tsukiami725800: As I have already stated, there will be no further new additions to the harem in this story.

UnitedOsprey1991: Why thank you! And don't you worry about that.

Darkspecter141: I would have PM'ed you, but...then I'd have given away what happens. XD

Jakeflado: Spider-Man adjectives, nice. I'm quite glad that you're so fond of my story, and I can't be sure whether each chapter is getting better and better, what I am sure of however is that each chapter is more enjoyable to write than the last, so I'll certainly be continuing to put these episodes/chapters out there, especially since all of you guys keep clamoring for more. And yes, he has suffered more than enough, but as to whether Kyouko's dead or not, well...you'll see. As for him getting stronger and stronger, I've already got plans for his next power up, and the form you had me check out is outrageously awesome, and will definitely be incorporated into the story, and I thank you for alerting me to it's existence.

Guest who's putting forth ideas for the story: The two part chapter wedding thing could work, I'll consider it.

As for Kurumu's and Yukari's homes, I'm still not a hundred percent on what I'm going to do there. Also no, I don't believe I ever said anything about Yukari's place being anywhere near Tsukune's.

Everything about Mizore that I've decided to incorporate will be addressed in this chapter.

I understand where you're coming from, but I already have the rest of this season planned out, and...well...let's just say Tsukune and his girls are gonna be far too busy for anything like that anytime soon my friend. XP

The comedy will return, I assure you, however as of right now there's not much room for it, what with all the death and angst.

I've already stated previously that I will not be including Lemons in this story, they're just not my thing, and I'm rather shit at writing them anyway, so it works out.

SupernalGodzilla: I never knew I could make someone speechless with a chapter. Thank you! And here's the next chapter.

Nintendoes Gamer: I'm glad you think so. And thank you very much,

Gamera68: You're welcome, and yeah, it is long, longest chapter I've ever written in fact. Thank you so much for the praise! As for Kyouko...well...you'll see.

watersonic1v2: Of course that wasn't the end! Are you crazy!? The end is still a ways away, trust me.

Guest who's talking about Tsukune's power boost: He hasn't surpassed Mikogami...yet...technically.

ZombieZapper101: I'm ecstatic over the fact that you love and enjoy this story so much, as I have stated so many times before, it means a great deal to me. You need not worry about the story going unfinished, as for as long as I'm kicking, I'll continue to write on this site. I hope you continue to read, enjoy and review. :)

Jokerx2xLEET: There will be more, I assure you. Oh and thank you.

TheRazgrizDragon: I'm happy you got my answer to your question, I was rather worried that it took me too long to answer, what with everything I was caught up in, but that's something unrelated and not worth explaining. Anyway, glad I could help. And thank you for saying that!

BartWLewis: Thank you. You shall wait no longer, as here it is!

lordrednight: Thank you, thank you. I certianly hope you didn't see it coming, that would have defeated one of the purposes of him being the big bad for the chapter. As for if everyone else is going to be okay, you'll see.

the real sonic1: Thank you! Yes, that was a reference, but I wouldn't have used it if I didn't think it fit.

Kiboxful: Thank you so much! And I know, but I'm shit at writing physically intimate scenes, so I don't go into detail about them, even though, I too, am a bit of a pervert. I hope you do turn out to be a long lasting fan, because you're awesome.

Jessika: Thank you. There isn't a sequel, at least not yet. Besides, this story isn't over yet, of course you already knew that, seeing as you're reading the author's note right before the new chapter.

Sir Gannon: Right now!

b-ryan: I have no intention of stopping now.

Cdc100: I don't know, maybe she is...then again, maybe she isn't, you'll have to keep reading to find out. XP

imortalshadows: Okay okay, here's another chapter. Hope you like it. Also thank you.

Solace: I didn't hit a wall, I've just been busy with other things. I write by my mood, in other words, if I'm not in a Rosario Vampire mood, I can't write it. If I try, it feels like a chore, and it comes out all crappy.

Kwaan: That's okay, it's not a problem. I'm just glad you reviewed at all. And yes, don't worry, I am continuing this story. I just needed to do other things for awhile. As for your idea, yes, I've been thinking about that, thank you for suggestion regardless though. Onto your critique, I agree with you. My older chapters pale in comparison to my newer ones, that's why I am currently in the middle of rewriting them. Finally, as to why I had Kuyo be the main enemy rather than Kazuma. The main reason is that I felt Kuyo wasn't used to his fullest potential, not in the anime or manga. In case anyone is wondering, yes, I did a little research on his role in the manga. Anyways, Kazuma was cool and I really like him, I did create him after all, but I felt he just wasn't the right villain to push Tsukune to the next level, Kuyo on the other hand was perfect for the job.

Fire Dragon Slayer Zim: It's a good thing I never abandon my stories then, otherwise you'd need a tombstone. XD

Guest that's asking if this is going to be updated soon, or if it's discontinued: No, it is not discontinued. The next chapter's right here. Hope you like it.

Guest who's saying come on, the story's massive and it hasn't been updated since last year: I know, I know, as of right now it's been over a year since I updated, and I apologize for that. A lot of things have happened to keep me busy, on fanfiction and in my personal life. I always meant to sit down and get another chapter out for this, problem is when I did, my mind always wandered to another fandom and I just had to write for that said fandom. To write a story, my mind has to be focused on that fandom, that's all there really is to it.

Lanzo Hasashi: I'm glad you enjoy my story so much, I'm happy I have your respect, and I'm also quite content with the fact that you've read the whole thing four times, it just puts a smile on my face, and I thank you for that. I hope you enjoy this new chapter as much as you have the rest of the story.

tahu12: You've...got a good point. I wouldn't say it describes everything about this story, but it would certainly fit a large part of it. In fact, I actually have it on the playlist I listen to while writing this story.

lemonlover95: No actually, I am going to finish this story, though that's a bit aways off for now. Anyway, here's the next chapter, hope you like it.

metal-nut: You really liked it that much huh? Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed it so. With that said, no promise on whethwer they will die or not, and as for your grammar, don't worry about it, I'm just happy I got to hear your thoughts on the story, so thank you for that.

Priscila: Umm..I'm very sorry, but whatever language that is, I don't speak or read it. Thank you for reviewing regardless though.

Joshua Miller: First of all, no, I have not given up on this story, nor will I ever. Second of all, thank you so much for all your kind words, they really mean a lot to me. So do every one elese, I truly appreciate all the time you all take out to tell me how you feel about my story, whether it be good and bad, and I want you all to know I appreciate it. Which is why I am so very sorry for taking so long with this update, and I hope you can all forgive me, as I would love it if you could all stick around to the end of the story. If you opt out of readfing the story because of the erratic update schedule however, I will understand and know that there are no hard feelings. With that said, back to your review Joshua. I'm happy you liked the fact that I focus on the bonding aspect of their relationships, as that was what I had intended to do all along, as I don't write lemons. I have nothing against them, hell I've read a few of them myself, but I just don't do it. For three reasons, first it distracts from the rest of the story, or at least it can, second I'm not very good at writing sexual content, mainly because I get self concsious about it and can never bring myself to put it up, as well as the fact that I just don't really like writing it. Third, such content could get me banned from the site and my story taken down, so yeah, not taking that risk.

