Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the desire to entertain myself and others using other people's characters.
A/N: A little bit of a delay for this update, but I hope it's worth the wait...
Stranger In A Strange World
Strange Awakenings
"Anger is a wind which blows out the lamp of the mind."
Robert Green Ingersoll
It was official. Today was the worst day of Yukari Sendo's eleven-year existence on planet Earth. First, the upstart Aono outscores her in the academic arena, and then proceeds to tear her superior self-image to shreds in a few short sentences, comparing her to humans in the process. What should have been a happy and cordial introduction to the radiant Moka Akashiya was turned into an awkward and demeaning non-defense of her obvious supremacy. The afternoon was somewhat salvaged by the moderately satisfying course of magical pranks and torments she visited on the hapless Tsukune, but even that couldn't lift her spirits very far. Sadly, she realized that a mind like Tsukune's should have been enlisted as an ally and friend against the animals of Youkai, but her reflexively poor manners and confrontational attitude had sabotaged her, yet again. At that point, she believed the capstone to her monumentally bad day was the enlistment of the Newspaper Club as an intelligence apparatus of the feared and hated Student Police. Tomorrow, she thought as she walked to the dorm, I'll try to at least be civil to Tsukune. Moka seems to like him, so he can't be all bad. Besides, we geniuses should be able to get along better than the animals that surround us.
That was ten minutes ago. Now, Yukari was facing the possibility that there might not be a tomorrow for her. True to their previous threats, her three antagonistic classmates surprised her on the path, quickly relieving her of her wand and dragging her to a clearing next to a swamp. Helpless, she watched as they shed their human disguises, turning into two-meter tall lizard men, complete with trouser-splitting tails, razor-sharp talons, and very obviously carnivorous teeth. They meant to kill her, and it was evident that they had no intention of using the swamp to dispose of her body. Salivating in anticipation, they advanced on her as she screamed in abject terror.
"She's just lonely," Moka pressed, as she, Kurumu, and Tsukune strolled along the path to their first Astronomy Club orientation, debating the merits of Tsukune's diatribe against the young witch. "Witches are treated badly by both monsters and humans. They're sometimes referred to as a 'border race'. They're essentially human enough to be outcast by most monsters, but gifted with enough power that they find it very difficult to co-exist with humans. You can't imagine what it must be like for her."
"Can't I?" Tsukune asked pointedly.
"Okay, maybe you can, but keep in mind that's she's still just a child, for all of her intelligence."
Tsukune sighed. "I guess I could have cut her some slack on that basis. I still forget that even though I'm a human fifteen-year-old, I have closer to twenty years of memories and emotional growth. I'll talk to her tomorrow."
Kurumu's brow furrowed in thought. "How does that work? You said you're physically human, and you look like any other fifteen-year-old. How do you have twenty years of memories?"
"My race is longer-lived than humans. On average, we live about 190 of your years. As hatchlings, we develop rapidly, typically starting our schooling after three of your years."
"Wait a minute," Kurumu interrupted. "Hatchlings? Your species lays eggs?" she asked in disbelief.
"Um…yeah," Tsukune looked nervously at the two girls. "Does it bother you that I'm that different?"
"Pfft," Kurumu dismissed. "That only makes you different from humans. Remember where you are, sweetie."
"Oh yeah, I keep forgetting. Anyway," he continued, "I was twelve of your years old when we got stranded here. That's about one-sixteenth of my normal life span, and about one-quarter of the way to full maturity. When we transformed ourselves, I was changed into a human at about the same stage of development; a five-year-old. That was ten years ago. My memories and mental abilities weren't affected by the change, so, I'm actually a twenty-two-year-old in a fifteen-year-old body." Tsukune paused, looking around intently. "Something's wrong."
"What do you…?" Moka was cut off by a shrill scream shattering the twilight's calm.
