Tsukune packed up the last of his things from his dorm room into his suitcase and the rest of his bags, preparing to leave the school. As he closed his last drawer, he heard a knock at his door. When he opened it, he saw a familiar face.

"Hi, Seiteki. What's wrong?" he asked.

The blonde girl standing before him looked upset and uncomfortable, as normal, but today, she seemed more melancholy than usual. She had a confused look on her face as she spoke.

"Who? Oh, me… Well, the thing is… I don't have anywhere to go." she said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember? I can't remember anything about my past. I don't know who my parents are, and you're the only one here I can really trust."

Tsukune had a strange look, so Seiteki continued.

"You told me I was a kitsune." she said, all of a sudden growing fox ears, a tail, four tail stumps, and a fluffy tuft of chest fur. She retracted her fox-like features and continued.

"And I had these strange feelings when I was next to people, so I researched kitsune and found out that kitsune can detect the true inner emotions of anyone around them through their ears. My ears always felt either hot or ringing when I was around others. I found out that hot ears meant that I was in the presence of anger, and ringing ears meant that fear was around me."

Tsukune remembered at the beginning of the year, when Seiteki had initially intended to kill off the female population and make the males her slaves. Tsukune was supposed to be Seiteki's 'king', but he was rescued by his companions and Seiteki was defeated.

Moka wanted to kill Seiteki, but Tsukune saw that there could still be some hope for her. He instead wiped her memory clean by severing all but one of her tails. Ever since Seiteki had awaken from her coma a week later, she's had trouble remembering her own name. The shock from losing most of her tails has also had an adverse effect on her personality. Seiteki continued her explanation.

"Even around some of my friends, my ears feel cold with indifference or damp with pity. But… when I'm around you, I'm always so warm. Not just in my ears, but your presence makes my entire body warm with happiness."

Seiteki stepped forward and gave Tsukune a hug. A slow tear fell from her face. "I'm so alone. I don't know what I'd do if you weren't with me, Tsukune-kun. I understand if I'm asking too much from you, especially considering your relationship with Mako-chan-"

"Moka." Tsukune corrected. Seiteki often suffered from short-term memory loss, but it was most prominent when saying Moka's name.

"Thanks. What I'm trying to ask is, can I live with you for summer vacation?"

Tsukune seemed taken aback by the question.

"Please, Tsukune? I have nowhere to go, and I can't pay for the summer boarding program that Yokai Academy offers." Seiteki pleaded, desperation in her voice.

Tsukune thought for a moment. "I'll have to call my parents, but I'm sure they'll approve."

"Yay! Thank you, Tsukune-kun!" Seiteki said, giving Tsukune a peck on the cheek. She pulled back suddenly, embarrassed at what she did. "I'm sorry…" she said, bowing in apology. Tsukune put his hands on Seiteki's shoulders, standing her up.

"It's fine, really." he said with a smile. Seiteki smiled back at him.

***

After the farewell gathering in the school courtyard, Tsukune and Seiteki walked down the dark road toward the bus station that divided the human world from the monster world.

"Thank you again for taking me in, Tsukune-kun." Seiteki said gratefully. "I hope I won't be too much trouble."

"Like I said, it's no trouble at all." Tsukune said, allowing Seiteki to step onto the bus first. Before Tsukune could step on as well, he felt a chill run down his spine, as if evil eyes were watching him. He brushed it off as best as he could and stepped onto the bus. As the bus pulled away from the station, a tall young man with eyes that were similar to Seiteki's stepped out of the bushes. He growled lowly, then dropped to all fours, following the bus.

***

Tsukune did not look forward to walking into the front door of his house, because he knew the first thing his parents would say. Not 'Welcome back, Tsukune!' or 'Look who's here!'

"Ooh! Is this the young lady you described to us over the phone?" Mrs. Aono asked as Seiteki walked in behind Tsukune.

"Yeah. She's a good friend from my school." Tsukune explained.

"Hi." Seiteki said, bowing in respect.

"She's much more beautiful than you described, son." Tsukune's father commented. An amused expression crossed his face. "You're not INVOLVED with her, are you?"

Tsukune's eyes widened with surprise and Seiteki began to blush.

"Of course not!" Tsukune protested strongly.

"Well, why ever not?" Mrs. Aono asked. "You're a mature man now. Besides, she seems nice."

"And VERY healthy." Mr. Aono said, rubbing his chin and smiling mischievously.

"Dad!" Tsukune moaned.

"Dasui!" Mrs. Aono objected, giving her husband a roguish glare.

"*sigh* I'm going upstairs to help Seiteki unpack." Tsukune said. He and Seiteki walked up the house stairs, up to Tsukune's room.

"I like your room, Tsukune-kun." Seiteki said.

"Thanks." he said, sitting on the bed.

"I should probably change out of my uniform. Is there anyplace I can get undressed?"

"You can get changed in here if you want."

Seiteki nodded, then began to take off her blouse. Tsukune was so distracted, he waited a few seconds before calling.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! After I leave." Tsukune said, standing and walking out of his room.

***

Later that evening, Tsukune sat at his window, talking on the phone to Moka.

