"Onyx and Vampire"

Chapter 10: "Lonely Snow and Onyx"

Disclaimer: Kamen Rider Dragon Knight belongs to Toei, Adness, and Steve and Michael Wang. Rosario + Vampire belongs to Akihisa Ikeda and VIZ Entertainment. I make no money whatsoever from this story, nor do I receive other forms of compensation for it.

Author's note: Well, the original title was "Snow Girl and Onyx," but I came to the conclusion that "Lonely Snow and Onyx" was better. I'll try to keep the titles more consistent in the future. Anyway, Mizore's introductory arc concludes here, where you will discover the reasons for her being the way she is, and Adam will reach a crossroads in his path in the world of yokai. Whether he survives his choice or not is something you'll just have to tune into later chapters to find out, as the Student Police will be coming in for an arc in those next few chapters. Now . . . let's ride.

"Mizore?" Adam called out through the blizzard.

"Adam . . ." Mizore walked toward him, the blizzard clearing away from her path. "Be mine. Please . . . be mine."

"Mizore . . ." Adam didn't know what to say, as she came closer to him. "I . . ."

"No need to speak," Mizore answered. "Just love me. Please."

She embraced him, then, the two holding each other as the snow swirled around them. Adam looked into Mizore's eyes and leaned closer to her, about to kiss her – when she shattered in his arms. "No! Mizore!"

Adam looked up and saw Xaviax, in his true form, walking toward him in the snow. "Did you think I'd allow you to escape me that easily, Adam? Did you think I'd allow you any taste of joy after your infidelity?"

"Xaviax!" Adam yelled, drawing his Advent Deck and thrusting it out toward him. The Advent Buckle formed around his waist and he slammed his Advent Deck into it. "KAMEN RIDER!"

"You don't deserve her," Xaviax stated. "You don't deserve any of them. You don't deserve anything but to suffer, suffer long, and suffer hard."

SWORD VENT.

In a rage, Kamen Rider Onyx charged Xaviax with his sword, only for Xaviax to telekinetically stop him in his tracks and throw him to the ground. Onyx rolled to his feet and went after Xaviax again, but Xaviax grabbed his blade and yanked harshly on it, pulling Onyx into a vicious knee to the gut. Onyx collapsed from the force of the impact, and Xaviax kicked him just to make him roll over.

"Pathetic," Xaviax taunted. "And to think I once expected so much of you."

"Go to hell . . ." Onyx snarled, rising to his feet and attacking Xaviax again.

"Like I told you before, Adam, hell is here," Xaviax answered, catching Onyx's attack. "Hell is with you. That's why I'm still with you. This is your hell."

Then he threw Onyx aside, leaving him in the snow as he walked away. "Xaviax . . ." Onyx snarled. "XAVIAX! Come back here, you bastard! Come back and face me!"

"You want me . . . you know where to find me," Xaviax responded, not stopping despite Onyx's outraged screams.

Onyx screamed until he'd gone hoarse, and then he crawled toward Mizore's shattered remains. "Mizore . . . Mizore . . ." he murmured. He picked up her head, which was the only part of her body to remain mostly intact despite the shattering. "Mizore . . . no . . ." He gently touched her cheek. "Mizore . . ."

"Everyone suffers because of you, Adam," a familiar voice said, prompting Onyx to turn and see Sarah and Kase staring at him with condemnation in their eyes. "Everyone."

"Sarah, I'm sorry . . . I didn't . . . I didn't mean to . . ." Onyx babbled. "I just wanted . . . I thought we could . . ."

"You were willing to sacrifice your friends and our world," Sarah retorted. "Why should we listen to anything you say?"

"Please!" Onyx pleaded. "Kase . . . Sarah . . ."

"There's nothing more to say to you," Kase replied coldly, and they walked away from him, leaving Onyx by himself, holding Mizore's crystalline head.

"No . . . no . . . NO!" Onyx screamed.

Adam woke up in a cold sweat again, for what had to be the latest of too many such incidents to count. He turned around and punched his soaked pillow. "Why won't you leave me alone?!"

Because I'm stuck here, Xaviax replied. I didn't ask to be inside your head. You made me.

Once again, Adam changed his sheets and went to take a hot shower. "Why can't I get you out of my head?"

