Chapter Seven

It was another day at Yokai Academy, and the Newspaper Club was on a roll, with giving away Newspapers. I mean come on they were sellin' like hot cakes.

"This issue's hot off the presses people!" Kurumu announced.

"Wait 'til you take a peek at what's inside." Yukari said, holding them out.

"Hey, I'll take one." One guy said.

"Pass one over here, too!" A girl called out

"They've even got strategies for the final exams." Another guy read.

"Wow, the new edition is really sellin' like hot cakes huh?" Gin asked as we stood behind the stand...Well, he and Tsukune stood, Sai and I were sitting in chairs.

"Yeah, it's great after all the work we put into them." Tsukune agreed.

"I knew it was a good idea to let the girls hand out the papers." Sai said with his feet on the table.

Tsukune, Sai, and Gin looked at me and realized that I was rather quiet. this was because I was too busy listening to the music on my Ipod.(I mainly listen to rock.) The funny thing is, when I'm listening to music, my body is more alert, but I'm completely oblivious as to what's going on. Sai tried to slap me in the back of my head, but like I said my body is more alert so my hand grabbed his wrist with a firm grip.

"Hey, what the hell?" Sai questioned as he got his wrist free from my grip. "How's he doin' that?"

"I don't know, but that's pretty cool." Gin said looking at me.

"Is there anything I can help you patsies with?" I ask them, taking out my ear buds.

"How are you able to do that?" Tsukune asked.

"Able to do what, meatbag?" I asked him. "Be specific."

"How did you grab my wrist when you had your music blastin' in your ears?" Sai asked me.

"Oh that. Yeah, here's the thing: Whenever I listen to music for five straight minutes, my mind stays on that fact, but my body is more alert, but my mind and as well as myself, are completely oblivious as to what goes on. My body reacts to anything that tries to come into contact with me." I explain.

"...I guess that makes sense." Sai said a bit reluctant.

"Aside from that, I'm surprised you guys forgave me." Gin said rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah, quite frankly, so am I." I said looking at him.

"Are you guys gonna get over it?" He asked.

This earned him a simultaneous response from me and Sai.

Sai: "Fuck you!"

Me: "Kill yourself!"

"We did it. We really did it. We got rid of all of 'em!" Yukari cheered, holding the empty box.

"Good work." I said, smiling.

Suddenly a girl poked me on my shoulder. I looked up to see she had tears in her eyes and she was holding a newspaper in her hand.

"Uh...Can I help you?" I asked her.

"Can you stand up for a second?" She asked.

I stood up, and as soon as I did she hugged me tightly.

"I read your article, and I feel very sorry for you." She said.

"It's alright, honestly. That was my old life, but now I've found closure, so all those sad thoughts that I used to have, I've let them go." I said reassuring her.

When I said that, I looked behind her and I see a line of girls that goes deep into the school's hallway.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me..." I said shocked.

After spending an hour getting hugged by girls, I was finally able to sit down again.

"You seem to be getting a lot of attention around here, Damion." Gin said.

"Shut the hell up, you pervert." I said wanting to desperately go to sleep.

"Hey guys, how about we throw ourselves a rap party for once, what do you think?" Moka asked everyone.

"Hell yeah, Sai said, suddenly wearing baggy pants and a white tank top.

"Since when the hell did you...Never mind." I said just ignoring him.

As we were talking about the party I realized Gin was gone.

"Where the hell did Gin go?" I asked.

Everyone looked around for him, but found him to be nowhere, not even at the boarders of their sight.

"Damn, even after after Sai blew up the fucking Moon, he's still impossible to keep track of." I said.

"Are you still on that, dude? It came back, don't know what the big deal is." Sai said in his defense.

Amidst all of the talking, I sensed another monster's energy. This one was strong and tame. I looked to see behind the group and I saw a girl standing there with a lollipop in her mouth.

"He's probably out hitting on girls again, don't you think?" Kurumu said.

And not too far away...

"Right? That article is pretty interesting." Gin said with a small laugh. He was walking with two girls, and from the looks of it, he was rubbing the ass of the girl closest to him. "The Newspaper Club is looking for sexy models for a photo shoot. Maybe I can get you an audition."

"Wow, she was dead on the money, whee-hee!" Kou said flying by.

