I'm back! And in this here chapter we have some special guests coming to Earth. I just hope that you'll like this one, because this is where they'll be meeting Tsukune's family! And as promised from the previous chapter, Kairi Uzumaki will explain what happened years ago.
So, without further ado, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own FFXIII or Rosario+Vampire
Tsukune Farron Chapter 21: Homesick plus Flower Field
Yokai Academy, 3 days before summer vacation
The first school semester is almost in just about 3 days and so are the classes right before club activities. And outside of the school, we find a cloaked figure wearing a white tiger mask, standing in front of the school before it turned around ran at great speed. As it ran, wings popped out of its back and naturally, it flew. Whoever he/she is, it is long gone as it is now flying towards the full moon.
3 days later at the bus stop
Summer Vacation has started, and Tsukune Farron, wearing a white sleeveless jacket he got from his mother, over a black v-neck shirt, black pants, brown shoes, and carrying a brown shoulder bag. And he is now standing in front of a scarecrow with a sign that says "Yokai Academy," while talking on the phone with his mother.
After passing the exams with Moka, Yukari, and even Kurumu, thanks to the brunette of studying together as a group, their summer vacation has officially started.
"Uh-huh, yeah." Tsukune said over the phone, "Yeah, I know that I promised you and everyone else that I would come home for the summer, but..." he was silent for a second, "Okay. Thanks for the advice, Mom. Tell everyone to just wait a little longer." he was silent again, "I love you too. Bye." he closed his phone and put it in his pocket, "Well, that takes care of that." while he is rather excited about the semester being over, he was disappointed that they have to take a camping trip and not going back home for the summer.
Flashback yesterday at the Newspaper Club
Classes are over as Tsukune, Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari are now in their clubroom and Nekonome had announced the club members that they are going for a camping trip.
"Camp?" the students asked the teacher in unison.
"Sensei, we're going to camp out together?" Moka asked.
"Yep!" Nekonome replied cheerfully, "It's just about summer vacation you know. We in the newspaper club should take advantage of the vacation and do some sort of activity too."
'Dammit.' Tsukune mentally cursed in discouragement. He was kind of looking forward to visit home on Pulse since summer vacation is about to start. But he recently learned that they can't go home during summer thanks to the school rules.
"So, with 'research' as our goal..." Nekonome added, "I want us all to go out camping in the human world!"
"The human world!?" everyone minus Tsukune cried out.
"Seriously?" Tsukune asked with his tone falling to boredom, "After months of hard work in school and club activities we went through this semester, you expect us to waste our whole summer vacation working on the next newspaper article and go on a summer trip to the human world? Some plan sensei."
"Thank you!" Nekonome chirped, oblivious to the brunette's bored attitude and sarcasm.
He rolled his eyes at her naivety before he narrowed his eyes in anger at her, "Didn't the school rules say that we not supposed to go to the human world until we graduate?"
Nekonome brushed it off, "Oh, it's fine as long as your sensei approves!"
"That's not very convincing." Tsukune argued bitterly before he crossed his arms and thought, 'Stupid teacher.' his expression became saddened at the thought of not visiting his family on Pulse thanks to the school rules. Just the thought of breaking his promise to his mother would be like punching someone in the face, intentionally.
Moka placed her hand on Tsukune's shoulder in sympathy. She wanted to meet Tsukune's family, but realized that the academy rules won't let them. But more to the point, the thought of meeting humans on another planet would be kind of different for her. She knew for a fact that they are different than the ones back in middle school, but it still bothers her after what she went through.
Yukari thought the same with Moka as she whispered, "The human world..."
'The human world.' Kurumu thought in excitement, 'Awesome! Though it doesn't matter where I go as long as I'm with Tsukune.' and it would be even more exciting that if she went to see Pulse, the planet to where Tsukune was raised on. But she sighed, too bad that won't happen.
"Well anyway, let's go and enjoy a relaxed and easygoing camp atmosphere before going home!" Nekonome chimed, "For two nights!"
Flashback end
Tsukune pulled his phone out again and flipped it open to see a holographic screen of a photograph of his family. He hadn't seen this since he showed it to Moka. After a minute of staring at it, he closed his phone and put it away in his pocket, and he looked up at the sky with determination, "Mom, everyone, please wait a little longer."
"Good morning, Tsukune!" Moka's voice greeted and the brunette turned to see the said vampire girl wearing a red dress and a small red jacket over it. She gave him the brightest smiles she could ever give him, which made him blush and smiled by her appearance.
"Good morning, Moka-chan." Tsukune greeted back in a kind manner. After the time they spent with each other, he couldn't help but open up to her and feel comfortable around her.
And for Moka, even when she requested him to call her by her nickname when they're alone, her heart flustered whenever she hears him say the suffix 'chan' at the end of her name.
"You came early." Moka chirped with her smile and blush intact, "It's still 30 minutes until we're all supposed to be here, right?"
Tsukune couldn't help but smile in return at her cuteness, "Well, I can't help it. Home is just in three days away, and I can't help but wanting to see my family again." he then looked to the dress she's wearing, "By the way, you look beautiful in that dress."
"Thank you." Moka thanked with a blush, and noticed the clothing he's wearing, "You look good in that jacket as well!"
Tsukune looked down to his clothes, "Thanks." Tsukune replied and looked down to his attire, mainly to his jacket, "It's my first time wearing this sleeveless jacket that I got from my mom. I'll admit, it's a bit old and out of style maybe, but it sure beats wearing those stuck up uniforms with those gaudy and stuck up green jackets and red ties." he then twirled around and held onto the collar of his jacket, "Oh, and I find these to be quite unique and stylish."
Moka giggled at his words before looking to the ocean, "Just think, today's the first day of our summer vacation, Tsukune." her face became saddened, "It's too bad that for you that going home over break isn't allowed though."
Tsukune's face too dripped into sadness, "Yeah." he said with a sad smile, "I mean, it'd be great to see everyone back home again. Hanging out with the guys like Hope, Sazh, my best friend Dajh, Uncle Snow and Team NORA, eating Aunt Serah's cooking, playing with Claire, and spending some quality time with Mom." he paused before he realized, "Oh, and catching up with some old friends from grade school as well." it was true, he made some friends around his age when he was young. And it would have been weird if he were to hang out with adults throughout his childhood too.
Moka patted his shoulder in sympathy, "It must be nice to have people you care about, waiting for you to return home."
"Sorry." Tsukune apologized, realizing that he may have hurt her feelings.
"For what?" Moka asked with a smile, not feeling offended at what he just said, "You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, I'm not jealous, just happy for you. Even though I've never met your family, I can tell that they are good people who are a great influence in your life. You've helped me, Kurumu, Yukari, and the whole school by changing our perspectives on humans and life. And as far as I'm concerned, you're the greatest influence in our lives."
Tsukune smiled at her words, and decided leave it at that. Next to his mother, she's one of the people with words of wisdom. And he remembered the conversation they had when they were in Moka's room, studying. Experience does give you an edge.
"As long as I'm by your side, my expectations are stronger than my fears!" Moka exclaimed happily, "We'll get through this field trip to the human world and I'll build up the courage to meet your family."
"That's good to hear." Tsukune said before Moka suddenly put her hands on his and brought them up.
"I'll be counting on you, Tsukune." Moka said, looking at him shyly. Tsukune could feel his heartbeat and face burning red by her cuteness.
"Moka-chan..." Tsukune whispered as she started getting closer to him.
"Tsukune..." Moka sighed before the brunette's eyes turned flat.
"Do you want to suck my blood?" Tsukune asked meekly, and she nodded, "Okay, go ahead." he opened his collar, allowing her to put her fangs into his neck and drink out his blood.
After she was done sucking out his blood, a voice called to them.
