Chapter 7 – "How are we going to rescue Moka-san?"
Kurumu and Tsukune knew that they should heed Moka's advice. There was no way that the two of them could survive against the full might of the Public Safety Commission, and even Moka could only do so much. They understood that now. Staying here was certain death for him, and almost certain for Moka. Kuyou and his forces would show no mercy. It was almost certain that the club would be crushed too, even though Gin and Yukari were innocent. All would be lost.
Despite this, the sun rose on another morning with the two of them still at Youkai Academy.
Kurumu had, once again, snuck out of the girl's dorms and into Tsukune's room. She had found him in a state of panic, reflecting what she felt on the inside. She knew that she shouldn't have done this, but wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if she hadn't.
She needed him and he needed her.
"Good morning, Kurumu-chan..."
"Good morning, Tsukune-kun~!"
Her ability to manipulate dreams had ensured that both of them had a good night's sleep. Not that it would do them any good if they stayed here. Despite the fact that they'd already shared a bed twice, Tsukune avoid staring at Kurumu as she stretched next to him in a state of minimal dress. Instead, he started a conversation about the one thing that remained on his mind.
"I know I should leave, but... I don't want to. I want to stay and fight."
Kurumu gave him a concerned glance. "But, Tsukune-kun!"
"I know I'm being stupid. But it's just not fair. Why should Kuyou and the rest of the PSC be able to do what they want while the rest of us have to cower before them?"
He sighed.
"I just wish I wasn't so weak... maybe then I could help stop them."
He turned to Kurumu.
"What will you do?"
She giggled, nuzzling him.
"I'm going with you, silly~! I'm not leaving your side."
His face turned bright red, and he couldn't muster out a coherence response. Eventually, he whispered out a thanks to her and they rested in silence for a bit.
Silence that was broken by a sudden frantic knocking on the door, and an impossibly familiar voice on the other side.
"TSUKUNE-KUN!"
On the other side of the door, Shima – a tanuki with the ability to disguise himself as others – was waiting alone for Tsukune to come out. The two Kamisori brothers were hiding in the distance around a corner. Just in case the human had some tricks up his sleeve, it was better that he not know of their full strength immediately.
"Give me a second!" was the response from the inside.
Shima then heard rustling from inside. The tanuki assumed it was just the boy getting dressed and waited patiently. He didn't know Kurumu quite well enough to pull a fully convincing impression, but the disguise would only be needed for a few minutes anyway.
A few minutes later, the boy opened the door. He closed it behind him.
"Ah, Kurumu-chan! Good morning! What's the matter?"
"Oh, it's so awful! Moka-san was arrested by Kuyou and his gang! I was barely able to slip away unnoticed. We have to hurry and get out of here!"
"What!? That's terrible! We have to go save her!"
"No, no, no, it's too late for that! They took her away to their underground lair. But I didn't see either of those girls we ran into yesterday, so we might be able to fly away."
"...they have an underground lair? How did you find that out?"
"One of them bragged about it very loudly. Now come on, let's go!"
Shima went for Tsukune's hand... only for the boy to dodge.
And then try to punch him in the face, which Shima barely dodged by jumping back.
"H-huh!? What was that for!?"
Shima then noticed that the so-called 'Tsukune' wasn't casting a shadow.
They knew we were coming!? But how!? thought Shima to himself, as he reverted to his normal form. Ah, no matter. The two are probably long gone. At best, they're just hiding in that room... which means I need to call them in. Who knows what kind of illusions she has prepared for us...?
"Hey, you two! Come here and clean this room out!"
With their razor winds, dealing with these two troublemakers shouldn't be a problem... at least, that was the hope. They rushed up, partially transformed, hands having turned into sickle-claws. The illusionary Tsukune vanished, laughing at them, having served its purpose. The two rushed into the room, not sure what to expect, and started searching around.
Outside, Shima was telling the people who were peeking out of their rooms to mind their business and let the PSC do their work. As such...
"AHHHH!"
...he could only watch in annoyance as the two fled from the room in utter terror, tripping over each other.
"Oh, come on!" Shima exclaimed. "You're making me look bad!"
"Sorry, boss, she took us by surprise."
"That's right, boss, she spooked us."
"No matter! Go back in there and take care of things! Tear up the room if you have to!"
