The group was sitting in their homeroom class towards the end of the school day. They had managed to get through what little classes were left since they were in the infirmary with no incidents. The boys had been out for a week, so they had a lot of makeup homework to deal with. Dark and Rason didn't seem too bothered by it, Tsukune however had a mini freak out hearing that he had to deal with Ms. Ririko's makeup work, fearing that he may have to take her 'after school lessons'. Again, nobody blamed him for reacting that way. The girls had managed to keep up to date with their work. They had kept up with their assignments during class time so that when their boyfriends recovered they would be free to spend time with them. Each girl hoped all day every day that their loves would come back to them, and spent every free moment between classes they could to visit and wait for them to wake up. After school they had skipped newspaper club altogether to visit them. They would stay late each night until they were asked to leave by the staff, then dream of them all night. Now that they had returned each girl was looking at their boyfriend with loving eyes.
Moka had her eyes set in front of her on her boyfriend, the half-vampire half-human Tsukune. She was so happy he had come back, and was acting normal again. She was aware that inside of him lurked a great evil, but after seeing him being able to repress it, something that should have been impossible, she had complete faith that he could overcome any obstacle. She longed to spend more quality time with her boyfriend, and both she and her inner self were thinking of ways to have the boy sleep over again. After trying to seduce him, even if it was a misunderstanding on both of their parts, the gentle and caring Moka couldn't help but let her mind wander into some rather perverted fantasies about her boyfriend. Even her inner self was anxious to spend more quality time with her mate.
In front of her Tsukune was staring ahead at the teacher's lesson, not paying attention. He knew he had to get stronger, to protect his friends and his girlfriend. After he learned what he had become, and what he had done, he was against even trying to live like this. However after hearing Dark's words about controlling and owning one's curse, and Moka's words about never wanting to lose him again, he was determined to overcome this ghoul problem and remain with his love for all time. He never wanted to be apart from her, and would do everything he could to gain control of his incredible vampire power. Everything he could, or die trying.
Ahead of him Mizore sat there staring over at Dark, her chin resting on her hand as she rolled her lollipop around in her mouth. Her demon was alive and well again, once again listening to his music like he always does. She giggled to herself as she admired him. He looked like he was never paying attention, but she knew he was more aware then he let on. She had caught him glancing over to her every now and then, smiling softly then resuming looking ahead. The snow girl was dreaming of marrying this monster, this shadow demon from hell, and was thinking of any excuse she could to get him to come back to her room tonight. She was so close to having him before; she would not stop until she could experience the whole thing. The thought of how he 'handled' her that night caused her to look at him with lustful eyes. She was going to be a perfect wife for her husband, and the first thing she wanted to show him was how she would care for him.
While Mizore let her mind wander to many perverted scenarios, Dark continued looking ahead with uninterested eyes. His music player was once again holding interest over Ms. Nekonome's teachings. He also was thinking about how he needed to get stronger, especially since Tsukune was increasing in power very rapidly. He knew that if that ghoul came back out Mizore would be in danger, and no matter what he had to protect her. That monster beat him down effortlessly last time; he swore he would be prepared for the next battle.
Behind him Yukari was looking at the lesson plan going on. She was devastated to hear that Apoch and Astreal were killed, and mourned their death greatly. She understood that Tsukune was not in control, and didn't bear any harsh feelings towards him. She did however hate the ghoul inside of him with all her being, and wished for Tsukune to keep him locked away forever. She was determined to help the boy get stronger; to make sure that no more of her friends would be harmed by that great evil. Plus this gave her all the more reason to be closer to him and Moka, something the witch never seemed to give up on.
While she concentrated on the boy and girl she idolized, behind her a blue haired succubus was again looking at her angel with loving eyes. Kurumu had missed the feeling of the bond they shared during class, each day making her nearly cry from the absence of her boyfriend. She was thrilled he was back again, and determined to never leave his side. After watching that ghoul take him down mercilessly she was focused on getting stronger as well. She had to make sure her Destined One would be safe, and was convinced she had to increase her own strength to do it. The ghoul took her out with a few hits effortlessly, that must not be allowed to be the case next time. No matter what, nothing would take her Destined One from her, nothing.