Back to us..

"Forget about him, he's not invited." Kurumu said with her hands on her hips.

"That jerk is the enemy of all women!" Yukari shouted.

"Guys..." I say faintly.

"More importantly, what kind of drinks should we bring?" Kurumu asked.

Sai easily pulled out some Jack Daniels and a bottle of McGillicuddy.

"Guys.."I say getting a little louder.

"Uh...Sai, no alcohol." Tsukune said nervously.

I then pulled out a 12 pack of Bud Light and set down on the table.

"Alright, that's the plan! After class we'll meet up at the Newspaper Club with the snacks." Kurumu said. "You guys wanna play some games while we're there?"

"Guys!" I yelled.

This casued everyone to look at me. I simply pointed at the girl standing in front of us. The girl had purple hair, purple and pink stripped leggings, blue eyes, a strap on her left thigh that goes up her skirt, a white sweater with blue arms and belly pocket, and a pendant around her necklace. I got up and stood with the group, and I could only wonder what she wanted.

"You guys are buddy-buddy aren't you. You Newspaper Clubbers." She said, but removed the lollipop so she could speak beforehand. "To be honest, I never understood that way of thinking."

"Well, if I could make a slight correction, 1, 2, and 3 get on my nerves more than anything." I said, pointing to Kurumu, Tsukune, and Yukari.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean, huh?!" Kurumu snapped, glaring at the girl, then at me.

The girl put the lollipop back in her mouth and then spoke. "Newspaper." She said, to everyone's confusion. She then held her hand out. "Can I have one." She asked.

"Yeah, if you don't that it's a bit folded up." I said taking a newspaper out of Tsukune's jacket pocket and gave it to her, but not before whacking Tsukune on the head with it.

She took it and got closer to my face.

"Uh..." I mumbled, finding it a bit weird..

"So, you're the famous Damion Castro. You're a lot cuter than I thought you were, y'know." She said dryly.

"You know me? H-how?" I said a bit nervous.

I don't know what was up with this girl, but she is starting to make me very uncomfortable. It's nice that she called me cute, but she's in my face, within kissing range.

"He does have his scary moments. Like this one time when I saw him fight lizard men and-" Sai began saying before I punched him in the face quickly but hard.

"Please ignore the idiot known as my friend." I said looking at her.

"Well, see you later." She said walking away.

"Hey Dam, I think she likes you." Sai said teasingly

"It seems like it." I responded.

Moka came up to me and latched herself onto my arm.

"Do you know that girl?" She asked worriedly.

"I haven't seen her a day in my life." I answered. "Anyway, that doesn't matter. After class, let's have the best party ever."

This made the group cheer and jump for joy. While in class, Ms. Nekonome was going through the attendance list.

"Kurumu?" She asked.

"Here." Kurumu responded.

"Mr. Sato?" She asked for him.

"Present."

"Ms. Shirayuki?" She asked, then looked up. "Ms. Shirayuki?"

"Shirayuki? I wonder who the hell that is." I whispered to Sai.

"I don't know who that is either." Sai whispered back.

Suddenly the down was opened slowly and the girl we saw from earlier walked in and closed the door behind her. Everyone started at her as she walked to her seat. Then I realized how long her hair was. It reached the middle of her back.

"(Damn she has some long hair)" I thought to myself.

"i'm so glad that you decided to join us." Ms. Nekonome cheerfully.

The girl simply nodded her head in agreement.

"Moving on then. Since we have a new student, I guess introductions are in order. Everyone, this is Mizore Shirayuki. Extenuating circumstances have prevented her from attending class up till now. But everyone please be nice and treat her like a friend." Ms Nekonome said with cheer.

To which both Moka and Tsukune freaked out, like something was wrong with her.

"That not very nice, or friendly." I said calmly.

"Besides, what are you two freaking out for anyway? And by the way, Damion, what are 'extenuating circumstances'?" Sai asked.

"Either they are waiting to try her on something, or she's done something to cause trouble back at her old school. In other words, she could be dangerous. But danger just adds to a girls sexiness." I say in a sly tone.

"Sounds like a ton of fun." Sai said.

Later in the hallway...

"Alright we'll buy the snacks and head over to the party." Moka said.

