Following the disbandment of the Public Safety Committee and the suspension and/or expulsion of its members, the students of Youkai Academy were left to prepare for the end of year examinations. The study sessions were intense; getting any lower than a 50 on any test subject would force that student to take remedial summer classes until the fall semester, and no one wanted that particular honor.
This was why Miss Nekonome's announcement to the Newspaper Club on the Monday after the PSC disbanded was equal parts exciting and nerve-wracking.
"So, I just got it cleared with the headmaster, nya. We can go to visit a human town for two weeks out of the summer break!" Miss Nekonome said, her tail wagging excitedly as she stood in front of her desk. "Of course, you have to do well on finals to even be allowed on the trip, but I know you all are smart enough to make it."
Tsukune, for his part, let out a relieved smile and leaned back slightly in his chair. He'd been at Youkai Academy for only a few months, but it felt like forever; while he'd gradually come to enjoy it thanks to his friendships with Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari, it would be good to be somewhat back in his actual element in a human town.
When he looked around, though, everyone else had mixed expressions to say the least. Moka, at the desk to his left, seemed somewhat anxious, as did Kurumu sitting on the desk to his right. Yukari, sitting behind Moka, was fiddling with the ends of her cape. Gin was leaning against Miss Nekonome's desk, smiling softly, while Tamao stood near the door, her arms folded and her expression neutral.
In Moka's case, he could understand why she was so tense; she'd had terrible experiences at a human school before, so the human world would rightfully make her nervous. As far as he was aware, Kurumu and Yukari hadn't had any such experiences, so their nervousness was a bit more confusing to him.
Unaware of the mixed feelings in the room, Miss Nekonome continued. "You guys already know that you've got to do well on exams to come with us, so study hard, OK? Morioka-kun, Ichinose-san, that goes for you too."
At mention of exams, Kurumu squirmed a bit, and Tsukune saw Satellite Lovers' arm pop up from her shoulder and pat her head a few times before disappearing. After that, her concerns became abundantly clear; frankly, Tsukune felt somewhat the same. He'd been studying as much as he could to cover any gaps, especially anything that might have come up on weeks when he got caught up in the typical Youkai Academy shenanigans. Despite that, he still felt uncomfortable with what he might be tested on; studying was studying, but tests had a way of sneaking up on you.
"To be honest I might have t' pass, Miss Nekonome," Gin said, scratching his head. "Folks had some stuff planned for the summer, so I'll be going with them."
Tamao's reply was nonchalant, but tinged with just a hint of annoyance. "The circumstances that caused me to join the Newspaper Club have made me...unwelcome at home. I've got little else to do so I'll be coming along."
Yukari flinched at that, and Tsukune raised an eyebrow at the twist of discomfort that crossed her face. Better ask her about that later, he thought. I'd rather not have the trip bogged down by more shenanigans from Ichinose-senpai if I can help it.
Miss Nekonome's eyes weren't quite as sharp, though, as she nodded with a smile. "Good, nya! Then it'll be all of our freshmen members with their senpai helping to keep an eye on them. Study hard, you all. I've been working really hard to plan this trip and you all deserve it for your hard work, so I want to see you reap the benefits, OK?"
Everyone nodded, and even Yukari's morose expression seemed to lighten at how cheerfully Miss Nekonome spoke to them. With a final nod, their Newpaper Club adviser left the room, informally dismissing them for the day. Tamao and Gin followed almost immediately after her, leaving the four freshmen in the room with each other.
"Well, looking at her smiling like that, I can't help but feel like I have to pass now," Kurumu said, scowling slightly. "I hate studying, ugh! Miss Kagome gets so into her teaching that it's annoying trying to remember all of what she covered in a day."
Tsukune nodded with a pained grimace; math had been one of his more troublesome subjects, and Miss Kagome had been teaching it. She knew her stuff, but Kurumu wasn't exaggerating when she said that the woman was hard to follow. When he'd been in the middle of recovering from the worst of Kuyou's attacks, keeping up with Miss Kagome was stressful enough to double as a gym workout with how exhausting the effort was. "I've taken pretty good notes for most of her classes. I can let you borrow them. Wish I could say the same for Biology though."
Yukari took that moment to speak up, breaking the stony silence she'd been keeping all day. "I can help with that. I've been paying close attention to Mr. Iwamoto's lessons, I have a pretty good grasp of what he's most likely to ask about on the final. I've got notes for Modern Literature and Ancient Literature too." Her expression remained firm, almost angry as she looked between Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu. "I don't have any intention of failing, and I don't want any of you guys to be left out of the trip, so let's work together on this."
