I do not own Rosario+Vampire. Any parts that resemble the Anime or Manga are probably from it.
Tsukune will eventually get stronger as a Youkai, and did have several tools that he used. Unfortunately being a zombie comes with a lot of downsides, his body can only degrade since his death, he can't get physically stronger nor can he increase the size of his mana pool.
And yes, part of the probable with making Tsukune any kind of Youkai is keeping his personality the same, or at least his essential Tsukune-ness. I shall try harder to keep him similar to his canon personality.
And I hadn't heard of Kore wa Zombie desuka before, I have since checked it out but I won't be doing male Zombie magical girls. That's just odd.
- E.P - E.P -
The next day dawned early, something Tsukune was glad for. The night was usually quite boring for the old Zombie, not needing any rest. Most of it had been spent trying to stitch his arm back together, not the easiest of tasks seeing as he had to do it with one hand, even decapitation was easier to deal with if he had a mirror and could balance his head on the stump of his neck.
The rest of the night had been spent trying to work out just what he had wondered in to. Monster species were insular, and the Academy didn't appear to be a recent development, so someone really quite powerful must be at the top. Musing on thoughts of powerful monsters his attention slowly moved to Moka, hopefully his new friend, even if it was for ulterior motives.
She seemed nice enough, even if she was really quite naive. Still he hadn't expected her to change so drastically once that seal of hers had been released, although knowing she was a Vampire, he probably should have expected it.
As the sounds of his dorm mates waking up filtered through the walls Tsukune started pulling a fresh shirt and jacket on, having taken his old ruined one off when he had reattached his arm. Pulling the sleeves over the neat rows of stitches that traced around the new wound, he wondered if there was anywhere he could get the ruined clothes repaired. Given how often his got ruined failing to dodge what would normally be lethal wounds if he had still been alive, he would need a few more than the couple he had brought.
Picking up his bag, Tsukune headed out towards the main school building and past the forms of his classmates, most of who had failed to retain a human form. Tsukune himself had gotten used to holding his glamours up all the time, aside from odd incidents in his first century when people had wandered into his home and seen his corpse pottering about.
Quite a few of his classmates appeared to be staring at someone with hearts in their eyes, comments about her beauty easily reaching his ears. Peering round them he quickly realised it was the pink haired form of Moka slowly strolling to school, a trail of admirers following behind.
"Morning Moka-san," Tsukune called, moving past the stunned admirers, "How are you feeling?"
"Ah, Tsukune-san!" She called back excitedly, before peering worriedly at his arm, "Shouldn't I be asking you that?"
"Don't worry," Tsukune replied with a smile, waving his arms at her, "I put myself back together during the night."
Moka smiled at that glad he wasn't hurt, then began talking about class. As the two of them continued walking towards the school, Tsukune shivered, there were more than a few malicious glares being directed towards him for daring to walk near Moka. He could here shouts decrying his character as well as unsubtle death threats.
Tsukune sighed, he was so fucked.
- E.P - E.P -
Thankfully the glares died down during his morning lessons, even as the source of his problems changed. Tsukune wasn't exactly stupid but school was always difficult for him, due in some small part to his age. He hadn't leant to read and write until he had a few centuries under his belt and he had never been a more than adequate student. The only reason he appeared to do so well was repetition, the curriculum didn't change very quickly after all.
Unfortunately some of the lessons at Youkai Academy were rather different, History was from a completely different perspective and P.E. was really quite dangerous.
He had never been so thankfully to be immortal.
During their lunch break Tsukune and Moka had managed to find somewhere fairly secluded, Moka having felt a bit overwhelmed by all the attention on her.
"I'm sorry you got hurt defending me Tsukune-san," Moka said quietly, a downcast expression on her face as she took a sip of her tomato juice, "You're the first friend I've had and I let you get hurt."
"Its fine, Moka-san," Tsukune replied, "Getting hurt was just inconvenient, that's all."
"Still, I-" Moka paused suddenly, turning to stare into the forest of dead and dying trees, "Did you hear something?"
"No," Tsukune replied, "But your senses are much sharper than mine."
"I thought I heard someone scream," Moka said, standing up and heading into the forest, "They might need our help."
"Sure," Tsukune replied, jogging to catch up with her, "You'd better lead the way if you can hear them."
