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Rosario + Vampire: Angel of Death
Chapter 5
Youkai Academy Hallways. Afternoon
Class had finally ended for Haru Uematsu.
A couple of weeks had passed since the Yukari incident. Many of the students in their homerooms were leaving, either to go to clubs, the dorms, or elsewhere. Haru, alongside Tsukune and Moka, stayed behind, as they were in the same club.
Haru noticed something about Moka that was different from before. She seemed involved in an Art book of sorts, looking through it as if she were interested. What are you thinking, Moka? he thought. Even after saving her from multiple attacks from others in the last two months, she still didn't seem to trust him; otherwise she would've been around him more. Perhaps I'm trying too hard to stay away, he thought, or maybe I just find myself too drawn away from her. Either way, I have to get close in order to find her and the other Moka's weaknesses.
He then turned to Tsukune, who seemed to be blushing like mad, with a big smile on his face. What the hell is he grinning about? He then, out of nowhere, looked like he was kissing someone! Haru's face deadpanned. Okay, NOW I'm curious. What in the HELL is he doing!?
Suddenly, someone popped Tsukune on the head with a foldable fan. Tsukune looked up to see Gin patting the fan on his shoulder. "It's club time!" he said, "Get your act together, man."
Tsukune rubbed his head. "Oww." He said.
Gin creeped up to Moka, peeking at what she was doing. She noticed him, and tried to hide the book, blushing bright red.
"Oh, Moka-san!" he said, smiling. "What's this? Are you painting a picture or something? That book's an art textbook, ain't it?"
Moka shook her head. "N…No, it isn't," she said, "This is just…"
Gin smiled got brighter. "Heh," he said, "you're looking hot as ever today, Moka-san. I really love ya, baby!" He pulled out a bouquet of flowers, and said, "Won't you go out with me, Moka-san?"
Tsukune's face deadpanned. Wha-!? he thought, he's professing his love so smoothly!
Gin chased after Moka, his tail appearing and wagging nonstop. Moka tried to get away.
Suddenly, the end of a bag was in Gin's face. He recognized that bag to be Haru's, as the angel was also, from the looks of it, protecting Moka.
"Gin." Haru said, "do we need to repeat the ass-kicking that you got last time? Or can you keep it in your pants?"
Gin held his hands in the air. "Okay," he said, "let's all calm down now…" He then disappeared, and Haru reflexively spun around, hitting Gin in the back, sending him flying.
"Argh!" Gin shouted after he hit the wall.
Moka rushed to Haru. "Please," she said, "don't start a fight. I'm okay."
Haru looked at Moka, then lowered his bag, then shouldered it.
Gin got up. "Shouldn't you be respecting your elders?" Gin asked.
"I'm over a hundred years old." He said. "Doesn't that make me YOUR elder?"
"Wha-!" Gin looked surprised.
Moka got close to Haru. "Over a hundred?" she asked, surprise in her eyes.
"Oh yeah," Haru said, "I never told you, did I?" Haru put his bag on the floor. "Angels have more expansive lifespans than other races. Sure, vampires can live for centuries, but there's a difference between us and them. Our bodies only develop more slowly than humans. For example, when an angel is, say, 46, they have the appearance and personality of a four-year-old."
"So," Tsukune said, finally speaking up, "Angels grow like humans around every ten years?"
"Sort of." Haru said. "After angels reach adulthood, their body growth slows down after a few years, until the only time they look old is when they're around 5,000 or older."
Tsukune, Moka, and Gin's faces deadpanned. In each of their minds, they tried to imagine an older-looking Haru, and snickered at the thought.
"What's so funny?"
"N-nothing…" The three tried to make their smiles disappear, but it was no easy task.
Suddenly, the door opened, and a voice shouted for Tsukune.
He turned around to see Kurumu wrap her arms around him. "Another day of being in the club with you! Yay! I love you, Tsukune!"