"I see you two are getting along well." a female voice called to them and they turned to see their senpai, Kairi Uzumaki in her kendo uniform walking up to them.
"Good morning, Tsukune-kun, Moka-chan." the Kendo Club captain greeted.
"Good morning, Uzumaki-senpai." Tsukune and Moka greeted in return.
"Going on your summer trip, I see."
"Yes." Tsukune replied with a nod, "It'll be our first trip together as a club after all."
"That's good to know." Kairi said with a smile, "My club and I will be going to the Kendo tournament during our summer holiday. We will hold off our duel by then. Until then, become even more stronger if you can Tsukune-kun."
The brunette nodded again, and remembered the conversation he and Moka had with their senpai.
Flashback
"Now, allow me to explain what happened." Kairi said to her kohai, "2 years ago, when Kuyou entered Yokai Academy as a first year, he joined the Public Safety Commission. After going through months of service and working together with his colleagues, he convinced them to turn on their superiors and he took down his former leader's position and took it as his own."
Moka gasped and Tsukune narrowed his eyes, furious to know that the Youko would stoop so low in order to gain power.
"As you may know, Kuyou wasn't the type show compassion, pity, or even show mercy, he was only interested in power and displaying strength through brutality and aggression on those he considered weak. Thanks to that, he influenced many students to join up with him and spread disorder and corruption around the first school year. And one by one, they terrorized every group of students they could find or get in their way."
"Yeah, I kinda got that impression after meeting the guy." Tsukune said lightly. From his perspective, it the old, 'Monkey see, monkey do.' kind of thing. And the soldiers are nothing more than small fries, wanting to hang out with big shots. Why else would they want to follow someone like him?
Kairi nodded and continued, "A year later, after I entered the school and joined the Kendo Club, we declared war on the PSC and made a deal with them saying that if we won, the Public Safety Commission would be disbanded, and if we lost, we would leave them alone and let them do as they please. For 5 hours straight we fought valiantly, and with everything we had we had gone down from 2 against 3. Me, Yoko, Tsukiko, Kuyou, and Izumi."
The vampire and l'Cie paid full attention to the details of her story, anticipated to hear what happened next.
"I fought Kuyou, overwhelming him with my strength and took him down a notch without even lifting a finger. And just when I held him down and deliver the final blow, Izumi interrupted our battle as she held Yoko and Tsukiko hostage. She threatened me that she would kill my precious servants if I released Kuyou and surrendered."
Moka and Tsukune were silent, unable to say anything and can only guess to hear what happened next. And if they're right...
"Seeing as how I wasn't given a choice, I did what she told and surrendered, and she kept her word in releasing them. From that moment, the Kendo Club has lost to the PSC. And as promised, we wouldn't lay a finger on them nor interfere with their activities for a whole year."
Tsukune and Moka remained silent to hear her explanation. To go through loss in battle through cowardice, that's unfair. But it shouldn't be surprising considering how dirty and corrupted they are. And the fact that they agreed to such terms makes it worse. A promise is a promise after all.
"Kuyou is one thing, but for Izumi, we don't know where she came from or why she's fighting for the student police." Kairi added, "One thing is for certain, she is very strong and smart. Had she been not on the student police force we would have won against them and everything that you went through wouldn't have happened. But on the other hand, if she hadn't appeared, she would never convince Kuyou and the other members to leave us alone and not cause much mayhem to the student body. And it was after we had an agreement with them. We'd stay out of their way and not get hurt, and in return they would lay low and do as they please. Frankly, I don't know whether to think if that was a smart move or a risky proposition." she sighed, "Or both."
Tsukune nodded. That would explain why they hadn't made any appearances not too long ago, and why the Kendo Club hadn't lay their hands on them. And they probably have been doing dirty work in the shadows to get what they want behind everyone's backs.
"As the year went by, they took down the previous members of the Newspaper Club. Afterwords they still have yet to make their move until they arrived on the day you and your club were passing out newspapers to everyone. But thanks to you and your efforts of fighting back, you've put an end to the PSC's reign of terror and brought peace to the school." Kairi continued before she smiled, "You've made that day the happiest day of every students' lives. By defeating the student police, you've avenged everyone who suffered at their hands and stopped their corruption." she bowed her head slightly to him, "And we thank you for that."
"It's nothing really." Tsukune said with a wave of his hand, "I only did it because they were threatening Moka and the others. I had the right to take action because no one else did. And in your defense, you made that promise and kept it after the year was gone. But most of all, I didn't do it alone, because I had help from Moka and the others."
Moka agreed, "He's right. And you should thank Kurumu, Yukari-chan, and my other half for helping him out."
Kairi tilted her head, "Aren't they the same?" she asked, "Anyway, either way, you've all done a great job in taking them down. And Tsukune, I would like to call off the bet you and I made from earlier this semester."
Tsukune was startled by her declaration, "Really?"
Kairi nodded, "Yes. I only made that bet so that I could make you join the Kendo Club if you lose, and I would have forced you to join if you win. But after what you did, if you don't want to join, then I'll agree to that."
Tsukune looked at her skeptically before he asked, "Are you sure?"
She nodded again, "Yes, I'm sure."
Tsukune looked to Moka, who only shrugged, telling him that he should decide if he wants to or not. And he looked back to his senior with a smile, "Okay. But I would still like to fight you one on one." his smile turned determined, "After all, I would like to test my skills against yours, to see who is better."
"I had a feeling you would say that." Kairi said with a smile, "After all, what better way to have the captain of the Kendo Club against the school's alpha male?"
Tsukune blinked before he facepalmed by her words, "Do you have to call me by that title?"
Kairi's smile was intact, crossed her arms, "Yes." she replied, with a hint of teasing in her voice.
Tsukune head dropped and sighed, "I thought so." Moka giggled at him sulking.
"Well, now that that's out of the way. I'll see you two tomorrow." Kairi said to them and was about to leave before she forgot one thing, "Oh, and a word of advice." her face became neutral, "If any of you ever come across Izumi Suzuki, stay away from her as soon as possible. Because she's still considered a threat to the school after the PSC has been disbanded, mostly because she took Kuyou and Keito with her. We've searched everywhere for them in over a month but couldn't find her." she smiled again, "But don't worry. After the disbandment of the PSC, I'm sure they wouldn't show their faces around the campus again. As far as I know, they probably ran away back to their home."
Moka looked down to the floor with a worried and unsure expression. After sensing Izumi's Yoki and what she said about crossing paths and being enemies, she was sure to come after her and the others. Tsukune noticed this and looked at her with concern. He remembered what happened at what she said about Izumi being stronger than Kuyou. But was determined to fight her if necessary if they cross paths again. His l'Cie powers and Focus on protecting his friends will surely make him strong and take on any strong adversaries like her or Kuyou. And when they meet again, he will do what he can to take them down.
Flashback end
"Well, I'd best be going off now, and have fun on your trip." Kairi said to them before turning to Tsukune, "Oh, and Tsukune-kun, a word if you will?" she and the brunette walked in a distance so that Moka wouldn't hear them, and she placed her hands on his shoulders.
"Please try not to bottle up the feelings inside of yourself." Kairi said tenderly, "It will bring more harm than good in your life."
Tsukune blinked in confusion by her words, not understanding it one bit, but nodded, "Okay."
and his senpai walked off back to the school, "And thanks for the advice, senpai." he waved at her when she left.
Kairi looked back and waved in return at Tsukune and waved to Moka and she returned it, 'For both of their sakes, I hope Tsukune-kun will be able to confess his feelings to her to her.' she thought with a smile, 'Love can be a strong thing for the young.'
"What did she want to talk to you about?" Moka asked when Tsukune walked back to her.
Tsukune rubbed the back of his head, unable to explain but said, "Well..."
