Welcome to Hong Kong
Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario Vampire or any part of its franchise. I would also like to thank lord of the land of fire for giving me permission to write this.
This is a sequel to The Unsealed Vampire story by lord of the land of fire and The Unsealed Vampire: Tsukune's Revenge by yours truly.
And this marks the fourteenth chapter in the Tsukune's Redemption story arc. I would estimate that we should be seeing the end of Tsukune's Redemption in about 6 chapters. An even twenty sounds like a decent size sequel to me. I'm wondering if I should make this into a trilogy. Would you like to see another installment after this arc? Please review this story and give me your thoughts.
Now that I am done wasting your time with author's notes, let us move on to the main attraction.
Enjoy:
Tsukune awoke just in time to see the Huang private jet he was on safely land at Hong Kong's international airport. It was obvious the Huang had a lot of pull in the country, the very fact that they could permit their own people to disembark at a public gate meant that they had either had considerable pull among officials or that a few of the Huang worked transportation.
At this rate, Tsukune was reluctant to rule out either option as he witnessed a full squadron of men dressed in suits approach him and escort the small group to a limousine waiting outside. He had barely sat himself down when the limo driver decided they had wasted enough time and apparently wanted to make up for it by by pressing down on the acceleration
Since the cozy interior had seats that stretched all the way around, Tsukune felt he would like a little bit of space and decided to sit at the other end with both Lingling and Fangfang facing him. Having not buckled his seat belt and being caught off guard by the sudden acceleration. Our teen ghoul lost his balance and went tumbling forward right into poor Lingling with her breasts serving as the only thing that somewhat cushioned Tsukune's fall.
He saw it coming but could do nothing to stop it from happening. And in a rather poorly planned move induced by a lack of oxygen flowing to his brain on account of suffocating half to death, he attempted to get himself out of this compromising position by grabbing whatever his hands could reach and using it as leverage. Right after hearing a strange noise coming from Lingling, he immediately realized that what he was doing was a big no no and let go. The direct consequence being that he went right back into his previous position.
The remainder of the drive, once Tsukune managed to sit himself down, was extremely awkward for the ex-HLF leader. You could give the man a gun and tell him to go Rambo, it would be a walk in the park for him. Send him tumbling into an appealing girl and he loses all confidence, sense of reasoning and he'll light up brighter than a Christmas tree on Christmas. Fangfang was also feeling a little uneasy after what occurred yet he still found it in him to cling to old habits and imagine how he could entice Tsukune into joining his family, there was something beyond wrong with this one. As for Lingling, she acted as casual as she could manage and was idly passing the time by scheming on the best way to have something like this happen again in the future. On second thought, Fangfang wasn't to blame, his entire family was messed up and that was blatantly easy to notice by the way their minds worked.
In any case, the drive itself went off without a hitch. The driver expertly navigated the blocked streets and back roads so as to avoid most of the traffic jams. It was going well, too well for Tsukune's tastes. In his experiences, the Cosmos generally functioned on a "calm before the storm" principle. Whenever things looked nice and quiet, it was a given that he would end up in a compromising position moments thereafter.
You can therefore understand his apprehension as he got out of the limo and was faced with the Huang Syndicate mansion: It was a western style house complete with a balcony overlooking the entrance and a set of steps carved out of white stone that led up to the door. A light shade of wood composed the infrastructure of the mansion which was truly non-negligible. All in all, it was majestic and imposing enough to make one feel insignificant on its own. Now add the bountiful gardens that surrounded the mansion, or palace in Tsukune's opinion, and you get a good idea of how impressive it was to stand in front of it.
The brown haired boy humored himself briefly by wondering if he should have wiped his shoes before setting foot on the property or if it would have been best to simply take them off as per Japanese custom when entering a house. His musing was cut short by Fangfang who felt the compulsive need to show off the pride and joy that was his family's holdings. "Welcome, Tsukune Aono, to the Huang Family's mansion. You are my guest here so please make yourself at home."
