My Devotion

by Ravenhale1

This is the third installment in the AU recreation of Rosario Vampire told through Kurumu's POV. This story starts around midterms and continues through the following month (June 4th - July 9th, 2005) to cover first season's Chapters 13-28 (though 18&19 happen first). Not strictly canon.

1. Bowl and Arrow

Kurono Kurumu boosted herself up onto the small counter space between the stove and the single compartment sink. The upper cabinets were recessed enough that she could sit back against them comfortably as she drummed her fingers upon the rounded lip of the counter. Her suite looked so spacious because it had nothing in it.

Starting today she would be living in Suite 323, which was a mirror image of Yukari's apartment. She would be residing in the same building as the witch, but Kurumu's exterior door was on the backside, facing the woods.

Unari Satsuki walked out of the closet on Kurumu's right. The girl scratched her sienna locks as she looked about the room with a slight frown. The nekomusume wore a grey, crew tee shirt with the Neighborhood Logo. The long shirt stretched over the denim shorts that were cut ragged halfway down Satsuki's thighs.

"You need stuff."

Kurumu chuckled. Her two friends had come to wake her this morning after she had groggily turned off her alarm to enjoy an extra two hours of rest. Not having planned this late start, Kurumu had foregone her usual morning shower and had joined her friends for breakfast wearing her pajamas.

Well… wearing what served as her sleepwear. While this grey tank top was adequate for holding her breasts provided she did not make any sharp gestures, she did have to throw something over this perfect butt other than a cotton pair of panties. Feeling she would keep her human form for the day, she had squeezed into her other denim shorts that had not been modified for her tail. This was possibly the first time she had worn these things at Yokai.

"I'm serious, Kurumu. Have your mom send your bed. You at least need that."

Kurumu shrugged, regarding the empty room. She doubted her small bed would make this room look any less empty.

"That would be a hassle. My mom's already moving it to Aga, assuming she hasn't yet."

"So have her send it here instead."

There was a flush and the sound of running water. Genzouyaki Nerume poked out of the small bathroom next to the closet, drying her hands on the bottom of her spaghetti string tank top. The cerulean fabric barely darkened from the abuse. She smiled at them, flicking her ebony, offside ponytail behind her shoulder.

"That's a tiny bathroom."

Those thin, white shorts were not the best idea to wear with those black briefs. Kurumu had already joked about her friend wearing granny panties, but Nerume had a good reason. She hated ruining good panties when the blood came, calling these black things were her junk wear.

"I've already made it halfway through the term. Why bring it here when I'll have to turn around and send it back for the summer?"

Satsuki shook her head, thumbing back at the closet.

"There is no way that would be more troublesome than taking out and putting away your futon every day. Besides, we spend a lot less time home than we do here. You should just leave your bed here."

That would be more convenient than lugging her futon around, though she had toyed with the idea of sleeping in the closet. Not wanting to hear any remarks about the scent, Kurumu had carried her futon over while the two girls had handled the rest of her belongings. As half her wardrobe could be crammed into her hamper, this had only taken two trips. She had also picked up three new custom fit blouses and jackets her mother had ordered from the school store yesterday.

Despite her mother's generosity, Kurumu doubted she would change over to green jacket attire. She preferred the casual look of the sweater and was glad that Satsuki had let her keep that one from last week. Satsuki had demanded back the blouse though when it was clear that Kurumu no longer needed that extra one.

"I guess I could mention it, but I want to hear back from her first."

This was the first week she had not received a letter from her mother. She imagined her mother was honoring her request not to flood her with letters. She should get one next weekend and hopefully with some news about how she was born.

Any stranger would think a succubus with a boyfriend would be having all sorts of sexual fun but the truth was so sad. There were too many stupid things to put up with. Her glands that made saliva felt like adding a bit of opiate into the mix to make it so her kiss was addictive and a huge obstacle in her relationship with Tsukune. Her last hospital visit also put into question how she could have babies as her body for some reason decided a uterus was optional equipment. There was also the nuisance of not being able to look any guy in the eye without them falling into a charmed stupor. That was bad enough without this new theory about her being a telepath that could do… hell… she had no idea what they thought she could do.

She sighed.

"What's that about?"

Kurumu smiled at her friends. She bobbed her legs against the cabinet door beneath her.

"I need stuff to fill these cabinets. I have a kitchen, but nothing to cook or serve with."

"You have some money, right? We can buy some things after the birthday party."

Kurumu smiled, aware that she still had a full day ahead of her. After lunch she was meeting up with Ginei to finish up things with the archery team. Then at four she needed to be at Up Your Alley in Mononoke for Asuka's birthday party. She had a feeling that would carry on into the late hours if they let that girl have her way.

"I don't have that much. My mom only could spare ten thousand and I still have to buy Tsukune a birthday present next weekend."

"Have sex with him."

Kurumu giggled, covering her mouth as Satsuki laughed, shaking her head.

"Come on. That's a great gift for any guy to get."

"You know, I'm not even going to disagree. I'm not."

Kurumu smiled at the flush nekomusume.

"It's a special occasion. And it's what… two months by that point?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of a CD."

"You honestly think a CD is better than having sex with you?"

"Nerume, please. Work with me here."

Kurumu sighed, glancing at her purple, lace ribbon tied about her wrist.

"What about a watch? I noticed he doesn't have one."

"Probably because he has a phone."

"He doesn't ever carry it around since it has no service."

"Okay. We buy the watch first. And then we buy what we can afford to get this kitchen working."

"Should we buy condoms too?"

Kurumu smirked.

"I was going to have him buy those, remember."

"True… but it is his birthday."

"I think her kitchen is more important than getting laid. If Aono wants sex on his birthday, then he should buy the condoms."

Nerume smiled, walking over to the counter. She patted her hands on Kurumu's knees.

"So how did things go last night with him?"

Kurumu shrugged. Once a week she would coerce him into doing laundry together. These two had caught her with her hamper in the lobby when they had returned from dinner last night. Both had known about this habit as she had mentioned it during their little drinking outing a couple weeks ago.

"I already said nothing happened."

Not much could be said about the progress of her relationship with Tsukune these past few days. Changing homerooms had not made things any worse. Her time alone with him had always been a small fragment of her free time. Technically they had more time together, now that the issue with Ms. Kagome was resolved.

Having wrapped up their last issue, the club was fumbling over what they should be doing next. Their blonde illustrator, Zukkutani Kana, was fairly set to go with her comic strips and paper graphics. In her case, it was more an issue of figuring out which gags the group felt was school paper appropriate. That girl could get too sexual with her skits. Thursday had been the first time Kurumu had seen Ginei blush, their senior calmly reminding Kana that most guys would not enjoy her sense of humor.

Ginei had skipped out on two of their last three club meetings, claiming he was doing the groundwork for one of his articles. After a conversation yesterday with Morisato from her homeroom about the archery shoot this afternoon, she had thought about retracting her request for his help with her archery article. She had forgotten about his little mishap of trespassing on their range earlier this year, but he had been absent yesterday. Unable to cancel with him, she felt obligated to stick with the plan and not make other arrangements with their friend, Yamabato Kamitsuku, from the film club.

Last night had been her first conversation with Kamitsuku since her homeroom switch. Now that he had triumphed over Front Mission 4, he was back to figuring out what would be the best Yu-Gi-Oh deck to make with the cards he owned. Letting it slip that he owned a cell phone, she had prompted Tsukune to exchange numbers. Both boys had felt it pointless given the lack of service at Yokai and the unlikelihood of ever needing to call each other over school breaks. Reminding the two of the impending trip had finally convinced the two to swap their information.

As far as everyone knew, Ginei was going to make this field trip work. After midterms they would head to Morningside Overlook, the small bed and breakfast ran by the parents of Zukkutani's cousin. Tourist traffic was less during early June so they would have the whole place to themselves. It was only going to be a three to four day trip since they needed to be back on the weekend to write up their articles.

Kurumu had yet to start working on that second article with Ms. Uchikawa's cheer squad. She planned to make some arrangements with the health instructor today, hoping Ginei had not left her with the awkward task of asking for the favor of watching Mr. Umatobi's homeroom. As the film club's advisor, Umatobi was the preferred choice of being their second teacher escort.

Nerume's hands crawled up her thighs as the short girl stepped in closer. She held her arms up.

Smiling, Kurumu hugged the girl about the neck. Nerume made a slight whimper as her head was tugged between Kurumu's breasts. Scooting closer with the girl between her thighs, Kurumu pressed her cheek to the top of Nerume's head as she took in a deep breath.

"You're going to smother her."

Kurumu grinned, relaxing her hold. Nerume let out a heavy sigh, her small hands lingering at Kurumu's waist. Nerume leaned her head against the crook of Kurumu's right elbow.

"You should eat lunch with him more."

Kurumu had lunched with Tsukune only once these past four days. Yukari had made lunch for her the first two days before Kurumu reminded the little witch that it would be nice to see her boyfriend.

"But then I wouldn't get to eat with you two."

Satsuki chuckled.

"This morning was the first time you've ate with us all week."

"I guess that's true. I did slip out yesterday to eat with Tora and the PSC. If you pass your midterms with an eighty percent or higher, they will take you. They're too shorthanded to turn people away."

It had been nice to have a large lunch for a change while also chatting with some friends whom were not as accessible to her as before. Meirowasa Tokori, a young monstrel girl whom had been allowed into the elite club even before Kuyo's dethronement, had been moved away from her home ec station. It was the first real conversation they had been allowed since Ms. Hitori had made the sudden change to limit any future trouble with Shirayuki. The local girl had confirmed that she would be attending Asuka's birthday today.

"Hopefully they don't change their mind because I'm a nekomusume. I know our race is not exactly intimidating, but I can still do things."

"Have you met your new neighbors?"

"I don't know if I have any."

In discussion during the week, Yukari admitted that hers was the first suite issued to a student that was not a senior. There was a senior living alone in suite 316 and suite 318 was occupied by a pair of second year identical twins. Yukari would have remembered names if they had been mentioned.