"NOOOOOOO!" the two jumped from the loud scream from a certain young witch and Tsukune and Moka turned to see Kurumu dragging Yukari towards them.
"Come on." Kurumu pleaded, trying to keep the witch from escaping her grasp.
"I..." Yukari said, hesitantly before shouting, "I don't wanna go to the stupid human world after all!"
Kurumu looked to her with a frown, unhappy at her attitude.
"Somehow, I'm not sure if tutoring Kurumu is a good idea after all." Moka said, looking at the bluenette with uncertainty.
Tsukune sighed, "I have myself to blame for that. I didn't want Yukari to suffer from tutoring Kurumu alone, so we had to help her. I mean, I'm sorta glad that Kurumu passed her exams. But..." he frowned slightly, "I'd wish she didn't have to put her breasts between my head right after we were done." after although a part of him wishes that she would fail and take summer school. But on the other hand, there's a chance that Gin might fail considering how stupid he is. He'd rather let her come with them on Pulse rather than let her suffer through summer vacation at school with that horndog around. And if he ever sees him again, he'll just kick his butt for no reason.
Moka sighed, "I know what you mean." she too was tired of Kurumu's antics and putting them on Tsukune. Why do they let her hang out with them, she will never know.
And the l'Cie ran up to the succubus and the witch to greet them, "Good morning, Kurumu, Yukari-chan." and he noticed Kurumu's bothered look, "What's wrong, Kurumu?"
"Oh?" Kurumu asked, looking up and greeted, "Good morning, Tsukune. Well, I just met Yukari-chan on the way here, and she started whining about how she doesn't want to go..."
Tsukune turned to the said witch, who looked to the ground with a sad look on her face. And the l'Cie became concerned for her, knowing the reason why. Witches were hated by both yokai and humans, and he couldn't blame her. Even though, he was never a l'Cie on Cocoon before then or know what it's like to being hated, he could sympathize and feel their pain. And so he walked over to her, knelt down, and gave her a comforting smile and placed his hand on her shoulder.
Yukari looked up at him with nothing but innocence plastered all over her face.
"Yukari, I understand if you don't want to go to the human world." Tsukune said gently, "Truth be told, I haven't been on Earth since I was five, let alone seeing much of the human world. I'll try to convince Nekonome-sensei to do something else." and he gave her a reassuring smile, "And if words can't convince her, then bribery can." he reached into his bag and pulled out a big container, and he opened it to reveal...
"Fish?" Yukari asked in confusion.
"Yeah." Tsukune said, holding up fresh raw fish in the container, "With this, she'll have to reconsider." he looked back down again to find the fish missing, "Where's the...?" he then heard some munching sound and realized, "Don't tell me...!" he turned to the munching sound to see Nekonome-sensei, eating the very fish that was in the container in her mouth. How did she grab it with her mouth without being seen?
"Good morning!" Nekonome greeted with her mouthful, waving at her students.
Tsukune sulked as he hung his head in shame, "So much for bribery." he muttered sadly.
Yukari looked to the ground with a sad look and grabbed Tsukune's hand to in comfort. There goes their ticket into avoiding their trip to the human world.
Tsukune squeezed Yukari's hand tightly to comfort her more, "Don't worry, Yukari-chan. When push comes to shove, I'll be by your side until the trip is over." he gave her a reassuring smile, "Until then, I have something that will keep your mind off this trip."
"Hey look, the bus is here!" Kurumu exclaimed, pointing at the said bus coming towards them.
"Hm! Then where's Gin-senpai?" Moka asked looking around for the said werewolf.
"Well, he said he got too many points wrong on the semester test and can't come because of summer school." Kurumu stated.
'Good riddance.' Tsukune thought harshly, not giving their senpai any pity or sympathy.
As soon as they got on the bus in a single file, Tsukune looked through his bag once more, pulled out a book, and passed it to Yukari.
"Here, read this." Tsukune said, passing the book to Yukari, "It's an encyclopedia of Pulse, the planet I was raised on." she looked to the title and walk across the bus to sit down, willing to read it.
Just when Tsukune was about to walk to his seat, the driver gave a grin.
"Hehee..." the bus driver chuckled, "You're sure walking on air boy..." Tsukune stopped and turned around to see the very same bus driver who drove him here from the outside world.
"You've been attacked by your upperclassmen, and fought with the Public Safety Commission." he continued, "Perhaps you've had your fall of monster academy, Tsukune-kun."
Tsukune narrowed his eyes at the man, but shrugged it off and crossed his arms, "Yeah, that's right." he responded. He shouldn't be surprised about how sharp this bus driver is, after giving the guy letters to send to his family and getting letters in return, he can't help but feel calm and casual around him. He's at a school for monsters after all, so this shouldn't be unusual for him.
The driver chuckled, "Hehee... Remember that I bear a little responsibility for you." he took a whiff of his cigar and looked back with a wave of his hand. And Tsukune waved back as he took his seat between Moka and Kurumu, who made room for him to sit down.
"This long tunnel is connected to various locations in the human world." the creepy bus driver added, driving up to the tunnel, "Some even call it a 4th dimensional tunnel. That's also why so many mysterious things are likely to occur near tunnels in the human world."
Tsukune looked a bit impressed, but thought, 'Really? Well I live on a planet where technology has exceeded Earth's. You don't hear me stating the obvious.'
"This means that once we leave this tunnel, it will mean farewell to the supernatural world for a while." as he said that, everyone was inside the tunnel. Nothing but pitch black, even though the bus driver had his lights on. But it was no less than a minute when they see a light up ahead and everyone shielded their eyes from it.
"Alright." The driver said, "Here we go." and they made it out when they opened their eyes again to see a highway. There were gas stations, people riding on bikes and walking down the side of the road passing them. Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu were at the windows, viewing the scenery before them. While Yukari was busy reading the encyclopedia she's reading.
"Humans..." Moka whispered, seeing them as they drove by.
"Well it is the human world." Kurumu pointed out as she looked at them.
Tsukune, on the other hand was silent, watching every single human they're passing by. But froze a little when he saw something caught his eye.
A woman in her early thirties, in a sundress, walking down on the side of the road while holding a boy's hand, who appears to be her son. And he was laughing with his mother joining in.
Tsukune sighed quietly before his face became forlorn, and he slumped back down to his seat. While he enjoyed his time spending time on Earth, he can't help but feel homesick to where his family is, and his mother at that. This didn't go unnoticed by Moka.
"Are you okay, Tsukune?" Moka asked in concern and sat back down.
"I'm fine, Moka." Tsukune said quietly, but wasn't convinced with his depressed look.
Moka then remembered the mother and son outside they passed by and she remembered the conversation they had earlier, "You miss her, don't you?" she asked softly.
Tsukune was silent for a second before he replied, "Yeah." he wiped the tears coming out of his eyes, "I just hope that she and the others are alright. I mean, I could give her a call right now, but I just called earlier, and I don't want her to worry about my well-being." he fiddled with his fingers, "I, uh... I think I'll check up on Yukari." he got up from his seat to walk down to where the witch is sitting.
Moka gave him a sad look and nodded, "Okay." she felt sorry for Tsukune that he couldn't visit his family who adopted him and raised him as their own, and she can tell that he misses them dearly. She couldn't blame him. He was far from home where his family is, and on another planet at that. She wish that she could say something to comfort him, but couldn't find the right words. She'll just have to leave him alone for the time being.
Tsukune sat down next to Yukari, who looked exciting and amazed at the encyclopedia she's reading.
"Wow Tsukune, this encyclopedia book is amazing!" Yukari exclaimed, rummaging through the pages of the book, "To think that the planet you were raised on has so much history. I could learn more if I could just go there."
