I would like to thank everyone who reviewed and voted in the poll, its seems that 'Yes' has the most votes but based on my plans for what happened in the past she is going to have to work hard to get a place, Inner Moka is my third fave character so it will have to be a good reason. I have decided to take Snorkackle's advice, so 1054SS325MP was kind enough to beta this story. I haven't talked to Mad Man for a while so the majority of this chapter is my own ideas, I hope it's still good.
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Wearing a knee length crimson dress and a large black fur jacket, her silver hair framed her face perfectly as she slid gracefully out of the limo. Tsukune felt his wives' grips tighten around his arm, although Mizore's soon loosened after Moka greeted her. When it came time for Kurumu to say hello, the blue haired girl's nails dug into Tsukune deep enough to draw a small amount of blood.
Moka even couldn't maintain eye contact with Tsukune as she greeted him in turn, choosing instead to look out over the snow oracle's expansive palace as she gently took the hand he profferred. She was obviously uncertain about how he would react, but the young man smiled and welcomed her with as much warmth as he would have for any close friend.
Teiko was out and about, instantly comparing his height with his older brother. Theirs was a friendly rivalry, and of interest to everyone who had ever seen the two of them together. When Teiko lost, which was the majority of the time, he would get angry and chase Tsukune Jr around with his very own transforming bat, but in the snow, the younger boy had no chance of catching the taller one.
Yukari stopped the boys by summoning a pair pans to fall on top of the upstart youngsters, leaving a large bump on each of their heads. Ai began to giggle at her older brothers, earning her a pot on the head as well. Ageha jr laughed at that, and almost managed to dodge the incoming punishment from above, but wasn't quite fast enough. The cycle continued with all the remaining children, until none had been spared a bump on the head.
As Moka finished talking to Ruby about the current events at Yokai Academy, she noticed, even from the kitchen, that the whole house was full of noise. Be it one of the many children making noise for attention, Gin's laughter at one of Yukari's dirtier jokes, or Kurumu's singing to herself while baking with her oldest daughter, it was almost overwhelming compared to what she was used to. San quietly drew pictures with her daughter, a few of her Mizore's children watched television, and Ling Ling chatted with Ageha and Tsurura. Moka just had to get out of the entire area, ostensibly to go check her make up. It was a poor excuse, but it was definitely starting to get awkward.
"Hello aunty Moka" a small warm voice said to her. She turned around and saw a little brown haired girl smiling warmly at her and couldn't resist smiling back as she looked into the little girl's honey brown eyes.
"Hello Ai," she replied.
The little girl started to twirl a streak of sapphire blue hair in her otherwise autumn brown locks.
"Do you know where my daddy went off to?" Ai asked.
Moka took a few seconds to think before she answered. Did anyone tell me where Tsukune ran off to?
"I'm sorry, I don't know where your daddy went. Would you like some help finding him?" Moka asked the five year old.
The girl broke out into a smile and gave a sigh of relief "Yes please, I think he is in his study but that part of the house is a little scary," Ai said in a quick sentence as she held out her hand for Moka. The woman took the offered hand and reached out to feel the girl's yokai levels out of instinct. She felt a little confused as the girl pulled her along, having thought that the girl had taken after her mother. That was definitely not the case. As they got closer to the study, Moka heard mumbling from behind the door. About to enter, she caught the sound of someone was yelling inside.
"You can't send him there!" a voice cried out. Moka could recognize it instantly. Kokoa.
"I'm a dark lord!" another voice, a male one, replied.
"So is Moka! She'll stop you!" Kokoa interrupted.
The door was opened violently as the silver-haired vampire stepped through. Kokoa looked at her sister before viciously smiling at Fang Fang. Kokoa knew what had been about to transpire, her ability to sense yokai almost being as good as her birth mother's.
"She'll stop you," said the younger vampire, pointing to her sister.
Ai was oblivious to the argument and ran over to her father, sitting on a couch. He read a
small black book while Mizore laid sprawled out across him contentedly, her head on his lap.
