Sooo... Guess what, readers? My computer went kaboom! So, I had to rewrite this chapter, and I lost the three and a quarter beyond this one. Clearly, I'm pissed. I need to actively remember to create backups... God, this with the job and money shit, not a good combo to have to deal with. By the way - awesome shit, Tech N9ne's 'Last Words'... Although almost all of his music is great. Just getting' the word out.
Reviewer responses.
Preemptive Apology: Sorry if I'm short, both in attitude and length. Not in a good mood.
ManlyMonk: Thanks, I have a habit of just mismatching personality's from time to time, and a lot of the childish joy and naivety fails to show up because of both that fact, and I never exactly had a childhood... jumped right into late-teenage maturity, even without the hormones by the age of six, sooo... yeah, error on my part. Hehe, well I mentioned that he won't be using chakra, but a form of magic... You catch on quick though, counterfeiting ain't counterfeiting if it's not found. In most stories and cases I'd be forced to agree, but as you'll understand as I reveal the 'lay of the land' as it were, they're fairly evenly matched – if they existed in tandem with the monsters.
Varyingtastes: Eh, well for now it'll stay right where it is. I might change it if more people are shallow and bored enough to bitch, but for now it'll stay. I'm taking a leaf out of another crossover story - god forbid I could actually remember the name of it – and they will join the newspaper club, yes... but I'm thinking of either having Tsukune join a second club, eventually merging the NP club with another, or doing something else... Big plans, need a path and a trigger to set 'em off, you know?
Grimjowx: Aye, this'll be a long one as I'm going to respond a little from each of your reviews that you kindly made, thanks by the way. Yeah, it was darkish, but there's not a huge black cloud that kicks him in the nuts like there usually is, just was a stepping stone as you already know. I know it was a bit sophisticated for most mature kids, but I dampened him down a bit from how I acted at that age – cynical shit that I was. It was that, or totally oblivious, and that... that's not my style. Yeah, but as I've said in other responses, him being charmed that easy was due to him being caught off guard, and that special perfume she wore helped a lot. Haha thanks dude (or chick... yeah.) I think my length has greatly improved considering that my last project which is being reworked, SOA, I considered to be a 'real bitch' in length... Pathetic, looking back. Yeah, decided to take a 'Family Guy' approach and give a small off-shoot of sorts, and thanks for the compliment on Mizore's debut; I just thought that it was stupid – worse than my reason for this Tsukune's failing – that she didn't go to school for what, half the year, after apparently failing previously. She'd have been booted back to 'iceland' before the incident with the coach.
Hentai18ancilla: Good question, and in this iteration, I have kept most of the human world consistent with real life, but Japan is elitist and opportunities to thrive are only offered to those of high stations. The reasons for this are fairly obvious if you think about the manga and then governmental corruption. Not going to come right out and say it for those without keen perception, might ruin it for them, y'know? Also, he is not going to be mediocre here in Youkai, he will show his intelligence and such. At the moment though, he's in his shell and is sticking to what he knows, but as many children of abuse who've risen to overcome it or at least become synergistic with the fact, he's a quick adapter. As for low self-esteem, not quite. It was skewered logic mixed with a lack of drive due to cynical views that caused he low grades in the human realm. Very astute, I was and I'm sorry to hear you were as well. As for your review of ch5, I'm a German native and American English is my second language (albeit not by much), and I found it to be rather... contradictory of itself, in a way. Looking between the U.K. Rendition and the North American version, I find the former to be easier. Not sure if it's just something about me, or a justifiable thing. Thank you for the review of ch1, I greatly appreciate it... you know why it was the way it was.
Fateion: Thanks, hopefully I can keep up with the originality and the good quality. Not get complacent.
Prodigal Priest: Thank you. I don't think I've added any other hints in here either, but I can't be sure. It writes itself most (almost put 'moist', my god.) of the time. I will, and once more, thank you.
Guest: Dude, not being rude – quite humorous, actually – but I swear, that sounds like a pick-up line.
GaaraKingoftheSand: That's fine, and are they any good? If you care for a Naruto cross, Kenchi614 has one that's pretty decent. Anywhore, Yeah, but I think Kurumu and Ruby have facets that can be seriously explored as they're the most 'flat' of the characters, with secondary fixes going to Mizore and Yukari. As for fight scenes, where do you think I got the experience I have, certainly not from actual fights – No room for any form of martial art, just random chucking of fists. No class with people these days, none. Thanks, I'll look it up, and just in case, who wrote it?
Major Wallace: Thanks, soldier.
Hypothetical Spiritual Entity: Sooo... We've corresponded a few times, so I'm almost sure that your real, not hypothetical, dude. Haha. At any rate, yeah many people expected that and it shall be explained. It's not a plot-hole, I promise you on my box of fruit-loops.
Epicweaver: Thank you, and I'm glad it was believable. Mizore won't be showing up or getting involved much for a while yet, though; that was just a little promo, not a true introduction. Yeah, that is a major issue that will be recurring a few times, so you'll see a bit more of the time-dilation mechanics and such. As for that question, well... There's only one set of sharingan in the world, so... just saying, it's an option.
Guest: I currently have no access to internet and copied the reviews down on a notepad, so I'm justified in the following: The fuck does that mean? I feel like I've been insulted, but I'm not certain... In the case that I have, I advise you, in the words of Eric Cartman, to 'Respect mah authoritah!'
Thanks dude, take care.
Remzal Von Enili: Thanks for the suggestion, I had been thinking about that the other day. It will happen, just not immediately. Besides, there's a lot of time that is left out as blank spots and time-skips. Stuff could be happening there. I'm not so sure about that, I could do something with that, but it won't be for a while and will likely not be wolves if anything. No, the item you mentioned has a few closer ties into the story, namely a person.
Pyromania101: I ain't reviewed in awhile, how fucked is it? I'm not sure if she will – she may, I just make sure to name and describe most of my OC's because there's a slim chance that they could be used as a set piece and maybe be promoted to a higher standing than that later. If not, then I'd rather not just have faceless drones patrolling the school – I think it adds a bit of depth, however little. The vampires of this time, yes, but I meant back in the days of Alucard's first reign... Kinda like how people would think highly of, say, a descendant of Abraham Lincoln, despite the fact that they, themselves have done nothing to earn the admiration and respect. Another example would be how all the Sicilian and to a lesser extent, Italian immigrants believe they're badass or intimidate other people because of the mere loose fact that they could be related to some 1850-1950 mafia boss. The vampires of now – useless, petty, and honorless thugs that they are – are profiting off of what their far back ancestors did... Kinda like your 'Noble' thing you mentioned, but not quite. As for Alucard's weakness to modern weaponry, he's not as susceptible as you think. I point you to Devil May Cry 3 – I think, one of 'em anyways – and specifically the chimera things. I'll leave the connection to your imagination.
Scott Pike: I'll try to keep these in mind later on, and for the record, Ja, Ich bin Deutsch. Yeah, I think that as a succubus – a being of sex – she would need to be a bit more mature. Free-spirited is fine, but maturity is key. No, no other characters will be appearing except in the dreams and that's not exactly... viable, is it? Actually, one may make an appearance, but not in the way you may think, and certainly not soon – at all.
Disclaimer: Go ahead, sue me. You'll get lint, a button or two, and a box of fruit loops. I dare you, spend the $10,000 bucks on a gamble to obtain that.
Chapter 8: After-school clubs are a bitch.
He hissed as the pain in his back ached to new heights, and ignored the crimson blood spattering into his eyes from the searing screams of pain that his nerves practically shouted with from somewhere in his scalp. Through the red haze both from the blood and his weakening grasp over his eyes, he could see the towering shadow, even thirty some-odd miles away.
It took all of his power to not scream as soft hands landed upon his back and he felt the invasive yet warm energy of the medic trying to mend his wounds. He must have had a concussion because he could hear the voice of the medic, a woman, trying to speak to him but it was fruitless, as all he could make out was a warbling echo of sound.
A shattering scream escaped him as he felt a sharp shove on his back, causing an impossibly painful feeling, sending white-hot embers streaking through his body. Suddenly he realized that up until then, he couldn't feel much of his body. Then the words that the medic had been saying were comprehensible to him; his spine had been severed, broke the skin.
Softly at first, he began to laugh in a mixture of bitterness and amusement. Had he not been tossed so close to the rear base from that attack, he would've been left paralyzed, with no way to help himself or any allies that managed to come. The Uchiha Empire wouldn't have had any idea that one of their princes was still alive; would've just lopped him in with the thousands of dead that littered the forest and surrounding plains.
"Lord Uchiha... Izuna-sama, are you alright?", A man asked, concern and fear well-hidden beneath his militant baritone. He turned upon hearing his name and raised a delicate eyebrow, "Don't be concerned, Motoi-san, thanks to your wife, I am."
Relief washed over the man's stony exterior before it was quickly put back in place, though a smirk now lightly adorned his facade,and he wrapped an arm around his wife, the medic who had found and fixed him up. Forcing himself up from the ground, he ignored the couple's protests and sighed as his back popped, "Send word for a massive fire-team, the Senju corspe-walkers are growing in number."
"Right away, sir," The woman answered and ran off to the tents in the background. Motoi took a step closer to him, "Where are you going, Izuna-sama?"
He looked up at Motoi, a deep frown upon his face as he activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, revealing the reflection of the three thick bar-pillars that congruently rose from his black-encircled red pupils out to the edges of his iris in Motoi's pitch-black eyes. "To the battle-field, a soldier's duty is never done," He muttered and with a pulse of energy from his eyes that enveloped his entire being, he swirled into nothingness.
Tsukune awoke in a cold sweat, his ears and chest burning red with irritation and not the least bit of unventilated heat. Quickly calming himself down through a few breath exercises, the brunette teen looked about his dorm, trying to focus on something to bring him the rest of the way out of the dream-land. His mouth was dry, lips cracked and... He 'hmm'd' when he licked his lips to wet them, 'They're bleeding?'
Confirming this in the mirror after slipping out of bed and mussing his hair, Tsukune let loose an annoyed sigh. It was bad enough that he had to deal with the perpetual sickness that prickled at him every time he awoke from sleep, but now his lips were going to start cracking and bleeding. Great. It was all that he needed, especially when one of his friends was a vampire... Briefly the thought of the pink haired girl kissing him inadvertently to get some of the blood entered his mind, but was crushed quickly under the steel fortress that was Tsukune's psyche.
'No use in having those thoughts,' Tsukune thought monotonously as he looked out of the sash window directly to the left of his bed, casting his chocolate gaze across the shadowed academy grounds. The time on his clock displayed that it was merely an irksome four-thirty in the morning. Yet he simply couldn't find it in himself to lie back down, he wasn't entirely tired and certainly didn't want to have to deal with those... weird dreams.
The thought of the dreams he had every once in a while caused a shiver to travel the length of his spine, leaving a trail of goose-bumps in it's wake. It wasn't so much that they felt like memories, or that he could actually recall them like memories after having them. No, it was actually that when initially having the dream, he felt everything... He hoped that he never had to experience having his back broken again, especially not if he had to be awake to get it replaced – grateful, or not.
'So, the original people who were hosts to these eyes, they numbered great and had an empire. Begs the question: what the hell happened?' Tsukune pondered the unanswered question, trying to take his mind off of the feeling of a severed spine. Turning away from the pitch-black scenery out beyond the window, he walked into the kitchenette and cut on the lights, briefly squinting as the blaring lights stung his eyes.
Pulling a cup out of the small cupboard beside the sink, he poured himself a glass of water and began to sip on it, sitting on one of the stools that sat on the inside of the protruding counter-top that separated the kitchen from the living area. His thoughts, having no direct source to focus on, rummaged through the last few days. He'd been avoiding Kurumu, and to a lesser extent, Moka after the day in the cafeteria.
It wasn't that he didn't enjoy their company -when they kept it civil- or that he didn't secretly find some of their quirks and antics amusing. His issue was primarily an odd thing that he had found whilst meditating that night; he had been perturbed by the seamless way that he simply up and accepted Kurumu the way that he did. It was so seamless that he hadn't even noticed it until his immersion within his psyche.
Such a thing befuddled and greatly concerned the teenager, especially because he had every intention of being aloof and simply keeping her at arm's length until she had proven herself redeemable. At first he thought it to be a charm, but upon delving deep within himself until the metaphysical manifestation of his inner world formed around him, he found that there were no such traces, nor even the familiar... -feeling, or taste, perhaps energy- signature of her within his mind.
Without any evidence of her tampering with him and causing his strange behavior, he felt naked. He knew himself like the back of his hand – more so than anyone else could even fancy thought towards knowing him – which brought forth the question of what the hell was wrong with him? The next day, he found himself allowing her without much resistance to pull his arm between her breasts and found that he was much more susceptible to emotions around her. The loss of his fortress of solitude, which kept everything that he was – his essence - safely locked within; letting only what he wanted others to know about him out, was a major blow to him.
That night he had decided to stay as far away from Kurumu as he could be, inadvertently that meant that Moka was kept at arm's length at the closest due to her new sister-hood like bond with her first female friend. Tsukune understood, and didn't hold it against the innocent vampire, instead telling her that he was having personal issues and would rather be alone and not to worry too much – in his own way, of course.
Moka hadn't so much as batted an eye after he had reassured her that he was fine and that the problem and trial he was having didn't lie with her. Though he could see the longing to hang out with him, the pink haired girl was content to spend time with the succubus and talk on subjects that he, no matter how much or little he tried and cared, would likely not understand.
The classes crept by slowly, with but the most stimulating of facts simply washing by him, not interesting him much. The thought of learning things which he could easily exceed with what he had picked up from his reading of books over the past few years was not of the highest priority. This, however, didn't mean that he explicitly slacked in his work, rather he unleashed a little of his talent; granting him a decent score on all his assignments, whilst not forcing him into any sort of spotlight beyond the rare look of curiosity and fairly subdued veneration.
Gym class was not enjoyable since the incident at dodge-ball, and coincidentally the girl whom he had defended had only attended the class twice and both times remained silent beyond anything that he had thought a living being would be able to pull off. The second time he had seen her – two days prior – she had quickly vanished from the class when a small rout erupted from some of his peers, bringing Katsubo over to the area. There had been hide nor hair of the purple-haired girl since then.
The Orange haired man continued to skulk around his class and had yet to pass another unfair and severely biased judgment, yet every time his forlornly blue eyes would pass over Tsukune, they would harden and a flash of some emotion would pass through them. Would it that he only could see into the intricacies of the man's mind; find out what he thought, what he was planning – as that man clearly had something falling into shape.
Throughout the past two weeks, the melodramatic happenings around the school which had plagued his first two weeks had died off considerably. 'Or perhaps I've just gotten used to everything odd happening?' Tsukune wryly thought, his lips lifting some as he pulled the cup full of water way from them and swallowed. Yet, the itching at the base of his neck and a strange sting in his eyes had started besetting him roughly three nights earlier, setting him on edge. For what, though? He didn't know.
Another sip of water, another breath of air, and the click of the analog clock above the dorm door marked another second passing by. He let out a beleaguered sigh and pushed his fingers into his lids, massaging his aching eyes. Hardly a month in the school, and he was stressed out beyond what he had felt in his first month at school in the Human Realm. It annoyed him, truly pricked him in the side with a lit cigarette because he knew it shouldn't bother him nearly as much as it was.
A snort escaped him despite his efforts, which he vocalized his thoughts for thereafter, "I'd probably stop fretting if I could figure out and fix whatever is hindering my inhibitions." Tsukune blinked, 'Fuck... If only I knew what the hell she did to me...'
Moka wasn't a person who would share his personal – or even passive – information with anyone for any reason without his permission. That much he had deduced from his time with the gentle vampire. That wasn't saying it couldn't be enticed, but she wouldn't just run her mouth about it. He had that much he could trust about her, not that he placed his trust in her, yet.
This Korono Kurumu, on the other hand, well... She was about as subtle as a stampede of elephants, about as quiet as a car alarm in the twilight hours, and about as secretive as a tell-all autobiography. Sure, she had the capacity for concealing the truth and for keeping personal information close to her heart, but it fell under the same concept as him with his trust; it could be put to use and placed somewhere safe, but it wasn't.
This simple truth was something that froze Tsukune's crimson life-blood in his veins, and made his reality and the way he conducted his psyche potentially moot. It was by some stroke of pure, unadulterated luck that she hadn't gotten a desire to ask about him beyond just surface-scraping questions, such as his favorite foods and if he had played this, or had seen that. A shudder trembled down himself once again as he imagined the implications of the seductress being privy to his inner-most secrets and plans... If she uttered a word about a tenth of what he had locked away, he would likely be hunted down.
Ten minutes of simply staring blankly at the counter whilst thinking aimlessly, trying to run several facts and figures with no particular motive passed quickly. With a weary breath of resignation, Tsukune glanced around the room, a half-lidded gaze taking everything in, yet he found nothing that caught his attention or demanded any immediate thought. It was going to be a long morning.
Sometime later, Tsukune found himself walking towards school – a bit earlier than normal but that was likely attributed to the utter lack of stimulation in and around his dorm. His eyes trailed around, examining every little detail of his surroundings, the mahogany glean of his eyes barely perceptible as he quickly switched between his sharingan and his base eyes. The hair on the back of his neck prickled as a physical indication of the eyes that seemed keen on staring him down from some unknown place.
The students that passed him by were given little attention, and the few that bumped into him due to their own distractions and thereby impaired perceptions received little more than grunts of placation. Still, the look on the withdrawn teen's face – his impassive line as a mouth, the knit together brows and the glaring eyes – made them all the more comfortable with accepting his slightly rude actions in lieu of not inciting his wrath.
It didn't take him as long as usual to make his way through the throngs of fellow students who continued to make way for him, giving a wide berth for which he could pass them by without incident. Yet this progress was not made in good standing, for even the casual caws of the crows that flew through the now pink sky were absent, and that feeling of someone spying on him continued to grow stronger the closer he got to the entrance of Youkai Academy.
He paid little attention to the enlarging steeple that adorned - and marked - the entrance to the school for the supernatural entities of myth and lore, instead his mind stayed behind, focusing on the stomach-lurching issue that perplexed him above all others, and specifically how he was going to solve it.
Tsukune could easily just phase the two girls out of his life; they had already gained a bond -however small- that would allow them to hold a friendship between them, even without his presence. They'd miss him at first and if he were honest with himself, he would probably miss them as well. Yet, he didn't need the camaraderie of anyone in his life to survive... It was amusing, and took some stress off, but his mild social awkwardness and reserved nature made it more of an obstacle than anything quite as enjoyable as the two girls made it seem.
Barring that, there was also the option of continuing to ignore the succubus, except he would exacerbate it – going as far as to alienate the girl by ignoring her very existence right before her eyes. It wouldn't be too hard; it was something he did to most of the world as a whole on a daily basis – well, before he arrived at Youkai Academy, though it had only been toned down.
