Yukari set her bag down inside her and Ruby's room, looking around at the fancy accommodations in their suite. A luxurious queen-sized bed, comfy velvet carpeting, a big screen TV mounted on the wall, a large glass window showing the city lights outside, a mini kitchen stocked with fruits and snacks, a fancy desk with four chairs set around it, and an elaborate painting of a moonlit mountainside adorning the wall above the bed.
"Ok, I don't think I'll be complaining about staying here like this after all," she said amusedly to herself.
"Glad to hear it, I don't mind sharing it with a fellow witch myself," Ruby jested while examining herself in a mirror which was set inside a small nook near the door. Yukari giggled then looked back to the elder witch with a curious smile.
"So Hex is really going to let you get anything you want while we stay here?" she asked.
"You bet, my boss is the best," Ruby said with an adoring smile while checking herself over still. Yukari looked at her with wonder.
"Do you even remember rolling the dice in the headmaster's office today?" she asked. Ruby blinked then looked back to her with a curious smile.
"Of course I do, why?" she asked.
"So, then don't you remember why you rolled the dice and what you gambled with in doing so?" Yukari asked carefully.
"Not a clue, but honestly I don't care. Whatever I was rolling for just doesn't seem to be important to me anymore," Ruby said with a shrug before looking back in the mirror. Yukari looked at her curiously then down in thought.
'Reality really did change for her, she has no memory or even a desire to learn the truth about what happened to her.'
"Ok, are we all set? Time to see who can really sing for the boys," Ruby said looking back to Yukari with a wink. The young witch giggled and nodded.
"Yep yep, I'm all ready," she said before the two headed over to the door. Walking out into the hall they saw Tsukune, Hex, and the others waiting for them. Moka gave Yukari a small smile and wave, Mizore merely waved once with a blank expression, and Kurumu glanced to her then away again. Kokoa however was just looking down at the ground, seeming to be deep in thought about something.
"Ok, we're ready," Ruby said, then glanced to the other girls and cleared her throat expectantly. The girls jumped a bit then smiled weakly at Yukari.
"Again Yukari, we're sorry about what we were saying before," Moka said gently.
"We didn't mean to make you so upset," Mizore said softly.
"I'm sure one day you'll grow up like we have," Kurumu said with a shrug and smug grin.
"Kurumu," Ruby snapped at the succubus. Yukari just looked at Kurumu with a dull expression then quietly turned around and walked back into her room. After she closed the door the group looked to Kurumu as she glanced around with a nervous smile.
"What? I said I was sure she would grow up like we have, that's a good thing, right?" she reasoned.
"I told you to be nicer to her on this trip; didn't you hear a word I said to you earlier?" Ruby scolded.
"Oh c'mon, I was being nice to her. For all we know the brat might never grow a good pair of boobs, especially not like I have; me telling her she would for sure was a very considerate thing to say," Kurumu defended while crossing her arms.
BANG!
The succubus dropped to the ground after a golden washtub appeared above and fell straight onto her head, the group watching as she murmured something in a daze on the floor while the basin rolled around casually along the carpet. A moment later Yukari walked out of the room with a cheery smile on her face.
"Good news, I remembered to pack my wand after all," she said with a giggle. Ruby smirked at her then looked down to Kurumu.
"Kurumu," she said expectantly.
"Sorry," Kurumu groaned out as she slowly started to get up. Ruby nodded then glanced to Kokoa with a raised eyebrow.
"Kokoa?" she asked. Kokoa nodded and looked to Yukari.
"Sorry, ok?" she said dryly. Yukari nodded then looked down and away.
"Alright, let's just put this behind us and try to enjoy our time out here. This isn't the way to be starting off our trip to the city," Tsukune said looking around at the girls.
"He's right, we're here to have fun in the city together, we're all friends after all," Ruby added. The girls nodded in agreement while Hex glanced down the hall.
"Shall we get going then? That event should be starting soon," Hex said casually. The group then started heading towards the elevator while Ruby pulled out a paper regarding the competition.
"Now then, it says here this is a multi-event challenge broken up into four sections. First is a group song of three or more competitors, then duets, then singles. After that the last two contenders sing one last song each and the judges declare a winner. So in order for us to win this, let alone sing against each other, we have to survive the elimination rounds," she explained. Hex glanced to the girls then to Ruby with an amused smile.