"So how's Seiteki fitting in?" Moka asked.

"She really hit it off with my parents. They're downstairs now, talking."

Tsukune stopped for a moment and listened to the laughing voices downstairs. His mother was talking to Seiteki with a hearty voice.

"And here's one of Tsukune when he was three. Doesn't he look so cute?"

Tsukune sighed. "So when did you say you were coming?"

"We all agreed to stop by tomorrow afternoon. Yukari's caught a terrible cold, though, so she can't come. The rest of us are planning on staying for about a week." Moka said.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow." Tsukune said, hanging up the phone. He stared out of his window, struck by boredom.

All of a sudden, a shadow that snuck by out of the corner of his eye peaked his interest. He looked and saw that it was a person, but what concerned him was that the person was looking at him. When he saw that the shadowy stare would not go away, Tsukune stepped away from his window.

"Tsukune-kun?" called a soft voice. Seiteki was standing at his doorway, clad in pajamas that belonged to Tsukune's mother.

"Kasumi-sama gave me some of her nightclothes to wear. Aren't they nice? They fit perfectly."

"Yes, they are…very nice." Tsukune said awkwardly.

"Thanks." Seiteki said with a yawn. "I'm going to bed. Good night." She stretched her arms and laid on Tsukune's bed.

'I see she's lost none of her appeal.' Tsukune thought as he climbed into his bed, next to her.

***

The next morning, Tsukune slowly awoke, feeling a strange pressure on his body. He looked up and saw that Seiteki had rolled over during the night. Her cheek was now pressed against his and her chest was flattening his neck. Both of her legs were wrapped around Tsukune's left thigh. All the pressure had caused his limbs to go numb, so Tsukune couldn't even move if he wanted to.

"Seiteki." Tsukune called, twisting around as best as he could, which wasn't succusful. Seiteki giggled in her sleep and pressed her body harder into Tsukune's.

'Oh, geez.'

Tsukune attempted to sit up, but the vice grip that Seiteki had on his body prevented him from moving more than an inch. Suddenly, Seiteki's eyes fluttered open, and after a few moments, she realized what was going on.

"Oh no!" Seiteki whispered, swiftly rolling off of Tsukune, knocking him off of the bed in the process.

"I'm sorry, Tsukune!" Seiteki said.

"Ah. It's alright." Tsukune strained to say as he laid on the floor, immobile.

Seiteki climbed out of the bed and grabbed Tsukune under his arms, beginning to drag him to the doorway.

"Come, Tsukune. A nice hot shower will ease the numbness away."

"Wait! You're not taking a shower WITH me, are you?" Tsukune asked.

"Well, of course. Who else is going to help you wash? Both of your parents are still asleep. Consider it my apology for injuring you in the first place."

"Really, there's no need for apology." Tsukune pleaded as Seiteki dragged him like prey into the bathroom.

'*sigh* Nope, none of her appeal.' Tsukune thought as Seiteki closed the door.

***

Tsukune called goodbye to his parents before he and Seiteki left the house.

"Is your neighborhood always this empty?" Seiteki asked.

"Not always. This isn't a lazy day, though. Everyone's just not here."

"He's here." Seiteki said, pointing to a tall man running toward them. Tsukune thought that he seemed familiar. After a moment, he realized that this was the man that was observing him the night before.

All of a sudden, the man dropped to all four, sprinting like a quadruped toward them. He grew in stature and dark red fur began to grow all over his body, ending with a long tail that was tipped with yellow.

"A hellhound!" Seiteki gasped in shock. The monster in question barreled straight toward Tsukune, who ran in the other direction. It completely ignored Seiteki, who took out a small book, labeled The Bite-Sized Monster Dictionary.

"Hmm. Let's see if I can find the article on this one." Seiteki said, casually flipping through the book as Tsukune ran for his life from the hellhound that was trailing him closely. He was desperately tapping on the silver links on his Holy Lock.

"C'mon! C'mon! Break!" Tsukune pleaded. The hellhound leaped at Tsukune and pinned him to the ground. Tsukune used all of his strength to keep the underworld creature from snacking on his head. All of a sudden, Seiteki flew in, having assumed her full kitsune form and pounced on the hellhound, knocking it off of Tsukune. Seiteki then regressed to her half-form.

"I've got it. Hellhounds are male kitsune mutts."

"Huh?" Tsukune asked.

"I'm a purebred kitsune. All of my genes come from other kitsune. Kitsune which are bred from a kitsune and a human are called 'royal pedigree', but kitsune which are born of unknown ancestry are called mutts."

"Why is he a hellhound?"

"Because he was born a male, he only has one tail, and his earliest ancestor was a descendant of Cerberus. We can definitely beat a mongrel like this."

Now being able to focus, Tsukune cracked a link on his holy lock and slipped into his ghoulish form.

'Kill…' said the malevolent voice inside Tsukune.

'No. I have to keep control.' Tsukune said to himself.

The hellhound shrank and stood upright, assuming a hybrid form, similar to Seiteki, save for the fluffy chest hair. Hostility still burned in his eyes and his lips curled into a snarl. However, this hostility seemed to be aimed only at Tsukune.