Having nothing to do with the usual fatality rates in Yokai, the seniors of their academy were mostly male. Young women only comprised forty percent of the class, which left two empty buildings reserved for the senior girls.

Mostly empty. When turning in her keys this morning, the housemother had felt like letting her know that Shirayuki had been moved to suite 402. Kurumu had noticed the girl's absence on Wednesday, but had not known how appropriate it would look if she asked around for the girl's whereabouts. In the midst of her tearful thanking of the housemother for the info, the wizened woman had added her hope that the two of them would get along as well as their mothers had.

"Should we try knocking on some doors?"

The second level suites did not share a balcony. Each suite had its own small stairway up, with the double suites having their stairs running up the building sides. Only the middle suite had this odd, awkward stair that ruined an otherwise aesthetically pleasing front. It would be easier to meet any girls living on the first floor than running up and down stairs to check if her flanking suites had occupants.

"Would you two want to meet Shirayuki?"

"Fuck no."

Nerume frowned.

"Would she be okay with us?"

It was difficult to say. Was Shirayuki alone because she wanted to be, or because she felt she had to be? The girl had been suspended all of this week from school over the accident, mostly because it echoed an earlier attack that had been made upon Mr. Kotsubo, the soccer coach whom Shirayuki had a crush on. Kurumu had spoken with Shirayuki prior to the girl being kicked out of the dorms for safety concerns. She felt like they were okay with each other and hoped that the girl would start making some friends. She still felt bad that the girl was fine with her being her only friend considering how poorly she had handled the whole issue with Mr. Kotsubo. Shirayuki deserved a better friend than that.

"I don't know."

"I rest my case. Let's check on your neighbors. They can't all be psychopaths."

Kurumu smiled.

"I'd rather visit Yukari."

Satsuki sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"I suppose we can visit the brat. But if she starts bitching about allergies, I'm heading home."

"She only fusses about it because it causes her eyes to tear up. She doesn't want people to think she's a little kid crying over something."

"Considering how she acts, you would think she would not care what others think."

Kurumu smiled, thinking Yukari also should try to make more friends but had this ridiculous chip on her shoulder about everybody hating witches. Kurumu knew from experience that assuming people would hate you over prejudices was stupid. There would always be exceptions, but it seemed most people did not care about her being succubus. She had wasted most of her first month avoiding any significant relationships outside of the newspaper club, thinking that at any point the majority of her classmates would shun her for being a whore. Her only attempt to reach out had been for Nerume and this precious girl had been snatched away in the whole Ishigami debacle. If it had not been for Asuka's push for her to do the track article, Kurumu might have remained as reclusive as the rest of her newspaper club friends.

Nerume had turned about in her arms. The girl was tucking her fingers in beneath Kurumu's thighs.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to carry you."

"That will look weird."

"Lean forward."

Kurumu sighed, draping her arms over the small girl's shoulders as she complied. Nerume was one of the few girls in the school shorter than Kurumu. Kurumu could count the ones she knew on the fingers of one hand. There was Yukari, whom was eleven years old. Then there was Hiboshi Netsuki, whom had been reverted to her ten year old body due to some weird magic in an omamori charm. There was also Dakuhime Mayumi from the choir, whom might be Hiboshi's friend now. And the last one was her former neighbor from Gosen whom was in class eleven. She honestly did not remember her name. The girl wore goggles and said funny things. While there might be others, these were the five that Kurumu knew about and it felt like those first two did not count.

Nerume heaved Kurumu up with ease, walking over to Satsuki. Being a Night Mare, a rare breed of Kirin, Nerume had strong legs and a sturdy back in her human form. She was heavier than Kurumu, though that hardly was a surprise. Nerume could have eaten as much as those soccer boys if she had not distracted herself with small talk.

"Keys."

Satsuki held her hand out. Smiling, Kurumu surrendered the set that had been given to her by Ms. Nekonome during their club meeting on Thursday night. Satsuki, whom happened to be Nekonome's niece, led the way over to the small genkan on the other side of the half wall on the left. The girl bent over to slip into her shoes before pulling the door open.

"You should put your shoes on."

"It's a short walk and her feet won't touch the ground."

"Suit yourselves."

Satsuki moved aside, allowing them to pass her by and start down the stairs. Unlike the dorm rooms, the suites did not automatically lock when closed. The main knob had no keyhole so there was only the deadbolt. It was impossible to lock your keys inside, eliminating the need to have someone stand watch over a huge set of spare keys. Losing your key meant paying a locksmith to have your deadbolt changed.

Nerume paused at the bottom of the wrought iron stairs, allowing Satsuki to catch up with them. Kurumu regarded the three doors of the suites on the first floor, figuring at least the middle one was occupied. Why else would she have been put up on the second floor?

Not much had happened these past three days in class. The teachers were gearing up for the midterms which would be held Thursday and Friday with grades being posted the following Monday. She had yet to mention their study plans to Tokori, hoping the local girl would be cool with everyone hanging out at her house for a cram session. That loft was easily big enough for a dozen girls.

Due to issues working with a couple lustful boys, Mr. Hakuru had kindly allowed her to swap lab stations with Mr. Wanibuchi, the class rep that had given Yukari so much trouble. This worked out to everyone's satisfaction as Wanibuchi got along with Yakihara and Satsuki liked being around shorter girls.

Encouraged by Satsuki, Kurumu had invited Kinzoku Umeki, their other lab partner whom had been mixed up in Ishigami's mess, to Asuka's birthday party. The two of them were trying their best to convince the girl to stick with Yokai, though for different reasons. Satsuki disliked the idea of being the only girl in the male dominated shop class elective, and Kurumu wanted to keep this girl because Sakamori Hinoko was quite attached to her. Kinzoku and Sakamori were both from Gosen and it would mean so much to that silly shojo girl if her friend continued to stay at Yokai, especially after that Senjo girl, another of Ishigami's victims, had suddenly transferred without warning.

"You're slow."

Satsuki smirked, starting the walk along the paved path that surrounded these buildings. Kurumu glanced off to her right at the woods. There was nothing in particular to notice about the forest. No trails stretched off into the distance. It was simply trees scattered about as far as she could see.

"Have you seen the junior dorms yet?"

"No."

"I wonder if they're like this. It's nice and quiet."

"It feels lonely."

Kurumu sighed, agreeing with that sentiment. She would miss the bustle of the dorms in the morning. She had spent the last three mornings following the exact same pattern. Shower while talking some with Hiboshi, Yaisoku and Dakuhime. Get dressed and head down to wait for Tora. Convince Tora and Deshi to help wake up Moka and usually Kana would join them.

She would miss it so much. She had cried during breakfast yesterday, realizing that she might never get to do it again. She was so selfish. There were good reasons for letting the move and the homeroom switch to happen. It would make things easier for Ms. Kagome and Shirayuki. Even Tsukune.

"I hear you get a toilet but you still have to visit a communal shower."

"That doesn't sound like an improvement."

"Eh, I would probably change my routine. Morning showers weren't my thing."

"So why don't you shower in the evening?"

"I'm going to the bathroom in the morning anyways. I may as well shower while I'm there."

"It's not like anyone has a toilet in their bedroom back at home."

"I wish I did."

Around the front of the building they could see the rounded, paved path that defined the circle. In the center of this circle was a squat, single story building composed of rose colored stone. The black glass double doors faced the larger path that curved away from these four buildings towards the center of the compound. The front of this apartment building faced one of the back corners of this commissary where students could use their meal accounts to buy perishables for use in their kitchens.

When she had been given her new key, Kurumu had also been provided a new ID card. This one had a blue border which allowed her entry into these commissaries. Nekonome had taken her old ID card, so getting in her dorm these past couple days had required a friend. This had not been an issue considering she had eaten dinner with her club every day this past week.

She wondered how many seniors made their own meals. It never felt like there was a long line at the Kurai dining hall, despite providing services to all three grades. She knew part of this was due to how long the meals were served and that the students did not all arrive for breakfast and dinner at the same time. It could not compare to the disaster of the lunch line.

Off to her right was the first of the buildings that had apartments starting with the number four. She knew that middle apartment would be Shirayuki's. These concrete structures lacked windows, making these building look like a bunch of two story boxes. There was no architectural appeal to these simple structures. It could not compare to the elegant design of either of the freshman dorms.

She wondered which seniors resided in these three suites on the first floor. She had never seen anyone leave the building in her many visits to Yukari's place. The other building that had apartments that started with the number three had a few seniors from the track team. She knew the Samurakami sisters lived on the backside corner suite closest to their building. She had also seen a couple of the other track seniors hanging out over there. Aware how the coaches often encouraged their team members to live near each other, it would not surprise Kurumu if all ten track seniors lived over there.

As they started up the stairs for Yukari's apartment, Kurumu sighed and leaned in to rub her cheek against Nerume's head. She still felt envious of those seniors. They had bonded over the years with that special Ohira girl as their focus. Natsue was a small okami girl with hearing problems. Most of the seniors had picked up that human sign language to communicate with the girl. It was like watching a family, reminding her of times before knowing she was a succubus.

"You feeling okay?"

"Yea… you can let me down now."

"She's lighter than you are, Satsuki."

Satsuki frowned as they reached the top of the stairs.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That she weighs less than you do?"

Satsuki sighed, shaking her head. The girl knocked on the door, crossing her arms below her bosom as she frowned at them.

Nerume let go of Kurumu's thighs, leaning back slightly. Kurumu quickly settled on her bare feet, smiling as she slipped around the small girl so that she could be quickly seen by Yukari. There was a wall sconce mounted by the door which was currently lit up due to their presence. The silly thing did not know the difference between day and night.

"Use the doorbell."

Satsuki glanced back at the door. After a slight moment, the girl found the small button and depressed it. A small bird tweeted inside the room.

"That's cute."

Kurumu smiled, aware that Yukari had modified her doorbell to suit her tastes. She had not visited Yukari at her suite since switching homerooms. Yukari had accused her of not wanting to have any more dream world adventures with her, but the truth was simply that Kurumu had wanted to spend as much time with Moka and Tora before moving out.