"So you're saying that in order for me and Tsukune to hear you all competing against each other we're going to have to listen to all of you sing together a few times? Well Tsukune, sounds like we're just going to have to sit through all of your lovely friends' performances to the best of our ability. Think you can handle it?" he mused playfully. Tsukune chuckled and nodded with a smile.
"Yeah, I think I can. I can't wait to hear how they all do," he said looking around at the girls. They all smiled at him, except for Ruby who smiled at Hex and Kokoa who was looking away to hide her blush.
"So we all have to work together before I can show Tsukune that I have the best voice out of all of us. Ok, I guess I can deal with that," Kurumu said while grabbing onto Tsukune's arm. Moka's eyebrow twitched with annoyance before she grabbed Tsukune's other arm and pulled him towards her.
"Yes, we have to work together, andafter we make it through the elimination rounds together I'm winning this competition with a song for Tsukune," she shot back at the girl. She and Kurumu then instantly froze in place, with Tsukune being gently pulled forward by Mizore at the arm. He looked to his hands, noticing that he felt no chill or discomfort from her ice and that he was easily freed from Moka and Kurumu's frozen embrace as the two girls shivered in place behind them, then over to Mizore as she smiled softly at him.
"I don't mind having to sing with them first, so long as I can win this with a song just for you Tsukune," she said with a gentle smile. Tsukune looked back to the frozen girls then to Mizore with a weak smile before Yukari jumped over and clung to his other arm, the boy stumbling off-balance as Mizore glared at the young witch.
"I'm going to win it for you Tsukune, you'll love my voice the best," she pleaded while trying to wrestle the boy away from Mizore. Hex and Ruby merely watched as Tsukune stumbled from side to side with Mizore and Yukari pulling on his arms after a few more steps the boy tripped and dropped to the ground with Mizore and Yukari still holding onto his arms.
"You've got to be kidding me, everywhere they go, honestly," Ruby groaned while face palming. Hex just watched Tsukune lying face first down on the floor with Mizore and Yukari bickering at each other. Kokoa growled with annoyance at seeing the girls crawling over Tsukune then marched up towards them, promptly lifting Yukari up by the back of her collar.
"Alright, that's enough! How long are you all going to keep wasting our time with this stupid argument?" she yelled as she threw the young witch back down the hall, right into Moka with the two girls then tumbling back into a roll. Kokoa growled then grabbed Mizore by the shoulders and lifted her up as well.
"Let's just get down there and sing in this stupid contest so I can get this over with!" she roared as she threw the snow maiden down the hall, the girl colliding into Kurumu and knocking them back into a tumble as well. Kokoa lifted Tsukune up onto his feet by the shirt then started pulling him down the hall with her as he stumbled behind.
"I'm going to put a stop to this even if I have to sing a song for you myself," she barked out while looking ahead with a stern expression. Hex and Ruby watched Kokoa walking away with Tsukune stammering something while stumbling after her then looked over to seeing the four other girls slowly getting up while holding their heads.
"Gee Moka, so glad you asked your sister to come along with us," Kurumu grunted.
"Yeah, wouldn't be the same without her," Mizore muttered as she got back onto her feet.
"I was only trying to be nice," Moka said while she got up. Yukari looked around then quickly ran off after Tsukune and Kokoa.
"Tsukune, wait!" she called out. The other girls looked to each other then quickly followed after while Hex and Ruby just watched with blank expressions.
"So, this is them working together?" Hex asked simply.
"Yep, if they were fighting each other we would be seeing blood," Ruby said with a tired sigh at the end. They walked down the hall calmly while Hex toiled his dice around in his pocket casually.
"Are they always like this with him?" he asked glancing to Ruby.
"I'm afraid so, the poor boy never gets any rest from it. It's quite sad really," Ruby said shaking her head.
"He has all these girls fawning over him and he does nothing?" Hex asked raising an eyebrow.
"So far he has yet to choose any of them as his girlfriend," Ruby said with a shrug. Hex smirked and looked back ahead.
"Then why not take them all? Seems like the obvious choice to me," he reasoned casually. Ruby looked up thoughtfully at that comment for a moment then shrugged while looking back ahead with a blank expression.
The two approached the elevators where they saw Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari standing by the closed doors to one while Kurumu was banging her head dully against the wall.
"You know you have to push the button with your finger to call the elevator, right?" Hex asked plainly.
"You're so witty sir," Ruby said with a bashful smile at him. Kurumu groaned loudly and shook her head.
"Kokoa took Tsukune down in one of the elevators, now we have to wait for another one," she said another thump of her head against the wall.