Anyway, as to your questions...

I'm afraid you'll just have to find out for yourself what will become of Tsukune.

Yes, I will eventually be doing a holiday chapter with them in the real world. I've yet to decide what holiday it should be though. Hmm...how about you guys let me know which one you want to see the most, and I'll see if I can make it happen.

Finally, yes, I am going to continue this story, so please don't worry. The absolutely only way I would ever abandon a story forever is if I dropped dead, and that's the truth.

Important note, the character's ages. I did a little math and some research into when their birthdays are, and have come to the conclusion that I have messed up. For you see, I wrote it as if Tsukune and the gang were seventeen, eighteen for Gin, nineteen for Ruby and thirteen for Yukari. However, if Tsukune started at Yokai when he was fifteen, then he'd be seventeen in his final year. Which means he should have been sixteen in the first couple of chapters...yeah, I screwed up. I shall correct this when I rewrite those chapters. As for now, allow me to clarify their ages.

As of this chapter...

Tsukune is seventeen. He will turn eighteen June twenty second.

Moka is seventeen. She will turn eighteen May eleventh.

Mizore is seventeen. She will turn eighteen December seventh.

Kurumu is eighteen. Her birthday was August second, which has already passed at this point in the story.

Yukari is thirteen. She will turn fourteen January nineteenth.

Kokoa is fifteen. She will turn sixteen May thirteenth.

Ruby is nineteen. She will turn twenty June eighteenth.

Also, I know it's ridiculous fucking late, but here's the next chapter. My first chapter of 2016. I hope you all like it! :)

Now then here's chapter eight/episode eight of season four. Please read, enjoy and review.

It took all Tsukune had in him to keep himself standing, but he managed, though if Mizore wasn't dying in his arms, he would have definitely collapsed. His eyes moved to and fro rapidly and repeatedly, looking for any trace of Kyouko, hoping that against all odds she managed to survive. However, as the entirety of the campus closed in on him, he could not locate a single sign of her, so closing his eyes tight and gritting his teeth, he forced himself to come to grips with the fact that she was dead, that he had failed to protect her, and that there was nothing more he could do for her. There was something more important at hand and he had no time to grieve, he had to get Mizore to her village so as to prevent her approaching end. He refused to let her die, especially not because of something he had done, he couldn't live without even one of his girls, he had to save her, and he had to do it quick.

Before he could open his tightly shut eyes, as he held back the tears that wanted to come, he felt a hand placed on his shoulder. He didn't bother opening his eyes, knowing it was Vladimir, as he had been the closest of all of them to reaching him. "You did it, you saved us, you saved everyone."

The seventeen year old grit his teeth tightly as he responded, "Not everyone." The bitter tone to his voice couldn't be missed.

The bald vampire let an understanding and sympathetic smile take it's place on his face. "No, I suppose you didn't. But it isn't possible to save everyone, not really, not all the time. But you saved the ones who mattered the most, didn't you?"

Tsukune shook his head negatively at that, before opening his eyes and seeking out the closest vehicles with them, all of which were the armored vans, though most of them were destroyed in one way or the other. One had a huge gaping hole in the middle of it, another one had been ripped in half, the next was just a heap of scrap metal, the one closest to that one had two of it's tires missing, the one farthest from that one had it's steering wheel missing, finally the one next to that one had a flat tire and it's roof had been torn off. Which meant there were only two left, the first was dented all to hell, but still looked capable of driving, the second one was a little closer and had several glaring scratches, almost gashes, in the exterior of the car, but was by far the most intact of all of them. All of them had their bulletproof windows shattered, so that wasn't really a matter to be considered.

So with his mode of transportation chosen, Tsukune prepared to duck and weave through the entirety of the school, as they were about to reach him. Just before he could begin doing so though, someone called out to him, "Tsuki!"

The young man's eyes widened considerably at the sound of that voice, Vladimir's eyes catching his, as his sympathetic and understanding smile changed into a joyful one, and he pointed to the teen's right, towards the sound of the voice.

As he looked over in that direction, the female who had called out to him entered his field of vision, and as she did, he had to hold tears back, for it was none other than Kyouko. She had several scrapes and bruises, as well as two or three cuts that were bleeding somewhat, and was covered in soot and ash, but she was nevertheless alive. Seeing her, he wanted to run over and make sure she was alright, and that she hadn't been seriously hurt, he was going to do so too, until he realized that time was running out on the clock that was Mizore's life, and if he wasted anymore time than what was absolutely necessary, she'd die, no matter what he did. When it came to his girls, everything else took second priority...even his family.

It was then that Tsukune realized Vladimir had soot and ash covering his form as well, though there were parts where it had been visibly dusted off of him. Not to mention he had over a dozen wounds on him, that, as he noticed them, were halfway through healing. Judging by how fast a vampire's healing rate is, the fact that they still looked glaringly painful told of how bad they were when he received them. Ninety five percent of these wounds were on his back side, ranging from his head down to his feet.

With all of this being taken in, the teenager understood what had happened, his eyes widening even further as he figured it out. "You...you saved her...? You did...thank you, thank you so much..."

Vladimir shook his head at that, "You don't need to thank me. You do need to to go comfort your cousin however."

"I wish I could..." The teenager turned towards his several month older female cousin running towards him as he said this, tears in her eyes as well as relief, it being obvious she was happy that he was still alive and was safe. Just as she was close enough to wrap her arms around him though, he swayed out of her way and raced away, making his way through the huge crowd and towards the closest intact armored van, sparing only a few words for her as he did, "I'm so glad you're alive Kyouko."

It only took him a handful of moments for him to reach the vehicle, the entire time he was heading towards it though, his eardrums were filled with yelling and screaming, from the students, faculty and Kyouko herself, however they didn't stop or slow him down. As soon as he reached the armored vehicle, he opened the driver's side door, before climbing in quickly but gently, so as to mind Mizore's condition.

Almost everyone on campus was wondering what the hell he was doing and whether they should stop him or not, before they could get an answer though, the engine of the van roared to life. Not even a moment later and the vehicle was pulling away, turning around and heading down towards the bus stop. As Tsukune drove away, the entire student body looked like they didn't know what the fuck had just happened, obviously being horribly confused by his actions.

They all began to murmur to themselves, as Fang Fang, Ling Ling, Vladimir, Nekonome, Deshiko and Mikogami came up to Gin and the girls, expecting an answer, since they seemed like they knew what was going on.

Tsukune's grip on the steering wheel was so tight his knuckles were white, his eyes full of determination, as he drove down the path to the bus stop. Mizore lie in the front seat with him, her head in his lap, lying face up. The ride was a little bumpy since he was going faster than you were supposed to down this thing, but they got down there without incident, which was what mattered. In spite of that, the vehicle came to a gentle stop, as the driver realized someone was already here.