Moka nodded, a bit unsettled by the expression on Yukari's face but unsure about how to express it with the others present. "Thank you, Yukari-chan. I think that's a wonderful idea. Where should we start to study?"
After hashing out a schedule for getting together to study, the freshmen headed back to the dorms; Tsukune initially attempted to hang back and speak to Yukari, but he'd been grabbed by Kurumu and dragged ahead several steps, leaving Moka and Yukari to follow behind them.
As they walked, Moka gave Yukari surreptitious glances, still trying to figure out why the young witch seemed so intensely angry. Eventually, though, she worked up the nerve to just ask, keeping her voice low so that Kurumu and Tsukune wouldn't hear. "Yukari-chan, is everything alright? You seemed upset earlier…."
Yukari blinked a few times, then smiled. At a glance it looked like any other smile, but Moka had come to know Yukari Sendou's expressions fairly well since they'd become friends. That smile wasn't anywhere close to reaching her eyes; there was an emptiness there that screamed of something being wrong, of something weighing her down.
It was a smile that reminded Moka of what Yukari had been like before joining the Newspaper Club.
"Everything's fine, Moka-sama," Yukari said, sounding for all the world like she was fine too. "I'm just a little bit worried about exams too. I know I'm the one that gets the reputation for being really smart, but when the PSC tried to shut us down and when you and Aono-san and Kurono-san fought so hard against them…." Her voice wavered then, her fake smile breaking for a few moments, and Moka saw under the mask very clearly. "You could have died. The three of you. And if that had happened—to you especially—I would have been heartbroken. Moka-sama, you're my best friend. Aono-kun's a nice guy and Kurono-san is...tolerable when she wants to be, but you, without a doubt, are the one I care about the most. It isn't as bad as it was a few days ago, but I...I still wake up sometimes, seeing Kuyou boil you alive."
By the time Yukari finished talking, she was standing still, shaking in place with her hands clenched and her eyes focused almost straight downward. Feeling guilty, Moka tentatively reached out to pat Yukari's shoulder; the younger girl flinched momentarily, then looked up to see Moka smiling tenderly.
"It was pretty scary, wasn't it?" Moka asked. "To be honest, even when we were fighting against him...I was so afraid. I may not have looked it, but I was. I'm...not that strong on my own. If I hadn't had Empress, I would have needed to be unsealed in order to make a difference. Even so, if I'd done one thing wrong, especially because I let Kuyou get so close…." Her expression became blank as she remembered how Kuyou's hand nearly crushed her throat, the desperate struggle to stay conscious long enough for Tsukune to act. "Well, if Tsukune-kun and Kurono-san hadn't been there to help me, then everything would have gone really badly. And you're smart enough to know that, so that's why you were worried, I think. I'm sorry I scared you like that."
Yukari nodded slowly, accepting Moka's apology and consoling touch; the worried expression lightened a little bit, but Moka could see that something else was bothering her.
One day at a time, I guess, Moka thought, turning her attention forward. At least she admitted that something was bothering her. She'll open up about the rest on her own when she's ready.
Once Moka was no longer looking at her, Yukari rubbed her throat, shuddering at the thought of the foam lodged there, the attack she couldn't talk about, couldn't explain.
Moka-sama, I wish...you could save me from this.
The next week passed quietly as the students all hunkered down to study, including Tsukune and the other Newspaper Club freshmen. With club meetings canceled, Classroom 1-3 doubled as a study lounge for them; Yukari would lead sessions on each subject, and the others would, after taking notes, do practical knowledge tests and quick mock examinations. Though it was an effort for everyone, especially Kurumu, they slowly managed to make their way through, driven mostly by a determination to make sure that none of them were left behind.
The week after that had a slight uptick in activity, but only in the sense that students were leaving classrooms either shouting in joy or curled up into sad little balls as they finished examinations.
On the Monday after exams ended, rankings were posted and grades were distributed.
Rumors had it that Kurumu's joyful squeal was loud enough to echo through the whole school.
Needless to say, by the time the Newspaper Club met up in Classroom 1-3, Kurumu was still beaming, practically glowing with excitement. Though she'd placed in the triple digits in class rankings, she'd managed to make it just above the dead middle, a marked improvement from her last ranking postings. Yukari's position as top went unchallenged, while Tsukune and Moka stayed in pretty much the same place.
What really mattered, though, was that Kurumu had passed all of her subjects. Mostly with scores in the seventieth percentile, but there were one or two eighty-somethings mixed in as well. The sharp turnaround in her grades and the assurance that she wouldn't be forced to stay behind during summer break was enough of a mood booster that she was doing something completely unexpected; hugging someone that wasn't Tsukune.
