Angel vs. Demon

Chapter 28 – Found!

I alternated between calling out Yukari's name and Kenta's name miserably. I'd said them both so often that they became jumbled up; sometimes I'd say "Yukenta" or "Kenkari", almost.

We'd split up, each looking for them in a different location. I'd taken the area near the beach, even though I knew Kenta wouldn't be there. He wouldn't be on the beach, obviously, but perhaps he would be looking out into the water? Maybe on some secluded cliff or something, with the wet wind drifting through his hair, while he stared down into the deep, dark waters…

I shook my head. I had better stop thinking like that, or I'd start crying again.

Kenta gone missing was bad enough, but Yukari? From what Moka and Tsukune had told me, she hadn't dealt with humans too well the first time she came to the human world… Even though I know she's adapted quite well and is relatively comfortable, it was still hard not to worry about her.

What's worse, we couldn't even use our monster powers to aid us in finding our two missing friends. Sprouting winds midair, flying around town, and running at superhuman speed would likely cause quite the commotion. We had to look for Kenta and Yukari the old-fashioned way: on our own two legs, like a human.

Only ten minutes had passed, and I already heard excited chattering coming from our rendezvous spot. For a moment I got really angry. Weren't the others supposed to be searching for Yukari and Kenta? Why were they wasting time chit-chatting?

"Hey, Ame!" someone called. I turned around to see Kurumu standing from atop the hill (where our meeting place was supposed to be). She was waving her arms around, gesturing for me to come to her. Behind her stood the rest of the gang, Kenta and Yukari included.

"What, you guys found them already!" I was a little annoyed that I'd been the last to know; if Kurumu hadn't told me, I'd still be on that beach, searching uselessly.

"No, we didn't find them…" Tsukune corrected, "They found us."

"Actually, I was the one who found Kenta," Yukari said, smiling slightly. "And I convinced him to come back to us."

"So that's where you were!" Garron exclaimed. "We thought you were lost."

"I'm sorry," Yukari apologized, hanging her head. "An idea popped into my head. I thought I knew of a place where he might be, and without thinking, I just had to go and find him. You guys were worried, too, after all…"

We all took turns giving Yukari and Kenta a big hug. After that, Kenta felt that he was responsible for telling us why he had disappeared.

"I'm sorry too," Kenta began. "I didn't mean to ditch you guys… especially not you, Ame. But I just had to get away! I couldn't stand being there for a second longer. So I did, I ran away. It was cowardly of me, I admit, but I felt that I had no other choice. I wasn't completely comfortable with the human world to begin with, and back then I felt that I had no reason to stay."

"And since I know what he's going through, it was easier for me to find him," Yukari added.

"It's ok; it doesn't matter." Moka shook her head and smiled at us. "You don't have to explain yourself if you don't want to… As long as we're all here together, safe, then everything's all good."

"It would have been faster to find them if you'd let me use my powers," Kiseki grumbled at Moka. Moka opened her mouth to speak, but Tsukune cut in.

"This is the human world, Kiseki!" He gestured around himself wildly. "Do you see people with wings flying anywhere? Or people with superhuman strength running around and lifting cars?"

Kurumu and Mizore laughed sheepishly; she probably had remembered herself doing the very same things some years ago.

It wasn't until we reached the hotel that I'd realized that neither Kenta nor Yukari told us where they had hidden.

Regardless, after our return to the hotel, Ms. Nekonome had announced that we were going to take part in the carnival/fair this afternoon, located in the town square. It wasn't a very big event, but there'd be lots of people, so the eye-catching group could blend in relatively well.

"I'm so excited!" Kurumu squealed, jumping up and down. Her ponytail bobbed excessively behind her head. "I get to dress up a little, perhaps!"

"There'd be lots of human carnival games," Moka added, clasping her hands together in excitement. "I can't wait to play them…"

"There's food, too," Mizore reminded everyone. "Delicious human food… I love eating them cold."

"I'm looking forward to the sights!" said Tsukune. "This is not my hometown in Japan, so there'd be lots of new places to go to and interesting sights to see."

"It's the delicious human blood that I'm excited about," Kiseki said, sounding haughty. "There's gonna be so many warm-blooded females out there tonight…"

I smacked Kiseki lightly on the arm, warning him to behave, but he just slid out of the way. As quick as always.