His warm welcome was supported by Lingling who seemed to materialize out of thin air next to Tsukune. He jumped at the realization, the memory of his accidental fall still fresh in his mind. The zombie monster didn't look to mind being at such a close proximity to him despite what had transpired. If anything, she appeared to be closer than she would have been otherwise.
That little subtlety in Linling's behavior was utterly lost on Tsukune as he put a few steps between himself and Fangfang's sister as discreetly as possible, this clearly was not his cup of tea. His uneasiness faded as he remembered his previous apprehension and made sure to put up his guard and watch for anything that might be out of the ordinary. Yeah, because being invited to the home of a mafia family that was comprised of monsters wasn't weird at all to begin with.
He shook his head at the sarcasm that formed in his head. He often had trouble differentiating his own thoughts from Reaper's. On some occasions, he almost felt as though they were the one and the same but that couldn't be right, could it be? Reaper was evil personified, a plague upon the Earth and a blight to both humans and monsters. "Stop it, you're going to make me blush." You see what he meant? It was perfectly obvious that they were not the same person to any half-wit who took the time to examine his case.
Or so he told himself as he marched forward towards the house with a frown etched on his face. That left a very self-conscious Fangfang to wonder how he could have offended his newest and only friend so fast, they hadn't even made it through the front door yet and already something went wrong. He looked to his sister for any clues or possible pointers since she was so much more apt at noticing these things than he was. His hopes irrevocably dashed as he was to be met with the same puzzlement that plague his own brain. He knew he hadn't offended his guest by not respecting Japanese customs, he had spent a good deal of his time in the last few days brushing up on that in order to avoid a faux-pas like the one he was sure he was committing right now. Why did it always backfire on him? All he wanted was to put his friend at ease. He was a complete failure at every thing he tried. First his magic, now this. Might as well go hide in a corner and wallow in self-pity for a little while.
Tsukune was oblivious to the heir of the Huang's plight as he walked up the stairs. He turned the handle to the door and cautiously opened it so as to make sure no traps would emerge. Instead, he was only to be met by a welcoming committee the size of which he had never seen before, and that included his birthdays for crying out loud!
People who were either dressed in expensive Chinese clothing or suits much like the ones who escorted him here were swarming the room. Some were in monster form while others opted to stay in their human disguises. Then again, they might have all been in their monster forms and he was too inept to tell the difference. Perhaps they were of species that resembled vampires in the fact that very little apart from their power and slit eyes differentiated them from humans.
He had to stop his mind from wandering anymore than it already had. Now was not the time to be over-analytical about his hosts' appearances, not when you were confronted with dozens of monsters you have never met before. For all anyone knew, any among them could have been a Fairy Tale spy and was playing the rest of the Huang for saps as they waited for something worthwhile to report to their superiors.
The Huang had survived decades of gang warfare. Odds were that if they hadn't unmasked a spy in their midst by now, there wasn't one to be found in the first place. Still, he couldn't help but feel slightly paranoid. He didn't know how or why but his gut was positive in warning him that someone from Fairy Tale was watching him very closely and had been doing so for quite some time.
XXXXXXXXXX
He was tensing up and scrutinizing the room like a hawk does his prey, it was apparent he sensed an intruder. Had she made a mistake? She took every precaution to insure her aura was undetectable. Touhou Fuhai himself hadn't noticed her presence so how was it that Tsukune, a ghoul, could? Akua was using her dimensional sword technique to observe the room from the ceiling, she had a clear vantage point and was hidden in such a way that no one would be able to distinguish her form as she camouflaged herself among the chandeliers and other trinkets the Huang clan were hanging on their ceiling, some of which weren't very feng shui in Akua's expert opinion.
In other words, she was physically invisible and her energy was untraceable as of now. So again, she asked herself, how could he guess something was amiss? Were her skills that rusty, he sure had a way of making her feel insecure about herself. Then it hit her, the blood bond was tipping him off. She resisted the sudden urge to bang her head against the nearest solid surface, mainly because she didn't want to blow her cover.
Still, she made sure to mentally chastise herself for the oversight. She had used that connection multiple times to keep track of the boy and not once did she consider he might do the same. He wasn't aware of the connection's existence so that gave her a bit of an advantage. Oh well, she would just have to be extra cautious in the future.