Yet for whatever reason, that was the least appealing of all options he had come up with, and so was placed in the rear of his mind – a last resort. Still, he had to do something. If he didn't, then it was likely just a roll of the dice until such a time happened that she asked a question that was deeper than the loose questions of material fondness.
A weight suddenly slammed into his back and panic set in, prickling at his neck and sternum before it was swallowed moments later into an eternal abyss where a calm, calculative hatred – a desire to bend, warp, tear and destroy to a degree that was nigh-impossible to imagine, and at such a sluggish speed that one would go mad many times over. This madness was washed away by two things; one being the immense pain that surged through his eyes, and the second being the calming scent of mineral oil, jasmines and a very light undertone of what he knew to be sweet-pea.
The negativity drained away until just the barest hint remained in his psyche, enough to weight his mind down with the burdening thoughts of Kurumu, but it no longer held the fatigue as it had moments ago. Liberated from his thoughts, Tsukune let a silent sigh loose as the barest hint of a smile warped the edges of his mouth, "Good morning, Moka-san."
"Mornin' Tsukune-kun! I finally got to you before school; I've missed you." Moka greeted him with her usual abundance of energy, yet ended with it subdued, while somehow carrying with it a bit more feeling. It was strange – perhaps it was the fact that someone actually admitted to missing his presence?
Brushing off the warmth that burned in his chest, Tsukune nodded his head in a silent acknowledgment of her reciprocation and gently unclasped her hands from around his neck, then turned, "It's not as if I've been out of contact long. Still, your dearth was noticed."
Moka's brows knitted for a moment before she brightened; her cheeks now tinged with a healthy pink as she looked away, happy that Tsukune had actually missed her – even if he was so cool in saying it. She smiled demurely and peeked up at him finally, her off-jade eyes catching a gaze at his own chocolate pair as he looked at her - ever impassive as always, yet somehow conveying a caring warmth.
"What have you and Kurumu been doing after school lets out?" Tsukune questions, lightly arching an eyebrow and loosened his stance some. He knew that it really wasn't any of his business what the pair did, especially with his choice to distance himself; such rules of social etiquette weren't of affect in this case, though. It was small, but there existed a chance that Kurumu may have used her enormous mouth and told Moka what she had inflicted upon him.
Moka tilted her head to the side and thought, placing her index finger lightly on her bottom lip. She hummed a low melody until she began speaking, "Kurumu-chan and I have just been getting to know each other; nothing much other than that. Surprisingly, she and I have quite a bit in common, actually."
Chocolate eyes flicked back onto the jade pair for scarcely a second, a hint of surprise or veiled curiosity within them. Tsukune began to walk away, yet slowly as if to beckon Moka to walk with him. Once she picked up the hint and caught up with him, he glanced at her from his peripheral, "So you two get along well, then. What do you two have in common?"
It was simply small talk to entice any possible information out of the pink-haired beauty, and perhaps to a somewhat smaller extent he truly wanted to know. The fact that he was trying to distance himself from her was also quite a contributing factor to his overall coolness when dealing with her – not that it was too different than his usual amount.
Tsukune reached forwards and pulled the entrance door open and absentmindedly held it open until Moka passed by him, not noticing his actions, nor the recurrence of the pink tinge to her cheeks. The two began to once more walk in tandem when Moka replied to his question, "She and I both enjoy baked sweets, and in particular oatmeal and white-chocolate macadamia cookies."
Placing that particular bit of information in the back of his mind, Tsukune nodded his head and listened on. "Kurumu-chan and I also happen to like painting, although I think I like it a little more than she does. Ano, there's a few things that she asked me not to tell – she said that if anyone was going to know, she'd like to be the one to let them know."
His eyes narrowed insignificantly as he mentally cursed. He should have thought that she would have requested Moka keep some of what she said between them – even if it was something important. 'I would think that Moka would tell me if it were something that involved me in some form, though. Especially if it seemed like something that could endanger me.'
The pair passed the front courtyard that held the thresholds of two hallways, a spiral staircase to the second level that lay above, and had the main hallway that ran through the center of the school which led to the cafeteria. As they reached the third branching hall, they both turned on well-rehearsed memory as they lightly chatted about everything and nothing.
At the last minute, Tsukune's eyes narrowed as his senses went wild; his hair all but standing on end and an uncanny feeling of de-ja vu. He turned his head down and flashed his sharingan quickly, confirming what his senses were telling him. He quickly rounded on Moka and placed a hand on her shoulder, his mouth a thin line and his eyes blank – reserved, "It was good talking with you, Moka. Have a good day."
Perplexed by his sudden, yet outwardly mild change of demeanor, Moka attempted to keep him; to question him about his sudden change, but he was gone – hidden by the passing crowds of students. Her once-happy and now confused expression faltered to that of worry and dejection as she mumbled, "You too, Tsukune..."
Such dejection didn't have a chance to truly invade her completely as moments later, the kind vampire was captured in warm and tight embrace by her newest friend, "Heya Moka-chan! What's up?"
Kurumu's abrupt embrace snapped the pink-haired girl from her funk some, allowing her to smile lightly at her friend and return the hug, though not nearly as enthused. Despite the sudden shot of happiness and surprise, Moka still couldn't shake the pit of disappointment that welled in her heart; she'd been so happy to catch Tsukune after nearly three days of not seeing him at all – even in passing! Then, he simply waltzes off without an explanation. A mirthful smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, 'Just like him, to do something like that.'
Her musing was put to an end when the violet-blue eyes of the succubus was seen staring squarely into her own pair, although her line-of-sight was somewhat marred by the viscous rocking courtesy of aforementioned girl gripping her shoulders, "Moka-chan? C'mon, return to the land of the living; sleepy-time is over now. There you are, now what's up, huh?"
Moka's widened eyes regarded her bluenette friend with a mix of bewilderment and mild annoyance, though the latter faded quickly, "A-ano, it's nothing; I was just thinking about Tsukune..."
Such a hot-button topic instantly had the succubus' eyes wide, and her mouth running a hundred-miles a minute as she hung off of her pink-haired friend whilst bouncing around, "Tsukune-kun? I haven't seen him around lately; my Destined One hasn't been around me in so long; it's like he's avoiding me – avoiding my love for him. I've been so worried about him – I just want to give him a big, tight hug!"
The jabbering of words about her Destined One would have continued to flow from the pink lips of the girl, had Moka not sighed wistfully and interrupted her, "I saw him today, I found him just outside of the academy's entrance."
zipping her mouth tight for just a quarter of a second a she stared incredulously at the young vampire girl, Kurumu was suddenly filled to the point of bursting with a new feeling – one of immense curiosity and excitement, "You did!? How is he doing, and where has he been?"
Moka shrugged, her lips pursing into a tiny thoughtful frown. "Honestly? He seems a little troubled, and it has gotten him down some, I think. We talked a little, mainly about school these past weeks, but he didn't let on about anything – it was kind of his... aura, I suppose?" She tried, and despite the fact that the word didn't fit, she couldn't think of a fitting replacement.
She blinked and found Kurumu staring at her in scrutiny, "He seemed more troubled than he already does?"
Receiving a nod in response, the violet-eyed girl's face fell some as worry became etched onto visage, "I... I wonder what's troubling him – if I could fix it?"
Though her face soured some at the flagrant omission of herself in the pondering of helping Tsukune, she brushed it off quickly upon remembering just who she was dealing with – that Kurumu saw only herself, at this moment of worry and stress, as the only person who could possibly allay his problems. It wasn't that the blue-haired girl was being obstinately rude, or truly meant to ignore and dismiss her from the equation, she was just saying what she thought right at the moment, no harm intended.
Still, many have said and done things without the intent of offense or emotional wounds being the outcome, but those wishes never stopped such things from happening. It was much the same in this case, and while Moka wasn't angry with her friend, it nevertheless stung her in her heart to think that even under, however erroneous and/or overstated, duress from her 'Destined One's' actions -or lack thereof – Moka wasn't also included as someone whom could assist in his betterment.
"Maybe," Moka paused as she looked away from the succubus beside her. She wished she could summon the strength to comment on the minor slip of her friend; to ask her what made her so special as to be the only one to help him. Yet she couldn't muster up the grit, partially because she felt that it wasn't her place – that Kurumu was merely speaking from her heart; a heart that was madly in love, for whatever reason, not that Moka couldn't guess, with Tsukune even with his obvious issues. Additionally, she felt that, should she bring it up, it would only serve to spill what little blood their budding friendship had.
So she stayed silent about it, ignoring the pangs as best as she could whilst trying to hold back her struggling emotions and thoughts from showing. This struggle was interrupted and completely shut-down the small inner-skirmish when she was brought to reality, and effectively scared half to death due to her temporarily forgetting where she was, when her friend spoke, "What do you mean – 'Maybe'? Are you alright, Moka-chan?"
"Hu-! A-ano, oh... yes, don't worry about it. I was just caught up in thought. You were saying?" Moka scrambled out of the embarrassment of the situation and quickly shifted it back to the conversation, asking Kurumu to reiterate whatever she was asking. She took a long, deep breathe to calm herself and help stave off the blush as the buxom girl asked her question.
"Oh, I didn't realize I had said anything – I was just thinking." This was her answer to the Succubus' second utterance of her question. It clearly wasn't the truth, but she didn't want to admit to the girl that she was a tad bitter and had did all she could do to express her feelings; a petty jibe at the girl's abilities.
A nod of understanding – despite that understanding being based on a lie – followed and Kurumu grabbed Moka's wrist and began to drag her through the halls to their first class of the day, "Hey Moka – what do you think could be bothering Tsukune-kun? You knew him longer than me; maybe he said something?"
Somewhat annoyed at being suddenly carted along by the blue-haired girl, the meek pink haired vampire let out a stressed sigh as an answer whilst she lightly thought over all of their interactions, and despite it all she realized that, "I... I don't think he's ever told me much about him – as far as things that might bother him, or anything goes. He's always been a bit distant, but... I really have no idea."
A moan of disappointment was made by the girl dragging her through the halls teeming with their peers and upperclassmen, weaving around those that they could, despite the drooling mouths, widened eyes and twitchy hands that threatened a stray grope – all of which the Succubus surprisingly ignored, though Moka did note the shimmering of her violet iris. Filing that anomaly away just in case it proved to be important, she listened as the girl replied, "Damn, that sucks. Too bad we can't just corner him and ask – I mean, we're his friends, you'd think that he would open up a little."
She didn't voice anything beyond a light sound of agreement, because she couldn't find any words. She knew what Kurumu said was true – to some extent, and to tell the truth, she had been burning to ask him questions; it was only reasonable to find out about your friends. Yet for some inexplicable reason Moka found herself containing a small, white-hot bubble of anger, and a need to defend her friend from -essentially- the truth. It didn't make any sense to the young kindhearted vampire, and it unsettled her to feel such a strong thing.
Meanwhile, a few hours later found Tsukune sighing as he made his way from English – Daisuke Maki's class – towards his homeroom at the behest of the intercom, or more specifically, the Headmaster. The dark and smooth voice of the headmaster echoed out of the speakers with a slight gravelly quality marring his voice due to the speaker's apparent age. He closed his eyes and maneuvered through the students who, whilst not giving as much as earlier, were still allowing him a pathway – at least those that weren't cocky or fixin' for a fight. He paid them no mind, for now, as he thought back to the class.
Tsukune sat at his desk, an overwhelming air of negativity hung over him, pressing onto his shoulders like that of a titanium building ingot resting atop him. His lips parted to let loose a breathe that held just a small portion of this stress as he toned out the over-amplified antics of Daisuke 'Awesome!' Maki, less he jump up and strangle the life out of the flippant and hyperactive man.
Turning his attentions from the man whom held all of his ire, Tsukune found himself thinking about his predicament. It didn't make sense to him as to why he was so bothered about breaking ties with the girls – Moka, and Kurumu; it was as if his very being shouted out against it in protest, as if to do so would be to go against nature itself. He grit his teeth subconsciously and tuned his baleful gaze to the desk which his elbows rested.
He wondered if it had to do with the atmosphere, perhaps the fact that they were within a demonic barrier and that some of the properties had an adverse affect on his human mind. Mayhaps it was the fault of that blue-headed woman – perhaps she had placed some sort of spell which he couldn't – or hadn't learned to – detect upon him. A light snort escaped his nostrils as he pressed his lips into a thin line, 'These problems wouldn't plague me in the human world; I'd simply strike them from memory and be done with it... Damn this place.'
An itching for his attention began to burn in his head, but he was so wrapped up in his thoughts that the call from his own senses didn't reach him. It wasn't until a hand landed on his desk with a loud smack, that Tsukune casually glanced upward and found the annoyed eyes of the frantic teacher baring down on him, "So you've decided to join us today, Aono-san? That's awesome!"
Though his face belayed no annoyance or any emotion really, hidden from view from most everyone, Tsukune's hand pulled into a fist as Daisuke droned his disappointed and 'dangerous' words, even managing to make an exclamation seem lethargic. He was so close – all he had to do was reach out and snap a punch into the man's voice box, then choke the mute man to death... It'd be so easy, but would present too many problems. Resigning to keep himself out of the public eyes, and instead suffer, he let the man continue on, "Now that your with us, you can read pages 365-368 aloud, since you were too busy elsewhere to answer my question."
The teen stared at the man with dead eyes, insults and promises of pain all but being threatened in the chocolate orbs glaring into the teacher's coal pair. Neither of the two moved, their eyes' didn't even twitch during the unnerving staring match. The students around them became little more than a wispy echo that hissed at them. A bead of sweat appeared on Daisuke's brow and from the strained bobbing of his adam's apple, Tsukune could tell he was working up some words to spew at him.
The standoff between the cool, hunched over brunette teen, and his overbearing, frenetic teacher would have continued until the man grew a pair and broke from the not-spell that Tsukune's vacant glower had over him, or until Tsukune grew tired of the nervous wreck that the man was slowly becoming and either left the class of beat the man to his last breath. Luckily, neither happened because two minutes into the match, the intercom came to life with all the subtlety of a screeching locomotive wreck tumbling and hurling towards oneself.
The hissing of the static soon gave way to horribly rendered vocals, "Good afternoon, students... This last month has been eventful, and I trust that it has been... an experience not to be forgotten. This announcement is to let you all know that your classes shall end early, and that you are all to report to your respective homeroom. There, an announcement will be made that affects you all... Do not skip out; it would be very detrimental to do so..."
With an evil chuckle that would later become known as the Headmaster's vocal signature, the intercom shut off with a nearly inaudible beep. The class was eerily silent, so much so that it would likely be possible to hear a hair drop onto the linoleum floor. Tension in the air was palpable and thick, actually weighing down some of those within the classroom as everyone looked around confused and nervous, save for two sets of eyes that stayed glued on one another a few seconds longer until Tsukune blinked and looked away, "I believe you're needed to release this class Daisuke-sensei."
Daisuke Maki did all he could not to visually recoil as he was released from whatever force held him into place. Despite how much he wanted to call the young man after class and have words with him for his lack of attention, he knew it would be somewhat unfounded; despite Aono Tsukune's lack of class participation – or even the desire to pay the least bit of attention – his grades had begun to raise from the straight 3's to all fours and two days ago he turned it some work which received a five. It baffled him how the brunette was doing so good without listening to a damn thing during class, but he'd try not to mess with whatever worked... still, it didn't stop him from being annoyed.
After reaffirming his composure and walking to the front of class,Daisuke cast his coal gaze across all fo the students in his class and smiled as he took a deep breath, "Well, this was an awesome class, wasn't it!? Too bad it was cut short, but I bet you'll like what's in store! So, without further adieu, have an awesome day!"
So here he was, standing before Nekonome-sensie's classroom, staring intently at the creme colored door with the brass handle. He wondered what the purpose of being called away from class would be, not that he wasn't thrilled to be out of that imbecile's classroom. 'Whatever the reason,' Tsukune thought to himself as he reached the handle and turned it, 'I can't help but feel as if this entire thing will be little more than a failure.'
After taking his seat whilst effectively ignoring the other students that babbled on incessantly, Tsukune stared ahead as he awaited Nekonome to stop fiddling with whatever it was that had her attention behind her desk at the moment. While he waited, he sifted through his memories and the feeling of foreboding that seemed to linger overhead like that of an anvil held aloft by fishing wire.
Thus far the few times that he had gotten a feeling similar to this, it never failed to disappoint. Either Saizou attacked, Kurumu tried to eliminate him, or a branch would nearly fall on his head. Sometimes, he would even feel inexplicable eyes that, for whatever reason, followed him with a malevolent intent.
After nearly five minutes of hearing a strange racket happening between Nekonome and the desk she was bent under, she suddenly popped up with a cheery smile upon her face, "Good Afternoon everyone! Now I know you're all very excited to be out of class, but there's a very important reason for this, nya."
Despite the fact that she finished her opening statement with a contented sigh that sounded almost identical to a cat relaxing, no-one paid it much mind, deciding that hearing what had them out of class and gathered up like they were was more important. She squinted her eyes with a smile and pranced over to the chalkboard and grabbed the chalk with a flourish, "As you're all aware by now, since I've been saying it every day, Youkai Academy is a place to help all of you young monsters adapt and hide amongst the humans that rule the Earth. To help with that, everyone that is enrolled here must join an after-school club!"
Several pairs of eyes simply stared at her while a few more students voiced their disagreements. One such shot up out of her chair and held her arms out, "Why do we need to join a club!? I'm tired by the end of school as it is, and besides, we'll already have enough experience, won't we?"
Nekonome's face contorted into a slightly worried expression, though the contours of her squinted eyes pointed at her being annoyed or angry, possibly at being interrupted. Without a word, she walked up to the girl and mewled somberly, "Maybe you can bring it up to your club's leader - they can make exceptions for you. Next time, though...," Shizuka stopped and suddenly her tail popped out from under the ruby colored miniskirt as her hair somehow spiked up in every direction and hissed, "Don't interrupt me!"
Instantly her mood changed back to her calm and cheery self as she pranced back to the board, humming lightly to herself until she reached her destination. As she turned back to the class, apparently oblivious to the looks of shock and fear that were plastered on half the class' faces, she continued on, "Not only will joining a club help you blend in and learn further how to function with the humans, but there are quite good benefits for joining one!"
Tsukune's eyes shifted over to her, but he didn't make any move to ask her to clarify; it was abundantly clear that she would continue on. Unfortunately, some of his peers lacked that cognitive bridge, and so spoke up, "What kind of benefits? Like extra credit, or something?"
Nekonome smiled and cocked her head to the side, her ear tufts twitching, "Not quite, Oniri-san. By joining a club, you'll get to experience several human jobs and activities that will help build your skills. Not only that, but when you enter into the human world, the club that you've joined will qualify as previous work experience, so you'll have a head-start on most humans that get out of school."
This got Tukune's attention. If joining a meager club during the school would allow for him to further his life once he got out without him having to really do anything extra, he was definitely on-board. Having previous job experience and getting a diploma? That was far more than he had expected to get.