By slipping the stigma of her tail into a small crevasse behind her earlobe, Kurumu could enter a dream world in which she had nearly absolute control. She had first discovered this in a reflexive panic to save Moka from the depravity of Kano Nagare, a boy from her junior high that had followed her. Due to an unfortunate mistake in her past, Nagare had become addicted to her opiate, blackmailing her so that he could taste her again. After the altercation with Nagare, he had been sent home.

In some ways, the recent developments with Ms. Kagome were the same. The math teacher had enough traces of Kurumu's drug that they could blame addiction, though it was only part of the problem that had brought them to that conclusion of Ms. Kagome begging Tsukune to make love to Kurumu so that the three of them could have a child together. Presently the teacher was on a forced vacation while Mrs. Itou handled her math classes.

The deadbolt rolled back and the door pulled open. Yukari frowned at them as she held the door wider.

"I've never seen you wear coveralls before."

Her frown deepened as she let go of the door to fidget with the denim outfit. It had an orange sunflower stitched in the center of the bosom. A black and white striped, long sleeve shirt was worn underneath the coveralls while a pair of pink socks swathed her feet.

"It's not bad, right?"

"I think she looks adorable."

"You look like a little kid."

Yukari grimaced.

"I don't have anything. All the dresses are even worse."

"You have dresses."

"Sundresses. A bunch of pullovers with stupid designs. If any of them had been a simple, solid color, I would have worn that instead."

Kurumu frowned as she walked inside Yukari's apartment. Taking that as a cue, her friends followed in after her.

"Why are you wanting to wear a dress?"

Yukari sighed as she moved aside to lean on the half wall that separated the stove from the genkan.

"Ms. Hiboshi invited me to lunch in Mononoke. I don't have anything decent to wear."

"You could wear your school uniform."

"I've seen the way you dress, Ms. Unari. It would be foolish to take suggestions from you."

Kurumu held up a staying hand to her friend, whom was bristling at the remark. Nerume politely closed the door.

"Don't dismiss Satsuki like that. She's not into the whole cute look either."

"I don't want to look like I don't care how I look."

Satsuki frowned.

"You want to impress Ms. Hiboshi?"

"You misunderstand. I don't want to disrespect her."

"And coveralls is your answer?"

Yukari sighed dramatically. Turning on her heel she stomped off towards her closet.

"Fine. I'll throw on a stupid dress."

Nerume giggled as the witch disappeared into the closet.

"She's so cute around you."

"She has softened a lot with Kurumu in class. Ichida was talking with her yesterday."

Kurumu perked up. Ichida Taka was one of their class reps whom happened to sit on her left during class. He was well behaved and seemed to have no sexual interest in her, which was unusual. Most guys that were nice to her still had some restrained desire.

"He was?"

"Yea."

"About what?"

"Does it matter? That was not something anyone would see a month ago. The only person that would willingly talk with Yukari was Deshi and it's clear that they don't get along too well."

Kurumu smirked. She had pried about Deshi's motives but the foreigner would never give a straight answer.

"Deshi's a troublemaker and Yukari has trust issues. That doesn't mix well."

"I do not have trust issues!"

Kurumu glanced at the closet but the door was still shut. While the walls were thick enough to blot out the sounds of neighbors, it seemed it did not apply to the closet door.

"Anyways, I'm glad to hear I'm helping her not be such a scary, intimidating figure in your class. Now if only we could do something about these rumors about her."

"Eh, rumors are rumors. I know the brat didn't vaporize Watanabe from class six."

"I haven't heard that one."

"Yea, some guy from class six has been missing for a couple weeks now. It was that weekend after your whole PSC showdown. Rumor has it that the guy made fun of Yukari and was removed from existence."

"Why would she care about some guy from class six trash talking her?"

"I have no idea. Rumors don't have much logic behind them half the time."

"I hate it because they never talk directly to them."

Kurumu glanced at Nerume inquisitively.

"Well… I mean I get asked all the time by the other art girls over the relationship between Tsukune and Moka. It's tiresome."

Kurumu smiled, aware that Abe Hizume had asked her directly about the whole thing. The baseball player whom sat on her right during class also had the art elective. With her recent switch of classes and the new rumor about Tsukune being a vampire to explain his defeat of Kuyo, there was much debate over whether or not she was Tsukune's girlfriend. Many people seemed to feel it more plausible that a vampire Tsukune would be dating the vampire Moka. Considering how important true forms were to most girls, it was a losing battle. Only her closest friends believed she had a chance. The rest probably looked upon her with pity.

"Speaking of art class, I mentioned to Abe about Kakeru being a Kirin."

"He's so much shorter than Chisa."

"She's a giant."

"She's very slender."

"Yea, but she's as tall as Yano. Maybe taller."

Kurumu had her doubts about that. Yano Nigiyaka was the tallest boy in her new homeroom class whom played for the soccer team. He had been the other lab partner that could not keep his dirty thoughts in check. It was not that he was vulgar. A succubus had this annoying ability to feel desire so even a quiet guy saying nothing could not hide their unspoken lust.

"I doubt that. What about you, Nerume? Does Abe strike your fancy?"

Nerume sighed.

"Not really."

"Well he can't be over your one eighty restriction. He's about as tall as Tsukune."

"It's not that. I'm just not interested in a guy with a ponytail. Not my thing."

"Don't help this girl find a boyfriend. She's too stupid."

"So you prefer your men short haired."

"I guess. Guys like Burumoto and Tamaishi are attractive but they're too tall for me."

Kurumu smiled, a little curious how her former classmates from the soccer team were doing. Burumoto Ushio was the first guy she had met when she arrived at Yokai. He had helped her get out of that nasty scrape with Komiya Saizou which had resulted in that young monstrel being suspended. According to Tokori, that brute would be returning to school next week to take the midterms. She was so thankful that she would not be in the same class as that psychopath.

Satsuki had slipped out of her shoes and wandered about the room. Yukari had a full size bed pushed in the near corner. The ivory frame had posts that suggested it could be turned into a canopy bed. A cerulean comforter was pulled over the mattress with carnation pink pillows lined about the headboard.

In the far corner closer to the bathroom was a small work desk. Portraits of Yukari's parents and grandparents were standing up on the smooth, black cherry surface. There was little else of note within the room since Yukari kept her counters clean of all of her small, cooking devices. The witch would put away her rice cooker and toaster after use. Even her wastebasket was hidden beneath the sink.

"Have you thought about getting your nostril pierced?"

Kurumu blinked at Satsuki.

"Why?"

"It would be a good look with that sleek short hair style you got going on for you."

Kurumu sighed, absently running her fingers about the short, shaven hairs about her ear. During the altercation with Hiboshi, the girl had burned her hair. Unlike skin, hair did not regenerate so she had been forced to trim it down to something that was presentable. Her locks had some length on the top but it was not long enough in the front to be considered as bangs. It would take months, maybe even years to get it back to the length she had come to Yokai with.

"You first."

"If I get one would you get one too? I'll even pay for it."

Kurumu smiled. The school was very lax about body piercings. Several teachers had them.

"I'm not trying for some bad girl look, Satsuki. I certainly don't need that kind of rumor spreading."

"So how is this?"

Yukari had emerged from the closet. Those broad straps and the straight top cut looked far more conservative than any sundress Kurumu had seen. The black fabric was patterned with white stars and in the center of the girl's bosom was the silhouette of a woman riding a broom towards a crescent moon. A white sash divided this upper portion from the billowy skirt that fell past Yukari's knees.

"I thought sundresses had stringy straps."

"I don't know. This is the style of dress my mother usually gets."

"I wouldn't wear that."

Yukari sighed, gesturing at Satsuki.

"You are more than welcome to look through my closet and find something appropriate."

"You look fine, Ms. Sendou."

"Thank you, Ms. Genzouyaki."

"You know she mostly wants to know why she has three tails now."

"I told everyone that I was not an expert on spiritual magic. I might have taken too much spirit from Tora when I restored that omamori charm."

Kurumu frowned.

"Will Tora be okay?"

"Of course. Tora has a vast amount of potential that could rival some of the strongest monsters in our academy. I doubt she is even aware of how much I took."

"Well… as long as everyone will be okay."

"Of course. I'm sure that in a few years, Tora will make up for what she lost."

"So who will you be with? Did she mention bringing anyone else, like Dakuhime or Yaisoku?"

Ever since Hiboshi's reversion into a preadolescent, the fox girl had been struggling with her new identity. It seemed like she had cut ties with Hineri Kumiko, the younger sister of the PSC leader. Their classmate was so miffed about Hiboshi's reaction that the girl had ceased being gym partners with Yaisoku Ami, the other Jorougumo girl. Kurumu had partnered up with Yaisoku the past three days, suspecting this would only be temporary. Surely these girls from the same junior high in Myoko were not going to stay upset at each other forever.

She was aware that Hiboshi was still partnered up with Nerume. According to Hazumi Furiko from her class whom also was one of the girls in her new home ec station, things had yet to resolve between Irewata Haruhi and Hiboshi. Irewata was Hiboshi's handmaiden, sworn to protect and serve her every whim. Since Hiboshi had been reduced to a child, she no longer felt like being around the busty Irewata.

"Maybe Irewata?"

"I don't think so. I assumed we would be alone."

Kurumu smiled.

"Are you worried she might try to hurt you?"

"I have a ring of return."

"A what?"

Yukari held up her left hand. On her pinky was a plastic ring with a butterfly.

"This has an enchantment that will bring me back to my suite in an instant. If she tries anything I will simply return home."

"That's original. I figured you might try vaporizing her or something."

"Kurumu would be upset if I hurt someone so I am taking the approach our Senior employs."

Kurumu chuckled, aware that Ginei was notorious for dodging fights. He had promised Lady Otonashi, the former president of the newspaper club, that he would not resort to violence to resolve his issues. For the most part, he had kept true to his word.

"So what other plans do you have for the weekend?"

"I will most likely read Lord Souseki's Ten Nights of Dream. Speaking of which, did you ever read that book I loaned you?"

Kurumu shrugged.

"I returned your cookbook on Wednesday. I never found the time to read it and realized it was meant to be returned Monday."