The ever mysterious bus driver stood outside his yellow vehicle, smoking as per usual, leaning up against it, looking like he had been waiting, which knowing him, he probably had been. Upon seeing the young teen, the older man spoke up, "I already know what's going on. But you can't get her there, not on your own. You've no idea where to go. So, allow me to show you the way kid."

With that the doors to the bus opened and he climbed aboard, before taking his seat and taking hold of the wheel. As he did Tsukune nodded his head towards him, to which the man let the smirk he usually wore cross his mug.

The seventeen year old wasted no time, as soon as the bus began moving, he pulled a quick turn and followed behind it into the tunnel.

As the group that associated with Tsukune came together, the tallest of them asked, doing so with a quirked brow, "And what was that about?"

The girls looked ready to answer, however, Kokoa, Kurumu, Ruby and Yukari all collapsed then, unconscious the moment they hit the ground, calling attention to themselves as they did. Seeing this happen, Ling Ling asked what most of them were all wondering, "Just what happened up there?"

Gin, who was currently supporting Moka so she could remain on her feet, was the one to respond to that question. "It's a long story."

"I bet it is, however, these girls's need for medical treatment is far greater than our own need for knowledge of the situation. So, allow me to tend to them, while you six explain things to that boy's cousin." As Mikogami said this, Nekonome was already freaking out over the four injured girls, near tears that some of her precious students were so badly hurt.

"Right. Just remember, Dark Lord or no, take extra special care of those girls, otherwise you'll have my boot up your ass. Not to mention what Tsukune'll do to you..." Vladimir remarked.

Mikogami chuckled heartily at those words as he lifted the girls up, two in one arm, another in the other arm, displaying greater physical strength than one would associate with his form, before putting them over his shoulders. As for the fourth, Yukari, she was already being carried by Nekonome. "Trust me, I know just what that boy is capable of. Now, come Shizuka."

The school director and Nekonome then began treading away from the scene, heading to one of the still intact buildings on campus so as to treat the four girls. And With that, almost everyone's eyes were on Moka and Gin, still mostly in the dark about what had happened. Kyouko however, she was still staring after where Tsukune had drove off at.

Clearing his throat, Vladimir said, "Well, that leaves you two. Judging by the fact that they won't stop staring, just about everyone is expecting some sort of explanation from you."

"It is quite strange for one who is being hailed as a hero to flee the scene, especially with an unconscious girl in toe. They can't help but be confused." Ling Ling stated.

"I'm sure Tsukune had a good reason. I mean, what sense would it make for him to run off after all this? So, there must be an explanation of sorts." Her yasha brother rationalized.

"Of course he did. Tsukune isn't the kind of guy who would just up and run away." Deshiko claimed.

Boro walked forward towards the group, coming out of the crowd, Twig, Sono and Cyrus on his heels. As he caught the six's attention, he spoke, "Whatever reason he took off, you guys better explain it to everyone quick. I don't mean to be rude, but if you don't, then they're going to get antsy." He and his companions came to a stop after he finished saying this.

Moka glared at the four. "I don't care how restless they get. And they've no right to expect an explanation from us, especially not when it comes to Tsukune. So you can all get lost."

Cyrus looked like he was going to bite back a reply, before he could however, Sono put his arm out to prevent him from becoming hostile, as he shook his head. The golem, who was in human form, just as his friends were, grumbled to himself, but backed down nevertheless.

Boro tried to reason with the red eyed individual, "That's just a tad unfair isn't it? This is our school too, he's our friend-"

Moka's eyes narrowed then, her monster energy flaring along with her temper. "Don't you dare call him friend! No more than a little over a year ago, you all cheered and celebrated his would be execution! If you so much as suggest such a thing again, I'll kill you myself!"

Cyrus pushed past Sono then, as he looked to charge the silver haired seventeen year old. "Why you bit-"

However, no more than a few paces forward, he was sent flying back from a palm to the chest, hitting the ground nearly fourty feet away, rolling a bit after impact, courtesy of Vladimir. "Yeah, not gonna happen." The bald vampire said, as he returned to a neutral position.

As Sono and Twig prepared to try and fight the counselor, Boro spoke once more, trying to calm the situation. "Stop it! Hasn't there been enough fighting today!?"

The two glanced at their leader, before backing down and letting it go, instead opting to go and help their friend to his feet.

"Sorry about him, he's a bit of a hothead." Boro explained.

"Yeah, we could tell." Gin replied.

"Look, all I'm saying is that...Tsukune, he's a hero to these guys now. In fact, so are you two, as well as those other girls. And...well, they'd like to know what happened to the ones they're probably going to be looking up to for quite some time to come. It should help them calm down, so please, just tell us what happened. Who knows, perhaps we'd be able to help you guys for once."

Moka still didn't look convinced, in fact, she looked like she was going to tell him to shove it, before she could though, Vladimir said, "He makes a valid point. If you told them what's happened, then there's the small chance they could help. More importantly, I could assist Tsukune in whatever his task might be. For me to do so however, you'd need to tell me, and it just so happens the rest of the school will be able to hear your words as well. And since you're not going anywhere for a little while, might as well just get it over with, that way Tsukune gets some backup."

Gin's scowl was almost as deep as Moka's at this point, both of there scowls grew just a little further at Vladimir's words though. They glanced at one and other, seemingly silently debating the bald man's words, before turning back and giving their answer.

"Nah, Tsukune's got this."

"He doesn't need any help, he can handle it."

Both monsters had faint smirks on their faces as they said this.

Now wearing a very wide grin of his own, Vladimir responded with, "I had a feeling you'd say that."

The three smirking individuals then looked towards Kyouko, their smiles falling once their eyes landed on her. Before they could move to her though, Deshiko came to the vampire and werewolf, as she said, "Here, let me."

Moka took the red head up on her generosity, shifting her weight and taking it off of Gin, before limping forward and placing it on somewhat shorter girl, so she wouldn't have to put too much strain on her still healing leg. And with her now supporting the vampire, that freed Gin up, so that he could go and comfort Kyouko, which, with Vladimir in tow, he did.

As those two moved towards the dark haired girl, Fang Fang spoke up, "It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to get yourself checked out Moka. A vampire isn't supposed to limp you know."

The teenage girl in question fixed the yasha with a small glare, as she rebutted sardonically with a simple, "Cute."

The Chinese teen was smirking mirthfully at her response as he continued, "I'm serious, it might be worse than you think."

"I have a healing factor, I'll be just fine."

"Perhaps you will be, my brother on the other hand will not, he needs medical attention, so if you'll excuse us." With that said, Ling Ling took her little brother by the arm and began all but forcibly dragging him away, to the building the headmaster and Nekonome had just entered moments ago, not bothering to heed or even listen to any of his protests as she did.