Tsukune was startled, yet for some reason taken aback to her confession, despite her having said so before on numerous occasions.
"Waaaait just a minute!" someone said. Out of nowhere, a dustpan fell on Kurumu's head, a bedpan hit Haru's, and Gin's scalp became acquainted with a nearby desk.
Oh, god, Haru thought, the last of the trifecta…
Yukari raised her wand in the air. "I won't let anyone get away with putting their hands on Tsukune-san or Moka-san! I'll fight anyone off with my magic! Because I wuv them both!"
By that time, Yukari made it to the top of a nearby desk.
Gin pointed at her. "Who is she?" he asked.
"She's the new club member, Yukari-chan." Moka said. "A girl genius!"
"And a pain in the ass, at times." Haru said, rubbing his head.
Kurumu held on to Tsukune, as if the attack on her hurt her completely. Tsukune didn't even notice, as he seemed preoccupied with whatever he was thinking about before.
Youkai Academy Grounds. Evening.
After club had ended, Tsukune, Haru, and Moka walked towards the dorms. Moka and Tsukune had their usual talk, whilst Haru kept quiet through the whole ordeal.
Suddenly, Moka turned away from the direction they were going, and walked away from the boys.
"Hey, Moka-san," Haru asked, "where are you going? Don't we usually go home together?"
"Sorry," Moka said, "but I have to go somewhere." She held up the book she was reading earlier.
"What," Tsukune said, "does it have to do with that book?"
Moka nodded. "The thing is, I got asked by the art teacher to be a model for a picture! So I can't go home with you two for a week."
Haru looked somewhat unimpressed. Tsukune looked freaked.
"Don't worry," she said, "I'll still work hard for the Newspaper Club!"
"I'm not worried about that!" Tsukune shouted. "Don't you know what day is coming up soon?"
"Hm?" Moka said, looking confused, "What day?"
Is this what was making Tsukune act like a fool? Haru thought.
Tsukune looked freaked, as if the day he was talking about was very important. Haru could already tell what Tsukune's deal was.
Moka went to Tsukune. "Would you," she asked, "let me suck your blood?"
Tsukune freaked. "Why are you like this now!?" he asked.
"I…It's just," Moka said, blushing, "I thought this would be goodbye for a while after today and I… I'll be lonely."
Haru was surprised. Moka looked very beautiful. Then again, creatures of the night love to play their victims with emotions, so it was no big deal.
Moka got close to Tsukune, and sank her fangs into Tsukune's throat.
"Thanks for the treat!" Moka said, with a big smile on her face.
Tsukune slumped to the ground, dazed from the blood loss.
"Bye bye, Tsukune!" Moka said, waving the two. "Bye bye, Haru-san!"
Haru grabbed Tsukune, and brought him to a nearby tree.
"Thanks." Tsukune said.
Haru stared at the direction Moka went. "Perhaps we should've gone with her regardless." he said.
Tsukune looked at him. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Haru turned to him. "Idiot." he said, "Didn't you pay attention to what Gin said about those missing girls?"
Tsukune's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah," he said.
Youkai Academy Classroom. Earlier.
"Listen, everyone, we have some news!" Gin said, writing the word 'disappearance' on the chalkboard. "The 'Missing Girls' problem!"
Tsukune, Haru, Yukari, Moka, and Kurumu looked at each other. "Missing girls?" Yukari asked.
"Exactly!" Gin said. "Several students have vanished without a trace lately, one after another. Seven, to be exact, in just over a month. It's not all that unusual for people here to go missing, but don't you think these numbers are unusual?" He pulled out some flyers, and passed them around. Each flyer had a picture of the missing girls' faces. "I've collected some basic information on the missing girls! We're going to find out the facts on this incident!"
"Wow." Tsukune whispered to Haru, "When he's in this club, he can be pretty serious, can't he?"
"2000 yen says this is just an act for his own personal needs." Haru replied.