"Mum said she needs to talk to you and aunty Mizore, Daddy," said the five year old.
Mizore raised her head off her husband's thighs while Tsukune set the book down on the desk. He took his wife and daughter by the hand, and started for the door.
"We will continue discussing this later tonight," Kokoa told everyone. She too started for the door, dragging her sister along with her. Fang Fang was the last out, closing the study door as he exited behind them.
Kokoa stopped short as the door closed, pulling Moka into a nearby room. The girl made sure that no one was nearby before filling her sister in.
"The reason we are arguing... It is because humans have gotten a hold of some of Alucard's remains," The older vampire gasped but didn't interrupt her sister, "But that isn't the worst part. They got three bags of blood and have been experimenting on other humans. From what Fang Fang and Ling Ling have heard, they've almost got a ghoul on their hands."
The sisters stood in silence for at least a minute before they spoke again, "Fang Fang wants to send Tsukune in to deal with the problem but I'm against the idea." Kokoa began to open the door to their temporary sanctuary, "We are going to discuss it tonight," she finished as she walked out.
Why would Kokoa be upset about a Ghoul? Is it because of Tsukune's reaction? Moka was left to ponder as she began to descend the staircase towards the bustle of activity.
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The kitchen became a flurry of activity as dinner was almost ready. People swarmed in and out with trays of food and pitchers of drinks. Mizore took the lead as things were laid out on the table for maximum efficiency. The older children would snatch food as it was put onto a plate, and in turn, earn a smack to the hand from their mothers if they were caught. Meat appeared to be the most prominent food group but it was tempered with salads, starches, and vegetables. There were lots of dishes on display and everyone helped themselves to what they wanted, not withstanding the mothers that changed food choices for their children.
The table was soon surrounded by people, music playing softly in the background, not
loud enough too stop conversation but enough to fill the spaces in between. Everyone was talking about the simplest of things; school, work, friends, history, even age old grudges were dropped, if only for a little while.
Tsukune watched as his closest friends and family passed the time, but there was a noticeable social stigma surrounding Moka. She sat alone, only responding to questions rather than trying to actively converse. Kurumu had even tried talking to her, abandoning her usual tone in favor of a more cordial one. The young vampire actually smiled at that, one of the rarest of occasions, going so far as to banter with Kurumu for a while. Slowly, she appeared to become a more active participant in the conversations, but it seemed superficial at best.
Tsukune looked down at all the children surrounding him, deciding he had way too many, he knew, but to the girls they each had the perfect amount. After Kurumu helped him years ago, the other girls weren't waiting around anymore. The children were, thankfully,
mostly in the dark about their parents' high-school years, at least. He would eventually tell them, of course, but he would wait for them to be a few years older.
Tsukune looked out the window, noticing a blizzard fast approaching. He had learned how to read weather patterns when he had stayed at the Snow Village years ago. The house was always slightly warm, apart from his wife and children's bedrooms, which were always cold. The place was so clean, such that no one would expect that anyone lived there at all. It was partially true; Mizore and their children only lived here when others were over, usually preferring to stay Tsurura's recently expanded residence.
Mizore was regarded as an oddity among her people. She had more children than any other snow maiden, most people accounting her fertility to her husband rather than herself, a fair judgment, but only partially true. Tsukune assumed the snow priestess had a hand in it some way, as she always did, but he had more respect for Mizore than too ask her. He would wait for an explanation, if it ever came. It would take is time and patience to come to fruition, as all things did, and Tsukune had an abundance of both.
His lifespan was something he questioned with regularity, especially on the occasions of his birthday. Akasha had lived for over two hundred years, Alucard longer still, but his blood was a mix of both those bloodlines, along with what was naturally his. Would he live forever or just for the duration of a human lifespan? Immortality would not be fun, he had decided. Ruby's lifespan was longer than a human's but it was still too short for his tastes. Kurumu would live for much longer than that, but one day she too would succumb to death. Their mortality was an occasional thought, one that he would brush off in a flash, but once it entered his thought-processes, he knew he would keep brooding over it until he became too busy to think about it.