Do you mean me, or Mizore Shirayuki? Xaviax asked. I wonder what Moka would have to say if she found out you were dreaming about another girl.

"You're a powerless passenger in my head," Adam snapped. "How are you supposed to tell anyone that?"

So you admit it? Xaviax inquired mockingly. What did you say about stalkers? That they were unpleasant and obsessive and unstable?

"Your point?" Adam interrogated.

You seem awfully taken with Mizore, Xaviax remarked. I wonder why that is. Do you sense a kindred spirit in her? Well, that's not going to last long.

"What are you talking about?" Adam asked.

What do you think I'm talking about? Xaviax mocked. I'm talking about the truth. The truth about you, the truth about why you're in this place . . . you think she's going to love you after that? You think any of them are going to love you after finding that out?

Adam turned off the shower water, dried himself off, and got dressed in his uniform shirt and slacks. He went to the rooftop of the dorm and began to practice his katas, imagining that he was fighting Xaviax. Unfortunately, his imaginary Xaviax kept just out of his reach; every strike he made missed, no matter how precise or how forceful.

A warrior must master his mind as well as his body, isn't that what Master Eubulon taught you? Xaviax mocked.

"Shut up!" Adam yelled, whirling into a punch that his imaginary Xaviax just evaded.

Did I hit a sore spot with you? Xaviax asked in mock concern. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, Adam.

"You wouldn't know a thing about my feelings, you son of a bitch!" Adam shouted.

I know your heart is pulled in several directions at once, Xaviax replied. Between your desire to just end it all and your desire to continue living so you can make a life with one of those girls that fancy you so much. You're even torn about which girl it should be. Personally, I'd go for Yukari. She's quite the kinky girl . . . and imagine the fun things you could do with her once she's old enough.

"You're sick!" Adam yelled, swinging into a kick to his imaginary Xaviax.

I'm the sick one? Xaviax asked. I'm just pulling all this out of your own head. Don't lie and say you've never been tempted.

"Shut up!" Adam roared, sweeping his leg into another kick.

You really don't take advice that well, do you? Xaviax mocked.

Unbeknownst to Adam, the subject of his tormented thoughts was crying by herself in the forest surrounding Yokai Academy. Her icy tears dropped on the scrapbook she'd made of Adam's articles. As she wept over her broken heart, a pair of schoolboys approached her, having heard her weeping.

"Hey, are you all right?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, we just wanna help," the other added.

"Liars!" Mizore screamed, whirling upon them and unleashing an ice storm on them. "Leave me alone!" The two boys attempted to flee, but they quickly found themselves encased in ice. She looked at the frozen boys sadly. "Leave me alone . . ."

As the school day progressed, Adam still hadn't been able to get Mizore out of his head, and Shizuka Nekonome had called him and Moka into her office. When she'd made the reason for calling them in known, Adam looked at her with surprise . . . and gratitude.

"You want us to go find Mizore and drag her back to school?" he asked.

"Yes," Nekonome-sensei replied. "She was held back last year for missing too many school days, and I want her to advance this time around. She can't be missing days like she was before, or it'll be even more trouble for her. That's why I want you and Moka to go find Miss Shirayuki and drag her back here."

"Sure," Adam agreed. "We'll do it."

Moka looked at him in surprise, wondering why he'd agree to do this when Mizore had tried to kill them both just a few days ago. Adam glanced at her, his eyes filled with regret and determination at once. He might have been a bit afraid for his own life – and Moka's – but he wasn't going to let that stop him from finding Mizore and reaching out to her. She wasn't a bad person; he could tell that much. She was just lonely, like he'd been before Moka and the others came into his life.

Nekonome-sensei gave Adam a paper with Mizore's room number on it. "If she's not there, she should be at the cliff view overlooking her house," she said to him. "I'm counting on you both!"

"We won't let you down, Miss Nekonome," Adam stated. And I won't let you down, Mizore. Not this time.

At that moment, a lanky pale-haired man with tired-looking eyes entered the office. "May I have a moment of your time, Nekonome-sensei?" he asked. "It's about Miss Shirayuki."

"Oh, Kotsubo-sensei!" Nekonome-sensei greeted cheerfully. "Of course we can talk. What's wrong with Miss Shirayuki?"

