Early in the morning, I'm walking down the stairway in the boys' dorm when I bump into Tsukune, who seems to be more absent minded than usual, nearly running into me as we both try to head down the narrow stairway at the same time. "Well good morning to you too I guess, Tsukune.", I lightheartedly remark as he turns my way with a clouded gaze.
"R-Reiji? Sorry, I'm just half asleep still...", he sheepishly replies as he lazily rubs his eyes with one hand as he barely manages to hold onto his school bag with the other.
It seems like all his training is really wearing him down, but at least he's getting some results. He's definitely improved a lot since he first started, his reaction time and overall battle prowess is much better than most of the half-beats around this school, but it seems like he's still reluctant to use all that power Moka gave him with her blood... With a firm slap to his back, I manage to shock him enough to bring him out of his sluggish state as his hunchback straightens out into a stiff spear as I chuckle, "You'd better look alive, Tsukune. You never know when Kurumu or Yukari might be plotting something for you around the next corner."
"Don't even joke about that! After what happened yesterday I really just want to have a normal day of school...", he frantically gasps as he seems to shutter at the memory of what happened yesterday.
Then, as we walk down the stairway together, I continue to poke fun at him as I suggest, "Aw come on, it wouldn't be that bad. You could handle it. Besides, today should be your resting day for training, so you shouldn't have to worry about that other Moka caving your skull in today."
"You can say that again, almost every time we trained together it felt like I was always one wrong move away from being completely obliterated.", Tsukune woefully remarks as we finally make our way out of the dorms and start making our way to the main building.
Obliterated? He's really underestimating how durable his body is now. After all the countless beating she's put him through, he'd at least be able to go toe-to-toe with most S ranks monsters. Before we can continue on with our conversation however, we're interrupted by a familiar voice calling out, "Tsukune!" And unsurprisingly, we turn to see Moka rushing towards us as she desperately tries to wave us down like a taxi.
"Good morning Moka.", the exhausted boy replies as he weakly waves back to her as she finally closes the distance between us.
"Good morning Tsukune. Good morning Reiji.", the pink haired vampire replies with a gleeful smile as she holds her school bag behind her back before asking, "Hey Tsukune, can you help me with something?" This seems to confuse the boy a bit before she gently sets her bag down and places the tips of her fingers on her rosary as she asks, "Can you...remove my rosary for me?"
"You want him to do what now? Did you hit your head or something?", I grumble back at her ridiculous request, gently tilting her head one way and another to check for any hidden bumps.
"N-No! I made a promise to my other half, for today she'll have full use of our body until sunset.", she frantically retorts as she shakes her head.
Tsukune seems to take a step back as he lets out a panicked sequel, "What!? Where did you come up with something like that?!"
"Tsukune, please...", Moka faintly begs as she looks up into his eyes with a desperate stare, almost like a puppy begging for a treat.
Unsurprisingly enough, Tsukune caves in as he reaches out to her and grasps her rosary like a vise. "Are you sure about this?", he sternly asks as he looks down at the rosary then back to the young vampire.
After giving him a quick nod, Moka kindly replies, "Yes, I'm certain. So please, do it, Tsukune..." And with a quick flick of his wrist, Tsukune tears away the seal as I hear Moka mutter under her breath, "There you go, Ura." Much to my surprise however, Moka isn't engulfed in an overly dramatic pillar of monster energy like she usually is when the seal is released, instead her hair slowly fades to her inner form's pure silver and when she opens her eyes they've changed to that of her true vampire self.
As the silver haired vampire seems to take in her environment, glancing from side to side with a sharp, almost instinctual glare, I point down at her school bag and suggest, "Well, grab your bag Moka. You don't want to be late for your 'first' day of school, would you?"
She reluctantly follows my suggestion, grabbing the bag with a furious grip before walking past us as she flip her hair over her shoulder and says, "Very well, I'll lead the way then."
Before she can leave us in the dust, Tsukune and I follow alongside the sassy vampire to the main building.
When we reach the main building's front courtyard, we're greeted by a barrage of strange and confused glances from countless students as they see Moka's true form for what I can only guess is the first time for most. As we continue through the courtyard and the hallways, heading to our first class of the day, Moka continues to recieve odd glances from all of the other students as I chuckle, "Looks like you've got everyone's attention Moka. This'll definitely make the day a bit more interesting. Maybe they want to size you up a bit, alot of them aren't exactly bright so they'll probably want to start something."
"I'm not fighting anybody today.", Moka sternly fires back with her nose stuck up high in the air.
"No fighting? You? Color me surprised.", I chuckle back at her, earning myself one of her classic glares.
As she wails me in the gut with the blunt end of her school bag, she furiously growls back, "I promised the other me that I wouldn't cause any trouble today, so no fighting! Today will be nothing more than a usual day of school, besides, they gauck and aw at the other me any other time so there's really no difference."