"I spoke with Ms. Bakudai when I returned the others. She was fine with you keeping it longer."

"I never was going to make the time."

Yukari sighed.

"Would you at least read 'I am Cat'?"

Kurumu grimaced at the thought of opening that brick of literature.

"That would be cruel and unusual punishment."

"Surely either of you have read Lord Souseki's works?"

"I'm unfamiliar with the name."

"I've been in monster schools my whole life. We don't read a whole lot of human works."

"I suppose it's a miracle that either of you can read."

"Hey!"

Kurumu grinned.

"You should read it, Satsuki. It's about a cat."

"I am highly suspicious of you recommending anything."

"When is Ms. Hiboshi going to be coming by?"

"I will be meeting her at The Raw Deal. Moka mentioned it was a good place to eat."

Kurumu smiled, unsure if that food would be up to Yukari's standards. While the food was better than the stuff served at Kurai and the cafeteria, it would probably not be amicable with a witch's delicate stomach. To be honest, Kurumu doubted she could eat there on a regular basis. While bloodied venison tasted amazing, it did not digest well.

"They do have a good salad selection."

"Hey, Ms. Sendou. Did you know Kurumu will be living on the other side of that wall?"

Yukari smirked.

"Of course. Allow me to demonstrate."

Yukari stalked over to the wall between the desk and the foot of her bed. She paused, looking back at them. With a grin, she passed her hand over the wall, causing a small silver box to appear. The box was mounted upon the wall at the small girl's shoulders.

"This is matter diffuser. It is programmed to spread out the atoms of this existing structure to the perimeter I have defined."

"Meaning?"

Yukari sighed.

"It's a door."

She pushed the silver box. It hummed alive. In a matter of seconds a rectangular gap was created next to the box. Beyond was Kurumu's apartment.

"Yukari. Are you sure the school is going to not be upset with you destroying their property?"

"I'm not destroying it. I'm temporarily pushing it aside."

She pressed the box and the humming stopped. A few seconds afterwards, the wall solidified into its former state. Yukari rapped the back of her hand against the wall to confirm its firmness.

"See. It's back to being a wall."

"That's cool. It's like you two can visit each other whenever you want."

"What if you close that when someone is trying to go through?"

"The spell would become confused with the presence of foreign matter and remain open until no hindrance is present. It is smart enough to recognize air molecules as inconsequential and will disperse them as required, but anything else will cause it to stay put."

"So you can't slam the door on someone."

"Or something. A book could hold this thing open indefinitely."

Kurumu shook her head, smiling.

"You know… I need to take a shower."

"Do you want to walk through this door? I see you didn't bring your shoes."

"Sure. You two don't mind keeping her company for five to ten minutes?"

"I'm sure we can think up something to talk about."

Yukari popped her hand against the device, causing the doorway to open again. She walked away, intent on the closet.

"I could show you that book by Lord Souseki."

"What about making a shopping list of things she might need for her kitchen. Her cabinets are empty."

Kurumu chuckled as she approached the humming portal. Her body tingled as she stepped through. Once on the other side, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms. All the tiny hairs on her body were standing tall while her skin was covered in tiny bumps. It felt like she was whole but her spine still tingled from the memory.

Shaking her head at the craziness of her friend, she made her way to her closet.

---

The young woman stood calmly in the shooting area. Her long, silky black hair was gathered up from the sides and pinned with golden files, causing her tresses to spill over her white tunic. Her bangs were trimmed in the hime style, touching gently upon her thin eyebrows. Her narrow eyes regarded the small target at the end of the range.

The white tunic was slightly parted, revealing the black leather piece strapped about the girl's bosom to protect her from the string. Beneath this was a long sleeved, green shirt that matched their school colors. A black sash was tied about the waist to hide the end of the tunic. A long skirt similar to their school skirts hung down to the girl's ankles. Her feet were shod in zouri sandals.

"That must be so hot to wear."

"It is."

Hidaka Himawari fanned herself while seated across the table. The senior's short, bubblegum pink locks were curled and damp from sweat. The young woman managed a slight smile, turning her tired, powder blue eyes upon Kurumu.

"I wish they would make this a winter sport. It's hard enough to shoot properly without sweat dripping in your eyes."

Shikikawa Niji hoisted the large bow up over her head. Her right hand was covered in a deerskin yugake, holding one arrow across the bow with the point facing in the direction of the target. Her two bare fingers clutched the end of a second arrow. With a breath, she lowered the bow, drawing the string as the arrow came down to her eye level. She paused, tilting the arrow slightly before letting the string go. The missile hurtled across the long range, striking the target on the last circle that ringed the center.

"She's so elegant. Her form is perfect."

Kurumu had watched this pair shoot while interviewing the second years. Hidaka could hit the center target more reliably than her fellow senior, though her shooting was more casual and relaxed. She was not above chatting while loosing her arrows and frequently smiled.

"You seem to do fine as is."

"Form is as important as scoring. To some judges, they will weigh form higher than score."

"Have you considered improving your form?"

"I've tried a couple times but my performance worsens for it. Like I can't hit the target at all when I try to imitate her. I would rather take the marks against form than be completely useless."

Kurumu smiled, leaning back in her seat. The archery range was divided into three areas. First there was the seating area. Then there was the shooting area which included the storerooms that held all of the club's gear. Last there was the field in which the targets were set at the far end. A wall of hay mounted upon a wire fence served as a backdrop to prevent arrows from being lost into the wilderness beyond.

It was her understanding that Ginei had been hiding back near that wall behind the targets with his camera, trying to get shots of the scene of the crime. Kisurusu Miho had been the fourth girl to disappear in the Ishigami incident. The blond from class five was about Tsukune's height and was a notorious meddler in the love lives of her junior high classmates back in Uonuma. She also had a loose tongue, which had her feeling responsible for the six girls that had left archery to be in other clubs.

Unlike most of the student populace, all of the archery girls were aware of the real reason why Ms. Ishigami had been forced to leave Yokai Academy. Upset over how a relationship had turned out, the former art teacher had decided to spare some select girls the horrors of dating by preserving them in stone. Kurumu had listened to Kisurusu's tale of how the teacher would visit them in the middle of the night, drunk and raving about the cruelty of men. At first watching the woman break down in tears had struck a chord of sympathy. But as weeks dragged on, all the girls had simply wanted it to end. They were dying and Ishigami was too broken to let her captive audience go.

"How involved is Mr. Nagamushi?"

Hidaka turned a warm, lovely smile upon her.

"He tries. I don't take this all that seriously and I know more than he does. Niji runs the club and I do my best to keep her sane."

"From what I understood, you barely interact with her outside of club. She spends most of her free time with Yoshizawa and the gorgons."

"Well… our club has never been that united. The two seniors we lost were Kamoko's friends. One of our first years happened to be from the same town as Awa and suggested joining the travel club. So that's where three of our six went."

"And what of the others?"

"Two were first years whom were Miho's friends. They both joined the paranormal club to be with the Hitozen Twins. They're popular girls from Uonuma. Perhaps you have heard of them?"

Hidaka grinned at her clueless expression.

"You would adore them. Everybody does. The last is a junior whom joined the Greetings club which is ran by my best friend, Sana. They tried hard to rope me in too, but I don't want to steal Sana's show and Niji needs the help."

Kurumu glanced up from her notepad. She absently lifted the pink fabric of her top back up on her shoulder, despite knowing it was meant to hang off the side. Her khaki shorts had black, elastic strings on the hems to keep the fabric cinched above her knees and at the waist while remaining loose everywhere else.

"Greetings club? So what do they do?"

"It's an odd group. I would be hard pressed to say anything about their activities. Sana formed that club as a first year with two guy friends and having her older brother stand in as their fourth and club president. He graduated and they recruited a couple kids last year to stay functioning."

"So we do have new clubs. I was starting to think everything was old and nothing changed around here."

Hidaka giggled.

"Oh, there have been a few changes. Their advisor, Mr. Ishihara, was a first year teacher that year. There was also Ms. Houkai, whom started that year and took over the orphaned wrestling club."

Kurumu frowned, aware that Houkai was the homeroom teacher of class twelve.

"Ms. Houkai? I thought Houkai was a man."

"Well… if you saw her I could understand the confusion. She's not very womanly."

"I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that there are new teachers."

"I don't think there are any new teachers this year. I know last year Mr. Wada and Ms. Amekoshi both started work here. I'm sure you are aware of what happened with the swim club last year and that has a lot to do with how new she was to the position. She could not control her upperclassmen at all."

Kurumu nodded, recalling their troubles with the seniors of the swim club. Those bitches had tried to use boys to fuel their reproductive systems. It had not ended well for them since they had set their sights on Tsukune and Moka did not take kindly to being in the water.

Kurumu regarded her notebook, tapping her pencil against the names of the last two girls she had not interviewed. She kind of wanted to do Shikikawa next, since she was nearby. Sonoda Kamoko, the junior with the layered black hair, was still lingering by Ginei and Yoshizawa, chatting like they were the best of friends. Kurumu had already tried breaking that up before she started on Yoshizawa's interview. Sonoda had promised to come over but that had been two interviews ago.

Most of the other girls had already left. Ginei had started things with a few shots of the entire group in front of the range with the targets as the backdrop. He had then taken a few individual portraits, admitting that they would not get used for the article but that he would be submitting these shots to the yearbook committee that would form during second term. Obviously they could get new ones taken at that time but this could save some hassle if they were fine with the portraits he took today.

Always keen on fashion, Ginei was sleeked out in a short sleeved, silk shirt that he had left the top three buttons open. His silver wolf head pendant dangled on his smooth chest. The dark green shirt was tucked in a pair of black slacks which clung tightly to his legs all the way down to his shiny black loafers.

Kurumu had already interviewed the four freshmen girls these past three days. All four lived on the fifth floor and three of them were in her home ec class. Kisurusu had been the most difficult of the four to get in touch with, but only because of how her schedule worked.

Morisato Juri sat behind her in her new homeroom and lived across the hall from Kisurusu. The brunette spent most of her free time in the company of her friends from her home town in Uonuma, which included fellow archer, Fujino U.