Tsukune looked at Haru. "How can you say that!?" he asked, "even if it were true…"
"As you can see from these pictures," Gin continued, walking towards a nearby window, "the girls that have disappeared are all pretty hot! If someone is holding them hostage, I wanna save them somehow. If they see me in a good light," A smile creeped up on his face, "it'll me a chance for me to get to know them better!"
Tsukune's face deadpanned. Haru sighed. "If only you made that bet," he said to Tsukune. "Oh, well."
Youkai Academy Grounds. Now.
Tsukune leaned on a nearby branch of the tree he was on. "Sorry, but," he said to Haru, "I'm just not in the mood to help out the club right now."
"Oh, come on," Haru said, "Moka-san's sucked your blood before. Quit being such a pansy and start acting like a man. What's so special about later on anyways? Is it your birthday or something?"
Tsukune looked at him, and back at the ground.
"Oh, great." Haru said. "It's your birthday soon, isn't it? And lemme guess," he walked to the tree, leaning on it with his arms crossed, "you want to spend the whole day with Moka, right? You do care for her, don't you?"
Tsukune kept quiet; worried that Haru would chastise him once again.
Haru sighed. "Well," he said, "I guess I understand. I would've done the same myself."
Tsukune stood straight. "Wait, what?" he asked.
Wait, what did I just say? Haru thought. Did I just say that I wanted to be with that god-awful beast?
"W-What," Tsukune said, "what do you mean?"
Haru looked at Tsukune, his mind racing for a response. Wait, he thought, that's it! That's how I can be near Moka and get on her's and Other Moka's good side! Why didn't I think about this before!?
Haru stared to the ground, blushing. "Well, I guess I can trust you." he said, turning to face Tsukune, "I, I have feelings for her."
Tsukune's face deadpanned. "S-Seriously!?" he said.
"Y-Yeah." Haru said. "I've felt like this since I first met her. You, too, right? You felt that just after she crashed into you? That feeling where the air in your lungs disappears and your heart starts to race? It's been bothering me since we met, and I couldn't shake it off."
"Well, that explains the sudden need for you to protect her." Tsukune said.
He fell for it? Haru thought, I can't believe how stupid he is. Or maybe I'm a good actor.
Tsukune slumped. "What am I to Moka-san anyway? She just sucks my blood all the time! I'm not even important enough for her to remember my birthday…"
"She has a lot on her mind." Haru said. "Like the club, this new modeling thing, and the fact that every guy wants to be with her all day long. She has a rough life. We just need to be there for her. And don't worry; I'm sure she'll remember your birthday soon."
Tsukune sighed.
Suddenly, a voice appeared nearby. Haru and Tsukune looked behind the tree to see Moka standing with someone. The woman wore a bandana on her braided hair, wore a long white coat, and clothes that looked like it came from some recent fashion model.
"I'm really glad, Moka-san!" the woman said. "When I see someone beautiful as you, I just want to have you in my art collection!"
Tsukune and Haru hid behind the tree. "Is that the art teacher?" he asked.
"Yeah." Haru said. "Hitomi Ishigami. They say she's a great artist."
"Oh." Tsukune said, a sad look on his face.
"Your beauty truly is high art." the teacher said.
Moka bowed in respect. "I'm looking forward to working with you for the next week."
"Oh, me too." the teacher said.
"So it's true," Tsukune said, "she really is going to be a model."
Haru stared angrily at the teacher. He could sense an evil aura from the teacher, yet for some reason, the aura was not too great. Perhaps the aura's just normal. Probably no reason to worry about it.
* * * * * * *
A few days had passed since Moka had announced to Haru and Tsukune about her new modeling hobby. Haru had, unwillingly, noticed that Tsukune had been trying to talk to her since they found out. But every time he tried, someone got in his way. To Haru, it was like watching a cartoon from the early days.