Kurumu then walked up and pressed her boobs against my chest. "Hey, I got a homemade treat with your name written all over it." She said rubbing her boobs into my chest.

"Hey, don't you think you're getting a little close there!?" Moka said pulling Kurumu away.

"Hey, oh come on. Hold on!" She said as she was pulled away.

"Damn, girls these days, man." I said rubbing the back of my head.

"Yeah, you said it." Sai said agreeing

Then we saw someone in our peripherals.

"Hey, whose there?" I asked.

Then we saw Mizore pop out.

"Hello" She said quietly.

"Oh. You're Mizore Shirayuki, right? Is there something I can help you with?" I asked her calmly.

"Maybe she wants to ask you on a date." Sai said mockingly.

"Hey, Sai?" I say with a smile of annoyance.

"Yeah." He says still in a mocking manner.

"Shut up, or I will rip your tongue and force feed it to you." I say darkly.

"I've read your article and as usual yours are the most entertaining ones. She says to me.

"Thank you." I respond.

"His articles suck, mine are about burning things from a badass prospective and-" Sai began, until I threw him out the window.

"So, Mizore, as you were saying." I said gesturing her to continue.

"You're always writing from the perspective of lonely, weak and helpless, and I can really relate." She said giving her personal journal.

I took and read some of the material. I saw some of my own work.

"I scribbled in a bunch of my own comment and ideas. Even when I wasn't attending school, Ms. Nekonome always brought over a copy of the Yokai Gazette for me to read." She said getting a bit shy now.

"Isn't that nice of her. I really do like some of these ideas, you mind if I use them in my next article, plus I'm always looking for inspiration." I say to her with a genuine smile.

My smile caused her to blush.

"Yeah, that's okay." She said hiding her face.

She then latched herself onto my arm and I didn't mind it at all.

"You must be terribly lonely." She said to me.

"I will admit, I may look like I'm having the time of my life, but I really do feel empty inside. Almost all the time." I said truthfully.(True fact actually. I may seem cheery when I'm with my friends, but honestly I really do feel lonely.)

"It's alright, I can relate." She said softly.

Later at the pond...

Mizore was skipping rocks.

"Did you see that one Damion? That last one skipped nine times!" She said happily.

"Well, this isn't my idea fo fun, but I need to ask you a question." I said.

"Yeah, what is it?" She asked.

"Would you like to come to a party with me? I mean, I don't wanna be there with just Sai and the others, I'd rather be there with you, if that's okay with you." I said rubbing the back of my head.

"Um...I guess...it's alright." She said blushing a little.

After that, Mizore and I went to the party, to join the others and we had the time of our lives. The party was great. We got drunk and we blasted music like there was no tomorrow. Sai had put on a pop song, to which I ended, because I don't listen to pop much, and most of them are terrible. After the party, we were all out cold and drunk as hell. I woke up with the greatest of hangovers.

"Oh my darkness...What the hell did we do last night." I said holding my head.

I then saw all the bottles on the floor.

"Oh, yeah.." I said.

Sai then woke up from under a burial of beer cans.

"Hey, Sai, how ya been?" I ask.

"Under a mountain of beer, you?" He asked

"Heavy headache." I answered.

I then saw that Sai had only half of his body. This caused me to vomit.

"Seems like you're not all what you're cracked up to be huh?" Sai asked.

"I guess I could say the same for you, but I'm not the one without half my body." I said wiping my mouth.

Sai then looked down to see that he only had his torso.

"Oh, wow. I didn't notice I was only half here." He said as a joke.

"Hey, where the hell is Mizore?" I asked.

"I don't know." Sai said as he looked around to find her, but found nothing.

"Damn, she's fast." I said getting to my feet.

"Hey, can you find my lower half, I don't wanna freak anyone else out because I look like this." He said.

"Yeah, I can do that." I answered him.

I looked around for Sai's lower half and I found it under Tsukune. I grabbed the lower half of Sai's body and kicked Tsukune in the head to wake him up. After helping Sai, reattach his lower body to himself, we heard some commotion going on outside.

"What's going on out there?" Yukari questioned as she opened the door.

Ms. Nekonome just so happen to be running by.

"Oh good, you guys are still here." She said worried.

"(Not often you see her in a state like this.)" I thought.