Finally, we make our way to our first class and as Moka furiously slides open the door, all eyes inside fall upon her. Kurumu and Mizore are both inside, being the most surprised out of all the students as they see the inner Moka make her way into the room with Tsukune and myself right behind her. "W-what the hell!? Am I seeing things, or is Moka-", Kurumu frantically gasps as Moka calmly walks past the succubus, and takes her seat as I explain, "No, you're not seeing things. This Moka is going to be having classes with us all day today."
"Are you sure that's a good idea? You usually only stay out for only a few moments, who knows what could happen to the other Moka if you stay out for that long...", Mizore worriedly comments as she turns to meet Moka's cold glare with a somewhat warm gaze.
Scoffing at her worry, Moka turns her attention to the books in her bag as she quietly explains, "The other me said since it was just for one day it should be fine. We share the same body, so that's nothing to worry about, however..."
"You're not sure how well your seal will hold up.", I point out as Tsukune and I both take our seats before Moka reluctantly nods, confirming what exactly was bothing her.
Before the seriousness of the situation could completely fill the room, a hoard of horny upperclassmen bust down the door to the classroom, gasping in complete aw and lust at this newer version of the already popular girl.
"Moka, what the hell is this!? Look at all these people, they're seeing your true form! Are you sure that's alright?", Kurumu frantically questions the vampire as she points at the crowd of fanboys and fangirls gawking at her to no avail.
As Moka rolls her eyes at her friend's worried expression, she continues to organize her desk as she calmly explains, "There's nothing to worry about. It's not like I've exactly been trying to hide this form, besides, I really don't care what happens after today. The other me kept urging me to try a normal life just once and the promise we made will only last until sundown, so I'll be sure to keep that promise no matter what."
"I don't know, this just rubs me the wrong way, you know?", Kurumu worriedly comments as she returns to her seat with her arms cross under her over sized chest.
Trying to wave away her worries, Tsukune calmly suggests, "Calm down Kurumu, we rarely get to spend time with this Moka, so why don't we do our best just to enjoy this time while it lasts?"
"Hmph, I don't plan to get all buddy buddy with any of you. I've never needed anyone to help me before and that's not changing anytime soon. I can do just fine all on my own.", Moka sternly retorts as she finishes straightening up her desk to near perfection before accidentally knocking a pen off onto the floor before rolling under my desk.
As I quickly snag the pen out from under my desk, I let out a light chuckle before noting, "Didn't a certain someone almost get their ass handed to them by not just Ruby, but also Kuyo way back when? That doesn't exactly sound like someone who's always been able to do everything on their own." This earns me yet another burning glare from the vampire as I continue to poke fun at her for my own amusement. I then hold the pen out for her to take back before she swiftly snatches from my hands and returns to her own devices.
"Guys, please don't fight, normal friends don't fight. Reiji, could you lay off on the sarcasm a bit please?", Tsukune desperately asks, putting his hands together as he looks to me with a pleading smile.
I let out a quick gasp as I reel back in complete shock and disgust, placing a hand on my chest as I gasp, "Me, not being sarcastic!? Why don't you ask the sun to stop shining or for the Underworld to freeze over? I'll stop poking fun at her, but to try and remove my sarcasm...that's just a crime in and of itself!"
"I guess that's the best I'm getting, huh? Well...at least it's something.", Tsukune mutters to himself with a long, drawn out sigh as he faces the front of the room in his seat.
Laying her head down on her desk, Mizore glances over at the somewhat out of place Moka as she comments, "I guess this isn't all too bad. We really never get to see this Moka too often outside of combat, so I guess we can see her in an all new light."
As she hears this, a devilish smile comes across Kurumu's face as she boastfully adds, "That's right, you hear that Moka!? I'll finally get to fully figure out everything about you, that includes everything I'm soooo much better than you at!", before letting out a long, snarky laugh. Though Kurumu seems more than confident, Moka is barely phased by her prideful nature as goes about her normal business. Now let's just hope that everything goes as planned.
Throughout our morning classes, everything seems to go smoothly without anything too serious happening. Much to my surprise, this Moka is just as talented as if not better than the original Moka at everything she did. During first period she fluently reads poetry to the class, catching everyone's attention with her surprisingly warm voice countering her cold exterior. Then, during PE she easily dominates everyone during Volleyball as she manages to spike the ball with all her might, not allowing anyone a chance to counter her overwhelming strength every time the ball comes her way. Third and fourth periods both come and go without a hitch before we all finally head to lunch. As she makes her way over to our usual table, everyone already being seated as she takes her seat at the end of the table next to Tsukune and across from me.
"It looks like I was able to make it through the morning without any problems.", Moka somewhat pleasantly comments to herself before taking a spoon full of curry into her mouth.
"I wouldn't exactly say without any problems, but I will say that as far as actual fights go you've been surprisingly civil today.", I retort as I drop a sugar cube into my tea and start to stir.
This seems to set her off a bit as she lashes out, growling back, "What? You think I'm just some non-stop fighting machine?"
