I do not own Rosario Vampire or any of the characters.

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Damon sat down at his desk and his eye began to twitch. An extra year. He was expected to stay in the academy for an extra year. On one side of the argument, fuck no. While on the other side of the argument, he was now in Tsukune's class, along with Moka, Kurumu, Mizore, and Yukari. Tsukune was two seats over from him, with the four girls who had feelings for him in the seats to his right, left, front, and back. And they were currently arguing over who would be with him.

"Great," Damon grumbled. "First I get told I'm being extended, and now I'm stuck with you idiots."

"Don't be like that," Kurumu smirked. "You know you're happy to see us all."

Damon growled threateningly, flames flickering out between his pointed teeth as his cheeks began to turn to scales, his nails growing into claws. "You don't know the first thing about what I want!"

He grit his teeth, forcing himself under control before standing, shoving the desk aside and sending it exploding into the wall in several people before he stormed out of the room, heading for the roof. He stopped on the roof, leaning against the railing, as he heard the others talking.

"What's his problem?" Tsukune asked.

"I wonder if he's okay," Yukari said.

"I hope he's not sick," Moka said.

"Maybe the rumors were true after all," Kurumu said quietly.

Damon began to cough, bending forward slightly and gripping the railing tightly, face scrunching up in effort as he forced himself to cough the mucus out of his lungs. Finally, he turned, stepping away from the mucus on the ground and sat down, regaining his breath from the coughing fit.

"So, according to the rumor," Kurumu was saying, "Damon took his father's throne during the break. Apparently, he fought the whole royal family that tried to usurp the throne after his parents died and took over. He's the Fire Devil King, now."

"Whoa!" Tsukune said. "Fighting a whole family doesn't sound easy. He must be really strong to win."

"We already knew that," Kurumu said. "But still. Apparently it wasn't just some random family that took over. I heard a rumor that...it was the only Fire Devil that he'd consider a friend."

"Did he kill him?" Moka asked.

"Yeah," Kurumu responded. "Apparently, his other friend was also a general during the war, like Damon was-"

"Damon was a general during the war?" Mizore asked. "How many battles did he fight in?"

"Apparently, almost all of them," Kurumu said.

"I should have known," Mizore growled.

"Hold on," Kurumu said. "It's not what you're thinking. The rumor says that his friend wanted to restart the war. The only reason Damon killed him and took over, was because he wanted to keep the war from starting all over again. He wanted to protect the peace."

Damon began to cough again, turning his head to the side so that he didn't get it on his uniform. After a few moments of coughing, he stopped, sighing and tilting his head back. "Why can't they see? Haven't I done enough? I've payed my price. Haven't I given enough for this?"

"Not yet," a voice said, Damon looking over and seeing Tsurara standing there. "You're not going back on your word, are you?"

"Of course not," Damon said. "But..."

"You've payed a heavy price to both create and protect the peace between our races," Tsurara said. "But you knew the price. You chose to pay it. And you chose to accept the terms of that peace, even knowing what it would mean. If you wish to go back on your word, that's alright. I won't blame you. But it will mean that this peace you've given so much to maintain will end."

"That's not fair!" Damon snapped, then began to cough again, shorter this time.

"No it's not," Tsurara admitted. "But then, was the war fair? Was the reason the war started fair? Were your actions during the war fair? You, who killed more of our people than any other Fire Devil, including your parents?"

Damon grit his teeth. "No. None of that was fair."

"Then what will you do?" Tsurara asked. "Will you keep your oath?"

"I..."

The door opened suddenly and Damon glanced over, seeing Mizore walk out onto the roof, followed by Tsukune, then the others. He looked to where Tsurara had been again, but she was gone. He sighed, pushing himself up and grunting, clearing his throat, before coughing once, then spitting the mucus onto the roof.

"Are you alright?" Tsukune asked. "You seemed to be in a bad mood."

"I'm just annoyed to be cold again after being warm for six months," Damon said, walking past them. "Let's go. Me missing class is one thing, but you five missing class is a problem."

He walked down to class, and sat as quietly through class as he could, making noise only when he coughed every so often, able to hold it down to about once or twice an hour. Finally, the day ended and he headed to his dorm room, climbing into the fire shower and beginning to cough as the flames slowly warmed him. He coughed harder and harder by the second for several minutes before finally lowering his arm and coughing blood onto the floor before the coughing subsided. He leaned back against the heated metal of the shower wall, sliding to the ground and crossing his forearms against his legs resting his forehead against them.

"I didn't want this," Damon murmured. "I didn't choose this. Haven't I sacrificed enough?"

Tears rolled down his cheeks, falling to his thighs before evaporating in the flames. He grit his teeth. He hated crying. He was a Fire Devil. He wasn't supposed to cry. He was better than that. He wasn't supposed to be afraid. He wasn't supposed to feel pain. He didn't have emotions. He was above them. He wasn't like the trash he was surrounded by. But then, wasn't he? After all, it hadn't just been pure altruism that had guided him to stop the war, had it?

After several long minutes of allowing his tears to fall, he stood, wiping his face before shutting the flames off, getting dressed and pulling on an allergy mask before burrowing into his bed, coughing into the mask a couple of times before curling into a ball and forcing himself to sleep.

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