Sitting up and actively paying more attention, Tsukune listened as Nekonome-sensie went on about the benefits of joining the clubs. The sandy-blonde haired teacher mewled happily as she went on, "Also, the club activities will be examined by the Headmaster himself, and if the activities taking place in them help the members, or even better - the school as a whole, then that semester's 'grade' will be added as a college credit."
"Also, I know some of you are completely ignorant of the human world," She explained with her typical smile and adjusted her glasses as she went about drawing small diagram of boxes; each bigger than the last. Finally she spun to face the rest of the class with her baton poised over the first box, "In Human society, most humans are educated by a third party - much like how you all are right now. There are many different levels of schooling for all of the regions, but in Japan, where most monsters originally integrate, there is Primary School, High-School, and then College."
She went on to explain the reason that humans were expected to go to College, and sometimes continue to frequent the institutes their entire life. It wasn't too in-depth a description of the school-systems from his home-realm, but Tsukune knew that the information -while not blowing any minds- was likely surprising to a few of the monsters sitting around him.
It didn't take much longer than that for the intercom system to squeak and rumble, announcing it's activation to everyone within a hundred yards. Seconds later, the Headmaster's tell-tale voice all but slithered out of the speaker's and into the students' ears, "By now you've been enlightened as to the club activities you will be taking part in. As before, once this announcement is finished you will be excused to your dorms – get prepared to find a club. You will have this entire day to find one to join; light will shine until curfew is enacted. After today, you will have a week after each day's classes to find one... If you cannot find one, one will be assigned to you. Dismissed."
"Okay, you heard the big man; go get ready! Remember to check out all kinds of clubs, and come see me – I'm the Adviser for the Newspaper Club!" With such explicit and shameless advertising done, she mewled and stood to the side of the door, waving all of the students off as they left.
Tsukune paid no mind to any of the students as he passed by them, weaving and shifting his way through the slow moving mass of bodies. He cared not for the decorations being set up, nor the wondrous atmosphere that filled the air by his peers; he could have his wonder when he came back through to find a club, right now he was solely concerned with getting to the dormitories.
Twenty minutes later found Tsukune wearing a fresh set of the Academy's uniform, though casually worn: the blazer was worn loosely, with his left sleeve completely limp save for the shoulder, where his elbow apparently rested as his hand rested against his chest, barely peaking from behind the blazer – as if it were wounded. The white button up dress-shirt had the top three buttons undone, allowing the neckline of his black wife-beater to just barely show. The tie was loosened up and hung somewhat loosely around his collar, though other than that deviation it looked as it should – that went for the rest of his wardrobe.
He was on his way back towards the school to finally get a look at all of the clubs, something he was now somewhat eager to involve himself in; the perks were simply to great to ignore. Despite his relaxed guise, Tsukune was anything but; that feeling of eyes watching his every move, as if a predator were stalking him, waiting to make a kill on an equally dangerous meal was back. It always appeared when he couldn't risk flashing his sharingan to get a hint as to where this bastard/bitch, and/or thing was. It infuriated him to no end.
Trying his best to ignore the utter desire for his death by some unknown factor, the brunette teen continued his trek to the massive school where he began to see the first emerging signs of the many, many clubs that had been set up for recruitment. Deciding to go around the school's proper, he quickly made a left and trekked through the well-cut grass and the occasional tree that stood near the school, a deceased sentry of times perhaps better.
As he approached the wall perforated by a series of archways that lead into the main courtyard, the sounds of excitable students - both his peers and upperclassmen - clamoring about as they checked out various clubs became abundantly clear and only got louder. Making the turn and crossing under one of the large archways brought the mental picture he had into fruition: Nearly three-hundred students were crammed into the courtyard as they moved about, looking at the different booths that ranged from a simple sign with a few people gathered under it, to full-fledged activity tables with an itinerary of their projected activities over the year, and in some cases, a sample activity to show those interested a snippet of what they'd be signing up for.
He could easily make out twelve clubs that were set up out here, and those were the more extravagant ones; he knew that there were likely equal-to-double that in simple set-ups. The Yukari Sendo Appreciation club was the most prominent, displaying poster-boards up to ten-feet tall with imposed pictures of a young girl in slightly varying states of dress, though almost consistently in a witch's hat with a maroon mantle-coat. The sight was odd, but not too out of the ordinary until the words spoken began to register, "-most brilliant little girl, wonder if she's versed in the more...physical workings of life? Hehe.", "-flat-chested and so cocky; I love it!", "-onder if she'd tutor me, I know a subject or two we could work on."
He could feel heat broiling up within his chest, the anger over their blatant perverse desires for this young girls body tore the scab off of the memory of his first kill; his attack on Isshin and the prevention of what had been impending. Eyes narrowed, nostrils slightly flared, and free hand clenched into a fist, Tsukune sped past the sect of possible child-molesters in training before he broke down and slaughtered every last one of them with his two bare hands.
Tsukune pressed his way through the mob of fools that had pretty much no sense of self as they struggled to run from place to place until he reached the double doors that led to the second-half of the main building, or as he called it, 'Artistic Wing'. This side of the school was devoted to those classes that one needed a certain knack to join; basic art, sculpting, band, computer sciences, and the like. As he walked down corridor however, he noted that the clubs could apparently set up anywhere, as some weren't related to anything that this hall unofficially stood for.
Many clubs had set up just outside the band-room, including one which he assumed was their attempt at a Glee club. The title was indistinguishable to him which he assumed was because it was written in a monster's native language, though he couldn't be sure. Passing that by without a second look, Tsukune glanced at another door that led down a covered walk-way which then led to the gymnasium nearly two-hundred feet away.
He was just pushing the door open when the second-to-last thing he wanted happened, "Tsuuukune~!" The excited call of his name was quickly muted at the same time as a weight attached itself to his side in the form of Moka, who buried her head into his neck as she hugged him. His eyes widened before he shrugged her off of him and quickly swirled to face her with a serious face set in stone, contrasting her obviously confused look, "W-what is it, Tsukune?"
Brown eyes stared intently at her while his face belayed no emotion, until the thin firm line his lips were set in turned down slightly into a frown, "I felt your fangs on my neck; never bite me without asking and even then, only if I give you permission to do so."
Shocked and abashed, Moka visibly recoiled some and took a step back, her jade eyes showing visible worry and a little bit of pain, clearly not expecting Tsukune to have reacted quite the way he did. A great warmth from her chest, next to her heart and behind her sternum began to pulsate, filling her with a queasiness that rapidly dissipated along with the heat, leaving her thoroughly confused – more so than before.
"I-I'm sorry! Tsukune, m-may I have a drink?" The question would have caught Tsukune off-guard had he not been paying express attention to her seconds ago when the red jewel in the center of her rosary suddenly lit up and glowed furiously. He merely stared at the jewel, not noticing how the pink haired vampire's cheeks flushed as she thought him to be staring at her chest. Finally, he raised his eyes to her own and gave a curt shake of his head, "No, you're not in need of it currently."
The dejection slowly crept over her face as a little bit of a shimmer began to form at her lower eyelid – tears. Narrowing his chocolate eyes just a bit due to the unnecessary sadness being shown, Tsukune let loose a sigh as he gripped the young vampire's shoulder comfortingly, "You are a vampire – whether you like it all, some, or detest it to your core, you are – I don't expect you to feed on everyone, however If I consistently feed your hunger at every turn, you will grow dependent – weak. I don't want any of my allies or...friends to have such an exploitable weakness. Understand?"
Moka managed a smile as she wiped the growing tears from her eyes and sniffled as she nodded. To this, his lips turned upward in a barely perceptible smile, "Good. You won't go your entire life without my blood, but it will not be a handout either. Now, let's go; we're in need of a club... unless you've found one?"
Her mood suddenly recovered completely as she smiled brightly, then shook her head negatively, "Nope! I thought both of us could look for one – so far they've all seemed..."
"Off?" Tsukune finished for her, knowing exactly what she meant as the image of that little girl's stalker club came to mind, inciting a rush of anger to burn through his veins before he calmed it. She nodded her head as she clasped her hands before her, an adorable habit that Tsukune had learned she did when she was at ease and comfortable.
The pair proceeded to walk out of the door and down the pathway to the gym. As they reached it, a sign on the double steel doors announced that the Kendo club was located within and that any were welcome to enter to view the demonstration going on, and join the club if they were impressed and wished to learn. Tsukune thought about it, but decided that he was happy with his own fighting style, and ultimately figured that they wouldn't be happy with him using his own style in what seemed to be a pure Kendo club.
"Come Moka, this club isn't for either of us." He glanced back to see the girl nod with confidence, agreeing with him completely as they followed the walkway to the right that curved around the gym to another walkway that led to a few smaller buildings one way, and down towards the third section of the school that, while not directly connected as the second-half was, still held a few vital classes – more geared towards the gifted students – the monster equivalent of the Human World's AP classes.
Standing at the cross-roads seemed to warrant that there was nothing to see beyond what might lay inside the Advanced Education building – what Tsukune had taken to calling the third section of the school, a place where he somewhat aspired to possibly enter into in the coming years. To his knowledge, only a handful of first year students even had one or two classes there, which was quite a testament to the requirements, considering a few of the genius minds he'd seen in his time here.
That was when something odd- foreign, even- entered his nostrils as he inhaled the light spring-smelling air and instead found the smell of water and chlorine tickling at his nose. Furrowing his brows, he glanced at Moka from the corner of his eyes and voiced his concern, "Do you know of a pool existing here on campus?"
Surprising to Tsukune the teen girl didn't need any time to think and nodded her head, "There is; a few of my classmates pass by the pool after their classes in 'YA3'. I hear them talking about it sometimes – it's never been in use, though."
His lips pressed into a thin line with his brows knit in thought, Tsukune cast his gaze towards the thick patch of dead trees that marred and obscured any vision to the other side in a murky sea of grays and blacks. After a moment's contemplation, he nodded his head, "We might as well check it out – there might be some interesting clubs between the Advanced Education Center," He elaborated, explaining that it was her 'YA3' upon the questioning look she shot him, "As I was saying, there might be some interesting clubs between the Advanced Education Center, and the pool..."
Moka nodded meekly, rousing a curious eyebrow out of her companion. No answer came however, and the two set off towards the southern bound walkway, slipping past the occasional peer that was heading in the opposite direction. They soon came to the junction and made a left as they walked along the white walled building's exterior and nearly had to duck one extremely long limb from a dead tree that dipped down beneath the tin covering, sticking nearly five inches into the walkway at a six-foot level.
Grunting his displeasure at the limb, the pair continued on until they came to a small gathering of groups, all set up with their own diminutive stands which didn't exactly stand out beyond the other. It was there that a surprise greeted them, a surprise with bright and ecstatic violet eyes and cerulean hair, clad in a cream colored vest... A cream colored vest that soon enveloped a mentally cursing Tsukune's face, leaving him both elated and annoyed as the soft, malleable orbs that were Kurumu's breasts molded to the shape of his head.
Already his mind was filled with a certain amount of dread, every synapse in his brain firing scattered thoughts about - all of the nature of his own personal security. Paranoia clawed away at him with each subtle shift the succubus made, causing both himself and her breasts to move about some. After nearly a thirty-second stint between her breasts he felt himself being pried free, and as the ringing in his ears subsided, he could make out muffled sounds of Moka and Kurumu talking.
"He just needs a little lovin', Moka-chan! It's not like I was doing anything bad!" He heard Kurumu chime with a flirtatious flare in her voice, though the air about her screamed that she was being defensive. From his crouched position, none could see him pinch the bridge of his nose in both annoyance and an effort to alleviate the mild headache that was forming.
The voice of Moka was of a more serious, concerned nature as she gestured towards him, eyes wide and body set in a stance that wasn't ready to progress to blows, but clearly demonstrated her attempt to control the situation, "He's not been feeling well, and you go and stuff him into your chest! He's been distant all this time, and you just assume he wants to be smothered!? Besides, we're in public! Geez, Tsukune's probably embarrassed – like I am."
Kurumu's eyes softened for just a moment before she let a smile reaffirm it's place on her lips, "I couldn't handle myself; he's been away for a long, long time... It's a good thing we didn't reunite in private – my hugs would be the least of what he'd have gotten~!"
The giggle the young succubus gave was quite disconcerting to the brunette teen, yet he couldn't find a great deal of annoyance or anger at the bluenette's proposition. It was there, but muted by several factors from it's normal amount... He could actually almost see himself going through with it, causing him to grit his teeth as a minute surge of anger rose high above his seemingly forced pacification, before it, too was muted.
Moka took a visible step back before a light blush touched at her cheeks and a light, nearly amused smile formed as she shook her head, "Can't you be serious? Look – Something was bothering him, and for the past two weeks we've barely seen him. Here he is, so you and I need to cherish this time while he's here."
Tsukune felt a small stir in his chest as he listened to Moka speak about him as if her were an integral part of her life, though it did annoy him slightly that she – they – were speaking about him as if he wasn't knelt down beside the two of them. That negative thought put to the side, he suddenly felt somewhat bad about distancing himself from the pair of girls, and especially when he thought about Kurumu – for some reason he knew not, that drove him up a wall.
"I was cherishing him," The seductress said with a light pout as she crossed her arms beneath her large breasts, pushing them up some, " In my own way, of course... He's my Destined One, after-all. I just want him to know he's not alone, and that he's always got Kurumu-chan!"
His chocolate eyes looked up at the cerulean-headed beauty that he was very hesitant to consider even a friend, and felt a stirring in his chest that was larger than what had happened just moments previous. His teeth grit and, though out of the perceptive ranges of the two girls, his eye-lids and brows strained a bit to hold off the blood that was rushing to flush his cheeks. 'This makes no sense – she's attractive, I'll admit it. However, I have no desires of any kind towards her... Why, then am I having this reaction!?' Tsukune mentally growled as he covered his left hand with his right to keep the fact that he was clenching it from public view.
Her stance shifted as she shook her head, yet Moka's attention turn to her male friend as he pulled himself up from the ground and dusted off his knees, then cast his gaze on the two grils, "It's alright Moka, she just got excited." His gaze, which was lingering on Kurumu grew intense, "Right? You just got excited after not seeing me for so long?"
The change was immediate and caused Tsukune to feel a strange duality of both saddened guilt, and expectant pleasure. Kurumu's face suddenly lost the gleeful excitement and became something akin to a kicked puppy that was just hoping for friendly acknowledgment in the form of a pat on the head, or a treat. She nodded as she visibly shrunk on herself, her head just barely lowered from where it was listed previously, but it was enough to show the effects of his statement.
Moka standing across from her, looking between the two with worry as her other friend suddenly did a one-eighty from her usual self, which made the image of how she acted as she approached them that morning two weeks prior, asking to befriend them. The utter fear of being turned away, and the disappointment that was deeply mixed with hope was glaring to anyone that even looked at the girl, and here it was again – muted slightly, but still evident.
It wasn't something she could actually see the blue-haired girl doing, especially now that she'd gotten to know the bubbly girl. The slightly immature girl had proven on a few, very few accounts that she was very mature – generally moments of insight that seemed well beyond her years, though it could be said it was a fluke. Therefore to see this girl almost cowering for the fear of being denied her 'Destined-One', it seemed very wrong, and not on a moral standpoint, either.
A second more passed as Tsukune stood, caught in his feelings of duality, before he snapped free when a foreign voice chimed in, and suddenly his feeling of personal space felt tainted, bringing a faint frown to his lips as he turned to look at the person as they spoke up, "Good afternoon, my beauties and good sir, I hate to be a bother but I saw the bunch of you standing here and thought that I'd introduce myself."
The trio looked at the man expectantly, though Moka made to smile at the older teen. Tsukune appraised him in the moments before his mouth opened again to speak his name. He was large, somewhat robust with the button-up white shirt of his uniform covering him and a thin, white apron atop that with what looked like two 'sunny-side up' eggs and a small piece of bacon making what was most-likely a smiley face on it.
He was somewhat short as well, standing at roughly five-feet, four inches although his hair somewhat bolstered his height by adding nearly two-inches to it, being a somewhat rusty-colored near-Afro. His nose was a bit bulbous, and the makings of a mustache could be seen growing between that and his upper-lip. His cheeks were a little rosy colored, though it wasn't too much of note considering his skin had a pinkish-red tint to it in the first place.
Green eyes sparkled with a common happiness as he merrily told those before him just who he was, "My name is Minato Tadama, the Third. It is my distinct pleasure to offer you a place amongst the culinary club. Now, before you say anything, I know what you're asking yourselves, 'Why have a club when there's a class on the very same subject?' Well, I say 'why not?' Those that love cooking shouldn't have to wait to cook, and in addition, everything made is donated to the different realms where there are young and old alike that lack steady access to food!"
That last tid-bit garnered an appreciative look from both Tsukune and Moka, while Kurumu actually stood there, somewhat surprised, awe in her violet-blue eyes. Tsukune considered joining the man's club based on that description, right then and there, however he steeled himself and nodded lightly, "That all sounds very good, however I must ask, how do you know?"
This confused Minato who blinked in puzzlement twice before kindly asking the brunette teen, "Pardon, what do you mean by that – 'How do you know'?"
Regarding the man with a tempered gaze, Tsukune casually tilted his head somewhat to the side as he gestured widely with his arms, "What I mean is, how do you know that the products of your club are truly conveyed and distributed to those in need: those without means, those that are homeless, those who are stepped upon by those perceived 'higher' than themselves. Plainly stated, can you prove this?"
Glancing around between those before him, Minato watched as the intelligent, though paranoid question sparked something in both of the girls before him that suddenly put a great deal of their admiration to the side and instead stared with questioning gazes. The teen began with a stutter, though it soon gained ground as he tried to explain, "W-well... I do, i-in a way, hehe. That is to say, er... I'm assured of it by the two third-years in my club that personally deliver them to the, erm...distribution centers."
Tipping his head forward some, the last Aono stepped closer to the man and made a small show of scrutinizing him before the corners of his mouth pulled downward in a small frown once more. He said nothing as he walked passed the man, then called over his shoulder to the girls that were giving worried and curious glances to his back, "Come along, you two; I will not join a club, however noble a goal they have, if they cannot show documentary proof of their contributions."
His chest began pounding in a panic, and the rotund rusty-haired man began to sputter some as the two girls glanced to each other and gave subtle nods, before walking past him to catch up with their friend. In a last ditch effort, Minato flipped around and called after the girls, "Korono-san, I know you love cooking almost as much as me! Aspara-sensei praises your work ethic and craft to our class, please, join the club!"
Tsukune stopped and glanced over his shoulder, watching the emotions play over the succubus' face, including a certain degree of uncertainty and contemplation. In both a gesture of kindness and a dubious roll of the dice to get more time away from the girl, he called over his shoulder, "Either of you may join, I won't think lower of either of you – I simply cannot join by principle."
Perhaps it was by her own volition, or maybe it was by the admission that Tsukune wouldn't care if she joined, but whichever it was it gave her the confidence to turn around with a solemn smile, "You're right, I do love cooking; I love it almost as much as some other things... I have a reason for my cooking, though – a desire to better my skill at it. If I use my special specialty to cook things that don't even make it to those that deserve it, I would feel disgusted. So, no, I will stick with Tsukune and not join your club."