The two nodded, steeled themselves, and walked back in...
...and were promptly tossed out a few minutes later, unconscious.
Shima grumbled under his breath. "Fine, I'll do it myself..."
Utterly incensed, he stomped into Tsukune's room...
...and just barely avoided getting smacked in the head by a vine, something that certainly shouldn't have been in a normal dorm room. So then, this must be a part of the illusion!
The room was covered in vines, and the real Kurumu was in there, sitting on Tsukune's bed, something Shima only knew because she was casting a shadow.
"So then, you knew we were coming?"
"We had a hunch. And we're taking you down!"
Shima scoffed at the idea. "Even if you beat me, there's no way you'll defeat any of our strongest members. Any of them could take you down even in one of these illusions. In fact..."
Shima then lunged at Kurumu.
"...I think I'll take my shot at it!"
In the space between Shima and her, the vines whipped at him. Shima rolled out of the way, and then backed away from another vine. The whole time Kurumu was stationary, just watching. She must be at the level where can just do this all mentally then, Shima thought. I just need to wait until there's an opening... now!
Shima tried again, weaving through a small opening in the vines. Strangely, Kurumu was still unresponsive. No matter. If she was knocked out, her illusions should cease – at least, according to what little Shima knew about succubi.
But in the space right before Shima reached Kurumu, his back was suddenly sliced open by razor winds.
No! Those were sharp nails... the nails of a succubus!
But how!?
He had his answer when Kurumu's disguise dropped, revealing them to be Tsukune. Said man promptly punched him full force in the face.
Shima's vision blurred and they knew no more.
The first thing Kurumu did after binding the three Enforcers up in her illusionary vines was tackle-hug Tsukune.
"We did it, Tsukune-kun~!"
They crashed to the floor.
"Ah! ...Yeah! We sure did, didn't we?"
This was the first fight they'd been in where he had actually helped. Good thing too. Staying and fighting back had been his idea. If anything bad had happened to Kurumu because of him... but thankfully, it didn't come to that. Her illusions had worked flawlessly, and she even managed to mimic their assailant's ability of disguising as other people. And his training had made him strong enough that he could actually hurt their foes. Granted, he had no idea now long any of them would stay out, but still! Progress!
The two cheered, ignoring the small crowd that was now around their room.
At least, they were able to ignore them until...
"Aww man, didn't I tell you not to pick fights with the Enforcers?"
"Gin-senpai!?"
Sure enough, he had made his way to Tsukune's room after news of the ruckus made it to his floor. He looked around at the three unconscious Enforcers and demanded an explanation. He hadn't seen either them or Moka since yesterday, and had heard about some Enforcers allegedly having lost a fight with someone and retreating. It was clear to him now that they were being targeted, and he wanted to know why.
...which made things awkward for the two of them, since it was better if fewer people knew what was truly going on. They did their best, given the crowd that was also there though.
"Hmmm... so they're after the two of you then."
The two of them nodded.
Gin sighed in frustration. "Well, now that things have gone this far, there's no way they'll back down. We should expect another attack. ...that said, I know you're hiding something still. And you're going to explain it to me once we're in private, got it?"
They nodded again.
"Good. Now then, let's get these guys out of here..."
The three of them dragged the Enforcers out of the building, and the crowd promptly dispersed... except for one guy, a tall man with short black hair and black eyes, who happened to be the captain of the Cross-Country Team. He stuck around, having offered his help to Tsukune and Kurumu as he had a beef with the PSC as well. Gin was friendly enough with him, so all of them appreciated his help.
And as they were doing this...
"Hey, is that Mizore-chan running towards us?"
"Who are those girls next to her?"
"Is that Yukari-chan!? What happened to her?"
"...where's my darling Moka-chan!?"
...four girls were running towards them with another in tow, unconscious. Said unconscious girl was in fact Yukari, who was being carried by an unknown girl with long deep blue hair and blue eyes. On her right was Mizore, and on Mizore's right were two girls that Kurumu and Tsukune recognized from some of the clubs they had visited. One was a short girl with short brown hair and brown eyes and the other was a dark-skinned girl with green hair and green eyes.
As they approached, Mizore put the Enforcers on ice so that they couldn't sneak away.
