Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the desire to entertain myself and others using other people's characters.
A/N: Yes, I promise: the pace will pick up soon. And yes, I'm re-arranging or completely eliminating some of the events from anime canon.
Stranger In A Strange World
Strange Magic
"Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology."
~ Larry Niven
Kurumu's normally uncluttered mind was awash with uncharacteristically deep thoughts, as she shambled through the rest of her classes in a daze. If Tsukune had been merely a gifted human, there would be no difficulty; succubae had, through the ages, successfully mated with and had happy, if short, dalliances with human males. The men thus paired were short-lived, compared to the demonic life span of a succubus. Not to mention that a life spent mated to a succubus would be abbreviated, anyway, by "unusual stresses". Would she have to give him up to rescue from his home planet, or to the inevitable embrace of death? Did it really make a difference which of these eventually took him from her?
But her Destined One was not human, or a monster, nor was he anything in between. He was truly and completely alien to both the monster world and the human world. Did that mean he couldn't be her Destined One? Did Fate have dominion over a being from beyond the stars? Could Destiny really have reached out light-years to bring her mate to her? Was there no one in either the monster or human world at least as suitable as Tsukune? Kurumu suddenly felt very small and insignificant as she stretched her mind around the unbelievable concept.
She was a succubus. She was a creature ruled, at least in part, by Fate, and she resolved to put her trust in it. Since childhood she had known that she would not choose her mate, but Destiny would thrust her together with Him, whoever he was. Her sense of insignificance faded into awe, as she mentally accepted the precious gift Fate had brought her. Three billion sentient males on this planet were rejected by Destiny, along with God-only-knew how many more tens-of-billions, in all of the populated cosmos, to bring her this one man. That her Destined One came from across the galaxy would not be cause for shock, or disappointment among other succubae. On the contrary, she would be immortalized in succubus lore as the most fortunate and favored succubus in history, to have had Destiny reach so far to bring her perfect mate to her. It was a treasure she could not reject, could not lose, and a challenge she must not ignore. It was little wonder she couldn't Charm him; Destiny intended for her to win a gift this precious from its grasp, to earn this boon. And win Him she would.
Eleven-year-old Yukari Sendo was in foul mood. Ririko-sensei had publicly posted the results of her math evaluation test on the boards outside, but this is not what had raised Yukari's ire. Normally, she would be smugly pleased to see her score at the far right end of the boards, indicating that yet again, she had outscored the entire class. Today, as was her habit, she strolled down the line of boards, pointedly not even looking up for her results until she reached the last half of the final board. Reflexively looking up at the rightmost result slip, she stopped, blinking in stunned amazement. The final, and highest scored result slip did not bear her name. The source of Yukari's choler was the the lone slip of paper to the right of hers. Aono, Tsukune, 100.
This can't be right, she thought. Monsters, in general, were not all that bright to begin with. This, coupled with their general disdain for the distinctly human activities of studying and academics made it highly unlikely that any monster at Youkai could compete with her in the arena of scholastic achievement. This was something she knew with a certainty. She was smarter than these monsters because she shared so little of their heritage. She was a supernaturally gifted human, rather than magically concealed monster. Even if she wasn't a child genius, she would far outclass any monster of the same age or level of physical development in the pursuit of knowledge. She was better than these poorly-disguised animals, and her intellect proved it. Until now.
Somehow, some monster had cheated his way to the right of her. This Aono person had solved the entire twelve pages of mathematical problems, and if the whispers were true, had done so in under twenty minutes. She had taken the entirety of the forty-five minute period to complete her own test to a score of ninety-two, not even attempting the final question. She knew that the solution used a triple integration, but had no idea how to actually solve one. The thought that some ogre, golem, or lizard man had outperformed her in the study of mathematics was simply beyond her comprehension. Jaw and fists clenched tighter and tighter as she stared at the impossible displayed before her very eyes.
Still staring incredulously at the board, she felt slight nudge as someone took up a position to her right in front of the board. Looking up, she was momentarily horrified to see the ditzy succubus beside her. The blue-haired, freakishly endowed airhead had not managed to be here a single week before she revealed her monster form to the entire school. As she staggered a step back in disbelief, she realized that the succubus was attached to the arm of an unassuming and average-looking first-year boy, with the other pink-haired beauty of the first year on the other arm.
"Look, Tsukune! You got the highest score in the first year class!" Moka exclaimed. "We figured you'd be smarter than the average monster, but how do you ever get 100 on one of Kagome-sensei's tests? That's supposed to be impossible!"
Yukari's jaw and fists clenched even more tightly, as she realized that this stupendously average-looking monster was the 'Tsukune Aono' who had usurped her rightful place at the top of the academic heap.