Tsukune looked to Yukari with a weak smile and chuckled, "Yeah well, it's not everyday that you go live on a planet that you didn't know existed and raised by aliens." he humored, trying to cheer himself up, but made Yukari laugh. At least someone got a laugh out of his humor.
He then glanced at his homeroom teacher, sleeping with a snot bubble inflating and deflating out of her nose, and sweatdropped at the sight.
It was then, Kurumu spotted something at the window, "Oh, look! It's a city!" she said excitedly, pointing at the city in the distance, getting everyone's attention, "There's a big city in the distance! I wonder if that's where we're going?"
Tsukune looked out to see the city in the distance. As they continued going down the road, they passed by a sign that says, 'Planned Construction Area' and at the bottom, 'NO TRESPASSING.' Something tells him that this is not a good sign. They then stopped in front of another sign that says, 'We are sorry for the inconvenience. We ask for you cooperation not to trespass during construction.' Okay, things are looking fishy, and not the good kind, and he wasn't the only one who felt the same way.
"Huh?" Kurumu asked, seeing the sign they passed by, "Maybe it's my imagination, but didn't that sign say no trespassing?"
Yukari nodded, after she stopped reading and look outside with the others, "It does seem like we're going farther and farther into the mountains."
"Hehehee..." the bus driver chuckled once more, giving everyone an unease feeling about all this.
Witch's Hill
After they got off the bus, everyone felt at ease looking at the field of sunflowers surrounding them.
"Wow!" Kurumu exclaimed in amazement, "Where are we? A sunflower garden?"
"It looks that way." Tsukune commented, feeling relaxed and looking at the field in awe. To think he was worried for a moment when he got off the bus.
"It's beautiful." Moka complimented in equal awe, "Is this where we'll be staying at? I had no idea there were such incredible places in the human world too."
"I'll admit, it's quite a scenery." Tsukune said, kneeling down to observe one sunflower to sniff it, "But nothing is more beautiful than the one back home."
Everyone continued looking at the beautiful before them, not noticing the blank look on Nekonome's face until she spoke.
"Huh?" Nekonome asked, "This is a totally different spot than where we had planned, isn't it?"
Tsukune turned around to face the teacher, "What?"
"Well, I thought we should try stopping by this spot for a bit." the bus driver said with a smile, "Currently this is quite a well known spot in the human world."
"Well known?" Tsukune repeated, "You mean for the sunflowers?"
The driver shook his head, "Negative. For a mysterious spot where one person after another has been spirited away."
"Spirited away?" Tsukune repeated again, catching on, "You mean...?"
"Don't you think that in this day and age, that spiriting away is quite poetic?"
Tsukune gave the bus driver a cold look and demanded, "Is that why you brought us here?"
The bus driver suddenly pulled a newspaper out of nowhere and handed it to the brunette, "You'd best read the local newspaper for the details." he suggested, "Well, you guys had better be plenty careful not to get spirited away too."
Tsukune gave the man a glare as he snatched the paper away from him, "Gee, that's really encouraging coming from the man who obviously has no social life."
"Now you're just being hurtful." he mused with a chuckle and turned to the teacher, "Hehee... Well Nekonome-sensei, why don't we go out to eat? I'll treat you to some yummy fish."
Hearing the two words, 'yummy' and 'fish' caused Nekonome's ears popped out of her head and tail popped out from her skirt, and had a look of delight. And in a flash of a second, the two were now on the bus with the bus driver driving away from the sunflower field.
Everyone gawked at what just happened.
"Why are they leaving us?" Tsukune asked in disbelief before it turned into anger. Angry that they've just abandoned them in the deep part of the mountains.
"Sensei..." Yukari whispered, seeing them going and going until they're out of sight.
"Why that anti-social creep and overgrown fleabag." Tsukune growled, gritting his teeth at the thought of getting his hands on those two, "If I ever see them again, I'll skin them alive and throw them in the ocean to see how they like it to be eaten by fish." The bus driver is one thing, but for Nekonome, to abandon them in the middle of nowhere, that's even worse than what Ririko-sensei did.
But he immediately calm down as he looked to the newspaper in hand to see if there's really something strange going on around here like the bus driver said.
Yukari on the other hand, cried, "What're we gonna do now? I don't like this! I wanna go home right now!"
Seeing her upset, Tsukune put the newspaper away in his bag and walked over to the witch to comfort her, "It's alright Yukari." he said getting down on his knees, and picked her up to hug her in comfort, "I know that this isn't fair. But, I'm sure if we could put our minds into this situation and solve it, everything will work out." but truth be told, he felt the same way of wanting to go home too. But right now, they need to see what's going on here and get out of here if possible.
Looking at the two in annoyance, Kurumu cried, "I need a hug too!" she ran up to hug him, but was stopped when the brunette held his hand up on her face.
"Ah ah ah, we'll have none of that." Tsukune scolded as he gently shoved her head away and poked it, "You want to hug something, go hug a flower." he released and walked away from her, and Kurumu rubbed her forehead where he poked her.
As Tsukune still held up Yukari in comfort, he thought he saw something hiding in the bushes and sunflowers. For a second there, either he's imagining things or he thought that he saw something that had sharp teeth. And so he put Yukari down to let run up to Moka and hug her in comfort, and the brunette walked over to the spot he saw with suspicion.
"Tsukune? What's wrong?" Moka asked, holding Yukari close in comfort.
"I'm not sure." Tsukune said, "But I could have sworn I saw something moving in the flowers." he readied his hand to bring out his gunblade just in case before...
They heard a noise. A noise that sent chills going down their spines which sounded like a roar.
"Was that a roar just now?" Tsukune asked slowly, now on guard as he materialized his Blazefire Saber out in gun form and aimed at whatever is going to jump out at them.
"There's something weird about this place!" Moka exclaimed as they all looked around.
The l'Cie looked up ahead to see a cabin in the distance, "Let's get away from here for the time being." he suggested, "There's a cabin over there, let's go!" and they didn't need to be told twice as the girls ran towards the cabin with Tsukune behind them.
Looking back, he held his weapon up to aim at whatever is coming after them, but nothing did. And so he followed the girls into the cabin and slammed the door once everyone was inside. They took a quick breather after running with the brunette looking up with a questioning look.
"This is the human world that I once live in?" Tsukune questioned, mostly to himself, "What was that out there just now?"
Everyone just stood silent, obviously are in the same boat as the brunette with Moka looking down with a questioning look of her own.
"Spiriting away." Moka said, repeating the words of the bus driver, "I wonder what's been going on here. What's written in that newspaper that the bus driver just gave us?"
Tsukune reached into his bag where he stuffed the paper in and brought it out.
"We need to find out what kind of place this is." Moka suggested.
"I agree." Tsukune replied as he opened the paper, only to have his eyes widen to read what the article said...
Elsewhere
In another part of Witch's Hill, two college girls one older with short hair driving and younger with pigtails and a white cap holding up a newspaper are on a trip towards the sunflower field. With the latter reading the paper aloud.
"In Okabanachou in Fujimi City, 18 sightseers have disappeared one after another. There's always been a legend that witch lives on a hill in that very area. For that reason, there have been rumors that these incidents are the work of a witch. People with interests in the occult have also started to visit the area. Ha ha, senpai! They're talking about us!"
The older girl smiled at her friend, "Well, Youko, you really do love the occult. Look, we're almost at the Witch Hill!"
Youko smiled in excitement and looked up ahead, "This is going to be great! I hear that it's a beautiful place a bunch of sunflowers in bloom. Because of the construction they're all going to be cut down soon, so we have to go see them while we still can."
Back with Tsukune and co.
As Tsukune was done reading the article out loud, he noticed that the girls have crowded around him. And he cleared his throat to get their attention, "Could I have a little space please?" he asked politely. And they complied as they sheepishly back off and mumbled an apology, much to his relief, "Thank you."