That someone was Yukari, who was just the right height to nearly have her face squashed between Kurumu's breasts. While Tsukune and Moka sat and watched from a pair of desks, Tamao lounged idly against the back wall, with folded arms and a satisfied smirk.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Kurumu said, turning from side to side with a bright smile and closed eyes. "Yukari-chan, I promise I'll never make fun of you again! You've saved me! Mama and Papa won't ground me for the rest of summer break when I go home!"
"What's with all this 'Yukari-chan' talk all of a sudden?" Yukari asked, though the question was partially muffled by Kurumu's body covering up her mouth. "I never gave you permission for all of that."
Kurumu patted Yukari on the back. "Don't be silly, Yukari-chan, after all we've been through we've already been friends! This just made it official, you know?"
Yukari began to flail her arms violently, partially because of her irritation and partially because she was beginning to have trouble breathing. "That doesn't make any sense, you moron! Now let me go before I suffocate! Your breasts are too big!"
Tsukune rubbed his head with a sigh. "If I'd known that tutoring Kurumu-san would get her so friendly, I would've done that instead of getting into a fight with her. At least now she and Sendou-san won't fight as much."
Kurumu growled and rubbed two knuckles against Yukari's head even as she let the smaller girl up for air. Moka, seeing this, grimaced slightly. "I don't think that's in the cards, Tsukune-kun."
Miss Nekonome chose that moment to walk in, followed shortly by Tamao and Gin. Miss Nekonome laughed to herself at the sight, causing Kurumu to startle and release Yukari. "You seem pretty cheerful, nya. I'm going to guess that you're happy with your examination scores, Kurono-kun?"
Kurumu's cheerful nod wasn't faked at all, despite her irritation with Yukari. "Yes, ma'am, all thanks to Tsukune-kun, Moka-san, and Yukari-chan! They really helped me study hard. If they hadn't, I would've been in a tough spot!" She actually stopped trying to rub a hole into Yukari's hat to look down at the younger girl with a sincere smile, then looked up to nod at both Tsukune and Moka. The latter blushed a bit, surprised about how happy Kurumu sounded and how Kurumu was willing to thank Moka for working with her.
Then, Moka blinked. Wait, since when was I Moka-san to her? Does she just get familiar with people when she gets happy with them or something?
"Well, that's good, nya," Miss Nekonome said, nodding cheerfully. "OK, so here's the deal. We'll be leaving with the bus driver in two days. We'll be staying in Oukabanchou in Fujimi City. It's really quiet and it should be relaxing."
"Okabanchou in Fujimi City?" Tsukune said. "That sounds like it's near my town. I don't think I've been there, though. Maybe my mom has? I'll call her and ask her what she knows about the place."
Miss Nekonome smiled and nodded. "That'd be great, Aono-kun. Thank you, nya." She dusted off her shirt sleeves, then headed for the door. "I've got to handle some other things before the trip, OK? Behave yourselves, nya!"
After she left, Kurumu immediately wrapped Tsukune in a hug. "Oh, Tsukune-kun, I'm so happy~ We get to spend two whole weeks away from this crazy school, you and me~" After a moment, she frowned a bit. "And I guess Moka-san and Yukari-chan too." The frown gradually morphed into a flat, annoyed expression. "And Ichinose-senpai too, I guess."
Tamao just gave her a cool smile. "'You guess'? My goodness, Kurono-san, you're so cold. I know we're not really friendly, but seriously now! I'm your senpai, aren't I?"
"A senpai that nearly sucked my darling dry," Kurumu replied, clutching Tsukune closer and giving Tamao a frosty stare. "Though you're a great editor, I'll give you that much."
"You're absolutely right about that," Tamao said, not even pretending to be modest as she ran a hand through her hair. "Thank you for having the sense to admit to it."
No, please, no need for modesty, Ichinose-senpai, Tsukune thought, trying not to think too much about how Kurumu seemed to hold him even more insistently. Sometimes I wish she could have just stayed with the Swimming Club and stayed out of our hair.
The days leading up to the trip passed by quickly and quietly; on the day of departure, Tsukune was the first one at the bus stop, wearing a blue T-shirt and black jeans with white sneakers and carrying a small suitcase with two weeks worth of clothes packed away. His mother had ultimately been unable to tell him much about Fujimi City, since she hadn't been there for a long time and wasn't sure what was still around now. One thing she did make mention of, though, was a place called Witch's Hill and the sunflower field that was surrounding it; it had been the only thing she really remembered from her visit and she thought it would be a good place for a picnic.