Stepping in front of the dishonest, conniving cheat of a monster, she allowed all semblance of civility flee as poked the offending teen in the chest with her wand. "You're Tsukune Aono?" she demanded.
"Err...yes?" stammered a confused Tsukune. "I'm Tsukune Aono, first year, class three."
"I'm Yukari Sendo. I want to know how you managed to cheat on Kagome-sensei's test without getting caught. There's no way any monster outscored a genius like myself fair and square!"
Tsukune gaped at the young girl, shocked by the accusation and utter lack of courtesy. Her aura was, for all he could see, human, with no unique psychic or mental energies surrounding her physical form. The only emanation coming from her was a pulsating jealous wrath; she honestly wanted to believe her outlandish charge, but her anger was shot through with uncertainty, and fear that she could no longer claim to be the sole "super-genius of Youkai". Her attire was anything but "regulation", the only piece of which that was uniform was the short, plaid skirt that all the females wore. Despite the rules about hiding one's true form, it was obvious she considered herself a "witch", and was dressed precisely according to the stereotype, complete with a pointed, black hat.
Tsukune's stupor gave way to anger, but as he opened his mouth to protest, he was interrupted by Kurumu's hot retort. "What's wrong," she asked as she stared pointedly at Yukari's chest, "little girl? Can't you handle a little competition in the brains department?"
Yukari flushed angrily, opening her mouth to counter, when Ririko Kagome's voice broke in. "Aono-kun! I'm very, very impressed! Where ever did you learn how to solve that last problem?" Ririko stood behind Tsukune, with her hands on his shoulders, and was leaning in closely enough for him to smell her perfume.
Tsukune blushed slightly, "My parents were very disappointed with how slowly the human schools were teaching me, and decided to home school me themselves, in addition to what I was learning at school."
"Your parents must be very well educated, Tsukune-kun. Why did they even leave you in those human schools, if they could teach you so much better themselves?"
"They still wanted me to learn to fit in with humans, as much as possible. So human school was just that; a place for me to learn to be human. My parents wanted my real education to be up to their standards." Again, Tsukune was pleased to be able to speak so candidly about himself without generating further awkward questions.
"Their standards were very high, indeed, from what I see. You are a gifted young man, Tsukune-kun."
Under her breath, Yukari muttered, "Gifted young cheater, she means."
Ririko frowned at the little witch, "No cheating occurred in my classroom during that test, Sendo-chan. And you first-years will learn how unnaturally good I am at catching cheaters." Leaning in to whisper into Tsukune's ear, she continued, "I may call upon you to assist me with tutoring the other students. Is that acceptable Tsukune?"
Tsukune now flushed fully. "O-of course, Kagome-sensei!"
"In the classroom," she whispered, "it's Kagome-sensei. Anywhere else, you may call me Ririko-san, alright?" She gave his shoulders a slight squeeze, and strode off before he stammer out a response. "First Astronomy Club meeting tonight!" she called back over her shoulder as she left.
"I still say you cheated," Yukari scowled. Pulling her eyelid down, and sticking out her tongue, she turned quickly to skip off.
Her turn, however, brought her face-to-face with three of her classmates, nearly colliding with them. They sneered at her for a moment, then addressed Tsukune. "We hear someone finally put the diaper-wearing little genius in her place; good work, Aono-kun!" His voice was, for Yukari's benefit, a mocking rather than congratulatory tone.
"Uh, thanks," Tsukune replied neutrally. These were definitely monsters in human form, and there was something...familiar about the aura they radiated. Like a faint, barely-remembered image from childhood.
"Not so high-and-mighty, now, are you little witch?" the apparent leader of the trio sneered. "Now maybe you'll learn some manners to go along with the dose of humility Aono's shown you."
The little girl smiled petulantly, and gave a negligent wave of her wand. There was a soft pop of displaced air above her antagonist's head as a brass wash basin materialized, and fell solidly on his head. Grabbing his head and bellowing in pain, he yelled to his companions, "Smash her!" As one, they advanced on the witch, hostility flaring in their auras.
Tsukune was stupefied by Yukari's display, but Moka acted quickly to intervene, stepping in front of the girl. "I don't care what she did, but I won't let you act violently towards such a young girl!" she exclaimed. "Let it go, and walk away," she demanded. As she did so, Yukari hid behind Moka, gripping her jacket. Tsukune could see frustration boiling from the bullies, but their desire to crush the annoying little brat wasn't strong enough for them to raise their hands to the angry and beautiful Moka.
"We'll let this go, for the time being," the leader declared, as another of the trio interjected, "Your time will come, little witch-brat!" The three stalked off, obviously unsatisfied with the outcome of the confrontation. "Why they let that filthy race attend this academy is beyond me!" one called over his shoulder.