"No...", I reply with a slight chuckle before taking a sip from my tea, shuttering a bit at the sweetness of the sugar I added before continuing on, saying, "..it's just that it's pretty easy to tick you off and some of these idiots around here, I wouldn't be surprised if one managed to piss you off to the point of crushing them in one kick."
"Besides, if you call all the people stalking you and the...um... enthusiasm you showed during PE nothing, does that mean you haven't gotten serious yet..?", Tsukune worriedly questions her with a hint of confusion.
She then lays down her spoon and calmly explains, "This isn't about being serious at all. Whether I'm being serous or not, I'm just trying to enjoy myself as much as possible. Other than that, all I want to do is keep from making a mess for the other me to have to clean up after my time is up."
"I think I get it, you don't want to be a burden for the other you and make trouble she can't handle. When you think about it, that very selfless of you, Moka.", Tsukune kindly comments as he starts to eat away at his lunch, causing the vampire's cheeks to start to burn a bright red from embarrassment.
"D-don't be ridiculous! In the end I'm only doing this for myself.", she quickly retorts before going back to her food.
This seems to catch Yukari's attention, causing the younger witch to let out a warm sigh as she mutters to herself, "The way she tries to hide it is just another adult charm~"
"So far she's been in pretty easy classes, basic education is simple enough for anyone to get down if given enough time and Moka's main traits include her overwhelming power and strength, but this next class will probably be the hardest class for her so far.", Mizore suggests as she turns to Moka with a curious gaze.
"The next class? It can't be that bad, right?", Moka asks with a smug expression before Kurumu chuckles, "Oh, it's the gender based class split up, so the boys will go to the gym and have playing dodge ball, but we get...Home Economics!"
"Home Economics, so cooking? That doesn't sound too bad, right Moka?", Tsukune innocently notes before turning to Moka, who seems to be sweating bullets at the idea.
I can't help but burst out laughing at the thought of Moka in a kitchen apron as I point at her and frantically gasp out through my unending laughter, "While we're wailing each other with dodge balls, they'll be trying to teach Moka how to boil water! This is great!"
"I can boil water you idiot! I know plenty about cooking, much more than you do!", she violently shouts back at me as she chucks a knife right at my face from her tray.
As I manage to dodge the knife, ducking under the projectile, I manage to calm my laughter before backpedaling and saying, "Joking, I was joking! Calm down! There's no need to get so violent, nobody could be that bad at cooking, right?"
With her temper starting to simmer down a bit, the class bell rings and we head our separate ways; the girls heading towards the Home Economics room for their cooking class while Tsukune and I head to the gym.
Once we arrive at the gym, we're met by Gin and Haiji who seem to be finishing up the setup for the whole game. "Oh, there you two are. You're both on our team, so better be bringing your A game! These guys might be first years, but that's all the more reason for us to put them in the dirt.", Gin calls out as we get closer and he finishes lining up a line of tape on the ground. On further inspection, it looks like the gym's been sectioned off with dark black tape into four different sections lined with dodge balls, so four different teams?
"Okay, but do we have to get changed first?", Tsukune asks as he looks around for a changing room.
Haiji frantically shakes his head as he replies, "Nah, you probably won't even work up that much of a sweat. All you'll really be doing is blasting people with these balls." He then holds up one of the dodge balls, a large round ball made of rubber, which he then slams into his open palm to make a loud plastic bop. "Usually I'm not into big round things, but when it comes to dodge ball, these big boys are the best.", he comments as he sets the ball back down onto the tape.
"There is one tiny little thing we should probably mention before we get started... With all four of us on the same team and Haiji and I basically being the champions of dodge ball, our team is kindof stacked so we're letting the other teams have a few more members per team. Other than that, we're running on basic rules: get hit by a ball and you don't catch it before it hits the ground then you're out and if someone catches the ball you threw at them then you're out.", Gin somewhat cheerfully comments, causing Tsukune to tense up.
Right after he explains this, the other three teams come pouring in, filling each of the other sections with small armies of students with none of them coming over to our side. "Gin, what the hell!?", Tsukune exclaims in disbelief at the sight of the overwhelming numbers we'll have to overcome. The other students seem to all be wearing matching shirts for their teams: red, green, and blue, with roughly thirty to forty students per team.
"What? Feeling anxious already?", Gin chuckles as he lifts up the whistle hanging around his neck.
"Anxious isn't the half of it! There's way too many people on their teams!", Tsukune frantically cries out, causing the young members of the other three teams to start chuckling at his reaction.
Haiji gives him a hearty slap to the back, jolting him forward as he chuckles out, "Don't worry, you'll do fine. None of these chumps reach even A class status so we should be able to dodge their attacks with enough time to spare. Just believe in yourself more."
"Four of us against three small armies? I like these odds!", I growl out as I crack my knuckles with a furious intent.
"Alrighty! Here we go!", Gin exclaims before blowing his whistle and the game begins.
Immediately I notice that Haiji isn't making an attempt to get the balls before any of the other teams while Gin rushes in, snagging a half a dozen balls in his arms before returning back over to the three of us. He then hands Tsukune and I each one ball while giving two to Haiji and leaving two for himself.