"You hadn't heard?" Okuto Kotsubo, the gym teacher, asked. "This is serious. Last night, Miss Shirayuki met with two of my best soccer team members – and damn near killed them."

Everyone looked at Kotsubo in shock, allowing him to go on. "After the poor kids got the life almost beaten out of them, she froze them in ice and if somebody hadn't found them, they'd be dead. As it is, they're in critical condition." He paused before continuing. "This is the second time she's acted out like this, and with her frequent absences both last year and this semester, I'd say this school's better off cutting its losses and expelling her."

Mizore? Adam thought. Did you really do that?

"You must be Adam Taylor, right?" Kotsubo remarked, eyeing Adam curiously.

"I am," Adam replied warily.

"I would like to discuss this matter with you more privately," Kotsubo suggested to Nekonome-sensei, who waved Adam and Moka out of the office. They did exit through the door, but Adam lingered, being as quiet as possible to avoid being heard listening in. His plan didn't go that well, mainly because Ririko Kagome, their math teacher, happened to spot him and Moka.

"Hello, Adam, Moka," she greeted them. "You're not in trouble or anything, are you?"

"No," Adam replied, his stoic façade carefully masking the lustful feelings that surged within him at the sight of Miss Kagome. To be fair, Ririko Kagome was a very beautiful woman, often dressed in cleavage-baring shirts (and that was some generous cleavage), leather miniskirts, and heels. The round glasses she wore gave her the image of a "sexy librarian," and she was the object of desire for nearly all the boys of Yokai Academy.

"Honestly?" Kagome asked, violating Adam's personal space and giving him an (unintended?) eyeful of her cleavage. "You're a naughty boy. You'll get hurt someday if you court too much trouble. Not all the teachers here are as nice as I am."

"I'll bet," Adam responded, maintaining his cool despite Moka's jealous gaze upon him and Kagome. "What do you know about Mr. Kotsubo?"

"He's infamous for going after the female students here," Kagome explained. "He's also quite strict, and once he sets his eyes on a girl, he'll never let her go. There was a girl in last year's final semester who got suspended because of him. I would hate to see you make an enemy out of him."

Adam nodded and moved to restore some of his personal space. Slipping out of Kagome's line of sight, he and Moka embarked on their mission to see Mizore Shirayuki. On the way, they were accosted by Kurumu and Yukari, who wanted to know where they were going. Adam filled them in on the details.

"What?!" Kurumu exclaimed. "Nearly killed two male students and about to get expelled?! Mizore?!"

"Yeah," Adam admitted grimly.

"Are you serious?" Kurumu asked. "Why would she do such a thing?!"

"She's heartbroken," Yukari replied matter-of-factly. "Adam dumped her, and now she's mad."

Adam stared at the ground. It's all my fault, then. I get that. Seems that's all I'm good for, causing trouble and hurting people I care about.

Indeed, Xaviax replied. And you're so very good at it. Know why? Because you're weak.

Shut up! Adam yelled silently.

"Don't worry about it!" Kurumu advised, even while she was tugging on Yukari's face for upsetting Adam and Yukari was tugging on hers in return. "Weren't you mad about how Mizore kept following you around all the time?"

"Yeah, she deserves it," Yukari added. "Sucks for her!"

Adam clenched his fists tightly, swallowing the urge to just sock the second and third additions to his "harem" for their callous remarks about Mizore. "The two of you don't know a thing about Mizore. For all we know, that might not have even been her!"

Why so defensive, Adam? Xaviax asked. Is it because you think of her as a kindred spirit? You think she's just like you, another broken soul who just needs the light of love and friendship to bring meaning back into her life? Try to be realistic. She's trouble, and so are you. That's why you're perfect for each other.

"We're the same, you and I . . ." Adam remembered Mizore's words to him that fateful day. He turned back to the girls. "I don't think she's really a bad person or anything like that. I think she's just . . . lonely."

"Even if you don't believe it," a voice called to them, "she did this. I'm certain of it."

The girls and Adam turned to see Kotsubo walking toward them. "Mr. Kotsubo?" Adam asked.

"Here's all the proof you need," Kotsubo replied sternly, holding up the very scrapbook Mizore had shown Adam that day. "This was found at the scene of the crime. Forgive me, Adam, but I read through it. Very troubling, isn't it, to be the object of affection for someone as clearly troubled as Miss Shirayuki."