This definitely upped the ante. If she got too close to her target, he would instinctively know she was there and she could kiss her espionage mission goodbye and possibly her back end, diving into the middle of the Huang's lair without any backup was quite hazardous to one's health.. This assignment had gone from being a walk in the park to becoming a very uncomfortable job. The last time she recalled feeling this uneasy was when Kahlua had had the bright idea of researching how best to carry out a crucial assassination by surfing the internet for pointers. Suffice it to say the target was male and known to be a playboy. Not only had she been there to witness the results of the search with her own two eyes but so had been Kokoa. They couldn't look each other in the eye for a full month after that.
She pulled her head back up into the ceiling and decided she would rely solely on her enhanced hearing to find out what was going on. She estimated that so long as she kept a comfortable ten meters between herself and her target, it would all go smoothly. As she pressed her ear up against the wall, she could discern someone speaking.
XXXXXXXXXX
Tiantian Huang and Feihong Huang had stepped forward and were now openly welcoming their son and his friend. The family resemblance was striking. So these people controlled one of the biggest crime syndicates in the world? Confronted with people of such standing, Tsukune did the polite thing and returned the greeting with some kind words of thanks along with a small bow.
The excess in formality seemed to displease the couple who then immediately let that fact be known to the young ghoul. Feihong Huang took the initiative and grabbed the veteran fighter by the collar. Half expecting a blow to follow the aggressive move, Tsukune was caught off guard as he felt a bottle of sake being forced down his throat. "No need to be so formal! We're all friends here." The roaring laughter that came out of the Huang patriarch added to the tonality of that statement. Tiantian was vigorously nodding her head in approval in the background.
Fangfang didn't really seem the mobster type. His parents, on the other hand, seemed to live up to that calling. Hence, poor Tsukune was half-drunk by the time Tiantian finally took pity on the boy and got the dreaded bottle away from him. Alas, the damage had already been done, his processing capabilities had been slowed immensely by the alcohol now taking effect. "Hick. I people these love. Ha ha. Look at you, all stuff and drunk. Oh, I got a headache. I need to lay down. Hick."
As his alter-ego was mumbling and suffering from the sudden intake of alcohol, Tsukune furiously nodded in accordance with everything Reaper said. Tiantian and Feihong looked at each other, the boy must have been a real light-weight when it came to the drink. Meanwhile, Fangfang tried to keep his friend from falling over, much to the amusement of the majority of the clan in attendance.
However, another figure approached the boy and the roaring laughter and mocking died down in record time. "Look at what you've done to him. You didn't even give him a chance." Touhou Fuhai yelled out as he came closer to Mikogami's protegee. Fantastic, Akasha and Tenmei would never let him live this down if they found out Tsukune ended up in such a deplorable state while under his roof.
Said protegee had since pushed Fangfang away, insisting he could stand on his own. Hearing someone calling his name, he then turned around to be met with what he thought was a blank space in front of him. He was dumbly trying to comprehend how an empty space could call out to him when he heard that same voice again. "Hey! Down here." The tone had since become quite angry.
Tsukune looked down and finally came face to face with the greatest sorcerer alive: Touhou Fuhai. The Dark Lord was quite simple with his greeting."Yo." He called out as Tsukune seemed to struggle to find the words best suited to describe what he was feeling.
"Who are you?" He asked in a slurred voice as he vacillated from left to right. Yep, Touhou Fuhai could already feel the pain Akasha's punch was going to cause him. At least he had enough time to sober him up before she and Mikogami showed up. But intoxication aside, he was right to ask that question. This was actually the first time they had met face to face without Tsukune being in a coma.
Might as well impress the kid a little bit. The elderly man puffed up his chest as he answered in an as dignified tone as he could muster. "I'm Touhou Fuhai, founder of the Huang family." He was very pleased when Tsukune seemed to be dumbstruck at the revelation. Or so he was until the boy opened his big mouth.