"Alright boys, light 'em up!", Gin roars as we unleash a small wave of hellfire on the enemy teams, Gin and Haiji firing their shots into the red team, eliminating three people at a time with each ball as they bounce from one person to another like a game of pinball. I unload my shot into the blue team, earning their attention as my ball bounces off of a couple of guys before they try to take me out with a volley of dodge balls, which I catch and eliminate them. Tsukune however tosses his ball at the green team, earning himself a point as he eliminates only one person. The best part is that after they lost their player they come after him with a vengence, unleashing ball after ball his way, which he manages to dodge with amazing ease.
"Good job Tsukune! That reminds me of how I used to play when I was younger!", Haiji charismatically exclaims at the sight of Tsukune's nimble movements.
Gin doesn't seem too impressed however, only chuckling at the lolicon's joy before growling out, "Try to focus down one team at a time. It'll make everything a whole lot easier."
As he says this, the red team seems to target him, tossing a total of twenty balls at him in an attempt to overwhelm the perverted hound with raw numbers. This ultimately fails as he manages to catch each and every one of them as he tosses each of them over to Haiji, Tsukune and myself as he orders, "There goes red team, now unload on green team boys!"
Without a second of hesitation, we all unload onto the green team, pealting them with enough balls to eliminate their whole team, leaving only the blue team remaining.
"You getting rusty Haiji!? You only got fifteen of those little brats!", Gin chuckles as he tosses another ball to his battle buddy.
"No, those were some of my better throws. They just have more power behind all their shots.", the buff lolicon retorts as he tightens his grasp on the ball like a vise before chucking the ball at the blue team with all his might, knocking out ten people all at once with a quick series of bounces from person to person before boldly exclaiming, "STRIKE!"
Gin turns to the large timer, which is usually used for games of basket ball and volley ball, as it nears its end before cheerfully exclaiming, "Looks like it's almost time for the fun part! Who's ready to go all out in their monster forms!?"
"Uhh, I don't think they'll last that long...", Haiji mutters as he taps on Gin's shoulder. Gin then turns in complete surprise as he sees me completely pelting the remaining members of the blue team with everything I have as Tsukune continues to arm me with fresh balls to hit them with.
"And that's game over. Looks like we win. Good team work, Tsukune!", I announce as I drop the last of my rubber balls of death onto the ground and start heading toward the two upper class idiots on my team.
"Alright, that went fast, wanna start another round? This time just between the four of us? Or maybe a two on two?", Gin asks with a confident smirk.
Shaking my head no, I turn him down as I explain, "I want to check out the train wreck upstairs. If I had to guess, Moka's probably trying to cook her food by kicking it or something. She seemed pretty nervous about it all, so it might be fun to watch."
"Skippin out on class to watch girls huh, I guess I actually rubbed off on you a bit?", Gin chuckles to himself as he rubs the back of his head with a wicked grin across his face.
As I reach the door, hearing him say that makes me want to turn around and knock his teeth down his throat, but something causes me to freeze in place. It's faint, but along with the faint sound of raindrops colliding with the nearby windows, I smell something..something that I know far too well...smoke.
Well, it's not exactly a surprise, Moka probably isn't an expert at cooking, but to think she'd manage to burn something with everyone's help, how pathetic. Whatever, might as well just go up there and find out what's going on, might even swipe a few treats for my trouble. As I head down the hall and climb the stairs to the second floor, the smell of smoke in the air continues to thicken before I hear a stern voice growl out, "Hurry up and get that fire out! We don't have time to waste, two girls are still in there! We need to get them out now!"
"We're trying, but the flames just aren't goin' out! It's too hot for even us Golems to get through! We have t-", another, more frantic masculine voice cries out before he's cut off by the sound of falling metal crashing to the ground.
"What the hell is going on, what did Moka d-", I begin to shout as I rush up the last set of stairs to the third floor before seeing a whole crew of six student fire fighters, all of whom are dressed in fireman's uniforms and armed with fire extinguishers. When I look for the source of that loud crash I find that one of the firefighters is pinned by a pile of rubble that seems to have fallen from the crumbling ceiling in the burning room. It looks like they also got a few people out, who are laying on stretchers on the floor, but Mizore, Kurumu and Moka aren't among them.
"I can't get out!", the pinned student cries out as he tries to squirm his way out from under the debree. But when his fellow firefighters try to save him, the heat is too much for them to bare and they jump back in surprise.
The tallest firefighter out of them slams their fist into the wall in frustration before growling out, "God damn it!" They then turn to one of the other members and as they point at them, they shout, "Go get a hose! We need water to put this fire out!"
"You got it Boss! I'll be right back in five minutes, ten minutes tops!", he frantically replies before rushing past me to head down the stairs.
As I rush over to their boss to help, they hold me back, firmly grasping the back of my shirt as they growl, "Holdup kid! Where do you think you're going!? You're gonna get hurt if you try to go in there!"