A picnic sounded pretty great with Tsukune, to be quite honest; he'd gotten used to the seclusion of Youkai Academy and wasn't really keen on spending his break in a city. Going into town from time to time would be fine, but a long-term stay might be too big of an adjustment for only two weeks.
The sound of shoes along the pathway caused Tsukune to snap out of his thoughts and look upward with a smile; all of the girls had come together, by the sounds of it. Kurumu smiled and waved a hand at him, carrying a large duffel bag and grasping it with her other hand; she'd gone for a pair of well-fitting jeans, a white shirt decorated with purple bats, and open-toed sandals. Yukari still wore her hat and witch's mantle, but had on a sleeveless collared shirt with blue ribbons trimming her shoulders and the bottom hem, with a sleeve-like white cuff on each wrist; she was pulling her suitcase along behind her. Tamao had left behind the jacket she usually wore over her top on campus, and had on a sea-green halter top with a purple-and-green tie-die sarong around her lower body; a pair of strap sandals that stopped just above her ankles finished off her ensemble. Unlike Kurumu, she carried both a large canvas bag and a suitcase; the former was looped around her shoulder while she pulled the latter behind her.
Moka, though...she commanded his attention the most. Her hair was put up into a high ponytail near the back of her head, and she'd put on a light-purple blouse festooned with black lace along the seams at her shoulders and along the hem of her skirt. She'd chosen a pair of slim brown boots to wear along with the blouse, resembling the type that Empress wore minus the high heels. Her suitcase sat on her shoulder; proving that even though she didn't have her inner self's ludicrous strength, she still had some power to her.
After a few moments of staring at Moka longer than he'd meant to, Tsukune cleared his throat and got a grip, nodding to everyone and returning Kurumu's wave with a sheepish smile. Dunno what got into me there, he thought, shaking his head. I mean, yeah, Moka's cute, but looking at her just now, it's like I got hit by a car.
Despite (or maybe because of) the amount of attention Tsukune gave to Moka, Kurumu hugged him as fiercely as always, smiling broadly. "Oh, Tsukune-kun, you look so handsome in your casual clothes! I hope you've got some more classy stuff packed away, darling~"
Tsukune shrugged helplessly and laughed a little bit. "Eh, maybe? I kind of just took whatever I had lying around. I haven't worn any of it in ages though."
"Well, if 'any of it' includes outfits like this," Kurumu said, nuzzling him more, "I think it'll be fine."
Moka sighed at Kurumu's overly dramatic display, but kept just quiet enough to avoid drawing attention to herself. She was pleasantly surprised to hear Inner Moka's annoyed snort in her mind, but said nothing to her other self—though she definitely thought much better of Kurumu after seeing how hard the succubus was working to make the trip with them, Kurumu's excessive attention to Tsukune still bothered her more than she liked to admit to herself or to anyone else.
Eventually, Tsukune pried himself free, and before Kurumu could reattach herself to him, the idle rumbling of an engine broke the air. The bus pulled up to them and came to a smooth stop, and moments later, a loud purring shook Tsukune and his friends to the core. Reflexively, Satellite Lovers popped an arm out of Kurumu's back and swept its hand outward, spreading several spy bats into the air, and Kurumu's eyes went pure violet as she tuned into Lovers' spy bat feed.
"Miss Nekonome's coming in hot, you guys!" she said, eyes widening. "Step back!"
Though bewildered, everyone did just that, and as soon as they did, the familiar gigantic footsteps of Miss Nekonome's true form shook the ground. Kurumu shrieked and jumped into Tsukune's arms right as a huge strawberry-blonde cat loped out from the forest with a suitcase strapped to its back. It came to a halt right in front of the parked bus, then purred at the Newspaper Club before shrinking down into a smaller, glowing form that morphed into a human-like shape; when the glow faded away, Miss Nekonome stood there, fully clothed and smiling with her suitcase at her side and a large tote bag on her shoulder.
"Good morning, everynyan! How are we doing?" she said, looking between the Newspaper Club members as if she hadn't just landed in front of them in a form big enough to make a tiger look like a kitten.
"I think our lives are three to five years shorter now, but otherwise, good, thanks," Tsukune replied, his voice shaky and a bit unsure.
Kurumu was significantly less calm about it (or rather, her "Miss Nekonome, do you seriously just...run around like that sometimes!?"
Miss Nekonome nodded, smiling as cheerfully as always. "Of course! Sometimes you've just gotta stretch out, nya! You can't tell me you don't do that sometimes!"