Much to her surprise, Fujino U was in her home ec class. As juniors were not allowed to share stations with first years, the teal haired girl had escaped Kurumu's notice. She had felt so stupid, realizing that Morisato had been trying to direct her to interview this girl … twice. She had not picked up on the clues and Morisato had been too apathetic to clarify the misunderstanding.

Fujino happened to be in class 2-5, so they did not share gym. She had noticed the two seniors were from her gym class, but had decided against asking permission to wander over and chat with Shikikawa and Hidaka. Shikikawa was part of the undefeated Class 3-2, whom had wrecked their impromptu volleyball league. Kurumu honestly could not remember how well Hidaka's Class 3-4 had done, only knowing that her class had defeated them the last day simply because nobody cared.

Fujino, whom was about the same height as the other juniors Sonoda and Ochiai, had chatted quite a bit about archery and was hoping this article could convince some of their former members to come back for the competition. July was their big month, after which they would not do much of anything. Feeling they had nothing left to contribute, the trio of Uonuma girls had left.

The trio of girls from Bokuseki in the Sanjo district had also left. Tonari Emiko and Orochi Maki were both first years from class four. The two cousins were almost always together. Orochi had long, black hair that almost touched the ground while Tonari had copper braids. Tonari was about Moka's height while Orochi was more in Satsuki and Tokori's range.

The junior from their village was Ochiai Futaba. The girl whom insisted her thick corded hair was the color of alabaster was slightly shorter than Tonari. From Mr. Fukushima's class 2-9, the soft spoken girl was more concerned that word about Ishigami's actions would become public knowledge and make life difficult for the gorgon community, than anything school or club related. Like Yoshizawa, she was confident in her skills and would be among those on the four woman team that would represent Yokai in archery competitions.

"I noticed you were not on the team list."

"That's right. If you register as a team, you can't participate as an individual. My form and performance are better suited for an individual, so I opted out."

"Ms. Shikikawa asked you to be on the team?"

"Of course she asked. Yoshizawa is good and Ochiai could never make it as an individual. Her form is great but her accuracy is inconsistent. As for the fourth, well… it came down to who wanted to be on the team. Fujino felt she had to, because the Uonuma presence in this club historically has been strong. And honestly, she is the better fit for the team."

"So everyone else is registered as individuals?"

"Yea. We don't have the ability to run a second team since none of our first years have much experience with the bow. This was the first time for Kisurusu to fire an arrow. The cousins started practicing some basic skills last summer. Morisato learned from her father, but I don't think she's familiar with this long of a range. She's our only first year that can hit the target twice in a set."

Kurumu nodded, aware that there was only four arrows shot in a set. Shikikawa was returning from the range, carrying the arrows she had fired. She turned down the line, intent on the storage room. She had already put away her glove and bow.

"She's ready for you, Niji."

The senior nodded, disappearing into the storage room. Hidaka smiled, getting up from her seat.

"It's hard to believe she will be eighteen in less than two weeks."

Kurumu smiled, aware that Hidaka had an early February birthday.

"It's not like you are that much younger."

"Yes, but I feel that much younger. Sana and I were born on the same day, but I feel years ahead of her. It's just a matter of how people carry themselves. Age is just a number but behavior is the real truth."

Kurumu smiled, imagining that was a sentiment Yukari would appreciate.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Kurono. I do hope your paper does as well as it has before."

"Thank you. I hope your archery club is successful."

The girl made a slight wave as she walked over to the small gate that opened out.

"Don't stay out too late, girls."

"I'm just waiting for Niji."

"Oh, I still have to do mine."

Ginei waved dismissively at Sonoda.

"Don't worry about it. We're in no rush."

Kurumu supposed that was true. They had started this a little after one and had wrapped up the photos within twenty minutes. It was only two twenty now so she had plenty of time to chat with two girls, hand Ginei her notebook and head off to Mononoke. Satsuki and Nerume were supposed to meet her here at three.

Unlike the other two juniors, Yoshizawa Asumi had taken her time during their interview. The ginger haired girl with the high ponytail held up with the dark green scrunchie was the tallest girl on the team, which still made her notably shorter than Ginei. The girl was from Unsei's homeroom class 2-7, meaning she was keeping company with the film club president, Sangi Mitsuki. Yoshizawa knew the girl but said it would be dangerous to put a bunch of redheads in close proximity so she kept her distance from Sangi and Tadayo Hotaru from the choir. Kurumu had forgotten about that girl, mostly because she had left Ginei in charge of interviewing the choir juniors.

Despite being from the Yuzawa district, Yoshizawa did not know any of the soccer boys due to being homeschooled. She lived so far from the junior high that it had never made sense to send her there. She was not from a community and she did not live among humans.

Her parents clearly were smart since Yoshizawa had the highest grades of the second years. This was actually quite the achievement, considering all of them scored higher than Ginei whom admitted he was in the top quarter of his class. The archery club was academically outstanding. Only the first year gorgons were struggling but they would wait and see how midterms played out before taking action. Yoshizawa had not specified what that meant, saying it was up to the seniors.

"So where shall we begin?"

Shikikawa gracefully drifted around her to settle serenely beside her.

"We can start with where you are from."

"I am from a place you are quite familiar with. I understand you have become much acquainted with the Jorougumo families of Myoko."

"You don't mind if I simply put down Myoko?"

"Not intrigued?"

"Not really. I don't have the stomach for it."

"I imagine that must have been disappointing to Keito. That one loves playing games."

Kurumu smiled.

"She seems to have rolled over nicely, placing the student police under the student council's direction."

"Let us hope things are as simple as that. I would like to graduate this year without any more surprises."

"I heard your birthday is soon."

"The fourteenth."

"Any plans?"

"Nothing I have been made aware of."

"Any favorites you would like to share? Food, color, song, that sort of thing."

Shikikawa smiled softly.

"I have read your articles and understand the intent. I don't see a reason to share such things with people I will never meet."

"It's just small talk. You know, to help readers connect with the members of your club."

"If people wish to know about us they are more than welcome to, but kyudo is not a spectator sport. It is discipline, tradition and art. I gain simply from being here. A stranger's support will not increase my abilities."

"So… make friends outside of the club?"

"I am in no shortage of friends. And if the intent is to stir up male interest in our club, then I simply must decline further comment."

Shikikawa pressed a hand gently upon her breast.

"I am a Jorougumo. My best mate is a human male, of which there are none at Yokai. And even if our numbers are dwindling every generation, I don't feel a sense of urgency to run out and procreate with the first man I find."

Kurumu smiled, supposing this was not something she could put in an article.

"Then we should talk about your club. I understand July is an important month and that you will be hosting a competition at Yokai."

"Yes. We will be hosting an event on the third of July in which we have invited three of our rival schools from neighboring prefectures. Each school is allowed to participate in four such events and is required to place first in either team or individual to qualify for a spot in the regional event."

"Has your team ever qualified?"

"We usually qualify at our hosted event. There are some schools that don't get to go, but there are others that send multiple teams by having one team qualify at their hosted event and their better team win at another school's event. There are always nine teams at regionals."

"So there's nine qualifiers for individuals?"

"Correct. It is far more difficult to qualify as an individual than as a team."

"Do you think Ms. Hidaka has a chance?"

"Of course. That girl has so much talent it is a crime."

"She holds you with much esteem."

"She lacks discipline. With more effort she could be the best archer in the nation. But she gives up too easily. She'll practice form for a day and go back to her usual pattern the next. It is frustrating to watch."

Kurumu smiled, thinking she could write things a bit differently for these two seniors whom admired each other so much.

"Is there anything else you would like to have written about your club?"

"Not at the time being. I would like you to follow up on us after our event as that is the most likely setting in which we shall succeed. A simple statement in the paper confirming that we will be at regionals. I don't believe we have the budget to bring along any spectators, but we could let people know where it will be hosted if they are interested in attending."

"I thought you said it was not a spectator sport."

"I don't believe it is, but some people insist on watching and some girls enjoy being watched."

Kurumu smiled, getting up from her seat. She bowed slightly to the young woman.

"Thank you for letting me talk with your club."

"Tell your wolf friend that today was an exception. He is still not allowed on our range."

Kurumu grinned. Nodding, she walked around the table and headed over to the gate. Her motion caught the attention of the trio hovering near the exit. Ginei was quick to glance away, keeping the dialogue moving smoothly as Kurumu reached over the gate to pull the small pin out. Holding the pin aloft, she stepped through, pushing the barrier with her hip. She turned about, allowing the wooden gate to roll off her hip and swing back closed on its springs. She dropped the pin back in place.

"You finished in there?"

Kurumu nodded at Yoshizawa's inquiry.

"I should go help her clean up."

Yoshizawa took a couple steps toward the gate before spinning about and leveling a finger at Ginei.

"Be nice to her, dog. I'm watching you."

Kurumu glanced up at the girl as she walked by. They shared a smile before continuing their own ways. Kurumu joined the other two as Yoshizawa calmly hopped over the gate despite the heavy archery attire she was still wearing. All the upperclassmen had worn the stuffy garb which they kept in their personal belongings. The first years used spares left in the storage room until fitted attire could be provided. This kept costs down since first years were more likely to quit the club.

Placing a hand on Ginei's side, she cocked her head at him.

"What's that all about?"

"These girls don't trust me that much."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you think horrible things about me."

Kurumu smiled turning her attention to the girl beside him. The girl had crisp, mint green eyes shaped like almonds. Her lips were thin but had a delectable indent at the center below her tiny nose.

"So you must be Sonoda Kamoko."

"I am. Ginei mentioned that you will be moving to the new Aga district."

"My mother is in the process of moving us to the outskirts of a small village called Hekitawa."

"I'm from the village, Hankyouta, near Mt. Mikagura. I know that doesn't exactly make us neighbors, but I thought it was cute that you would be living in the same district."

Kurumu smiled. Tobuyoku Suzume, a former classmate whom was a Tengu girl on the track team, had mentioned there was a large Tengu community near Mt. Mikagura last weekend.