"She wouldn't have gotten away with him if somebody hadn't made Tsukune trip while he was walking with me," Mizore snapped while looking to Yukari.
"You were the one that wouldn't let go, it was your fault he fell down," Yukari shot back.
"I was the one who was walking with him first; the rest of you couldn't take the hint and back off!" Kurumu barked out before thumping her head against the wall again.
"He was going to walk with me before you just grabbed onto his arm and pulled him along with you," Moka argued while putting her hands to her hips.
The girls bickered back and forth while Ruby and Hex just watched with blank expressions.
"I question if they'll even make it to the finals," Hex said plainly.
"I question if they'll even make it to the lobby," Ruby said flatly as the girls started shoving each other around while arguing like usual.
Inside the elevator Tsukune was looking at the number display with a slightly worried expression while Kokoa was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and looking down with a scowl. She glanced to Tsukune with a curious eye as the boy kept staring at the display.
'Ok, you're all alone with him. Say something, anything.'
She opened her mouth to speak then stopped, words seeming to vanish altogether as she couldn't get anything to come out. After shaking her head to gather her senses she opened her mouth again to speak, only to freeze as she watched Tsukune still looking at the display.
'C'mon, why is this so hard? Say something to him!'
"Um…" she said slowly and quietly, with Tsukune looking to her as she raised a finger to speak, only for her to stop again and stare at him. He waited for her to continue, the vampire looking down for a moment then back to him as she seemed to be trying to say something.
"Kokoa? What is it?" he asked. Kokoa stared at him as she felt her heart skip a beat, words still failing her.
'I want to sing for you! I want to be with you! I love you! I want you to take me right here in the elevator! Dammit, tell him anything, you're making yourself out to be an idiot!'
Kokoa let out a long quiet whine then looked down with frustration as Tsukune watched her curiously. The girl trembled a bit then stomped down with her foot, making the boy jump a bit from the outburst.
"Why is this so hard?" she shouted out while stomping her foot. Tsukune watched her with a surprised expression as the girl growled and clenched her fists.
"Kokoa, what's troubling you?" he asked.
"You are!" she shouted out while looking to him. He looked at her with surprise while she backed up and shook her head along with her hands in front of her.
"No! I didn't mean it like that! I meant… what I'm trying to say… it's not…" she stuttered.
"Am… I making you uncomfortable?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes! But… not because… you're not… I'm… it's just…" Kokoa stuttered while looking down with embarrassment. She shouted out with frustration and shook her head with tightly shut eyes.
"Never mind! Just forget I said anything!" she cried out before looking away with remorse. Tsukune watched her with wonder as she held her hands to her cheeks, the girl trying to calm her mind and her quickly beating heart. She could feel the blush forming on her cheeks and the sinking feeling in her stomach from what she blurted out at Tsukune.
'This is crazy; I can't even talk to him normally! How can those other girls even handle speaking to him let alone hold onto his arm? Oh god… holding onto his arm… if only I could…'
She started going into a dreamy tangent while imagining herself holding onto Tsukune's arm as they walked through the halls of Yokai Academy, with other girls watching them with frowns and jealousy while she was smiling blissfully. She would look to Tsukune and smile lovingly at him, seeing his calm and cool smile as he looked to her while walking with her through the school. After a moment she snapped back to reality as the elevator stopped. As the elevator beeped and the doors began to open she started to panic.
'You need to tell him now, while you're still alone!'
"Hold on, I need to say something here!" she shouted out while turning around with an urgent expression, facing somebody who wasn't Tsukune.
"W-What? What is it?" a girl asked nervously. She was about Moka's height with nearly the same figure, having short black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing white sneakers, blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a green long sleeve shirt that was left unbuttoned. In her arms being held close to her chest she was holding a small stuffed witch doll that resembled Yukari complete with cape and hat. Kokoa blinked at seeing the girl, then looked to seeing that they weren't at the lobby yet and had stopped at another floor, then over to see Tsukune watching her with a confused expression, then back to the girl who was watching her nervously.
"Um… uh, nothing, never mind," she said backing up and looking down with embarrassment again. The new girl glanced to the doors that closed behind her then quickly moved over towards the side of the elevator away from the redhead that just yelled at her. Tsukune looked at Kokoa curiously as the vampire seemed to be keeping her eyes locked onto the floor.
"Kokoa? What's wrong?" he asked.