On the day before his birthday, Tsukune went to Haru, asking him to help. Haru turned him down, but somehow, Tsukune knew what Haru hated a lot, as he began to complain about the whole ordeal. Haru could feel his head was about to explode from the whole experience, so, just so that Tsukune could shut up, Haru agreed.
And so, Haru found himself at the front of the Art building with Tsukune, with each a bit frozen from the cold air passing by them.
"So…" Haru asked, "why am I here again?"
Tsukune looked at him. "I need you to distract anyone who'd make it impossible for me to ask Moka-san about my birthday." he said. "In short, I need you to be my wingman. No pun intended."
Haru stared at him. "Seriously?"
Tsukune looked down. "You were the only choice I had, other than Gin."
"Oh." Haru said. "Then let me rephrase my question: Why the HELL am I here to help?"
Tsukune sighed. "Let's just get this over with!" he said. Tsukune walked to the front door, with Haru following behind.
Walking ahead, the two traversed through the floor, Tsukune leading the way.
"So, how do you know that Moka-san will be here?" Haru said.
"I've been going to the classes for the past few days, trying to find a good time to ask Moka-san." Tsukune replied.
Haru stopped. "Wait," he said, "you mean you've been stalking her?"
Tsukune quickly turned around. "What!? No!" he said, his face turning red.
"Sounds like it to me." Haru said. "What, are you one of those humans that think that whatever they do with a woman, they do it for love?"
"No!" Tsukune said. "I…I…Oh forget it! Let's just get going…"
Haru tried his hardest not to smile. Oh, Tsukune, he thought, you really are easy to mess with…
The two continued on their way, and reached the door to the Art room.
"Okay," Tsukune said. "This is it. I'm going into the art class to talk directly to Moka-san and ask her to be there for my birthday!"
"Less talking," Haru said, "more doing this so that I can get out of here."
Tsukune closed his eyes, and opened the door. "Excuse me!" he said, "I need to talk to Moka-san!"
Haru looked in the classroom. "Uh, Tsukune," he said, "maybe you should open your eyes."
Tsukune looked in the classroom, and was shocked. There was nobody inside!
"W-what the-!?" he said. "Where IS everybody!?"
Haru went in the room, and looked around. "Maybe they don't have class today."
Tsukune shook his head. "No, they didn't say anything about any class today. Then again, I don't think I paid much attention to what the Sensei was saying…" he said.
Haru stared at him. "You're really making it hard for anyone to not think that you're not creepy as hell…" he stated.
"Oh well," Tsukune said, sitting down in a nearby chair. "I guess I'll just wait for them to show up."
The angel shrugged. "You do that." he said, walking towards the door. "I'm leaving."
Before Tsukune could call out to him, a somewhat quiet set of cries caught their attention. Tsukune and Haru looked around for the source.
Tsukune noticed a bunch of clothes near a locker, where the sobs seem to be coming from. "Haru-san, over here." he said.
Haru walked to the locker, and examined the clothing. It looked like the Youkai schoolgirl uniform, spread around the front of the locker.
"Okay," Haru said, "either some girl decided to go commando, or something else is going on here."
"Oh, god," Tsukune said, "It looks like Moka's uniform!"
Haru, eyes widening at the thought, rushed to the locker door, and forced it open.
All that was in the locker was a statue of a naked woman with two braids on the front of her face. It was crying for some reason, making constant sobs for no reason.
"UWAH!" Tsukune shouted. "The-the statue's crying?! What's going on here?!"
He stumbled back a few steps. "Why is something like this in a locker?!" he asked.
Haru shook his head. "I… I don't know." he said.
Tsukune examined the statue. "Strange," he said, "I feel like I've seen this girl's hairstyle before…"
Suddenly, Haru felt a presence behind him. He turned around. "Tsukune!" he said.
Tsukune turned back, and saw the art teacher standing behind him, a villainous look on her face. "What are you doing to my art?" she asked.
Tsukune freaked. "Ishigami-sensei?!" he said. "I-I'm sorry. We barged in here and…"
Ishigami-sensei held her hand to her face, and she dropped her look and switched it to a normal look.
