Disclaimer: I own nothing, except the desire to entertain myself and others using other people's characters.
A/N: Responses to Anon Reviews...
cevgar: Damn! Your reviews rock! Even if you spent the entire review flaming my story and calling me an idiot, I think I'd probably learn something from it. Thanks for the (extremely) detailed feedback.
DiabolicalCalico234: Thanks for the feedback. I'm staying away from the 'sharing of bodily fluids' thing. If the Galactic Commonwealth SAR teams scanned him? Well, I think instant vaporization would be the order of the day if they found vampire (foreign, native, malignant, active) blood products in him. As for manipulation of the brain's motor control centers? Manipulation is a LOT harder than just 'disabling'. Read on...
~~~***~~~
Stranger In A Strange World
Strange Descent
"Dum spiro, spero."
(While I breathe, I hope.)
~ Latin Proverb
~~~***~~~
Shizuka Nekonome was locked in a life-or-death struggle. She was certain her continued good health depended upon her resistance against the urge to giggle aloud at the werewolf Ginei. The normally good-humored and outgoing editor stalked into the Newspaper Club room with dark circles under his furious eyes, and unlocked the file cabinet containing the student files for their investigation. Snatching the Akashiya file out, he scrawled "VAMPIRE" in large, hasty script under "Monster Type", and thrust the folder at Hatori, one of the newcomers to the club.
"Take this to the Student Police immediately," he ordered, none too politely as he slammed the file cabinet drawer closed.
It wasn't his dark demeanor or foul mood that had Shizuka biting her lips closed, however. It was the smell. An almost visible cloud of cheap cologne followed Gin into the club room, as if he had bathed in it. Her sensitive nose, however, picked up a faint, familiar scent; almost hidden in the reek of cologne, but not quite. She recognized it immediately, nearly bursting out laughing at the thought of the cocky, "elite monster" werewolf requesting monster-strength flea dip from the infirmary. Given his ill humor that afternoon, she was certain that her amusement would not be well received.
Hatori opened the door to leave, revealing Saizou Komiya standing outside the door, with his fist poised to knock on the door. "This the Newspaper Club?" he asked abruptly.
She simply nodded meekly, and squeezed past the delinquent monster to flee down the hall toward the exit, as Saizou stepped into the club room. "I'm surprised Kouyo let you have a student newspaper this year, considering last year's…trouble," he said, sending Ginei a knowing look. He paused, and cocked his head to the side slightly as he sniffed. "What's that smell?"
"Never mind," growled the editor, clenching his jaw in poorly suppressed annoyance. "We've agreed to work with the Student Police this year. Even Kouyo has limits to his authority, and realizes it's easier to make use of us, than try to stamp us out every semester. What brings you here? You need surplus copies for paper-mache? Or are you changing the lining on the bottom of your cage?"
The orc's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Why don't we get back to that when there's less of a moon? What brings me here? A little spider told me that I should tell you about my little 'incident' with the worm, Aono. She said something about an investigation?"
"Ah. The little squirt got the better of you did he? How did he manage that without even getting up out of his desk, I wonder?" Gin turned to Mizore. "Come take notes for us Mizore. He's your subject, after all."
Nodding, Mizore silently slid into a seat nearby and flipped open her journal, and poised her pen.
"So what," Gin asked, "exactly did he do to you? No one we interviewed from your class saw him do anything, except glance at you."
"That's just it," Saizou replied. "He didn't do anything. One second, I'm winding up to gut the little turd; the next my arm feels like it's on fire. Worse, even. There were no flames, or flashes of light, or anything; just pain like I never felt before in my life, then nothing. I expected to see the skin burned off, but there was no damage at all. There was no evidence of anything happening to my arm that would cause that kind of pain. No burns, no scars, just tingling after the pain went away."
"That sounds similar to…another reported incident with the Aono boy. There was a sensation of pain and discomfort, but no evidence of damage. It sounds to me like he's casting illusions."
"Wait a minute," Saizou said. "I didn't see anything. How can it be an illusion?"
"Only extremely powerful illusions are so complete they work on all your senses. Think about it; how many monsters here are giving away their true nature by smell alone? You and I both know what each other are by smell, don't we? If he can give you an illusion of the pain of fire, without wasting time and effort on the sight, smell, and sound of it, why wouldn't he?"
Saizou shuddered in spite of himself. "Illusion or not, it still hurt like the real thing. And what he said afterwards has me kind of worried, too."
"What?" Gin allowed a note of surprise to enter his voice. "Everyone we interviewed agrees that he said nothing. What did you hear him say?"