"Yukari!" Tsukune blurted, bounding into the woods. Moka and Kurumu ran after him, confused by the apparent clairvoyance of their friend, but motivated by the urgency in his tone. Tsukune had felt the waves of panic coming from the young witch, even before her scream pierced the early evening air, and burst into action without a second thought. After a short but frantic sprint, Tsukune skidded to a stop at the edge of a clearing, almost getting bowled over by the girls behind him. A knot of primal fear formed in his guts as he surveyed the scene.
A trio of salthis in the remnants of human clothing was advancing on the young girl, who was cowering at the base of a large tree. At least, that's what they looked like. On Home, the salthi was a large predatory animal, somewhat similar to the now-extinct velociraptor of this planet's ancient history. It was a fearsome hunter, often preying on any living thing that was unfortunate enough to falter into its territory. Here on Earth, only the few species of man-eating sharks shared the same notoriety and ability to instill instinctive fear into sentient beings. For an instant, Tsukune thought he was seeing actual salthis, until he saw the differences. Their stance, while still poised in a predator's pre-attack crouch, was naturally more upright, and the arms and shoulders more resembled a human's. Screwing up his courage, he coiled himself to try to distract the beasts from their prey.
Pushing past him, Moka ran toward Yukari, oblivious to the danger she was rushing headlong into. Tsukune cried out to stop her, but was ignored in her haste to help the little witch. Resigned to his fate, Tsukune followed, only two steps behind her, while Kurumu flared her wings, taking to the air as she extended her talons. Moka only had time to snatch Yukari up and away from the advancing lizard men before she was bowled over by Tsukune as he interposed himself between the predators and their prey. As the three tumbled into a heap, and audible metallic snap was heard, as Moka's rosary came off in his hand, releasing her hidden self.
Tsukune braced himself for the pain and pressure he knew was imminent, not even realizing his back had been laid open by the talons of one of the lizard men. As she transformed, however, he was puzzled by the sensation of her aura washing over him. It was not a blinding pain, or raging fire in his mind, but a persistent pressure, as if her energy was filling his synaptic pathways in ways and combinations that had never been exercised. The feeling of having his mind engorged with her power would have been almost pleasant, if it wasn't so unfamiliar and unsettling. Handing Yukari off to a low-swooping Kurumu, he finally regained his feet, watching the silver-haired vampire dispatch two of the charging lizard men with easy strokes of her long legs. She had almost fully recovered from the second of her powerful kicks, when the third lizard man lunged at her back, almost upon her.
"No!" Tsukune bellowed, as he lashed out at the monster with his mind, in adrenaline-charged panic and haste. Too late to moderate his assault, he felt the energy flood from his brain like a broken fire hydrant. Although he had little to no experience as a telepathic projector, he had reflexively lashed out with the hope of temporarily disrupting the monsters brain functions and incapacitating him. Despite his intent, however, what he unleashed was a massive surge of uncontrolled psi energy, fueled by Moka's unsealed demonic energy, directly into the fragile brain of the attacking lizard man. The lizard man, in mid-lunge, went immediately slack, and crashed to the ground, sliding to a halt just short of Moka's feet. Moka wound up for another kick, only to be stopped just in time by Tsukune's cry of "Wait!"
Tsukune ran to the side of the fallen lizard man, cursing his lack of control and carelessness. Nausea gripped him as he took in the trickles of blood from the nostrils and unseeing eyes, and the sagging, open mouth with its forked tongue lolling out the side. Kneeling, he felt for a pulse, and probed for an aura, or any energy that would indicate sentient life. The fact that he felt a pulse and shallow breathing made him feel worse than if the monster were simply dead. Technically alive, the higher brain was devoid of any activity. No memories, no emotions, no thoughts came to Tsukune's awareness from the comatose reptilian. He was simply…gone. Tsukune had wiped all traces of sentience and life from conscious and subconscious mind of the hapless creature, leaving only an empty vessel operating its autonomic nervous system. Turning, he noisily emptied the contents of his stomach onto the forest floor.
Kurumu, meanwhile, had landed with Yukari, arriving just in time to see Tsukune be sick. Hesitantly, she asked, "Is that lizard man…dead? Did Tsukune kill him?"