Later, Yukari joined Tsukune and Moka at their table in the cafeteria.
"Thanks Moka, those bullies would have torn me apart, if it weren't for you!" she gushed, her eyes alight with gratitude and admiration. "I've liked you right from the first day of school, but could never get your attention to introduce myself; you're smart, pretty, and the friendliest girl in first year!"
Moka's cheeks colored at the praise. "It's nothing, really. I couldn't just stand by and let those boys beat up on a little girl."
"It wouldn't kill you to be a little more courteous. Maybe if you had better manners, people wouldn't be so quick to anger with you." Tsukune broke in with a quiet voice.
"The last thing I need, desu," Yukari retorted, "is lessons on manners from cheaters!" She scowled at Tsukune petulantly.
"I didn't cheat! It just so happens that my race is inhumanly gifted in math and sciences. I have to cheat just to try to be average. Have you ever tried to hide your intelligence, just to fit in?"
"Why would I hide who I am? I don't need friends of lower intelligence! I'm perfectly happy without friends from among lower beings!"
"Lower beings?" Tsukune focused his gaze on her like a laser. "I've heard that before, on this campus." Moka's eyes shot open as if she had been slapped. Tsukune was too intent on Yukari to notice Moka's reaction to his words. "I seem to remember the Biology Club saying something about lower beings. Is every monster here so convinced that they're the pinnacle of Earthly evolution? Does that make it alright to dissect, beat up, kill, or torment someone? Is someone a lower being just because they're different? You may be smart, but you're weak and fragile, like a human; like me. Is it just intelligence that makes a creature worthy of respect? How about strength? The ability to fly? How about it Yukari? What's your brilliant theory on what makes a being higher or lower?"
Yukari looked down at her hands, folded in her lap over her wand. "I don't know," she said quietly, almost in a whisper.
Tsukune's gaze softened as he said, "Listen, I know for a fact I'm smarter than you." He held up a hand to hold off her peevish retort. "In terms of knowledge in math and sciences, and raw problem-solving ability, I'm smarter than any monster on this campus, or any human outside it. But, that doesn't make me better than any of them, just different. Look at you. You waved your wand-thingy, and made that washtub appear out of thin air! Was that magic? That's a power I definitely do not have, but I have others. Is there a point system? Magical powers are worth 'x' points, and reading auras is worth 'y' points?"
"I don't know," she whispered again.
Tsukune gathered his tray, and stood up to leave. "While you figure it out, here's something to consider: there's another group of creatures that forms itself into groups, and comes up with excuses why their group is superior to the others, and entitled to abuse them."
Yukari simply looked up questioningly.
"Humans."
That afternoon, the Newspaper Club convened for their first editorial meeting. Joining Yukari Sendo and the mysterious Mizore Shirayuki were two new members. One, a survivor of the "Swim Club Incident", was a fifteen-year-old boy by the name of Saruwatari Junichiro. His ash-gray hair was slicked back with a few spikes standing up at the front. His slight frame and large brown eyes gave him the look of boy a couple of years too young to be starting high school. The other latecomer was also a first-year student. Hatori Asuka was a tall, well-developed girl with amber eyes, and green hair. As usual, Shizuka turned the meeting over to Gin and another sempai they were unfamiliar with.
Gin gestured to the stranger, a petite, auburn-haired girl with some sort of staff or stick slung casually across her shoulders. "This is Keito," Gin said, "of the Student Police. She has a request of the Newspaper Club, and naturally, we will do everything we can to assist her. Keito." He waved her to the front center of the club room.
"We at the Student Police," started Keito, "have received a very disturbing report. There are rumors, only rumors, mind you, that a human has somehow infiltrated the first year class at this sacred monsters-only haven. We have requested of the Chairman, and received, the student records of any students who have failed to report their monster nature on their applications. Hiding your monster nature as a matter of practice to live in the human world, and hiding it from the Administration of this Academy are two completely different things. Here are the records in question." She gestured to a small pile of file folders.
"We require the assistance of the Newspaper club to investigate and verify the monster nature of the students who failed to report it on their applications. There are only eight students who have not correctly completed their applications, and you will investigate these students and help us complete their record entries. Any student for whom you cannot verify a monstrous or supernatural nature, will obviously be suspected as our rumored human infiltrator, and will be questioned by us." Without further elaboration, Keito strode from the room, leaving Gin to his club.
Picking up the first folder, Gin read the name. "Akashiya, Moka. I will personally see to this one," he said with a sly grin as he set the folder aside. "Next is: Aono, Tsukune. Mizore, would you be so kind as to apply your unique interests to revealing the nature of this second student?"
Mizore simply nodded, shifting the ever-present lollipop in her mouth as she took the folder from Gin.
"As for the rest of you, we have a newspaper to publish."
Continued...