"Aren't you Tsukune-kun from class three?" she asked, closing the locker door.
Tsukune didn't answer. She just gave me a look so scary, he thought, I thought I was gonna die, yet now…
Ishigami-sensei smiled. "So you two came to pick up Moka-san, I gather? I'm sorry, but she's too busy being a model to spend time with you."
"What do you mean by that?" Haru asked.
Ishigami-sensei replied. "Why, you ask?" She was about to tell them when Moka appeared in the doorway.
"Tsukune?" she asked. "Haru-san? Why are you two here?"
"Moka-san!" Tsukune said. "Well, you see, we…"
Moka blushed, and proceeded to push Tsukune and Haru out of the class.
"Whoa!" Haru said, "What the hell, Moka-san?!"
"I'll be embarrassed, so you both can't be here! So leave!" she replied.
"Wait," Tsukune said, "then, are you really a nude model?!"
Haru looked at him like he was a madman. "Dude," he said, "what the hell is wrong with you?!"
"What I do is none of your business!" Moka said. "Anyway, just leave, both of you!"
Tsukune looked at her, shocked and hurt.
"I see…" he said, bowing his head. "So I'm nothing to you, is that it!?"
Moka was shocked. "What?" she asked.
"Fine!" Tsukune said. "I totally understand! You don't care about me at all!"
He ran off, leaving Moka and Haru behind.
"I'm sorry." Haru said. "He's just being an idiot again. Let me talk to him."
He ran off, leaving Moka with Ishigami-sensei. Damn it, Tsukune, he thought, why are you such a dumbass? Why the hell is everything a drama to you?
Youkai Academy.
Haru rushed through the hallways. Where the hell is he? Haru thought. How hard can it be to find a human who acts like a complete idiot? Oh, right, very.
He ran through the cafeteria, the second and first floors, and even asked some students if they saw Tsukune, but to no avail.
He then figured that Tsukune could be at the Newspaper Club room. Running through crowds of people, he made it just in time to see Tsukune leaving the classroom, running like mad.
Haru went into the room. "What the hell is going on?" he asked.
Yukari, Kurumu, and Gin looked at him. "I- I don't know." Kurumu said. "He just came in here, stayed for a minute, and just left!"
Haru looked at the direction Tsukune went. Where's he going? he thought.
"Haru-san," Yukari asked. "Did something happen between Tsukune and Moka-san?"
Haru looked at Yukari. "Why do you ask?"
Yukari looked at a crystal ball that was sitting on the desk she was in. "I was looking into this orb, and I saw some bad aura between them. Did they have a fight?"
Haru nodded. "You could say that." he said. "Why was Tsukune in a hurry to leave here?"
Gin held up a flyer. "You remember those seven girls that disappeared? Well, another one disappeared yesterday!"
Haru looked at the flyer, and saw the picture of the latest missing girl.
Suddenly, Haru's mind raced to earlier, when he and Tsukune discovered the statue in Ishigami-sensei's locker. The girl was a spitting image of the statue, eerily so. He then realized: Tsukune's haste, the missing girls, the mysterious aura around Ishigami-sensei, it all made sense.
Haru ran out of the classroom, making it to the outside where he could let out his wings where he had room and where no one was nearby. Taking flight, he raced to the art building. Please, he thought, don't let me be too late…
Moka screamed. Just after Haru and Tsukune left, Ishigami's hair started to rise, and turn into strange snakes.
Moka backed to a wall. "What's happening to you, Ishigami-sensei!? What's with your hair!?"
Ishigami smiled. "You see," she said, "Tsukune-kun and Haru-kun just saw a little too much!" Her braids began to form teeth at the ends, each taking shape into snake heads. "So, thanks to them, I'm going to put an early end to our playtime!" Her hair lunged at Moka. "Too bad!"
One of the braids bit Moka's arm, followed by the other braids sending her through the door where she was close to.