Kurumu nodded sagely, not even bothering to deny it. Moka shook her head, while Tsukune and Yukari both shrugged; between Moka's rosary and the fact that Tsukune and Yukari didn't have true forms, the three of them really couldn't agree. Tamao just looked more irritated than normal, likely because she hadn't bothered taking her true form since she'd been kicked out of the Swimming Club, and for good reason—even if she wasn't the haughtiest mer in Youkai Academy's student body, no one enjoyed flopping around on dry land like a dying fish or being cooped up in a cramped tub.
The bus doors creaked open before anyone else could make a remark, and without missing a beat, Miss Nekonome hoisted her suitcase onto one shoulder and sprang up the steps. Everyone else filed in behind her, with Tsukune at the very back of the line; as he cleared the last step, a dry laugh greeted him from the driver's seat, as did the sharp scent of a lit cigar.
"You look like you're in good spirits, kiddo," the driver said, his eyes shining out from beneath his hat as smoke drifted between him and Tsukune. "Enjoy your first semester of classes so far?"
Of course it's him, Tsukune thought, resisting the urge to sigh. The driver's "play up the creepy factor" schtick hadn't been that funny the first time Tsukune came to Youkai and it really wasn't funny now. If anything, it was more annoying now that they were on their way out of the Academy; this trip was supposed to be a break from the weirdness of the monster world.
That said, the man's shiny eyes were still fairly disturbing and Tsukune would have paid every red cent he'd make in his life to never see them again.
"Nothing too serious," Tsukune replied, looking over his shoulder a moment to see the Academy in the distance and to avoid the driver's eyes. "I think I'm getting used to the general atmosphere."
The driver nodded, taking another puff on his cigar. "So I've heard. People are more than a little scared of you if the rumors are any indication, but I like to think I'm a fairly good judge of character. Whatever you did to make them so nervous about you...I'm sure you only did what you had to do to keep other people safe and sound. Don't feel guilty about it."
For a moment, Tsukune allowed the firm, cold tone that usually colored his voice in fights to break through. "I don't. Because they were trying to hurt me, or my friends…and I managed not to hurt them too badly...it's fine. I didn't enjoy it, but as long as I don't lose control, it's fine."
"Heh...that's one way to look at it," the driver replied, pulling his cigar from his mouth and nodding a few times. "I suppose 'Don't forget that resolve' is the best advice I can give you...I can tell that there will be many more times where it's tested over and over." His smile widened. "If you forget it...if you ever let your determination waver...you may regret it. Your friends may, as well, if it winds up costing them because you couldn't keep it together."
Tsukune turned and gave the driver a sharp stare, but the man simply put his cigar back in his mouth and looked forward. Sensing that he'd said all he'd meant to say, Tsukune sighed and moved to sit next to Moka, staring morosely at the back of the seat in front of them. Noticing his mood, Moka gently poked his shoulder. "Tsukune-kun, are you OK?"
Tsukune flinched and shook his head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just...thinking about some stuff. It's no big deal."
Moka didn't seem convinced by that, but before she could speak up, Inner Moka cut her off. "Don't bother pushing it. He'll talk when he feels like it and not before. You know that by now, don't you?"
He shouldn't feel like that, though, Moka thought back, biting her lip as she looked at Tsukune from the corner of her eye. The bus rumbled under them as the driver gave the engine some gas and they pulled off. We've been through so much so far this year...there's no reason he should feel like he can't trust us. Whether that's me, or anyone else in the club...well, except maybe Ichinose-senpai. A small frown crossed her lips. Even though she's been so much more open...there's still something that bothers me about her new attitude.
Inner Moka snorted. "I'm not sure myself, but your instincts aren't off," she said. "Her aura's 'shifted' somehow, but...that's all I've noticed. A shift. What it is, what caused it...I don't know either of those things. All we can do is watch her. And if she does something wrong...we strike."
Moka nodded very slightly. If it comes to that, yes. We will.
After a few hours, most of which was spent passing through flat, green countryside once the bus left Youkai Academy, the bus began to slow down. As it did, the riders began to stir from their multiple positions; Tsukune had fallen asleep not too long after the trip started, as had Miss Nekonome, and Kurumu had spent most of her time watching Tsukune doze with a soft smile on her face. Yukari had occasionally looked their way every so often, but otherwise spent most of her time looking over tarot cards or reading a book, while Tamao seemed fine with humming to herself a lot and watching the scenery.
The reduced speed of the bus, though, brought Tsukune around almost instantly; on reflex, Shooting Star's head and arm popped out of his body, receding after a few moments once he woke up completely. Kurumu arched an eyebrow in surprise, then laughed. "My, my, Tsukune-kun, you're so alert. There's no reason to be so twitchy!"
