CHAPTER 9

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN MEN

Tsukune returned a few minutes' later, towel and bottle of water in hand. Moka accepted both and dried her face with the white piece of cloth and downed the water in one gulp. She wiped her mouth and stared at Tsukune with a look that was unfamiliar to him. However, she shook her head and looked away, so Tsukune didn't have enough time to look at her face to determine what it was. "Tsukune, what time is it?" She asked, not making eye contact. Confused but still loyal, Tsukune looked at the watch that all servants received.

"It's approximately 12 o'clock Moka." Moka hmphed.

"Time for lunch... Let's go, Tsukune." Moka said as she strolled out of the room. Tsukune quickly followed behind. When they got to the dining hall, however, they were surprised to see Koko standing firm guard outside of the door and Corma standing dutifully to her right. Moka, sensing trouble, went on her guard. "What do you want Koko?" She snarled.

"He is not eating with us." Koko said, obviously meaning Tsukune. Moka's temper flared up, and it took all of her willpower to not leap forward and initiate a fight then and there.

"And why is that?" Moka managed to force out in between mashed together teeth.

"I was lenient enough when I let him eat with us earlier, but I won't be so nice again! Him and Corma are going to be eating outside of the dining hall!" Koko said with a voice of finality. Moka's eyes flashed and she tensed her muscles to jump forward and attack. She would have, too, If Tsukune hadn't decided to step in front of her and make her stop.

"It's okay, Moka; I'll just eat in my room like I normally do. You don't have to defend me." Tsukune said with a smile. He didn't want to see to sister's fight over him. Moka felt her anger deflate, and she stood up.

"Fine." Moka said after a short silence. "Tsukune, you and Corma will eat in your respective rooms. We will come and get you when we are finished eating. You will both wait outside of the door to the Dining hall and your food will be brought to you. Understood?" Tsukune and Corma both bowed. Satisfied that she had been heard, Moka once again directed her glare at her sister. "We will discuss what just happened over lunch, Koko." Koko's smug smile at getting what she wanted quickly dropped, and she darted through the doors to the table. Moka followed her, nodding goodbye to Tsukune and Corma. She closed the door behind her and Tsukune and Corma were left to stand alone in an awkward silence. After about a minute, Corma broke the silence.

"So, how has your day been?" He asked without looking at Tsukune. An innocent enough question, but coming from Corma, Tsukune knew that he had to watch what he said. He decided to go with the most generic answer that he could think of.

"It's been okay." Tsukune said in as nonchalant a voice that he could muster.

"That's funny, considering you know that you are going to die." Corma said in a cool voice. He might as well have been talking about the weather. Tsukune's head whipped towards Corma so fast he almost suffered whiplash. Corma was looking straight ahead, giving off the impression that he was rather bored.

"Um, what?" Tsukune asked in a voice more shocked than frightened. After all, maybe he hadn't heard correctly. Maybe Corma had said… said it was a lie. Yeah, that's what he said; he didn't threaten to kill anyo-

"I said that I'm going to kill you."

Darn.

"Um… why is that Corma?" Tsukune asked, trying to keep his voice under control and failing miserably, all the while hoping that the chefs would hurry up and bring out their food so that he could run back to his room and pretend that this conversation never happened.

"I told you to stay away from my Princess Moka, and you didn't. So, I'm going to kill you." Corma said in the same uncaring voice as before. Before Tsukune could respond, however, Chumio came out with their lunches. He handed over their meals, bowed and left. Corma turned to Tsukune. "Enjoy the meal!" He said with a smile. He walked towards his room, leaving Tsukune quite shaken up. It was a few minutes later that he was finally able to move and go to his room.

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Unnoticed at the top of the stairs, Princess Kurumu was left to ponder what she had just seen.

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A short chapter, I know, but it set the ball moving. Hope you enjoyed!