"A witch?" Kurumu asked, nervously, "What? So this spiriting away business is all because of a witch?" she turned to Yukari, "Isn't it your kind that kidnaps humans and does awful things to them?"
Tsukune frowned at her, "You shouldn't jump to conclusions like that Kurumu." he scolded, "And you shouldn't accuse Yukari of all people."
"He's right, you know." Yukari agreed, angry at the accusations Kurumu implanted, "You really are simpleminded if you believe everything you read in the newspaper, Kurumu-san."
Kurumu harrumphed, "Hmph, well I just don't like witches to begin with."
Yukari also scoffed, "And I don't like talking blow up dolls like you."
This led them to a comical fight with Kurumu holding up Yukari by the shoulders and Yukari hitting Kurumu with a washpan she magically drew up. Moka sweatdropped at the two, fighting like children. Well in this case, Kurumu is fighting like a child against Yukari. Tsukune, on the other hand looked at the two in anger and disappointment as a vein popped onto his head, having a hard time studying the article.
"Okay, that's enough out of you two!" Tsukune yelled, trying to get them to stop, but...
"Shut up!" they both yelled in unison and punched the brunette in the face at the same time. He fell back and slammed hard on his back with his eyes rolled back. And out cold too.
Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari were shocked that they knocked out Tsukune, "Tsukune!"
After a minute of waking up, Tsukune got up and rubbed his face where he got punched. He got an apology from Kurumu and Yukari, but he shrugged it off as he went back to the newspaper to study the article once more.
"Hey, don't you think it's more than just a coincidence that we were stranded here?" Moka asked with some thought, getting everyone's attention, "It's supposed to be camp for the Newspaper Club after all. Could Sensei be trying to get us to do something here maybe?"
Tsukune gave some thought and answered, "Probably." though he is quite unsure himself at what's going on here. If something out there is causing the disappearances in this area, then they need to solve it as soon as possible and be done with it.
Kurumu on the other hand, "What kind of plan is that?" she asked unamused, "If that's true, then it'd mean she's testing. How annoying! In that case, we should just figure out who's doing the spiriting away for ourselves."
But Tsukune thought otherwise, "Look, I understand how you feel Kurumu, but rushing won't solve anything. Something out there is waiting for us and is somehow making tourists disappear in this so called 'spiriting away,' and we need to figure out what it is. For the time being, we must have patience and wait here for a little and think of a plan or some sort in the situation we're in."
"I agree with Tsukune." Yukari said nervously, "It's too dangerous. What if something really does happen? This is the human world." she brought out tarot cards, "Even my Tarot cards say this vacation is ill fated."
Tsukune was about to say something, but Kurumu beat him to it.
"I've had enough of you Yukari-chan." Kurumu said angrily, having enough of Yukari's complaints, "Tarot cards are worthless anyway! And you've been complaining all day! You're such a wimp! How long are you going to try and hid under your bed?" she looked at her with pity, "You really are just a baby. If you're so worried, then why don't you just go home by yourself!"
Tsukune was shocked at how Kurumu treated Yukari, but was subdued to anger as he folded his paper for a second, got up and walked over to her to tell her off, but...
"Wh-why... you..." Yukari whispered in a tremble after she had a look of hurt, and suddenly, she got up right in Kurumu's face, exploding in anger, "Don't be stupid! I'm not afraid of anything!" and in retort, she threw one of her Tarot card from her deck at Kurumu's forehead and ran past the others and out the door.
"Wait, Yukari-chan!" Moka cried out to her and turned to Tsukune and Kurumu, "Come on! That was going too far. Yukari-chan is running up the mountain!"
"Dammit!" Tsukune cursed as he ran up at the door, "We'd better go find her." and he changed his paradigm to Synergist, "We'll move faster if we use this spell." and a large red circle formed beneath them, making a ticking sound as their speed is now increased, "HASTEGA."
"Okay, let's get moving." he said before he looked to Kurumu's forehead still bleeding, with the Tarot card still intact. And he sighed, "Okay, right after I heal you first." he changed to medic, took off the card off of Kurumu's forehead and healed her wound before glancing at the Tarot card Yukari used, "What's that thing made out of?"
With Yukari
Yukari marched on through the forest with Kurumu's words implanted in her mind, 'I... I grew up living in a sealed off village at the bottom of a deep gorge. So I see humans as my enemies until I learned that Tsukune-san's true form is that of a human. And yet, at the same time, he isn't. But even so, I hated the human world for a lot of reasons too.'
And she said aloud, "Yet, no one... No one thinks about how I feel."
Yukari found herself sitting on a pile of trees with and she held her knees up, trying to block out what happened earlier. Suddenly...
"Kyaaaa!" a scream was heard.
"Hm? A scream?" Yukari wondered as she got up from her seat and looked to the direction to where the scream was shouted from, "It came from the sunflower garden." and she thought that her friends are in trouble, 'Could they be in danger?' and she ran to the direction of the scream.
Little did she know was that she's being watched by a figure hiding behind a tree. And it came out, revealing to be a short figure wearing a white robe with a hood over its head.
"It looks like I found her." the figure whispered, which sounded female, "My, you've certainly made us go through the trouble of finding you." the figure looked up to reveal a pair of green eyes.
With Tsukune
Running at great speed combined with haste, Tsukune was now running towards the scream he heard earlier, and thought it belonged to Yukari.
And like the little witch, he didn't know that he was being watched as a tall figure in a black robe walked out of the sunflowers she was hiding in, and looked to the direction where the l'Cie boy ran off to.
"Found you at last, Lighting's son." the black robed figure whispered, also female. And looked up to reveal a pair of green eyes like the other one.
With Yukari
As the young witch ran to the location of the scream, she heard a voice nearby.
"Wh-What's with this sunflower garden?" a voice asked, "This can't be happening! Someone Help!" and Yukari turned to see Youko pulling something, or rather someone on the ground.
"Anyone!" she screamed again, and she turned to see Yukari looking down at her.
"Who are you?" Yukari asked timidly. It was an unknown human.
"Wh-Why are you dressed like that?" Youko asked her in fear, "A-Are you a witch?"
Feeling hurt by her words which felt like a knife stabbing her heart, Yukari got over her fear of humans, tilted her nose up high, and spun around on her heels to walk away.
"My mistake!" Yukari said coldly, "I thought that someone else was in danger. I wouldn't have bothered to come if I had known it was some human stranger."
"W-Wait!" Youko pleaded, "Help me! She's going to be eaten! My senpai is going to be eaten by the sunflowers!"
Yukari stopped to turn back to her, "What?" she asked in confusion.
"It's my fault!" Youko admitted in near tears, "I was the one who said she should come to this 'Witch Hill' as a test of courage..." she sniffled, still holding onto her friend's arm.
Yukari's eyes trailed on her arms and gasped. Youko was pulling an older girl whose body was covered in vines with plant-like appendages in that of a Venus fly trap, sticking onto her. Yukari put her hands on her mouth in shock.
'Could this be... a type of magic plant?' she questioned in thought, 'A plant monster that attacks and feeds on humans and animals like a Venus fly trap!"
"F...ood..." a wheezed growl was heard from behind Youko's senpai, and a strange creature that resembled the Venus fly trap appeared. It had arms and legs that are the same as the kind of vines that wrapped around the older woman and growled, "Food!"
This was known as the Garigarious, a monster plant of the supernatural world.
The carnivorous plant opened its mouth and jumped up high and dove straight towards Yukari after she shook out of her stupor from staring at the plant creature and jumped back to dodge
'C-Could this be… what's been causing all those people to be spirited away?!' Yukari thought as she fell back on her bottom, 'All those people who disappeared were eaten by this?!'