"So you are a Tengu?"

"Oh, you are more familiar with the place than I thought. Um… actually no. I'm from the sister village. You're thinking of Koutoukumo. I grew up around those two choir girls you chatted with last time. How is little Kanari?"

Kurumu smiled. She recalled Bouzuki Kanari, the blonde with honey colored eyes whom was more serious about singing with the choir than the other first years. Her friend with the cinnamon curls had been more interested in flirting with Uchiyama Makoto from the film club.

"I liked her. She seems to know what she wants and is enthusiastic about getting others involved in what interests her."

"I wanted her to join us so badly. Everyone stops after joining one club. It's silly. After the first term is over, this club is dead. All you have to do is come once a week and make sure your form hasn't gone to shit. There's plenty of time for other clubs."

Ginei chuckled.

"Well not everyone is as ambitious as you are, Kamoko."

Kurumu grinned.

"So are you another one of his former classmates?"

Ginei shook his head as Sonoda smiled.

"We shared the art elective last year."

"Kamoko here is one of our former club members that abandoned me last year."

The girl wagged her finger at him.

"That's not fair. Things got really bad and I wanted no part of that. It was fun while Otonashi was running things but…"

"I'm just giving you a hard time. The door is open if you want to come back."

"You can pencil me in but I'm not going to be active until the second term. I need to get much better. You see the state of this club. They might actually need me on the team next year. That's scary."

Kurumu remembered Ginei's remarks about being able to pencil in some members when she had threatened to quit. At the time she had been so angry about Ginei trying to force Tsukune out of Yokai for his own safety. She had never pushed for an answer if that had been a bluff. Apparently not.

"So what other clubs are you in?"

"I'm in the karaoke club with a couple friends and joined that travel club that Inko left us for."

"Is Inko one of the upperclassmen that left?"

"The issue with Ms. Ishigami is only part to blame. Shikikawa had no intention of having Inko be on her team. She wanted Hidaka, Ochiai and Yoshizawa. Inko didn't want to compete against Shikikawa with a second team. We would never win, so it would be a waste of time."

Kurumu nodded, supposing things like that were understandable.

"So what does the travel club do?"

"Nothing that I know of. It's a new club that four freshmen girls from Joetsu threw together this year. One of them has an older brother in Mr. Shini's class so she got her brother to sign up as the club president and Mr. Shini agreed to be their advisor. I assume it's just a club to socialize with friends."

Kurumu frowned.

"I thought Mr. Shini helped run the tennis club."

"He does. He's just penciled in as their advisor. I doubt he cares what they're doing."

"Why would your senior join such a pointless club?"

Sonoda sighed. After a long pause she shrugged.

"Because Kiyohara joined it."

"Who is Kiyohara?"

"Some guy who tries too hard to take care of his little sister. He was supposed to take over as captain of the Karate club but he bowed out at the start of the year because he was worried she would join a bad club. He's still in karate but he left the club in Haiji's care."

"So that's how that played out. Kamoko here is in Haiji's homeroom class, 2-11. She's been telling me how good a boy he has been in my absence."

"Of course he's been good. He sits by Ryomi so he's lucky he's conscious."

"Who's Ryomi?"

"Now Ryomi is a former classmate of Ginei. And was in our art class. Precious little thing."

"Ryomi has a natural calming aura about her. I used to sit behind her and would get called out for sleeping in class all the time. Since Haiji and Kousuke were such dicks about it, I convinced Haiji to switch seats with her in the first month of the second term. Putting her in the center of class caused half my classmates to sleep through Ms. Nekonome's lecture. Of course Mr. Sawayaka promptly had me move to the vacant desk in front of her because I was too vocal with my amusement."

"Don't act like that was a big deal since it put you next to Hitsumi."

"So how is Ryomi?"

"I heard she got moved to the suites to live with her little sister."

"That tiny girl has a little sister?"

"I haven't seen her but I hear she's about the same size. Both would be shorter than her."

Kurumu grinned, pleased to hear there were other girls her height.

"I thought only seniors lived in the suites."

"They try to fill as many seats as they can. They've been talking about building a coed dorm for a couple years now so they don't have to turn applicants away."

Kurumu smiled, shaking her head.

"We should be trying to keep the focus on Ms. Sonoda's interview. Um… I forgot to ask Shikikawa but what elective did you choose?"

"Shikikawa's in the health class with Hidaka. As for me, I'm in the culture class."

"What does the culture class do?"

"Lots of odd things. Gardening seems to be the main focus. I don't know why they restrict first years from taking it. There's no prerequisites for it."

"There's no prerequisites for trade or mechanics but they made them grade specific."

"What are those?"

Sonoda shrugged.

"Boy classes. They might not require each other, but a lot of guys will go shop, trade and mechanics. They do get priority over guys that have been taking other electives."

"None of the electives are gender specific."

"You're the only fool that took home ec this year. I hope you're proud of yourself."

Ginei smirked.

"I am."

"Are you serious? What poor girls did you get to join your station?"

"My two friends from karaoke took pity on him. Ms. Hitori had them use station one to separate him from the other girls."

"Why would you take home ec?"

"Because I could."

"You just want to look at girls all day."

Ginei clutched his chest with a pained expression.

"You too? Home ec is a useful class. It teaches valuable skills for living on your own."

"Mhm. Seems to me like you're trying to expand your harem."

"Harem? I've never thought to associate that word with Ginei."

Ginei grinned, rubbing the side of his head which caused his crimson bandana to shift about. She had no idea why he wore that thing since it ruined his overall look.

"I'd be worried to hear what words you would associate with me."

Kurumu smiled.

"I suppose it surprises me that everyone is so amicable around him. I expected everyone to treat him like an outcast for being a complete pervert."

Sonoda chuckled.

"Then how does that translate to accusing him of having a harem?"

"I suspect Kurumu is upset over me saying her boyfriend has a harem. She's clumsily trying to turn things around on me."

"There are better guys than Ginei to take interest in. There's Genkidzukeru from tennis. Ijouyama from kendo and of course Miyamoto from karate. Haiji is far more interesting than Ginei."

"That's your mating instincts talking."

"Would you say that those boys are popular?"

Ginei snorted.

"Maybe among harpies and Tengu. You do realize that you don't actually need a Tengu to mate. You're more mammal than Tengu girls."

Sonoda gasped playfully.

"Are you encouraging that I have forbidden relationships that will result in monstrel children?"

"At least then you would have a shot at having a boy. Harpies have girls when they mate with Tengu."

Kurumu frowned, unaware of this information.

"Is that a fact?"

Sonoda chuckled, making grabbing gestures with her hands.

"Yes, we are an evil race that steal Tengu husbands away from their faithful Tengu wives."

"What about humans?"

"What about them?"

"I mean, I thought pretty much all monsters can mate with humans."

"Oh, yea. It's practically the same as mating with Tengu. Makes more harpies, though Tengu have better traits. It's a matter of whether or not you want a strong little girl or a weak one. My father's a Tengu."

She paused with a thoughtful expression.

"At least I think so."

Kurumu's eyes widened at the realization the girl did not know her father.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't know that was a sensitive subject."

"What do you mean?"

Ginei chuckled.

"She's probably thinking you would be upset about not knowing your father."

"Our community is like ninety percent female. Having a father is weirder than not knowing who donated sperm to your existence."

Kurumu managed a smile.

"You don't have married couples in your community?"

"A lot of women will partner up. Often in pairs of two but sometimes three. It's easier to raise a child."

Ginei chuckled, tousling Kurumu's hair.

"Our succubus here is interested in love, not couples formed for convenience. Would you say that the woman your mother partnered with is in love with your mother?"

Sonoda frowned.

"Like having sex? I don't think they do. It's more like they're sisters. Many of the couples in our village are birth sisters. I'm sure if my mother had one, she would have picked her instead."

Kurumu smiled, aware that this was not the sort of thing that would get mentioned in her article, but she found it fascinating.

"Have you ever thought about being married to a man?"

"I think it would be problematic. Every guy I know has a much higher sexual drive than I do."

"But you had a list of guys you were interested in."

Sonoda smiled.

"Everybody dreams a little. But I can't even ask any of those guys out on a date, let alone toy with the idea of marrying one of them."

"Have you tried asking Haiji out?"

Sonoda sighed.

"It would be easier to knock him out and rape him while he's unconscious."

"Well… if you don't mind me taking pictures of it, I can help you there."

Kurumu grimaced.

"Can we stick with information we can put in our paper?"

The two laughed as Kurumu tried not to burn like a flame from embarrassment.

---

Up Your Alley was a single story building one block down from the arcade on a dead end side street. From the exterior it looked like a convenience store with two sets of glass double doors opening into a vestibule with another set of glass double doors preceding the interior. The letters of the large sign over these glass doors were shaped with bowling pins.

Off to the right from the vestibule was the main desk. A swarthy man with a bulbous face worked the counter. They had reserved six of the sixteen lanes for two hours and he had handed them appropriate footwear for the polished floor. He warned them about keeping their strength in check, threatening to shut things down if they put a hole in the floor or a wall.

Around the front desk was the restrooms and a small gaming area with a crane, a couple ancient games from the nineties, and a few pinball machines. All the way at the other end was a small concessions desk that sold drinks and the type of things you would expect from any dagashi shop. It was Kurumu's understanding that they would be having pizza delivered around six.

The rest of the archery club had left a good five or so minutes before three, minimizing the time Kurumu had to endure in Ginei's flirtatious company before Satsuki and Nerume rescued her. Ginei was such a frustrating guy. It was like every time she found out some good things about him, he would make a comment that would force her to regret trying to change her outlook of him being nothing but a useless pervert. She could see how Tora, with all her admiration for their senior, had not fallen for the guy.

Nazohashi Tora, the former class rep for Ms. Nekonome's homeroom, was coming over to sit next to Kurumu on the red plastic benches that surrounded the carousels that barfed up bowling balls for them to use. The short girl had her raven locks held up in braids that ran about the sides of her head above her ears where they came together in the back. Her skin had a darker complexion than most girls. Her ideal of casual clothing included that yellow polo and black sailor pants.