Tsukune followed Moka deeper into the forest until they were out of sight of the school and then a little further. Eventually Tsukune started hearing the calls for help Moka had apparently heard and a few minutes' walk found themselves in a small clearing, a girl with blue hair and a voluptuous figure lying prone in the dirt, the source of the cries for help.
"Someone," She cried, he calls slowly growing weaker, "Help me, please... please lend me a hand..."
Both Moka and Tsukune hurried over, Tsukune helping her to her feet as she slumped into him.
"Are you alright?" Moka asked, fretting over the injured girl.
"I just suddenly started feeling ill," She replied weakly, wrapping her arms around Tsukune in an attempt to keep her balance.
"Would you like us to take you to the infirmary?" Tsukune asked as their eyes met, collapsing like that couldn't be healthy.
"Charm!" The girl called, suddenly able to stand under her own power even as Tsukune suddenly wobbled and slumped.
"Tsukune," Moka asked, slightly worried about her her friend.
"Uh..." Tsukune muttered, stumbling a little and clutching his head.
"Who are you?" Moka shouted at the blue haired girl, seeing her friend suddenly so ill, "What did you do to him!"
"I am the Succubus, Kurumu Kurono," The now identified girl said arrogantly, "And I am here to defeat you, Vampire!"
"Defeat me?" Moka mumbled before remembering her friend and crying out, "What did you do to Tsukune?"
"You are in the way of my glorious plan!" Kurumu shouted, posing as if for a crowd, despite the three of them being alone in the forest, "I planned to enslave all of the boys at the Academy, but they were too busy staring at you and I won't let you get away with it!"
Moka stared at her, mouth gaping at the Succubus who seemed so proud of her idea.
"That's why I've decided to show I better than you, by stealing Tsukune Aono from you!" Kurumu continued, "When under my Charm spell, men are reduced to the basest instincts and when the sight before them is myself, it can only be hunger for my beautiful body!"
"Brains..." Tsukune mumbled, drawing both Moka and Kurumu's attention.
Apparently, Tsukune's the Zombie's basest instincts did not include keeping his glamours up and they had unravelled to reveal the truth of his average looks. Grey mottled skin marred by the occasional stitched up scar covered his face, his diseased eyes deep set above blackened and rotten teeth, topped by clumps of dull hair across his scarred scalp.
"Tsukune?" Moka ventured, taking a step back from the disgusting sight.
"Brains..." Tsukune drawled, his eyes unfocused as he began to shamble forwards.
"I don't want that in my harem," Kurumu muttered, drawing Moka attention back to her.
"Change him back!" Moka shouted, stepping up to the Succubus and grabbing her arm.
"I can't!" Kurumu snapped, "Charm can only be broken if the person it is cast on is truly in love with someone!"
"Brains..."
"Well," Moka asked, the two girls retreating away from the slowly oncoming Zombie, "How does it work?"
"I don't know," Kurumu replied irritably, "I just use it, I think it does something in their minds."
"Could we get a doctor to remove it?" Moka continued, Tsukune still shambling after them as they walked away.
"Brains..."
"Why do you even care?" Kurumu asked, "He's only one boy."
"He's my friend!" Moka cried, "And you didn't answer the question!"
"No, I checked earlier," Kurumu replied, "The infirmary on campus don't know how to treat it, I don't want boys escaping after all."
"Brains..."
"Besides," Kurumu continued, "Boys and girls can't just be friends at our age, people's feelings always get in the way, unless that's your fetish..."
"Yes they can," Moka replied, her face going green, "And that's disgusting, he's a Zombie!"
"If he's an old one I bet he's got a lot of experience," Kurumu teased as the two continued to walk away.
"Brains..."
"LA, LA, LA!" Moka shouted, jamming her fingers in her ears, "I can't here you!"
"...He's not very fast is he?" Kurumu said after a moment as the two girls watched the Zombie continue to shamble after them. He didn't seem to be able to move faster than a slow walking pace and was impeded by trees and bushes, his arms waving limply out in front of him.
"His name is Tsukune," Moka replied, "And we still haven't worked out how we're going to fix him."
"We?" Kurumu asked, turning to face Moka, "This isn't my problem."
"You caused this!" Moka shouted, the two of them starting to engage in a glaring match, "Of course it's your problem!"