The Garigarious rose up again after it crashed onto the ground and lunged towards her once more. But, as if relying on instinct, Yukari drew out her deck of Tarot cards and threw them at at the monster plant like they were shuriken.
"I'm not going to let myself be eaten by this thing!" Yukari declared before she drew out her wand and put her magic into it. The cards flew faster as they stabbed all over its body, making the witch grin in victory, "My finishing move is my magic controlled Tarot Deck Card Blade Attack! I refuse to lose to a weed!"
But the attack was less effective as it got back up, and what's worse is that it's not alone, "Food… eat. Food… eat." and she turned around to see more of the Venus fly trap creatures coming out of the bushes.
"What? There's more of them?!" Yukari exclaimed, "How many are there?"
And the plant creature that she attacked earlier wrapped its vine around Yukari's arm and pulled her in the air as it opened its mouth to eat her up.
"Kyaaaaaa!" Yukari screamed as she was pulled in to be eaten, but...
BANG! SCREECH!
The plant creature screeched as its body was covered in flames by a flaming bullet and turned to ash, releasing the witch from its grip. She plummeted towards the ground before she was caught by the arms of her savior.
Yukari opened her eyes after she closed them to have them widen to see Tsukune, holding her in his arms, "Tsukune…?"
The brunette nodded as he asked, "Are you okay, Yukari-chan?" and she nodded in response. The l'Cie landed on the ground, let the witch down and turned to the plant creatures, waiting for their chance to strike, "What the hell are those things?"
"They're Garigarious..." Yukari explained, remembering the creatures from one of her old books, "They're carnivorous Venus fly trap creatures that reside in the supernatural world. Like carnivores, they desire meat only and they hid themselves among other plants and attack any living animals that come near them."
"I see." Tsukune said in understanding, "And I take it that these guys are responsible for the people's disappearances." They reminded him of the Triffid from Gran Pulse as they can disguise themselves as flowers and jump at their victims, and these guys just hide among themselves. These overgrown weeds would make the flower creatures back on Pulse look cute in comparison. And not to mention that the difference between them is that the Triffids would fight off their victims instead of eating them just to defend their territory.
Tsukune looked to Yukari with a knowing smile, "What do you say we whack these weeds from whence they came?" Yukari looked up at Tsukune in awe before she gained a look of determination. And he put his hand on her shoulder, "Then let's put your training to the test once more." he changed his Blazefire Saber to sword mode and attacked the one that's holding Youko's senpai and stabbed its head with his sword turning gray, "RUINSTRIKE!" and its head bursts like a balloon, exploded with pieces flying about, its vine wrapped around the older woman disappeared, and the pieces scattered.
The brunette pulled his sword away to see Youko wrapped her arms around her senpai's head and cried, happy to see that she's free from the monster's grip. And he turned around with his eyes widen to see four of the carnivorous plant creatures surrounding the witch like wolves cornering their prey.
Yukari, having no fear in her eyes, put on her manadrive gloves, and held up her wand and cards in her hands. She began chanting magic spells with the power of her magic and the AMP devices, 'The only reason why my attack didn't work was because it wasn't powerful enough.' she thought as she clenched her fists with energy flowing through them to the wand and to the cards, 'But, with the power of science and magic combined, I might be able to harness the full magic for this spell.' and so she chanted the last words to shoot out her Tarot cards once more.
'With this, I can beat the bad guys too!' she then chanted, "Tarot Deck Card Blade Attack! Storm!" true to her word, the colors of her Tarot cards changed into red, blue, green, and yellow into their respective elements, fire, ice, air, and thunder with wings growing out of them. The plant creatures stopped in mid air to screech in pain as they were hit and sliced through by the cards, the first one was burnt by fire, the second frozen by ice, third sliced by air, and fourth shocked by thunder. And they all hit the ground hard as deadweights with the ones that were burnt and shocked turned into ashes, the one frozen smashed into pieces like glass after it was frozen solid, and the one sliced was sliced into ribbons.
Tsukune, after watching Yukari's fight in amazement and stunning awe, smiled proudly at her display of the results of her training. Though he had seen her use powerful magic from before they faced Kuyou, this was most impressive, and creative. And seeing the progress she made after months of training her in the art of magic, they made this victory special.
Yukari looked at her craftwork with a proud smile of her own before she began to lose consciousness and felt her breath short after putting a bit too much mana into her attack, 'There, see? I am a genius after all.' She was about to fall backwards, but the brunette caught her before she could hit the ground.
Tsukune looked at her with a tender look, "Rest well, Yukari-chan, you've earned it."
The l'Cie then heard footsteps coming towards them and saw Moka and Kurumu running in normal speed. It appears that the haste magic worn off the same time he did.
"Uwaaah! What is this?" Kurumu cried, along with Moka, looking at the destroyed plant monsters in shock. And they saw Tsukune with Yukari in his arms, "Tsukune! What happened!"
"We were attacked by some plant monsters." Tsukune explained, "And Yukari here took care of them."
"What?" Kurumu cried in shock, and she looked to the unconscious witch in his arms, "All by herself?"
"Well actually, I only dealt with one." Tsukune confessed, "Yukari-chan handled the rest." and he looked to the two female tourists with Youko nodded in confirmation.
"Yep, what he said was true. Sunlight there handled one and the little witch fought its friends." a female voice with an Australian accent said to them. Everyone turned to see the direction of the voice to see two cloaked figures, one black and one white walking towards them.
"Yukari-chan took those piranha plants down a notch with great effort." the white cloaked figure said in amusement with the same accent, "And boy did she show them a thing or two."
Tsukune narrowed his eyes at them in suspicion, "Who are you two?" he questioned, "How did you know Yukari-chan's name?" he handed the witch over to the vampire and took a defensive stance with both of his hands clenched, "Are you the ones responsible for the disappearances of the people?" Moka held Yukari close as well as Youko with her senpai in worry, and Kurumu stood by Tsukune's side, taking a defensive position as well.
The white robed figure were taken aback by the accusation while the black one stood calm.
"What? No, of course not!" she exclaimed with her hands up in defense, "Fighting is one thing, but we would never take a person's life!"
The black figure crossed her arms, "Unless if they dare to harm our friends, then we'll give him a butt-whooping."
Tsukune blinked, suddenly feeling a good vibe from the two and trusting them when they spoke to him, "Wait, you're telling the truth, aren't you?" he asked. He felt a warm feeling and purity from the white one with the innocence of a child. And from the black, he could feel a feeling of trust and compassion, and not to mention cockiness and a bit of strictness.
"Of course, Tsukune." the black one confirmed, "If we wanted to, we could have attacked you when you and Yukari-chan had your backs turned. But we didn't. And we would have helped you, had it not been for your little witch friend there. Though she's a bit young, you're lucky to have such a strong magic-user on your side."
Tsukune arched a brow and asked, "How come you already know my name?"
The two cloaked figures looked at each other and back to them with the black one saying, "Perhaps its best that we'd introduce ourselves." they grabbed their cloaks and took them off instantly to reveal themselves as two beautiful women in their late teens and early twenties.
It was none other than Fang and Vanille.
Fang was in her usual blue attire from when she's on Pulse.
For Vanille, she has the physical appearance of a nineteen year-old, has bright red hair tied in curled pigtails, green eyes, and pierced ears with silver hoop earrings. Her outfit is inspired by the traditional clothes of the Namibian Himba women. She wears a pink halter top, an ombré orange and yellow skirt, beige boots, and a fur pelt around her waist. And she wears numerous bracelets, three beaded necklaces, and an assortment of beads attached to various parts of her clothing.
"Hi, Mr. Farron and friends! Nice to meet you!" Vanille greeted them cheerfully in perfect English, "It looks like you need a hand or two!" she ran over to them and straight to the unconscious witch and she assisted Moka to let her down gently on a tree trunk.