Next to the love-struck girl Rason was looking up daydreaming again. He normally dreamed about flying about with his girl high in the sky, taking in her beautiful smile and figure as they soared amongst the clouds. But after nearly dying and learning about Tsukune's unstable condition, he was now thinking of ways to improve his own power and strength. He knew he had to protect his girl, and he had to defend his new friends. He wasn't sure if Apoch and Astreal would go to heaven, whether summoned beings would be allowed or if they would be sent away due to their dark past, but he prayed they would be allowed in and taken care of even though they were monsters. Still, he promised himself that no more of his friends would leave this world, not as long as he was able to protect them.
"Ok class, that concludes today's lesson, you may spend the remaining time for free period," Ms. Nekonome said as she picked up some papers and walked out of the room.
Tsukune turned around and smiled at his girlfriend, the vampire smiling and gazing into his eyes.
"How are you feeling Tsukune?" she asked.
"I'm doing alright, so far at least," he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. The visions had mostly gone away at this point, and whenever one seemed to flash before him he pushed it away with his mind quickly. The voice however wasn't being silenced so easily.
'Kill them…'
'No.'
'Kill them all…'
'No.'
'Ok, how about something more suited to your intelligence level. Knock knock…'
'Who's there…'
'Kill them.'
'No.'
"The ghoul isn't shutting up though, it's sort of annoying really," he said with a weak smile.
"Just threaten it with more chick flicks," Kurumu giggled as she walked over. Moka laughed at that as well.
"I tried, but I think that isn't going to cut it anymore," Tsukune said shaking his head.
"That must be bothersome having to listen to him all day," Rason said looking at the boy.
"Tell me about it," Tsukune sighed. He glanced over to Dark who was looking at his girl with his usual expression, the shy snow girl smiling softly at him. They didn't need words to express their feelings, and Mizore looked at him with loving eyes as always. Tsukune waved his hand in front of his eye line, the silent boy merely glancing to see what had gotten in his way of his girl's beauty.
"Dark, do you ever have to deal with inner voices?" Tsukune asked curiously. He was a demon made from hatred and evil, maybe he knew what it was like. Dark just looked at him and nodded.
"Really? How often does it happen to you?" Tsukune asked in wonder.
"Every second I'm awake," Dark said causally. The group looked at him with wide eyes.
"Every second?" Tsukune said surprised. Dark again just nodded.
"Oh my, that's horrible," Moka said with sad eyes.
"How do you deal with that?" Mizore asked as she looked at her boyfriend with worry. Dark just looked at her for a moment.
"In public? Really?" he asked raising an eyebrow. The group turned to the snow girl with shocked expressions, the snow maiden's jaw having dropped to the point where her candy fell out. Before it hit the ground her face had turned bright red.
"Wow…" Rason breathed out.
"What could he have heard from that?" Yukari asked curiously.
"Mizore, such a dirty girl," Kurumu purred. She dropped to the ground in an instant from an ice kunai to her head. Mizore looked away embarrassed; hearing him talk about that sort of thing felt like he was teasing her, and she could feel her heart beating faster wondering what he thought she said. After she cooled down a little she turned to face him again, this time with no lollipop in her mouth.
"I said, how do you deal with that?" she said with timid eyes. Dark then glanced back to Tsukune.
"I just let them bicker amongst themselves, they don't bother me anymore," he said simply.
"Them? Wait… you mean you hear more than one?" Tsukune asked.
"How many voices do you hear?" Moka asked in wonder.
"Thousands," Dark said flatly. The group looked at him in shock. They knew he was made from evil and hatred, but they never knew he heard so many dark voices in his head because of it.
"How do you stay sane?" Tsukune asked loudly. Dark just shrugged.
"Music helps," he said. The group blinked at that response.
"Really?" Tsukune asked softly. Dark looked up for a moment, then back to the boy.
"Not really, but it's nice," he said flatly. Tsukune staggered a bit at that.
"But… how can you stand it? And what do you mean they don't bother you anymore?" Tsukune asked getting back up. Dark just looked at him then to Mizore.
"They don't talk to me anymore, they fear me now," He said calmly. Mizore smiled at that and looked at him with adoring eyes.