"No." Moka was now crouching down, checking the lizard's vitals. "He's breathing, and has a pulse. He's certainly not dead."
"No," Tsukune said in a shaky, haunted voice, "he's worse than dead. He's gone. His brain has been wiped clean. There's nothing in there but emptiness." He stifled another gag. "Now, he's just a piece of meat that happens to be able to breath and pump blood through its body."
Kurumu shuddered, involuntarily hugging Yukari closer to her as she digested Tsukune's words. "We can't just leave him like that, can we?" she asked.
Moka's face remained icily calm. "No," she said, "We can't," as she reached for the monster's head. Simultaneously, Tsukune clenched his eyes shut and turned his head, while Kurumu looked away, pulling Yukari's face to her chest. Moka seized the head, and wrenching it sideways, cleanly broke the monster's neck with sickening, wet pop. Checking the vitals again, she rolled the body into the swamp, and stood.
Tsukune was suddenly aware of her penetrating gaze, and opening his eyes, got to his feet. He looked at her guiltily, "I'm sorry you had to do that. I've…I've never killed anything before."
Moka's eyes narrowed. "That's not what has me perturbed at the moment, Tsukune." She looked pointedly at the three parallel gashes on his back. "I believe we've already discussed the relative merits of keeping your blood on the inside of you, haven't we?"
Tsukune's met her eyes firmly. "Sorry, but if the other Moka insists on running headlong into danger like she did tonight, I will never be more than three steps behind her."
Moka's gaze was unreadable as she took the rosary from Tsukune's grasp. "Just remember that my human form is an illusion, while yours is a reality," she said, as she snapped the rosary back into place on her choker, and sagged against him in exhaustion.
It was only a short while later that the four were in the classroom set aside for the Astronomy Club's use. They had decided that Yukari should not walk back to the dorm alone, and would attend their club meeting with them. After Moka had rested a little, she did her best to clean the lizard man's blood off her hands, and they hiked to the academy building in sober silence. Ririko was waiting impatiently for her wayward club, and was about to start into a fifteen-minute lecture on the courtesy of punctuality. All thoughts of a lecture or meeting were dismissed, however, when she saw Tsukune's torn and bloody jacket. Officially postponing the club's orientation until tomorrow, she retrieved a first aid kit from the infirmary, handing it to Kurumu with a sympathetic glance at Tsukune. Youkai Academy was a violent place, and she had seen more than her fair share of lacerations and puncture wounds.
"At least," she told him, "you're alive. Be thankful for that."
Tsukune simply nodded glumly, not feeling very thankful at the moment. As Kurumu started to clean up the wounds on his back, Moka excused herself to finish washing her hands. Long minutes of awkward silence followed, broken only by the occasional hiss of pain from Tsukune as Kurumu continued her ministrations. Finally, Yukari broke the oppressive silence.
"What was that, Tsukune? I've never seen any kind of magic that would do that," she asked in a quiet voice.
"Please, Yukari, can this wait?" he asked. "I'm not really in a mood to talk about it right now."
"Alright, but just talk to me, please? About anything?" she pleaded.
Tsukune sighed, realizing he wanted an end to the gloomy stillness almost as much as she did. "Okay, Yukari. Tell me about magic. What is it? I've seen you do your spells and tricks, but I still have no idea what's actually happening when you do. It's not telekinesis; I'd be able to feel that."
Yukari brightened almost instantly at his interest in her favorite subject. "It's simple, really. I borrow energy and put it to use."
"What kind of energy? Like gravity and electrical fields?"
"Some of it," she nodded, "I'll use any kind of energy in the environment. Mostly, though, it's elemental life energy, a tiny bit, from each and every living thing in the area. Never enough to harm, but gathered up in one ball and focused properly, you can make some astounding things happen. And there are limits to what you can do, based on what energy you're using."
Tsukune was now fully engaged in their conversation, not even noticing when Moka returned to the room. "How is magic limited by what energy you use?" he asked.