"Kurumu-chan... Tsukune-kun... I'm glad you're both okay..." said the yuki-onna, taking their hands in hers. After what had happened over at the girl's dorms, she was relieved that the two were well.
Gin grumbled under his breath about being ignored once again, but no one paid that any mind. His question of where Moka was and what had happened to Yukari did get attention, however.
The blue-haired girl spoke up first. "The same thing that almost happened to your friends there. Some Enforcers led by Kuyou came by and snatched her up! I was amazed that she that she didn't fight back at all, so I figured you all had some plan! Glad I was right, haha!"
She was so proud of herself that neither Tsukune nor Kurumu had the heart to tell her that she was wrong.
Mizore then chimed in. "They came and stalked up and down the halls for you and Moka-san," she said while pointing at Kurumu. "After they only found her... they came and dragged me out of my room, thinking I might have known something. They did the same with Yukari-chan."
"Some of us in the dorms raised a fuss, but they either ignored us or told us to mind our business. Hmph! As the girl who plans to become the next Student Council President, what happens to our fellow students is my business!" chimed in the blue-haired girl.
"They interrogated the two of us, but once they realized we didn't know anything they let us go. Yukari-chan tried to fight and free Moka-san, and they did this to her. They stopped me and Aoshiro-san here from interfering, and then took Moka-san away."
"Ah, you can call me Aoshiro-chan, it's fine!"
Aoshiro then gently handed Yukari over to Kurumu.
"So then, these three came for you, and you two took care of them handily! Nice! Now then, what's the plan from here? Lead the way!"
"Uh..."
"Well..."
The two of them fell silent, avoiding Aoshiro's earnest gaze.
...It took a moment, but she did get it though.
"...Oh my goodness. I am so sorry for putting you on the spot like that!"
"Hahaha~! You're so eager, Aoshiro-chan!" said the brown-haired girl. "Not that it's a bad thing. Once you came by and told me what happened, there was no way I wouldn't help! I'm ready to take the fight to them too!"
"However, Yukari is still hurt. I have some herbs I can use to refresh her, though she'll still need to rest for a bit. I think she'll want to help, and we should let her... though someone more experienced might need to stick with her," added the green-haired girl. "Come with me."
They left the Enforcers frozen solid where they were, thinking they weren't a danger anymore, and she led them over to the girl's dorms.
"Mmmmm..."
Yukari opened her eyes, rousing from her unconscious state. Where was she now? Why was she on someone's bed? Last time, she was with...
"Moka-san!"
She sat up and glanced around. Many others surrounded her, whether seated on the floor, in a chair, or leaning against the wall, including her new friends from the Newspaper Club... all except for one.
"...They took her away, didn't they?"
Mizore and Aoshiro nodded.
"Oh no! I have to go-!"
She flinched, and then fell back down.
"You're still recovering," said the green-haired girl. "Please continue resting. Don't worry, we won't be going anywhere without you, brave witch girl."
She then introduced herself as Kashi, from the Gardening Club. The cross-country captain (Kusashi), the brown-haired MMA Club President (Araiko), and the blue-haired student who aimed to be the next Student Council President (Aoshiro) all did the same. With everyone now introduced to everyone else and Yukari awake, there was only one thing that needed to be resolved...
"How are we going to rescue Moka-san?" asked Kurumu, leaning on Tsukune.
"The Enforcers who went after me earlier mentioned something about an underground lair," said Tsukune. "Maybe she's in there."
Gin grumbled under his breath.
"Gin-senpai?"
"...I know where it is," he said. "I can lead us there."
"Oh? Are you eager for round two?" asked Araiko teasingly.
But Gin's glare in response to her jest shut down that idea immediately.
"Ooooh, scary~! Well, after the way Kuyou dismantled your club last year, I can't blame you if you've suddenly become a coward~."
In response to her provocation, he lunged at her partially transformed... and she blocked his attack perfectly, while still in her human form.
"Hehehehe~... good, you still have your fighting spirit."
"Of course I do!" he roared back. "But still..."
He switched back to his human form and calmed down.
"We can't go in there without a plan. We'll get massacred."
He turned to Kurumu and Tsukune.
"And I still want answers from the two of you about why they're really after you."
"Eh? It's because Tsukune-kun is a human, right?" blurted out Aoshiro.