"What are you saying?" Adam inquired, his hackles rising.

"Near the end of last year, Miss Shirayuki fell in love with a teacher, but her feelings went unrequited," Kotsubo explained. "She attacked him, froze him in ice, and for that she was suspended. Combined with her bad grades and her absence for the rest of that year, she was barred from advancing to the next year, and she's barely shown up this year. I don't think I need to explain any further what sort of girl she is."

Adam's eyes narrowed with growing rage barely chained in his mind. Go on. Give me enough rope to hang you with, you son of a bitch.

Ooh, angry, aren't we? Xaviax remarked. You must really care about this Mizore. Maybe more than you do your precious Moka?

I don't trust this guy one damned bit, Adam snapped. He's a snake in the grass. Like you.

And like you, Xaviax rejoined coolly. Hey, who was it that let me into the base in the first place? Who was it that was holding the bag when I sent your friends careening into the Advent Void? Who was it that pretended to be so full of remorse just so he could help me get the goods on Len's little rebellion?

Shut up, Adam growled.

"Adam," Kotsubo addressed him, regaining his attention, "don't you think it's better for you and for everyone you care about if she isn't here anymore? I mean, she clings to you like a leech, even if you don't like her. I understand exactly how you feel, young man."

"I get it," Adam said, his voice low. "That teacher she froze was you. You're just in this for a personal vendetta!"

"Now that's not an accusation to make lightly, Mr. Taylor," Kotsubo responded. "Given your own experience with her, I'd think you'd agree with me on how dangerous Miss Shirayuki is . . . unless, for some perverse reason, you've fallen in love with her. Unless you think somehow you can save her, like a knight in shining armor. Forget it, kid; that kind of stuff happens only in trashy romance novels."

Adam stood stiff, wanting so badly to reach out and choke the life out of Kotsubo. The girls looked at him with concern – and a little bit of jealousy, wondering if Kotsubo was right about his suppositions and Adam had fallen in love with Mizore. Kotsubo just walked away, seemingly satisfied that he'd gotten the word out to Adam, even if the leather-jacketed boy didn't want to listen to him.

The trip to Mizore's dorm room was made in silence, given that Adam wasn't being accompanied by any of the girls. Too many no-good sons of bitches in this school, he thought.

Yes, and you'd like to be the one that makes it all right for her, Xaviax mocked. Like a knight in shining armor. Kotsubo was right about one thing: You're not in some petty romance novel.

If your opinion was actually worth a damn to me, I'd be listening, Adam sneered internally.

But it is, isn't it? Xaviax taunted. See, I'm the only one you've got, at the end of the day.

Before Adam could retort, he heard Mizore ask from the other side of the door, "Who is it?"

"It's Adam, Mizore!" Adam shouted through the door. "I just want to say that I'm sorry about that day! I know I hurt you . . . and I want to make it right!"

Mizore didn't seem to be in the mood to hear him, as giant icicles burst out of the door, about to impale him if he hadn't jumped back. As he was about to draw his Advent Deck to defend himself, Mizore exited the room, facing him directly.

"I'm serious!" Adam pleaded. "I don't want to fight you, Mizore! I just want to talk. Someone said that you attacked two guys last night, after our encounter . . . and the teachers want to expel you! Look, whatever happened, I'm pretty sure that wasn't you – or at least that you didn't do it on purpose. I'm also sure that if we go to them and explain everything, they won't expel you. I won't let them!"

"I will admit that I lost my temper," Mizore murmured. "But I defrosted them immediately. They should not have been seriously hurt."

Adam remembered Kotsubo saying that if the boys hadn't been found in time, they would have been dead. Then again, he had no reason to trust Kotsubo; whatever the hell the son of a bitch was, he was definitely a creep, and he'd made it clear he had no fondness for Mizore. It wouldn't be outside the range of expectations for him to lie about how badly the boys had been injured to get Mizore in trouble.

As he was pondering this, Mizore just chuckled, a low, almost cruel sound. "Don't act so innocent. Do you really think I'd attack innocent people for no reason?"

"No, I don't," Adam replied. "Let me help you!"