They had pressured Tora into joining the newspaper club since the girl had thought being class rep would fulfill the school's requirement for every student to register within an after school club. Luckily she had not tried to find an alternative and had been crucial to helping Ginei revive the school paper by securing sponsors in the local community to fund the costs of printing their papers. Now that the student council had officially put them back in the budget, Tora and Tsukune had spent most of their club time in Mononoke revising the ad agreements with their sponsors.

After the events of the fight with the student police, Tora had taken Lady Hineri's offer to join the new student police. She was still part of the club, but was resigning her class rep position. She had been wearing the white band of the student police as an honorary member for the past week, receiving her official student police outfit on Thursday.

According to Ms. Nekonome, the second term would kick off with the class voting on a class manager whom would facilitate things for the sports and cultural festivals. Most classes deferred this role to the acting class rep and would vote on people to assist, such as a co-chair and secretaries. Since this was inevitable, Ms. Nekonome felt they may as well do the voting for these positions now.

The vampire, Akashiya Moka, sat on Kurumu's other side. Moka had opted to simply wear the school blouse and skirt, which was fine since four other girls had done the same thing. Moka had been slightly dazed with the whole size of the gathering, admitting she had not participated in a party this size since being sealed. To Kurumu, this was not that much different than the photo shoots for her articles.

Twenty women. Asuka had twenty women here, which was about half of what she had tried to get. Their two escorts, Coach Kibashiro Mizuki and Ms. Uchikawa Ikuki, were wearing identical black and white track suits to stand out, since they did not look that much older than some of the girls. Coach Kibashiro was at the first lane with the three okami girls while Ms. Uchikawa was keeping Asuka's group company in the third lane.

Every two lanes had a carousel for bowling balls with red plastic benches wrapped about. At the furthest end from the pins was an interactive panel that kept score which was displayed on the monitors above the lanes. Once they had entered in the names for the four girls for each lane, the only time they needed to mess with these panels was to clear out a ball that did not register or to start a new game. They had not been able to start bowling until about a half hour into their rental and Kurumu doubted anyone would get a third game in before time expired.

While nobody was paying that much attention to the score, Moka had the highest score of the first round of bowling due to obliterating all ten pins on her first two frames. Having turned down the dial on her strength, she was now bowling at the same level of skill as the teachers. The trick was throwing the ball down the lane with enough force to not deviate from where you wanted it to hit, but to not destroy the targets. Thankfully Moka had the cash to replace the pins she had destroyed.

Kurumu had bowled a meager 111 on her first game, but somehow that had been good enough to beat Kana and Tora. Tora was bad. She was too worried about breaking something that half her balls were lucky to reach the pins. Kana could not keep her ball out of the gutter, cracking jokes that the ball was one with her mind.

Their blonde illustrator had shown up in denim coveralls over a plain white tee. She spent most of her spare time drawing on the sketchbook she had brought with. The blond was planning to help Moka with her article about Ms. Sano, whom was filling in for Ms. Ishigami. Ms. Sano also taught third year English and was the manga club advisor. They were also going to include comments about the manga club's activities in hopes that this would make Moka's article more appealing than her last one.

Ginei was overly critical about Moka's last article, which baffled Kurumu. She had heard no complaints about it. It was something written by Moka. A lot of guys would treasure her writing even if it was bad nursery rhymes.

"It's your turn."

Kurumu sighed, pushing off the seat to wander over to the carousel. Whomever designed these balls assumed big hands meant big strength. It made the balls that fit her hand feel extremely light. She was worried as she stepped up on the runway holding this thing. It really was not Moka's fault. The owner was lucky the vampire had not thrown this silly thing through the back wall. Then again, these things would probably shatter upon impacting a concrete wall. Probably. Not worth finding out.

Kurumu preferred to wait for everyone else on the runway to throw their balls before tossing hers. Sakamori Hinoko was waddling over to the end of the lane with a ball in her hands. The heterochromia girl with the curly strawberry locks done up in numerous bows and ribbons could not bowl. She walked over with her drunken gait, dropping the ball twice before finally plopping it into the lane. It promptly rolled into the gutter as she flashed the others in lane five a wide grin.

Hinoko was one of the four that was dressed in the student uniform. Kurumu honestly did not know if the girl owned casual clothes since she had not brought any to Tokori's house on their little outing two weeks ago. She did have pajamas, which looked to be what Matsudera was wearing.

Familiar with the shojo, Nerume and Satsuki had agreed to lane with Hinoko. As a spirit of the drink, Sakamori felt discomfort if she was sober for extended periods of time. She always carried a small silver flask of liquor to keep her spirits up and her stride unsteady.

The last girl in the fifth lane was Kinzoku, whom had escorted Sakamori to the party. The tall, silver haired girl had also elected to come in the school uniform. She was quiet, never speaking without being prompted. Having spent the past couple days with her in lab, Kurumu knew it was difficult to get the girl to smile. She hoped the girl would loosen up some but she seemed content to quietly hide near the interactive panel away from the other three.

With the runway momentarily clear, Kurumu bobbed a couple steps forward and swung the ball back. She smoothly brought her arm forward, releasing the ball a hair above the alley. It streaked across the floor to the pins in a couple seconds, toppling seven of the pins. As the last three were by each other, she felt pretty good that she could pick up the spare.

"Good shot."

Kurumu smiled across the carousel at Shindou Asuka. The short blond had jagged locks and electric blue eyes that flashed with white lines when she got excited. The birthday girl wore a sleeveless scoop top. A dark, hunched over figure holding a crimson umbrella was printed in the center of the white fabric. The shirt was so long that it almost hid the loose, blue track shorts she was wearing.

"You might break a hundred again."

Kurumu shrugged as she watched the girl walk towards the adjacent alley. Waiting for her ball to return, she noted how awkward Asuka handled that ball. She could tell the girl was trying to not toss it, but her push was not smooth enough. It put too much rotation on the ball, which made it hard to judge how the ball would break. The raiji threw more splits than anyone in the group and had yet to pick up a spare.

As her ball finally returned, Asuka failed to pick up either pin from her last attempt. The blond sighed, shuffling back to her side of the carousel. She smiled at Kurumu, shrugging.

"Oh well. Maybe I'll break eighty this time."

Kurumu stepped up on the runway. Matsudera Nikki was down at the far end on the left. The okami girl from Moka's floor was wearing a gray, knit sleep pant and a black, crew tee. It would not surprise her if the girl was not wearing any lingerie since her bosom moved quite a bit when she bowled. Having tossed her ball, the girl walked back while fluffing her shaggy, gray locks.

With the lanes momentarily clear, Kurumu deftly approached her lane. She knew she had it the moment she released the ball. It was hard to explain. She would have the same feeling when she knew she was going to miss, even if it did turn out close. Nodding as her ball took out the remaining three pins, she walked back to her group as Moka started over to the carousel for her turn.

"You make it look easy."

Kurumu shrugged as she sat down next to Tora.

"You make it look hard."

"I've never done this before, Kurumu."

"Neither have I."

Kana chuckled, hanging out by the interactive panel next to Ms. Uchikawa.

"Maybe you have found your calling."

Kurumu sighed.

"Yes. My future career shall be a professional bowler."

"That's a sad career choice."

Kurumu smirked up at Meirowasa Tokori whom was selecting her ball from the carousel. The local girl had come straight over to the party from her workplace, dressed in the standard outfit worn by the waitresses at her café. The faded pink, sleeveless blouse with the white peter pan collar was tucked in a black A-line skirt. The girl had outscored Kurumu in the first game and looked on pace of doing it again.

"Have you ever thought of pushing your bangs back?"

Tokori hefted the green bowling ball in one hand while running her fingers through her shaggy, shoulder length hair. Her peppered strands alternated colors from black to white, or maybe it was from white to black. Frowning, Tokori regarded her with soft caramel eyes.

"My bangs aren't that long."

"I think it would give you a cleaner appearance."

"Do I look dirty?"

"She means your hair looks unkempt, Ms. Meirowasa."

Tokori sighed.

"It's just thick. I have to fight it with a brush every morning."

"You looked fine that morning I stayed over."

"I was up a whole hour before you woke up."

"I'm sorry."

Moka was meekly returning from the runway. It looked like the vampire had misjudged her strength again, as that looked like pieces of pins strewn about at the end of the lane. That was eight strikes in seventeen frames, most of which involved breaking at least half the pins. They were already having issues of not having all the pins being set down by the machine, forcing an employee to come over and replenish their lane's supply of pins.

Ms. Uchikawa sighed, shaking her head. The health instructor had long, dirty gray bangs. The rest of her hair was short, tapering neatly to the nape of her neck. The teacher had pale blue eyes and the typical snaggletooth which Kurumu understood all okami had trouble suppressing in their human forms.

"Please show some restraint Ms. Akashiya."

"I'm really sorry."

Tokori smirked as she headed for the runway.

"If anyone has a future as a professional bowler, it's Ms. Akashiya."

"Can we trade? You can have Ms. Uchikawa."

Kurumu chuckled, shaking her head at the silly blonde whom still lingered by the carousel. It was not like they were teams playing against each other. Even if they were, Moka's superior score was not high enough to carry the dead weight of Kana and Tora. The only person Kurumu had outscored from Asuka's lane was Asuka.

"Be more careful, Ms. Akashiya. You're only causing Ms. Taijin trouble."

Taijin was the tallest girl of their group, including the teachers, which meant the owner came to her for complaints. According to Satsuki, Taijin was bowling a lot better than she had last week. Taijin Yuu, Asuka's best friend whom had accompanied the girl from the Iwate prefecture, was wearing an orange tee with black short sleeves and a faded black pair of capris pants with zipper pockets and superfluous lace ties up the sides. It was Kurumu's first time to see the tall girl wearing something casual.

Kurumu knew of only two girls taller than Taijin. One was Kishi, a senior from the track team. The other was Kakeru Chisa, from class one. The girl had been invited to the party, but had apparently promised to spend the weekend with Goto Tama, her friend from their junior high in the Yamagata prefecture. Kakeru was Nerume's childhood friend and shared her art elective. They rarely ate together since her height made Satsuki uncomfortable.