"Your friend Mizore has gotten herself in to a lot of trouble. Come to the nurse's office and I'll explain." Ms. Nekonome said running off.

"First we gotta sober up and then we gotta go. Kurumu and Yukari, you two go look for her. The rest of us will go and find out what the hell's happened." I ordered.

I had made myself a cup of coffee and drank it, even if it was scolding hot. As for Sai he downs a lot of Red Bulls and was ready to go. When we got to the nurse's office we saw that Mr. Kotsubo was wrapped in bandages from head to toe.

"Mizore, did this? She went and froze Mr. Kotsubo.?" Moka asked.

"I'm afraid so." Ms. Nekonome answered worried.

"She wouldn't just do this for no reason, she's not that kind of person." I said thinking about why she would do it.

"Damion's right, we need proof." Sai said backing me up.

"Proof? Who needs proof? When we found Mr. Kotsubo, he told us himself that Mizore was the one who had done it to him." The math teacher, who will be the focus of the next chapter said.

"What did you just say? 'Who needs proof?'. Nothing can be solved without hard evidence, like a trial for example: each side needs proof to belittle the other, or else there statements mean nothing. So, saying this without hearing Mizore's side of the story, makes what you just said sound really stupid." Sai explained.

I just looked at him with the stupid face.

"How the fuck would you know that?" I asked.

"Try having two older sisters who are lawyers." He answered.

"I guess that about covers that." I said.

"Right now the entire faculty is combing the grounds for, and once they find her, there's no doubt in my mind she will be expelled immediately. Honestly, she was a troublesome child from the get go, we should have expelled her a lot sooner." Ms. Ririko said.

"You're really starting to piss me off. You only have one more time to say something like that again, and all your teeth will punched down your throat." I threatend.

Kurumu and Yukari had come back empty handed.

"We couldn't find her anywhere." Yukari explained.

"It's alright, I'll go look for her myself." I said.

Then the door opened and Gin had walked into the room.

"I couldn't help but overhear, your conversation. And I for one have proof that she only did what she did in an act of self defense." Gin said holding pictures. " I was out getting snapshots for an awesome new scoop."

"Snapshots for..." Moka began.

"An awesome new scoop." Kurumu and Yukari finished together.

Gin had gathered everyone around him and showed us that Mr. Kotsubo was trying to molest her. This caused my anger to skyrocket and my monster energy to start flowing out like a waterfall. Everyone, Sai included backed away from me. I had never been so angry in my life. The only experience that would match this one right now would, be when Selene, shot me off that ten story roof in Vegas.

"D-Damion, c-calm down." Kurumu said in fear.

I was seriously ready to explode. This was an act of one of the teachers here in the school, and it was unforgivable.

"Damion, not really being one to not wanna see you kill someone, but you calming down seems like a really good idea right now." Sai said trying to calm me down.

"Kotsubo, you motherfucker...I'm gonna rip you to pieces...Zentai yudesane(For those who don't know Japanese, that means I will never forgive you)..." I said quietly, clenching my hands into fists.

Sai eventually took action, by putting me in a sleeper hold. Not before saying.."I'mma regret this."

I had turned my head 180 degrees, in order to look at him.

"Calm... Down... you're angry. Your going to make mistakes. And if Kotsubo is as dangerous of a monster as he looks, a mistake may cost you your life." Sai said trying to convince me.

I turn my body around and grabbed him by his throat. "The only mistake I'd be making is letting scum like him to live." I said staring directly into his eyes.

"Just calm down. We'll get him. He's after Mizore. That's why you need to calm down." He says still trying to reason with me.

I look to the bed and see he's gone "...!" I let him go and run to find Mizore.

"Let's go make sure he doesn't get killed." Sai said rushing after me.

The others showed no hesitation as they were hot on his heels. I found Mizore standing by the edge of a cliff, looking out into the distance, with her blowing in the wind.

"Mizore!" I called out.

She turned and seemed surprised to see me.

"Damion, what are you doing here?" She asked.

"Now that's a silly question. I came here to find you and to tell you that...I uh...I really like you..." I said blushing a bit.

She looked surpised and blushed too. I thought it was cute that she looked like that. Then we heard something come out of the water. It was Mr. Kotsubo in his monster form.