"Brains..."
"Nu-uh" Kurumu replied, shaking her head, "None of my business."
"Well, I'm making it your business," Moka said, his fists clenching, "You shouldn't be going round adding random people to your harem."
"I can do what I please," Kurumu stated arrogantly, crossing her arms, "And you can't stop me."
"I can stop you," Moka replied before pausing, "I'll... I'll... I'll make everyone on the campus love me, and then you'll be all alone!"
"You wouldn't dare!" Kurumu said, shock evident in her voice as she stumbled back.
"I would," Moka continued, her voice firming up, "Unless you help me put Tsukune back to normal."
Kurumu glared at Moka for a moment before spitting out her agreement. Even so they glaring contest didn't end, the two of them determined not to show any weakness. Eventually Kurumu looked away before attempting to hide it as a glance around the forest.
After a moment Moka joined her, although there was a conspicuous lack of a certain something, or someone, in their surroundings.
"Where's Tsukune gone?" Kurumu asked, scratching her head.
"Ah," Moka replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck, "We appear to have lost him."
The two of them blinked then turned to face each other before they both shrieked, "We lost Tsukune!"
"My friend!" Moka cried, even as Kurumu shouted, "My harem!"
- E.P - E.P -
"Brains..."
- E.P - E.P -
The two girls hurried through the forest trying to find Tsukune. Kurumu had unveiled her wings and taken to the air to try and spot him, glad of the non-existent canopy, while Moka used all of her Vampire given speed to run from branch to branch in search of him.
Without realising it they had gotten worryingly close to the school buildings and neither of them wanted that, Moka because she didn't want Tsukune to get in trouble and Kurumu as she didn't want to get in trouble. Fortunately Tsukune was quite slow and couldn't have gone far, so Moka and Kurumu were sure they'd find him before long
However that wasn't quite working out for them. Moka's sharp senses could still here his muffled drone of 'Brains...', but she couldn't spot him anywhere, even when she'd pulled herself up into the highest tree branches to spot him from her new vantage point.
"Have you spotted him yet!" Moka shouted at Kurumu during one of her flybys.
"No!" Kurumu called back, "And if we don't find him soon I might get in trouble!"
Moka was fairly sure it shouldn't be this hard to find Tsukune, he was wearing the same bright green jacket that she was and her eyesight was excellent, but no matter how much of the forest she ran through she still couldn't spot him. Perhaps it was time for a change of methods.
Dropping down to the forest floor, Moka impatiently waited for the next moan of 'Brains...'. Fortunately it didn't take long for her to hear Tsukune with her enhanced senses, but rather than sprinting towards it at full speed, Moka slowly walked towards the sound, adjusting every time she heard a new cry.
A few minutes later Moka finally found Tsukune lying face down on the forest floor, trying to pull himself along with his arms. He wasn't doing very well, in fact, all his struggles seemed to do was dig a set of grooves deeper and deeper into the earth, he hadn't actually moved forward in the time Moka had spent watching him.
"That really is pathetic," Kurumu commented, settling herself down on a branch and furling her wings behind her, "Why's he stuck?"
"Uh..." Moka said as she circled Tsukune, staying out of reach of his flailing arms, "His foot's stuck."
"What do you mean?" Kurumu asked.
"It's trapped under a tree root," Moka replied as she tried to free her friend, idly batting away the occasional grasping arm, "There!"
Kurumu watched as Tsukune slowly pulled himself to his feet, the branch she was sitting on sinking slightly as Moka jumped up and sat beside her. Slowly Tsukune lurched until his was below them, his arms reaching for their swinging legs a few feet above him.
"Well," Kurumu started, snapping a small branch off the tree, "Now we're back where we started."
"Brains..." Tsukune droned from below them.
"Did you come up with anything while you were flying?" Moka asked, worrying her nails as she looked down at her friend.
"Nah," Kurumu responded, teasing the Zombie with her stick, his flailing arms failing to stop her from tapping him on the head with it.
There was a few moments silence between them, punctuated by Tsukune's moans of 'Brains...'
"Well," Kurumu started slowly, "There was one idea..."
"What?" Moka asked.
"You won't like it," Kurumu cautioned, still poking Tsukune with her stick and not meeting Moka's eyes.