With a quick slap to their arm, I break free from their grasp before grabbing a hold of the pinned firefighter and pulling them out to his freedom. Other than a few light burns to my forearms and on my cheek.
"W-what the hell is wrong with this guy!? Is he a Lava Golem or something!? Maybe a flame imp!?", another voice cries out as I toss the no longer pinned student off to the side for someone else to deal with.
There's too much rubble to get through the doorway, and I can't just leave these idiots to deal with this mess! Mizore might be in there! Before I can stop myself, I release the first seal and unleash a powerful punch that knocks the debree away, clearing a path for me to get in.
"H-hey! What the hell are you-", their boss' voice cracks, sounding a bit feminine as they reach out to stop me again. "You've done enough! Stop, you'll be burnt alive in there without any protection!", they cry out before I rush into the room.
With my healing factor in my first release, I should be able to deal get the last two out of here before it gets too hazy. When I try to look around though, I'm mostly blinded by smoke, completely unable to see even a foot past my face. My sight be useless here, but I can use my other senses to make my way through this. With this thick smoke, it's hard to tell what's where, but as I make my way around I feel a cold spot! I place my hand on the nearby sink and I'm surprised to feel it being ice cold. "Mizore!? Is that you!?", I call out to her before a cold hand reaches out and grabs my arm, holding it tight with a firm grip. When I feel the ring on her finger, I know it can't be anyone else and hoist her onto my shoulder before heading back towards the entrance.
"Reiji...Where's Kurumu? Did she...", Mizore weakly begins to ask as we make our way to the exit, to which I calmly reply, "I don't know...I didn't see her out there, but I'll be sure to find her. Just rest now, I have you."
As we finally make our way out of the burning room, I pass Mizore off to the nearest firefighter before rushing back in for another chance to find that idiot Kurumu. Luck enough for me she makes it much easier as she starts to ramble to herself, muttering from across the room, "This is bullshit..! I don't want to die here...not in a place like thise! I want to go out with Tsukune...and get married...have a family..! I'm not gonna die, I refuse! I'm not gonna die until I get my Tsukune!"
Through all her rambling I manage to find her through the smoke before she forces herself off of the table she was laying on and runs right into me, nearly knocking herself over in the process. Before she can fall down though, I grab her arm and hoist her over my shoulder, causing her to the exit as she gleefully squeals out, "Tsukune, I knew you'd save me! Tsu-ku-ne~~~" As she so lovingly tries to kiss my forehead, she unrelentingly cries out with all her heart, "I love you! I love you! I! Love! YOU~!"
"Shut up you damn idiot! Or I'll just leave you in here to die!", I furiously shout back at her, causing her to pause in a completely silent embarrassment.
Before we could get out to freedom however, she starts frantically flailing her arms and legs, hitting me over and over again as she desperately cries out, "No, let me die, let me die! Why aren't you my Tsukune, whyyyyyyyy!?"
As she does her best to try to escape back into the flames, we finally make it out to safety where a firefighter quickly takes the flailing child off of my shoulder as she continues to cry in a daze before I revert back to my human form.
"Mizore? Mizore!", I call out as I frantically look around for her.
Before I can find her, I hear her call out, "Reiji, over here.", and when I look towards the stairs I see that she's already patched herself up with a few bandage wraps and is helping treat the unconscious students laying about, tending to their wounds with what appears to be a medical kit from one of the firefighters.
"What are you- You should be resting! You're still hurt!", I growl at her as I try to stop her, grabbing her hands and firmly holding them in my own.
This doesn't seem to get through to her as she even starts to tend to the minor burns left on my hands, cooling them with a gentle breath that forms into an frosty ice bandage. "I'll be fine...But these guys all need some help. There's nothing fatal, but they're all in serious pain. I just want to help them...I want to help you.", she warmly explains as she defeats my grip as she rubs my now cold hands against her warm cheek, pulling me even closer to her.
"F-fine, just try not to overexert yourself...okay?", I frantically reply, putting a small smile on her face before we let go of each other's hands and she returns to her work right as more firefighters arrive to finally put out the blazing room with a long hose.
The boss swiftly takes a hold of the hose and unleashes what feels like a small ocean's worth of water as she shouts out, "Alright! Now let's finish the job and go back to our club room!"
"So...what exactly happened?", I quietly ask her as she tends to the burns on another girl's arm.
After letting out a light chuckle, without even turning to me, Mizore coldly replies, "Moka."
"Well yeah, I could've guessed that on my own, but what exactly did she do? Did she actually burn water? I swear if she actually did that...!", I continue to question, worrying a bit as it seems like I might have jinxed Moka's day with what I said earlier.
As she finishes fixing the bandage wrap on the injured girl's arm, she turns to me with a disappointed gaze as she explains, "Actually, we were trying to make pumpkin pie, it all happened so suddenly and before I knew it, the whole place was ablaze."
"Well that sucks.", I reply with a long sigh, "I bet it was pretty good too."