"Nothing's wrong!" Kokoa yelled out while looking away. The other girl jumped a bit then looked towards the number display with worried eyes. Tsukune rubbed the back of his head with a puzzled expression then saw the witch doll the other girl was holding.
"Hey, that's kind of cute. Is that a witch?" he asked with a gentle smile. The other girl's eyes snapped to him for a moment then glanced down to the doll as she held it close to her chest.
"Um, yes," she said quietly.
"It looks nice, reminds me of a friend of mine," Tsukune said with a weak laugh. The other girl looked at him curiously then down with a timid expression while Kokoa was glancing to them out of the corner of her eye.
"Thank you, my parents gave it to me as a gift," she said softly. After a pause she looked back to Tsukune.
"So… are you staying here in the hotel?" she asked timidly.
"No, we just came to ride the elevators up and down," Kokoa said flatly with a dull glance at the girl. Tsukune looked to Kokoa with a dull expression while the new girl looked down nervously.
"Kokoa, be nice," Tsukune said then turned to the other girl while Kokoa cringed slightly.
"As a matter of fact we are staying here. Are you and your parents staying here as well?" he asked. The girl slowly shook her head while looking down at her doll.
"No, I'm staying here with my boyfriend," she said softly.
"Well, I'm sure you two will have a great time, there's plenty to do in this city," Tsukune said with a kind smile. The girl smiled at him softly, with Kokoa looking at her with disbelief. The vampire glanced between the two then looked down with frustration.
'Dammit, even total strangers can talk to Tsukune like it's nothing, why is this so difficult for me?'
"Thank you, I hope you have a fun time too," the other girl said kindly. She glanced to Kokoa nervously then looked away while holding her doll close to her chest, the head being pushed into her breasts which Tsukune couldn't help but notice and compare to all the times his face had plunged into Kurumu's bosom against his will. Kokoa looked at the other girl with annoyance then down with a quiet growl as the elevator arrived at the ground floor. The other girl smiled and waved to Tsukune then trotted out into the lobby. After a few steps a boy walked up to her, being her height with brown eyes and messy red hair. He wore white tennis shoes, blue jeans that were ripped open at the knees, a white undershirt and a dark blue jacket that had an image of angel wings on the back. Tsukune smiled at seeing the happy couple walking off together, with the girl holding onto her boyfriend's arm, then looked to Kokoa.
"Kokoa, is something bothering you? Did I upset you by doing something?" he asked as he and the vampire walked out of the elevator. She shook her head and looked away.
"Nothing's bothering me, just… forget it," she said while trying to force a stern expression to hide her frown.
'I had him all alone and I couldn't event talk to him properly, how am I ever going to tell him how I feel? I just have to amaze him with my song, I just have to.'
Tsukune looked at her curiously then ahead as they walked towards the conference center where the karaoke event was being held. The conference center was a large area next to the hotel, the grand hall being able to hold hundreds of people. There were many round tables set about next to the entrance and a larger stage setup by the wall away from them. Multiple mic stands were set up on stage next to speakers and a large LCD screen behind the stage with moving pictures and ads. Tsukune and Kokoa looked around with wonder as crowds of people sat down at the tables while dozens of girls were lined up by an admission table off to the side.
"Well, I guess I'll go wait at a table for Hex while you sign up for the event," Tsukune said with a shrug before starting to walk into the hall. He stopped when Kokoa grabbed his hand, the boy looking back to seeing her shaking her head at him.
"Hold on, I… you need to know… um…" she stuttered while trying to drop her forced stern expression. Tsukune looked at her curiously as she opened her mouth to speak, the girl then pausing and just staring at him in silence.
"Kokoa? What is it?" he asked.
"I… you…" she said slowly. Tsukune tilted his head slightly as Kokoa closed her eyes, seeming to be struggling with saying anything further. She tried to calm her breathing while gathering her thoughts, words seeming to fail her once again. After a pause she looked to him with a determined expression.
"I just want you to know that… that…" she stammered.
"Know what?" Tsukune asked. Kokoa glanced around then back to him while trembling slightly. Tsukune watched as she growled quietly before the girl shook her head and looked down and away.
"That… I… like…" she said with a strained voice. She took a couple of deep breaths while Tsukune watched her curiously.
"You like what Kokoa?" he asked. After a pause she looked back to him with frustration.