"Just tell me," Moka replied, "I want my friend back already!"
"Brains..."
"Tsukune's a Zombie, right?" Kurumu started carefully, "And Charm does something in his head, so..."
"So...?" Moka continued, not getting want the Succubus was aiming at.
"We could knock him out of it!" Kurumu replied happily, before ducking under Moka's half-hearted swipe, "Hey!"
"Brains..."
"Are you even trying!?" Moka hissed.
"It's not like it would kill him!" Kurumu replied hastily, backing away from Moka and casting worried glances at the large cut now adorning the tree trunk.
"I suppose it wouldn't," Moka said reluctantly.
"Brains..."
"You'd only be doing him a favour really, Kurumu continued moving closer to Moka as she saw Moka's resolve start to waver.
"I suppose..." Moka replied, only to shriek in surprise as Kurumu pushed her off the branch.
"Go for it!" Kurumu shouted supportively, watching as Tsukune stumbled round to face Moka who had landed only a few feet away from him.
"I'm really sorry about this, Tsukune," Moka apologised with a slight bow, before lightly tapping him in the face with a clenched fist. She could feel the bone give underneath her fist with a sickening crunch as Tsukune swayed backwards, although surprisingly no blood came from the wound.
"You only broke his nose!" Kurumu heckled from the canopy, "Put your back in to it!"
"Bwains..."
"Why don't you come down here and try it yourself!" Moka shouted back at Kurumu, turning to face her and waving her fist at her.
Tsukune meanwhile seemed unaware of his now broken nose, but took advantage of Kurumu distraction and managed to get a grip on Moka's shoulders with his flailing arms. Leaning forward he opened his mouth, revealing rows of rotten teeth, before chomping down on Moka skull. Moka stilled suddenly, her hands slowly feeling their way up her face to Tsukune's, his jaws still clenched around Moka's head even though he had failed to get through her Vampiricly hard skin with his teeth.
"Tsukune you're drooling in my hair!" Moka screamed, spinning round and trying to claw him off, Kurumu cracking up in the branches at the sight of the Zombie spinning around, his feet entirely off the floor and holding on only with his teeth.
A moment later and Moka finally managed to get Tsukune in her sights, now shaken off of the spinning Vampire who had gone red out of either embarrassment or anger. This time it wasn't a mere tap she gave him, Moka's fist went through Tsukune's face, as well as a nearby tree, like it wasn't even there, his head and neck simply disintegrating under the force of the blow.
"Know your place!" Moka shouted, before blinking and shaking her head to clear out the haze. Slowly she ran her hands through her long pink hair, tears coming to her eyes as she felt the great globs of Zombie drool laced through the top of it.
The now headless corpse of Tsukune meanwhile was on its knees, his hands patting the ground around him. Moka and Kurumu both ignored him in favour of trying to clean Moka's hair, until Tsukune's questing hands found what he was feeling for. It didn't take him long to actually open his school bag, its contents spilling across the dirt, before his hands once again started patting around until he had a pen in one hand and a sheaf of paper in the other.
"What's Tsukune writing?" Moka asked, having given up cleaning her hair as a lost cause for now.
"Help, hlp, I need a healr," Kurumu muttered, reading Tsukune's slightly less than legible script over his shoulders, "Fnd a vitch or vizard pleas.' I can't think of any of the top of my head."
"Why don't we just take you to the infirmary, Tsukune?" Moka added, leading Tsukune's body so it was kneeling against the tree stump her punch had left, his new sign now held upside-down in his hands.
"You want to explain why you pulped your best friends head?" Kurumu replied dryly before continuing, "He can't possibly hear you anyway."
"Let's go find a witch or wizard then," Moka said, getting to her feet, "Wait here Tsukune, we'll be back in a bit."
Kurumu rolled her eyes as the two of them headed towards the school. Looked like Moka was a particularly intelligent monster, no matter how pretty her disguise was.
- E.P - E.P -
It didn't take long for the two girls to reach the school, the bell marking the end of lessons starting to ring as they approached. Moka blinked in surprise, she didn't think they'd been gone that long but apparently time had gotten away from them due to Kurumu and her antics. It was strange, earlier she really hadn't liked the Succubus, her ridiculous plan and attacking her friends had seen to that, but now here she was, her and Kurumu hurrying towards the school to help their other friend.