Moka smiled and gave an approving look to her cerulean-haired friend who grinned, proud of herself for keeping her integrity; for not squandering herself. It felt uplifting to hold on to her self-worth, a feeling that wouldn't be there had Tsukune not saved her and inadvertently shown her the correct path.
Facing forwards with the two girls close behind him, Tsukune closed his eyes and felt a strange sensation; it was as if he had been complimented, or perhaps praised by his long-dead mother. Yet the feeling came from a source that didn't exist – it had no physical identity, even in his mind, yet it felt familiar - close. He exhaled slowly as it faded and made a note to try to solve that in tonight's meditation session.
The brunette, pinkette, and blue-haired bombshell continued to walk together, the two former talking lightly amongst themselves with Tsukune throwing in a comment or two once in a while. Nothing major came up or occurred until a loud, forceful 'No!' was nearly yelled directly behind him. Quickly spinning on his heel with his eyes narrowed, moments from bursting into the crimson pinwheels, he came to see a very thin, and lanky teen holding something in front of him, poised directly before Moka.
Quickly walking over to the girls, he briefly brushed shoulders with Kurumu and caught sight of the teen. He wasn't too sure that he was wrong, but the person before the three of them looked like he was seconds away from death. Large eyes held in their place tiny, beady pupils that were blacker than the tomoe of his sharingan – if that were possible – and a few strands of his black hair hung over his face, falling to roughly his chin while the rest of his greasy, thin hair clung tightly to his face, only falling free at his jaw line and settling somewhere between his jaw and shoulders.
His face was sickly, holding tight to his skull and his cheeks gaunt, dipping in some – more than should be healthy, for a human. This was made even more disturbing because his skin was pasty white, but not just that, it was pale – showing off veins and the faint, barely perceptive color of his muscles beneath that. It was then that he noticed that this peculiar teen was giving a disgustingly lust-filled look at Moka, and casting glances to the busty succubus beside him.
If possible Tsukune's eyes narrowed a little bit more as he made to speak when the teen opened his mouth again, revealing off-white teeth that looked to be intended for grinding, rather than a menagerie as his own were -a possible herbivore, then. No matter, his gaze and incessant actions bothered the brunette as the teen spoke, "You must join our club, you're so beautiful... You would be an amazing model to use, yesss."
The gaunt teen's voice sounded light, wispy and as if he were half-whispering... At least, that would be true if he were not stressing his voice, causing it to strangle his words in a dark hiss. The lust dripping from his voice was nearly palpable, causing shivers to involuntarily run up the spines of both the girls, and Tsukune.
Kurumu blinked as she felt a strong, sudden urge to strangle the guy who was harassing Moka. It was soon accompanied by an intrinsic anger that began to bubble and froth about, starting out as a mere annoyance and soon it had culminated into a solidified iron ball of super-heated anger. It was so strong that she spoke out, and just as soon as it was there, it was gone, leaving her with the attention of the leering freak, "What did you ssssay?"
She suddenly felt meek, alone with a predator looming over her. Lost, she grasped at straws and soon fell back onto a tried and true method. The shocked and uncertain look that had been on the beautiful girl's face melted away beneath the facade of the smirking, confidant succubus which had been there earlier, before she had been admonished, "I said, 'Leave Moka-chan alone, creep!' You don't want to keep pestering her."
Suddenly interested much more than before, the teen let his eyes trail up and down the lascivious curves of the seductress, his pale-pink tongue coming out to lick his lips as he eyed her. He took a step closer as his already diminutive pupils contracted more, his lust seeping out of him almost visibly.
Tsukune watched as Kurumu's lips curved into a wider smirk, "Nu-huh, you're not going to touch me – only one man gets to do that! Now leave us alone..." The tone of her voice was playful, as if daring him to make another move yet the seriousness of her statement could be seen clearly in her violet eyes.
Unfortunately he didn't heed her warning and made to grab her, only to be intercepted by Tsukune's hand gripping his wrist. The brunette teen cast a cold gaze at the greasy-haired boy, his chocolate eyes regarding him as one would a roach, and when he talked it was with a voice devoid of much emotion – a regression to his first day of school, " Don't put yourself in a position to forced to stand down, you'll not enjoy it."
The beady eyes flared into anger as he stared up at the taller teen whom had hold of his wrist with contempt, "Who do you think you are – I am Toshiro Hitachi, my father is C Hitachi. Let go of me, and I'll forget about thisss."
The name had the succubus' face scowling in thought, while Moka simply stood somewhat behind Kurumu merely disgusted by the teen who had made to get her attention by grabbing her breast 'accidentally'. Tsukune's lips which had been set in a thin, hard line crept into a small smirk though his eyes stayed as cool as before, "I could care less; if he cares enough to come after me, we'll deal with that, then. Now then, apologize to the lovely ladies and remove yourself from our company. If you don't, well I'll be sure to inform the infirmary of your name."
The wide mouth on the creeper upturned into a very freakish smirk as he stood to his full height, rather than hunching over slightly, revealing himself to be half-a-head taller than Tsukune, "All I want isss to have these two delicious specimens model in my club, so I will not apologize for my recruitment methodssss."
Sighing visibly, Tsukune bent the kid's wrist back to the point that he was in pain as he went to raise the camera to snap a picture of what was likely Moka's cleavage, which was always somewhat visible through her parted blazer and slightly unbuttoned shirt, "Do it and you'll be able to start a colonoscopy club once you're released from the hospital."
Words were not had, as the second he spoke the rhetorical threat, his free hand found the teen's throat and shoved him out of the way, knocking him to the ground. The teen looked around with worry, until Tsukune whistled, calling his attention long enough to see Tsukune toss his camera to him.
The trio began to walk away, the two women in the group still somewhat shocked into silence as they ran through the entire insane encounter. No-one noticed the small reel of film that Tsukune crushed in his hand before he tossed it into one of the garbage bins along the walkway, a glimmer of satisfaction in his eyes.
As they continued to walk down the pathway, the smell of chlorine and water got stronger and stronger, to the point that the small amount of must and woodland smell from the dead trees was completely overrun. In addition, the closer they got the more clubs they ran across, a few of them even made to induct them into their ranks.
Among them were the science club, a group who stood around in white lab coasts, with a rolling tray of dubious and strange concoctions held in beakers and test tubes that sat in their racks. A menagerie of colors and textures sat in their containers, from red to black, and liquid to something with the consistency of molasses. The head of the club had begun fair enough with an introduction, but then his eyes landed on Moka, and he instantly wanted to make a love potion with her, and only her.
Next came the acupuncture club which had one of their members on the table, filled with needles. It reminded Tsukune of an old horror movie in which one of the main villains, Pin-head, made a close resemblance to the man on the table who's serene look was a grand contrast to the needles puncturing him. They quickly asked Kurumu if she would allow them to 'stick her all over her body'.
The last club of note came by three-quarters of the way down the pathway, where they could see the chain-link gate that surrounded the pool, and the light sounds of laughter were reaching them. The club in question was the mummy club, in which everyone was apparently a great fan of the Egyptian-native monsters of whom the leader wasn't. They didn't actually approach the group, however Tsukune made a comment that sent the girls into a fit of giggles. As he watched the bandaged teens walk around, covered in head to toe with white, gray, or cream colored bandages, he couldn't help but cock his head to the side, "That's racist."
"W-what!?" The bellowed question was asked by Kurumu who's eyes had widened, her mouth open and stretched in a smile as she tried to hold back the laughter that was trying to escape. She failed moments later and walked over to Tsukune laughing, grabbing his shoulder for support, inadvertently pressing her large chest into him as she wobbled with weak knees.
Moka's cheeks had become rosy and giggles were escaping her even though she had her immaculately dainty looking hand covering her mouth to stave it off. She couldn't help the occasional loud laugh that slipped through the light titters, which only made her cheeks burn brighter.
They attempted to make a bit of distance but the laughing was greatly impeding their progress, not that it was a bad thing. So jovial a moment that the girls had made it, Tsukune's own lips were twitching upwards as a small flicker of hilarity and joy sparked in his usually deadened brown eyes. It sent a wave of elation through him as he looked at his two friends, knowing that he -through some act of randomness – had managed to bring them this joy.
A while after regaining their composure, the group continued through the masses of students and the groups of clubs that littered the pathway towards the pool. It was officially in their sight, and was filled with many boys and girls simply frolicking about and enjoying their time in the cool water. The sounds of squeals and laughter were at times deafening now, and the entire atmosphere about the place screamed that it was a fun, easy-going place.
Moka eyed the pool with a bit of disdain and fear, her lower lip having been caught by her teeth and was being nibbled as a way to cope – to not twitch and worry her hands like she wanted to do. She knew that stepping foot into the water meant that she was going to be in extreme pain – maybe not as bad as a few training sessions with her family, but certainly nothing she ever wanted to experience willingly. Yet she would humor her friends and allow them to check it out, 'I just hope they don't want to join...'
She had contemplated saying something to Tsukune, confessing of her race's one true weakness above all others, but had decided that the timing just seemed wrong – not that it was anything special to say. Telling anyone of that who didn't know was seen as a terrible mistake to many of the covens in the world, and some would even execute their members. Of course, it did little good to keep those practices up; you can't exist for a thousand or so years without your secrets becoming known, which had happened somewhat widely.
It was notably more useful to keep the fact that one was a vampire to themselves than to try to hide that glaring weakness. Half the time now, a vampire was instantly tied to both blood as sustenance and water as a major weakness. Of course, a little known secret was that 'vampire' was a generalization; there were actually three main branches of vampires, but they all shared varying degrees of weakness to water. Moka, herself, just so happened to belong to the branch weakest to water.
She instantly regretted the decision to not tell him of her fear of the pool when three beauties made themselves known before them, and especially when she caught the barest hint of a blush show as Tsukune was caught unawares to their appearance. That boded badly, because it was just one more thing that could make the chances of him joining the club higher.
Kurumu on the other hand had just gotten a bit miffed when the blush occurred, prompting her to take a step closer to Tsukune and mash her breasts against his arm, whilst she turned a cocky glare on the three women before her, effectively claiming ownership – in her own mind, "Go away you floozies, Tsukune-kun is my man."
A soft sigh escaped Tsukune as the three girls before him looked between them and giggled. Well, the center one giggled, the two beside her simply sent a look that seemed haughty and indignant to the succubus. Meanwhile, the one in the center took a step forward, and introduced herself, "Hello handsome, would you like to join the swimming club? I'm the Head Swimmer and adviser for the club, Ichinose Tamao."
Tsukune looked the woman up and down subtly, studying her to look for any nuance that would hint at deception...As well as to, to a very small extent, simply look at her. She was very beautiful, that much was easily seen at just a side-long glance. Maybe not as good looking as either Moka or Kurumu, but she had a certain 'mature woman' air about her that helped her entire attractiveness rival just that of the girls... coming in perhaps third-place in comparison.
Her face was set in a kind, welcoming expression and her aquamarine eyes seemed to convey a certain cheer that was somewhat lost elsewhere. She had a very soft face, though her chin came to a bit of a point which worked well with her. Her lightly tanned skin – a shade lighter than the bluenette's own – was made to stick out a bit more as her coal-black hair which looked as silky as it was curly, which fell against her face in places, and pooled upon her shoulders. Shoulders that were covered with a barely worn button-up white shirt, which somewhat obscured the algae blue-green scaled bikini top she wore that clung tightly to her rather large breasts.
Her midsection was uncovered, revealing a somewhat toned stomach and naval, but the rest of her was covered rather well by a blue and green tie-die skirt which clung close to her hips, but flowed freely beyond that down to her shins. She had two tiny scars that sat on the outside of both of her calves, and she stood on the pathway in a pair of ash-colored thongs with a white lily sitting atop the binding for the various strings that held them to her feet.
He eyed the two girls at Tamao's side which were looking around, casting flirty eyes at everyone, including himself a couple of times. After a moment to consider, the young man looked up into the slightly taller girl's eyes, a look of utter carelessness schooling his features, "I will join your club..."
Seeing the faces of the girls before him shift in delight -and to a minor extent, something else – as well as feeling, more than seeing the mixture of worry and panic, as well as jealousy and excitement coming from the two behind him, he continued, " I will join the swimming club, only on the condition that my two friends here are also permitted to join."
The succubus' eyes grew large as her heart skipped a beat. 'T-tsukune-kun actually called me his friend... No prompting, he just said it!,' her mind yelled at her, and she in reciprocation squealed in her mind, whilst she had to actually block the sound from escaping her, yet the blush was incapable of being stopped. For all of her antics to try to get his attention, for all of her desire to love him, she knew that she would have to start slow.
It didn't mean she had to like it, nor did it mean it was easy or that she would really abandon her other tactics altogether. Yet being called his friend outright, that to her was a sign of major progress. Maybe enveloping him in a breast-suffocating hug wasn't quite in the picture yet, but it was getting closer! Kurumu couldn't stop the wide grin that exposed her flawless teeth to the world, nor did she want to.
Moka's jade eyes were stricken wide as she stared starkly at Tsukune with unabated shock, her heart was beating out of her chest as wave after wave of cold spells hit her, despite the fact that in a few minutes her school uniform would be form-fitting due to it's dampness. Her breathing was rapid, causing a bit of lightheaded flashes to affect her, making her sway a little as she panicked in her mind – too dismayed to move her body.
She had been counting on her best friend's lack of desire to keep her from having to choose in such a life or death situation, literally. On one hand she could see that Kurumu was dying to join, and Tsukune obviously had some mild desire to do so, otherwise he never would have added the stipulation; he'd have simply said, 'no.' On the other hand, she would be forced to sit on the side-lines, as she couldn't even dip her feet in the pool and splash them around – not if she didn't want to be carted off to the infirmary minutes afterward.
Finally she turned her head to look down at herself, and noticed that her rosary was jingling on it's chain of it's own volition. No-one was looking at her oddly, so they'd clearly not noticed it, so she clutched it both to hep abate her nervousness and to keep it from shivering as it was. Taking a deep breath, she went to speak when Kurumu beat her to the punch, "I'd love to join the swimming club if Tsukune-kun is going to be there! I have several swim-suits that I could show off!"
Tsukune actually gave a light chuckle, turning his head a bit to look at her, "If that's what you'd like to do. I, myself, will be enjoying the water – it's always felt something like a second home to me. That's one, what about you, Moka?"
The pink-haired girl glanced up to Tsukune and he instantly noticed that something was wrong. She wasn't happy, her lip was fringed some from the chewing she'd been doing on it and her eyes held a sheen of water that made her off-jade eyes glisten more than normal – and not with the joviality she usually possessed.
Though he picked up on this fact, he said nothing and merely raised an eyebrow asking her to answer, or perhaps to explain. Still, with his lack of words came expressive chocolate eyes that questioned her emotional state. The vampire fidgeted a moment as she considered whether to tell Tsukune of her race's weakness to the very thing he wanted to frolic about in, or if she should keep it to herself.
Then, as if by fate slapping her across the cheek, she realized that she simply couldn't tell him, not here. These monsters, these girls that were trying to recruit them, were complete unknowns and she wasn't going to tell them, too. It was too much of a risk, and god knows what her father would do if they were one of the groups that didn't know, and suddenly they found out the miraculous weakness to their kind.
Looking up she realized that Tsukune, as well as the three girls from the club, were awaiting her answer. Tsukune shifted his weight to his other foot and as he did so, visible worry flashed across his facial features before it was schooled once more. Tamao and her two friends simply stared at her, though she could feel a certain heat – as if they were glaring at her whilst not doing so physically, daring her to decline.
With a sigh, she finally touched Tsukune's arm and hung her head low as she spoke with her voice low, subdued, "I-I can't join Tsukune, I'm sorry... It's just I-" her voice hitched as she tried to think of a good reason that she couldn't get in the water, something believable, that wouldn't be easily disputed. Finally, after a number of seconds she let out a soft breath, "I've been deftly afraid of water since I was little... I just, freeze up when it touches me."
Visibly shocked at this confession, he gently nodded his head and gave a comforting smile that only she could see before he turned around to face the girls who's faces had sagged down from the light happiness they had been displaying. It wasn't a huge change, in fact he was likely the only one to see it – but he did, and that set off the alarms in his head.
Eye contact between Tamao and Tsukune lasted for just a second before Tsukune closed his eyes and placed his arms behind his back in a respectful manner, taking a deep breath he said with a curt nod at the end, "I must decline your invitation to join this club. Since Moka here will not be comfortable joining, then neither am I."
Kurumu turned to him crestfallen, her violet eyes tinged just slightly red at the strain of having to hold back a few tears of disappointment. She had been planning to use the pool as a way to quickly evolve their relationship – quickly being used in a relative sense, of course. She was going to flaunt herself to the pool, although primarily him in all manner of bathing suits, from her simply one-piece and plain bikini bottom to her stringy-one-piece and risque top and bottoms.
Yet it wasn't just the seduction and flirting that she had planned. She knew that, overall, it was just a way to spend more time with him. She honestly enjoyed his company, his presence, and his taciturn attitude – and she really liked it when he broke out of that shell and showed a fragment of emotion, like he had earlier.
Looking up at him with her somewhat saddened off-purple eyes, she geabbed his hand and held it softly in her own, making no move to drag his appendage into her bosom, which surprised him. The two looked at one another for a moment or two before the seductress asked, "You're not going to join, then?"
He shakes his head negatively and allows his eyes to soften once more, warming the girl's cheeks some as well as bringing a tiny bit of light back to her usually bright eyes, "No. I'm not going to join because Moka has issues with making friends – call it a low self-esteem. I aim to stay with her to keep her in the company of at least one friend. I don't expect you to give up what you might like, however, for our sakes; if you want to swim – join."
As expected, the succubus' face darkened at first, seeing his siding with Moka as him choosing the vampire over her. Yet she realized that what he said was true; in the two weeks that she had known the girl, Moka never tried to make friends, and while she was a budding social butterfly, it never came out unless it was with someone she trusted.
Kurumu felt a certain calm wash over her as her Destined One told her that she was free to do that which made her happy. She smiled, 'I really wish Tsukune would be there, watching me in my bathing suits, swimming with me, and playing around... I want him there, but I've always wanted to swim... and didn't he say that he felt like the water was a second home!?'
Her mind worked double-time as this new information caught up with her, making her nearly grin, 'If I can learn to swim well, then maybe a trip to the beach can happen, where we can have a pick-nick, and maybe I can into the water and call Tsukune-kun to join me. Well swim, and then I'll just fall into the water and... ,"Ooh!"
Violet eyes sprang open suddenly and just as soon were covered by her well-manicured hands, hiding while rubbing the massive red blush that burned fiercely upon her lightly tanned cheeks, contrasting quite well against the natural mocha color of her skin. Her lips, though pressed into a thin line were curved lavishly upwards in pleasure and joy, 'I can't believe I just got this worked up!'