"There is no help for me, Adam," Mizore denied sadly, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "Of all people I wished to understand me, I was hoping it would be you." She walked away from him, Adam about to pursue when he heard Moka calling him.

"What is it, Moka?" he asked.

"Sorry it took me so long to catch up," Moka replied, panting softly. "Where's Mizore?"

"She left," Adam admitted sadly.

Mizore had gone to the cliff to cast her lonely gaze on the lake ahead. She felt someone coming closer, and for a brief moment she hoped it was Adam. She was disappointed, though, when she heard the person's voice. "As usual, you come here whenever you get depressed, Shirayuki."

Kotsubo grabbed Mizore by her shoulders, holding her fast. "Kotsubo-sensei?!" Mizore asked, terrified.

"You might want to watch your step there," Kotsubo remarked with fake concern. "Strong winds here. Wouldn't be that strange if you accidentally fell off, would it?"

"Kotsubo-sensei . . . y-you . . ."

Kotsubo just smirked.

"No! No! Let me go!" Mizore struggled in Kotsubo's grip, and the struggle resulted in Kotsubo falling off the cliff. "No! Sensei!"

To her shock, an octopus-like tentacle reached up from where Kotsubo had fallen and grabbed her, yanking her down. "You shouldn't have done that," Kotsubo's voice murmured coldly. "I was just teasing you at first, but now . . . now you've done it. I'm going to drag you down, Shirayuki!"

Mizore looked at Kotsubo and screamed in fear, seeing that he'd grown a mass of octopus-like tentacles from his back, along with a shell resembling an octopus's main body.

"Look at yourself! You tried to freeze me in ice! It's only fair to this school that you be dragged to the bottom of the sea!"

"That's not how it happened!" Mizore protested. "You tried . . . you tried to . . . I was just defending myself!"

"You said you liked me, even that you loved me, didn't you?" Kotsubo shot back. "Then you shouldn't complain about what I do to you! I was just playing around, but you took it too seriously and ran scared! Can you imagine what it's going to do to my rep if you start spreading rumors like that? Better you just disappear!"

Mizore was horrified – and sad. Kotsubo had never loved her at all; it had all just been a game to him, and when the game had gotten too dangerous to play, he tried to get rid of her. If he couldn't scare her into never coming to school again, he'd get her expelled by making her take the fall for assaulting fellow students. If that didn't work out, he'd just kill her . . . like he was doing now.

Is this it? Am I to die alone? Without anyone I can trust?

The sound of a motorcycle racing closer interrupted Mizore's grim musings, as did the sight of a black dragon-styled motorcycle launching itself over the cliff and striking Kotsubo in the chest. A black-armored figure with large red eyes staring ominously out of the slits of a grilled visor back-flipped off the motorcycle to catch the falling Mizore, grabbing onto the cliff façade.

"Adam?" Mizore asked.

"Hey," Kamen Rider Onyx greeted. "I told you before: you don't have to be alone. I'm right here for you!"

"Adam . . ." Mizore uttered, stunned. Then her expression shifted to terror. "Look out!"

Onyx quickly hoisted Mizore over and back onto solid ground and dropped to avoid his own motorcycle coming at him thanks to Kotsubo's throw. As he dropped, he slotted his Strike Vent card, summoning the Dark Drag Claw onto his right hand. "Go to hell!" he shouted, unleashing black flames on the kraken, who screamed in furious agony as he burned. Onyx scurried back up onto the cliff with Mizore, just as Moka came running toward them.

"Are you ok?!" she asked.

"Yeah, we're fine," Onyx replied, righting his motorbike and straddling it. Unfortunately, "fine" was short-lived, as Kotsubo came back up, maddened by the agony of being burned by such dark flame and ready to punish his attacker. Onyx was also in the mood to punish, though, and he rode right at Kotsubo, grabbing him by one of his tentacles and spinning on his bike into a kick that brought him down.

"I guess you take the whole 'knight in shining armor' thing literally," Kotsubo remarked. "But you're wearing the wrong color."

"This is the right color," Onyx answered coldly. "The nothingness of death is where you're going, for what you did to Mizore. What you were going to do to Mizore. I will not allow something as disgusting as you to continue walking in this world, or any other."

"Big words, kid!" Kotsubo mocked. "What do you think you are, some kind of anime superhero?!"

