Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the computer this is typed on.

Chapter 9

The bus came to a screeching halt on the outskirts of a field of sunflowers. As the doors opened and the group filed out, Yukari's joyous cries could be heard for miles around.

"Nii-san we're back. We're really back" the little witch said excitedly. "I can't wait to see your sensei and Lulu-tan."

Tsukune let out a sigh as he too looked around the field.

"Yukari-chan you know that he hates it when you call him that" Tsukune scolded the witch.

As the two began bickering over nicknames the other three girls took a good look at their surroundings.

"Ah, this is so amazing" Moka said as her eyes lit up. "I've never seen such tall flowers before."

"I know" Kurumu agreed. "They're so gorgeous."

Mizore just gave a nod in response, before Tsukune and Yukari proceeded to rejoin the main group.

"Well, Yukari-chan and I live in the area so we'll be able to show you around" Tsukune stated. "It's quite a beautiful place, so I hope you feel lucky to come here."

The last part of Tsukune's statement was lost on the three girls as they began to assault Tsukune with questions. Some of the questions were impossible for Tsukune to answer, forcing Yukari to take over as the tour guide.

"Well, here we are in the territory of Japan cared for by my mother" Yukari told them with a grin. "Actually only half of the knoll is cared for by my mother. The other half is cared for by a mysterious witch who know one knows anything about."

Yukari continued on like this for a few hours as the group began their exploration of the area.

"Wait a minute" Tsukune said as he suddenly clued into something. "Does anyone know where Ms. Nekonome went?"

The girls looked around and after Kurumu gave him a shrug, Tsukune let out a sigh of defeat. They had no idea where their teacher was or what she was up to. Not even that though. There was no way for them to find out where their hotel was either without Ms. Nekonome.

Yukari continued with the tour of the area under her mother's jurisdiction undaunted. Tsukune however was completely disinterested as he could claim to know the entire area like the back of his hand and be pretty far from lying.

"Yukari-chan, shouldn't you show them the city as well. We've been walking through sunflowers for hours and I don't think that they'll change all that much in the next few kilometres" Tsukune told her.

"No nii-san. We have to show them every bit of land here. They need to know the boundaries in case anyone goes off on their own" Yukari replied defiantly.

"Alright, just make sure you don't take all day" Tsukune concluded the conversation.

The three other girls could only giggle at the way that the two interacted with each other.

"They really are brother and sister aren't they" Moka said to Kurumu and Mizore as they watched the two bicker.

"That or an old married couple" Mizore commented with a smirk as the succubus suddenly flared up.

"Okay that's it" Kurumu said before marching over to the bickering duo. "Tsukune-kun, where are these boundaries that you were mentioning?"

"Oh, those are at the point where the sunflowers spike in growth" Tsukune answered. "If you just take a look in the distance there...yep there, you'll see that the sunflowers are twice as tall as they are here."

Kurumu's eyes widened as she saw the truly massive flowers.

"How would those even come into existence?" she asked her eyes still wide at the sight.

"The rumour is that the mistress of that section of the knoll's power revolves around plants. If there is truth to that rumour then she could easily make the flowers grow as large as she wants them to" Tsukune answered. "Though that is why Yukari-chan's mother fought to gain some of the territory. The mistress of that territory despises humans and would eliminate them all in an instant if given the chance."

Kurumu shuddered as Tsukune finished, a smile plastered on his face.

"Well that's a very cheery thought" Kurumu mumbled as they continued onwards.

The group finally found Ms. Nekonome when they entered the city.

"A fish restaurant, how pathetic" Yukari said as they approached their teacher.

"Oh hello" Ms. Nekonome said as she saw the kids approach her. "How did you enjoy your first day out here?"

"It was great" Mizore answered, shocking most of the people there at her speedy reply.

"That's wonderful" their teacher said with a grin before returning to her fish. "Oh and before I forget, you'll be having a couple of very special tour guides for tomorrow."

"Could you please tell us who they are?" Moka asked after a few moments of silence.

Ms. Nekonome was about to refuse, but when she saw the look in Moka's eyes it became too much for her.

"You're going to be given the tour by a member of Japan's spellcaster council" Ms. Nekonome answered. "I can't remember his name, but he'll be at the hotel at 9:00 tomorrow morning so be prepared."

Everyone nodded and bowed before the girls rushed off to find the hotel. Tsukune however stayed behind for a moment to ask one last thing of his teacher.

"Ms. Nekonome, what hotel are we staying at?"

By the time Tsukune had caught up with everyone, he knew they were totally lost and annoyed with the number of boys approaching them. With a wave and a movement of his hand signalling to go in the other direction, Tsukune was able to lead them away from the crowd and back towards the hotel they were supposed to stay at.

"Thanks for the save" Moka told him when they were finally free of the crowd.

"Don't worry about it. My cousin's a witch and due to the youki within her she has an unnatural beauty that most humans never witness. I had to help her in a very similar way when she visited" Tsukune told her. "It got much worse when she started to enjoy the attention though."