'He's so cool…'
"Fear you?" Rason asked with a quizzical expression.
"How did you make them fear you my beloved?" Mizore asked curiously.
"Self-control. With willpower I can force them back into the darkest corners of my mind. Once they learned that I had a stronger will than they, they learned to leave me alone," Dark said simply. He looked back over at Tsukune.
"Control yours. Own it. It's your power after all," he said with a shrug.
"But… how? I've tried talking to it, and it won't shut up," Tsukune replied looking up thoughtfully.
"Don't talk to it stupid, you're just talking to yourself, that's pointless," Dark said while shaking his head. All eyes were on him as he looked at the confused boy with no expression. Tsukune thought about those words carefully. Even his ghoul had referred them to being the same person. But how can he get a hold on his inner self when it acted so independently?
"So then… how do you control it?" he asked. Dark removed his earbuds and put them in his pocket. He narrowed his eyes which turned pitch black. The room started to darken as light seemed to disappear around them. Other students started looking around nervously at the weird shift in the room. The group looked at him as he focused his power, making the area around him darker and darker.
"I told you, willpower. All their hate and power that flows within me, all the evil that screams out in my mind, I control it with my mind as if I control my own hand," he said in a cold voice. The group looked at him with nervous eyes. Mizore however kept looking with loving eyes, not being phased in the least.
'My demon…'
The room started to return to normal as Dark called back his power, his eyes returning to normal as well. He looked at Tsukune with his usual expression as if nothing had happened.
"Focus your mind and control your power. If you do that, that… ghoul will never gain control," he said as he put his earbuds back in and started up his music. Tsukune regained himself and thought about what he was told.
'Focus my mind… control the evil within…'
'Nothing but bullshit.'
'If he can control thousands of voices, I can handle one.'
'Right, you've done a great job so far. Killed two witch sisters, check. Nearly killed your buddies here in this room, check.'
'Pushed a ghoul, a supposed legendary super killing machine, back into the darkness of my mind, check.'
'Don't get smart with me boy, it's only a matter of time until I get control again. And when I do, I'll make sure your precious girlfriend will suffer, slowly.'
Tsukune narrowed his eyes as he talked to his inner self, the others just watching him curiously.
"Do you think he can really control that… thing?" Kurumu asked worriedly.
"I hope so. I sure don't want to have to face that again," Rason said rubbing the back of his head. Mizore glanced over to Dark.
'He's constantly keeping thousands of voices in his mind repressed, while he listens to music, while he interacts with us. I never knew he was so… in control.'
Dark watched Tsukune who was still arguing with himself. He then looked at him curiously and wondered what he was going through. He knew he was facing a daunting task of suppressing this ghoul, but he had managed to hold it back once, showing he had potential to deal with it. Dark knew Tsukune needed the help to gain control, so he figured he would hide a minor detail about what he had just told him.
'I may have many voices in my head, but I bet they pale in comparison to that evil force in you. Still, if anybody can stop it, it's you Tsukune.'
The group was walking towards the clubroom after their classes had ended. Moka was again hanging onto her boyfriend's arm, so happy that she was once again able to walk with him. During the days where the boys were in the infirmary she hated walking alone so much, it always brought her down. The boy she was with was smiling that he had the lovely Moka walking with him, and also focused on learning to control his power. Tsukune knew he had to protect her, and he would not accept failure with such an important task.
Behind them Kurumu was hanging onto Rason's arm, her breasts once again surrounding the angel's arm with softness. She would giggle and walk in pace with him, her breasts bouncing and rubbing along his arm in doing so. For the girl, it sent spikes of pleasure through her body, causing her to blush a bit. For the boy, it sent the blood rushing to his face in a blush from the pleasure that his gorgeous girlfriend was doing that to him.
Next to them Mizore and Dark were walking together, the boy as always listening to his music while he walked in pace with the others. The snow girl clung to his arm and held him tightly, desperately not wanting to be separated with him again. During the days he was gone she was depressed to the point where she nearly broke out into tears every hour. She realized that she was bound to him just as Kurumu was bound to Rason. There may not be some mystical force controlling her destiny like the succubus, but she had a demon's mark over her heart, and that alone was enough to attach her love to him forever.