When the dust settled, Moka looked around shocked to see what was around her.
Statues. Lots and lots of statues of naked girls. Each were sobbing uncontrollably, most were in different positions.
"What…" Moka said, "What's going on!? The statues are crying as if they were real!"
She then felt a sharp pain on the area where she was bit. She looked down to see that her hand was turning into stone.
"Wha…" she said, losing all feeling to her hand. "No… My left hand heels like it's stone…"
Ishigami walked through the doorway. "It's my power of transformation into stone! Any living thing bitten by one of my snakelike hairs will turn into stone." She took on a scary persona, creeping up to the room. "You, too, will soon be completely turned to stone just like those other girls."
"No…" Moka said, "You couldn't mean… then the other statues in this room are all…"
"Yes," Ishigami said. "The beautiful students of this academy! I've turned them all to stone. Isn't it artistic? And you, too, will be added into stone and added to my art collection, Moka Akashiya."
Moka then realized at last what Ishigami really was. A Gorgon. A Greek monster that many humans fear.
The braids wrapped around Moka's entire body, as each snake seemed like it was going to bite off a chunk of her. Moka was frozen in fear as Ishigami walked around her.
"Hu hu hu!" Ishigami said. "Aren't you beautiful? And I will further elevate that beauty for you. Isn't that an honor?"
Moka looked at her. "Sensei," she said, "All those girls that went missing, it was because of you?!"
Ishigami smiled. "Take a look at these girls!" She rested her hands on one of the statues. "They're crying! Even thought they're stone, they're alive! They have emotion- sadness and despair. They can't move, they can't die, all they can do is cry." Her smile got bigger. "Ohh… how beautiful is this? Is this not true art?"
Moka stood there, knowing that Ishigami was truly crazy.
"Well then," Ishigami said. "it's about time I put the finishing touches on you." She sent more snakes to speed up the process.
Moka screamed. Noo… she thought. Someone, anyone, help me…
Suddenly, a loud "Wait!" pierced the mood, and Moka looked up to see Tsukune trying to get the snakes off of her, pulling with all his strength.
"Tsukune!?" Moka screamed. "Why are you here!?"
"Enough of this insanity!" Tsukune said, "I'm not going to let you turn Moka-san into stone!"
"Damn you!" Ishigami said. "Don't be a nuisance!"
"Run, Tsukune!" Moka shouted. "Don't get turned to stone!"
Just as she said this, the snakes began to bite her, starting the process.
Tsukune didn't give up. "I.." he said, "I can't go on without you, Moka-san. No matter how insignificant I maybe to you, I need you, Moka-san!"
"Shut up, boy!" Ishigami shouted, sending some of her snakes to bite Tsukune. He could feel each painful bite weaken him, as his body also began to turn to stone.
But before they reached him, Ishigami felt someone grab her from behind, wrapping their arms around her, and swinging her to the nearby wall, weakening her hold on Moka.
She turned around to see Haru angrily smash her to the wall repeatedly. "Let go of Moka and Tsukune, you bitch!" he said to her.
Ishigami sent the rest of her snakes to bite Haru, yet it didn't even faze him.
Haru's eyes shined. "Finally," he said, "someone else other than Tsukune who does something entirely stupid."
Just as Ishigami heard that, she felt a burning pain course through her snakes. It felt like she bit into a powerful fire, with a mysterious taste in it.
The taste was coming from Haru, yet for some reason the stoning effect didn't even seem to work on him, as the places where he was bit didn't turn to stone.
"Wha-!?" she said. "What ARE you!?"
Haru stared into her eyes. "Would you believe," he said, "your worst nightmare?"
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light appeared behind Ishigami, she looked around to feel her snakes that were around Moka and Tsukune being torn to pieces.
"Oh, right," Haru said, "there's also that."
She could see that the flash of light was coming from Moka. Whatever the power was, her snakes couldn't take the immense power.