Kurumu on the other hand, gave them a sharp look, not trusting them one bit even if Tsukune or the others trust them.
"English?" Tsukune asked before he arched a brow at the girl, 'How do they know my...?' his eyes widen in recognition at these two as he looked from Vanille and Fang, and he baffled out, "F-Fang, and Vanille?!" They looked exactly like the drawings Aunt Serah drew. They haven't aged at all.
Moka's eyes widened as she remembered the books she read of Pulse and Gran Pulse, the heroes who saved everyone's lives from Cocoon's destruction. So these are the two legendary l'Cie that were in crystal stasis. She stared at them in wonder, to see the two legends on Pulse, standing here out in bright day, and on Earth at that.
Kurumu was confused as she looked to Tsukune and Moka, feeling that they know them from before, and was a bit angry that she was left out of the dark. She then realized that these two may have spend time together studying from before they went into a study group. It seems that she's going to have to kick things up a notch if she's going to make Tsukune hers. Though in her eyes, he already is.
Youko, with her senpai still in her arms was confused as well. Just who are these people? The witch she understood, but for the brunette, how was he able to do those things to the one that attacked them earlier? This doesn't make sense.
Tsukune had wondered, 'Why are they here? How are they here?' From what he's heard, they're supposed to be in crystal stasis while holding up Cocoon from crashing into Pulse, and yet here they are, out here in bright daylight and on Earth at that.
And his eyes widen in shock and panic at the thought. If they're here, does that mean…?
"Don't worry about everyone back home, Tsukune-kun." Fang said in assurance, shaking him out of his thoughts and looked at her, "They're all safe and sound, and we're still holding up Cocoon as we speak. We won't wake up until 600 years later."
Tsukune blinked in confusion. 600 years?
"To be precise, we're from the future." Vanille explained, putting a damp cloth on Yukari's forehead, and she looked to Moka, "She'll be fine, just as long as she get some rest, and not cast another magic spell for an hour or two." and Moka nodded. If they are
"From... the future?" Tsukune repeated slowly, hoping that he heard right.
Fang nodded, "That's right. We're time travelers." The brunette was quite surprised at the revelation, as well as Moka. But hey, with all the things that have been going on through this day, this shouldn't be nothing more than a spoiled birthday surprise.
"Um..." a voice called to the two, and the Newspaper Club and the two l'Cie turned to see Youko, hoisting her senpai by the arm by her side, and still asleep.
"I... don't know what's going on, but..." she bowed down her head to them and thanked, "Thank you very much! I guess there really are witches! I'm really touched. She saved our lives!"
Tsukune smiled at the two and at Yukari, "She sure did."
As Youko thanked them, Kurumu looked to Yukari sleeping, 'You really did fight without running away. After all, you're the type that really can't stand losing.' She then spotted Yukari's hat on a sunflower, which somehow flew off her head and landed on it. Kurumu ran over to it and picked it up and walked over to Yukari. And she smiled as she put the young witch's hat back on her head.
"You're not weak at all, Yukari-chan." Kurumu said quietly, "I'm sorry for saying all those awful things to you before."
Everyone, including Youko smiled at the heartwarming scene.
Kurumu got up and walked to stand by Tsukune's side, "Well, I guess this means we've solved the case of the disappearances, right?" she asked as she looked to the dead plants.
Fang shook her head, "No, far from it." she said, getting everyone's attention, and she turned to the brunette, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Tsukune nodded and crossed his arms, "Yeah." he looked to the ashes of one of the dead plants and slightly kicked it, "This is the human world, right? I wonder what's going on this with this mountain."
Fang crouched down to observe an ice shard that was made from the frozen plant creature, "These nasty little buggers look like they didn't live here by choice." she flicked it away before turning to the brunette and his friends, "But, we'll worry about it later. So everyone listen up." and they all got her attention as she grinned and jerked a thumb to herself, "I've got a proposition for ya."
New Bodhum beach, Pulse
At New Bodhum beach at Pulse, the Farron residents, Lightning, Snow, Serah, and Claire walked onto the wet sand on the beach in their bare feet, and join up a group of friends. NORA, Sazh Katzroy, Hope Estheim, and Dajh Katzroy and his chocobo, Leo.
Sazh is a dark-skinned, middle-aged man with an afro and wears a long, olive coat over khaki trousers, a white button-down shirt, and black buckled engineer boots. Despite being in his 50s, Sazh Katroy looks like he hasn't aged a bit in over 10 years.
Dajh, Tsukune's best friend is a dark-skinned a tall teenager, who also has an afro like his father's, just not very big though, and is around Tsukune' age. He wears glasses, wears a green collar shirt, dress pants, and black dress shoes. Unlike his father, this boy tends to be a genius and level headed and not wild, though a bit comedic like his old man if one might add.
And by Dajh's side is Leo, who is a chocobo and his pet. He is a big yellow bird that's the size of an ostrich. He was the little chocobo chick that lived in Sazh's afro and traveled with him and their friends for 10 years.
As they joined up with the group, Serah asked her sister, "So Fang and Vanille are really bringing Tsukune home? I thought that he couldn't visit us over the summer, because it's against the school rules."
Lightning sighed, "Well, from what I hear from those two. It appears that Tsukune's home teacher abandoned them along with the bus driver towards the city when they had their backs turned." she frowned slightly, "Just so that they can eat sushi." trying to control her anger, she clenched her fist while maintaining the urge to go to Earth and find their teacher just so she can give her a... good talking to.
Serah looked baffled, "You mean to tell me that their teacher, their educator ditched them, just so she can eat some raw fish?" she then turned from shock into anger with her teeth gritting, "When I get my hands on her, I am gonna slap her silly until she can't take it anymore."
"I'd be happy to take out her taste buds." Lightning said coldly, wanting to find her as well.
With Snow, Claire, Sazh, and Leo
"Long time no see, Sazh." Snow greeted the dark-skinned, and they fist bumped.
"Long time no see, Snow." Sazh greeted back and he looked to Claire with a smile, "Hey Claire." and out of nowhere, Leo's head got under between Claire and picked her up to let her slide down his neck and on his back. And the young Villiers laughed happily as she rode the chocobo around like a horse.
"Hya Leo! Hya!" Claire mushed and they ran around their friends.
"Claire, you be careful!" Serah exclaimed, worried for her daughter's safety.
Sazh and Snow chuckled at the sight with the former asking, "Really, Leo? You're gonna do that now?" he calmed down as he looked over to his son, "I bet that Tsukune will be surprised to see his best friend he hadn't seen in over a year." he smiled, remembering the times those two had when they were little, and man those were good times.
With Dajh and NORA.
"I just hope that Tsukune hasn't changed since I left." Dajh hoped as he looked to the picture of the young versions of themselves smiling. He was eager to see his long time friend again for over a year, "I mean, from what I hear, he's homesick, and I should attended that school to comfort him." he became a bit depressed, "But now that he has some new friends to do that job for me, I feel like he would have his life turned around and forget about little ol' me. I feel like I've let him down."
But Lebreau thought otherwise as she wrapped her arm around his neck, "Hey, don't be silly. You're best friends remember? Besides, you two wouldn't know what to do in your life without each other."
Dajh shrugged her arm away, "Aw, you're just saying that." he argued, "I mean, he's strong and I'm not. And I wouldn't be surprised if he joined some sports club at that school he's attending, and then one day he would just move on and forget about me."
"Muscles and physical strength has nothing to do with the bond between you two, you know." Sazh interjected as he walked over to his teenage son and placed his hand on his shoulder, "Have you forgotten the times that you two spent together when you were kids?" he gave an amusing smile, "Now who's forgetting?"