In front of them Yukari was walking with them. She wasn't skipping around with high energy as she used to do, the young witch still coming to grips with losing two fellow witches. Still, she was determined to press on and get through these difficult times with the friends that meant the world to her.
"I wonder how Gin's been holding up without us there these past few days," Moka asked.
"You haven't been going to the club?" Tsukune asked curiously. Moka gently shook her head and looked to her boyfriend.
"Without you guys with us, we didn't really feel up to doing anything," she said softly. The other girls nodded and held their boyfriends closer.
"Well, now that we're back I guess we need to make up for lost time," Rason said rubbing the back of his head.
"Hardly, I say we earned a break from that pervert anyway," Kurumu scoffed.
"He probably used the time to spy on other girls," Mizore said while shaking her head.
"Now now, we don't know that," Tsukune said with a weak smile. The girls glanced to each other and sighed. They were pretty sure that was exactly what their senior member was doing all this time. Gin did visit the boys on the first day of their time in the infirmary after school, but didn't come back after that.
The group walked into the clubroom and looked around, nobody else was there yet. They walked over to the table and sat down in their usual spots.
"Not here, probably out peeping again," Kurumu said with a sigh.
"No surprise there," Yukari added flatly.
"Well, while we wait for him, any idea what to add to the paper this week?" Tsukune asked with a smile.
"Hm, well I have noticed something strange these past few days," Yukari said looking up thoughtfully. The group looked to her as she glanced around at them with a cautious expression.
"I've been hearing rumors around campus. There's talk about monster villages and even human ones being attacked," she said with a bit of worry.
"Not sure if that's really strange. I mean monsters always fight each other, no surprise there. And even less of a surprise when it comes to humans, they fight all the time like animals," Kurumu reasoned. She then blinked and looked to Tsukune.
"No offense," she said nervously with a weak smile. He laughed and shook his head; he didn't feel like defending his own people at all from that remark.
"But they are saying that these attacks are being made by the same group, a group of monsters," Yukari said concerned.
"That doesn't seem right. Monsters wouldn't attack humans; that just hurts our cause even more to coexist with them. The dark lords wouldn't allow some rogue monsters to hinder their plans," Moka said thinking about it.
"I guess so," Yukari said thinking about that as well.
"Not to mention it would be suicide. Humans have monsters outgunned, that's why we are even trying to coexist in the first place," Kurumu added.
"Yeah, besides, I don't think Gin would want us talking about that with the school newspaper, sounds like that might attract some fire from the headmaster," Tsukune said while looking up. The group nodded to that and started to think of what else to write about. Before anybody else could speak Gin walked in carrying some photos he was looking through.
"Hello my little... oh! You guys are early," he said as he quickly stuffed the photos into his pockets. The group looked at him curiously.
"What do you mean? You're late," Yukari said as she looked to the clock. Mizore and Kurumu narrowed their eyes at the wolf.
"Oh, am I? Sorry about that, must have lost track of time," he said with chuckle.
"Really, doing what?" Kurumu asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Just working on being a great reporter of course. But before we get down to business, how are you guys feeling?" he asked looking around the group.
"They're doing fine now. You would have known that if you bothered to visit them," Kurumu scoffed as she grabbed hold of her angel's arm.
"Hey, I'm a busy guy, I have work to do you know. Especially when my club members don't show up for half the week," Gin barked back.
"Oh please, you probably spent all that time taking lewd pictures of girls again," the succubus quipped.
"I'm getting tired of you always assuming that! What I do in this club matters you know!" he yelled out at the girl. Suddenly another figure ran into the clubroom at high speed, knocking into Gin and taking them both to the ground with a loud crash.
"Ow, watch where you're going!" Kokoa yelled out as she stood up and dusted herself off.
"Where I'm going? I was standing still!" Gin yelled as he rubbed his head and slowly got back up. Kokoa growled at the wolf then looked down curiously. She reached down and picked up the photos that had been spilled onto the floor. Looking through them she growled then glared at the wolf.
