I do not own Rosario Vampire or any of the characters.
School Life
"How are you feeling today?" Ruby asked, sitting on the bed beside him.
"Like death," Damon grumbled, coughing into his elbow. "Tell me you've found something."
"I'm sorry," Ruby said. "Nothing. I've looked everywhere, but I can't find anything to help you."
"I see," Damon sighed. "Well, thank you for trying. And I'd appreciate it if you'd keep quiet about it."
"Why are you here?" Ruby asked. "If this is the result, why do you keep doing this to yourself?"
"I have to," Damon said. "The only other option is war."
"But...I..."
Damon sighed, pulling Ruby into a hug. "I wish I could return your feelings. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but it does. I have to see this through."
"Okay," Ruby sighed. "I'll keep looking. And I won't tell anyone. I promise I'll find a solution."
Damon nodded, smiling. "Thank you."
Ruby sighed and stood, walking out of the room. Damon waited until she was gone before beginning to cough, holding a paper towel to his face to catch the blood.
"I wanted to join the karate club, but they said no kids and made me feel stupid," Cocoa said, having been explaining why she was an even younger child than when they had met, apparently a side effect of a failed body-aging medicine Yukari had made and tricked her into trying.
"Jeez," Damon sighed. "You look so pathetic right now that I can't even take you seriously." He set his hand on her head and she began to grow, aging back to about where she was supposed to be. "There. Now stop crying and whining. If you want to learn martial arts, I'll teach you. It'll be good to have someone that can actually stand up to me for a little bit to spar against."
"Really!?" Cocoa asked excitedly.
"Yes, really," Damon said. "Just don't let it go to your head. You're still vermin."
"You're so nice," Ruby teased, she and Mizore having both joined the Newspaper club, Ruby as an assistant advisor.
"Don't patronize me," Damon grumbled.
The others all laughed and Damon sighed, then grit his teeth as his breath hitched. He swallowed hard, then grunted that he was going to the bathroom, making it to the bathroom and making sure it was empty before his coughing fit began.
Damon sighed heavily as he spotted Kurumu, Mizore, and Cocoa crouching behind a vending machine. There was a serial prankster who'd been ripping up girls' clothes and recently had scratched a couple of them. Cocoa had seen Gin in his werewolf form over one, so the three of them were following Gin to find proof. Damon didn't care one way or the other. So long as it didn't start to annoy Damon. He glanced over at the three again just as Gin stepped up behind Mizore and Kurumu. They were in the middle of talking about bearing grudges against him, as well as some of the crap he'd tried to pull with them. However, he interrupted them by grabbing Kurumu by one breast and reaching his hand down between Mizore's legs, beginning to grope them, only to suddenly find himself pinned to the vending machine, Damon holding him up with his left hand, his right hand's claws hovering less than an inch from the crotch of Gin's pants.
"Think you're fast enough to get out of this, werewolf?" Damon snarled, Gin's eyes widening. "I was just going to let you keep doing whatever in order to avoid any unnecessary headaches, but you've officially given me one despite my best efforts."
"I'm...sorry!" Gin choked out.
"You should be!" Damon snarled. "However, you owe more than me an apology."
"I'm...sorry...ladies!" Gin choked out, face starting to turn a dark red.
"You're done molesting women," Damon growled. "I may not give two shits about the vermin in this school, and I may not give a shit about you, but even I won't let you go around borderline raping women for any longer. Do it again and I castrate you. And not just your balls. I'll take the whole package off."
He turned, slamming Gin down into the ground. Gin coughed, then groaned, pushing himself up.
"Anything else to say before you slink off with your tail between your legs?" Damon asked.
"Yeah," Gin said. "I Gave you advice last night, right Cocoa? I said to stay out of it for your own good. If you go to the place from last night again tonight, alone, I'll explain everything."
Then, he turned, walking away quickly as Damon glared at his back.
"Thank you," Kurumu said.
"That had nothing to do with yo," Damon said flatly.
"Still, you stepped in and stopped him," Mizore said. "We're grateful."
Damon was silent for a moment before grimacing and coughing a couple times. "Whatever." He turned, heading back to his room and getting into his fire shower to warm up.
Damon tossed the newspaper aside. A girl who had a crush on Gin was targeting his exes. They'd left her name out of the newspaper, and had basically covered up the entire incident. But Gin had played the villain both to draw her out, and to cover for her the entire time. And true to the results of Damon's threat, Gin had apparently not molested anyone since the incident.
Damon leaned back against the wall of the shower, coughing hard. Once he managed to stop, he tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He was so cold. All the time. It was getting worse. He sighed, a stream of flames shooting out of his mouth into the metal roof of his shower, though it did nothing to warm him. Just then, there was a knock on the door. He shut the flames off, quickly pulling on a pair of underwear and pants, then walked tot he door, opening it. Mizore blinked, lowering her hand and staring at the four jagged scars on the right side of his abdomen, left by her claws. Her fingers fell to rest on them as her eyes watered slightly.
"I...I'm so sorry," she said.
"I know," Damon said. "It's alright. That was a long time ago. What's up? Did you need something?"
Mizore blinked before nodding. "My family wants to hold a ceremony for my seventeenth birthday. My mother said to invite my friends. Do you want to go?"
Damon watched her for a moment, a grin slowly growing over his face. "Friends, huh?"
Mizore's eyes widened before she rested her hands on her hips, glaring. "Don't get the wrong idea. I just didn't want you getting offended that you were the only one we didn't invite."
Damon chuckled. "I'll be there. As long as your family doesn't mind."
"Are...are yo sure?" Mizore asked. "It's...going to be really cold there."
Damon let out a breath before nodding. "I'm sure. It's your birthday. I'd never be able to call you my friend if I missed it just because it's a little cold."
Mizore smiled and nodded. "Alright. We leave from the bus station tomorrow."
"See you then," Damon smiled.
Mizore nodded and stepped forward, hugging him. "I really appreciate it. I'll see if Ruby or Yukari can think of a way to try and keep you warm while you're there."
"Thanks," Damon smiled.
Mizore nodded and left and Damon closed his door before walking into the room and picking up the paper towels, tearing some off to cover his mouth before beginning to cough. The coughing fit lasted for several minutes, by which time he had collapsed to the floor. Finally, it subsided and he rested on the floor on his side, slowly regaining his breath as he stared at the bloody paper towel. He pushed himself up, burning the paper towel before pulling his obsidian watch on, barely noticing a difference anymore. he sat on his bed, his breath wheezing in and out of his mouth as he looked around, the room going back and forth between in focus and blurry, as everything had been for the last handful of days. Why had he agreed? Why was he so willing to suffer for something so stupid? Why did he volunteer to suffer in a cold hell just to see if she'd smile?
"Dammit," Damon sighed. "Some devil I am. You'd probably be ashamed of me, huh? Mom? Dad? I really screwed myself with that peace deal, didn't I? Maybe I...If I...kill all of them...all the devils...do you think...they'd let me out of the deal?"
He stared down at the floor for several long minutes before sighing and curling up in his bed, drifting off to sleep quickly.
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