"I heard him loud and clear, say, 'the only reason you're not still screaming is that I remembered to turn the pain off.'"
"Well, that's interesting. Did he just whisper so no one else could hear, or was his voice clear?"
"Like I said, loud and clear; everyone in class should have heard him."
"Did his mouth move while he said it?"
"Of course it did! How could…" Saizou's voice trailed off as he tried to remember what he actually saw, rather than what he expected to see. "No, his mouth did not move. What the hell does that mean?"
Gin chuckled darkly. "What it means for you, Saizou, is that you best learn to be much, much more polite around the Aono boy. He can apparently put the sensation of pain directly into your mind, and leave it there forever, if he chooses to. How long do you think you could live with that kind of pain? Hours? Days? I'd bet that within a week, you'd hack your own arm off to be rid of the pain." Gin regarded Saizou's troubled expression with a small degree of satisfaction. "Of course, being an effect of the mind, even cutting your arm off wouldn't make the pain go away."
"That also explains another thing," Mizore broke into the discussion with her cool deadpan. "He's the hardest stalk I've ever had. I don't know if he knows it was me specifically, but he knows when someone's watching him. It's like he has a sixth sense about someone's interest in him. He's a telepath, on top of an illusion caster."
"So," asked Saizou, "how do we get at the little freak?"
"Hah!" Gin laughed. "We don't. If he can read minds, you can't ambush him. For the average monster, there is no defense against illusions or mental attacks. Why do you think no one messes with the succubus, Kurumu? She's an airhead; a flighty, unfocused little girl in a woman's body, but no one resists her Charm. She owns no less than a dozen monsters, now. She doesn't even need her talons and wings to defend herself; all she needs is a few slaves that can fight, and she's safe as can be."
"That explains another thing," said Mizore. "She and Tsukune are friends, and he's not her slave." Mizore ignored the raised eyebrows at her use of his first name. "Succubae don't usually have any male friends that they don't own, do they? I wonder what they could possibly have in common?"
"What now?" asked Saizou. "You guys report this, and then what?"
"We report our findings to the Student Police," said Gin simply. "What they do with him after that is not our concern."
"But, he can't be the human infiltrator they suspect, can he?" Mizore asked. "Not with power like that. Should we report him as 'Unknown – but definitely not human'. What do we tell Keito?"
"We tell her nothing. Until we positively identify Tsukune Aono, he remains under suspicion as a human infiltrator," Gin replied. "And you, Saizou, keep your mouth shut about what you've heard here tonight. It's Student Police business, got it?"
Saizou swallowed reflexively. "Student Police business; got it!"
Maybe Tsukune Aono is just the sort of challenge the Student Police need to keep them on their toes, Gin thought. It'll be interesting to see how they handle him. Aloud, he said, "Mizore, continue your investigation."
~~~***~~~
It was a full four days before Kurumu and Tsukune did more than nod diffidently to each other. Tsukune may not have been a subject matter expert on the niceties of "female mood interpretation", but he did enjoy the advantage of being able to see an aura that shouted, "Screw off!" Finally, the day of the weekly astronomy club meeting, he finally saw Kurumu, walking alone to the school, with an aura of resignation and receptiveness. A terse "I need to talk to her" stifled the both Moka's and Yukari's objections, as he hurried up the path to catch up to the succubus.
"Kurumu," he started, "I know you're angry with me but..."
"Stop right there," she commanded. Satisfied that he was listening, she continued. "It's not just that you made me angry. You said some things that I had to think really hard about. It's no secret that deep thoughts are not my strong point, so I needed some time so sort things out, and figure how to tell you what I needed to tell you.
"When you talked about my need to evolve, I had to think about it in terms of what that meant for all succubae, not just myself. You see, we believe that we will only ever have one true Mate, one Destined One. If that's you, and you reject me, then I am destined to be alone, forever. For a succubus, that's a not just a personal failure, but a failure to my race. When you used those words, 'couldn't possibly ever', I saw myself not just as a rejected female, but a failure to my species, a participant in our own extinction. I couldn't handle it."
Finally, something clicked in Tsukune's mind. "Kurumu, I'm sorry," he said. "I had no idea what it meant to you, or respect for it, if I did have any idea. It's just that, well, I guess the main thing is that your Charm thing that you do; for telepaths like myself, there is no worse fate, no more heinous violation than the enslavement of another mind. Maybe what you do is different, I don't know. That's part of the problem, I condemned you before I knew enough to make that judgment. The other thing is this: I'm confused."
Kurumu looked puzzled. "What could confuse a mind like yours?" she asked.
