Disclaimer: I do not own R+V.

Chapter 28

The four vampires were stunned for a moment too long. Tsukune's sudden appearance had thrown each of them off guard as he came up into his full height. Much to Kokoa's immediate surprise, he stood taller than both her father and her husband. That produced a small smirk on her face, at least until his wings burst out to their full length.

"I'll give you one chance. You let me and my friends go, and this is as far as the death count rises" Tsukune said darkly. "However, you may continue fighting, but I cannot guarantee any safety or mercy after that."

Shuzen smiled nastily as he heard the offer. Despite his intimidating presence, Tsukune was still quite compassionate. That was going to be his downfall, and Shuzen knew exactly how to exploit it. At least that was what he thought.

"I suggest that you listen to my offer now" the elder vampire began elegantly. "Mine is a bit simpler than yours. After all, if you want the two witches to be let free, then you stay here in our custody. If you want to be free yourself, they stay here in our custody."

Tsukune's eyes darkened, before lighting up in a menacing red glow. A scowl spread across his face as he ruminated on the offer.

"Your offer does have its merits" Tsukune said slowly. "However, I'd rather view it as a refusal of my offer."

The last part was said in a growl, and Tsukune had immediately rammed into Shuzen. Forcing him off of the platform, Tsukune took flight. As Shuzen struggled in his grip, the dhampir just continued to fly upwards. At this moment, there was nothing to get in Tsukune's way.

"Do you think a vampire would die from a fall from this height?" Tsukune asked casually as he continued flying. "I mean, none of you can transform, so wouldn't it be the same as a human? Wouldn't you die?"

Shuzen twisted uncomfortably as he listened to Tsukune speak. This was most definitely not the man he remembered meeting years ago. No, now, he had been hardened. His resolve was stronger and he was also much darker than before. However, before his train of thought could go anywhere, he was dropped onto a platform about ten feet below. Upon landing, he heard a sickening crunch as his legs broke.

"Just stay there, will you. I'd rather not be covered in much more blood" Tsukune said as he flew overhead.

Shuzen remained dumbfounded as his newfound perspective had once again been changed.


Returning to the platform, Tsukune landed softer this time and glared down the three remaining vampires.

"Shuzen found himself lucky" Tsukune began. "However, I won't say that all of you will."

Snarling, Shuzen's wife attacked Tsukune. Effortlessly, he dodged her attack, grabbed her arms and flipped her over the outcropping. Soon after, Tepes had lunged at him and the two young males were immediately caught up in a scuffle.

Kokoa took this chaos as a chance to get off the platform. Going to her mother, she was pleased to see that she suffered nothing worse than a broken arm (in specific, the arm that Tsukune had used to flip her). Breathing a sigh of relief, she decided that it would be best to go check on her father as well. Rushing off, Kokoa easily managed to reach her father's position. To her surprise it also gave her a good view of the conflicts still raging below. Looking over in the direction she had last seen Ruby and Yukari, she was amazed to see that they were easily overpowering numerous vampires. Spells were flying in all directions and they were easily staying ahead of the conflict. Shifting her attention back to Tsukune and her husband, she saw that they were deep in the midst of a serious fight.

"That boy" she heard her father begin. "That Aono...he's an odd kid. Just when you think he's changed...he shows you how wrong you were."

Kokoa smiled slightly as her father admitted this.

"I was wrong to be so against him. He...he really does have a respect for youkai of all kinds. Dammit why didn't I see that earlier" Shuzen coughed.

Immediately Kokoa worried that her father's injuries were worse, but he just waved her away and assured her that he was alright. Coughing another couple of times, he soon regained his composure and looked directly at Kokoa.

"Go intervene. We don't need any more bloodshed. I shall speak with Aono and then with Mikogami. I think we've caused enough harm."

Looking into his eyes, Kokoa realised that her father had been thinking about this since their previous encounter with Tsukune. Smiling slightly at him, she immediately started climbing back down. Before she was all the way down, he called out to her once more.

"Make sure your mother's alright. I don't really want to see her hurt" he said with a knowing smirk. "Last time, she was impossible to live with until she properly healed."

Kokoa gave an affirmation before racing off to stop the fight.


Tsukune and Tepes were (shockingly) evenly matched. Punches were hard to land, but when they did, they hurt like hell. This close quarters fighting continued for a short while after they started. Once Tsukune managed to break free and gain distance, there was wave after wave of blossoms thrown in Tepes' direction.

