Welcome back friends, it is I the great and powerful Zacharius Maximus. I bring unto thee another chapter of stuff that sits in my head.

Hope you enjoy it, keep those reviews coming because they make me a happy lil boy.

It had been a week since Zachary was handed a tool to disguise himself amongst the populace, and he could happily say that he was actually enjoying his time in Yokai Academy. Saizou was a good person to just shoot the shit with and generally understood that the Australian was more of an introvert and required time to himself to recharge, Saizou had been 'chatting up' several girls and found limited but promising success with a few of them.

The Ogre would actually come to the Australian for his opinion on the women he was attempting to court, and appeared to take it quite seriously, when asked about this Saizou merely said that Ogres live in packs, with the strongest and smartest working closely together to ensure the packs survival, the young man was following his instincts and decided that Zachary would be his 'Mind' whilst he remained the 'Body'.

If anything it was quite touching to be held in such high regard, and Zac doubled his efforts whenever with his new friend.

Moka had become quite addicted to his blood, not that he minded in the slightest it was the closest thing to fapping he had at the Academy, as there was no internet access and magazines/doujins were far behind his tastes.

Explaining that to the Vampire hadn't dissuaded her, in fact it made her even more… enthused? To feed from him, he did notice she got a little touchier from feeding to feeding, her most intimate moments being at dusk, it might have been a coincidence or it might not have been, either way it was all the more pleasant for him.

Even the Inner Moka - whom he'd decided to call Daisy to piss her off - seemed to softening up somewhat, Zac wasn't sure what the reason was but it was nice all the same. She was good company, and had an interesting - if skewed - perspective of the world.

Yukari was… well let's just say if he was a lolicon he'd be pretty fuckin' happy, unfortunately for the little Witch, Zac did not want to go to prison for some young puss and so rejected every attempt to get into his pants she made, she got huffy and demanded that he at least wait for her to mature, given that his mouth ran faster than his brain at time Zac - sarcastically mind you - told that girl that when she turned 16 - the legal age in Australia - he'd happily break her brain.

She accepted it, and Zachary made one of many oaths he regretted in an instant.

Though she remained adamant to tutor him on all things witchy, something he was extremely grateful for as the Tome of Abaddon was good for one thing, killing.

Kurumu was a strange case, something Zac wasn't entirely sure how to handle. He enjoyed racey and sexual jokes, they were his bread and butter for getting people to reveal who they really were, but she seemed to take all his mocking offerings and demands as fact and almost jumped him several times, now… he was a guy, he liked women - and guys that looked like them - but he wasn't good with one-night stands, they just bored him. And Kurumu didn't seem to offer more than being fucking buddies…

So he accepted, stop fucking judging him!

Look, between her constant badgering and the blue-balls he got from Moka' he had to sort it out and the Succubus didn't seem to really care either way. Or she did and he didn't notice. Whatever!

Kurumu was a puzzle, she seemed to love being around him, even when he was silent for hours on end, and yet almost always demanded his attention in small ways, grabbing at his hand or cradling his arm in her tits.

Zachary looked up from his diary and tapped his pen on his chin, dark green eyes staring out the window of his down into the dark woods, for a moment he saw a flicker of colour… purple? How curious… flipping the diary shut he grabbed his tome and left the room.

It was a weakened and as such students were allowed to do a few things, either spend their time with the friends, the older students at clubs, or even go into one of the neighbouring realms to screw around, apparently a few students took the bus to some arcade or whatever, Zachary really didn't listen.

But walking in the dead forest? That rang of potential.

Pulling the laces on his shoes taught he knotted them and tucked the ears into the side of his shoe so they didn't flop about, with a once over that he had what he 'needed' he ran a hand up to his head and noticing an absence he turned to grab his sunglasses from his desk.

He had delicate eyes, fuck off.

As he got outside he looked up to his window and used the line of sight to figure out where the purple went, he went towards this location and opened his book, channeling a day of existence he created a pulsing red orb that release a wave of a light it traced over every creature that was alive within a kilometre, the trees lit up around the base, several insects and lizards were now visible and a single humanoid figure was quickly retreating into the forest.