Tsukune followed behind the bus at top speed, the driver managing to stay ahead of him even still, leading him through the otherworldly tunnel, until they came out the other side, in what could only be described as a frozen wasteland. The bus driver slowed then, moving to the side so he could match the teen's speed, leaning his head out the window to talk to the young man as he did. "I know it's hard to tell where you're going out here, but no matter what you come across, just keep going straight on ahead from here! If you do that, you'll eventually reach that young girl's village!" This was the first time the ghoul had ever heard the bus driver raise his voice, but he didn't pay that fact any attention, only focusing on what he had to say.

"Got it!"

"Good! It's all you from here on out kid, good luck!" With that the bus fell behind, coming to a stop while the van just continued to speed ahead, before turning around completely and heading back to the tunnel.

The moment the van entered the snowy wastes, it felt like it was losing speed, but by now Tsukune could tell that it most definitely had. The speedometer clearly showed a reduction in speed, and it angered the young man greatly. It was honestly no significant loss, but with Mizore's life on the line, any less speed than absolute maximum was completely unacceptable. Despite already giving the vehicle all the speed it was built to handle, it only giving less because of the lack of friction with all the snow, he pulled his foot up before slamming it back down on the gas pedal, trying to get it to return to the speed it was moving at only moments ago. All he accomplished however was to cause the thing to make an odd noise and lurch forward just a bit. It was still moving thankfully, but it was at the same reduced speed. The brown haired teen growled at this development, very displeased with it. He was not one to anger quickly, but this situation was, quite obviously, an exception to the matter.

He stayed with it, holding his foot down on the gas pedal and refusing to remove it, as his annoyance and anger built. And while he tried to keep his cool, with what was at stake, he was just a fuse waiting to be lit. Said ignition would soon take place, as while still unconscious, Mizore's face began to contort in pain, as her breathing grew more labored. She was getting worse, and as that became apparent, Tsukune had to bite his tongue to keep from yelling in frustration. He did allow himself to lift his foot once more and stomp back down on the gas pedal though, which caused the van to lurch forward once more as well as causing a mechanical like popping noise to emanate from the engine block in the hood. "Come on, come on, come on!" Tsukune began to chant repeatedly, as if that would get the vehicle to actually speed back up. It didn't of course, which he knew it wouldn't, though he still grew angrier because of it.

This wasn't going to be easy, that was clear. And if it wasn't, then when a multitude of popping noises and mechanical clanks began to come from the engine, it most definitely did. The engine was failing, why. well it really didn't matter. What did matter though was that in a matter of moments the vehicle would be undrivable, and that complicated things. Mere seconds after Tsukune realized this, the van came to a stop, sputtering all the while. When it did, the teen tried to restart it of course, turning the key and cranking the engine, but it was to of no avail, no matter how many times he tried. And seeing as how the van was his best chance at getting Mizore there in time to save her, without jostling her too much and worsening her injury, he decided to get out and check what the problem was, carefully removing the snow maiden's head from his lap before he did.

Closing the door first, he came to the front of the vehicle and popped the hood and took a look underneath. However, as he tried to ascertain what the problem was, his complete lack of mechanical knowledge became glaringly clear, causing him to grit his teeth in an attempt to keep his growing frustration and anger in check. More than desparate, he tried to fix what was wrong with the van, despite not actually knowing what the problem was. In doing so, he soon ended up fumbling around and breaking more than a few important bits of the engine, rendering the vehicle completely useless to him, minorly injuring his hands in the process.

Yanking his hands back, both now bleeding lightly, he growled at the machine, his anger morphing into rage, as he proceeded to slam the hood shut and scream at the top of his lungs in aggravation. "YOU STUPID, USELESS HUNK OF JUNK! YOU BELONG IN A GODDAMN SCRAP HEAP!" With that Tsukune brought his right fist down, slamming it down into the hood, driving it through the metal into the engine block and shattering it as he did, making it impossible to find out what the original problem was, not that it mattered. In doing so, he caused the hood to fold in on itself, so much so that both sides nearly touched the teen.

Removing his fist from the hole in the vehicle, said fist now covered in motor oil with some of his blood mixed in, he came to the grips with the fact that he had to get her there on foot. The main problem with that though was that if he moved at too quick a pace, he could end up worsening her injury, so he would be forced to make a moderate paced trek to Mizore's village. Again, even though he was already rather cold standing in the snow with no shirt on, not that big of a problem, except for the fact that he had to hurry, otherwise she would die, which was part of the jostling problem as well. Things just weren't ever easy for Tsukune and those close to him, that was all there really was to it.

Moving to the passenger side door, he wiped his dirty hands on his pants until they were as clean as he could make them at the moment, then sticking them in the snow and removing whatever he hadn't been able to that way, then opened the door to get Mizore out of the vehicle. He'd be worried about how the cold would affect her, but she was a snow woman, so thankfully he had no need to do so, as that would only make things that much harder. As for how he would handle the cold, well he was a ghoul so he'd take much longer to die by these weather conditions, not that he even spared his own well being even so much as a half thought. And as for his hand that had a wound and had oil on it just moments ago, well, infection was the least of his worries at the moment.

All that aside, all that was on his mind was getting Mizore the treatment she needed at her village, so he pushed away all his other thoughts as he took Mizore into his arms and gently pulled her from the car. Making sure he had a firm hold on her, he turned and began to continue moving in the direction he had been headed in the first place, carrying her bridal style as he did. As he began his long trek on foot, he looked down at Mizore's pale visage, the snow woman blowing mist every time she breathed out because of the cold. She cringed in pain, though remained unconscious as she did. "Mizore..." Tsukune breathed her name with concern, guilt redoubling it's effort to eat away at him as he did. "I'm sorry for what I did to you...I...I...it's unforgivable. I let myself be reassured by you girls that it was okay, that it wasn't my fault...but...I always knew it was. I should have...I...I don't know what I should have done. I don't know how I'm supposed to make up for what I've done, I don't really think there is a way. I mean, look at what I've done to you...how could I ever make up for it? I'm...I'm a true monster, how could you all still...?" He wanted to ask how she and the other girls could possibly still love him, but knew he wouldn't recieve an answer since she was unconscious, and he himself had failed to find one no matter how hard he tried.

So instead he just focused his attention ahead, to his destination. "I don't know how you can still care for me, and I don't think I ever will. But at the moment that doesn't matter. What does matter though is that you get the treatement you need. So if you can hear me Mizore, don't worry, I promise you, I won't let you die. I won't let you be hurt anymore, I will protect you, I will save you." His determination now redoubled, his guilt was pushed away as he focused on saving this precious girl's life. He wouldn't fail this time.

Most of the school body and faculty stood outside in the courtyard of Yokai Academy, many questions still whirling inside their heads, none completely sure of the true implications of everything that had happened. They had seen Tsukune race off with an unconscious Mizore in one of the armored vans Fair Tale's seventh division had brought to campus, Kokoa, Kurumu, Yukari and Ruby pass out and be carried off to the auditorium for medical treatment by the Headmaster and Shizuka Nekonome, Moka, Deshiko, Ling, Ling and Fang Fang following soon after, and Vladimir, Kyouko and Gin speak with one and other, before heading to the auditorium as well.