"I was kidding," Kiseki laughed. "I've got my tomato juice, okay? No need to get so serious."

As I sighed wearily, Garron gazed at us with a weird, ambiguous look.

"Oh, it's going to be an interesting night tonight, alright."


"What should I wear?" Kurumu moaned in distress, throwing open her suitcase. "Ms. Nekonome – that scatterbrained cat teacher – just told me two minutes ago that there was going to be a dance at the festival tonight! I didn't even pack anything decent!"

"No, it's not a dance," Moka corrected. She too was scavenging through her luggage. "It's supposed to be an old-fashioned ball. It makes sense, though; this is an old-fashioned town we're in. Nothing close to the city that Tsukune lives in."

"I'd rather it be a dance," Kurumu stated. "Then I can wear something cute and simple and be done with it. This, what did you call it – a ball? – is a stupid affair. I have to wear something old-fashioned and fancy! Who brings that with them nowadays?"

"You'd better hurry." I warned. "The carnival starts at 6:00!"

Mizore, as leisurely as always, popped the lollipop out of her mouth. "I don't have to worry about a thing; no one's gonna see me at the carnival anyway. But I'll be seeing everyone else."

"You're so creepy, Mizore," I teased, shivering dramatically. In the background, I could still hear Kurumu and Moka arguing over what to wear.

"Ok, you know what?" Yukari cried, standing up and facing them. "I'll solve your problems for you. You're never gonna find anything to wear, anyways, and it's almost time to go."

"What, really?" Kurumu leaped up and bounded over to Yukari, followed closely by Moka. "How are you gonna do that?"

"Hey, I'm a witch." Yukari stood as tall as she could (which was not that tall, mind you), and set her hands on her hips. "There's nothing I can't do."

Normally, Kurumu would have reminded Yukari of just how tiny and silly she was, but in this situation, she let it go for once.

Yukari explained that she could not simply materialize dresses from nowhere. She had to have a source first, the ingredients needed to make her "magic batter". The final result produced will be the dresses.

"A witch can manipulate things, but cannot make them appear out of nowhere. To make dresses, for instance, I'll need fabric."

"Ugh, this is beginning to be harder than I thought," Kurumu grumbled. "It'll be much easier to buy dresses from the local shops in this town."

"Yeah," I added reluctantly. "There has to be a place we can go to, where all the other townspeople bought their clothes. I'm sure we'll find some suitable dresses."

Yukari hesitated. Then she pouted and crossed her arms.

"Fine," she said huffily. "I'd like to see you guys find pretty dresses that no one else is already wearing yet."

Kurumu sighed, then went over and put her arms around Yukari. "Okay, okay, don't be offended. You get to be our little tailor-dressmaker for today."

"Really?" Yukari brightened up, clutching her wand tightly in her hand. "Alright, I promise to make you guys the best ball gowns you've ever seen!"

Twenty minutes later, Yukari was finished. Sweat beaded her forehead, and she wiped her sleeve across her face.

"DONE!" she proclaimed, appraising her handiwork. She was proud of herself, I could tell. And she had a good reason to be, too…

"This is amazing," I breathed. "Yukari…"

I had nothing to say. Words couldn't describe how I felt – how we all felt. Not only had she made all our dresses for us, she also created the guys suits and tuxedos as well. All within twenty minutes.

It involved a lot of work, too, as she mentioned before. It wasn't just a wave of the wand; we had to actually draw out the sketches for the outfits and watch Yukari construct the pieces one by one. It was magical, of course. Pieces of fabric flew together one after another; zippers attached themselves without anyone's help; laces and patterns appeared on the sheets of fabric like magic. Well, it was magic… all that happened in just less than ten minutes. The other ten minutes Yukari used to make the guys' outfits.

I don't think Kurumu would ever make fun of Yukari again, not after this. Of course, nobody would complain (except for Yukari herself) when she does, but I think it's safe to say that Kurumu wouldn't poke fun at her for a few more days.