"Well well… why are you running?" Muttered the Warlock, releasing the spell and rolling his shoulder, 'Still getting used to having my life drained whenever I cast.'

He narrowed his eyes at the red silhouette and began walking towards it, throwing Drain spells out at various insects and lizards as it was the only 'free spell' he had. As one who had played DnD for several years he just referred to it as his one 'Cantrip'. Something that infuriated Yukari to no end.

The red stream of existence that flowed from the various critters he erased formed an orb about the size of a fifty cent coin, it held about an hour and a half of human life within it, a frown drew across his face, mortality was something he'd always grappled with and seeing that he knew exactly how much existence was left in his body was both mortifying and comforting.

He was going to live to 89, without magical interference. Not a bad age all things considered, it meant he could spend many years perving on nurses and such… more so than he already did.

"You're following me." Said a soft voice.

Zac looked up, sitting on a branch was a beautiful young woman. She had skin as pale as snow, something he appreciated, eyes as blue as sapphires and hair coloured a foreign purple. It was clearly natural, and that's what threw him off, yes Kurumu had blue hair and Moka had pink, but still seeing these shades still confounded him.

He knew this girl!

"You're Mizore Shirayuki… we're in the same class." Zac stated, his eyes narrowed in recognition, a small smile lighting up his face as the red aura around her faded, as he'd sufficiently tracked her down, well done Yukari… though he had to devise a way to avoid being spotted with it. Creepy loli.

"Ah… Zakari-san." Her accept was thick, she must have lived somewhere pretty insulated.

"I just noticed something in my line of sight from my dorm, I didn't expect it to be you. Any reason you're hanging out in these moody woods on the weekend?" Questioned the Warlock with a cocked brow.

"No reason." She admitted, rolling a lollipop around her mouth, "I was just… observing."

"Observing what, may I ask?" He was being uncharacteristically bold, he usually didn't bother people to this extent.

"You." Admitted the girl without blinking.

Ah, perhaps instincts were not to be questioned.

"May I ask why?" The young man asked, his body language shifting from open to guarded.

"I find you interesting, I observe things I find interesting." Explained the purple haired girl with a slight tilt of her head, "Does that bother you?"

"If I interest you so much, you could… ya'know, talk to me. You don't have to look at me through a window, Mizore." Scolded the young man, his tone a little harsher than he wanted but he was uncomfortable and it was more akin to a defence mechanism to show he wasn't going to be walked over.

"I'm quite shy… besides you have friends, they might not like me being around you." Informed Mizore, her head still tilted but her eyes had become more searching, as though trying to see through his very skin.

"My friends consist of an Ogre, a Witch, a Vampire and a Succubus. Whatever you are I'm sure they wouldn't care." Zac said, not buying the excuse, "What's the real reason you're being so evasive?"

Mizore was quiet, she slipped off the branch and landed on the ground, Zac took a step back and held the chain on his book tighter, preparing for whatever might come, "I am a Yuki-Onna… do you know what that is?"

Flipping through his mental index of various monsters he'd seen in video games the name Yuki-Onna did stick out to him, "Snow woman, yeah? Creatures either born of ice or closely related to it?"

"Mostly correct. Yuki-Onna are able to control and generate ice." Corrected Mizore, "We are also notoriously shy, so I was not lying when I said that. Though my reason for being so is somewhat… different than most other people." Mizore fiddled with her hair as she explained this.

"Elaborate." Commanded the Australian with a flat stare.

"Yuki-Onna are a small species, we aren't as powerful as a Vampire but we can fit in as easily as a Witch, though generally require cooler climates." Begun the woman with a small look off to the side, as though pulling memories up, "Because of this, when we find someone who interests us we try to find out as much as we can before approaching them directly, that's why I was observing you, I wanted to know what kind of person you were. If I didn't like it, you'd never know that I was there to begin with."