Moka giggled slightly at this, but managed to return her composure as they entered the hotel.

"We're here under a booking for Youkai Academy" Tsukune said to the woman working the front desk.

"Ah, the one room with a sliding wall. Okay then here's your key" the receptionist replied, handing Tsukune the key.

After Tsukune thanked the woman he proceeded to lead the others to the room.

It was just after ten that evening that Tsukune was pulled into conversation again.

"Tsukune-kun, what sort of person is your sensei?" Moka asked as she lounged against the wall opposite the half-blood.

"Well, he's a very bizarre teacher. He doesn't like using his magic to solve his problems and would prefer to work like a human to figure them out first, a trait that he's passed on to me" Tsukune began. "He's also prone to nicknaming people, something that can get on the nerves of many."

The smile on Tsukune's face as he discussed his teacher was something that Moka couldn't help, but enjoy.

"Oh and one last thing I have to mention is that he is kind of an oddity" Tsukune finished his smile even larger than before. "But you'll just have to wait to meet him."

"So he's going to be our tour guide?" Moka asked.

"Most likely, he's the only member of the spellcaster council in Japan who does not have a specific territory that he represents, instead he's there to promote the inclusion of half-blood spellcasters like myself. So he's free most of the time" Tsukune answered.

Moka just nodded as she tried to process all the information she had been given. Tsukune however had turned in for the night (only after fortifying his small section of the room so that neither Yukari nor Kurumu could bother him in his sleep). As the night dragged on, sleep finally claimed the vampire and she settled comfortably into her bed.

The morning came to quickly for all of them as Tsukune opened up the room's curtains, letting the bright light of the sun burst into the room.

"Okay everyone it is currently seven in the morning. You can each have another hour of sleep before I force you awake to prepare for the rest of the day" Tsukune told the group as he stood in front of the window, completely dressed and ready for the day.

"Is Tsukune-kun always like this?" Moka whispered to Yukari, who was sleeping on the bed next to hers.

"No, only when he has something important to do is he up before anyone else" Yukari whispered back. "I suggest you take that extra hour though, then when he crashes and burns we'll be there to help him."

Moka gave a small noise in agreement before descending back into sleep.

Tsukune was nervous. It had been three months since he had last worked with his sensei and wasn't sure if he would be pleased with anything Tsukune had done since then. Letting out a sigh, Tsukune decided that he should go get himself something to eat while waiting for the chance to wake everyone else up. Exiting the room Tsukune descended the hotel's stairs and made his way to the small cafe that was on the ground floor.

"I'll take your breakfast special" Tsukune told the cashier as he pulled out his wallet. He was hoping that he still had human money on him and was pleased to see that he had made sure to exchange all of his youkai equivalent back into yen.

After paying the cashier, Tsukune grabbed his tray of food and went to the first empty table he saw. Sitting down the young man began to eat, all the while keeping his eyes one the time.

"Waiting for something in specific are we?" a male voice asked as Tsukune was approached.

"Yes, I'm waiting to wake up my fellow club members so we can..." Tsukune stopped short as he saw who was speaking to him. "Lelouch-sama I didn't expect it to be you who would show up!"

"Well it was either me or Fai and I really needed to get out of the council building" the man named Lelouch answered.

"It's going to be a pleasure to have you give the tour; after all you grew up here as well didn't you?" Tsukune asked as a smile spread across his face.

"Yes, so I should have just as much ability to give the tour as your sensei" Lelouch answered with a grin of his own. "So when was it that you were planning on waking up your friends?"

"Actually, by this point it will be in about ten minutes that I go to wake them" Tsukune answered. "I was just getting my breakfast now so that I could prepare for anything else afterwards."

"Okay then, while we have the time I need to talk with you about the outburst of your necromancy abilities that Fai and I sensed a few weeks ago" Lelouch began. "I need to know exactly why it happened."

"The short or the long version?" Tsukune asked as he put down his food.

"I'll go with whichever you can get done in thirty minutes" Lelouch answered.

Letting out a sigh, Tsukune nodded and began to recount the fight with Kuyou.

Yukari was in a panic. Her hat was missing and she was silently trying to search for it.

"Dammit" the little witch muttered as softly as possible. "Why did it have to go missing now?"

As she continued to scramble around the small room, Yukari accidentally crashed into the door to their room.

"Ow!" she cried out as she clutched her head in pain.

"Yukari-chan is everything alright?" Moka asked as she was the only one forced awake by the little witch's cry of pain.

"I lost my hat" Yukari answered, her eyes full of sparkling tears as she glanced up at Moka.

The vampire laughed inwardly at the sight before offering to help the witch. As the two searched, all they were able to find were a few bits of plants littered throughout the room.

"Well that's odd" Moka said as she finished the scouring of the room.

Yukari began to cry all out as she sat back down on her bed.

"Where could my hat have gone?" she questioned to no one in particular.

Just as she was about to burst into another wave of tears a knock was heard on the door.

"Okay everyone, it's time to get up now" Tsukune stated through the door. "You all have an hour to get prepared and have something to eat."