"My feelings," Tsukune frowned as he continued. "While you were avoiding us, I kept getting this sense of...loss...at times where I expected you to be there and you weren't. I've never encountered anything like it, and I was at a loss to explain it. But there it was: this...emptiness...whenever you weren't where you should have been."
Kurumu could have cheered, "Yahoo!" out loud, but somehow, managed to respond with a question. "What do think it means?" she asked quietly, trying to keep the hopeful catch out of her voice.
"That's just it. I have no idea what these feelings mean. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm not supposed to be having them. My body might be human, which means I have all the hormonal and biological impulses a human should have, but that's not the extent of it. I've missed you, these past few days. It might not seem all that significant to you, but the fact that I can have feelings like this is a source of terrible confusion to me."
"It may be confusing to you, Tsukune," she said, "but for us, that's monsters and humans alike, we typically just go where our feelings take us. Why is that such a problem for you?"
"Kurumu," he looked very seriously at her, "I don't belong here. In just over fifty years, our distress signal will reach our home planet. About a week after that, a person will meet me, and say, 'Aono, it's time to go.' And I'll be gone, just like that, and on my way home. Or not."
"Why would there be a not?"
"If I am found to have influenced the native population excessively, or taken a mate...I'll be stranded here. I will not be permitted to return Home. I'm already pushing the limits with three natives aware of my true nature, but I'm hoping the fact that monsters don't interact with humans on a regular basis limits the damage. Kurumu, you're asking me to make a decision now that I shouldn't have to make for another fifty years, at least."
"Tsukune, I had no idea." Kurumu deflated, almost visibly. "That's it then, isn't it? We can't be together?"
"I can't say that, either. At least not yet. Who's to say that I couldn't find a reason to stay, instead of returning with the rescue team? It's rare, but not unheard of. What I need, Kurumu, is time. I'm still adjusting to learning about the existence of monsters, and you're pressing me to become a mate to one. I'm not ready for that, and I don't know if or when I will be. Can you wait? Even if the answer is eventually 'no?'"
"I can wait, but not for too long. I still have a responsibility to my species. We're still on the edge of extinction."
"Kurumu, let me tell you something. Extinction should no longer be a concern for you." Tsukune smiled wryly. "If you tell any officials of the Galactic Commonwealth I told you this, I'll be in deep trouble, but I think I can trust you. Extinction is no longer a probable outcome for succubae, or any other race of monster, for that matter."
"What are you saying?" Kurumu asked, awestruck by the implications of his statement.
"How long? For the succubae to be extinct? A hundred, two hundred years?"
"About two hundred, if things stay the way they are."
"In another seventy-five years, one hundred at the most, by our estimates, the humans of this planet will be making their first trips into interstellar space. On their first voyage, they will be greeted by the Commonwealth, and invited to join a larger community, an alliance of space-faring races. Earth will be surveyed in detail. The monster world will be discovered. It's inevitable."
Kurumu gasped in horror. "That will be our extinction! We'll all be doomed!"
"No! It'll be your salvation! To the Commonwealth, there will be next to no distinction between humans and monsters. Except that some species of monsters will be dangerously close to extinction. When that fact comes to light, every enlightened exo-biologist, exo-zoologist, and activist in the galaxy will be bending their efforts to the preservation of your race. They'll even fight for the preservation of orcs, like Saizou! When that happens, extinction will no longer be permitted to happen to any species here on Earth, yours included."
"Why are you telling me this? What's in it for you?" she asked with a note of awe in her voice.
"There's nothing in it for me. Except maybe this: if you know for a fact that the survival of your species doesn't depend on you finding a Destined One, or being mated to the first fertile male who treats you decently, maybe, just maybe, you can just look for someone who makes you truly happy, without all the evolutionary imperatives cluttering the picture. Find someone who makes you happy. You do that, and that's what's in it for me."
It's still you, Tsukune, Kurumu thought, with tears glistening in her eyes, you have just made me the happiest succubus in the world, and YOU told me yourself to find someone who makes me happy. If there ever was a truly Destined One for a succubus, you must be mine.
~~~***~~~
Later that night, the Astronomy Club followed the usual pairings of Kurumu and Tsukune, and Moka and Yukari as they set up their telescopes. It was a fairly routine exercise, and Tsukune got himself and Kurumu through the required observations in short order. After that, Ririko had instructed, they were to "find something interesting to look at."
"What do think, Kurumu? What would you like to see?" Tsukune asked.
Kurumu thought for a moment, with a finger to her chin. "Show me one of the stars you've visited."
"Heh," Tsukune grunted. "I know just the one," he said as he started to swing the telescope around. After consulting his star chart and making a few final adjustments, he said, "There it is; Epsilon Indi." Still peering into the eyepiece, he continued, "My family took a vacation there, not long before we crashed on this planet."