With a blush coming across her face, she turns away as she retorts, "It wasn't anything special, really...but I guess you won't get to try it since everything we made went up in flames just now... I really would've liked to share some of it with you too."
"Don't worry about it, we'll make some pie together some other time. All that matters is that you and everyone else is safe.", I cheerfully suggest, earning a wide smile from her before she wraps me in a warm hug, to which I do the same.
Before we can continue, we both hear a frantic voice from the stairway, shouting, "MOKA!" When we look, we see Tsukune rushing up the stairs to see what's going on. "I heard there was a fire in the Home Economics room! What happened!? Where's Moka!?"
"No clue, she isn't here. She ran out of the room after the fire started.", Mizore coldly explains to him with a light shrug.
This seems to earn one of the firefighter's attention as they shout out, "You're friends with Moka Akashya, right? I saw her rush off to the roof when we first got here. Not sure if she's still there, but that's where I'd look if I were you.", to which Tsukune rushes further up the stair, screaming the frightening Vampire's name all the while.
"The roof huh...", I mutter to myself as I watch him rush off to the higher floors on his way to the top. If she is up there, she's probably in a pretty bad mood, but knowing Tsukune he'll be able to calm her down somehow...
"So you two are here too, huh? I should've expected as much.", a familiar voice calls to us from the bottom of the stairs coming up to this floor. When Mizore and I look to see who it is, we see it's Ruby dressed in a full nurse's uniform with a fairly short skirt that nearly reveals her panties. "The Headmaster asked me to tend to the wounded, what happened to Tsukune? I thought I saw him rushing up this way?"
"He went to the roof. He was looking for Moka and she apparently went up that way.", I reluctantly reply as she walks up the stairs and heads directly for us.
She seems to let out a disappointed sigh as she hears this before kneeling down on the ground next to us and starting to treat the young girls' wounds. After a slight pause, Ruby turns to me and explains, "If she's really up there you'd best go up there as well. The Headmaster ordered me to tell you that he sensed something odd coming from Moka's rosary and that you should make sure that the seal properly returned to its original state. He seemed pretty worried about it too, so you'd best get up there right away."
"The old man is worked up about that, then that has to mean-", I begin to think outloud before Ruby cuts me off, saying, "It would appear that something might be wrong with Moka's Rosary seal."
"Good grief, I guess I can't just ignore this.", I groan to myself as I stand up and dust off my pants. Once I've gained my footing and properly cleaned myself off, I reach a hand out to Mizore as I ask her, "You coming?"
She turns to Ruby, who waves her off and innocently tells her, "Don't worry, I can handle this much, go on."
"Fine, I'll go too I guess. But if we don't want to be on the receiving end of Moka's kicks, then we better not take the stairs.", Mizore replies as she takes my hand and I pull her to her feet.
Well, I guess we'll have to go the long way around. I start to walk off, but before I can make a plan to get to the roof Mizore pulls me towards the nearby window and as she swings the outward swinging panels, I nervously ask her, "Do you have a plan or something?"
"Yep," she replies with an almost smug grin across her face as she hoists herself onto the window seal, pulling me up along with her. She then reaches her hand out and touches the outer wall of the building before freezing the rain dripping down its bricks and forming a sturdy looking step that she then leaps out onto as she calls out, "I'll make a path for us along the wall of the building, this way we don't need to run around to the other side of the building. Now, let's get to climbing...and try not to fall."
Quickly, I find myself standing on top of a frosty block of ice jetting out from the wall. It seems pretty sturdy, I guess the rain gives her enough extra water to make way more ice than usual. Placing her hand on the wall, Mizore forms an icy staircase leading up to the roof, stopping right behind the doorway leading to the top. After trekking up the frosty stairway, we hide behind the small building as we hear Moka growl out to Tsukune, "You Idiot, why are you here?"
"Why am I here? I was worried about you and came to check to see if you were okay. I heard what happened...I'm just-", Tsukune warmly replies as we hear the sound of his footsteps as he makes his way closer to the vampire, but before he can finish Moka cuts him off as she lets out a snarky laugh and exclaims, "I'm such an idiot, right? That's what you're gonna say, right? That you're disappointed that I couldn't even manage to cook a half decent meal, right!? Well you don't have to, after trying my hardest..putting my heart and soul into making something nice for you... I got this!"
As Mizore and I both cautiously peek out from around the corner to see what she's talking about, not wanting to be discovered but also wanting to see what exactly she's talking about, we see she's holding what I can only describe as overly charred firewood in the shape of a slice of pie. "I-it's-", Tsukune replies in a surprised gasp before Moka furiously retorts, "It's a joke, right?! The great Moka Akashya, who can fight off hoards of other powerful monsters, but can't manage to make a single pie to save her life! It's pathetic, it's nothing but charcoal at this point! I even had a lot of help making it too...and still... I guess Reiji's right, I'm just outclassed in everything but fighting... I was really looking forward to sharing a slice of pie with you too, Tsukune..."