After calming and cooling herself down, the large breasted seductress turned to Tsukune and nodded while thanking him and then turned to the Swimming Club's leader, "You know what? I think I will join the swimming club! I can have a lot of fun, and I bet I'll be better at swimming, then maybe... Mmm."
Tamao's rather thick lips pursed into a minute frown, and just as soon were forced into a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. She glanced between Kurumu and Tsukune subtly before nodding and motioning for the girl to come closer to her, "Don't worry, we'll teach her to swim great and take good care of her."
Nodding his appreciation, Tsukune turned to Moka and gave her a small nod as well before they turned to walk off, leaving the Succubus behind with the three women. After a few steps, the infatuated bluenette called out, "Don't let any other girls touch you while I'm away, Tsukune-kun!"
In yet another revelation of his emotions peaking out, or perhaps him simply not being as guarded, he looked back and waved, "We'll see how that turns out. Just bring your whacking stick, just in case... Moka and I will come by to watch you swim after our classes, if... that's okay with you, Tamao-san."
Thinking over the request that was made, Tamao pursed her pale pink lips. It was against the usual regulations to allow people to watch them swim, though her and the entire swim club did enjoy the wandering eyes that landed on them. Still, it was one thing for a passerby to stop and admire, and another for two people to simply stop and watch for hours.
Yet this one proposition had a tantalizing stipulation, one which she was all too glad to allow. She made a show of thinking hard over it, but had she not closed her eyes, the aquamarine orbs would show an eagerness that would likely outdo that of a starved man in the Sahara who'd seen a banquet awaiting him. At last she sighed in accordance, nodding, "Alright, I'll allow you two to come see your friend. Just remember, we're always here if you can't find a club to join!"
Winking with that last reassurance, Tamao forced a smile as the bright-haired girl beside her squealed in happiness, clearly happy that the one she was infatuated with would be able to watch her. A smirk crawled up the lip of the Swim Club adviser and leader, one which wasn't solely of confidence or pride, but belayed the insidious plans which she had been thinking of for just this situation.
She glanced at one of the two girls behind her and gave a short, concise nod. Instantly the redhead who's dark auburn hair fell in such a way as to frame her face, yet only allow the fringes of the ends to come in contact with her jaw-line gained a primal, hungry look within her dark-brown eyes. Her ruby-red lips – whether from lipstick or natural pigmentation – grew into a grin, revealing her teeth which briefly sharpened into somewhat dull spikes.
Placing a hand on Kurumu's shoulder she smiled kindly down at the shorter girl, "Kurumu, was it? We need to get you into the changing room, and into a swimsuit – unless you brought one with you?"
Genuine excitement glowed in those violet eyes as she looked up at her club's leader, feeling an increasing comfort and feeling a bit impatient as to when Tsukune would be able to see her in her sexy clothing – or lack thereof. Shaking her head, Kurumu told the taller woman that she didn't have one, but would be happy to get into her swimsuit, "Alright, let's get you into one of our spares... It's a one-piece; unfortunately the bikini tops we have barely handle my own size, and we don't want you spilling out, now."
Kurumu blushed, and while she didn't deny it outright, she mentally added a 'Yet.' to Tamao's teasing remark about her boobs. No, she didn't want her boobs to pop out, yet... That would be something she wanted around Tsukune – preferably with only Tsukune around, if she had any say in it. 'Oh, damn it all!' she'd managed to work herself up a little bit one again.
As her newest member began to walk towards the changing room, the Swim Club's head member narrowed her eyes, 'Tsukune-kun may be planning to show up to see his precious bimbo, but there won't be anything left but a drained, dry bat. You really, really should have joined – You'd have saved a friend, and gained one hell of a night...'
Meanwhile, with Tsukune and Moka, five minutes had passed since Tamao had agreed to allow the pair to come watch their friend swim after classes had ended. They had kept to the pathway during that time and made very small talk, most of which was one-sided as Tsukune wasn't doing much aside grunting and glancing about. Finally, Moka took a step in front of him and gripped his shoulders, "What's the matter, Tsukune? Are you angry with me – did you want to swim that badly?"
He didn't answer at first, which Moka had expected from her male friend. He didn't spend his words mindlessly, which both had her admiration and caused her a bit of frustration, especially in a situation like this. His lips parted for a sigh and he shook his head, "No, I'm not mad at you and while I do enjoy swimming, I wouldn't want to do so there."
Seeing her questioning gaze and motioned that he would tell her in a minute, "We need to get off of this path, now."
Before she could even question him, he was off of the cement walkway and had began to trek through the school grounds which were covered with some monster variety of blue-colored grass, though there still existed sparse areas which could have been intentional, or pointed to the sheer unsuitableness of the land. With only a plead for him to wait for her, she dashed off the path and caught up with him after a moment, "Where are we going?"
No answer. Of course, why would he speak – he rarely did when he was concentrating. Quickly giving up on her hope for an answer, she followed her best friend, knowing that he had yet to steer her or himself wrong – which was a bit uncanny and odd, but she trusted him with her life. He'd saved it twice already, after-all.
Looking ahead of them revealed what could only be their destination – a thick patch of morbid woodlands, filled entirely with extremely sparse blue grass and trees resting thick, with barely a human-body sized space at any given time between them. She smiled, though it wasn't entirely joyful – held a little bit of annoyance. 'Tsukune's so strange.'
After getting deep enough into the woods that one would be hard-pressed to see them, he changed direction and began to head north, much to Moka's mild chagrin and curiosity. She didn't like these forests, especially not after Saizou had cornered her within them a month earlier.
Once a good amount of time had passed – ten minutes, give or take two by Moka's assumption, Tsukune began to speak to her, catching her off guard at first, "Those girls – the ones at the pool – they approached us, and us specifically. That in, and of itself, isn't shocking, I'm aware. It was the attention they gave me through the entire exchange... Rarely did the tall one, Ichinose, take her eyes off of me."
Cocking her head to the side Moka spoke up, her left brow arched high, "Certainly she was looking around, I saw her looking everywhere."
"On the surface," Tsukune added to her observation, a mirthless smile ghosting into existence, "she was looking around, but her attention never once left me, and even though she turned her head, 'looking' about, her pupils were locked upon me at all times, including as we walked off."
Tapping her bottom lip, Moka eyed him strangely, "You find this alarming? I see Kurumu-chan, as well as a lot of other people staring at you. Why does this have you so... riled?"
"Because most of them eye me with admiration, fear, and lust," Tsukune answered monotonously, stepping over a rather large fallen limb, and then pivoted to offer Moka his hand, helping her across. Once she was safely on what could be best said as solid ground, he continued his thoughts whilst walking, "This look, the feeling which I got from her stares, was one which I haven't exactly felt except in the worst areas at...home. It was lust, but not as you would describe it."
She made a light noise of inquiry, not understanding what he was trying to say, ''Lust, but not as you would describe it.' What could he mean? If it's not that kind of lust, then... Hmm. Oh, maybe he means-!'
Her thoughts halted as he resumed speaking, "The only other comparison I truly have is the feeling you get when your hungry. Granted, I've only recently pieced together that you've wanted blood – though I'd suspected it for a while."
Moka felt her cheeks heated up and she apologized meekly, feeling both embarrassed and more than a little guilty for attempting to bite onto him without any warning, or even asking his permission. Suddenly, for a reason she didn't understand, she felt angry – jilted, even. It passed quick enough, but the sudden burst left her bewildered, 'That was strange...I wonder what that was about?'
Putting it behind her for now, she spoke up, curious, "So you think she wanted to... eat you? Is that what you think she was wanting – to lure you into the pool and get you close so she could somehow eat you?"
Flashing his sharingan for a moment, his lips pressed into a grim, thin line at the sight granted to him from his 'cursed' eyes. He and the voice had spoken once since his self-hermitage from his friends, and one of his questions had yielded answers that were both disconcerting just as much as they were mesmerizing. He knew that the images that his eyes showed him, while greater than most of his far-removed, and ancient kin, was still no match for what had become known back then as the Byakugan – an eye which could magnify sight by a factor of a thousand, and allow impeccable sight of one's inner energy – and that of nature around them.
Despite that, he could see small balls of light blue energy dipping, twirling and otherwise frolicking amongst a rainbow of other colors. Through his flashing of his eyes in a vain attempt to find his ill-wishing stalker, he had figured out that -for the most part- the different colors of inner energy was a by-product of one's monstrosity – or race, to be polite. All of the blue – of which almost numbered half of those in the pool – were part of the same group. It didn't prove anything, but the hunch which Tsukune had became much more profound.
Worrying her hands, Moka wondered once more what had caught her friend's attention. The two of them had been walking in silence for nearly three minutes, when she heard him grunt before another minute of silence reigned. It was spooky enough being in this graveyard of nature, but the icy air that surrounded them, not to mention Tsukune's silence, was getting to her; already goose-bumps had riddled her arms.
"Ano, T-tsukune? What is it?" She questioned, now rubbing her arms more so to comfort herself than to warm herself up. It was somewhat working, as her heart had calmed down some. She stopped when Tsukune had suddenly come to a halt and held a single finger up.
For a few moments the two were as still as statues, and then Tsukune took off running, "Let's go Moka; I was right – it's begun!"
She stumbled a bit, but the moment her footing was regained she, too, took off and quickly caught up to her best friend. Panic and shock were written on her face as she ran in tandem with the brunette teen who she inquired, "W-what's going on!? Why are we running!?"
He didn't so much as look at her, and his voice was a hard monotone – the same she's heard him use when he had rescued her from that looming brute, Saizou. It sent chills down her spine, and she wasn't sure if she was nervous, scared, or exhilarated by it, "Tamao and her entire club, they've begun to attack those that they 'recruited'. I've no idea the reason – and I don't care... This must be put to an end."
Jade eyes widened in both disgust and horror, 'She's attacking them!? Why – why would she do such a thing? They're all just wanting to swim with her, and her group!' Moka' then gasped aloud as her eyes narrowed in determination, realizing that Kurumu – her second best friend, was in there as well – that she was in danger.
Across the way, within the pool which had been a picture of serenity and joy mere minutes before, had quickly degenerated into a massive whirlpool of violence and terror. It had all started when two girls, one redhead and the other a green-tinted blonde, had suddenly latched onto the teen whom they'd been teaching to swim, and pried this arms to each side whereupon they each bit down. Hard.
He never even had time to scream has his skin began to wrinkle and get taut, stretching tightly as if it had lost its elasticity. It didn't stop, even as he screamed out in an increasingly lighter and hoarse voice, until it was little more than a shallow gargle. By the time they let him loose, his skin was just about to rip, and one could easily see his skeletal structure beneath his now thin skin. With no strength, and barely alive, the teen fell forward into the water and floated there, bubbles slowly escaping with a decreasing frequency until they stopped.
Kurumu screamed, terrified as all the women who she had been laughing and swimming with, jokingly teasing a few of the boys whose eyes just wouldn't leave her, suddenly changed before her eyes, then grabbed themselves one of the male 'recruits' and began to feed on them. She flailed about, violet eyes frantically searching for some way to safety, overlooking the ladder in her panic.
Suddenly her newest assumed 'friend', Ichinose Tamao's head popped out of the fifteen foot deep water, a cruel gleam in her aquamarine eyes, "Oh, don't panic now Kurumu-chan! I promise you it won't hurt too bad, when I drain you dry!"
She suddenly shot forwards at Kurumu with a speed that she had seen most of the other girls – those that weren't screaming – move with. Her hand, once somewhat tanned and manicured with a pale opal polish upon her nails, reached out of the water to reveal it had become a light-blue color, with hints of regular flesh color showing through. Her hand, itself had enlarged to a quarter larger than normal, and her fingers had become thicker as well, sporting sharp claws at the ends and a thin membrane webbing between them.
It was difficult in the water, but she just barely escaped being sliced open by the dangerous claws which had been poised to take her neck. Twirling around with narrowed eyes, Kurumu screamed, "What the hell are you doing!? What's the big idea, attacking everyone!?"
Tamao grinned, revealing thin, sharp teeth that were about half the width of her human disguise's set, and apparently had twice the amount with as tightly as they were packed. Speeding towards her target again, she wasn't surprised when the cerulean haired recruit dodged her swipe again.
Kurumu had just moved past the swipe aimed at her, when a powerful strike hit her in the stomach, knocking the breath out of her and pushing her somewhat beneath the water, coughing up bubbles until she regained her bearings. The young girl grunted as she made to swim towards the surface, only to feel a sharp pain tear into her back, eliciting a soundless yell of foam.
She shifted around, seeing a wispy cloud of maroon clouding the water as it thinned ever-more, and across the veil floated a smirking mermaid, one arm still poised to strike and the claws at the end smeared with a trace amount of blood. Kurumu grimaced as she pushed herself towards the surface, knowing that she couldn't dodge another hit from the fish-bitch. To her surprise and relief she wasn't attacked, but the moment she gained her breath and opened her eyes she attempted to backpedal, Tamao was staring her in the face, no more than a nose's length away from touching.
No more than a second had passed when Tamao circled Kurumu once, twice, and a third time in record time, in a manner that caused the busty bluenette's heart to thump quickly, wondering when the killing strike would come. Finally, her tormentor stopped moving and laughed, "What's wrong, Kurumu? Scared? Terrified, then? Is there no-one who will save you?"
The young girl, clad in a purple one-piece with a very small heart cut out right where her cleavage began, hissed both in pain and anger as she felt the comments nip at her just as the slices in her back nipped at her, "S-shut up! Why the hell are you doing this – is it because of Tsukune-kun!?"
Violet eyes picked up the subtle narrowing of the mermaid's eyes, and the straightening of her posture. 'Yes, that's it. You're attacking me because you can't have him – because Tsukune-kun is mine, and because you couldn't trick him to get into the pool! Kurumu snickered mentally with confidence. So that's what her angle was, huh? She was taking out her failure to get Tsukune on her, and everyone else in the pool.
"You know nothing, little cretin!" Tamao screeched as she launched herself out of the water, arching through the air and made to cross-swipe the irritating little twit as she landed right where the girl's head had been. Had been, because Kurumu pushed herself back with as much force as she could, and then revealed her own weapons – her own nine inch talon like nails which were as hard as steel. She swiped at the mermaid, tearing the second of her three frilly fins along the length of her left side.
The pain wasn't great, but those fins happened to be an integral stabilizer for her kind whilst swimming at high speeds. The damage to a single one wasn't enough to greatly inhibit her ability to navigate, but too much more and she would simply be tossed about aimlessly in the water as she flicked her tail. Angered at the damage, Tamao surfaced quickly, making another blind swipe which was dodged, "You ripped my fin! I'm going to enjoy this more than I thought, oh yes!"
Kurumu gave a cocky smirk that even in her weakened and pained state belayed that she was at her prime, ready to fight 'till the end, and she was. She wouldn't give in on any normal day, and that was exacerbated since the entire reason this was happening was this cunt and her anger that Tsukune wouldn't fall prey to her weak wiles. Kurumu's smirk grew at that, 'You can't trick my Destined One!'
Flicking her tail, the head-swimmer of the Swim Club darted towards the injured woman, then darted to the left in just enough time to miss the long pink talons that cut through the water, "Tsukune-kun will never be yours, for any vile reason a creepy bitch like you would want him for!"
A tickle of sound, light and airy yet heavy with the hatred that marred the laugh escaped the mermaid who let out a low, feminine growl. Her aquamarine eyes narrowed in frustration, feeling a burning sensation in her chest from the insult – the nerve of the blue-haired bitch before her was beyond belief! Dashing for her, the mermaid prepared another swipe, "You'll never know; I'll make sure to put you into a watery grave before you can warn him!"
She tried to dodge the strike, but luck was, once again, not on her side. She could only watch as the ring and pinky finger of the damned woman caught her right shoulder and tore into it, splashing several drops of blood into the water as a few streams ran down her arm all the while she tried to not cry from the pain. Her teeth were gritting as tight as they could; she could hear and feel the grinding and felt that, any tighter, and they would shatter.
Taking an unsteady breath, Kurumu closed her eyes, calming herself into a tranquil state as she gathered all the courage that ever existed for her. She had no illusions that this fight was likely going to be the end for her, and she couldn't even fight at her best; her charm only worked against those of the same sex if they were attracted to her. Her wings were useless unless she could get out of the water, as within they would just create drag and wouldn't have the power to push her into the air. In addition, they'd just be larger targets.
Opening her eyes, she felt the spade of her tail pierce through the back of her swim-suit, just above her ass and nodded to herself, 'This is it, Kurumu. You've had a fun life; Mom, Auntie Rin, Moka, and Tsukune-kun...'A smile formed on her face as she used her tail to give a very tiny boost in her speed as she sped towards the mermaid who had turned around and was preparing to do the same to her.
'If I can... Just hurt her enough... Leave a mark, something! He can't be caught by her!' Kurumu screamed mentally, narrowed violet eyes blazing with pure hatred at the woman speeding towards her, thinking of Tsukune's safety and how to make sure that she could save her Destined One, even though she wouldn't be with him any longer, 'Physically, at least.'
The pair sent glares at each other with enough malice within them that it could have killed the other. The looks wouldn't have to though; in mere moments one of the two would be the decider of the fight, and the one whom fell short – would die. Cackling, the mermaid made the swipe, just as Kurumu used all her might, straining her arms until the fire of her muscles burned brightly as white streaks in her vision to bring her talons to bare from beneath the waves.
The two reached one another, personal weapons poised to strike each other in the worst of ways. Knowing that, regardless of the place or outcome, she would be bleeding to death as all five claws tore into her flesh, Kurumu closed her eyes and fell into the serene mind-state knowing full well that given the cards dealt to her, she had done her best to protect Tsukune from the bitch's plan. She awaited the agonizing pain; the shredding of skin, and the searing hot grooves her body would soon tell her adorned her chest and mutilated her breasts.
A second passed, then two, and soon five had flown by without a single ounce of pain. 'Did it happen so fast I never felt it?' She wondered to herself as she opened her right eye, only seeing darkness as she did. A frown pursed at her lips as she wondered if she was in limbo, seeing as one of the ending planes were always said to have some color – darkness was not a color. She opened her left eyes and saw a slightly lighter shade of gray, and... a black dot?
Shifting her head and her eyes, she blinked the bleariness from them and found herself staring up at a frosty-faced brunette who's chocolate eyes belayed a raging storm of hail and fiery wrath! It only took her a scant moment to realize it was Tsukune, and that she was in Tsukune's arms. He had saved her at the last minute, and was now holding her, staring off at... something, with a great deal of animosity and rage.
He said nothing as he shifted his weight, and Kurumu suddenly felt a feeling of vertigo before she wobbly stood on her own two feet for a few seconds, until the pain caught up with her, and she fell to one knee, stifling a cry of anguish, 'I have to be strong for Tsukune-kun.'