"Damn you dhampir" Tepes called out as he forced his way through another wave of the razor sharp blossoms. "You should know that this is a losing battle. I'll just keep coming after you."

"That's what I'm hoping for" Tsukune said as he unleashed a much larger wave of blossoms at his foe.

Bracing himself for the attack, Tepes was disappointed by the fact that his foe's aim had diminished, however he was also pleased that he was able to just keep moving forward. That was, until he crashed into the wall Tsukune had set up around him.

"I'm glad you want to keep fighting, but now you'll have to break yourself free" Tsukune taunted as he reclined atop his wall.

"That shouldn't be too hard" Tepes mumbled as he began to punch the wall.

Tsukune was instantly shaken off of his perch as he felt the entire wall start to shake as each punch was placed upon it. Cursing this fact, he flew off and made sure that he was a good distance above once Tepes burst free.

"There you are you freaking bat" Tepes snarled as picked up a shard of the blossoms.

Throwing it directly at Tsukune, said young man was unable to dodge in time. Feeling his own blossoms pierce through one of his wings was a painful experience, however the careening towards the ground was worse.

Crashing into the stone ground, Tsukune growled in frustration and pain as he picked himself up. Blood was streaming from the pierced wing as he turned just in time to see Tepes attack. With a solid punch, Tsukune was sent flying backwards and into the ground once again. This time he skids with his wings across the ground, causing it to bleed even more and tearing the other one apart as well.

Picking himself up again, Tsukune was more prepared for Tepes attack and caught him around the throat. His clawed hands began to tighten their grip as he watched Tepes try to free himself.

"You've lost" Tsukune said menacingly. "Give up, and I may just let you live."

Tepes only glared at Tsukune as he spoke, a nasty grin on his face. Noticing this, Tsukune prepared himself for what could come next, but was interrupted by Kokoa's arrival.

"Both of you stop" she demanded. "The time for fighting is over. Tsukune, my father wishes to speak with you about arranging a peace treaty. And you, my dear husband, also need to stop or else you will force the wrath of the entire Shuzen household upon yourself."

Obeying Kokoa's demand, Tsukune let go of Tepes' throat and backed off. Now with Kokoa standing between the two of them, she glared at each of them in turn before turning away.

"Tsukune, please follow me" she requested.

Listening and following, Tsukune fell into step behind Kokoa. However he was far too late to prevent what Tepes did next. With his back turned, Tsukune was attacked, but instead of feeling the attack take him, he watched as Kokoa's blood splattered across his chest and face as she took the entirety of Tepes' attack. Collapsing to the ground, her eyes were focused on him briefly before they died out completely.

Staring, unmoving, terrified, sad, furious, and murderous, all these feelings and actions defined Tsukune in that moment. Turning his attention onto the vampire that did this, Tsukune lunged forwards, clawed hand outstretched and ready to go for the kill. Much to his satisfaction, it happened right away. His hand burst through Tepes neck, blood splashing the ground as the male coughed harshly. Wrenching his hand back out, Tsukune grabbed the man's arm and ripped it out of its socket, proceeding to the next, he continued to defile the dying vampire as tears flowed down his face.

Watching from a distance, Yukari saw what had happened and immediately began to cast a spell. The long string of lines continued for a minute as Tsukune continued to tear apart the vampire, howls of anguish now bursting out of his lips as he proceeded with his bloody task. When the spell finally finished casting, Yukari could hear a disturbing laugh echo throughout the amphitheatre. Ruby who had now noticed what was going on with Tsukune was rushing down towards him, but soon enough she collapsed to the ground and disappeared. All around her Yukari could see that things were just spontaneously disappearing. Even the vampire that Tsukune had been tearing apart was gone.

Tsukune, who had noticed this, swiftly caught on to the fact that things weren't quite right. Cursing this fact, he turned around trying to find someone. Noticing a terrified Yukari, he rushed over to her. Arriving by her side, he could tell that he was no longer covered in the scales or dragon-esque attachments to his body. Coming closer to the young woman, he grabbed her close to him, temporarily forgetting his rage as his natural urge to protect took over.

"Yukari, what happened?" he asked her.

"I...I...cast a spell to prevent this from happening" Yukari said through newly spreading tears and sobs. "I...I...I...wanted...you...you to...be yourself again."

Tsukune clutched the girl tighter to him as she said this. Her tears were warm against his chest, but right now he needed to protect what was still with him. He had already assumed that Ruby had disappeared for some reason, but that was currently unknown to him as he kept a lookout for anything else that might happen.