Before she can sulk any longer in her own pity, Tsukune scoops the charred slice of pie from out of her hands as he nervously retorts, "N-nonsense! I bet it's just fine!" Then without a second to spare, he closes his eyes and takes a generous bite out of the charcoal! He's absolutely insane, there's no way that's edible!
It appears like Moka agrees with me as her face turns a bright red, she frantically exclaims, "NO, don't eat it! It's charcoal! There's no way you can eat it! Spit it out!" And it looks like she might be right as Tsukune starts to gag and cough on his first bite, sending Moka into a panic as she desperately cries out, "See! I told you! Stay right here, I'll get you some water! Please don't die Tsukune!"
But before she can rush off to get the water he so desperately needs to survive this deadly food, he grabs her by the arm and exclaims, "It's good!", shocking not only Moka, but both Mizore and myself as well. With a cheerful smile across his face, he then shows her the slice of pie, and as he points to its center, he explains, "See? It's only charred on the outside, but it's perfectly cooked on the inside!"
We're all taken aback by the discovery as I quietly mutter to myself, "So she actually did it...she actually made an edible dish..?"
"I guess so...", Mizore replies as she leans over me a bit, pressing her body against my back as she tries to get a better look from our position.
"You...you liked it..? Good, I'm glad you liked it...Tsukune.", the blushing vampire sheepishly replies as she places her cupped hands over her heart, seeming to finally relax after that short heart attack the boy just gave her.
As they share a heartwarming moment of smiles and silence in the rain, it's suddenly broken by the sound of the end of day bell ringing. "Looks like the day's finally over...", Moka somewhat begrudgingly notes as she looks off to the entrance to the roof with a somewhat bitter gaze.
"I guess so...", Tsukune reluctantly agrees as he pulls out the rosary seal from his right pants pocket.
Seeing the depressing look across his face as he hands her the seal, Moka lets out a disheartened chuckle as she tells him, "Now don't look at me like that. I had my fair share of fun, and now it's time to go. Besides, it's not like we won't see each other again, right? Maybe we'll even get to do this again sometime?" She then reattaches the rosary to her choker, causing it to start glowing with a bright pink light that nearly engulfs her entire body, but quickly dies down before it can completely cover her much to everyone's confusion.
"What's going on? She's not changing back at all.", Mizore mutters in confusion as we're both left baffled.
It seems like the old man was right to worry, the seal isn't completely activating and sealing inner Moka. "I don't know exactly what's wrong, but we better do something fast before-", I begin to suggest before the metal door leading out to the rooftop swings open as Kurumu's sharp voice furiously cries out, "WHAT THE HELL!?"
"EHHH!?", Tsukune and Moka both exclaim in surprise as Kurumu bursts out from behind the doorway and rushes towards the both of them with Yukari close behind her. "Kurumu, Yukari, when did you-", Tsukune begins to frightfully ask before Yukari cuts him off as explains, "We were watching you guys for a while. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't die from eating that pie!"
"Now what the hell happened? Why isn't the rosary working, or are you just not wanting to go back after all, Moka?", Kurumu begins to question as she turns to the vampire with a burning glare.
Before anything can escalate any further, I step out into the open, pulling Mizore along with me as I make my way towards the group, explaining, "It looks like the old man was right, the seal's power is definitely weakened."
They all turn to me, Tsukune seeming the most surprised out of all of them as he exclaims, "You guys are here too!? Where were you hiding all this time!?"
"If you have to ask that then I think we need to double down on your training, Tsukune.", I scold him with a weak glare before turning my attention back to the Rosary seal. "So, do you have any clue what's wrong with the seal?", I sternly ask the nervous vampire, earning a quick shake of her head.
"No, nothing like this has ever happened before.", Moka woefully replies as she rests her hand over the rosary.
Before we can figure out a way to fix the seal, we hear a familiar voice snear, "So my hunch was right." When we all turn to see where the voice came from, we look to the top of the entrance to the roof to see Ling-Ling, who's cold and vexing voice was the one we likely heard, and Fong-Fong, who are watching us with a pleased smile on both their faces. "Those of the Wong family are fairly knowledgeable when it comes to complex seals, it's almost an instinctual thing.", Ling-Ling calmly, yet smugly, explains as she and her brother leap down from the roof of the stairway entrance.
Much to our surprise, Fong-Fong walks straight past both Tsukune and I, his usually goofy expression completely gone as he looks the rosary seal over with an oddly focused gaze. "Earlier after class when you walked past me Moka I thought I heard something, kindof like the cracking of glass, but I only chocked it up to me just imagining things. But now that I'm up and close, I can feel it in my hands just how much this seal has weakened considerably."
"So, are you saying that you can fix it then?", Kurumu questions the gangster, turning to him with a surprised gaze.
He merely shakes his head in disagreement, simply replying, "No, this seal is far too complicated for someone of my level."
"As expected, as useless as usual I see. Well, the old man might not know how to fix the seal on his own, but he might have an idea who actually can.", I scoff, seeing that he's just as helpful as he's always been, before starting towards the stairway. It seems Moka seems to agree as she shoves Fong-Fong away and starts to follow me as she tugs Tsukune along the way.