Tsukune had become accustomed to needing to be long sighted; small decisions made years ago could have horrendous repercussions for the future. Kokoa never failed to remind him of the multitude horrible events in history that were caused by solitary decisions made in haste.
Kokoa... Tsukune gazed over the table towards the woman.
Whenever he saw her, he couldn't help but smile as he remembered their first night together. It had become something of an inside joke between the two. Admittedly the young man had been terrified at the time, but then again so had Kokoa, for vastly different reasons.
"-Aint that right Tsukune?" Gin asked, causing him to snap back to reality.
"Whaaa?" Tsukune replied inconsistently.
"I said being a dad is great. Fongy here didn't believe me," Gin said, grabbing his drink off the table.
"Yeah it is," Tsukune agreed.
"But the diapers?" Fang-Fang asked.
"It's not that hard, you just have to read the instructions," Gin said, earning a look from his wife. "Hey, I only messed up once, then I got it right," the former newspaper club president defended himself from his wife's mute questioning.
San rolled her eyes and went back to talking to Kokoa through her notepad. Most people were finished their meal, only reaching for the last morsel of food if they had the tiniest bit of room to spare. Almost all the dishes had been cleared, the older children picking them up and walking them into the kitchen. Not all of them could use the tap water, so those with weaknesses against it were charged with packing them away. They had agreed to the 'child labour', as they claimed it, in exchange for ice cream.
"So what is this about? Alucard's blood?" Kurumu whispered to Fang-Fang as the children stepped out of ear shot.
"A human paramilitary group know as 'The Hunters' found the remains of the hanging
gardens, along with three blood bags and two pieces of Alucards body. They were hidden by Gyrokuro, in a safe. It seems the humans have been using the pieces on a few of their members" Fang-Fang explained "The blood has been injected into a young female and she has apparently fallen into a state of ghouldom. One of the pieces has been implanted into a young male and he's converted into one of the things Gyrokuro labeled as 'Black Parade'"
"So two unsealed ghouls are running about?" Gin asked.
"No..." Kokoa began "They're being kept in one of their bases. How, we don't know. The Hunters have been around for a very long time and, as their name suggests, they hunt down yokai"
Fang-Fang took over for her, "We can't send anyone in but Tsukune, he is the only one who could take down two ghouls and a number of guards."
"That is were I disagree, we could just let the humans play with the ghouls until they're done," Kokoa said.
"But what if they escape? Then who do we hold responsible?" Fang-Fang asked "The stupid people who created them or we who did nothing to destroy them?"
"If those ghouls were going to escape, they would have done that already," Kokoa said.
"No, apparently they keep them sedated enough to keep them slow and tired... But those tranquilizers could wear off," Fang-Fang replied.
"Do these humans hold much influence over the rest of their kind?" Yukari butted in.
"They have connections to many governments and a number of other militaries and a few... nothing." Fang-Fang said looking at a piece of paper.
"If they hate yokai, they could use this to cause a war against us, and if they could tell a yokai by aura then we would die," Yukari hypothesized.
"That's a lot of variables, Yukari" Fang-Fang said "Unfortunately it's true."
"But what about Tsukune's reaction?" Kokoa asked.
"He could, possibly, bend the ghouls to his will for a few moments, it's unlikely but we can't rule it out, but apart from that he should have no reaction to them at all," Fang-Fang said.
"But you want him to fight two of them...? Alone?" Kurumu asked.
"I have no doubts Tsukune could beat them both simultaneously," Fang-Fang assured her.
"But the girl was infused with Alucard's blood, so she could develop other powers, correct?" Yukari asked.
"And the man would already have some form of power," Ruby added.
"Tsukune is a far more advanced fighter. He could finish them both" Fang-Fang explained.
"Do I really have to kill them, I mean, the girl can be saved, right?" Tsukune asked, "She's got the same blood I do."
"Hmmmmm..." Fang-Fang said as he shuffled around some papers, "...Maybe."
"If I could get Mikogami to lend Tsukune the Rosary of Judgement. He could save them," Ruby said.