She never noticed his hand clench as she succumbed to her pain, or the minute motioning of his head that had Moka coming to his side, wide worried off-jade eyes looking her second best friend over, trying to ignore the disgust rising in her throat at the slashes across her back and arm. It was only with a surprise 'eep!' that Kurumu realized that Moka had come as well, "Kurumu-chan! Oh my, how did all this happen!?"
She smiled as her vision crossed into a field of bleariness for a moment, "That... Bitch, Tama – err, Tamao. She got me good, huh, Moka-chan?"
The pale skinned young woman looked at her friend as she helped the injured girl off toward the changing rooms – the only 'safe' place close-by, with a look of trepidation plastered upon her face despite how much she tried to keep it away, if only to comfort the half-delirious succubus beside her, "D-don't say things like that, Kurumu-chan; you're going to be fine, I know it." Then she added silently, 'I hope.'
Loosely nodding her head was all the young seductress could manage as she tried her best to relieve some of the burden that her friend was dealing with, trying to guide her limp body to safety. She could partially tell that they were heading to a covered building, but where that was – and how far they'd traveled thus far, these were unknown to her in the waxing and waning awareness she had.
Within her mind, Kurumu was trying to piece together the events that led up to her sudden safety, without much avail as every time her consciousness would start to fade a little, it would all scramble around a little. Had she been in her right mind, the young succubus would have howled in frustration, leaving that for a different time to unwind.
"H-how'd Tsuk'ne get me out of that... umm, situation?" Kurumu wondered aloud, looking up to the rafter-supported plywood roof which had been painted to a soft gray color. Her eyes hung onto one of the ceiling lights, attracted to the bright light – some primal fascination that was showing through in her befuddlement. She felt herself being set down, and shifted her weight to keep herself upright against the pull of gravity and her shifting equilibrium.
Moka sat beside her, an arm wrapped around her with a frim grip held on her opposite shoulder. Kurumu winced as her clawed shoulder was briefly irritated by Moka's clothing, but she grew used to it with the help of her body's natural anesthetic. Her head titlted to the side and gingerly rested on the pink haired girl's shoulder, who answered Kurumu's question, "He... I only caught a small part of it. We were both running to the pool, and he jumped – very high, and far – over the chain-link fence. I lost sight of him until I jumped over everyone that had gathered."
"I saw him land on, I guess it was Tamao-san's head, just as he grabbed you and hopped onto the edge of the pool. It was amazing – he's very fast!" Moka finished explaining the awe-inspiring rescue from her point of view. She had known he was fast, that much had been noted on a few separate occasions. The speed that he got over to her best female friend however, that was quite astounding. Maybe it wasn't so much the speed, but the agility he had displayed – landing on someone's head with full balance.
A light groan of comfortable acknowledgment, too tired to speak but still aware enough to let Moka know she had heard her, and agreed escaped Kurumu. The fact that Tsukune had gotten there right when he did made the young girl forget most of the woes she had felt in what she had perceived as her final moments. She was not only alive to live another day with her Destined One, but Tsukune most certainly wouldn't fall prey to that scheming fish-bitch.
Back outside of the changing room, Tsukune stood rigid, frozen eyes that promised a slow and painful end of some kind to those caught within his gaze. That gaze currently held within them the majority of the inhabitants of the pool. The brunette teen took a calm step forward, his bare feet now resting on the very edge of the pool, having kicked off his shoes moments earlier, "This is how you conduct yourselves, then -luring 'recruits' into your club with the sole plan of devouring them?"
Tamao smiled roguishly, clearly finding his very presence amusing. The grin only grew as the time went on with her silence biting more and more off of Tsukune's rather impressive pool of patience. It didn't help that her silence was counteracted by the open spite that was being tossed around in infuriatingly false whispers, while some of the members had an opposite reaction that was equally infuriating – staring at him, eyes undressing his form and imagining various activities. In this situation,. It only furthered the fuel that burned within his heart.
Seeing that silence was all that he was going to get, Tsukune schooled his face even more into the unreadable slate, his eyes staring out at everything and anything as though it had no worth in the world – not hatred, nor pity; it wasn't even a look of self-importance. The closest comparison was that of a merciless arbitrator whom condemned punishment unto all those within his sight.
At long last the leader of all the mermaids within the school gave a callous laugh, pivoting and lightly oscillating her position in the water, as her hungry, devilish eyes tittered and taunted him, "We're not doing anything wrong, Tsukune-kun. Luring careless and inattentive men into the waters to be drained dry, that is our way – the way of the Mermaids!"
His head shifted by the smallest of degrees to the side as he eyed the water-attuned Ayashi in perpetual motion. His voice, when he finally spoke, held no warmth and was clipped, concise, "Be that as it may, you and your ilk are outside of your domain. The behavior you are exhibiting is that of an Ayashi, where you should be behaving as a human."
She and most of her peers scoffed at him in their own ways, demeaning him for siding with humans. He closed his eyes, balling his fists into tight, white-knuckled fists and took a breath. Ignoring their jeers and insults he spoke lowly, his voice almost completely being overtaken by the rude and rambunctious mermaids, "Clearly the discipline of this school is less than arduous in it's implementation. If regulations are to go unenforced, so be it."
The next thing that Tamao knew, she was staring at the gridded white tiles that covered the bottom of the pool with a stinging pain gnawing at her jaw. Making a few chewing motions to ensure it was safe, she rubbed the pained spot and resurfaced, a glare aimed where the brunette teen had last been, only to see the spot vacant. "Where did that delicious man get off to?" The mermaid asked herself, and received the answer a second later when one of her junior club members splashed into the water, floating face-up with half-lidded eyes, snoring. Great, he'd knocked her out.
She spun around to catch sight of him coming down, an ax-kick aimed squarely for another mermaid's head. She screamed a non-verbal warning, but the girl had no time to duck and was sent plunging beneath the water, as Tsukune fell into the water. She grinned and took off, "You've just put yourself right in the perfect spot!"
The teen narrowed his eyes as the mermaid grew closer. It was his turn to truly see the half-fish woman as she jumped from the water with a flourish, apparently trying to intimidate him. Her skin had changed to pale white color, with splotches of blue here and there, like patterns; spots on a Cheetah or Dalmatian. The coloration reversed itself further down her limbs with blue being the primary color, taking complete dominance on her webbed and clawed hands.
Two small fins had grown on the back of her forearms, with a thick sharp spine along the furthest leading edge of the scaly membrane. The skirt which she had been wearing previously seemed to have meshed with her skin and became something akin to a streamer fin – a distraction, much like how the Betta Splendis or Chinese Fighting Fish's fins had evolved to be used in nearly the same manner. Trailing out from beneath the blue and green speckled circular fin was the thick 'fish-half' of her body made from the fusion of her legs, and covered in silvery-blue and aquamarine scales that glittered in the sunlight. Along the sides of her lower half and leading to her tail were three sets of fins, one of which had been sheered in half.
She winked, and at the same time her hair shifted as her direction changed revealing that her ears had become an adapted set of fins which likely directly picked up sound waves in the water – not much use above the pool though, he figured. The last Aono gave a look around, watching for any kind of shimmer or shadow after Tamao had submerged herself once more. It was difficult, as the other mermaids had began to circle and swim about as well, but he was fairly certain that they wouldn't attack – yet. It was guesswork, but he was sure that they wanted to give their 'leader' a shot before they jumped in, too...
Suddenly he felt an itch in the back of his head and went limp, falling backward just in time to see Tamao fly just over him in a light spin, her webbed claws swiping through where his head would have been. He escaped the onslaught, but his choice of evading left him open and he found himself short of breath and pushed under the surface as her powerful tail slammed into his solar-plexus.
Most of his air gone, Tsukune stabilized himself in the water, just in time to see the familiar glittering tail sweep past his vision, and then catch a powerful blow to his back, sending him shooting forward. Wisely, he kept his mouth closed and made nary a sound despite the pain – something he could easily handle – and once more righted himself. He needed to head to the surface to grab more air, soon.
'If she'd not caught me by surprise, I could easily have lasted a good two minutes under here. Damn-it all, my lungs burn!' He hissed mentally as he warily looked around. Briefly the thought of using, or even flashing his Sharingan had popped into his mind, but he quickly set that aside; he had no clue how well her kind could see beneath the water, and he only wanted to reveal the sharingan to those that wouldn't speak of it – ever. For now, that meant death would become them, and currently he wished to maim and hurt the mermaid, but death was a bit of an oversight.
As his head broke the surface, he had time to catch a short, deep breathe before he found his face pounding and aching in such tremendous pain that he'd have sworn that a construction wrecking ball had rammed into him. Checking to ensure his jaw wasn't broken, he grit his teeth and closed his eyes. It took him a few seconds to get into a calm state, in spite of his environs and his exterior aloofness, but he knew he could afford it as so far the Mermaids seemed to exhibit a cat-like desire to toy with their target.
Tsukune concentrated, feeling the energy that ran through his body parallel to his circulatory system – and then some. Feeling the heat of the energy within him, he suddenly stopped the flow for just a second, causing him to cringe in pain and release some air. It felt terrible, like his heart and lungs both were collapsing in on themselves, and every vein in his body had burst – though muted, admittedly. It wasn't something he'd use in any other circumstance, but the fruits of this pain were that in his second of misery, when his inner energy ceased to function for that second, a blast of Nature's raw energy passed through him and gave him a large spherical perception of anything within twenty feet of him.
'My right, coming in fast!' Tsukune confirmed the intuitive image that his excruciating proximity-sensing ability imparted upon him. So much data would have been impossible to sift through for anyone else, but the unique setup in which his brain was wired in order to deal with the massive influx of information from the crimson eyes made him perfectly suited to take in the information in record time.
With a mighty push, Tsukune used all his might to move himself through the water and effectively dodged the mermaid's strike by a good two-foot. The young woman-turned-monster snarled at him, both surprised and angry at the apparent 'ease' he had evaded her attack. His lips twitched into an ironic smile for a second, 'That was no 'easy' feat. Won't be able to repeat that today.'
He was unprepared for a sharp slice to tear through his side, enticing a gasp of surprise that then had him coughing up the inhaled water. His hand shot to his side, covering the nearly two-centimeter in diameter set of scratches that ran along the side of his pectoral, 'My arm was high enough to avoid that strike. Luck. I will not rely on such things; it will not happen again.'
Tsukune surfaced and took a gulp of fresh air, using his resilience that he had taught himself and which had been refined by Asura to lock his pain receptors into a temporary dampened state as he dove right back down, going until he hit the bottom. Tsukune ran several plans through his head and decided to try out an idea which had just cropped up; pushing enough energy into his eyes that the Sharingan would activate with just a tiny bit more.
Doing just that, he felt a swell of pride in his abilities as his eyesight became a bit crisper. While the mermaid still blended into the water well, he could now see Tamao's form darkening the overall lighting of the water as she swam around him, keeping him on his toes until she decided to strike. His neck once more tickled, and his eyes widened a pinch as he swirled around beneath the water, barely evading a swipe aimed for his back.
'So the time for Tamao's games have ended, then?' Tsukune questioned rhetorically, spinning backwards to evade yet another swipe by Tamao, herself. His eyes narrowed only to close tight as a powerful force smashed into the back of his head, sending him shooting through the water much like a torpedo, stopping nearly eight feet away- nearly traveling a tenth of the one-hundred foot long pool. Pushing the pain from that strike beneath the influence of his dampened nerves, the submerged young man spun around and dodged yet another strike from a mermaid.
Gritting his teeth, bolstered as much raw strength into his right leg as he could and kicked the mermaid directly in the back, right where her torso and tail connected, sending her to the bottom of the pool. Hard. Seeing that she wasn't moving, Tsukune payed the mermaid no mind, caring little towards her safety.
Another mermaid made to attack him, only she got an elbow to the back of the head after he spun to avoid her swipe. A blast of foaming bubbles escaped her, but Tsukune didn't stop his onslaught; he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back, kneeing her right between the shoulder blades and then kicking her hard in the back – just as he did the last mermaid.
The brunette boy didn't care to watch yet another mermaid sink to the bottom of the pool, instead he kept his eyes focused on the numerous amounts of the carnivorous hybrid women circling him, much like sharks did to an impending meal. Without warning three mermaids came towards him from three different directions, though they were all within his line of sight. Thinking quickly, he pushed his limbs as hard as he could, shooting up out of their 'trap' and to the surface quickly. Not waiting to see any results, he dove back down, grabbing a mermaid by her tail and swinging her into another of her kind, stunning the one hit and sending the one he had used as a weapon soaring to the surface, unconscious.
Another sharp stabbing brought a mild grimace to bare along with a cloud of red mist that was his blood burning his vision. Having no choice but to close his eyes until he got out of his own pool of blood that was seeping from another wound – this one on his abdomen – he couldn't defend himself from the hard strike that knocked the wind out of him and send him upwards until he was stopped by another pair of sharp tears digging into his back.
'Alright... This has gone on long enough; it's time.' Tsukune grunted, encouraging himself to move with a mix of determination and anger. Half-closing his eyes, Tsukune felt for his energy again, causing a thin grin to form – hollow as it was. As yet another swarm of mermaids approached, the brunette teen swam around them, angering his pursuers and causing them to give chase, whilst another group joined the fray soon after.
Though he knew that his would-be hunters understood the fact that he was leading them in circles, they certainly didn't seem to care. It was likely that they assumed they would chase him until he either tired out or they could claw at him – he wasn't going to get away from them in their domain, after-all!
Keeping count on the total mermaids following him was a difficult thing to do, but he estimated that of the roughly forty remaining, he had a good twelve on his tail. At long last he acquiesced to his predators' whims and came to a stop; ending his tirade of circles and figure eights he had lead them through. All at once the mermaids which had been giving chase dashed towards their delicious delicacy that Tamao was all too happy to let them get a taste of.
He waited as they closed in, closer and closer. The closer they got to him, the more his face became set in stone – cool and calm, though if one looked close enough they'd be able to see the veins in his forehead bulge slightly, and the same with his neck. Finally, at long last, the mermaids got within three feet of him in almost all directions and his eyes snapped open.
Tamao, essentially three 'rows' back in the school of her fellow mermaids which were descending down onto their prize, grinned and absently wondered just how he would taste. He smelled of delicious, like that of a human. It wasn't something that she had the luxury of tasting yet, but her mother – rest her soul – had told her that she would love the taste of their liquids and energy. To honor her mother, and in genuine general curiosity, she couldn't wait to sink her teeth into his nice, muscular body and have a taste for herself – even if he only smelled like a human.
She rushed forward, overtaking a 'row' of her kind, intending to take the first bite out of him after her extended family and friends took their frustration out on his body for leading them on as he did – in their own territory! Her eyes gleamed brightly with the desire – lust, even – to taste him; to drain hm dry and leave him in a watery grave. To think, the fool had given up a night with her before this happened! What a waste. 'Oh well, I get first prize either way!'
Erika, one of her best friends and the second-best swimmer in the Swimming Club was a row ahead of her, her auburn hair shifting through the self-made currents like a living entity. She knew not to do anything but harm the human-smelling teen, and she trusted the girl with her life. Clad in a cream, near-flesh colored strapless 'chest-band' top and her glittering ruby and gold tail propelling her, Erika readied her webbed claw and started the motion that would bring on the slaughter, as it were.
Then, there was a loud 'thunk', like a metal drum being beaten beneath the sea. Confusion only had a second to register before the sound of a vacuum – of sloshing and sucking on a massive scale – deafened their ears and white, then black overcame their vision as pounds upon pounds of pressure crushed in on them, gagging Tamao, her right hand Erika, and all the rest of the mermaids.
Confusion and panic roused the groggy mermaids who immediately clutched their forms, feeling as though they'd just gone through an iron press, crushing every inch of their body. They would all agree later on that every inch of them was bruised severely, but at the present time, they tried to keep their bearings through the tumultuous pounding of their head's and the lack of a center of gravity which they all found themselves afflicted with.
Tamao, one of the first to recover, finally noticed that Tsukune was no-where to be seen and groaned as she forced herself to speed up towards the surface, a grimace on her lips with every movement her lower body made. Through it all – the anger, the surprise, embarrassment, disappointment and pain – the mermaid found herself sporting a mental smile. She'd never, not once, heard of a land-dwelling monster besting many water-dwellers, especially mermaids which were among the top three beings that could control their territory with an iron grip.
This man, this Tsukune Aono, he was certainly one surprise after another. It intrigued her, that one such as he could best her, and her harem of fellow mermaids in their own element – so far. She intended to drain his life-force from him, but until then she'd watch him during their fight – study him, and learn from him.
Above the water, standing on the ten-foot tall diving board with dripping clothes clinging to his form with little hope of letting go, was Tsukune. His brown hair lay matted and stuck to his face, though he'd brushed the thick, water-logged strands that fell in his eyes to the side. Chocolate eyes frigid as the icy winds that bombarded the Yukon stared down onto the water's surface, awaiting one – or more – of the mermaids to surface.
His escape had been planned the moment he escaped the first three mermaids that converged on him. Due to his lack of concentration however, he couldn't simply initiate his tactic right away, so he had to incrementally build up his energy into his muscles, condensing it more and more, until his muscles literally burned from the stress of being charged. It took him all of five minutes, dodging and rolling out of attacks, and gaining several trailing mermaids just waiting to make the kill, but the time had finally come.
Tsukune floated to the bottom and waited for them to get closer to him, building more and more energy into his muscles despite the strain that it put on him. At long last, he released the pint up energy which was instantly absorbed by his muscles, lightly engorging themselves temporarily whilst using the extra as an extreme source of adrenaline. The result was a very fast jump in his rate of movement, enough that he moved at a speed rapid enough to keep up with his three-tomoe sharingan, for a short time.
Specifically, three seconds. It was enough time to evade something disastrous, or make a surprise kill or strike on an unsuspecting opponent. It wasn't a fix-all, though; he had to wait a few minutes before he could charge his muscles to that level again, though minor, half-second jumps could be made with minimal effort. Furthering the issue was that he could only charge his muscles to that five-second level, perhaps ten times a day before they'd tear, leaving him helpless for the better part of a week to a month.
The ability had been happened upon during a stressful, frustrating time in his training two nights after he'd placed himself into his hermitage – if you could call it that. He'd charged his body chock-full with his energy until he could barely handle it and tried to kick a training dummy he'd made from woodland scraps. He kicked, alright – he kicked and tore through the dummy, then spun on his ass for two and a half more seconds, where he promptly puked.
Training from then on had included his usage of what he'd begun to call 'Flash-point', due the fact that he'd literally flash out of existence. Currently he was sure it looked like a blur, unless caught off guard – then it would seem like a teleportation, which it most certainly wasn't. His goal was to get his Flash-point's endurance – or rather his muscle's tolerance for the Flash-point – to the point that he could do it for a longer time. He'd already gotten a tenth of a second added onto it since discovering the ability.
Below him, Tamao's head pierced the surface of the water and her aquamarine eyes instantly spotted the taciturn chocolate pair that were staring right down at her, no emotion visible within them – though one got the feeling that his contempt ran deep. Giving him a predatory grin, Tamao admonished him, "You're not supposed to splash in the pool!"