"W-wait! I might not be able to fix it myself, but I know someone who can! Please, just listen for a moment!", Fong-Fong desperately exclaims as he frantically reaches out to stop them as Yukari and Kurumu start to follow close behind them.
Before I can make it half way to the door however, Ruby walks out from the open stairway, still dressed in her nurse's outfit, as she sternly tells us, "That won't be necessary." Walking out further for everyone to see, Ruby explains, "The Headmaster told me if this outcome were to occur, if the rosary seal was truly unable to seal Moka's vampiric powers, that we would need to find Fong-Fong and Ling-Ling. And now it would seem like they've saved me the trouble of hunting them down."
"See! I'm not lying one bit, we can totally help you guys out here! Just give us a chance!", Fong-Fong frantically proclaims as he continues to beg for our attention.
I can't help but let out an irritated growl at the thought of having to work with these two idiots. There's no way that they could be of any use, right? Besides, they're probably only doing this so they can say we owe them one...but still, we can't just let Moka go around like this forever. "Why exactly do we need them?", I furiously ask the witch, to which she swiftly replies, "Because the leader of the Wong family is more than capable of fixing the rosary, or so the Headmaster claims."
"Really? They're that strong!?", Yukari exclaims in disbelief, seeming quite impressed by the higher ranked Wong family member's abilities.
Ling-Ling seems more than pleased to hear her surprised, lifting her head up high as she explains, "But of course, those of the Wong family are all exceptional at all sorts of magics, especially sealing magics. You'll find none quite as well educated in the subject as him."
"Alright, alright, we'll take your help then. If the old man thinks you'll be of some use I guess we can at least give you a shot.", I reluctantly admit as I cave and accept the gangster's help. "But more importantly, before we do anything else, we should make sure that the other Moka is fine.", I cautiously suggest as I turn to Moka, my sights focused on the rosary.
"Yeah, where is the other Moka anyways? Is she-", Kurumu begins to worriedly question the confused vampire, to which she looks down at the seal in confusion.
As she gently cups her hand over the rosary, Moka begins to worriedly explain, "I...I don't know. Whenever I was sealed away inside the rosary, I was aware of what was going on outside, but doing so required the use of a fair amount of energy and focus so I don't k-", before the rosary begins to glow with a weak pink aura.
This causes all of us to raise an eyebrow as Tsukune nervously asks, "Is-is that..the other Moka?"
"It'd seem so, who would've thought that this weaker Moka would be such a fighter.", Mizore notes with a hint of surprise, causing the rosary to start flailing at her from Moka's neck.
"I'm not weak, I'm just gentle!", we hear the other Moka furiously cry out from inside the rosary.
This quickly lightens the entire group's mood, earning wide smiles from Yukari, Tsukune, and even Kurumu.
"I'm glad to see you're alright, Moka.", Tsukune passionately tells the sealed away Moka as he looks to the rosary with a warm smile.
"Thank you, Tsukune.", she warmly replies as the rosary seems to glow with a kind aura.
Before they could start lovingly calling out each other's names however, the now blushing vampire Moka quickly covers the rosary as she swiftly changes the subject, turning to Fong-Fong as she demands to know, "Okay, but where exactly do we need to go to find this person anyways, Fong-Fong? It's not like we have the time to wait for them to come to us, right? So we'll have to go where they are to get the rosary repaired, right?"
"Right," Fong-Fong nervously exclaims as all eyes seem to turn on him for guidance, "We'll be going to the heart of the Wong family, the city of evil: Hong Kong."
"Very well. Ruby, please inform the Headmaster of the situation and have him ready a way of transport to Hong Kong by tomorrow at noon. I'm going home.", Moka growls before taking her leave, almost seeming to rush off to escape the situation.
As she rushes off down the stairs, I let out a long sigh before following suit, taking my leave as I groan out, "Alright, I guess it's time to go home. We'll just meet up at the main gates tomorrow around noonish, so try to make sure if you need anything that you pack it and bring it with you before we leave."
"Are you sure this is safe? Hong Kong is literally the Wong family's home turf. Don't you think that they'll force him to join their gang in exchange for their help?", Mizore worriedly whispers to me as she follows me down the stairway to the lower floors of the school building.
I reply with a quick nod, knowing very well that her worry was well placed before calmly explaining, "Under the normal circumstances I'd agree with you, but for now we have fully powered Moka coming along with us, so I doubt that they'd be able to get away with much with both of us going with him."
There's no doubt that we run the risk of falling into their debt for this, but if the old man thinks there's someone of worth there then he's probably already got them in his pocket somehow. It's not like we have much choice anyways, the Headmaster doesn't have the skills to fix the rosary and the only person that could possibly fix the rosary in the Underworld is the Devil himself. When it comes to making deals, we'd be better off with these gangsters than him. I just hope that they can meet the level of respect that the old man seems to have for them or Moka might just be stuck that way for good.