"Except I spotted you anyway." Zac finished a look of understanding in his eyes, "And sparked this little conversation."

"Mhm." Hummed the purple haired girl, her blue eyes burrowing into his soul, "Do you mind if I continue my observations?"

"Do as you please… so long as it doesn't infringe on anything personal… though I extend the offer that if you actually want to know me, my door is cautiously open."

"You don't trust easily, do you?" Mizore asked curiously.

"No. And I figure you're smart enough to notice that so I'll not dance about, I don't trust easily." Confirmed the young man with a narrow look, "I'll leave you be, have a good day, Mizore."

"And you, Zakari-san." She tilted her head as Zac left the area, as he disappeared into the trees she smiled to herself, "At least he's honest."

Monday Lunchtime

Though it brought up several questions, why were Witches even considered monsters? It made him think of all the time he'd thought how fucking dope it would be if he could get magic, and yet somehow they still lived in exile?

Now, he understood human nature. Let's not forget Salem, and all the god-fearing retardation therein, but nowadays surely it'd be a commodity instead of a burden.

If all it took for a normal human to become a spellcaster was a magical artefact of sufficient enough power, why the fuck didn't Witches outnumber the other monsters?

Probably some stupid fuckin' pact or something.

Actually, in hindsight that was a naive standpoint. There's a lot of reasons not to give people the access to the arcane.

"Good god I argue with myself a lot." Muttered Zachary turning a page, he sitting on the same bench he had a potent, vampiric, sexual awakening near.

"You also talk under your breath a lot." Yukari commented, trying - and failing - to sit in his lap.

"Cease your endeavours to venture within my pantaloons, small child!" He spoke vigorously, staring down at Yukari with a faux-severe expression.

"Never!" She rebuked with just as much enthusiasm, though hers was much more serious.

"Hehe… it'd be cute if it wasn't illegal." Moka said with a sweatdrop, sitting on the blond's other side.

"Even Ogres have their limits, just wait a few years kiddo." Saizo said lazily, eating a sandwich he acquired from the cafeteria.

"By then it'll be too late!" Yukari said harshly, "Saizou-baka, a stallion such as Zachary-kun will be sought after by any spellcaster within a thousand kilometres!"

Saizou looked to said 'stallion' who looked like he'd swallowed a lemon, "How's that tickle ya, pal?" Questioned the Ogre with a grin.

"Ugh, I need a drink." Muttered the youth.

"Underage drinking is wrong." Scolded Moka with a frown.

"If I drink I share my kink, if I'm sober you won't see me until October." Zac said with far too much ease for it to be a spur of the moment line.

"Care to share?" Saizou questioned with a quirked brow.

"I'm a shy person masquerading as an outgoing one-" Zac turned another page as he spoke, not bothering to look up, "-Getting drunk facilitates that easier, less energy used up that way."

"Energy? What are you on about now?" The Ogre asked, genuine confused.

"Socialising is exhausting to me." Zac looked up from his book, a shrug was his only physical answer, "I need time to myself to recharge, that's why I go quiet sometimes, or when I lock myself in my room for the afternoon."

"It's not us is it?" Moka asked worriedly.

"No-no." The Warlock assured with a shake of his head, "I'm like this with everyone, don't take it personally. Though I've said that before and people refuse to take a hint." He muttered with a frown at the table.

"Ooh, I love gossip! What're we talking about?" A new voice entered the fray, all turned to see Kurumu sans her harem of boytoys approaching the table, a smile on her face and a small bundle in her arms.

"Just talking about annoying people who don't let other's have space-Oh hi Kurumu." Zachary grinned broadly as he said that, the Succubus scoffed and flicked her hair.

"Bitch I know you want me." She shot back with just as much sass.

"No… not really." Admitted the blond with a slight curl in his lip, Kurumu moaned pitifully as she sat down across from him, next to Saizou who was chuckling in his hand. "You're not my type."

"What is your type then, god dammit boy I will make you love me!" Snarled the blue haired girl, still unused to not getting her way from the opposite sex.