Everyone except Tsukune and Kurumu stared at her in shock. The two of them felt something akin to naked terror instead and covered up each other's mouths.
"...did you all not know? Err, should I not have said that? Sorry..."
Gin retuned his attention to the two, with Kurumu now intentionally putting herself in front of Tsukune.
"Why you! I have half a mind to turn you in myself!"
"No! I won't let you!" exclaimed Kurumu, standing up in front of Tsukune, who was now covering his eyes so that he didn't see anything he wasn't supposed to.
"Even if you turn him in, Kuyou will crush your club again anyway," mentioned Araiko. "Let's go beat him up instead! But on that note... Aoshiro-chan, how do know that Tsukune-kun is a human? He smells just like any other youkai to me."
"Oh, I can see his aura. It's very much like that of a human. I was raised around them, so I know what to look for."
"I see... does that mean you can tell us how many Enforcers are in this underground lair?"
"...Yes! I can!"
"Hehehe~! Excellent! Now then, let's go!"
"Hold it!" exclaimed Gin.
"Eh? Now what?"
But he paid Araiko no mind, focusing on Tsukune.
"You."
Tsukune stood up and tapped Kurumu on the shoulder. She grudgingly stepped to his side, attaching herself to his left arm.
"Why did you come here?"
"My parents sent me here. No other school would take me. I didn't mean to cause such a mess."
"It's not your fault!" exclaimed Kurumu.
"Nonsense! None of this would have happened if not for him!"
"But!"
"He's right."
"Tsukune-kun?"
"I'm glad you understand, at least. So then, how do you plan on making amends for this?"
"...I don't know. I'll start with saving Moka, I guess?"
Gin backed off, seemingly appeased.
"Good enough."
Tsukune breathed out a sigh of relief and slumped over, leaning on Kurumu's side.
Gin went to back to his place in the circle.
"Now then, about the underground lair... it's on the edge of campus. It's the campus jail, so there will be all sorts of nasty types inside... and I'm not just talking about the Enforcers. Most people in there are locked away for something trivial, but a few are real pieces of work. That Komiya guy Moka-chan took care of before is probably there, for example."
"Eh, we'll just take care of any troublemakers ourselves!" exclaimed Araiko.
"We might not have the energy after dealing with the Enforcers. Speaking of which..."
He pointed at Kurumu and Tsukune.
"...you two fought Shima and the twins just now. Who did you face yesterday?"
"They didn't give us their names..."
"Keito-san was among them, right? Moka-san took her out."
"Yeah, Tsukune-kun. And one was a harpy."
"The third was... some kind of fairy?"
"That must be Akeno-san then," added Gin. "I don't know the other two. Sounds like they sent all the heavy-hitters to the girl's dorms then."
Sure enough, this was confirmed by Kashi to be the case. Deshiko the zombie, Kibato the hellhound, Kokyu the golem, and Kuyou the kitsune were four of the strongest youkai in all of the academy. With all their might combined, Moka would have no chance despite her own strength. No wonder she just surrendered.
"Kuyou might be the strongest among them, but the other three are no joke. We have to free Moka if we want to take them down for good."
He glanced around the room. Though they had nine people in this room, two of them (Tsukune and Yukari) were effectively non-combatants and most of the others weren't strong on their own. They'd have to band together just to survive... the only ones he could be sure would be fine on their own were himself and Araiko (who was his superior in combat for sure), and even they would fold before Kuyou without Moka's help... at least, by his estimation. No one really knew how strong Kuyou was.
"Will they all be guarding her?" asked Aoshiro.
"Absolutely. We have to come to them after all."
"What if we split them up?" asked Yukari, who was now sitting up. "That way we can take them down one at a time. We could even draw them out of the lair to make things easier for us."
"Ah, so have some of us act as distractions while the others sneak their way in?" asked Kashi.
"Exactly! Kurumu's illusions and Mizore's ice manipulation will be perfect for this."
"My plants will also be able to assist you two."
"Kusashi, you're pretty strong right?" asked Araiko.
"You're stronger, but yes, I can handle myself in a fight," he replied.
"Great! The two of us together can focus on offense. We can take down most of the Enforcers if you all funnel them to us one at a time."