"But you're so tiny!" He hiccuped as he tried to keep his laughter down. At that moment, everyone in the vicinity cringed at the unintended insult. Even Akua was feeling cold shivers run up and down her spine as she prayed Touhou Fuhai wouldn't skin him alive on the spot. Then again, if the rumors were true,that would speed up the process and avoid anymore of this pointless waiting. After thinking about it, she started silently chanting for the Dark Lord to do just that.
You could see fumes coming out of the elderly sorcerer. However, instead of skinning him like Akua was cheering for, he raised his cane and lightly tapped Tsukune's forehead. Seconds later, he was sobering up in record time as he recovered from the shock of being projected through several rooms inside the gigantic mansion.
When he was finally lucid enough to understand what had happened and was capable of realizing the extent of his accidental insult, he saw that eight rooms now separated him from where he, albeit with difficulty, stood. He looked down to see how badly he was wounded and came face to face with the Dark Lord as he looked up again at the unintended carnage.
The above mentioned Dark Lord pushed his cane up to Tsukune's neck and spoke quite calmly. "You got a problem with the way I look?" It was obvious that if he didn't answer properly, the boy would be faced with the same question in another eight rooms behind where he was currently leaning against a somewhat damaged wall.
"No, not at all, sir." He gulped as he felt the pressure of the aura being emitted from the cane grow exponentially. Then, as if nothing had ever happened, the old head of the Huang Syndicate lowered his weapon and turned away from the newcomer. A tad bit of amusement did twinkle in his eye but none could tell as they were shielded from the world by the pair of oversized glasses that he wore on account of his very poor vision.
"Good. Now dust yourself off and get off the ground, I think I heard the lunch bell ring." He vanished in a flash leaving good old Tsukune to struggle to get back on his feet. That would be the absolute last time he would ever let anyone get near him with a bottle of sake. He vowed it as Lingling decided to pull a Houdini by appearing next to him and help him to his feet. This was shameful: He was a guest of honor in their home and a good portion of it already got wrecked due to his mistake.
He apologized profusely to the zombie girl who now walked next to him. She promptly and repeatedly assured him it was nothing to worry about. "You would be amazed at the number of times something like this happens around here. By tomorrow, it will be all fixed up and everyone will have forgotten so don't worry about it."
"But I hate to be a nuisance, especially if you have to clean up after me when I should be the one to pay for the damages." With what money he could afford to do such a thing? He had no idea. It was highly doubtful that his parents would be willing to pay for something like this. No, they would pay for the damages. The real problem would be trying to explain how it had all come to happen. How would he justify his long absence? The fact that he wasn't human anymore? Now these are the kinds of questions he never asked while back at the Snow Village... Such simpler times when you thought about it and completely ignored the fact that he was going off the deep end, planning to kill his captors and go on a suicide run to join Moka in death. You know, the minor details...
Luckily, she shot down his offer before he could have time to thoroughly appreciate the sheer amount of trouble his big mouth was bringing him today. Her answer puzzled him immensely, and freaked him out at the same time. In retrospect, he would concede that indeed it did fit her pretty well considering what her monster nature was.
"It's no bother. After all, I'm already dead." He spent the next few minutes trying to figure how being dead was related to doing menial work not being an issue in this case. Was it because she had all the time in the world? That meant she would be personally cleaning up his mess? And why did she have to be so morbid about it? Seriously, who would even think it would be a good idea to say that as if in order to alleviate one's fears and make them more comfortable?
If it were at all possible, it did the opposite of what it was intended to do. It was downright depressing to tell the truth. Thankfully, the scene at the lunch table was enough to make him forget about Lingling's saddening attempts at providing comfort and reassurance. Fangfang and Feihong kept on quietly eating as though they weren't seeing what the vampire in becoming was gawking at.
Touhou Fuhai laid on the ground with several darts sticking out of his forehead. The culprit, Tiantian Huang, was towering over him and lecturing him on his horrible treatment of their guest and how rude and unbecoming it was to take other people's food. The dramatic event quickly passed as everyone, including the assaulted Dark Lord, went back to eating. Was this kind of thing just as common as was supposedly destroying parts of the Huang mansion?