Soon enough the even was over and Tsukune found that he and Yukari had not disappeared, but were in the middle of an open field. Confused, Tsukune stood up and tried to piece back his memories. Once he had done that, his mind immediately started to go into a sequence of self depression. Kokoa was dead; she was killed by her own husband. Scowling at that fact, Tsukune fell deeper into his depression when he remembered how he had killed and torn apart said man.

Standing a distance away from Yukari he tried to collect his thoughts. As he did this, a massive wave of guilt washed over him. He had killed so many in the past three years. So many more than he ever should have. Looking down at his hands, he could only see the blood that he had spilled upon them. Cursing loudly, he finally noticed that there was someone other than Yukari and him there.

"Ah, so you made it through as well? That must mean Ezekiel decided that you were worth giving the gift" a man stated as he walked closer to Tsukune.

"And who might you be?" Tsukune asked calmly, hoping desperately that he didn't sound to harsh.

"I, my good friend, am the Gamemaster" the man stated with a bow. "I have come here to make sure that your little friend there was alright after casting that spell."

Tsukune glanced back over at the slightly stirring Yukari and then turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

"Your aura is familiar. Have we met before?" Tsukune asked, his emotions starting to all level out.

"Why, of course we have" the Gamemaster stated with another bow.

However as he stood up, his eyes became a shade of red that Tsukune had just moments ago beaten the life out of.

"You...you...you're him!" Tsukune cried out in shock. "How the hell is that possible?"

"Oh, it's not hard. I needed to play a game. And the game went off without a hitch. I'm quite happy actually."

As the Gamemaster's eyes returned to normal, Tsukune was starting to bristle with anger. In a split second he had lunged at the man and attempted to attack him. However, he was easily deflected and sent flying backwards.

The Gamemaster was soon towering over him, a smirk on his face.

"I should warn you that you've lost most of your skills right now. It's a sad fact, but a truthful one nonetheless. You'll have to earn them back over the next thirty years" the Gamemaster stated. "However, due to her part in this game, you won't be alone. That witch over there shall share your gift of immortality. That way the two of you can live forever with a past that no longer exists."

The Gamemaster began to laugh maniacally, but was cut off by Tsukune lunging forwards again and toppling him to the ground. His hands were wrapped tightly around the man's neck and his eyes were blazing with a hatred that was far from usual (or normal) for Tsukune.

"I want answers" he demanded. "First, what was that spell that Yukari cast?"

"It is known as the world separater spell. If you spend some time researching you'll be able to find it" the Gamemaster answered quickly, a twisted smile on his face.

"Okay, now second, I want to know what the fuck you've been talking about here. What game have you been playing?"

"Aono, Aono, Aono. You have absolutely no idea what you've stepped into do you. Well, I'll leave you to research that for yourself. After all, it wouldn't be a game if I told you."

Growling, Tsukune tightened his grip, but stopped himself from killing the man when another question popped into his mind.

"Why did Kokoa have to die? Why did anyone have to die?" he asked menacingly.

"They had to die so I could get you into this position. It's all part of my grand game. I cannot wait for you to find out the truth about it all" the Gamemaster said with a laugh as Tsukune tightened his grip and snapped the man's neck.

Satisfied that he was dead, Tsukune ran back over to Yukari and picked her up. She was unconscious still, and shuddering. Holding her close, Tsukune ran from the field, desperate to find somewhere that he could get her safe. And that was how the game started for him. A lone, 20 year old man, and a young woman in his arms, racing across a field towards the nearest civilization.


Dragon finished speaking with a sigh. Ruby had left soon after correcting him about the sex issue (he was lying...or embellishing for dramatic effect as he had put it) and so there was only Tsukune, Kokoa, Mizore and Kurumu left listening to him.

They had thankfully been silent for the majority fo the story, but now he knew it was time for questions. Looking out a window and then at a nearby clock, Dragon slipped the fake eye back in and then turned his attention directly to the four in front of him.

"Alright, ask any questions you like now" he said.

End Chapter 28

A/N: Okay, it is finally here, Chapter 28 of All Alone Well Almost. Next chapter will be a filler that clears up some things (hopefully quite a few for the reader) and I will then proceed into the last maybe five or six chapters of the story that finish it off. Now I've still go some surprises in store (after all this is the first in a series), but I hope you'll stick with it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I worked really hard on it and rewrote it a few times to get it to this perfect pitch. So please give me some constructive criticism and I will speak to you again in the next chapter. Until then, allons-y,

Nanashi Wanderer