Of course, we've all anticipated the guys reactions when we presented their suits to them. In unison, their eyebrows lifted in surprise. It was almost as if I could read their minds. Oh, what are those? So Yukari made suits? That's surprisingly good…

Then, Oh, oh no. Sh*t. So we have to wear that? As they undoubtedly thought that, their eyebrows dipped into a deep frown and their lips pursed in confusion. We couldn't help but giggle at their expressions.

Kiseki ended up speaking everyone's minds. "So… we have to wear that?"

"No," Kurumu rolled her eyes. "Yukari made it for decoration."

"Oh, really?" said Kenta, sighing in relief. "Thank God - I thought they were for us."

I couldn't decide whether to laugh or be seriously concerned at his innocence. "I have no comment..."

"Yukari made them for you guys to wear!" Moka clarified for everyone. "Didn't Ms. Nekonome tell u anything?"

"She did," Garron admitted.

"You should see ours," Kurumu said, shaking her head. "We can't even get it through the door."

"Luckily we won't be alone," I said. "Look out the window! There's tons of people walking around in costumes."

Indeed. Many of them were in masks and ridiculous outfits… I doubted we'd be noticed even if we went outside to the streets with our true monster natures fully revealed. Succubus wings somehow attached to a girl's back? Fine. Angel and demon wings on another girl's back? Why not. And toss in a few vampires, a soul-sucker, a witch, and a half-demon, too. We'll call it a party.

Five minutes later we had arrived. The ground was cobble-stoned, and street lamps were still in use. People of all ages littered the streets, and joyful clamours could be heard everywhere. There were streamers, balloons, puppet shows, face-painting stations, refreshments, and games.

"Whoa," Kenta marvelled. It was his first time too, being in such a place. Garron seemed bored as hell, though; he regarded everything as very normal and ordinary. I bet he's been to plenty of carnivals, festivals, dances, and parties in his lifetime. Kiseki, too. The only ones who were really entranced were Tsukune, Yukari, Kenta, Kurumu, and I. I didn't know where Mizore went.

"Hey, hey, look at that!" Kenta cried, running over to a stand. "They sell candy! And lanterns… Oh, look at that! Carnival food!"

Kenta and Kurumu disappeared together to go hunt down some sweets. They told us they'd be back and brings us some samples. Yukari hesitated, then decided to go with them.

Moka and Tsukune wandered off together, looking at the different souvenirs and gift shops. Mizore had already disappeared off somewhere a long time ago, and that left Garron, Kiseki, and me. The awkward three, back together once again.

"Kiseki, why don't you go get us something to drink?" Garron asked. "You know, a few samples of everything…"

Kiseki narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously, but then nodded and left. I don't know why he did it, but it was a lot less awkward without Kiseki there. Garron and I had fun together, playing many of the carnival games. He won most of them, and for the ones where we competed against each other, he let me win. I ended up with a dainty china doll, a masquerade mask, a pair of lace and silk gloves, a giant stuffed teddy bear, a few free tokens, and some carnival candy. Garron gave me most of his prizes.

Suddenly, my head started to hurt. It wasn't a light headache or some dizziness; I was talking about a full-on head-splitting headache that made it impossible to even think. Clutching my head, I sank to my knees on a patch of flowerbed, barely able to contain my groans.

"What's wrong?" Garron immediately asked, bending down. "Are you in pain?"

"My head," I choked out. "Hurts…"

"Hah… Here, get up." Garron hauled me to my feet and towards a park bench. "Rest here for a bit, ok? It'll get better soon. Just close your eyes and try to sleep."

"Why?" I whispered. "It won't get better if I sleep… I… I need some medicine. Some water, maybe…"

"No," Garron said so sharply that I fell against the bench, flinching. "Just lie down, please, and stay still. Close your eyes. Empty your mind. Rest…"

Not knowing what else to do, I followed his orders.

I didn't realize how fast time had passed. I wasn't exaggerating at all; it was still fairly light when we came out, but then suddenly it turned dark, as if a few hours had passed. I opened my eyes and sat up, surprisingly not groggy.

"Garron?" I said. My voice was hoarse. "Where are you?"

"I'm here." Garron came out from behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. "Are you feeling ok now?"

"Yes, actually." I got up, not feeling dizzy at all. "Wow, your tips actually helped!"