"EYAAAA!" Ishigami shouted. "What in hell is this extraordinary power?! M..my snakes can't take it! You're tearing them apart!"
The snakes finally broke off as Moka completed her transformation. Haru could see her rosario in the stone hands of Tsukune.
"GYAAA! MY HAIR! MY SNAKES!" Ishigami screamed. The hairs that sent the snakes to Moka bled out almost uncontrollably. "You…" she said, freeing herself from Haru's hold. "You bitch! You can't even understand art, you little tramp! Just hurry up and turn to stone!
Suddenly, Other Moka jumped in the air, and Haru grabbed his sword, and without unsheathing it, both himself and Other Moka struck Ishigami simultaneously, Other Moka hitting her head, Haru hitting her spine.
Ishigami felt the pain of each blow, as she fell to unconsciousness.
"How is it?" Other Moka asked. "Feeling the weight of your own stone in a swift kick?"
Haru stared at the unconscious body. "When you wake up," he said, "find another hobby, lest you want to die soon."
Other Moka walked to Tsukune. She and Haru could see that the transformation for him was complete.
"Tsukune…" Other Moka said. "For reaching into a nest of serpents to unhook the rosary, I thank you. It seems you're braver than I thought."
"Or just more incredibly stupid." Haru added.
Other Moka laughed. "Perhaps." she said.
Youkai Academy Infirmary. The next day.
Tsukune woke up.
He sat up, finding himself in the infirmary.
Wha? he thought. Where am I?
The door opened, as Moka rushed to Tsukune's side. "Tsukune!" she cried out. "I'm so relieved! You finally woke up!"
"Waaa!" Tsukune said. "Moka-san?! What's going on!? Wasn't I turned to stone?"
Moka smiled. "When Ishigami-sensei was defeated," she explained. "her spell was broken and everyone turned back to normal! But you were the only one who didn't wake up for a whole day, so I was worried about you."
Tsukune's face deadpanned. A whole day?! he thought, turning away from Moka. No way… If I slept a whole day, then that means… today is my birthday?! Oh, man, Moka-san didn't even say anything about my birthday at all!
"Tsukune," Moka said. "Look at this!"
Tsukune looked back top see Moka pull a white sheet off of a painting of himself.
"I worked hard drawing you for the theme 'what's important to you!' It may not be exact, but… I hope you like it!" she said.
Tsukune was shocked. He could feel his heart race.
"Sorry for hiding it." Moka said. "I know I worried you, but in order to draw this, I went to learn how to paint from Ishigami-sensei, in return for being a model."
Tsukune's heart skipped many beats.
Moka's smile got bigger. "Happy birthday, Tsukune! I love you!"
Tsukune's eyes started to water. She remembered! Tsukune thought. I don't believe it!
"Moka-san," he said, "I also…"
Moka looked at him. "Hmm?"
Tsukune got close. "Moka-san, I…" he got even closer. "I… lo…"
But before he could get even further, the door opened to reveal Kurumu, Yukari, Haru, and Gin in the doorway. Tsukune and Moka fell over in disbelief.
"Tsukune!" Kurumu said, coming in. "I'm so glad you woke up! I heard it from Moka! Today's your birthday, isn't it? Here's your present, a year's supply of cookies!" She held out a big bag of cookies and placed it on the bed.
"My present is a Warawara-kun doll!" Yukari said, revealing a doll that looked like the one that she used earlier to control Tsukune days ago.
"By the way," Gin said, "what were you guys just doing?"
"N-Nothing…" Moka and Tsukune said.
As the group had their birthday party, Haru stood in the doorway for a bit, then left. I can't believe Tsukune's alive, he thought, and he's still trying to get close to Moka. Why is he trying to be with her despite being in life-threatening danger all the time? Is it a human thing, or is he fueled by some crappy emotion like love? Either way, I have to hurry. If I don't get close to both Mokas, I'll never get my revenge…
To be continued...