Placing his hands within his soaked and rather tick feeling pockets, Tsukune titled his head lower, "Nor, Tamao-sempai, are you supposed to devour those whom attend Youkai Academy, but I see that's not inhibited your actions."
Pursing her pale pink lips, she hid the fact that his ironic statement vexed her. Instead, she swam in a wide arc to the far side of the pool and cocked her head to the side some, mussing with her black hair which wasn't so much as thick or soggy, "It's how my race works – men get in the water, and we drain them of their energy and liquids. I can't help it that the school doesn't provide an alternative for us."
Narrowing his eyes whilst the edge of his lips upturned into a crooked, one-sided smirk, the host of the sharingan motioned over to the main building in the distance with his left arm, "It's in the handbook; monsters who survive off of alternative sources will have suitable supplements to their diet. Mermaids – like you – are allowed an injection of nutrients and mammalian fluid, which you can obtain from the infirmary. At any time."
Many emotions flashed over the woman-turned-monster's face, from shock to petulance, but the most prominent and reoccurring was anger. She simply floated within her own bubble of malice, glaring up at him, although to be fair she had something on her mind, otherwise she'd likely have yelled up at him – taunted him, or simply attacked him.
It took nearly thirty seconds of silent stares before she irritably sighed, "I don't like needles – they scare me! Besides; it feels like a disgrace to have to get an injection of nutrients, when I can take advantage of these mindless sex-driven poor fools that will just jump into the water to become prey."
"You openly refuse to conform to the regulation, despite the fact that an alternate path exists for you?" Tsukune rhetorically asked her, the sarcasm and disappointment in his words dripping from every syllable, like a thick tar. She rolled her eyes at the teen far above her, "I refuse to be stuck by a needle like – like some sick child!"
For whatever reason she spat the last two words of her sentence as if they were burning her very tongue, like acid. She dove beneath the water and seconds later was half the height to him in the air. He watched curiously as her cheeks bulged slightly with an intake of breath, then barely jumped out of the way as she released a clear, spinning blast of water the size of a tennis ball. Beneath his aerial position the diving board splintered in several directions as the water bullet slammed into the plastic and fiber-glass blue overhang.
Tamao had fallen into the water at roughly the same time the water blast had destroyed the diving board, and Tsukune joined her a second later. However his arrival in the pool caused the entire area to suddenly became uproarious, fins and tails swimming and splashing around his, churning the water for a quite intimidating effect.
Three separate mermaids attempted to behead him with their claws, and four more tried to slam him with their lower bodies', but all of them failed. 'If I can defeat Tamao, these other mermaids will likely stand down... Unfortunately, she'll hide amongst them until they're all dispatched more than likely.' Tsukune rationalized, as he had yet to see Tamao since he had fallen back into the watery hell.
Almost as if by an ironic twist, he felt the familiar itch of danger on his neck, but he was too late. Two strong arms wrapped around his chest, sharp, black claws pressing into his chest and abdomen with enough force to just not tear through his wet clothing and into his flesh. His breath sucked in slowly in an attempt to calm himself from the sudden intrusion of his personal space – especially in such a precarious situation.
A dark, husky feminine voice breathed upon the nape of his neck, as he felt two firm globes press into his back and the very, very warm skin of his captor warming disown which was being cooled from the water. "There's no reason to panic, Tsukune-kun... You're special, after-all."
His eyes widened as he felt her rough, but very warm tongue lick a bead of water from the nape of his neck to below his earlobe. Her claws tightened as he shifted his form and she 'tutted' in disapproval of his actions. "You're mine now... Do you know how much trouble you've been? Trying to best our kind in the water..." Tamao derided him, laughing mockingly with a merry trill to the tune, furthering the insult.
"What is it you want?" His voice was still as deadened as before, not belaying the mild surprise or dread that ran through is body. He was now in the personal grasp of an apex predator of the seas – one which could personally end his life and drag him beneath the water abyss to devour him. He wasn't worried when it was a simply stab, slice or slam that they incurred upon him – that was escapable and survivable. This – this was as close to a worst case scenario as he could imagine up whilst fighting mermaids.
He felt her breath on his neck before she shifted, slowly moving to his side whilst dragging her firm breasts along him. They weren't near as soft as Kurumu's, and if he had to guess, he'd say that they were as firm as a pair could get naturally without them being filled with silicon. She let out a dark chortle, almost amused by his question, before she answered, "I've had my eyes on you... You're quite a sight to watch, you know? You're also very easy to lose – a fact that I saw first-hand earlier. Hmm."
The chocolate brown eyes widened an inconsiderable amount as the eyes which had been staring at him, studying him as though he were prey, finally clicked into place. It was her - she had been the one to follow him, desiring his death, yet wishing to taste him before that time. He felt embarrassed and foolish for not connecting the look she'd given him earlier with the one which had been staring at him from an anonymous source.
"I must be lucky that you sent your dear, sweet Kurumu into our lair," Tamao trailed off, a small almost cruel smile darkening her pale lips. It evened out quickly as she continued, speaking low into his ear, "You came running for her, and you ran right into my arms."
"What possible reason would you have for such a desire? Clearly your kind has no discretion as to their prey – so long as they are male and within the water." Somehow his dull monotone held a bite within it, a sharp jab at her integrity. It irritated her that he was so capable of digging beneath her skin; and he hadn't even known her for an entire day!
Circling around to his front, the self-proclaimed 'lead swimmer' smiled a sultry smile that was clearly false – the look within her eyes marred any illusions of that. Her hands were now gripping his shoulders, just short of drawing blood and her breasts had finally fell short of pressing into him. He let a silent breath escape him and cocked his head to the side to counter the strange look the woman gave him as she inhaled, "Mmm, you have such a delectable scent, Tsukune-kun..."
Narrowing his eyes into a half-lidded glare, he effectively hid the mild shock that hit him as her cheeks began to gain strange lesions, yet no blood spilled from them. They spread across her flawless face until they connected and began to gain a depth, flaking open slightly, revealing a lighter flesh color that he -at first – thought to be blood. In one disgusting shift, her jaw snapped and her mouth opened incredibly wide, revealing two sets of teeth, one set right behind the other and just as sharp as the first set. Down her throat, he could also see tiny teeth, much the same way a cat's tongue had small bristles on it – or a Red-fish had toothed gills.
"It's almost like a human!" She hollered directly at him, preparing to take a large bite out of him – likely taking his face with whatever else happened to be snagged by her teeth. One thing was certain, he was a crafty bastard; he always had a contingency in place and this was no exception. Tamao's mouth tore into his body, snapping his head and neck, but her groans of pleasure turned to confusion and she immediately released her ' kill' to find he was no longer there and her mouth was filled with a splintered piece of the diving board
Spitting the dupe out, she roared a feminine cry of rage and dove beneath the water, 'Where the fuck did that little shit get to!? He thinks he can escape?' Her tail propelled her with powerful strokes through the water, and she cared little for her fellow mermaids as she pushed those that didn't evade her war-path right out of the way, sometimes sending them to the walls and floor.
It didn't take long for her to find her 'catch'; he had somehow escaped to half-way across the pool, but her speed wasn't praised within her family for nothing. Her modified jaws popped open and snapped onto Tsukune, only for the familiar sounds of a thump, followed by a vacuum to register before a light pain tackled her body from all over. It didn't hurt near as much as earlier and she wasn't disoriented either, so the moment she escaped the odd cascade of water-within-water, she caught sight of him over ten feet away, fending off another mermaid.
Instead of striking, she watched as he punched her in the stomach, doubling the water-dwelling woman over as a blast of foam and bubbles escaped her petite mouth. He then elbowed the back of her head, sending her below him, where he stomped once more on her back. It wasn't anything she hadn't seen before, so she motioned for a few more mermaids to go after him.
Tsukune grunted, having just dispatched yet another mermaid that had decided to go after him, he wasn't in the mood for another group, - which is exactly what came after him. He ducked beneath a head-cleaving slice and spun out of the way of what had been an attempted pincer-move by two additional mermaids. He couldn't dodge the slam by the first mermaid's tail into his stomach but he kept his composure, expecting the tactic and thus absorbed it enough that he kept his bearings. His hands gripped the woman's tail and he nodded to himself silently, 'I've got nine more left.'
He released his hold on his second 'Flash-point', and his body shot away in a large jet-stream of water, shooting high above the surface of the pool. Without his Sharingan activated, the movement was instantaneous and slightly jarring, but with his training he had gotten to where he didn't feel nauseated anymore. Fifteen feet above the water, Tsukune swung the half-lucid mermaid around him and launched her back towards the water where she belly-flopped before sinking slowly.
As he plunged back into the depths of the pool with his arms crossed over his chest, he was startled when he had to duck his head quickly to avoid Tamao's swipe over his head, but he felt a sharp stab and found that her fore-arm fin's spine had stuck him in his side and while it wasn't terribly painful, she didn't gently remove it – she yanked it free, tearing a split into his punctured skin. She then snapped at him with her massive jaws, almost taking his leg.
The thin line his lips had been pressed into became a ghosting confidence that was just hinted at on his expression as he preformed a backwards somersault within the water over her attempt to take his leg. A foot found itself planted into the back of her head, and he reached back and gripped a thin string of cloth to pull himself closer to her whilst kneeing her repeatedly in her spine. She struggled against his grip and writhed in the repeated flares of pain, but she simply couldn't shake him.
Finally, Tsukune released his hold on her after she spun quickly. He didn't leave her without a final strike imparted on the resilient woman, in the form of a kidney-punch. Tamao swam in a descending circle, gripping her side wth a furious snarl which looked downright horrid with her enlarged jaws and super-wide mouth.
The brunette teen watched it all in morbid satisfaction, opening his hand to release a tiny bit of blue string which had snapped from the cloth he'd held onto. He didn't watch for long as many more mermaids attempted to rush him. Forward thrust of her claws towards Tsukune's chest, and the teen wasn't there, though a very small ripple of water that collapsed on itself lay in his wake. That very same mermaid's vision went dark as a powerful punch slammed into her temple.
Another caught an elbow to the nose, bloodying the cartilage slope on her face, followed by a palm-thrust between her breast that launched her painfully into the solid wall of the in-ground pool. The nail in the coffin came when his knee rammed into her solar-plexus, knocking all the air from her lung and for added measure, Tsukune grabbed her by the throat and sent her barreling through the water where she flew into the air and landed roughly on the concrete deck.
Heading to the surface to gain a breath of fresh air gave the brunette teen a moment to think until a tail attempted to crush his head against the side of the pool. His head hit the concrete, but faded away right afterward. In return, the young man grabbed the woman from behind and choked her breath out of her in just enough time to toss her down so she wouldn't be caught whilst he dodged to the side to avoid a stabbing thrust of black, webbed claws.
Ready to defend himself from the other woman's assault, he wasn't quite prepared for a strong hand to snake around his neck from behind and drag him down to the bottom, where he was smashed into the tiled bottom of the floor. It didn't stop there, though, he could feel his larynx being crushed underneath the water Ayashi's grip. The entire group had started to descend upon him, including about a quarter of the ones which he had knocked out that had been awakened from their untimely 'nap'.
The one holding him moved away, only for two to grab him by either of his arms and begin to tug him in opposite direction, coming ever closer to dislocating his shoulders from their sockets. His attention didn't focus on his arms for long however, as a few mermaids circled in on him and began to beat him with their very muscular lower bodies. They were so strong that if his ribs weren't being splintered or fractured, then he knew he would be bruised purple and black the day after.
He closed his eyes and forced a false sense of serenity over his psyche. The sheer amount of pain he was feeling was straining his capacity for numbing it and with ever new source of pain the amount to which his other pain was numbed was spread out – lessened. Now he barely had twenty percent of the pain dulled, and it was causing him to loose his focus mentally.
It was near impossible, but he held an iron-grip on the last shred of focus he had left before he lost himself to the sheer repeating flares and aches of pain that tore into him. He knew that what he was doing was likely a foolish endeavor, and maybe such a thing would be considered out of the norm for him... Such a thought was precisely what he was going for – daring, and uncertainty as it would be the one thing these mermaids wouldn't quite expect.
Tsukune grit his teeth hard as his right shoulder popped free from it's socket, but he didn't let it phase him anymore than he let the five new punctures into his chest phase him. He could feel his muscles burning and his bones shifting – creaking with the duress being placed on them. A strong, painful burning in his eyes finally caught his attention, as he'd ignored the other tell-tale signs of danger his senses gave him – the itching of the neck and the invasion of personal space.
As his fatigued chocolate eyes snapped open he watched as Tamao's jaws retracted into her more human shape and once again her cheeks bulged like before. She winked at him, aquamarine eyes filled with a malice and cruelty that only a scorned woman could display as she opened her mouth and shut her eyes, releasing a massive soft-ball sized spinning globe of water that left in it's wake a jet-stream of displaced water as it headed to him.
Without a warning, Tsukune was no longer in the place where he had been, and the two mermaids which had been holding onto him, trying to rip his limbs off from his torso in the most painful way were gone as well. This was all Tamao, as well as the rest of the mermaids were able to garner before the powerful displacement of water collapsed in on itself, churning and pushing a massive concussion force – larger than the first one the black-haired Ayashi had been caught in. She tried her best to swim away from it, but the water filling in the displaced space was fighting her struggle and in the end, she was hit with it.
Above the visible rippling water, the host of the Sharingan glared out over the water standing a silent vigil with narrowed, tired eyes. His left arm hung limp at his side and the two mermaids which he'd dragged along with him lay beside him. They had passed out themselves the moment he began move, having vomited – apparently when you only survive on liquid, liquid is what comes out; little more than water – and went limp within a second of movement.
Despite his steady stance, he felt weaker than he had ever before. He had only practiced his Flash-point on land, and while he could naturally move fast in short bursts, it wasn't anything close to his new ability. The apparent problem was that it took significantly much more energy to move a quarter of the distance and speed in water as it did on land.
In addition to that, Tsukune had pushed much more energy than ever before into his muscles and he was certain that while he didn't rip his muscles, he would be weakened for a few days. 'Hopefully... the displacement that should occur in the water will make the extra expenditure worth it.'
So tired was he that he didn't even feel the malicious energy in the air coming from behind him, within the changing room. He wouldn't realize what had happened and the calamity that could have occurred for several more days. As it was, Tsukune couldn't feel a single thing – in the state he was, the pain he was feeling had become so intense that it became – counter-intuitive to logic – bearable.
Many minutes seemed to pass as Tsukune waited; he knew that Tamao, at least, would recover from the concussive displacement that his Flash-point caused within the water. She had taken all of his attempts to put her down so far in stride, so he knew that this one wouldn't phase her, either. 'Soon enough... You and I will finish this foolish quarrel, Tamao-sempai.'
Four minutes passed and finally a disturbance in the water caught Tsukune's eyes, and he slide to the side as a tiny, diminutive bullet of water shot from the surface of the water and dissipated a good fifteen feet behind him in the air. Her turned his aloof gaze towards the water, awaiting another sign for her location – specifically he wished for her to surface and finish the fight quickly, but it seemed that she was planning to stick to her element until the very end.
'Smart strategy... Yet it will be her downfall, in the end.' Tsukune wisely thought to himself and dodged yet another small condensed ball of water that had been shot at him. He had noticed that it had come from roughly the exact same spot, 'Already, you're becoming complacent. For such resilience, you're an imbecile Tamao-san.'
Three more bullets were shot at him, all of which he dodged with great ease. It was like she couldn't properly aim – or she wasn't trying. He eyed the water suspiciously as a tiny frown pulled at the corners of his lips, 'What is it you're planning?'
His answer came moments later as a larger, baseball sized water bullet shot out of the water, which he dodged with a bit of difficulty. The speed and accuracy that shot had was quite an improvement, but it proved to be a distraction as a glittering ruby and gold scaled tail suddenly popped out of the water right against the concrete 'deck' around the pool and tried to knock his feet out from under him. He jumped over the attempt, but couldn't move out of the way of the real, true attack.
The green-tinted blonde punched him with her human fist, and ran over to him where she kicked him in his side. He groaned and pushed himself up, only to get another swift kick in the side. She was set to deliver another kick, but a purple blur flew past him and took with it a girly scream. He snorted in amusement with a grateful smile, 'Kurumu... I'll have to remember to thank you after this is over.'
"Ayumi! You fat bimbo, drop her!" The shrill voice of another mermaid screeched, after Kurumu had apparently swiped up her friend – this Ayumi character. He pushed himself up and noticed that it was the dark redheaded girl who had been with Tamao when she'd attempted to recruit them all. Looking around, he couldn't see the leader of the Swim Club though; she was still in hiding.
"Ayumi... Your concern for your friend is ill-placed, though admirable." That caught the young woman's ear, bringing her attention towards him. Her dark brown eyes were wide, belaying shock before a fury ignited within them and she ran towards him with a battle-cry. She swung wide, a strike that he could have easily dodge but didn't. Instead, he caught her fist and bent her wrist backwards, eliciting a whimper and then a cry of pain from the spunky teen.
"S-stop, please! I- I'm sor-" Her pleading was silenced as her twisted her wrist side-ways as well as back, making her scream in order to silence her. Tsukune eyed her without a single shred of sympathy and hissed out at her, his voice low and deadly – so much like his monotone, yet so different, "Your pleads will not work; you most certainly didn't accede to the pleads by the others."
He pushed her down to the ground, her front against the damp cement as he brought her wrist behind her and put her in a full submission, "I should rid the world of your existence... Much like you did to those who were unfortunate enough to join the Swimming Club."
She whimpered, but managed to grind out a segmented sentenced, "They – not – still – alive."
The brunette sharingan host schooled his features, becoming placid and lost a bit of the macabre undertone within his voice as he loosened his grip on her arm just a bit, "They're alive you say? How, explain yourself."
"We just... drained them of most of their y-youki, and s-some of -ah- their bodily fluids, uhn!" She grunted at the end as Tsukune pulled her up and held her in a loose submission hold, watching above the pool as Kurumu flew slower than usual, with less agility but still managed to torment the one known as Ayumi, tossing her into the air and catching her.
"Good. You will still be of use to me – Tamao-sempai has yet to surface, and she likely suspects that you two will tire me out, allowing her to make an easy kill." Tsukune observed and gave voice to his suspicion. Hearing a painful and worried grunt from the girl as he tightened his grip upon a shift in her weight, he indulged her obvious concern, " She can see from beneath the water, at least moderately well. You are my hostage to show that her plan didn't work – she will have to surface, or I'll simply dispose of you."
"Wha – ughn! What d-do you mean!?" She squeaked out through the pain, scrambling most of her words and thoughts. She felt her considerable chest heave from the odd position she was in, tilted forward with only her nettling arm keeping her from falling face-first into the water. Despite the fact that she would be safer in the water, Erika simply couldn't, for the life of her, see how falling into the water would be a good alternative. The man holding her would likely find some way to end her before she even his the comforting liquid.