"Not the man no, but the girl could be saved with a Holy Lock," Fang-Fang surmised, "The man is too far gone, unfortunately."
"I'll leave first thing in the morning, if the weather clears up," Tsukune said, looking outside through one of the windows.
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Moka lay awake and alone in her bed, the sound of the house's front door opening having woken her up. Her super human senses detected a quiet muffled speech through her door, drawing her attention to its antique wooden frame. A moment later, she looked to her watch and noticed it was early in the morning. Using her sensing abilities, she could tell
that only four people were awake and they were all at the front door. One was leaving, while the others were walking back deeper into the house.
She pulled on a long white robe and tied it, covering her risqué sleep wear and maintaining the warmth that her bed had imbued her with. She opened the door and found Fang-Fang walking back to his room, waving as he passed her. She answered in kind and made her way to the kitchen.
Kurumu stood in her element, pulling out food and preparing it with a grace that few others could claim. Moka had tried to cook over the years but her heart hadn't been in it for the last ten years, all her subsequent attempts ending in failure.
Kurumu took note of the new arrival but ignored her. The woman's daughter, on the other hand, took the seat right next to her. Ai gave a sleepy smile to the silver-haired woman and Moka returned it with more alertness. The vampire walked into the kitchen and kept a wide radius from Kurumu, turning on the coffee pot and grabbing one of the many mugs that lay in the cupboard, she watched as Kurumu prepared her own coffee.
The woman was a natural cook and seemed to be undisturbed by the fact she was clad in only a bra and a pair of shorts that barely covered her shaply hips. Moka held a lot more in height compared to the short woman, but nevertheless held a certain grudge against the shorter woman's curves. The aqua haired woman lived up to her species' legends. While the vampiress was not ungifted in that area, but she barely held a candle next to the woman in terms of sexuality. Pure beauty was a different case entirely, however.
"Where did Tsukune go?" Moka asked.
"To wherever Fang-Fang sent him," replied Kurumu, a slight bite to her voice.
"Why isn't he waiting for Ruby to get the rosary?" Moka asked, hardly caring about the grudge the succubus apparently still held.
"He didn't tell me, something about blood" she replied, dishing up a breakfast for her daughter.
"Dad said the bad people would hunt him if they escaped the jail" Ai said, digging into her breakfast.
"The ghouls?" Moka questioned.
"Who else is Tsukune tracking?" the succubus mocked her as she turned on the tap to wash up the cooking utensils.
Moka would have attacked the woman if she had dared to take that tone with her at Yokai Academy, but Kurumu was most likely tougher since that time, and had the water running besides.
The vampire poured the coffee into her cup and began to drink it while Kurumu poured her own cup and took a seat next to her daughter. The vampire felt a twinge of jealousy, but brushed it aside and finished her coffee. She then left the mother and daughter alone in the kitchen. Making her way to her room, she looked at her phone and took some clothes to the nearest bathroom. She locked the door, not wanting a repeat of the 'accident' that happened the year before, when Tsukune had walked in on her.
Her greatest regret was what she had done to Tsukune, a horrible turn of events that she wished she could only reverse, caused by nothing more than her simple pride. She would have dumped it in an instant, if only Tsukune had asked her to and that was somthing that terrified her.
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Everyone else awoke at different times. The constant question was 'where's Tsukune?' Kurumu fielded the inqueries until about the seventh person, then she deferred the explanation of others. Ruby seemed sad that she couldn't assist Tsukune, Mizore seemed slightly angry, Yukari seemed disappointed, and Kokoa refused to talk to Fang-Fang. Ling-Ling, on the other hand, was unperturbed and the children were just filling there days with idle activities.
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My Myopia has been slightly aggravated recently so writing this put me in a slight mood then Mad Man finally came along and threw in a few ideas, needless to say I was not impressed. Moka's development was a thing he pointed out but I am just building up to the explanation which won't happen for a few chapters, but I think it will be worth it. Ciao`.
1054SS325MP was the amazing Beta for this chapter.