And while they had yet to have any of their questions answered, and probably wouldn't for a while, they had a job to do, an unpleasant one, but it had to be done regardless. That job was to clean the area of corpses, that of their enemies as well as their fallen comrades. In spite of their lack of zeal concerning the task, many pitched in and began to move the bodies. As they did so, all of them nearly jumped, as the destroyed main building finally collapsed in on itself, kicking up a whole lotta dust and spooking them, every single one of them still on edge after their battle with Fairy Tale.

Calming their racing hearts after that, they got back to their unpleasant task, Boro and his friends taking the lead and beginning to haul the bodies to the nearby graveyard, where they would be buried.

Moka lie on a makeshift bed made up of auditorium chairs, sheets, blankets and a few pillows, just as Kokoa, Kurumu, Yukari, Ruby, Fang Fang and a handful of other students did, only she, and Fang Fang, were actually conscious. At her side was Gin, Deshiko, Kyouko and Vladimir, just as Ling Ling was at Fang Fang's side. Then there was Shizuka Nekonome, who was flittering about between patients, as she frantically made sure they were all okay and didn't need anything, taking her role as the temporary nurse very seriously, needing to since she was the one with the most medical knowledge, what with the original nurse having perished in the blast of black flame Kuyo had dropped into the main school building. All the while the school's headmaster, Mikogami, watched her do so, an amused smirk affixed to his face.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Kyouko asked for the umpteenth time, her abundance of concern quite clear.

This caused Moka to sigh, before answering for the countless time. "You've asked me that same question a hundred times already, and the answer is still the same, yes, I will be okay. I am not nearly as frail as a mortal woman, nor am I as weak as an average monster. This isn't even the worst injury I've ever sustained. So for the last time, yes, I am going to be just fine." As Moka said this, she did her best to stress her point that, yes she was indeed okay. She was trying not to snap at Kyouko, as she had been through a lot as well and was also precious to Tsukune. Even still, her constant repeating of that same question was really grating on the vampire's nerves, and with each time she asked, her frustration with the human girl became more and more apparent. Especially since she wasn't even supposed to be here, she had a healing factor, she didn't need medical attention, but said human girl who was currently annoying her had insisted that she did once she got a look at her leg.

"Why don't we leave Moka alone for now, alright Kyouko? We can get you checked out while we're at it." Gin suggested, only to have said human girl shake her head, "No, I'm fine. Just a few scrapes and bruises is all, thanks to Vladimir anyway."

Said vampire gave a slight bow at that, a wide smirk spread across his face as he did, "It was my pleasure." At that though, Mikogami called from across the room, "No hitting on the students Counselor!" Which in turn caused the bald man's smirk to warp into a scowl, as he shot the headmaster a glare.

Giggling at their antics, Kyouko then turned her attention to the other girls, as she asked once more whether they would all be okay or not. "Are you really sure that they'll all be alright?" Gin did his best to reassure her though, "Yes, they're going to be fine, you really don't need to worry about them so much. They're tough, believe me, I know."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Even still, Kyouko couldn't help but worry. About the girls and about Tsukune. Though Gin's words did put her more at ease, even if ever so slightly.

Tsukune puffed mist out in front of his face with every breath he took, having to keep himself from shivering in the process, as the cold began to really get to him. He had been trudging through the snowy wastes for close to an hour now, and while he'd like nothing more than to take a break, find shelter and start a fire, that wasn't an option, hell he hadn't even considered the notion, his mind so focused on what he had to do. And while the cold did pose a threat to his health, he was no longer human, at least not fully, so he had much more resistance to the elements. Well, not really, it was more like it took more to kill him, so it took much longer for the elements to do him in, that was exactly it in fact. Putting all that aside, he was still ridiculously cold though, and with clutching Mizore close to his body, it only made it worse, as she was naturally cold to the touch. Not the deathly kind of cold thankfully, rather she had a pleasant cool to her, that while did indeed make it harder on Tsukune, soothed him nevertheless and he would have it no other way.

The one thing that bothered the teen though was the fact that he had been walking for roughly an hour, and there was still no sight of her village. In fact, if he didn't know better, he'd of assumed he hadn't even been moving the past sixty minutes, what with how everything looked the same. The only thing that really confirmed the fact that he was making any headway was that he could no longer see the van behind him. Not that that meant much, seeing as with the blizzard like weather, it was nigh impossible to see where one was going or their surroundings for that matter. He was going in a straight line though, just as the Bus Driver had said to, he made sure of it, doing so by making sure his footprints went in the same direction everytime he looked back. It was his best chance, and he was taking it.

His mind cluttered, Tsukune was unaware of the presence fast approaching him, that is until it let out a high pitched screech that pierced his eardrums, quickly bringing his attention to it's existence. Whirling to face the direction it came from, his vision was filled with the same thing it had been seeing for the past hour, a great snowy plane, with mountains surrounding it. "What on Earth was that?" He asked himself, his ears hurting a bit from such a loud cry from whatever creature had given it. "What in the hell could possibly make that sound?"

His question was quickly answered, as the same thing that had given that cry appeared before him, landing hard in the snow, and as it did, his eyes widened a great deal as he took in it's appearance. It was a humanoid, stood eight feet tall with a dirty white complexion and a slightly thicker than average build, had pure white eyes, severely sharp and disfigured teeth, and long, lanky limbs with razor sharp claws at the end of it's hands and feet. On top of that, it's skin was taught enough against it's body to see most of it's bones, it had no hair or fur to speak of, had enough spinal difiguration that it looked hunchback, and was completely nude. Not that it mattered, as it had no actual defining gender characteristics to speak of. All in all, it was rather a grotesque creature, and upon seeing it, Tsukune couldn't help but wonder aloud to himself, "What the fuck is that thing!?" His reaction was induced not only by it's appearance, but also by the feel of it's aura, it's monster energy. It wasn't like Moka's, Kokoa's or Vladimir's, a feel of overwhelming power, nor was it like the tainted energy of Aqua either, that felt wicked and unsettling. No, it's aura was like something akin to an insatiable, ravenous demon.

The creature eyed him for a moment, before dropping to all fours and screeching at him once more, causing it's monster energy to flare, which made Tsukune's skin crawl. "Oh shit!" He exclaimed, before turning a hundred eighty degrees and taking off as fast as he could, the beast quickly dashing after him, moving somewhat similar to a wolf on the hunt as it did. Both kicked up snow as they ran, though one moved faster than the other, and that became obvious as the creature began to gain on Tsukune. Looking back, he noticed this, "Not good!" This didn't leave him with much choice and he knew it, so, gritting his teeth, he came to a decision. "All I can do is hope this won't hurt Mizore, because whatever happens, I can't let whatever that thing is get it's hands on us, on her." With that, Tsukune's holy lock began to glow, as he summoned seventy percent of his power, sending it all to his legs as he did, increasing his speed exponentially.