"You pervert, I should have known you would have this crap with you all the time," she said as she looked through the photos. The group sighed and guessed what she was looking at. Suddenly Kokoa stopped and blinked at a photo with a curious eye. She smiled slyly then looked over to Dark, who at this point hadn't really looked up to see the commotion. He noticed Kokoa running into Gin out of the corner of his eye, but didn't think much of it to care about the wolf. Actually, nobody was really concerned about his health at the time either. Kokoa chuckled and walked over to Dark, then set a photo down in front of him.
"I'm sure he'll find this interesting," she said with a smile. Dark looked down then glared at the photo. He growled and looked over to Gin who had gotten up and was looking at him curiously.
"Find what… oh wait. Camera four… that had pictures from… oh crap!" Gin yelled out remembering.
"Camera four? How many do you use for this… filth?" Kokoa snarled. Mizore and Rason leaned over to see what made Dark upset. In the photo was an up-skirt shot of a girl, a girl with purple stripped panties. She had a belt around her thigh and purple stripped leggings could be seen.
Mizore glared over at Gin realizing it was a photo of her. Rason stared wide eyed at it, then glanced over to Dark. The silent boy stood up as the room started to grow darker.
"Tsukune…" Dark said coldly as he stood up. The boy looked at him curiously.
"Remember what I said about controlling that evil inside of you?" Dark continued as the room got darker still.
"Um… yes?" Tsukune replied nervously.
"There are exceptions," Dark said as his eyes turned pitch black.
"Wait… you can't kill me over some innocent photos," Gin said nervously as he backed up.
"Innocent?" Kokoa barked out.
"I'm not going to kill you," Dark said with a cold glare. The wolf breathed out a sigh of relief.
"You'd be surprised what you can live through," the demon said as he vanished into the darkness. Gin gulped then ran out the door as fast as he could. From out in the hallway his screams could be heard along with crashes and chaos.
"Um… I'm going to go make sure Dark doesn't kill him," Rason said as he stood up. He glanced down to the photos Kokoa had set down on the table and blinked. One of them had a familiar blue haired girl standing nude in the girls changing room. Rason then looked over to the door and growled with anger.
"On second thought, I'm going to go see if he needs a hand," he said through bared teeth. Rason walked out the door and the loud noises and crashes soon intensified. While they dealt with the wolf Mizore and Kurumu gathered up the photos and tore them up.
"So predictable," Kurumu said as she wiped her hands on the matter.
"I wonder if Gin would even survive from both of them," Mizore giggled as they took their seats. A loud scream echoed down the hallway followed by silence.
"Good question," Kokoa said as she watched the door. After a moment Rason and Dark walked in.
"Um… everything ok?" Tsukune asked nervously. Dark walked by and casually tossed two fangs onto the table. The group stared at them with wide eyes then at the boy.
"Feeling better now," Rason said as he took his seat. Dark sat down without saying a word, then looked towards the doorway where Gin was standing holding a hand over his mouth.
"Dude! Are you crazy? You know how long it will take for those to grow back?" he cried out while flinching. The group looked to Dark with wide eyes.
"You ripped his fangs out?" Kokoa said a bit surprised. Then she smiled at the demon and giggled.
"They grow back?" Dark merely asked.
Silence.
"Yes! You didn't know that?" Gin yelled out in shock.
"No," Dark said flatly.
"No?" Gin roared.
"Guess that means he can do that again if you take more photos of our girls," Rason said with a small glare. The wolf jumped at that and looked around nervously.
"Um… I should probably go to the nurse now," he said quietly, then took off down the hallway.
Mizore leaned over and held onto her boyfriend's arm and smiled. She looked up to him with loving eyes, so happy that he was so protective of her. Kurumu held onto her boyfriend's hand and smiled at the angel, glad he was protective of her as well, and promised to help protect him in the future.
"Well… since Gin isn't here, how about we just head out to the field and start our training again?" Tsukune said rubbing the back of his head.
"Might as well, not like we have anything else to report on today," Moka added with a smile.
The two stood up and smiled at each other.
"Let's go boyfriend," Moka said with a cheery smile. Tsukune smiled and leaned in, kissing his girlfriend. The vampire closed her eyes and savored the moment with him, the world around them turning to a pinkish haze with lovey dovey music playing in the background. When the kiss broke Tsukune looked at her with loving eyes.
