CHAPTER 5

FIRST DAY ON THE JOB

Tsukune was waiting with his backpack of stuff on the outside of the castle that lay just outside of the town, up on a large hill. It had been there for as long as anyone could remember, and Tsukune never thought that he would enter it, here he was, about to call it his new home. His train of thought was interrupted by a tugging on his pant leg. When he looked down, he saw Yukari shivering with tears in her eyes. "Tsukune, why do you have to go and live in the big scary castle?" She wasn`t lying; the castle WAS scary. It was as tall as three of the townspeople`s house stacked on top of each other, and as long as it was tall. It was made out of solid stone, and the windows did little to help it intimidating appearance. The door that Tsukune was currently standing in front of was twice as tall as he was. It scared him, but he was being strong for his little sister and the family and friend (he only had Mizore) that had come to see him off. He picked up Yukari.

"It`s okay Yukari," he said to comfort her. "You`ll still be able to visit me! Go back to mom and dad and Mizore, okay? I`m just about to leave." He put her down and nudged her towards his family. He watched her walk over and saw his mother and father there waving along with Mizore. His mom had on a sad face, and Mizore had on her normal face (neutral). His dad`s face was bizarre. It was… proud. Tsukune sighed in exasperation as he remembered why exactly his father was so proud…

FLASHBACK

Tsukune`s fathers` eyes were wide open, and his mouth was hanging by the hinges of his jaw. Tsukune had just told his father the news, and was a little frightened at how he was taking it.

"Dad? DAD!"

"Tsukune…"

"Yes Dad? What is it?"

"That…is…INCREDIBLE!" His father shouted as he jumped up from his chair, waving his arms back and forth. Tsukune and his mother were blown away.

"What?" Tsukune and his mother shouted at the same time.

"My boy is growing up! He managed to figure out a way to support the family and score the princess! That`s my boy!" Tsukune`s father grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him around in excitement. "That`s my boy!"

The rest of the night went something like that.

FLASHBACK END

He was snapped out of his flashback by the sound of a large creak that came from behind him. He turned and saw the person that was accompanying Moka yesterday answering the door. "Hello." He said in a monotone voice that reminded Tsukune of Mizore. "I am glad to see that you arrived so quickly. Please come in." Tsukune turned and looked at his family and Mizore. This was the moment of truth. He stepped inside of the castle and waved farewell.

"Goodbye!" He said. "I`ll see you next time you visit.

"Goodbye Tsukune!" His farewell party said in unison. Then the oak door closed and Tsukune saw no more. He turned around and nearly gasped at the room that lay in front of him. There were two large windows on either side of the spacious room that allowed plenty of light to stream in. below them, there were four torches(tow on each side) to be lit at night. On the floor was a large multi-colored carpet made of rich velvet that was so exquisite that Tsukune was afraid to walk on it. Beyond that lay a hallway to the left that led deeper into the first floor of the house, and on the right side a large staircase led to the upper floors of the castle. It was one of the most lavish things that Tsukune had ever seen.

"It`s magnificent…" Tsukune whispered. Corma scoffed.

"What an idiot." He said under his breath.

"What?" Tsukune asked, ever innocent. Corma ignored his question but turned to him regardless.

"My name is Corma, and I will be showing you around today."

"Nice to meet you Corma!" Tsukune held out his hand, which Corma just stared at until Tsukune let it fall back down to his side. "I am your BOSS, Mr. Aono (Moka had told Corma his full name), not your friend. Now, before I show you the Princesses room, I will have to show you the rest of the castle. Follow me." Corma strolled towards the staircase, with Tsukune not far behind.

XXXXXX

An hour later, they had finished with the upstairs of the castle. Tsukune`s head was spinning from all of the directions and things that he had learned. He worried that he wasn`t going to be able to remember everything, but he didn`t let his worry show. "It`s for my family." He kept telling himself. "Keep it together for them." Corma and Tsukune descended the stairway and stopped in front of the hallway on the bottom floor. Corma once again turned towards Tsukune. It was the first time they had made eye contact since they had gone upstairs.

"Mr. Aono, since the servants live upstairs, what must be down this hall?"

"Um…. The royal family?"

"Yes, yes. Very good. Normally, I would introduce you to all of them but Kahula and Akuha are with their husbands (they had already been married off) and the King and Queen are off on a democratic mission." They started walking down the hallway. Unlike the second floor, there were no windows, so the only light came from torches lined up on the wall, casting an eerie glow. "The only people currently in this hallway are Princess Moka, Princess Koka, and the royal witch Ruby." They stopped in front of a small door that was painted lime green. "This is where Ruby lives." Corma knocked three times.

"Come in!" A sweet voice called from inside. Corma opened the door and strolled inside, followed by a hesitant Tsukune. Inside, the windows at the far of the room let in the light so that Tsukune could see the shelves and shelves of beakers, jars of bizarre material, and various other knick-knacks. Tsukune leaned towards the jar closest to him and read the label.

Dandelion Snot. Tsukune decided to not read the labels.

He looked towards the center of the room, where he saw the strangest sight of them all: there was a large black cauldron in the center of the room that was set over a fire, and it was being stirred by a woman who looked to be about 18-19 years old that was wearing an ankle-length black dress, and on her hands she was wearing white gloves that seemed pretty worn. Her raven black hair reached all the way down her back, and in her hands was a wooden spoon that was stirring the green liquid in the cauldron. When Tsukune entered the room, she paused in her stirring, and looked up with a confused look on her face. Her eyes honed in on Tsukune, and she dropped the spoon and dashed over to him. Tsukune froze as she got closer, and she scanned him from top to bottom. She brought up her hand, and Tsukune flinched.