Surging forward, Tsukune raced off, hoping to leave whatever that thing was chasing him in the dust. And he seemed to do just that, as after a minute or so, it began to fall further and further behind him until, eventually, he could no longer see it behind him. However, this wouldn't work for long, he knew this when he saw the beast slowly begin catching up with him again. It was at a sluggish pace, it would certainly take it a bit to actually get to him, but still, it would undoubtedly happen. Since that was the case, he forced the other thirty percent of his power out of himself, managing to do so with much less difficulty than he thought would be involved, and sent it to his legs as well, upping his speed a great deal and causing him to shoot forward a couple hundred feet, once more putting the thing, whatever it was, out of his field of vision.

Even still, there was no guarantee they were safe, so he made no attempt to slow his movements, not willing to take the risk that it could possibly catch up. Though moving at this speed had it's own risks, such as the fact that he wasn't used to moving at this speed and the fact that he still couldn't see all that well, which meant there was a chance he could collide with something long before he actually noticed it was there. Throw in the fact that this could do just as Tsukune feared it would, worsen Mizore's injury, and it made things complicated. Before he could weigh the pros and cons of either decision however, his attention was once more caught, as the same screech from before entered his hearing range, which got him to quickly look behind him, to see if the beast was there, only it wasn't. And yet the screech had sounded so very close...

Suddenly, the feel of that thing's monster energy, he needed to learn how to sense that constantly as it fading from his mind and then coming back again was really getting annoying, was ahead of him. So whipping his head back to it's original position, looking ahead of him, he saw it there, crouching, poised to strike. "CRAP!" Was all he managed to get out, before the beast lunged at him. Even moving quickly, all he could manage to do was to turn and put his back to it, so as to protect Mizore from it. That worked, but not all that well, as when it took the brown haired teen to the ground, the snow woman was knocked from his arms, rolling in the snow for a few feet, before coming to a stop on her back, roughly ten feet away from where her lover was.

The beast had Tsukune pinned to the ground, his face buried in the snow, as whatever it was bared it's teeth, piercing his arms and legs with it's claws as it did, causing him to cringe in pain, as blood began to stain his slacks as well as the snow, as it flowed from the multiple new wounds he now had on his arms and legs. Despite how exhuasted he was from his battles with Kuyo and Kazuma, he was still far from done, so, his holy lock glowing, he shifted as much of the power he had drawn out as he could to his bloodstream, injecting it, losing about ten to fifteen percent of it in the process. Still, it was all he needed to force himself up off the ground somewhat with his hands, before using his legs to support him, the creature growling in anger and burrowing it's claws deeper into the ghoul's limbs as he did.

He didn't let that deter him, even as more blood spilled from his new wounds, and with one mighty push, forced himself a couple feet off the ground and into the air, flipping around as he did, just in time to come down and land on his back, on the creature, onto the ground, doing so hard enough to drive it nearly a foot into the ground, it crying out in pain as this happened. It's grip on him loosened because of this, so Tsukune jerked up off of the beast, ripping it's claws out of his limbs in the process, drawing a bit more blood, the red life liquid running down him to the snow, stainining it further.

Turning to face the beast, he prepared to attack as it got back up. Before it could fully rise to it's feet however, Tsukune attacked, not caring for any kind of fair fight at the moment, especially considering this thing was more akin to a predator than a fighter. First he hit it square in it's face with a right straight, knocking it back to the ground, before pivoting forward and ramming his left knee into it's jaw as it tried to get up again, knocking it flat out onto it's back, quickly following that up with a stomp to the center of it's abdomen. As it started getting right back up though, the ghoul knew it would take more than this to take whatever it was down, while as his strikes seemed to be working, it was getting back up too quickly. So, his holy lock began to glow once more, as he summoned more power, bringing out the last ten or so percent, and even managing to draw out a little extra as well, injecting it into his bloddstream and increasing his fighting capability to the point where he was just a sliver or so more powerful than Moka. Surely that would be enough he thought to himself.

This allowed the beast the few seconds it needed to counterattack, after getting up onto it's feet of course. The moment it had, it tackled the seventeen year old, once more bringing him to the ground, burying it's claws deep into the wounds it had already created, this time from the front, worsening the injuries in doing so. It roared in his face, exposing all of it's shark like teeth, shooting it's neck forward a moment later, it's mouth opened wide to literally bite the ghoul's head off. He of course stopped it from doing so, raising his hands to catch the beast's face by it's jaw as well as the roof of it's mouth, having to put his hands partway inside it's maw to get a quick hold of it. This allowed him to keep the thing's mouth pried wide open, it did have a drawback though, in doing so, it had caused a good deal of it's teeth to pierce the teen's hands, both now bleeding profusely with all the wounds inflicted opon them.

Tsukune now had the beast where he wanted it though, so he capitalized, doing so by shooting his right knee up and ramming it into the creature's solar plexus, causing it to jerk back a bit, dragging it's teeth through the flesh of his hands in the process, causing more blood to flow. He followed that up by pulling back both legs and shooting them up into the thing's chest, shattering it's entire rib cage and knocking it off of him and back onto the ground, it tumbling back a few feet from the force behind the double kick. No intention of letting it get back up, Tsukune jumped onto his feet, only to hear two ear splitting screeches, which were all too familair. "There are more of these things!?" Tsukune wondered to himself. He was having trouble with just one, he didn't want to stick around to find out how he'd do against two of them.

Refocusing his attention on the creature before him, which was hissing in pain as it tried to get back up, he closed the distance between himself and it, focusing his monster energy at a single point, his right fist, as he did. Stepping forward, he now stood over the creature, which immediately tried to jump up and take a bite out of the teen, only to be forced back down to the ground, as Tsukune drove his right fist down into the beast's chest, the force of the impact slamming it hard against the ground. That wasn't enough to kill it, so Tsukune dropped to his knees and pushed even harder, using just a bit more monster energy as he did, in doing so allowing his fist to penetrate the monster's skin. He pushed forward until it burst out the other side of the thing, covered in it's blood, which was black as sin, which also stained the snow with black because of the blood splatter. The pain this caused the creature made it squeal and thrash about, before going limp, it's limbs falling to the ground with a thump as it died from the internal trauma.

Getting back to his feet, Tsukune was going to let some of his monster energy slip away, if only to relieve some stress his body was under from exherting it so much. But as he raised his head to look at Mizore, to make sure she was okay, he saw two more of those creatures making a mad dash for her, moving on all fours so that they were going as fast as they could. Whether they were actually after her, or they were coming for him, she was precisely in the middle of their path, which was all that mattered, as she was in danger regardless. Moving to her side, he crouched and gathered her in his arms, after wiping off all of the beast's blood onto his pants, as he did though, instead of trying to carry her bridal style as before, he moved her so that she was on his back, her arms over his shoulders, making sure they were lightly wrapped around his neck. Then, placing his hands under her legs, just a hair's away from her posterior, he stood once more, shifting all of her weight onto himself, so that even though she wasn't awake, he would still be able to carry her on his back like this without her falling off. Carrying her this way would allow him more manueverability and would allow for increased speed, so it really was the way to go at the moment.