The hellhound sprinted forward, but Seiteki stepped in front to defend Tsukune, locking arms with her adversary and initiating a test of strength. Seiteki seemed to be losing at first, but for some reason, the hellhound pulled back slightly, giving Seiteki an opening to knock him backwards.

The hellhound growled and charged again, pushing Seiteki aside and tackling Tsukune, pushing him into a wall. Tsukune dodged to either to left or the right to avoid the hound's powerful fists. He threw a punch of his own, causing the hellhound to stagger backwards.

'KILL…' Tsukune's evil voice kept ringing in his head.

It was now difficult for Tsukune to remain in control. Another link on his bracelet snapped, and several more began to crack.

'I can't move! My conscious is fighting with the ghoul inside of me. I have to pull back!'

Tsukune reverted to his human form. The hellhound smiled evilly. He ran forward and belted Tsukune in the stomach with all of his strength. Tsukune choked up a large mass of blood before falling to the ground. The hellhound snarled as it raised its fists to finish Tsukune. Suddenly, Seiteki ran in and give a jarring sucker punch, right in the hellhound's jaw.

He flew through several buildings before finally landing out of eyesight.

"Tsukune! Are you okay?" Seiteki asked, kneeling beside him. Tsukune could barely move.

"Seiteki… Take…my phone…and call Moka. Tell her…to get here…now."

Then Tsukune fell unconscious.

***

In a strange location, the hellhound that attacked Tsukune and Seiteki stood before a red throne, in front of a woman whose face was hidden in the shadows.

"You have come back empty-handed, so am I to assume you have failed, my son?" the woman asked icily.

"Yes, Mother." the boy said shamefully.

"Did you at least kill the Aono boy?"

"N-No, Mother."

The woman on the throne was silent for several seconds, and the growing apprehension in the Mikoto's stomach was eventually too much for him to bear.

"Please! Have mercy on me, Mother! Please!!" he cried out.

A darkened smile crossed the face of the woman. "Very well, I will show mercy on your pitiful soul."

Mikoto breathed a sigh of relief, but his concern returned when the woman raised her right hand and pointed her ring finger at Mikoto. Her finger was royally adorned with several wedding bands, each one more extravagant than the next.

"Shave him. Rip off his ears, wear down his tail, and tear out every claw. He doesn't deserve to be a hellhound, let alone my son." she said, with no remorse at all in her voice.

Two girls that were standing on either side of the throne walked toward Mikoto, grabbing his arms and dragging him away.

"No! No, please!!"

"And while you're at it, FIX him as well. He doesn't even deserve his manhood."

"No!! Please, don't!!"

"Bring Rujutan and Kenage to me." the woman told another smaller girl.

She nodded and scampered away. A few minutes later, two twins who looked very similar to Seiteki walked up to the throne. The girl, Rujutan, was holding the smaller child in her arms and the boy had his arms crossed.

"Mikoto was a middle child, and a child of my fourth husband. I knew he wasn't a prodigy, but I didn't think that he would be so useless. You two are my second-born. I KNOW that you're not useless."

The twins nodded.

"Now find my little spitting image and bring her home." she said in a cooing voice. All of a sudden, her voice turned cold. "And don't forget to destroy the other boy that will be with her, or I'll show YOU mercy."

"Yes, Mother." the two said in unison, turning and walking away from the throne.

"What are we going to do that Mikoto didn't?" Kenage asked his sister.

"Mikoto wasn't the brightest bulb. He thought that brute force would capture her. We're going to do a little less 'direct' maneuver." Rujutan explained.

***

Tsukune slowly came to, waking up in his room. When he could finally see clearly, he saw three faces.

"When Seiteki called us, we came as fast as we could." said Moka's voice.

"Moka-san. I'm glad you're- Humph!!" Tsukune screamed as Kurumu hugged him, smothering him in her breasts.

"Oh! I'm so glad you're alright, Tsukune! I don't even CARE that you're bleeding on me!" she said.

"Can't breathe! Can't breathe!" Tsukune gasped, being released. "Phew. Hm? Didn't Mizore say that she'd be here as well?"

"Hi." said Mizore's voice, which made Tsukune jump.

The lavender-haired girl crawled from under Tsukune's bed, taking a deep breath of one of his socks. Seiteki stood shyly in between Moka and Kurumu.

"Who do you think it was who attacked you?" she asked.

"I've never seen him before. He was spying on me the night before, but I had assumed he was just weird. The real question is: WHY did he attack me?"

"We'll have to investigate." Moka said.

Tsukune tried to sit up, but winced in pain.

"No. Not now. We'll see what we can do once you heal. For now, just lay down and relax."

Tsukune laid down in his bed again.

"I'll get you something to eat." Moka said, turning. When she saw the doorway, Kurumu was already standing there.

"Not if I get it first!" she said, sprinting down the hall with Moka close behind, laughing.

Mizore had disappeared, but a sneeze gave away her hiding spot under Tsukune's bed once again. Seiteki leaned against one wall, thinking. The soft, peaceful quietness in the room eventually lulled Tsukune back to sleep.