"Not me." a voice echoed out of thin air and everyone was startled as they looked to the direction of the voice and a big portal appeared, and 6 people came out of it.
Tsukune just gave them all the biggest smile he could ever give, he was never been more happy than to finally be at his home at last.
Moka just stared at the people before her in stunning awe... humans. But the one that caught her attention was the woman before her, Lightning Farron and was amazed by her beauty. She then looked back at Tsukune, who seemed to be full of joy and happiness to see that he's finally home and back with his family at that. And she was really happy for him.
Kurumu also smiled for Tsukune, and she was really happy to meet his family who raised him. And she ignored every other feeling and desires just to see his happiness.
Yukari on the other, hid behind Moka, who seemed to be nervous at the moment to look at the human citizens of this planet. While she was happy for Tsukune for coming home, she can't help but feel uneasy at the people around him. But maybe as long as he's by his side, she might start to warm up to them.
"Hey everyone, I'm back." Tsukune said, greeting everyone in sight.
"Tsukune." Snow said with a smile, glad that his nephew is finally visiting home after 4 months.
Gadot grinned proudly at the return of the young l'Cie.
Dajh just smiled, though his lip quivered like he was on the verge of crying to see his best friend again. He had a feeling that he hasn't changed a bit since they hadn't seen each other.
Sazh and Hope both smiled with the latter crossing his arms, happy to see his little brother figure come home. And not only that, Fang and Vanille are here on Pulse as well, making the l'Cie gang all back together again, 10 years later.
"You guys have changed, since I've left." Tsukune said in amazement and looked to his best friend, "Dajh, look at you! You're tall now!" he turned to Claire and greeted her with a wave, "Hey Claire."
"Brother." Claire whispered with a smile, happy to see her cousin/brother coming home. To her, it felt like years since she last seen him.
"Oh, Tsukune." Serah said happily, nearing tears, who also happy to see her nephew finally come home.
"Oh, wowzers." Maqui sniffed with tears in his eyes as well.
Yuj was about to cry as he covered his eyes with his forearm.
"Welcome back to Pulse, Tsukune." Lebreau said with a smile, though her voice cracked a bit with tears streaming down her face.
Fang and Vanille, felt happy for all them with the latter crying tears of joy, and smiled warmly at the heartwarming sight. It felt like they were wrapped in warm blankets.
Tsukune walked up to his mother to hug her, "I'm home, Mom."
"Welcome home, Tsukune." Lightning greeted her son with a warm smile, returning the hug, "I've missed you son."
"I missed you too, Mom." Tsukune said, ending the hug, and he turned the others, "Hey, are you guys just going to stand there and wait?" and before he knew it, they all ran up to him excitedly and pulled him in for a group hug.
"Tsukune!" they all shouted. And they began to pelt him with questions and such.
"Have you been eating well, Tsukune?" Serah asked him.
"Are you here to stay forever, brother?" Claire asked, hugging his leg.
"Did you get yourself a girlfriend?" Snow humored teasingly as he gave him a noogie.
"Uncle!" Tsukune shouted, indignantly, but laughed.
As they pelted him with questions, Lightning looked to Tsukune's friends, and her attention was mainly at Moka, and she asked him, "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Oh, right!" Tsukune exclaimed as everyone stopped bugging him, and they allowed him to let Lightning meet his friends first. And he walked over to them, "Mom, this is Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari. Girls, this is my mother, Lightning Farron."
"Hello there." Lightning greeted with a wave.
Moka was a bit hesitant as she walked closer to the elder Farron. She was even more beautiful in person as she can't help but feel unworthy to be in her presence. This was the woman who raised Tsukune as her own. But at least she built up the courage to introduced herself.
"H-Hello." Moka greeted politely and gave a bow, "M-My name is Akashiya Moka. It's very nice to meet you."
Seeing her shyness, Tsukune's mother walked over to her, "Hello Moka." Lightning greeted with a warm smile, "Tsukune told me all about you." and she slowly embraced the vampire in a hug as if they had known each other for years. Moka was surprised at first, but warmed up to it as she felt warm and safe in her arms, "Thank you for watching over my son."
Moka smiled softly, and accepting the embrace as she hugged back, "You're welcome."
As they broke the hug, Kurumu ran up to her and held her hands.
"Hi! I'm Kurumu!" Kurumu greeted excitedly, "And in case you don't know, I'm Tsukune's girlfriend!"
Tsukune, Moka and Yukari grew tick marks at her for that lying remark.
"Oh, so you're Kurumu." Lightning said with an amusing smile and her eyes closed, and her smile became wicked with her teeth gritting, "The girl with the big assets, who made my son a living hell just by making him suffocate his face through them. And a constant liar."
Seeing the mood dropped drastically, Kurumu uttered, "Uh..." and she meekly released her hands and walked back slowly as she is now afraid of the woman. And hearing at what she said about her, this was not a good start.
Satisfied by intimidating her, Lightning looked to Yukari as she hid behind Tsukune's legs.
"Yukari, come on out." Tsukune encouraged, in a motherly way, "It's okay."
The said witch peeked out to see Tsukune's mother, and she came out to walk in front of her, "H-Hello... I-I'm Yukari." she mumbled with a bit of stammer.
Lightning kneeled to her level and gave a friendly smile, "And I'm Lightning. Hi."
The two stared at each other for a moment, until Yukari smiled and hugged her, in which she hugged back.
Tsukune, Moka, and Kurumu smiled at the two interacting. It seems that her fear of humans have desist for a moment. And everyone else was smiling at the shy girl hugging the older woman, almost as if they're mother and daughter.
Vanille then walked to Tsukune's side, "Tsukune. Remember, you and your friends only have 24 hours right before Nekonome-sensei comes back."
Tsukune nodded in understanding, "Yeah, I know."
"Every second counts. So use them wisely." Fang advised, and she and Vanille ran over to Hope, Sazh and the others to greet him.
Moka introduced herself to Serah and Snow Villiers, who seemed very excited to meet Tsukune's first friend on Earth. But was interrupted by Kurumu, much to the vampire's chagrin.
And Yukari introduced herself to Claire and talked like they were old friends after their greeting.
Tsukune smiled at the sight to see the girls interacting his friends and family before he was brought to the attention of his mother.
"Tsukune, there's something I have to tell you." Lightning said as she placed her hands on his shoulders, "And it's important."
Back at Witch Hill
Back at the sunflower field, in the deep mountains in a hidden cabin, two shadowy figures were conversing.
"A witch? A witch on my hill?" the first figure asked.
"Yes, O-Yukata-sama." the second figure replied in a female voice and bowed down in respect, "Despite her youth, she possesses quite strong magic. That witch completely destroyed the magical plants that were entrusted to guard our priceless sunflower field."
"Well, well..." the one called O-Yukata said with interest, "How many years has it been since I last met a real witch? We must welcome her. The young witch. We are of the same blood..."
"I'm afraid it's not that simple, O-Yukata-sama." a female voice said, coming out of the shadows, and revealed the cloaked figure from Yokai Academy.
"You're late." O-Yukata scolded the masked figure, and with chagrin too.
"And I do apologize for that, O-Yukata-sama." the masked figure apologized with her head bowing in respect, "Knowing her is one thing. But fetching her won't be a simple task." she looked up and reached her hand up to her face to pull her mask off. Only to reveal halfway to show one blue eye and a bit of white hair.
I'm almost done with school at community college, and I won't be working on this for weeks, yadda yadda yadda. Because I'm gonna graduate this year! And if you like it please review it, or don't. Either way, I'm glad you all read it and like it. So who is the masked figure? What happened to Izumi? Why did I alter Yukari's attack? What was something important that Lightning wanted to talk to her son about? Why am I asking you these questions? In the meantime, until the next chapter comes out, please be patient. Thank you!