First he made sure they weren't going back the way they came, and once he did, he took off, not even bothering to remove the monster energy from his bloodstream as he did, as it would take a few moments, and he didn't have time for that. Only a few moments later though, after having traversed a hundred or so feet, Tsukune had to come to a dead stop, nearly skidding off the edge of the cliff he came to. "What the-?" He wondered to himself. Taking a quick look, he saw the drop off was several hundred feet at least. Thing was he had been told to go straight ahead and never make any alterations to his path, no turns or anything, but how did that make sense? After all, did the Bus Driver expect him to drive off the cliff and fall a couple hundred feet? Surely not. Well...maybe, monsters could be quirky to say the least.

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he began to look for a way down. It took a few moments, but eventually he found a route that would allow him to get down there, only problem was that he'd have to go around, and that could take hours. Even if he went at full speed, it'd still take half an hour at least, and considering it had been an hour and a half, maybe more, since he left Yokai Academy, he didn't have any time to spare. Mizore could expire any moment. She needed help, now. Then there was those two things coming for them, which were drawing dangerously close he noted as he looked back to see them. He was out of options and was really left with no choice. If Mizore was to survive...

Taking a deep breath, Tsukune took a few steps back, before pivoting forward and taking the plunge by throwing himself off the cliff. From there, his descent began, wind rushing past him so loudly it was the only thing he could hear and the force of it also had Mizore's and his hair blowing all over the place, as well as their clothing. It even stung his eyes, what with how fast they were coming down. Which made it even harder to see than it already was, though that began to take care of itself, as the closer they got to the ground, the more clear the weather was, the halfhearted snowstorm that was going on above seemingly nonexistent below.

Tsukune's grip on Mizore never faltered, not even for a moment, even in spite of everything. Still, as they grew closer to landing, the problem of landing became more and more concerning. With enough monster energy flowing through his veins, Tsukune would survive no problem. The impact of the landing would hurt like a sunuva bitch, but he would survive. Mizore on the other hand, well, it was very unlikely, especially in her condition. So he had to make sure to land just the right way so that she would be free from any of the harm the impact was going to cause. Thankfully, he had already devised a solution for that problem.

And the time to enact that solution was upon him before he even realized it, as the ground was within sight and he had only moments before he touched down. So he straightend up, moving through the air so that he would land standing up, rather than landing on his face like he would have if he hadn't had time to change his position. "Here goes..." He said to himself, as he prepared himself for the landing. "Now!" He exclaimed, before doing a forward flip at just the last moment, to try and exert some of the momentum he had built up. Even still, when he hit the ground feet first, the impact was still so great that it shattered almost all of the bones in his legs, the pain causing him to cry out, as he nearly collapsed onto the ground. He managed to catch himself, landing hard on all fours, jostling Mizore as he did but not actually causing her to fall off his back.

While the pain was intense, incredibly intense in fact, he had to get up. With how exhausted he was, the usual time it would take him to recover from such an injury would be tripled at the least, and even the original wait time for him to get better would be far too long to let Mizore sit here in her condition. So, using his arms to prop himself up, he forced himself back to his feet, biting his tongue as the excruciating pain of standing on shattered leg bones shot through him. He had nearly bitten his tongue off by the time he was standing upright, but that was of little concern to him.

Now back on his feet, he began to walk forward, doing his very best to ignore all the crippling pain that shot through him with every single step. Because of this, there was no way he could run, even attempting it would surely do nothing but put him face down in the snow, and then he had to waste time getting back up, not to mention the pain of getting up again. That left going back to his original pace, the one he had used back when he began his trek. So that was what he did, he moved at that moderate pace, his pain increasing as he sped up so that he could move at that moderate pace. He would grit his teeth and bare it, for Mizore's sake. Nothing was too difficult for her and the rest of the girls, he would do anything for them, anything at all. "Th-this...this is n-nothing, ri-right Mizore? You g-girls can take...a lot more than t-this, so surely I can handle it. Especially since...I inflicted pain even worse than this...on all of you. It's only right that I have to endure this. I mean...if I couldn't at least do this, how could I...ever hope to be worthy of all of you girls's love?" With that line of reasoning in mind, Tsukune continued on his straight ahead path toward Mizore's village.

Once school grounds had been cleared of the bodies, the students and faculty moved onto sorting through the rubble of the main building for any additional corpses, though they doubted they would find any, as those black flames had burnt everything they touched to ash, until they had been extinguished that is. Which was the only reason there was any debris left to sift through at all, as they would have surely burnt it all away as well.

Boro, Twig, Sono and Cyrus were the first ones to begin rummaging through the wreckage, a handful of other students joining in soon after. Those students, as well as Boro and his friends were covered in dirt, from having dug so many graves, so they had a right to stop there and go back to their dorms and rest. But they didn't, instead they stayed out and continued to help clean up this mess, only a few teachers actually doing the same, while most of the other students were already returning to their dorms, having felt they had done enough by helping with burying all those bodies. Boro and the others who followed his lead didn't hold it against them, as they understood, so just continued to do what they had intended to do.

Not long after they began digging through the mess of stone, steel and concrete, they came upon a body, the only body that hadn't been incinerated, and that was, of course, the body of Kuyo. As they discovered his corpse, an arm sized hole in his chest cavity, they couldn't help but come to a just stared down at him for a few moments, before a few of the students began to try and lift him, before they could actually get him up however, Cyrus spoke up, "Just what do you guys think you're doing?"

As they were about to answer, their confusion obvious, Boro clarified what Cyrus meant. "After everything that bastard has done, he doesn't deserve to be buried on Yokai Academy's soil. Those soldiers from Fairy Tale were one thing, but..."

"Kuyo is an entirely different matter." Sono finished.

The students of course asked what they were supposed to do with him then, and Twig was the one to answer that. "Toss him in the water." He was, obviously, referring to the body of water Yokai Academy's bus stop overlooked. At first the students just looked at each other, unsure what to say, eventually though they came to agree with that decision and nodded their heads in agreement, before lifting Kuyo up and beginning to haul him away.

The recently awoken Kokoa, Kurumu, Yukari and Ruby all began to laugh, along with Vladimir, Gin, Deshiko and Kyouko, as Fang Fang fought with his sister, as she fussed over his injuries, the two ending up in a heap together, after the yasha fell off his makeshift bed. Moka chuckled at the scene herself, as Shizuka came over and began trying to untagle them, going on about how Fang Fang needed rest and Ling Ling didn't need to be bothering him, as well as chastising the former of the two for not heeding her medical advice and staying put in bed.