"Ahem." A soprano voice made its owner's presence known. Tsukune and Kurumu swiveled their heads to see Yukari standing not five feet away. "Took a vacation where, Tsukune?" she asked in a saccharin-sweet tone that was a complete mismatch to the suspicious glint in her narrowing eyes.
Kurumu's eyes bulged in horror, while Tsukune hung his head in abject defeat. That's four, he thought glumly, I am so getting exiled here. Turning his eyes back up to meet Yukari's gaze, he tried to collect himself and salvage the situation.
"Ummm. Okinawa?" he said hopefully.
"Try again, 'Math-Boy'; and remember I've already heard the part about you crashing on this planet."
Kurumu responded first. "Yukari, you can't tell anyone! Do you hear me? No one!"
"Why not?" Yukari asked with an impish grin creeping over her face. "It's not like he's human or anything. He might get reprimanded for lying on his application, but considering the 'special circumstances', the Chairman would probably let it slide. It might even make him more popular!"
"Yukari!" Moka admonished. "You have no right! If you don't keep this to yourself, you can find yourself a new set of friends, because you won't be welcome with us!"
Yukari's eyes widened in surprise at Moka's vehemence. As she turned her gaze to Kurumu, surprise gave way to fear. Kurumu had extended about six inches of talons on her right hand, and the grim look on her normally smiling face all but shouted her demonic heritage.
"Friends will be the least of your worries," she hissed through clenched teeth, "you flat-chested little brat! If you don't keep your mouth shut about this, they'll be serving you up at the 'Others' counter in the cafeteria tomorrow!"
"Whoa!" Yukari held her hands up in a surrender gesture. "I was just kidding! Claws in, kitty-cat!"
"Seriously, Yukari," Tsukune said levelly, "I can't have this become general knowledge. And Kurumu? There's no need to kill her. If she can't be trusted, there are ways to ensure she doesn't remember anything about what she heard tonight." He turned his gaze back to the young witch. "Can I trust you, Yukari? I mean really trust you?" he asked.
Yukari paused only a second before nodding solemnly. "I don't know why it's such a big deal, here at Youkai, but yeah, you can trust me."
"I'm sorry Yukari, but, do I have your permission to verify that?"
"What? Oh. You want to peek in and see for yourself. Go ahead," she replied with a mischievous smirk.
Not noticing her playful grin, Tsukune brushed his mind against hers, sharing her thoughts for a few seconds. "Gah!" he burst out in disgust. "Yukari! That's just wrong!"
Yukari's peal of laughter rang through the night air. "Gotcha!" she sang, with lascivious amusement.
Moka's face was a mask of shock and confusion, as Kurumu's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What did you show him, you little perv?" Turning to Tsukune, she asked, "Well, can she be trusted?"
Tsukune's eyes were still slightly troubled. "About not telling anyone; yes, we can trust her. About anything else…" he trailed off, shaking his head in awe that an eleven-year-old mind could harbor thoughts like that without grave psychological damage.
"Okay, spill, Space Man," Yukari pressed. "How the hell did you end up here?"
Tsukune spent the next fifteen minutes relating the condensed version of his arrival and life on Earth. How his parents transformed the family into human form, his education at all-boys private schools. About his apparently accidental enrollment to Youkai, and his discovery by Moka and Kurumu. Throughout his narrative, Yukari showed no reaction at all.
"So that's it. Tsukune Aono: Extraterrestrial Extraordinaire." he concluded with a chuckle. "You don't seem too surprised."
Yukari looked at him with peevish amusement. "Come on! The math? The telepathy? Still having your virginity with Boob-Monster here sniffing after you? Being a space alien from a distant star is the only explanation that makes any sort of sense! I just have one question."
"What's that?" Tsukune asked.
"When are you gonna probe my a…?"
The remainder of the question was expertly intercepted by Moka, who, blushing furiously, clamped a hand over the precocious witch's mouth.
~~~***~~~
Over the next few days, Tsukune grew increasingly hopeful that life at Youkai Academy would calm down some. Kurumu was much more subdued, still greeting him warmly each morning, but without the airborne abandon that had been her style until now. He found himself actually getting to like the "new Kurumu" more and more. Yukari alternated between questioning him on interstellar propulsion, and which species from which systems had tentacles; he decided he really, really didn't want to know why she would be so curious about exobiology. Moka, too, seemed these past few days to be more distant and thoughtful than usual. Tsukune promised himself to set aside some time to talk to her one-on-one.