"Eh…" He shrugged, "I'll let you know when I figure it out, semen demon." The girl looked at him with an agape expression, scandalized by the name.

Saizou fell off the bench he was laughing so hard, Yukari grinning triumphantly at the Fat-Chested-One being put in her place whilst Moka just sighed, having become accustomed to the Australians harsh tongue.

"How could you say that!?" Demanded the blue haired girl.

Zac looked up once more, confused, "What? 'Semen demon'? Have you never been on the internet?"

"What does that have to do with you being a racist sack of shit!" She snarled with a vicious look on her face.

"Jesus-tapdancing-christ it's shit-tier humour. I didn't know it was racist!" Zac said, hands raised and confusion clearly on his face.

Kurumu looked at him for a moment before sitting back down and calming down, "Look, it's one of the usual things I've heard thrown at my mother and my sisters over my life, so… just don't, around me at least."

"Understood." Zac accepted her indignation, as much as he enjoyed race jokes he never actually held any malicious intent. It was sort of like dark humour, you know you're not supposed to laugh at it, and that's what makes it funnier.

"Anything else I should know, to avoid stepping in it?" Zac questioned, mostly directed to Kurumu, but also glancing at the others.

"Mongrel and half-breed and catch-all terms used to describe people like me." Saizou put in with a frown, "Ma ain't an Ogre but Dad is."

"Ah, blood purity. That ol' chestnut." Zac rolled his eyes at the silly concept. Genetic diversity allowed for mutation and evolution.

"Witches are usually given something similar." Yukari said with a frown, "Or just told that we aren't welcome in places because we aren't really monsters."

"Ever got that?" Saizou asked his Warlock friend.

Zachary shook his head, "Like I said, I lived amongst humans most of my life. Can't remember anything before age three so who knows, but nothing conscious."

Saizou nodded, a small smile on his face, "Must've been nice."

"It was actually. I've got a lot of friends at home, and my parents are like… the ultimate safety net. I'd say you guys have my pity for living amongst a harsher climate but I doubt anyone really wants my pity." Zac said, a slightly cheeky smile on his face as he spoke.

"Pfft, lucky ass." Kurumu muttered with a frown, crossing her arms.

Zachary reached across and pat her head, gently running his hands through her hair, "Fret not, Kuru. Daddy is here to make things better."

He did not expect a blush, nor did he expect, "Good." To be muttered by the Succubus.

Ah fuck.

Too many kinks.

Next Day Homeroom

"So today everyone, we're going to have everyone choose a club to be apart of. You have until the end of the school day to select a club and yes this is compulsory." Ms. Nekonome said with a stern gaze across the class, getting groans from several people.

Zachary had little interest, if he was completely honest. It must have been a more eastern thing because 'clubs' didn't exactly happen in any school he'd been in, there was choir, sports teams, and maybe a band of some kind, that was about it.

Extracurricular activities cut in on his personal time, and that wasn't something he was super stoked about.

"Come on, let's go check out the choices!" Kurumu was apparently all for it, and quickly pulled him from his chair, before even Moka or Saizou could blink they were out the door.

"Someone is certainly excited." The Ogre commented with a dry tone.

"Hmmm…" The Vampire looked cross.

"Something wrong?"

"She's trying to steal my friend." Muttered the fanged one with a narrowed glare, she stood up and stalked out of the room, everyone giving the pink haired girl a wide berth.

"Women are fuckin' crazy…" Saizou moaned into his hands.

With the duo in question it was rapidly apparent to Zac that 'clubs' were more akin to fucking life-style choices.

There was a bunch of muscle dudes and dudettes (Good looking ones at that) parading about in karate gi's for the 'Body Improvement Club'.

There were people (more hot women) in swimsuits offering the swimming club.

A bunch of shut-ins with heavy bags under their eyes offering up the Occult Club, which actually might have some use for the Warlock - if they offered actual Occult information - but they all looked like potential mug-shots.

There was a cooking club, not for him he was already doing a class on cooking he liked it but not that much.