"Great. From ugly, to fuckin' hideous." I said pushing Mizore behind me.

"Thanks to you Shirayuki, they now know my secret. For that you must die." He said getting ready to attack.

"Over my dead body!" I shouted grabbing Mizore and taking her to a safe distance away from him and the cliff.

As he tried to hit me with his tentacles I easily dodged them and ran to him with a quarter of my speed, but it was fast enough that he wasn't able to hit or see me. When I got in close enough, I punched him off the cliff, sending him back down into the water. I walked back over to Mizore, deeming that the fight was over. I couldn't have been more wrong. Mr. Kotsubo rose from the water again, angered.

"You're gonna pay for that!" He shouted.(By the way, Mr. Kotsubo's monster form is an Octopus. Go figure, right?)

"You just don't know when to call quits, do you?" I said running to him again.

"Damion!" Sai called to me and running to me.

"Sai?" I questioned.

Sai then turned into a weapon (A katana.) and I caught him.

"Sai, is this you?" I asked the blade.

"You bet your ass it is." He answered.

"Cool, so now I guess the time I spent at the DWMA won't be such a waste after all. Besides, I can see his soul." I said looking at Mr. Kotsubo's soul.

"Me too. It's a lot more disgusting than usual." Sai said.

"It's become a Kishin egg. He must be stopped here and now." I said getting into the traditional samurai stance.

This was perfect. Sai was my favorite weapon (Which is pretty literal.) and now I had the chance to take out a disgusting pervert. This was turning out to be a good day after all.

"Alright Sai, let's put this bastard outta his fuckin' misery." I say to him.

"Yeah, let's do this." He says to me.

I run at Kotsubo at half speed and cut one of his tentacles off and then went back to a safe distance while dodging his attacks.

"Ugh! His blood on my blade feels just down right nasty! Dam, please end this quickly, so I can go take a hot shower." Sai said.

"You got it, but first let's show him our power." I said getting ready to go into Soul Resonance.

"Right." Sai answered me.

"LET'S GO, SOUL RESONANCE!" Sai and I both shouted as we began gaining more power than either of us had alone.

"Now I'll show you...exactly what happens when you put your filthly tentacles on my girl." I said.

I quickly ran at Kotsubo at greater speed than I was running at earlier and I sliced him in half vertically and horizontally.

"Game..." I started.

"Over." Sai finished.

Sai then returned to his normal form and ate Mr. Kotsubo's soul.

The next day in the Newpaper Club room...

"So, Mizore is off the hook huh?" I ask Ms. Nekonome.

"Yup. She not gonna be expelled, thanks to your efforts." Ms. Nekonome said.

"Thanks, but I can't take all the credit. I don't think I would have beaten Kotsubo if it weren't for Sai." I said looking at him.

"Thanks man." He said.

Me and Sai fist pounded and then we looked to the door and we saw Mizore standing there. She had cut her hair so it's at shoulder length, like mine.

"Hey there Mizore." I greeted.

"Hey." She said quietly with a small smile.

"You cut your hair." Moka said.

"Yeah, I know it sounds kinda cheesy to say, but if feels like I've been reborn. So I decided, to start with a new hairdo." She said quietly.

"It looks super duper good on you!" Ms. Nekonome exclaimed.

"Yeah, it makes you look real photogenic, let's get a shot of you right now." Gin said puling out a camera and taking a picture.

I grabbed his camera and crushed it in the palm of my hand.

"Gin, right now you're on my good side. Don't make me change my mind." I said glaring at him.

"Yeah, it was thanks to your pictures that we were able to prove Mizore's innocence." Sai said. "But what I don't understand is that, if you were there, why didn't you save Mizore in the first place."

My eye twitched and Gin had run out the door. I quickly gave chase to him and I was ready to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"Look, Damion, I think you just need to calm down and think of a way to resolve this without violence!" Gin siad trying to convince me not to hurt him.

"You were there the whole time, but you decide to take pictures of what happened instead of trying to save her?! Gin, I'm gonna kill you once I get my hands on you!" I shouted to him, running faster.

Everyone watched from the balcony as I chased Gin all over campus. It may have been good to take out evil again, but nothing can excuse Gin from not helping Mizore in the first place.