Yukari thought for a moment. "Well, I couldn't conjure any water with energy borrowed from the heat of a fire, or drain someone's life energy when all I've gathered up is life energy from around me. Things like that. You have to remember that it isn't physics. E does not equal em cee squared. We can't even quantify it, like you would volts for electricity."
"Okay, but how do you tell the energy what to do? An uncontrolled release of energy is called an explosion for a reason."
"That part, I do with my mind. My wand serves as a focus for the energy I've gathered, and a point of release, when I've formed the idea of what I want to accomplish with it."
"But that's telekinesis, isn't it?" Tsukune pressed.
"Only if it's my energy performing the work; remember, I'm borrowing the energy, and channeling it…"
Whatever else she said was lost as something clicked, almost audibly in Tsukune's mind. Borrowing the energy…that was it! he thought. Somehow, I absorbed the energy from Moka's insane aura, and released it as my own. This is…frightening. And why was it so painful the first time; like a blowtorch inside my head? The second time wasn't even all that painful, just…pressure. Tsukune wracked his brain for some sort of physical analogy, finally deciding on…sex. Human females have this…hymen thing, which tears the first time they have intercourse. The first time is supposedly very painful, but after that; no more pain. Is that what happened to my telepathic neural pathways?
He was roused from his musings by Yukari snapping her fingers in front his blank face. "Earth to Tsukune! Earth to Tsukune! Come in!" she teased.
Blinking and shaking his head, he said, "Huh? Oh, sorry Yukari. You were saying?"
"It can wait," she sighed. "I have to say one thing, though; thanks for saving my life tonight, both you and Moka. Especially after I was such a brat to you this afternoon. Can you ever forgive me?"
Tsukune allowed a wisp of a smile to show. "Of course I can. I have my own apology to make; I shouldn't have been so hard on you at lunch today, and I'm sorry for that. How about we start over? Aono, Tsukune, fifteen, class one-three!" He nodded his head in a sketch of a bow; Kurumu was still just finishing up on his bandages.
Yukari bowed low with a giggle. "Sendo, Yukari, eleven, class one-two!"
"I'm sure we'll be great friends!" Tsukune smiled genuinely.
"A pair of geniuses like us? We'll be partners! Together we'll bridge the gulf between species!"
"Yeah!" Tsukune cheered.
"We'll smash down social taboos!"
"Yeah!"
"We'll have all-night threesomes with the vampire!"
"Yea…WHAT???" Tsukune, Kurumu, and Moka all goggled at the little witch in shock.
"Um...just kidding?" she said with an impish grin.
That night, in the silence of his room, Tsukune woke twice, drenched in cold sweat. He had the same nightmare both times: he dreamed that he was blind, deaf, dumb, and paralyzed, but aware; a prisoner in his own non-functioning body.
Continued…
Omake: Meet the Aonos Part 4
The family's insertion into Japanese society was certainly not seamless, or without its terrifying moments, but neither was it a disaster. It was of course, hardest on Tsukune. His parents struggled with the knowledge that the wait for their rescue would probably exceed their remaining life span as humans, and eventually made peace with the idea that they would spend the rest of their natural lives on Earth. The boy was young enough that rescue was probable within his lifetime. His education as a human took place along side constant reminders of his true heritage. Guilt for isolating their child between worlds was a constant companion to the parents, assuaged only by the hope that he, at least, could eventually be returned Home.
In time, the family Aono settled into a normal routine. Kouji was a moderately successful consulting engineer; Kasumi took care of the boy and the house. Tsukune worked very hard to be average, to be invisible. He had a pet chameleon that he envied above all things for its ability to blend itself so easily into the scenery. His parents kept him in all-boys schools, knowing that a normal courtship and lifetime pair-bonding was simply impossible for him. He loved the forests and mountains of their little corner of the planet; but would never get within 100 meters of the ocean again if he could help it. He still had occasional nightmares about chilly dark waters of the Pacific, and how they claimed his beloved little sister.
Finally, after ten years of life as a human on Earth, Tsukune is enrolled in Youkai Academy…