"Old habits die hard," Tsukune muttered, scrubbing his eye with one hand and grimacing. "Anyway, I'm guessing we've made it, right?"
Kurumu nodded, still smiling brightly as she turned to actually look outside the window as the bus came to a stop. "Yep!" she said. "Ooh, I wonder...where...we're staying."
The way her tone began to flatten out piqued Tsukune's interest, and he glanced out the window to see what was going on. When he saw it for himself, he blinked a few times, then raised an eyebrow.
Somehow or another, they'd found themselves in a beautiful sunflower field with not a bit of civilization in sight. Yukari and Tamao were also peering out of the window, and while Yukari looked somewhat relieved, Tamao's flat frown was as unamused as Kurumu's pursed lips. "Does someone mind explaining to me what part of this backwoods flower field looks like a human city to them?" Tamao asked, giving Miss Nekonome a chilly stare as she gestured to the window. "Because, quite honestly, if this is what humans call a city I must wonder why we're so intent on not being discovered by them."
"As it turns out, hotels in the city are rather expensive, nya," Miss Nekonome said, hefting the bag she'd brought with her. "We'll be 'roughing it', as the saying goes—I have a tent and a bunch of sleeping bags packed away, and the driver will be getting us stuff to cook and to cook with." She nodded multiple times, seeming completely at ease with the whole thing. "It'll be fun, nya!"
"My mom told me about this place when I told her we were coming here," Tsukune added. "She called it Witch's Hill, said it was pretty quiet and private." He grinned. "Gotta say, I'm not disappointed."
It would be charitable to call the expression on Kurumu's face a smile. "Well, I didn't go crazy studying with Moka-san and Yukari-chan to wind up eating birds off of a skewer in a deserted sunflower field! Miss Nekonome, you seriously can't be saying that we're going to be out here the whole time!?"
"Just think of it as a fun summertime activity, nya," Miss Nekonome replied, raising a finger with an even brighter smile to accompany it. "Of course we'll still go to the city, but this way you can enjoy it by day without having to live with it by night! It's much more pleasant when you're not choking on cigarette smoke, or drunken salarymen staggering home, or people leaving their leftover fish uncovered and in a garbage can..." Her tail waggled at that, and she somehow perked up even more. "Mm, fish…."
"Is it a bad thing that the first thing I found myself thinking was 'I really hope Miss Nekonome didn't find that last one out by experience'?" Moka asked, lowering her voice.
"It's not," Tsukune said, "and let's be honest, she probably did." He grimaced, partially at the mental image that filled his mind and partially because he didn't like ripping on Miss Nekonome, even when he was strictly making reasonable observations. "Knowing her, she was probably more concerned about getting the fish before an alley cat did."
"For the record, most normal cats already know not to mess with the bigger cats when they show up," Miss Nekonome said, wedging her head between Moka and Tsukune. Taken aback by her sudden appearance, Tsukune let out a dignified squawk and fell into the aisle of the bus, landing squarely on his ass and bumping his head against a seat. Miss Nekonome then sauntered off as if she'd done nothing wrong, waving idly as she made her way to the front of the bus and headed down the stairs.
After a moment of dumbfounded silence, Tsukune sat up, rubbing the newly-forming lump on his head. "She's...really a lot sharper than most people give her credit for. Me included, if I'm going to be honest."
Kurumu blinked a few times, looking in the direction where Miss Nekonome headed off. "Me too. I mean, she's some kind of cat something, right? Her hearing's probably already better than pretty much all of ours, except maybe Moka-san's unsealed self. I'd only be able to match it with spy bats…."
Yukari stood up, grabbing her bag, and practically skipped off of the bus; Tamao followed her at a more leisurely pace. Once he got to his feet, Tsukune watched Yukari from the window as she bent down in front of one of the sunflowers, eagerly reaching out to it and stroking it with a smile. Moka followed his eyes and let out a soft hum.
"You noticed too," she said. "Yukari-chan seemed kind of nervous about this trip to begin with, but it looks like this was the best place to bring her."
Tsukune grabbed his bag from the seat behind his and made his way toward the stairs. "Seems like it, yeah. I'll talk with her a little bit, try to help her ease into the idea of going to a human city. I think that's what has her the most scared."
Kurumu just huffed as she gathered up her bag. "I don't see why she is. Considering what we've been through, humans are hardly that scary. And witches are basically halfway to human anyway, so I don't see why it matters."
For all of Kurumu's virtues, such as her loyalty to her friends and loved ones, she still had a few vices.
