"Protection Committee? I didn't know we had something like that in school," I comment at Kuyo's statement.
"Is it something like a disciplinary committee?" Kasumi asks as Kuyo walked up to the table, picking up a newspaper.
"Something like that, yes," he replied simply as he looked over the paper.
"Oh, ok then. Well, what does the committee have against the newspaper club?" Moka asks as Gin stepped in front of everyone else and held out his arm in front of us.
'What is he doing?'
I have no idea, but it ain't good, I can say that much.
"No, we do not have a problem with the club, per se," Kuyo says as he looks at the paper. "However, who gave you permission to hand these out on school grounds?"
"What? I didn't know that we had-" Before I could finish my sentence, Kuyo threw the paper at me yelled out.
"Its people like you who think that they can do whatever they want that threaten the peace at this school!" he shouted as he kicked the table over, along with the papers. "We at the committee uphold peace at this school! We make sure it doesn't dissolve into chaos because of clubs like you!"
"Whoa!" I shouted as I dodged the flying table, which ended up crashing into a tree and breaking in half. "What are you talking about!? All we're doing is handing out newspapers! We didn't know that we had to get permission to do so!"
Apparently, that wasn't the right response, since some girl with black hair walked out in front of Kuyo and… spit something towards me. That something ended up being some webbing that stuck to my wrist.
"Yuk! What is the hell is this crap?!" I exclaim as I try to get the sticky webbing off of me.
"Hm. Just like the newspaper club last year," the girl who had spit the gunk at me say. "Same dumb Gin leading some stupid looking fools."
"Hey!"
'That was uncalled for. Still, what do you think she meant, youngling? I have a feeling that this isn't the first time that this "protection committee" has dealt with the club.'
"Hey, cut it out! We worked hard on those!"
'Youngling…'
What?! The damned bitch is stomping on our hard work! You know damn well what we had to go through to make this issue of the newspaper!
'Of course I do. But I believe that there are larger concerns here.'
Ugh! You're so annoying sometimes, you know that?!
'Thou hath made that quite apparent.'
The "protection committee" gave us a warning and left, leaving us with a whole bunch of ruined newspapers and boxes. Everyone else was arguing with each other about what to do next until Gin said that we shouldn't do ANYTHING, and just do what they say.
"So like you, mutt," Kasumi says with a scoff. "Just turn around and run away with your tail between your legs at the first sign of trouble."
"It's what's smart, hot head," Gin snaps back at her. "In case you haven't noticed, those people are extremely powerful! What's more, they have the chairman on their side, so if they decide to shut us down, THEY CAN!"
"So we just step aside and do fuck all!?" Kasumi shouts back at him.
"Exactly!"
"Fuck you, you cowardly piece of shit!"
Gin growled at Kasumi and walked away, leaving the rest of us to pick up the mess, as usual. We manage to get it done rather quickly…. though, what was left of the newspapers was confined only to a single, crumpled up box, so that was fantastic. Well, not like we can really do anything about it now, not with the committee already after our hides and everything. So, we just gather up the box and head over to a table to sit down.
"…So that's it then?" Mizore asks while looking at the box. "We just… give in? Just submit to the committee?
"I don't like it either, but what else can we do?" I ask while rubbing my face. "As much as it churns my stomach to just roll over and listen to them, I don't think we have much of a choice. It's either that or we risk getting the club shut down over nothing."
"But…"
"You know what? Screw you guys!" Kurumu suddenly shouted, grabbing the box. "I don't care what you, Gin, or that dumb committee says! We worked hard on these things, and if you guys aren't going to hand them out, I will!"
"Kurumu, would you, for once, be smart about this? If we push this, there's a chance that the club-"
"How do you know that, huh? They could just be blowing hot air!"
"And how do you know that they aren't?! Damn it, Kurumu, use what little brains you've fucking got and THINK for once!"
"Screw you! Come on, Tsukune, let's go!"
"Wait, what? Me?" Tsukune asks right before Kurumu grabbed him by the arm, dragging him away. I groan as they go away and rub the bridge of my nose.
"She's going to get us into trouble," Kasumi says with a scoff while crossing her arms.
"I know," Yukari says while laying her chin down on the table. "But I also understand where she's coming from. I mean, is there really anything else we can do? We can't just not do anything."
"I know, Yukari, but what can we do?" Moka asks. "They have the power here…"
This royally sucks some major ass… I don't get it, though. We've handed out the newspapers plenty of times before. Why have a problem with it now?
'Indeed. This committee does not seem right. For those who claim to protect, they seem to attack more often than not. I hath heard whispers about them, comparisons being made to the "yakuza", which I understand is not a very pleasant group of humans.'
That they aren't, and if the committee is anything like them, all the more reason to just listen. I'm not putting my friends in danger.
"I'm going to go and talk to them," Mizore suddenly says, standing up from the table.
"What?" I asked, shooting up from my seat. "Oh, hell no, you're not, Mizore."
"It's ok, boyfriend," Mizore says with a soft smile. "I'm just going to freeze the idiot solid to make sure she doesn't do something completely stupid."
