, Maka lacked the strength to pull Mizore up with one hand and she was slipping off the slightly frozen edge.
Suddenly, both of them were lifted up by Moka. "You called me out for that?" Moka said in a teasing, but annoyed tone. She grabbed Mizore and set her down, but she still held Maka at eye level, giving her a scolding look. "You know I can't stand weaklings. You stole all the real fun when you cut off all his tentacles. I think you need punishment." She said, then held Maka under one arm, supplying the weapon/meister with a sound spanking, to which Maka squealed to no end until it was over and Tsukune nearly died of a nosebleed.
After she was finished, Mizore smiled, walked over with a frozen hand and began to massage Maka's pained rear. "Does that feel better? This is my part in protecting." She said, smiling, then all the girls laughed.
Later, Mizore cut her hair down to shoulder length and the girls kicked Gin's ass after finding out he had been taking dirty pictures and only found the Mizore molesting by chance.