Fortunately, there were no further incidents to report. People were happily conversing with one another and no one tried to force anymore alcoholic beverages down his throat. The latter he was quite thankful for. When lunch finally ended, and the sizable feast that was provided had been entirely devoured, Tsukune was shown to his room.
The chamber was lavishly decorated. A comfortable king-sized bed with curtains enclosing it on all sides gave off a sense of privacy. Other pieces of furniture featured a desk and a matching chair that were placed next to a window that had a stunning view of Hong Kong's metropolitan area, a small television set, a wooden dresser and an end table with a small lamp on either sides of the bed. The entire room was furnished with bright and lively colors, chief among them was a deep crimson red. It definitely did beat living in a cabin in the woods so he couldn't complain. This may have been the most luxurious place he has ever the pleasure of staying at in his life.
XXXXXXXXXX
Nightfall came and boredom had reared it's ugly head hours ago. The only thing that Tsukune could do to distract himself and stave off the endless waiting was to take a look at the ancestral tome he had been entrusted with. It's contents was unremarkable and there was nothing contained within that he didn't either already known about or previously guessed he could do. Basically, this book was not one meant to teach him anything, it was merely meant to record what he would experiment on in the future.
How long would that take? Years, maybe decades just to uncover a single new technique. And then what? To what end would this be used? The only instructions he had been given was to keep the knowledge alive. The HLF would be terminated, but what of the aftermath? For the past few months, he had gone from one end of the spectrum to the other, dedicated to such or such purpose. What would happen when it would be over, what would happen when he was to be without a cause or a reason?
Ultimately, would he become alike a modern version of a ronin? A soldier without a reason to be? Going back to what he was before he entered the Snow Village seemed surreal. Carrying on as though he were simply some high school student didn't feel possible. With what he had done, there couldn't be any notion of turning back.
He was growing impatient. The Huang had brought him here to counsel them on how to fight the HLF, so what was it preventing them from getting started immediately? Why must he wait? The frustration subsided as he remembered the very thing he held dear that brought him to this point. All he had done up to now had been for the sole purpose of creating a better future for both Moka and himself. One where they wouldn't have to be separated ever again. He freed human slaves so that her kind may regard him as their equal. He fought against Fairy Tale so that he could proclaim himself to be worthy of Moka without being mocked by the rest. Even now, he fought his ex-comrades so that he may wash away the carnage and suffering he had caused her and the innocent monsters caught in the crossfire.
This is precisely why he hated waiting around. Every time he had a little bit of time on his hands, his mind would wander back to unpleasant topics. He might put on a brave face for the rest of the world, he could direct people and show support but it was all for show. Deep down, he dreaded the thought of no longer having purpose because that signified he would no longer have an outlet to pursue his own self-imposed penance. After what he'd done, he didn't deserve a happy ending with Moka.
The second he was done out here, next stop would be right back into the Pit. In his bid to free Humanity, he created true monsters. Those out slaughtering the innocent were the remains of his influence. So much blood had been spilled, all for his own need for revenge. It was wrong, all of this was wrong.
So many scenarios had gone through his head as he planned his escape from the Snow Village, the near totality of them involved him getting away as fast as possible and as far as possible with the other captives. Instead of following the multitude of plans he could have gone with, he purposefully endangered the lives of so many just to try and kill Mizore and burn down what she held most dear.
Did Mizore deserve to die? Yes she did, no one disputed that. Yet he could have gone a completely different route. Slicing her throat in her sleep would have been just as worthy of being called justice. In lieu of that, he torn down her village, massacred her people and added insult to injury by stripping his fellow mortal of their basic humanity, all for his blood lust.
"It proves what I've been saying all along. Should we really be out here trying to save the innocent when it is our fault they died in the first place? Are we really going to play the hero and wag our blood soaked fingers at those who only did what we told them to do? There is no forgiveness and there is no redemption for us. All of this because you want some closure for the harm you've caused. You're a real wimp, boy scout."