"That… I like…" she forced out while a small blush formed on her cheeks. Before she could say anything else a few girls ran by from behind, knocking Kokoa forward and off-balance. She stumbled over before Tsukune caught and held her up, the girl freezing in place and staring with wide eyes downward as he held her. Tsukune looked over to seeing the other girls running over to get in line while laughing playfully then back to see Kokoa staring at him a blush on her face.
"Kokoa? You ok?" he asked. She blinked then quickly swatted him with her hand down his head, the boy promptly dropping to the ground with a thud while Kokoa looked away while holding her hands to her cheeks.
"Who s-said you could t-touch me like that? W-Who do you th-think you are?" she stammered out nervously. She shouted out with frustration then started to hit herself on the head repeatedly while Tsukune twitched a bit as he lay face first down on the ground.
'What is WRONG WITH YOU? For god's sake he was holding you in his arms and you gave him a concussion! Stupid Kokoa, stupid Kokoa, stupid Kokoa!'
"Sorry..." Tsukune groaned out while his leg twitched a bit.
From the lobby Moka and the others came running over, all of them seeing Tsukune lying on the ground twitching, Kokoa standing over him while hitting herself in the head with frustrated grunts, and people around watching them with puzzlement.
"Oh my gosh, Tsukune? What happened?" Moka asked shaking her head with surprise.
"Looks like Kokoa knocked him senseless and now she's beating up herself to satisfy her urge to punch things," Ruby said questioningly.
"Tsukune!" Yukari cried out as she, Moka, Mizore, and Kurumu rushed over to him. Kokoa looked around at them then down to seeing Tsukune groaning and slowly starting to sit up. She showed a nervous expression then buried her face in her hands.
'Oh my god, what have I done? What is wrong with me? Why can't I just tell him how I feel? I had every chance and I blew it!'
"Why did you hit him?" Kurumu barked out at Kokoa while she and Moka helped Tsukune stand again.
"It was an accident!" Kokoa snapped while looking away to hide her expression of remorse and frustration.
"An accident? How did you punch him by accident?" Yukari shouted out at the redhead.
"I didn't punch him! Just drop it already!" Kokoa barked out while still looking away.
"Drop it? I'll drop you for hurting him!" Kurumu yelled as she tried to rush Kokoa, with Moka then grabbing her and holding the enraged succubus back. Tsukune wavered then started to fall back before Mizore and Yukari grabbed him by the arms and held him up.
"Are you ok Tsukune? What happened, why did she hit you?" Mizore asked. The boy smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his head.
"Um… she didn't really hit me… just… um… it's nothing, really," he said hesitantly. The girls looked at him then to Kokoa as she kept looking away. After a moment she glanced back to Tsukune, then around at the other girls who were watching her carefully.
"I… swatted a fly off him… a little too hard… sorry Tsukune," she said with a small shrug.
"A fly? You knocked him flat on his face just to get a fly off him?" Kurumu shouted out at the girl. Tsukune chuckled weakly and nodded.
"It was a nice gesture, so, um… no need to worry about it, I'm fine, really," he said somewhat convincingly. He had no idea why Kokoa just knocked him flat on his face out of the blue like that, but didn't want to start another fight with the girls. He wasn't sure what he had done to make Kokoa upset, but was questioning if he had done anything to deserve that hit. The other girls looked to each other then to Kokoa.
"Well, alright then, but you need to be more careful Kokoa. You have to watch out for your monster strength with him," Moka warned. Kokoa nodded slowly and looked away again.
"Yeah yeah, I know, I said I was sorry," she muttered.
"You'd better be. Do that again and we're going to have a problem," Kurumu said with a glare at the girl. Ruby nodded then looked to the line of signups.
"We'd better go register for this quickly, looks like there are a lot of other girls competing in this thing," she pointed out. The group looked over to the line of girls then around at the large crowd sitting at the tables. Hex glanced around at Ruby and the other girls then looked to Tsukune.
"Let's go get a seat for the show Tsukune, this should be quite entertaining," he said with a small smile. Tsukune nodded then looked around at the girls.
"Good luck to you all, I know you'll all do great," he said with a smile. The girls smiled at him as he and Hex walked over towards a table near the front.
"Alright girls, first we need to make our way to the top, and then we'll settle which one of us has the best voice," Ruby said with a daring smile at the other girls. They all gave the same determined smile back before walking over to sign up for the event. As they did Yukari glanced back to Tsukune with a hopeful smile.
'Tsukune, I'm going to give everything I've got in this to win you yet. I'm going to give my entire heart just for you.'