One of those was her habit of speaking her mind without really thinking of the tone behind her words.
Tsukune responded to Kurumu's thoughtless comment with a cool stare in her direction that caused her to flinch when she met his eyes. "And what if that's why she feels bad, or nervous?" he asked, showing no hint of pleasantness on his face. "She's never been around humans, yet because she's so much like them she's been bullied. And as someone that has experience with humans, I should like to point out that sometimes they can be real jerks, and that coming to Youkai Academy was pretty nerve-wracking for me the same way that coming to the human world might be for Yukari."
"And believe me," Moka added, her expression stern, "it's a pretty big culture shock. The human world is very different from the monster world. Their cities are so...big, and noisy. They have so many weird devices because they don't have the advantages that monsters do, like magic or auras. It's like...standing in the middle of a river and trying not to get swept away, that's how fast their world moves." She clenched her hands into fists, remembering her own experiences in human schools. "A place like that...it's very different from what we know. Even Youkai Academy only really captures a small part of it, and since most of the students can just pop into their real forms, there's never really a feeling like the one you have in a real human school."
Suitably chastised by both Tsukune and Moka's responses, Kurumu closed one eye and grimaced as if she'd been smacked in the back of the head. "I get it. Sorry. But, seriously, we're all here with her, and you two have been to the human world before. What does she have to be scared of?"
"Plenty, out here," the bus driver answered, causing all three of them to jump in surprise. "There's been some weird reports lately...humans have apparently been vanishing when they come to visit Witch's Hill lately. As nervous as humans get about people going missing for no good reason, well...it's not as if they just wander away all the time. I wouldn't get too careless, kids." He chuckled. "Then again, you might get a good story out of it."
Tsukune stepped closer to the driver, looming a bit over him. "Are you implying that there are already monsters living out here?"
The bus driver just kept looking forward, unperturbed by Tsukune's posture as his cigar bobbled in his mouth. "It might just be a human randomly kidnapping other humans, you know? A monster could be doing it, too, but no one's proved it." He gestured idly with one hand. "Good thing we've got a crack team of investigators with experience dealing with monster-related disappearances hanging around, eh?"
The insinuation left Tsukune dumbfounded, but any attempt he would have made to answer was stopped by Yukari's frightened scream. His head snapped away from the bus driver just in time to see Yukari scrambling away from the flowers; he barely saw a black blur flitting between the flowers in front of her. "Shit! Sendou-san!"
Without hesitation, Shooting Star manifested, pushing open the doors to the bus as Tsukune rushed down the stairs and bounded toward her. Moka and Kurumu followed shortly afterward, leaving the bus driver to watch them go. For his part, the driver simply laughed, turning his attention back to the road as he turned the key in the ignition.
"A Stand user, just like Kasumi Aono before you," the bus driver said to himself. "You may not burn, but you have her fire. Tsukune Aono...keep walking this road. Stand proud."
Moments before her panicked scream, Yukari had been quite at peace for the first time since boarding the bus to the human world. She hadn't really shared it with anyone in the group, but one of her biggest concerns with coming to a human city was the 'level of nature' within its confines. The same sensitivity that let Yukari see Stands before her own (unconsciously) began to develop also attuned her to the 'nature' around her. Places with an abundance of plants and other greenery felt right and harmonious to her, and if necessary, she could draw on the latent powers of such areas to boost her power or to see things she normally couldn't. In contrast, heavily developed areas with little foliage were impossible to connect to; even the interior of a building dampened her connection with 'nature' depending on how many artificial materials were involved in its construction.
Based on her mother's own experience in human cities, Yukari was dreading that lack of connection, coupled with the constant threat of the foam that Tamao had stuck in her throat. Since that encounter, Yukari had seen and felt Tamao looking at her with a smug smile every now and again. Even if it was just in her imagination, the mere thought that the mermaid was enjoying seeing her squirm made Yukari's throat itch as if the foam was about to burst out and choke her.
That overriding dread largely vanished once she got a good look at the sunflowers of Witch's Hill, though. Even with the bus slightly muting her connection to the 'nature' all around them, she could still feel the energy teeming in the soil and flowers, energizing her. Once they came to a stop, she all but bounded off the bus, letting out a happy sigh the moment her foot touched the ground and all the power contained within the sunflower field flowed into her.
Oh, thank goodness. It feels like I'm home.
Instinctively, she headed over to one of the sunflowers in the field and crouched down in front of it, extending her senses. The warmth from the sunlight that seeped into the soil flowed into her, causing her smile to broaden and her shoulders to lower. If she didn't know any better, she would've sworn that she could feel magic in the very air of this place.