There were various sports clubs, a Spirituality Club (Fucking hippies), a comic club, a newspaper club (Ran by one dude), the list went on and on.

"Soo~ any catch your eye?" Kurumu asked, refusing to release his arm despite his wanting her to.

"Well… I mean the swimming club might be just a good thing for me to do, just in general. I'm not the most active person and having an entire squad of people counting on my being there may force me to actually do something." Rationalised the Warlock, "I might have considered the Gymrat club but that dude is benching a tree, and I ain't about that."

"Hmm, that's fair… gotta keep in shape, and getting a nice body never spoils anything." She ran her hands across his chest, making him cringe, something about people touching his chest made him uncomfortable.

He finally pulled himself away from the Succubus, the power of discomfort allowing him to do so.

"Yeah-sure. I'm gonna go ask." Zac quickly beat feet towards the group of women offering up the Swimming Club making the Succubus mumble about being blown off.

Tamao Ichinose was the woman in charge, tall and slender of build she had long black hair and two golden ornaments therein, just above her ears. She wore a purple bikini that showed off her chest and body quite well, she sported and white and purple sarong around her waist, probably for the sake of some modesty.

"Hey." Greeted the Australian, catching the black haired girls attention, "I'm Zachary Waller, I was wondering what one could expect being in the Swimming club?"

"It's a good way for new people to get into swimming and there are also competitions that we occasionally hold. Given that Yokai Academy is quite insular most of our competitions don't end up with us leaving the school grounds. Aside from that members are allowed free reign of the facilities whenever they wish." Informed the black haired girl, she smiled at him and looked him up and down.

"I know I'm quite pale." Admitted the young man wryly, "I'm hoping that being in this club will rectify that… do you have trial periods?"

"We certainly do, would you like to come and give it a try now?" Offered the woman, "Several others are as well so there's nothing to fret about."

Zachary paused in thought, giving the other clubs - within eye shot - another glance before accepting the offer, "That sounds good, I'd like to check out the facilities if nothing else."

"Follow me, I'd be happy to show you around."

Kurumu grinded her teeth as Moka and Yukari approached, "Stupid skanks… getting friendly with my destined one!"

"Has he lost interest in you already, cow?" Yukari barbed with a smug look, "I suppose it's not too hard, given you're all appearance and no substance."

"Yukari!" Moka scolded, scandalized.

"Zip it you walking pedophelia charge!" Snarled the Succubus with venom, the two locked eyes and sneered at one another, "It's not like he'll go chasing after a new girl because she looks nice, not after we've done."

"Hmph!" The Witch huffed, crossing her arms, "Like that matters, at all!"

"Yo, you guys all ran off… where's the bookworm?" Saizou asked, approaching with hands in pockets.

"Swimming club." Kurumu answered crossly.

"Huh… wouldn't have picked it. Well I'm gonna go check it out… failing that those muscle heads might be my crowd." He stuck a thumb to the Body Improvement Club before walking up to the Swim Club and asking about it.

"I was hoping we could all be in the same club." Moka admitted with a frown.

"Do you not like swimming?" Kurumu asked, "Afraid to get a little wet?" Goaded the girl with a smug grin.

Moka just stared her down, not bothering to give the question an answer.

With Zachary his expectations were pretty much met, the school had a single pool. It was 100 metres in length and had 8 separate lanes for swimmers. A pretty average sized set up for a school pool, the changing rooms had showers in them and stalls to change in along with toilets.

There was a supply shed with several items that would be used in the events of relays and tournaments amongst the club, such as lane dividers and the like.

All in all a well stocked and well put together club.

"Would you like to take a swim?" Tamao offered with a slight tilt of her head and that same smile on her face.

"I wouldn't say no." Admitted the youth, "It's a bit balmy today."

"It is isn't it?" There was a slight alteration in her mannerisms, she looked at him fully and had a more relaxed expression on her face, as he was literally talking about the weather, "Around this time last year it was quite cool, I'm a little shocked at the difference."