"Thank you Moka, for staying by my side," he said gently. The vampire blushed and held his arm close to her.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else Tsukune," she said as she looked down timidly. After a moment she looked back up and gazed into his eyes. The boy smiled his warm gentle smile that she had grown to love.
"Oh Moka…"
"Oh Tsukune…"
"Oh Moka…"
"Oh Tsukune…
"Oh MokaAAA!" he yelled out as he was pulled to the side forcibly. He looked over to see Kokoa had grabbed onto his other arm and was holding him tightly with a bright smile on her face.
"C'mon, I'll help you train too," she said with a very happy smile. Everybody just looked at the girl with curiosity. She had never seemed that happy to train with Tsukune before, let alone grab his arm like that.
"Kokoa?" Tsukune asked with a simple blink.
"It's the least I can do after all," she said looking down with a soft smile. Tsukune looked at her then smirked.
"I told you, I don't blame you for what happened. You don't owe me anything," he said kindly.
"It's not just that," Kokoa said looking down further, her bangs hiding her face.
"I didn't believe in you, I thought you were a lousy human. My big sister was right though, you really are incredible," she said with a timid voice. The group looked at her with surprise from hearing her speak such words.
"Kokoa…" Moka said with a smile. She held her boyfriend's arm tightly and looked up to him.
"We'll help you get stronger Tsukune, no matter what," she said with a warm smile. Tsukune looked back and forth between the two vampires as they looked up at him, with Kokoa looking at Tsukune with wonder while Moka had a loving smile on her face.
"Pimp," Rason said dryly. Kurumu snickered at that remark.
"Yay! I'll help him too!" Yukari cheered and leapt towards Tsukune. Before she managed to get close to the boy she was slammed into the ground by a giant hammer with a cute smiley face on it.
"Stop touching my big sister's mate!" Kokoa roared as she lifted her hammer back up. The group looked down at the crater with the twitching witch in it with wide eyes.
"Um… Kokoa?" Tsukune said nervously. The young vampire looked up to him an adorable smile.
"Yes?" she said innocently. Tsukune blinked then sighed.
"Nothing," he said weakly. He decided it was best not to anger the girl who was carrying a giant hammer in her hands.
"Never a dull moment," Rason commented looking down at the young girl in the crater who was twitching slightly. Moka giggled then looked at her boyfriend with loving eyes.
'We'll help you get control, I won't lose you again Tsukune, I promise.'
'If anybody can tame that power, it's our mate.'
'And I'm so glad Kokoa finally approves of him.'
'Yes, although she does seem to be a little… clingy…'
Moka blinked then looked at her sister. Kokoa was giggling while holding Tsukune's arm closely, his arm going between her petite breasts as she bounced up and down.
'Um… but this is better than her always trying to hurt him… right?'
Kokoa held the boy closer, causing him to look up with a nervous expression.
'Right?'
'If she bounces up and down one more time, I swear-'
As if on cue to that Kokoa bounced up and down again, causing Tsukune to gulp and fight off a nosebleed as he felt his arm going between her breasts. They weren't as soft and bouncy like Kurumu's or as developed as Moka's, but they were certainly big enough to be felt on both sides of his arm. Moka looked at her sister with a weak smile.
'Kokoa…'
'Have Tsukune take off the rosary. Now.'
From outside the clubroom a thunderous clap was heard as a young vampire was blasted into the ground at supersonic speed. After the group got the two young girls back on their feet they started out of the room towards the field. They had a goal, a purpose again, to train themselves to not only get stronger, but also control their strength and monster energy. For Tsukune control was his priority, as he had to make sure his dark side never came out again. As they walked off the campus towards the field a witch watched from behind them. Ruby was hoping that their strength would improve quickly; it was only a matter of time before they would be dragged into something bigger than what they have faced before.
"I just hope we can give them enough time," Ruby said looking down at a paper she held in her hands. It was a letter she was instructed to withhold from somebody. It was a letter telling somebody to come home immediately by order of her people.
It was a letter signed by Tsurara Shirayuki.