Sighing, I just nod to her, which made her giggle and kiss my cheek. I blush and smile at her as she went off in the direction that Kurumu walked off towards along with Tsukune. I just sigh and sit back down.
"I'm not so sure that's a good idea," Yukari says while gripping her hat lightly. "Kurumu is a hot head, that's for sure. Mizore isn't that much better once things get bad."
"She has a point, Nathan," Moka says worriedly. "Maybe we should all go and make sure nothing happens."
…Shit, they've got a point. Kurumu is bad enough as it is, but if she and Mizore get into an argument, or even get into a fight with someone, all hell will break loose.
'Perhaps it would be wise to follow what the vampire says and go after them. If but to make sure thy mate is ok.'
Yeah, probably should.
"You're right, Moka," I say as I stand up from the table. "Come on, let's go see if we can't make sure the three of them don't do something we'll all regret."
With a nod, the last three girls stand up from the table as we all start to head towards the direction that the others went off to. I honestly don't think that anything bad could happen in such a short amount of time, but at the same time, I KNOW something bad will happen. Especially considering this group's track record with bad luck.
'I agree. The people here do seem to have a habit of getting into terrible situations.'
Tell me about it.
"KYAAA!"
'Right on cue.'
Not the time!
With the scream, we all started running towards the source. Rounding the corner, we all see that the black haired girl from before ended up having Tsukune tied up and pinned to the ground, while Mizore and Kurumu were tied up to a tree. The other three girls behind me screamed at the sight of the girl being in her monster form, which seemed to be a giant spider of some sort, eight legs. Upon hearing them, she turned her attention towards us.
"Oh great, you all," she groaned, one of her appendages geared back to hit Tsukune, maybe even kill him.
"What do you think you're doing?!" Kasumi shouted at her.
"Justice. You all in the newspaper club are crazy as it is. I'm doing this school a favor by eliminating all of you, starting with him."
"Not today, bitch! Heads up!" I shouted before grabbing a broken tree branch off the ground, swinging it at her. Upon contact with her, she yelled out and flew back towards the nearby incinerator. She crashed into a big pile of trash, allowing everyone to get the other three unbound. Of course, I ended up going over to Mizore.
"Are you ok, Mizore?" I asked while ripping off the weird webbing that was holding her in place.
"I'm all right," she said with a smile as she was freed finally, the others getting Tsukune and Kurumu. Once she was free, she wrapped her arms around my neck, nuzzling her cheek against my own. "Thank you so much, boyfriend."
"Anything for you, my little snow b-"
"WHY YOU LITTLE FUCK!"
Before me and Mizore could go on, I feel something sticky wrap around my wrist. Looking behind me, the spider girl had gotten up and is clearly angry. I pushed Mizore away just as the girl pulled at the webbing she had on my wrist. I was swung around into a tree, knocking the wind out of me, making me go into a coughing fit. I could just barely make out everyone yelling my name, before the spider girl swatted them all away.
"Bet you think you could actually defy the security committee, didn't you?!" she shouted while gearing back one of her spider legs. "Now you'll get to feel what happens when you challenge us!"
Oh shit!
"NOOO!"
The next few seconds seemed to slow down for me. I could see the girl swinging her sharp appendage down at me, just thinking about how much it was going to hurt. But at the last possible second, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my chest protectively. Screams of my friends were muffled to me, my focus on the pale white face in my vision… as well as a head of lavender hair.
"MIZORE!" I shouted in horror as I could see that my love took the strike to her back, blood shooting out of her wound. She screamed in pain at the strike, everyone else shouting in horror as well.
Kasumi sprinted over and punched the spider girl square in the jaw, making her fly away in a different direction. As everyone else came over and tried to help, I couldn't hear anything, my focus on Mizore's wound. To me, everything was muffled as I just stared at the large gash on Mizore's back, Yukari applying something onto it to make it heal.
I then felt something in my chest, something… growing.
Anger.
Hatred.
RAGE.
The world became dulled as I felt the growing rage in my chest, my power coming out unchecked. I could feel and see red scales go along my hands and arms, my nails being replaced by inch long, razor sharp talons. Normally, my powers would stop there, but I could feel it going further than that. There was a sharp pain in my head, making me groan as my hands flew to my temples as they were the center point of the pain, and felt nubs start to grow out of my skull. Soon though, the pain subsided, but I could still feel the nubs grow out more and more. It was to the point where the nubs were full grown and started to curve over my head, sharp points forming at the end of them.
There was also the heat. I could feel a scalding heat in the center of my chest, but it caused me no pain. It was like the fires of my own rage were building up inside of my chest, waiting to be unleashed.
Slowly, I stood up from the ground and turned to face the girl who had dared to strike my mate, the spider-bitch groaning from her recent hit.
"What have you DONE?" I demand of her in a cold tone of voice, one that even I had never heard come from myself. The girl whipped her head around to face me, and immediately started shaking in fear. "You hurt my mate. MY MIZORE'S BLOOD has been spilt. BECAUSE OF YOU."
"W-w-w-wait a second here!" the girl says while scrambling up to get up to her feet. "If any of you strike at me, do you know what will happen?!"