"Hi! My name is Ruby! I`m a witch!" she said in a strangely bubbly voice. "You must be the new guy; Tsukune right? They didn`t say that you were going to be such a cutie!" Tsukune blushed, looked at her, then took her hand and shook it.

"Um, hi Ruby. I`m Tsukune Aono, the new servant. Um… why were you looking at me funny?" Ruby giggled as she let go of his hand.

"Oh, I just sensed some magical aura about you, that`s all. But it`s gone now."

"Really? You sensed magic in me?" Tsukune asked in awe. Before Ruby could reply however, Corma interrupted.

"Well, this is an interesting conversation, but we really must be going now Ruby. Get back to whatever you were doing." Ruby frowned, but walked back over to her caldron and picked up the spoon as Corma escorted Tsukune out of the door.

"Good bye Tsukune!" Ruby called out. Tsukune managed to wave goodbye before Corma shut the door on him.

"Next up is Princess Koka." Corma said with a tone of voice that sent chills up Tsukune`s spine.

XXXXX

They walked a little farther down the hallway until they reached a door that had the words "Keep Out or Else!" Carved into the door. Corma didn`t knock this time, but simply called out "It`s Corma!" And stepped back.

"Enter!" a snarled demand seemed to rip through the door. Corma gestured towards the door, indicating that Tsukune should open it. Tsukune gulped, gathered his courage, opened the door… and was promptly tackled to the ground by what seemed to be a bulldozer. Tsukune could see that the thing that had taken him down had the face of a rather attractive girl, or who would otherwise be attractive if it`s teeth were gnashed together in anger and it`s blood-red eyes inches from Tsukune`s chocolate-brown ones. "You`re not Corma!" The girl snarled. Tsukune realized that this was Princess Koko (I just realized that I have been spelling her name wrong this entire time! Please forgive me; I'll spell it right from now on, I promise!).

"I`m right here, Princess Koko." Corma`s voice said from somewhere to Tsukune`s left. Koko looked up at him.

"Is this idiot with you?" she growled out.

"Unfortunately yes. This is your sister`s new servant." Corma replied in a voice that clearly had distain in it.

"Really?" Koko said in a menacing tone that Tsukune knew couldn`t be could. Koko leaped off of him. "Get up!" She ordered, hands on her hips. Tsukune staggered to his feet, still a little wobbly from the tackle. He looked around. There was a lavish bed in the left corner of the room, and next to it was an unusually large cage in which a small bat was presently taking a nap. They seemed out of place in the otherwise threadbare room. It was illuminated by a single large window on the far wall, and wit this natural light Tsukune could see that on the left wall, near the bed, were dozens of weapons lined up neatly along the wall, with a few others scattered on the floor. In the middle of the floor was a practice dummy that had clearly seen better days. It was nearly broken, and had cuts everywhere. In the right corner of the room, Tsukune could see the remains of old dummies piled high. He was suddenly struck with the urge to leave the room. Right now. However, he was unable to move due to the fact that Koko was looking at his up and down, just as Ruby had done. She scoffed. "How unimpressive! He won`t even be able to stand one round with me!" She said. "Here, I`ll prove it!" She lifted her leg in preparation for attack and Tsukune braced himself for a world of pain, but then Corma held up his hand.

"As much as I would like that Princess Koko, I don`t think that your sister would appreciate you killing her new servant on his first day." Koko looked with distaste at Corma as she realized that he was right. She lowered her foot and turned around. "Get out of my room! I need to train more so that I can beat my sister!"

"Yes, Princess. Tsukune." Corma turned and left. Tsukune dashed out after him, and the door slammed shut as he left.

"Hey, thank you for stopping her." Tsukune said to Corma.

"I didn`t do it for you!" Corma snapped. Tsukune was surprised; it was the first time he had seen Corma act so unprofessional. However, he quickly regained his composure and turned around. "The tour is over." He said. "It`s time to bring you to Princess Moka." He walked down the hallway, and Tsukune followed him cautiously.

XXXXXXX

"This is it." Corma said. He stopped in front of an ordinary door; nothing special about it. In fact, if Corma hadn`t said otherwise, Tsukune would have wondered why one of the servants was living with the royal family. "Just one thing before we go in." Corma said, still looking at the door.

"Yes? What is it?" Tsukune asked, curious. All of a sudden, Corma pivoted and his elbow met Tsukune`s chest as Corma threw him against the wall. Tsukune dropped his bag in surprise and pain. Corma shoved his face very close to Tsukune`s; he could see the anger in Corma`s eyes.

"Listen up you little punk: Princess Moka is MINE!" Corma spit out. Tsukune`s eyes widened; had he heard that correctly? "I`ve been working here for almost my entire life. I know her better than almost anyone in this castle! It`s bad enough seeing stuck-up princes try to win her over, but now you come along and think you can replace me? Not going to happen! This is your only warning punk: lay off of Princess Moka!" Corma released Tsukune and turned towards the door again, brushing himself to remove any creases in the suit before he knocked on the door. Tsukune was left leaning against the wall, catching his breath and thinking to himself What have I gotten myself into?

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Boom! Chapter five is done! Looking it over, I realize that this is the second-longest thing that I've ever written (the first being You Belong With Me), mostly because so much is happening. And about Koko`s name; I was re-reading the manga yesterday and I realized that I`ve been spelling it wrong this entire time! Sorry! Anyway, thanks for reading, please review, and check back soon for chapter six!