Then, she saw it—a shadow moving between the sunflowers. She heard it not long afterward—a low grumbling, almost like a growl, and a hushed, rapid rustling.
She blinked and squinted, peering deeper into the forest of sunflowers.
That was when she very clearly saw a pair of glowing eyes leering out at her with a toothy, fanged grin, and she screamed, falling to the ground and scrabbling away from the flowers. The thing, whatever it was, darted to her left, partially emerging from the sunflowers before disappearing back into them, and she huddled in on herself, shuddering violently.
Within moments, Tsukune was at her side, kneeling down. Shooting Star loomed above them, gazing around with a barely-restrained fury on its face. "I heard you scream, Sendou-san. Are you all right? What was that thing in front of you?"
"I d-...I don't know, it was so fast, I couldn't see it," Yukari muttered. Her hand was splayed against her chest as if the pressure would force her heart to stay inside of her body. "It had teeth. Really sharp teeth."
Moka and Kurumu both came to Tsukune's side as Yukari spoke. Immediately, they called out their Stands, and Satellite Lovers went as far as to spawn multiple spy bats and send them into the sunflower field. Kurumu's eyes went violet as she split her vision between the flying cubes, and after a moment she grimaced. "I'm not seeing anything, it's really dark in those flowers. The spy bats can produce sound but they don't receive it, so I can't hear anything moving."
Kind Empress did a quick buzz over the sunflowers, and Moka frowned. "Empress doesn't see or hear anything either."
Slowly, Yukari got back to her feet, but her face was still pale and her breathing was still ragged. After a moment, she seemed to sag, and Tsukune caught her, letting him feel her flinch when Tamao approached with a frown on her face. "What's the matter?"
Tsukune looked back at the sunflowers, frowning as they wobbled in the wind. "There's something in the sunflowers. It gave Sendou-san a fright. We don't know what it was."
Tamao sighed and tossed her hair back with one hand, then folded her arms. "It might have been a fox or something. Really, now, there's no reason to get all worked up."
Ignoring her disdain, Tsukune perked up as he heard the bus engine turn over; he and the others turned around just in time to see the bus driver pull off.
Flabbergasted silence followed, and Tsukune eventually spoke, staring flatly at the bus as it left them behind. "Did he seriously just…."
"All of our stuff's still on there!" Kurumu shouted, her voice almost rising to a wail. "What the hell is he doing!? How are we even supposed to set up the tents and stuff, didn't Miss Nekonome leave them all on the bus?" She blinked as another realization hit her. "Hell, where's Miss Nekonome!? Has anyone seen her since she got off the bus?"
"Of course she'd pick now to go for a run in her true form," Moka said, shaking her head. "If we go wandering off from here we'll probably get separated from both her and the bus driver, whenever he comes back." She put her hands on her hips and looked around, then let out a surprised noise; there was a Western cottage at the edge of the field. It had seen better days—the roof seemed like it was sagging a bit and some of the planks were clearly rotting or broken, but it would do alright to get out of the sun, which was already starting to burn her a bit too much.
Tsukune followed her gaze and nodded. "For now, let's just catch our breath in that house over there. At least we'll be able to cool down a little and Sendou-san can pull herself together."
No one argued with that, and they quickly made their way toward the house. Behind them, masked by the rustling of the sunflowers in the wind, a harsh, creepy breathing rumbled out from the field.
Twelfth Spirit: Vacation Plus Stand, Part 1
This chapter was going to go longer but I've been wrestling with it for a while and this felt like a good stopping point.
Sorry I've been gone so long! I spent a lot of the summer working, and once that was over, I had a lot of other responsibilities to handle. I've been hacking away at this chapter bit by bit and only just got it to this point. Even with this multi-chapter divide, Witch's Hill will probably resolve within the next two chapters, if that. The story proper will end after the incident with the school barrier.
I can't say for sure when the next chapter will be, but it'll depend on how long Chapter 2 of Second Semester takes to write. If I can get that done in a few weeks, then the next S + V will come after that, but no promises. I will definitely try to get that database on Stands created as soon as I can—I'll probably have a Google Docs link in my profile once it's ready. I know I got the suggestion to just upload a story that is nothing but Stand sheets, but I want to use tables and maybe do some other formatting stuff that ffnet wouldn't be able to render properly.
Time permitting, I may have another one-shot or two to throw out at some point, but I've been splitting my attention between a lot of things. I may just have to hold off on them for a bit, unfortunately.
With that, I'm out for now. See you all next time.
~ZS