"Awesome! Kashi and I can heal you between battles then!" exclaimed Yukari
"I'll lead Gin-kun to Moka-san then!" exclaimed Aoshiro. "I'm not bad at fighting myself~!"
"So then that just leaves... Tsukune-kun," said Yukari.
Everyone turned to look at him.
He sighed.
"Well, I have an idea, but..."
He turned to Kurumu.
"You're not going to like it."
Elsewhere, on the edge of campus and underground, Moka watched mutely as her captors idly chatted amongst themselves. She was not tied down with a rope nor locked into a jail cell since she had willingly gone along with them. Keito, who had finally recovered from her injuries, had wanted to break Moka's legs, and Kuyou had to argue against doing so.
"Any punishment we give her has to be public and in line with the rules, despite our personal grievances," he stated plainly.
"Yes... though it will still come, don't you worry about that!" exclaimed the fairy girl, Akeno. After they brought Moka in, she and the harpy girl Shirawashi were untied from the ceiling.
Kuyou later went off to search for the three others – Shima and the Kamisori brothers – and brought them in and had them tied up instead. Apparently, they had failed to bring in Tsukune because Kurumu had also been there, and the two of them had outwitted those three. Mizore must have later come along and frozen them to the spot where Kuyou had found them.
Moka breathed a sigh of relief while the Enforcers discussed what to do.
Kokyu smirked. "Oh my, it seems they want a fight~. Let's give them what they want, shall we?"
Deshiko and Keito, of course, agreed.
Kuyou, on the other hand, shut down that idea. "No. They have to come to us if they want Moka-san, and they have no way of winning. Besides, we have our back-up plan."
Moka's eyes widened as Kuyou continued.
"All we have to do is announce what we have learned. That yet another human has snuck onto the campus – Aono Tsukune. Furthermore, his consort Kurono Kurumu knew this and still aided him... and is thus also guilty. The other students will turn against them."
Kokyu licked his lips. "Ah, yes, and they'll tear the two of them apart for us. How deliciously cruel. I'll be sure to be there and make sure it happens~."
"And the vampire?" asked Keito.
Their eyes all turned to her as she glared at them.
"Perhaps she will be willing to work with us and tell us where her friends are so that they can evade this terrible fate?" asked Kibato rhetorically.
"Or she could resist... and give us some entertainment, perhaps?" asked Kokyu.
"Even if I knew where they were now, I wouldn't tell you! Besides, I told them to run while they could. I don't know why they stuck around."
"There's no waaaaaay they'd just abandon you. You saaaaaaw what they did for Mizoreeeeee-chan," commented Deshiko. "They're gonnaaaaaaa come here for sure, like lambs to the slaaaaaaaughter."
"Good! I can't wait get hands on that indecent succubus and rip her apart!" yelled Keito. Shirawashi said something in agreement.
"In the meantime, let's keep an eye on out for them," said Akeno, gesturing to the other side of the room where an array of television screens was embedded into the wall. They had a security system up and running, just in case anyone tried to sneak in or out.
And a few hours later, they noticed something odd come up on a few of the screens – a thin coating of ice, made by an odd group of shadows.
"That must be them!" exclaimed Akeno. "Shirawashi, follow me! Let's go take care of this!"
"Hold it! Let me go with you!" added Keito.
She then turned to Kuyou. "If that's not a problem?"
Kuyou chuckled. "Not at all. Your eagerness to make up for your mistakes is appreciated. But make sure you get them this time."
"Yes, sir!"
The three of them then departed.
But not long after they did so...
"Aono-kun!?"
...another interesting thing appeared on one of the screens.
"...this has to be trap," said Kuyou upon seeing it. "He has to have others with him."
"Maybe... but no matter. I'm getting bored here, so I'll take care of this."
With that said Kokyu got up and started to leave the room.
"Kokyu-kun, let me..."
"No thanks, Kibato-kun. They're no match for me~."
"Let him go."
"Eh? Kuyou-san?"
Kuyou stood up and walked over to Kokyu.
"Not only may you go... but if anything should happen to befall said human..."
"Yes. If anything happens on accident, we can't be held accountable, right? Hehehe~. Don't worry. I'll take care of him."
He then laughed out loud as he departed, and as he did so, Moka could only hope that her friends made some kind of plan. Because if the two of them hadn't, all of their heads were about to roll.