Garron smiled knowingly. "Yes, I'm sure it did."

"What's the time?" I asked. "It's so dark out already…"

"Oh, two hours have passed."

"What?" I cried in disbelief. "What about the others? We have to tell them… they'd be worrying…"

"It's ok," Garron said in a soothing tone. "I told them that you were tired from all the activity and had a rest. See? Kurumu even left you a drink and a few sweets on the bench."

I smiled, went over, and finished up Kurumu's samples. They were so good I instantly craved more. It wasn't until I tasted something that I realized I was actually surprisingly hungry… and tired. I was awake, alert, but tired. Weird.

"Let's go find them now," I said, smiling. "There's not even an hour left before the ball!"

"Yeah, let's go."

Up ahead, I saw Kurumu milling about with Kenta and Yukari at her heels. Kurumu was eating caramel-covered popcorn, picking them out handfuls at a time without even looking and shoving it into her mouth. I envied how she never even seemed to gain a pound from anything she ate.

Yukari was intently staring at Kurumu, and Kenta at Yukari. Yukari's face changed when Kurumu raised her hand up to her mouth to deliver another handful of popcorn. Kenta, staring intently at Yukari, noticed this change, and looked over at Kurumu to see what was wrong.

Yukari stretched out her hand, her reflexes slow. "Wait – Kurumu, no!"

Kenta – reacting much faster – lunged and tackled her to the ground. Caramel coated popcorn sprayed everywhere as the entire bag flew out of Kurumu's arms. Bystanders stepped aside and murmured in frustration. Some looked on curiously, but many simply had disgusted looks on their faces. What could I say? They just didn't understand.

And neither did Kurumu, it seemed.

"Kenta – what are you-?" She seemed at a loss for words. "Let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Ok, I'll let you up, but promise not to move too fast? Drop whatever you're holding in your hand – far away from you – and get up slowly."

"What – okay, fine. Fine. That's just great." She got up slowly, releasing her hold on the last of her popcorn. "Thank you, thank you so very much, for embarrassing me in front of all these people."

Kenta shook his head, turning to Yukari. Yukari nodded, then walked over towards Kurumu and bent towards the ground, as if to pick up the dropped popcorn.

"Hey, don't you dare try to eat my popcorn!" Kurumu threatened jokingly, trying to lighten the situation. "You made me drop it, just so you could take some…?"

Instead of stealing the popcorn, Yukari straightened up with something shiny and narrow in her hand… and incredibly pointy.

"What the…"

"It's a needle." Yukari said simply. "A poisoned one, too, I might add."

Kurumu was silent. She began to shake uncontrollably. Whether from anger or from fear, I don't know, but she seemed shaken.

By this time, Tsukune, Moka, and the others had all gathered here. Bystanders gradually left, thinking it was just another festival commotion. They did not see the poisoned needle held carefully in Yukari's fingers, though. They didn't seem to notice anything amiss.

"Whoever did this isn't too smart," Yukari murmured, studying the needle. "They didn't fully dip the needle in the poison; they left a few millimetres at the end, so they can hold it, probably. That's where I'm holding it by, actually. It seems like whoever did this was in a hurry; the poison is not fully dried."

Kurumu swallowed nervously. "Is that a good thing?"

"Possibly, depending on what kind of poison it is." Yukari considered the possibilities. "If it's fresh, it might not be as potent; on the other hand, it might work better - the results might be more immediate - because it's newly coated."

The group was silent; things were getting scarier and scarier.

And the worst was yet to come.


Author's Note:

Hey guys! Thanks for reading this chapter :)

As you can imagine, the next chapter will be filled with... suspense? Action? Mystery? That's for you guys to decide. I know balls and dances and whatnot are supposed to be romantic and all proper and stuff (and I can do cheesy/romantic, believe me), but I feel that Rosario Vampire isn't that type of manga/anime. It always seems to have a twist at the end... and, well, here you go. A twist. With more to come, of course.

But yes, I wanted to highlight Yukari in this chapter. She's capable, independant, if a little stubborn and a bit of a know-it-all at times :P Luckily she's always there to save the day when least expected. No physical fighting for her! It's purely intellectual.

Please look forward to the next action-filled chapter! :)

- ACookieZ