"Moka..." Kurumu started as the two of them entered the Academy to see students milling around, "Do you know any Wizards or Witches?"
"Well, no," Moka admitted as the two of them drew every eye in the halls, "But how hard can it be to find one?"
"Yeah..." Kurumu deadpanned, "How hard can it be, I'm sure we'll see a Wizard strolling round in a pointy hat and his robes, staff in hand."
"Would a Witch and her wand count?" Moka asked after a few moments, "Because there's one over there."
"What?" Kurumu replied, spinning round and quickly spotting the figure Moka meant. She was a small girl, couldn't have been more than eleven, dressed in a witches outfit rather than her school uniform. She had neck length black hair with a pointed hat perched atop her head and heart shaped wand in one hand, her schoolbag in the other.
"Huh," Kurumu snorted to herself as she followed Moka over to the young girl, "That's lucky."
"Excuse me," Moka started, drawing the witches attention, her cheeks reddening as she saw who it was, "Could we speak with you a moment?"
- E.P - E.P -
"So your friend's gotten hurt," Yukari said after a few minutes of vague explanations, "And you need someone to heal them discretely, is that right?"
"Yeah," Moka replied sheepishly as she led the three of them back into the forest.
"The Succubus isn't pregnant already, is she?" Yukari asked, eliciting an indignant squawk from the girl in question, "Just kidding, I know how Succubi work."
"I should think so," Kurumu muttered angrily before deciding not to tell Yukari what awaited her, "Getting pregnant if I didn't want to, little witch..."
"Anyway," Yukari continued, having quickly moved so that Moka was between her and the now slightly irritated Kurumu, "I'll need to know a bit more than that if you want me to help. What species is the injured and what is the injury?"
"Well, it's not life-threatening," Moka replied as they reached the section of forest where they had left Tsukune, who was thankfully still kneeling against the tree, sign held upside down in his hands, "Here, can you help him?"
"Uh, Moka-san," Yukari said weakly, her face paling as she took in Tsukune's headless body, "I think he's dead, I can't heal that."
"Don't worry," Kurumu replied, smiling at her revenge on the Witch, "Tsukune's a Zombie, so you can take your time."
"Oh," Yukari murmured, slowly approaching Tsukune's body, "That's good."
"So can you help him?" Moka asked unfazed, peering over Yukari's shoulder as the girl lent in to get a better look.
"Well, you said he's a Zombie," The Witch started, colour slowly coming back to her face as she distracted herself, "So potions are all out, he can't metabolise them. I can't use spells to boost his natural healing rate because he doesn't have one so the only spells I know that will work are Reversal style."
"Reversal style?" Moka asked, mildly intrigued as Yukari started waving her wand.
"They take things from what they are now," Yukari replied as flesh slowly started to reform as Tsukune's neck, pulling itself out of nothingness and slowly becoming real, "And returns it to what it was. Unfortunately this is the slowest method of healing and doesn't deal with poisons or other substances that might have spread through the bloodstream, however it does have a wider field of use than just healing."
Moka nodded in fascination, watching the skin slowly appear and trace its way up the sides of what was Tsukune's head forming his ears even as his spine and skull started to reform in the centre, whilst Kurumu yawned and idly started picking at her nails.
"Out of curiosity," Yukari said as Tsukune's ears and the skin they were attached to flopped down unsupported, "What hit him? His head should be coming back in reverse order, whatever was lost last should heal first, but these makes it look like it just... went?"
Moka blushed but ignored Yukari's comment, instead choosing to loudly say, "Hear that Tsukune? You're going to be okay."
His head jerked oddly as if trying to nod, causing his ears to bounce on their flaps of skin, even as he dropped the sign and raised one of his hands to give the three girls a thumbs up.
"Will he be healed in time for our next lesson?" Kurumu asked, "Because we missed the last one and the next is Home Economics."
"So?" Moka asked, wondering why that lesson in particular was so important.
"I really enjoy it," The Succubus replied, "And I'm good at making really tasty cookies. You can try some later if you'd like."
"Surprisingly," Yukari said dryly, her eyes still focussed on the new beginnings of Tsukune's head, "I'm not particularly hungry at the moment."