"NO!" The shout echoed the room as it did his own mind. It had taken him all this time to figure it out. He wasn't here to try and willfully obtain redemption. This trip of his wasn't a last ditch effort to receive closure. It wasn't his ego ordering him to make himself feel better. It wasn't even about his selfish desire to be with Moka.
In truth, he expected no such reward from this, he had been ready to go back to his suffering in his own personal version of hell after this. He wasn't here to save his hide. He came here to protect those that could find themselves at the HLF's mercy in the future. He was here to promote the ideal that monsters and humans could live side by side by learning from the mistakes that had been made. Some of those mistakes were Mizore's and her specie's. Others were his own.
He wasn't fighting on so as to be considered good and right, he fought for it was the right thing to do. It was his duty, it was his penance, it was his desire to make sure none other would follow in his footsteps and become what he became. The ghoulish traits he had taken on were only the physical manifestation of his mental corruption, forged through the fire of his own hate. He became a monster of his own freewill, he became an animal of his own accord. He became Reaper.
For the first time in ages, Tsukune could lay his head down and feel the weight lift itself off his shoulders. For the first time in what felt like centuries, the guilt no longer obsessed him. He was the same carefree spirit he had been when he entered Yokai. No, not exactly, he was something else. He was no longer possessed by the shame of his lust for carnage. He had a purpose he adhered to with all his heart, that of peaceful coexistence.
He felt alone in his own head for the first time in a very long time... and that felt mighty good.
As he contemplated the peace that had reached his heart. He felt the calming and oh so soothing rocking that a very powerful aura emitted. It was nearly imperceptible and contained no trace of malice within it. Had his spirits been even slightly agitated, he would have missed the energy that approached.
Now that he paid attention to it, he couldn't shake that feeling of deja-vu. Where did he know that aura from? The answer brought a smile to his lips as he identified the familiar signature and at long last could comprehend why the Huang were waiting. They weren't wasting time at all, they were simply waiting for the big guns to show up.
Within a few seconds, he was running as fast as he could manage throughout the complex. Racing through corridors and jumping over stair railings. He was all out of breath when he arrived at the main entrance of the mansion. What he saw there made his physical exertion worth it. Before him stood the smiling face of Outer Moka standing proudly next to her mother.
Ignoring the Headmaster, his assistant and Akasha Bloodriver's presence. He ran up to Outer Moka and gave her the warmest embrace he could. Both kissed and hugged as they were submerged in a torrent of joyous emotions. It was incredible how much he missed seeing her. He could only imagine what it would be like to say hi to Inner Moka next time she was unsealed.
He then felt the light tapping of slim fingertips on his shoulder. He turned around to be faced with Inner Moka's smile and predatory like stare. "Hello there, lover. Missed us?" Her teasing was what made him do a double take. Okay, so wait. How did? But they... and the seal... and... and... Uh-huh, time to go back to bed, seeing as how this day was making less and less sense by the minute.
XXXXXXXXXX
Once the newcomers settled down to explain how this bizarre and potentially disastrous looking turn of events came about, Tsukune came to grips with it in no small part thanks to two Mokas clinging to him. It was surprising how visual aid always made things much easier to understand, and also enjoy on occasion.
Unfortunately for Tsukune, the happy reunion did not come without a price. If memory served correctly, he skipped out on the two of them without so much as a goodbye kiss. One of the many disadvantages of having them split into two bodies made itself known to the boy in a most unpleasant manner: He got his backside beaten up by two furious girlfriends who had been worried sick about his health.
To add insult to injury, Lingling felt the compulsive need to act flirtatious with him right in front of the vampires. Lingling came out of the ordeal unscathed, in part thanks to her status as being already dead. As for Tsukune, not so much. Luck deserted him, Fate was messing with him and the Mokas encompassed the will of these two archenemies of his by mercilessly beating him up. Well, Inner Moka did most of the ass-kicking. Outer Moka just kept asking him what she had done wrong while crying in abundance.
As horrid as it may have been for Tsukune, he would always come to prefer that to what was to follow next. It came under the guises of a monster ringing at the door. Ask any present at the time and they would tell you that that was the all defining moment for inter-species relations for the next few centuries. Care to guess who's at the door?