It also seemed that the "Tsukune Doctrine" was starting to have an effect. Not one single monster attacked him or his friends since his object lesson to Saizou, and even "imminent" fights between other monsters seemed to be averted by Tsukune's arrival on the scene. In particular, he remembered two second-year orcs who immediately abandoned their torment of a first-year Tanuki when he rounded a corner. Must be friends of Saizou's, he thought, as he noted the apprehension and fear in their auras, with a twinge of satisfaction.
He was strolling past the athletic field after classes, chatting excitedly with Moka, Yukari, and Kurumu about their upcoming Astronomy Club field trip to the human world, when the Universe decided Tsukune had enjoyed enough peace and quiet for the semester. The topic of conversation had turned to exactly why Shizuka and Ririko had decided to hold a joint Astronomy/Newspaper Club trip for the semester break, when a distant scream of revulsion tore the afternoon calm from the tree line across the field. Turning his senses immediately to the auras there, Tsukune gasped in disgust.
"Kurumu! Fly me over there, now!" he blurted, as manners yielded to urgency.
Kurumu, to her credit, recognized the haste in his tone, and transformed instantly, snatching him up into the air with powerful beats of her bat-like wings. As they approached, he studied the auras more closely. One was very familiar to him, the other, more vaguely so. He knew at least one of the combatants.
Just inside the tree line, in an open are of the grove of trees surrounding the athletic field, two monsters were locked in combat. The large, green, tentacle-waving sea monster's aura was one he knew all too well. Here, attacking a student, was the one teacher that Tsukune actively disliked. Always berating Tsukune for his "human-like weakness", and "un-monster-like lack of balls", the Physical Education teacher was something of a nemesis to the weak and unassuming first-year. Coach Kotsubo was lashing out with his tentacles at a pale, slim, violet-haired student, while she materialized and launched volleys of kunai made of ice. The Kraken's current state of mind made Tsukune want to gag in revulsion at the intent that suffused his aura. He was not attacking the girl for food, or just to kill her; what the Kraken wanted was probably worse than either of those. As he and Kurumu descended to the forest floor, he realized why the girl's aura was vaguely familiar. She was his stealthy and curious "secret admirer". Figures, he thought, she's some kind of snow ninja. No wonder I couldn't nail her down. The instant Tsukune was on his feet, he lashed out at the pre-occupied Kraken.
Mizore watched in cold fascination as the tentacles reaching for her suddenly went limp, and the coach crashed to ground, immobile. Finally noting Tsukune's presence, she realized he must have done something to stop the Kraken. Looking warily at the limp form of the monster, she simply asked, "What did you do to him?"
"I reached into his brain and shut down his motor control center. He's totally paralyzed for the time being," Tsukune answered, shutting his eyes for a second against the twinge of pain in his head.
"Good," Mizore said, as she approached the helpless beast, brandishing her ice claws.
"Wait!" he called out. Mizore simply looked questioningly at him. "I have a better idea."
Kurumu walked up beside Tsukune at this point, looking at Mizore with a hint of suspicion. "What're you going to do to him? Wipe him out, like the lizard man? He deserves it, if he was after what I think he was after."
Tsukune nodded. "He was, and I think oblivion is just a little too easy for what he was about to do." Kurumu started to feel a chill knot form in her stomach, as Tsukune's tone grew too cold to be Tsukune. "An aquatic creature like him probably hates fire," he said blandly as he knelt toward Kotsubo. Peering into the monsters mind, ignoring the panic and fear he saw, he reached for the region of the brain he knew handled the perception of pain. "Burn," he sent to its mind, as he released his power. Backing away, he watched as the Kraken squealed in anguish and agony, thrashing helplessly against the sensation of being consumed by flames. The pain in his head staggered him as he turned away from the thrashing monster and pinched his nose against the steady flow of blood that started.
Kurumu watched in concern, and said, "Tsukune, are you…"
"Never mind me," Tsukune cut her off in a nasally voice. "Fly the snow ninja to the infirmary; I'll catch up with you." Noting Kurumu's concerned and questioning gaze, he insisted, "I'm fine. Go."
Seeing Moka and Yukari approaching at a run, Kurumu flared her wings and picked up Mizore, bridal style. "I'll get her to the infirmary. Moka! Get Tsukune to the infirmary, too! I'll be back to pick him up if he's longer than fifteen or twenty minutes."
Moka looked from the thrashing Kraken, to Tsukune, and back again. "What's he feeling?" she asked.
"Fire."
Shuddering slightly, she asked, "Are you going to turn it off?"
Turning to start his walk to the infirmary, Tsukune deadpanned, "No."
Continued