"I'm no hero," Onyx denied, getting off his motorcycle and stalking toward the kraken.

SWORD VENT.

With his Sword Vent activated, the Dark Drag Saber came to Kamen Rider Onyx's hand, and he went to attack Kotsubo with it. Kotsubo angrily swatted at him with his tentacles, but Onyx dodged and sliced off several of those tentacles. Kotsubo roared in rage and attacked Onyx, only for Onyx to disappear into an icy wall made by Mizore.

Another icy wall formed behind Kotsubo, and Onyx jumped out of it to kick him. Mizore made more icy walls around Kotsubo, and Onyx used them to ambush and evade the kraken, who thrashed about in frustration as he repeatedly tried and failed to get Onyx in his grip. "What the hell is this?!" Kotsubo asked furiously.

"My power . . ." Onyx replied, his blows coming from almost every angle imaginable. "Time to end this."

FINAL VENT.

Dragblacker emerged from the icy walls, coiling around Onyx as the dark Rider crouched, preparing to finish the fight. Kotsubo attempted to run, but his legs wouldn't move. "What are you?! What is that?!"

"Scared?" Onyx asked, his voice low and cold. "You should be. This is your penalty, and I am your executioner."

He jumped into the air, Dragblacker coiling behind him and breathing black fire at him to boost the force of his flying kick, which crashed into Kotsubo with enough force to smash him through the icy walls and knock him into the lake. Onyx landed on the cliff and watched Kotsubo's body float up to the surface of the lake, unmoving and not breathing. He turned to Mizore, the large red eyes of his mask blazing beneath his visor.

"He'll never hurt you again."

Two weeks passed since Kotsubo's death. In that time, the truth had come out about his proclivities and what had gone on between him and Mizore. With the new evidence that had come in, the school board had ruled that there was no reason to expel Mizore and so reinstated her as a student of Yokai Academy. As for the matter of just who exactly had been responsible for Kotsubo's death, nobody quite knew.

Popular rumor, though, was that Kotsubo had lit himself on fire and drowned himself out of shame. Neither Adam nor Moka and Mizore were willing to dispel that particular rumor, given that it was actually Adam's fault Kotsubo was dead. Also given that Adam had saved Mizore from being killed by Kotsubo, it was generally felt between the three of them that Kotsubo had gotten what he deserved.

"Good morning . . . Adam . . ." Mizore greeted him shyly while he was walking to class with Moka.

"Morning, Mizore," Adam responded. He looked at her curiously. "Something about you feels different."

"I thought I'd try cutting my hair," Mizore explained. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, it looks good on you," Adam replied.

"So cute!" Moka agreed.

"Thanks, Adam," Mizore said. "I feel less burdened . . . thanks to you."

Thus, Adam had added another girl to his unofficial harem. She was a good friend . . . despite her tendency to follow him around when she thought he couldn't see her. It kinda gave him the creeps, but in a twisted way, it was kind of cute. Unbeknownst to him, Kotsubo's death wasn't quite the fait accompli he believed it to be.

From within the shadows, several figures watched Adam. "He's gone too far," one of them snarled. "Going after a teacher . . . he has no respect for the boundaries of this school."

"We'll teach him, Kuyo-sama," another, this one female, spoke. "We'll teach him to respect the sacred honor of this place."

Kuyo's golden eyes narrowed. "Yes. We will teach him."

Next: Dragon's Full Moon.

End Notes: There you have it, the tenth chapter of "Onyx and Vampire," and the lines between justice and vengeance have blurred here. Now, some of you might say that Adam's actions could qualify as justifiable homicide, given that he was defending Mizore from someone who intended to kill her and would have done so if not for his intervention. Others among you might say that there has to be a reckoning, sooner or later, for what Adam did . . . and if you've read the final scene, that reckoning is definitely going to come sooner.

The "Love Is Pain" arc is over now, and the ending heralds the beginning of a new arc, which I call "Justice in Shadows." This next arc will pit Adam and the girls against the Student Police and force Adam to deal with the consequences of what happened to Okuto Kotsubo. Will this also spell the end of his time at Yokai Academy . . . or even the end of his life? And if he survives, what will change between him and the girls?

Until next time, thanks for the reviews, and let's ride!