Her fear wasn't as abtruse as she would have liked; Tsukune knew the exact thoughts running through the redhead's mind, and it was exactly the effect he had wanted – despite not quite incurring it, himself. He knew that psychological warfare was easily one of the most important factors within a fight, or indeed, any situation in life; if your opposition could be intimidated properly, then there was little that you couldn't get done with the proper manipulations.
She was in far too much pain to struggle, and was too terrified for her life to attempt to fight past the pain in order to escape into the water. Therefore she wasn't in any position to complain as the brunette school-boy lowered her slightly closer to the water and ignored her cries of fear and pain as he addressed the mermaid still in hiding, "You're not as heartless as you act, and despite the fact that you'd endanger others' lives for the sake of your hunger, I know that these two – your last ditch efforts – aren't pawns."
He paused and cast an appraising, scrutinizing gaze over the pool. It wouldn't take much, a shimmering that doesn't match the natural surface ripple, a small counter ripple, or a shadow moving beneath the waters. Any of those would be enough for him to pinpoint the head mermaid, but it would only be a partial victory – he wasn't going to get back into the water; she would have to come to him.
Not seeing anything after a minute had passed caused a very faint irritation to prick at the back of his mind. Tamao was testing him, trying to see how long she could drag it out as she tried to make a contingency plan. Very subtly, he nodded his head, 'Aimlessly plan, waste your time. It will only hurt you, in the end.'
Erika never understood what had crawled up the cute brunette's ass to cause him to be so cold, and the cruelty he was about to display would only worry her – have her questioning the continuity of her very short life. All she knew was that her arm jarred some before her pinky had been grabbed and pulled to the side until the pain tore at her sight, leaving purple spots at the edges of her vision. Then, a deft crack could be faintly heard and she suddenly forgot all about her arm and screamed bloody murder directly into the water, having no room to raise her head to the heavens to release her cry of anguish.
The apathetic chocolate eyes belonging to the calm teen scanned the water for another minute, yet there was still not a single sign to hint that Tamao was moving or nearing the surface. A single, disappointed sigh left his semi-parted lips as he grabbed the girl's ring finger, "She has four more chances before her wrist is broken, and then her elbow. If I make it to the shoulder, her natural life will be cut short – I will destroy her rotatory-cup."
He caught a light shimmering and felt the edge of his lips curve upward and watched the shimmering turn into a light shadow, which then became a moderate silhouette. However she stopped there, floating just out of view. For a moment he thought she might be planning to attack him with another water blast, but after a good thirty seconds with no action, Tsukune shook his head, "I said surface, Tamao-sempai. Unfortunately, you've wasted your move."
The young woman's whimpering started up again, this time it escalated quickly, causing her to hyperventilate some as she anticipated the phantom pain which was to become corporeal. Crack!
She screamed and in that moment, Tamao's head popped above the wave with horror in her eyes, "Please! Please, just stop!"
The black haired mermaid looked her friend over, a silent apology passing between her and the acceptance of said palliation being sent back by the auburn mermaid in human guise. She smiled appreciatively and watched with bated breath as Ayami was set down by the succubus who'd been tormenting the -unknown to Kurumu – acrophobic mermaid.
Seeing her two friends and most trusted confidants safe, she turned her attention to Tsukune and sent him a look filled with shifting a and complicated emotions. He could clearly see the fear, and just a easily was the anger she felt towards him. Deeper down, there was an attraction, a diminished hunger, and some sense of mild depression or perhaps self-doubt. Obviously embarrassment crossed her as well, but it was brief, and clearly the most shameful to the woman.
Understanding her desire, Tsukune glanced to the redhead whom he still held in submission and motioned for her to come closer. Oddly, the mermaid blushed and the struggle was evident on her face on whether she should concede to his demands, or ignore them. Clearly knowing what would happen, she hesitantly came closer until she was five feet from the the edge of the pool which was fifty feet across, "Now, let Erika go."
Without a second thought, he gently released the girl's arm and lightly guided her away from the edge, never taking his eyes off of the head of the Swimming Club. She seemed to be compliant enough now, but he knew that any moment she could become a ravenous, feral bitch. After having a stare-down for a few minutes, he addressed her , "Rise from the water; we have a quarrel to settle, Tamao-sempai."
Again, her cheeks flustered and she averted her gaze some while not making any indication of moving. He held the irritation back beneath his calm demeanor and cocked his head to the side, "Will you not comply with this?"
She never made a move to answer him, but the flustering of her cheeks increased nearly three-fold. Her aquamarine orbs kept darting up to meet his own, however they would quickly falter back to his chest, or the cement 'deck', or the water. It seemed that she wasn't planning on leaving the water beyond her head, 'Why must I be forced to resort to ultimatums?' With a visible but inaudible sigh, Tsukune's aloof chocolate eyes frosted over, "By your silence, my choice has been made, unfortunately; Erika's shoulder shall be irreparably shattered."
He pivoted with an alien grace and began to take sharp, measured steps towards the trembling girl who dared not run – too afraid of this near-mechanical teen's apparent dispassionate cruelty, and more so what he would do if she did run – what else he would do. He was half-way between his previous spot and Erika who was a mere four feet away when Tamao screamed out to him, "Fine! Fine! I'll get out, just... don't hurt her, anymore."
He stopped immediately, looking over his shoulder to watch her fulfill this new iteration of the seconds old compromise. Her cheeks were completely beet-maroon as she came closer to the side of the pool whilst simultaneously bringing herself ever closer to the surface. She stopped for a moment, and he felt the atmosphere change; a certain weight suddenly absent off of his being, 'Must have returned to human form.'
A single, dainty hand with light opal colored polish gripped onto the top rung of the metal ladder. Two sloshing footfalls were heard before her hand left the rung and grabbed onto the hooping anchors-and-handles of the ladder, and her head raised into sight, cheeks even more flustered than before. Her swung her head, letting all of her jet-black hair which looked not a second wet fall behind her and rest on her soaked back.
Raising an eyebrow at her obvious hesitance, he commented, "It would be a great deal easier for you to use your other hand; such is the reasoning for the dual appendages. Unless, of course, I managed to dismember during our tryst."
It caused a shiver to travel down her cool spine with the ease and lack of any real open aggression or pity he had said it with. She shook her head to rid herself of the sudden cobwebs and shot a tiny glare his way, brows knitted slightly that was offset by the slight quivering of her bottom lip, "I... Can't."
The disbelieving look that had become fixed upon her was answered with a sudden flash of rage. His muscles instinctively flexed as she erupted into a sudden flash of movement, hopping up the ladder as if it was little more than a tiny hop – like that from the paved road to sidewalk. It took him a moment to register just what he was seeing, but when he did he found himself speechless, though due to his nature, it wasn't noticed.
She stood before him, a look defiance and rancor marring her attractive face. Her cheeks had somehow grown darker than just moments before, however the cause of that was plain as day before him as well as everyone else who viewed the scene he was witnessing. She stood in a stance, as if displaying herself, legs spread apart and arms out wide. However, unlike a full display, her arms bent at the elbow and gestured with splayed fingers and open palms the cause of her reluctance to appear on land.
Absent from it's obvious place was the blue-green scaled bikini top which Tamao had been wearing during most of the fight. Standing as she was now, baring herself Tsukune could only thank his unique ability to lock his emotions down, otherwise the blush and wide eyes that would plague him would have been active full-force. Her breasts stood out, perky and round. They lost a little of their lift that the top gave them, but it was still fairly maintained due to the firmness of the two globes of flesh. Thin tan-lines added a contrast to the tanned flesh, and allowed a nice focus on the light brown aureola and tiny peck of a nipple within the center of each breast.
"This," She hissed out, exasperated and embarrassed all in one, lightly touching the exposed breasts with wide, enraged eyes, "is why I didn't want to come out of the water! You. You tore my top off sometime in the water, and it got away from me during that last little stunt you pulled!"
Kurumu suddenly darted over to Tsukune and yanked his head away from the sight he was beholding and shoved it into her breasts, cheeks alight and eyes glaring icy daggers at the topless mermaid, "Don't you dare use such underhanded tactics to try to steal my Tsukune-kun away; that's just low."
"Says the kettle shoving his head into her oversized chest. Hmph." That simple comment caused a fire to light inside the little succubus who only jammed her beloved's head deeper within her bosom and shook her fist at the water-monster. She was suddenly halted as Tsukune pushed his head out from the confining prison, struggling between whether he should scold the succubus or gently tell her to leave the business between he and the mermaid.
After a second her settled for giving a stern look at the young seductress, "While your enthusiasm and protectiveness are appreciated, I do not need your help at this moment. Sit with Moka."
Slightly dejected, the Succubus complied. It was only until she was half-way there that she realized that he hadn't glared at her, nor had he scolded her for her actions. He'd actually said that he appreciated her enthusiasm – not so much the way she expressed it – yet, but it was progress. The last leg of the trek was made with a shit-eating grin.
Turning back to Tamoa, he noted that she had covered herself up using her left arm, keeping her right by her side with a guarded look in her aquamarine eyes and visible anger fluctuating through despite her attempt to hold it in, "Prepare yourself, Tamao-sempai."
Widening her eyes, she looked around quickly and shifted her weight, "What? You still want to fight? I don't even have a top; at least let me cover myself properly."
"Fight as you are, or I will end you without contest as you foolishly worry about your modesty," Tsukune stated cooly, shrugging his shoulder to show he really couldn't care which one she chose. Asura had insured that he was prepared to fight in any situation, even without a shred of clothing. Since then, he found that anyone who initiated a fight with him and dared to have an issue when they lacked clothing – whether it was destroyed, lost, or otherwise misplaced – were not quite as focused on the task at hand. In his weakened state, this was the perfect way to fight the damnable woman.
She had just gotten into stance, still nervous about fighting in the nude when he sped toward her. She barely had time to block the jab he made at her stomach, which was immediately countered with a sweep to her heel, almost knocking her down. She huffed out a nervous breath and made to punch him in the face, but he caught her fist and yanked her towards him.
Just as she was about to bump chests with him, his knee shot out for her stomach, but due to her being an inch taller in the legs than his five-foot eight frame, he caught her not in the solar-plexus but right in her navel. She sputtered, letting out a short gag which she tried to hold back the byproducts of, only to feel the familiar debilitating pain of two knuckles being planted within her kidney. A loud growl escaped her gnashed teeth and her legs wobbled.
She quickly regained balance and blocked an incoming knee with her own shin, trying desperately to ignore the pain. As their legs clashed, she threw a right hook , hitting him in his left shoulder as he rocked slightly out of the way, causing him to cringe as the immense pain rocketed through his fatigued body. He jumped back and narrowly missed a clumsy kick aimed for his head.
As soon as he got a bit of distance he ran right back at her and dodged her sweeping kick by sliding beneath it. She, in turn, jumped over his low clothes-line which would have took her knees out from underneath her. This was a faint however as he got back up to his full height and jammed an elbow into her bare stomach, doubling her over when a now vertical elbow bashed her in the back of the head.
She fell face-first to the ground, and let out a pained gasp. Tsukune stood to the side, waiting for her to regain her faculties and stand up. It took her a full ten seconds to begin to move and another five to pull herself to her full height, where she wobbled some as she moved to face him, revealing a scuffing on her forehead which was bleeding slightly and the same on her dull pointed chin.
Tamao didn't have to give him an invitation as the second she faced him, he made his way over to her and palm-thrusted her side, sending her several feet to the side as she tried desperately not to loose her balance and fall, making for something akin to a baby deer walking for the first time. The mermaid in human form had barely managed to ascertain balance when she jumped to evade the leg-sweep, but once more fell into a trap and found herself sailing in an arch through the air from a snap-kick.
She landed on her bum more or less and quickly hopped to her feet to block a punch to her face, and by luck managed to side-step the left knee which was intended for the junction of her hip. Knowing she had the advantage for this scant moment, she twirled around him and slammed a hard hammer-punch into his spine and simultaneously jabbed him in his left arm.
He dipped down, momentarily forgetting his balance as the pain got to him, 'I can't block out anymore pain – body's doing a damn good job of keeping me from passing out in it's current condition. Shit.' His thoughts echoed true as he could feel the muscles of his body failing on occasion, forcing him to drag his body through the motions. He'd really overdone that last Flash-point. Never again, this pain and the state of his body was dismal.
Tsukune took a step back and avoided two punches and an elbow that nearly connected. He took a deep breath and calmed himself, ducking beneath a spinning heel kick that was preformed clumsily by the inexperienced mermaid. Her returned the favor and caught her in the shoulder, causing her to grunt, concealing a scream as a scuff colored onto her bare skin, "You bastard! Why are you even doing this; you won!"
"There was no definitive winner; I escaped," He corrected her and kneed her in the stomach, then grabbed her torso as she doubled over again and fell back, slamming her bare chest onto the concrete and damaging her back some with his weight. She squealed in pain, using the adrenaline to ignore the pain for a moment and return the pain with an elbow to his kidneys. She was rewarded by a deep groan of pain, and instantly regretted it as her ankle was put into a vice, "As for why? It's very simply."
Her ankle nearly snapped when she jabbed two more strikes to is kidney, forcing him to let go as she got free and slammed a side-kick into his head. He fell over, but his body soon vanished from view and Tamao found herself once more flat against the ground with a sharp pain in her back. She looked over her shoulder to see the aloof bastard looking down upon her as if nothing had happened, "W-what's very simple?"
She pushed herself up onto all fours, but kept her head dipped down as Tsukune approached her slowly, his light steps padding against the wet cement. The brunette teen came to a stop and gazed down at her battered form, without a single shred of pity, or remorse. He made to open his mouth, taking a breath to speak when she flipped herself over revealing her puffed cheeks.
Chocolate orbs widened as the girl's pale pink lips parted and expelled a large gout of compressed, condensed water. For a bare moment he felt the tingling of panic – a feeling he'd not truly felt in a long, long time before a strange feeling of... familiarity soothed him whilst his muscles reacted on an instinct that felt foreign. The energy – his inner energy; his youki – began to shift within him and he could feel it expand his chest and fill it with an artificial air while his mouth began to produce a liquid that wasn't saliva.
Another feeling of deja-vu hit him, and he knew what to do next, as if he'd known it for all of his life. The water compressed itself in a thin shell of his youki and the false breath in his lungs shot out on an impulse. He parted his lips and watched, stunned as an identical projectile of water intercepted the one fired from the mermaid and erupted into a small gust of wind and water that splashed everywhere.
Two pairs of eyes blinked in shock in tandem, though the chocolate pair concealed it better – if only minutely. The mermaid's mouth jawed without sound, looking for words which were absent. At long last she managed a broken inquiry, "H-how – t-that's a... water. Uhn?"
The grunt nearly went unsaid, and only came out as a stressed breath as she pulled herself onto her knees and eyes the teenage boy with uncertainty. Tsukune shook his head, unsure as to how he managed to do such a thing, "I am unsure... It was quite a... surprise, too."
He never noticed his vision go dark, nor the hard impact of his head against the concrete surrounding the in ground pool. He would also not remember how Kurumu and Moka rushed to him, worrying over his motionless form while Kurumu made the extra effort of blaming the black-haired mermaid for killing her beloved.
Elsewhere, two shadows sat within a room, their forms blending in with the pitch-black surroundings only increased by the black of night showing through the large bay windows. In the distance, a lone radio tower's lights warmed into a cherry red every ten seconds before flicking off once more. The only light entering the room was from the quarter moon which, despite being covered by a few wispy clouds, still had plenty of its lunar light to spare.
"Very good, boy... Yet another challenge passed." The shadow to the left murmured, his voice gruff and gravely, sounding like one would expect a grizzled army general to sound. His head shifted as he took a breath, "How long until the awakening?"
The second shadow shifted their weight some and brought a clear object to their lips. After a moment, they set it back down as the sunlight hit it, revealing it be a champagne glass. A soft hum came from the second shadow before thoughts were verbalized in a confidant feminine simper, "It shouldn't be long at all now. The influx of youki will likely allow the formation of the ameliorated state without such extreme measures and consequences – though I'm not entirely positive on such things, yet. Regardless, the awakening should be achieved within a year, two if things progress slow and steadily."
"Acceptable. We've waited long enough; two years is within our scope. Keep me updated if any calculations change. Until then, Madame." The first shadow inclined his head and raised a glass of his own, as if toasting the person beside him. In response, the other person raised their own glass and gave a light chuckle, "Of course, sir. I'd do nothing less. If nothing changes, I will see you at the meeting, goodnight."
The shadow beside the man flickered for a moment before dispersing into nothingness. He reclined himself some and released a long breath, "Yes, we've waited a long time, indeed... Yet it seems our clover has finally blossomed."
This was very entertaining to write, and I hope you all have enjoyed it at least a fraction as much as I did writing it. Almost wrote 'riding' it, god damn the subliminal mechanisms of listening to music whilst typing. So... 34,352 words for this chapter, including all text within this chapter. Don't expect a chapter this big to come along every time now. Hell, it won't even be that common... Consider it my treat for being out of commission for nearly, what, four months? Bet some of you thought I'd died, or at least abandoned my story, huh? Infidels! I keel you!
Oh, you're still alive? Well, my wrath is false, and so is my coveted ability to strangle the shit out of anyone reading from the computer. Now, I've got great plans for this story, but I'm literally living luck-to-luck-to-paycheck-to-luck. Forecast for updates: Sporadic with a chance for rapid or severely prolonged chapters.
I've decided that I will give a description of any spells/abilities used in the story which aren't cannon. Water-bullet won't be appearing this time, but I'm sure it's use will pop up in the next chapter or two, so look for it there.
Now, onto what I'd like to hear from you in addition to any other praise, critique or concerns you are welcome to mention in a review: As always, the fight between the mermaids and Kurumu, and then Tsukune. How did I do at the description, did it flow well, and ultimately was it entertaining?
Also, has the semi-subtle character development been too obvious, too subtle, and in addition to that, is it believable? Some things in their past – especially Moka – may be influential to their change, but that is just some food for thought. Nice touch with the water-bullet? There will be more where that came from, rest assured of that.
My second to last order of business is to say this: I am compiling a...lexicon of sorts for this and future R+V stories that I am working on/have planned/may do. I've gotten a fair amount down, but there is room for improvement. As such, I ask you to take a little bit of time after you read and review to -at some point- send me a PM containing possible spells and/or abilities which you believe a witch or other monster would use. Keep in mind that this is not just for this story, and that you'll be helping me with nearly every story I make from this point on in R+V. Should you do this, credit will be given where due.
At long last, my final bit of business. I have been working with a helpful author on this site by the name of KuyouFox. I wouldn't call him my Beta, because that would be diminishing the job which he's been doing. I'd say that he's just short of being considered a Co-author, and that's only because he hasn't physically typed a portion of the story. KuyouFox's a talented author, and I would recommend his stories to you.
Now Read and review, have fun, use condoms – god knows we only need to keep the population rising, and remember above all: I am God, worship me, yada-yada and so forth. Night, all!