"You need to stop tapping into that vampire strength, Ms. Akashiya."

Kurumu smirked as Moka blushed, taking her seat beside Kurumu. Kana was slowly making her way from the console to the carousel, whom would be the last to bowl for this frame.

"You haven't even seen her strength. Heaven forbid she was playing without her seal."

"Seal?"

Moka smiled, touching the rosary dangling from the black collar about her throat.

"My rosary keeps my powers in check."

"Though her mother's recent visit seems to suggest they are looking to remove her seal."

"She's not convinced that's a good thing. Mother doesn't understand why I had to be sealed away."

Kurumu perked up at the statement.

"Oh? Did the other Moka say why she was sealed away?"

"There's another Moka?"

Kurumu smiled at Asuka.

"Her true form is a bit different than this Moka. This Moka is working with only six years of memories, starting from the time she was sealed away."

"So you're like two different people?"

"Not really. I think she's always awake, even when she's being quiet."

Kurumu shrugged.

"Just because she's always there doesn't make her the same as you. You clearly have different feelings about things."

Kurumu smirked.

"Like the other Moka doesn't crush on Tsukune at all."

Asuka's eyes widened.

"Are you serious?"

"This is the first I've heard you talk of this. Is that true, Moka?"

"I…"

Moka sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"Yea. She tolerates him because I like him."

"It was kind of obvious, Tora. You know that there's no way Tsukune could win a fight against Moka and get her parents' blessing to marry him."

Tora huffed, rolling her eyes and turning her head away as Tokori came over to wait at the carousel. The monstrel had picked up half the pins on her first ball.

"I still find that whole practice barbaric. I would never marry a man that felt he had to prove himself by beating me into submission."

Moka pouted, fidgeting with her hands.

"It's tradition, Tora. It's always been that way."

"I guess you really are the girlfriend, Kurumu."

Kurumu laughed, shaking her head at Asuka's conclusion.

"You've known this. I wasn't lying."

"Can't Tsukune beat her in combat and claim her?"

"What the fuck are we talking about?"

Kurumu laughed at Tokori's concern.

"It's some vampire custom, Ms. Meirowasa. As for Tsukune beating Moka, that is unlikely, Ms. Shindou. Tsukune is not very skilled at being a vampire. You can ask your Tengu friends about that."

"I heard he made a big fuss about some weights they brought for you to train your wings with. Said he was playing up being human a bit much."

Kurumu smiled.

"Tsukune grew up around humans. He's not from an established vampire family so there's no way he could beat Moka. You can take that to your rumor mill when they start questioning if I'm his girl."

"Could you stop, Kurumu? It's not nice."

Kurumu leaned over against Moka, rubbing the side of her face against the vampire's shoulder.

"I suppose you could simply abandon all your vampire customs and just run away with him."

"Well monstrels don't have to worry about bullshit traditions. I think your relationship with Kurumu should be the bigger deciding factor of whether or not it is worth chasing after some guy."

"Eh, I don't know. I would totally ditch Kurumu if Tsukune was a raiji."

"Thanks Asuka."

Asuka smiled with an apologetic shrug.

"Well… vampires are probably as rare as raiji. I can understand Ms. Akashiya's desire to be with him, regardless of some silly customs."

Tokori picked up her green ball as Kana wandered back over to their side of the carousel. The blonde illustrator must have guttered her ball, since all the pins were still standing.

"I don't really know what I want. If Tsukune wants to be with me, I would be fine with that."

"Pining away for Mr. Aono? I still don't get why you're interested in him, Moka."

"Because they're both vampires."

Kana paused for a moment, confused. Kurumu tensed up, worried that the blonde would forget that Tsukune being human was a secret.

"Oh… right. Well, I'm a dryad. There's no male version of our kind, so I'm not very familiar with the whole same species preference."

"You're a flower girl?"

Kana grinned.

"Yea. My father's just some silly human that got lost during a camping trip while he was in college."

"Isn't your father the one that encouraged you to attend Yokai?"

"Yokai is my mother's high school. We're not natives of Fukui. We just currently live there."

"Oh. For some reason I thought you followed your friend here."

Kana laughed, shaking her head.

"Riku's known about my plans to attend Yokai for years. She came with me, though Ran and Fuyuki came with her. They're all tanuki girls if you're curious."

Kurumu smiled, already aware of Ran's true form. Ran was the first name of Touzoku, the energetic girl from class one. Fuyuki must be Itazura's first name, since that was the only other girl from Fukui.

"Having someone of the same race is kind of important to avoid unpleasantness with Fairy Tale. Monstrel kids like Tokori are completely shut out from spiritual realm jobs funded by Fairy Tale."

Kana shrugged.

"Why would anyone want to work for the shadow government?"

"Not everyone can blend in with human society as well as a flower girl can."

Tokori was coming back, having failed to pick up her spare with a single pin left standing.

"Can you dye your hair black, Tokori?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Just curious."

Tokori shrugged as she made her way over to the plastic benches to sit next to Taijin.

"I've done it but it doesn't stick. Being part undine, dye kind of bleeds out the moment I wash it. It's too expensive to do it regularly."

Kana fetched her ball, heading back to the runway as the teacher stepped down to the carousel.

"You girls are pretty noisy about your true forms."

Kurumu smiled.

"We're all friends, Ms. Uchikawa. Everyone knows your true form as well."

The teacher sighed, shifting balls about till she found one she liked.

"I'm just glad that we're the only group here. I doubt the employees will gab about the true forms of a bunch of high school girls."

"I'm supposed to arrange an article with you so that you will cover for Mr. Umatobi's homeroom during our field trip after midterms."

Asuka perked up.

"You guys are doing a field trip?"

"The newspaper club and film club are. It's for our next paper."

"That's so cool."

"Mr. Morioka made me aware of this. I would have helped without the bribe of newspaper coverage. Only teaching an elective gets boring."

Tora got up and wandered over to the carousel. It looked like Kana had picked up six or seven pins with her second ball. Ms. Uchikawa was heading for the runway, which prompted Kurumu to get up and continue their discussion. Asuka had yet to sit down.

"So how many girls are in your club?"

"We have fourteen girls and three boys."

Kurumu nodded, thinking that was not too many names. As long as they were all gathered in one place, she could easily knock everything out in one session now that she did not have those pesky after school sessions with Ms. Kagome.

Ms. Uchikawa tossed the ball down the lane with ease. It picked up eight of the pins, leaving the last two in the corner. Both teachers were pretty good about picking up spares. She had seen Uchikawa only leave three open frames so far.

"I've never seen your club out on the athletic fields. Where do you practice?"

"We practice in the open field on the other side of the tennis courts."

"Ms. Uchikawa spends some time helping with the track team."

"I help Mizuki when she asks. She likes the pressure of trying to run the whole team by herself."

Kurumu smiled, aware that the teacher had admitted she would occasionally ask others for help. When she had heard from the soccer boys about both teachers being from Tokamachi, she had suspected Ms. Uchikawa would be the first Ms. Kibashiro turned to.

"How long have you known Ms. Kibashiro?"

"I don't know. Sixteen, seventeen years? We both graduated from Yokai together, went to the same college and started work here at the same time six years ago."

"That's a long time."

Kurumu noted Tora had guttered her first ball. The sphinx sighed, returning to the carousel.

"Yea, when I started I had to build the cheerleader squad from scratch. When I was in Yokai, we had the traditional rally group that was mostly guys waving banners and shouting chants of school pride. For some reason it was gone when I started teaching here, so I decided to get a few of the girls interested in the cheerleader practices of the west."

Ms. Uchikawa's ball was coughed up by the carousel. The woman smiled, picking up the ball and promptly returning to the runway.

"I had to work things out with Mrs. Itou to get a proper outfit."

"Why Mrs. Itou?"

Ms. Uchikawa effortlessly picked up the spare. Grinning, she returned to the carousel as Taijin moved over to join them.

"She's the advisor of the sewing club and knows a thing or two about traditional fashion. I figured if I could get her on board, I would have no problems convincing the rest of the faculty to sanction the new cheerleader club."

"Is she that influential?"

"She was a teacher when I was a student. I think she's been teaching at Yokai for over thirty years."

Kurumu frowned, aware that the plump woman had been with Ms. Yoshino and Ms. Rin. She had assumed the woman was about the same age, and Ginei had mentioned that Mrs. Itou was in the process of losing birth weight.

"I thought she was much younger. She just had a baby, right?"

"I believe that's her third. And I wouldn't say a Jorougumo in her early sixties is old. She probably has another sixty years in her before she would have to consider retiring."

"Isn't that old to have a baby?"

"Not really. I could have a kid at that age."

Tora picked up her bowling ball and favored them with a smile.

"My mother was in her forties when she had me. It doesn't surprise me that other monster races would have no difficulty having children at older ages. We do live longer than humans."

"How do you want to do the article? Do you want me to interview them over the course of the week and have pictures taken over the weekend?"

Ms. Uchikawa grinned, shaking her head.

"You girls have finals next week. It would be better to do everything after that's done."

"Maybe Friday? We finish testing by lunch so we would have more time to get everything done."

"That should work. Maybe a meeting around five to let any other athletic clubs finish using the fields so that we can be alone. I'll check with the gym coaches to make sure we won't be bothered."

"Bothered?"

"Some of the boy groups get a little rowdy seeing us practice. It's why we're over by the tennis courts where they have to really go out of their way to see us."

Kurumu grinned, aware that Burumoto had mentioned seeing Tomisaki practice with the cheer squad.

"It must be those cute uniforms you have the girls wear."

Ms. Uchikawa laughed, gesturing to the carousel.

"It's your turn."

Kurumu smiled, realizing Tora was returning from her second attempt. She had knocked down eight pins, which was not that bad.

"So… 5 on Friday. You'll let me know if that changes."

"Of course."

Kurumu smiled. It looked like she had everything under control. Now if only she could bowl one strike today it would make this little outing complete.