"I don't care. You hurt my girl. THAT DOESN'T SIT WELL WITH ME, BITCH."
The spider girl started to panic, as clearly seen by the look on her face. Only, thing is, what's weird about it is that… I liked it. She was afraid of me and what I was going to do to her, something that she was right to be afraid of.
Soon enough, she tried to run, not knowing that she still had her silk on my wrist and hers. With that in mind, I yanked hard on the silk, making her fly back towards me. As she approached, I geared back my fist, and hit her with every bit of power and anger I could, delivering all of it straight to her chest.
As it connected, I could feel and hear her bones crack and break. She coughed up blood before the force of the hit made her fly back into a tree, said tree breaking in half by the sheer force. This was the same story for the next tree she hit, then the next. Impressed as I was that I had just sent her through three trees from a single blow, I was still pissed off, and could see her getting back up. She's more durable than I thought, that's for sure.
'Do not let up, youngling. The wretch still needs to pay!'
Yeah, I know she does.
Walking back over to her, the spider-girl slowly rose to her feet while holding her arm around her chest while coughing still. She tried to hold her hand out in surrender, but I just grabbed it before punching her square in the face. Before she hit the ground, I grabbed her by her neck, punching her again, making her head slam into the ground. Coughing up more blood, she tried to say something, but I wasn't going to listen. I didn't want to. Instead, I kicked her against the tree stump, hearing more of her bones crack and break.
Thing was… as I did all of this, I was enjoying it. The power I held over her, the pain I was dishing out…
It was pure, raw, unexplainable joy. Yet at the same time, I was still enraged. So, I just continued to vent it out on her.
The girl tried to crawl away, but she wasn't going to get away from me that easily. I grabbed her ankle and picked her up by it. Before anything, I promptly grabbed her foot and twisted it harshly, breaking her ankle and making her scream out in pain. I then flung her overhead and slammed her into the ground with a loud bang, all of the trash around us flying off in different directions. The girl coughed up even more blood, and was clearly struggling to even gasp for breath.
I walked up to her again, grabbing her by her hair and lifting her up off of the ground. Her limbs were all limp, her strength having vanished from the onslaught of blows I had given her. I glared at her, being able to see that her monster aura was wavering for some reason.
'She is close to death, youngling. Finish her. Show what happens when one dares to harm that which is a dragon's.'
Way ahead of-
"NATHAN! STOP IT!"
Growling loudly, I whipped my head around with a harsh glare, looking at the one who yelled at me… My friend, Tsukune.
"Why should I?" I said with malice, my burning rage still not yet expended. "I still need to teach her the last lesson she'll ever learn here. SHE. NEEDS. TO BURN."
"Don't! You can't!" Moka shouted out next, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Can't I? There is nothing stopping me from doing so. The wretch dies today, one way, or the next." I turned back to the spider girl, feeling the burning heat in my chest growing more and more.
"Stop it, Nathan! You're not a murderer!"
"Die, you fucking spider bitch." I opened my mouth, black smoke coming out of the corners of my mouth as I spoke. The girl could only open one of her eyes to stare at her oncoming doom, showing fear, panic, and desperation.
"N-Nathan… Please stop."
I froze, hearing a soft voice just on the edge of my hearing. Looking back at my friends, my eyes widen to see my little snow bunny shaking as she stood mere feet away from me, clutching her shoulder as my hoodie was just barely staying on her.
"This isn't you," she spoke in her soft voice, tears streaming down her cheeks, quickly freezing and turning to frost in the wind. "This… This isn't the boy I fell in love with. Please, I'm begging you to stop."
I was speechless. Every ounce of my anger and rage melted away as I stared at her pained expression and listened to her words. Eventually, I let go of the girl, letting her fall onto the ground. My power receded, the horns that had grown on my head going away as quick as they had appeared, quickly followed by my scales and talons. I let go of the girl, letting her fall onto the garbage pile. Shakingly, I hold my hands up as they shake, remembering the sensations of bones breaking with each blow I delivered in my rage, and… I felt horrible.
I wasn't myself. I wasn't merciful. I wasn't… human. At that moment, I was truly a monster.
Before I had some sort of breakdown, I felt a cold pair of hands gently take a hold of my own. I looked up to see Mizore, her eyes red and swollen a bit, but having her sweet, soft smile on her face. Then, she softly wrapped her arms around my chest and hugged me tightly. I felt my own eyes tear up before I hugged her desperately while shaking a bit.
Everyone ran over to and circled around us. Questions were thrown this way and that about what had just transpired, questions I was unsure how to answer at the moment. So, we decided to go back to the clubroom, to just get some relaxation in and so Yukari could finish up mending Mizore's wound. It was still fairly deep and bleeding some, but it wasn't something life threatening, thankfully.
While walking, I couldn't help but to think on just what had just happened. How I had beaten that committee member to an inch of her life, how much power I had involuntarily unleashed at that moment… and just how much trouble I had just gotten us all into. The protection committee didn't seem to take lightly to people defying them, so there was no telling what was going to happen now. Just going to have to roll with the punches now and hope that nothing too bad comes from my blind rage. If I'm the only one that takes the fall, then so be it.