Once Tsukune's footsteps could be heard leaving the doorway, Moka leaned over to Yukari and whispered her plan to her. A scary grin spread across the witch's face as she listened to Moka's plan. Soon cries of shock could be heard from both Kurumu and Mizore as they were first drenched awake before having Yukari's typical pans dropped on them.

By nine everyone was ready and prepared for the day. Tsukune was caught off guard by the battered and weary appearances that the girls had as they entered into the main room.

"Is everything alright?" Tsukune asked as he took a good look at his friends.

"Oh we just had a little bit of an issue with waking up. Nothing for you to worry about" Kurumu said sweetly.

Tsukune just shrugged it off before standing aside for their tour guide to enter.

"Well then let me introduce our tour guide for today. Le..." Tsukune was caught off guard by Yukari's squeals of delight.

"Lulu-tan's our tour guide?" she cried out.

"You do know I'd rather that you don't refer to me like that. Fai can barely get away with it either" Lelouch said as he stepped into the room. "Anyways, my name is Aihara Lelouch and I will be your guide through the city and surrounding areas today."

Moka, Kurumu and Mizore respectfully bowed to him just as Ms. Nekonome walked up.

"Oh I see your tour guide has arrived on time. When I had discussed this with the council yesterday they told me to expect him to be late" Ms. Nekonome said.

"Well he would've been, but I'm actually his replacement. There was a job I needed him to do so I came instead. I'm Aihara Lelouch, the chairman of the Japanese spellcasters."

The expressions of shock on his friends' faces were too much for Tsukune as he fought to suppress his chuckles.

"You have to be only in your 20s. How did you gain such a position?" Moka asked.

She could remember her father discussing some of the spellcaster traditions and was baffled at how such a young man was the chairman.

"It's a long story and one we don't have time for" Lelouch answered. "So now we shall begin the tour."

For the next few hours Lelouch led the group throughout numerous places within the city, including many locations that housed large amounts of Youkai.

"You'll want to stay away from most of those though as they are owned by the Fairy Tale corporation" Lelouch had told them after they encountered a large string of buildings housing Youkai.

The tour continued in the same fashion for quite a while until Tsukune temporarily separated himself from the others.

"Are you lost?" Tsukune asked a small boy who was sitting on the edge of a sidewalk crying.

"Yes" the boy answered. "I was out in the sunflower fields with my parents when they just disappeared. I don't know why, but as I wandered I ended up right back here."

Tsukune's eyes darkened at the mention of the fields.

"Could you show me where in the fields you last saw your parents?" he asked kindly.

"Alright" the boy replied.

With his eyes steeled and his body ready to move at any moment, Tsukune followed the boy towards the fields.

"Tsukune-san you know this area best so I was wondering..." Lelouch turned around to find that Tsukune was no longer with the group. "Dammit what is that boy up to this time?"

Yukari turned around (all the while covering her head with her hands) and took a look down the path they had come.

"I do remember seeing a little boy sitting on the sidewalk a short distance back. Could nii-san have gone to see what was wrong?"

Lelouch looked to Moka and the others to see if they agreed with Yukari. When he was satisfied that they did he started to make his way back to where the little boy had been seen.

Tsukune followed the boy to the edge of the healthy looking sunflowers. As they approached the giant flowers Tsukune stopped and looked towards the boy he had been escorting.

"So, your parents were in there the last time you saw them?" Tsukune asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

"Yes" the boy answered. "Will we be able to find them?"

"I'm going to go check. I want you however to wait on the roadway. If you see anyone come looking for me, just let them know where I am, okay?"

"Okay" the boy replied and rushed off to the roadside.

'Now how can I check without setting off any of the defensive measures that are surely set up in there?' Tsukune mentally asked himself.

When he couldn't think of anything better than being as silent as possible he proceeded through the wall of flowers. Once inside he could see that there was a plethora of different plants all over the place.

"No wonder know one usually comes in here. If they did there would be so many complaints about allergies" Tsukune joked as he tried to calm himself down.

Stepping further into the area Tsukune began to feel an uneasy presence near him. Turning around he saw nothing suspicious at all and continued on his way deeper into the vegetation. All of a sudden a set of movements in the plants caught Tsukune's attention. Whipping around he could still not find anything. Irritated he returned to his forward moving position, only to feel a heavy strike to the back of his head.

Collapsing to the ground Tsukune tried to see what had hit him. Instead, all he could see was the shape of a person with wings coming towards him.

"Great, now I've just died" Tsukune muttered as his mind blacked.

End Chapter 9

A/N: Okay so there it is, the first chapter in the Witches Knoll story line of Hitomi no Tsubasa. I hope you enjoyed it and please leave me a review. I promise that I will update as soon as possible, but I have other stories needing updates so it won't be till next week that this one is updated again (unless I get a sudden writing urge). Anyways I hope you enjoyed and please review. Until next time,

Nanashi Wanderer.

P.S. Oh and thanks to T-Biggz for his constructive criticism. I need more of that with my stories.