"Probably because of whoever is in charge of the weather in the realm decided to change it up." Zac said with a shrug, "Mind if I pinch one of those spare boardies?"

"Boardies?" Tamao questioned, blinking and following his finger, "Ah, the swimming trunks? Certainly!"

"Sorry, Australian slang." Admitted the youth as he chuckled.

"Not a problem, I'd actually be interested to hear about your home… if you don't mind." Asked the older student.

"Sure, gimme a sec'." He grabbed a simple black pair of boardshorts and ducked into a stall, stripping out of his blazer, dress shirt, shoes and trousers, folding them all up and putting them together he tucked his socks into his shoes, coming back out he gifted unto Tamao with the sight of his slim, pale body.

"It would seem the sun will do you good." She joked good naturedly.

"Mhm, hopefully I don't blind anyone… is there a spot I can leave my things?" Tamao directed him towards a set of lockers and the duo went out to the pool, several others were wading about in the waters and several more were milling about.

Zac approached one of the edge of the pool and dived in, making sure his arms were stretched out if he was too tall and needed to correct before hitting the floor of the pool, he twisted and sat at the base of the pool for a moment, his back against the floor and his eyes cracking open to peek through the waters.

It was oddly calm, just… relaxing, in the waters like that. He'd done it dozens of times at home, never at the beach though, because sharks scared the everloving shit out of him. And as far as he was concerned all beach water had the potential for deadly sea-life.

He waved his arms slowly to keep himself stationary, he noticed a figure approaching quickly, black hair… suddenly arms were wrapped around his midsection and he was quickly brought to the surface, releasing his held breath he whiped his eyes.

"Hehe, you had me worried there for a moment." Admitted the woman with a sheepish chuckle.

"Sorry, habit I have. Sitting underwater is peaceful, it's been a while since I've done it." Apologized the young man with a half-smile, "I realise in hindsight how strange that actually must have looked from an outside perspective."

"It's quite alright, I understand where you're coming from… are you an aquatic monster?" Asked the girl, quietly as not to draw attention.

"I am not, as I was growing up though my parents either took me and my siblings to the beach or the pool so I'm used to being around bodies of water, I suppose."

"Ah, that's a shame." Admitted the young lady, a small frown on her face.

"Why's that?"

"Because as a mermaid I must drain the life essence from others to sustain myself… if you were one of us I wouldn't have to harm you." Her face split and revealed gills, her ears transformed into fins and her legs were replaced with a long shimmering scaled tail.

"Well… this is awkward." Zac said softly, noticing several other prospective members were freaking the fuck out.

"Are you afraid?" Questioned the mermaid, her eyes leering predatorial.

"I was more referring to it being awkward for you…" The back of the young man's palm glowed and in and instant a solid force sprouted under his feet, lifting him above the waters as his book appeared in his hands.

Tamao looked dumbstruck for a moment.

Zachary shrugged his shoulders, "You'll have to forgive my harshness, I don't appreciate people trying to fucking eat me!" His laid back attitude rapidly melted away into a ferocious snarl, Seeker sprouted from the book and coiled around him, looking menacing as possible.

Several onlookers were given the sight of the Warlock floating a few metres above the pool, "On the plus side, I'm a fan of fish, so fry!" Like Zeus himself a great bolt of lightning formed in the young magus' hand and with a grunt he lobbed it directly into the pool, the resulting discharge of electricity shocked the everloving shit out of everyone therein.

As the electrified water did it's job the pages of the tome flipped rapidly to another spell, "This may be a very drain-ing experience for you." The irony being that whilst the Mermaids might have tried to have an easy lunch, the true glutton was the very one they'd attempted to feast on.

Collecting an entire year of life force from the swim-team Zac directed the platform to the edge of the pool and shook out his hair, as red electricity sparked across the waters and the mermaids twitched like the stunned fish they were all on land gave a wide berth to the Warlock.

"Swimming is shit anyway."

End of Chapter.

Hope you liked it, if you did lemme know. If there's something lacking, tell me so I can fix it in the future.

Raxychaz!