All of their attention was refocused elsewhere, as Vladimir came to Moka's side, brandishing her rosary as he did. "I believe this belongs to you." As he did this, Kokoa shot out of her chair-bed, beginning to rummage through her clothing as she did, almost ending up taking off her shirt in the process, as she frantically searched for her sister's rosary. "Huh? How!? Where!? How Could!?" Stopping her antics, she stared helpless at the bald vampire, the question she was about to ask obvious. "How did you get that!?"

Vladimir couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face at that, "Well, it seems when Kuyo transformed it was blown off your person. I found it on the ground shortly after you all began your final confrontation with the fox demon. Some advice for you, next time don't bring it with you to a life or death battle."

As Kokoa began pouting at his words, Moka thanked the counselor. "Now then..." She stood, getting out of the makeshift bed with one fluid motion, putting all her weight on her injured leg as she did, to see that it was entirely healed, as there wasn't even an ounce of pain when she stood on it. "Since I've healed up, it's time for Outer to take her place in the world again."

If Kokoa wasn't pouting before, she certainly was now. Seeing this, Inner rolled her eyes. "Stop acting as if you hate her, it hurts her feelings. Whether you like or not, she's your sister too. So stop acting like a brat and be happy that she loves you so much." That got Kokoa to straighten up, as whether she wanted to admit or not, her sister was right.

With that taken care off, Moka placed the rosary on it's chain, completing the seal once more, a flash of bright light filling the room as she did. Once that light faded, everyone stared at Moka, as she stood there with her eyes closed for a few moments, as if she was waiting for something. "Looks like it didn't work. Seems the rosary has become defective." She remarked, as she opened her eyes. When she did however, she noticed all the strange looks she was recieving from everyone. "What are you all staring at?" She questioned, only for the entire room to continue to stare at her in silence. "I believe I asked you all a question. Just what do you all think you're staring at?" Still no one answered her.

"Uh, that's not right, is it?" Deshiko asked the others, as she stared at Moka like everyone else did.

"No, no it is not." Gin answered her.

"Well, that's new." Ruby said.

"Talk about weird." Kurumu commented.

"I do believe something went wrong." Ling Ling remarked.

"Yeah, no kidding." Fang Fang said in response to his sister's remark.

"Moka, are you alright?" Yukari inquired with concern.

"B-Big S-Sis?" Kokoa said, unsure of what she was seeing.

"Um..." Was all Kyouko got out, completely stumped by what had just happened. It wasn't until just recently that she finally had a handle on the monster world, Tsukune's transformation as well as Moka's, and everything else that entailed attending this crazy academy. But now, with this, it had all just been tossed right out the window. After all, if one thing wasn't as she thought, wasn't it possible everything else was the same?

Everyone gawking at her irritated her to no end, so with a growl, Moka asked them once more, "What the hell are you all looking at!?"

It was then that Vladimir gestured to Yukari, as he did she summoned a small mirror which he proceeded to take and hand to Moka. "See for yourself." He told her. And so she did, taking hold of the mirror, she looked into it to see her reflection. She looked exactly the same, her body remained as it did when the rosary was taken off, larger breasts, blood red eyes, the works. She looked exactly the same as she did a minute ago, with one exception. Her hair was now a bright shade of pink, the same exact shade as Outer Moka's in fact. "Oh you have got to be kidding me."

Tsukune's bones ached as he shivered and his teeth chattered. His entire body was covered in frost, his skin was ever so lightly blue tinted and ice was forming on multiple parts of his body from how low his tempature had dropped and how cold the surrounding area was. The teen couldn't so much as sneeze, as if he did, the snot would turn into ice cicles. He was suffering from severe frost bite, no doubt about it. This made his current condition that much worse, as the cold amplified the pain he felt walking on his shattered leg bones. His pain was immense, even with his gargantuan pain threshold. Even still, he pressed onward, for Mizore's sake. It had already been two hours, maybe a little more, since he had set out. He was running out of time, he knew it all too well simply from the constant expression of pain on his icy lover's face.

Which was why when he came across a familiar landmark, the cave he and Kokoa had holed up in to escape the cold last year, he couldn't help the welling feeling of hope in his chest. He was oh so close to Mizore's village, more importantly, her home itself. Which was the destination he had in mind, as it was a bit of a ways off from the rest of the village, which meant it was closer, and he had a vague memory of how to get there from here. "We're almost there Mizore, just a bit further...and...then you can get the treatment you need. Then you'll be okay." His determination renewed, the ghoul picked up the pace, only to have his eardrums near ruptrured as two loud screeches filled the air. Said screeches luckily didn't cause an avalanche, thankfully.

When the pain subsided, he began frantically looking around, searching for the creatures he knew were closing in. "Where are they!? How did they even get down here so fast!?" He wondered. He didn't get to think on it long however, as there in the distance he saw them, sprinting at him on all fours, closing in at breakneck speed. And with there being two of them, well, the chances of him being able to protect Mizore from them were slim, at least they were in his condition. So thinking on his feet, he rushed to the cave, where he would hide her until the beasts had been taken care of. He would have preffered to make a break for it, but with all the pain shooting through him with every step he took, it just wasn't happening. So his only choice was to fight them off, then get her to where she needed to go.

After squaring her away, he emerged from the cave, as the creatures came upon him. Not wasting anytime, he went on the offensive, making the first attack. Throwing himself forward, he hit the thing on the left with a strong right, knocking it to the ground as he too hit the ground. The second beast tried to render his head from his shoulders with a swipe of it's razor sharp claws, only for the teen to roll out of the way. It followed him and tried to slice him up once more, but was evaded as he tucked and rolled up onto his feet, causing himself pain in doing so. He then counterattacked, hitting the second monster with a right hook, then a left straight, knocking it to the ground. Shifting his attention to the first thing, which had gotten up, he unleashed a one two combo before hitting it with a jackhammer, once more putting it on the ground.

In the time he did that though, the second creature had gotten back up and charged him, ramming into him and knocking him to the ground. He rolled a few feet after being knocked to the ground, but even still he managed to keep his eyes on the two predators. Good thing too, as the second came at him once more, as the first began getting up. The second beast lept at him, but was avoided with a single quick spin of the teen's body, which was easy enough to accomplish even on the ground. As it past by him, he grabbed hold of one of it's arms and proceeded to hurl himself upward, kicking off the ground at the last second as he did, causing shocks of pain to run through him. It was worth it though, as the momentum he gained from doing this allowed him to lift, then toss the second monster over his body, while he was several feet off the ground, and slam it hard into the ground a moment later.

Landing on all fours, more pain wracked his legs, though said pain wasn't enough to break his concentration, as his attention remained on the creatures. Speaking of which, the first monster, which was now up, took a shot at him again, as it barreled down toward him. Anticipating it's attack, he shifted and rolled onto his back, causing it to run over him, it's claws just barely missing him. It wasn't done of course, as it skid to a stop and made a quick u-turn, coming back for more. This time, it prepared to dice him up with two sets of it's claws, so as it neared him, the ghoul jumped up onto his feet to avoid it, making sure to deliver a nice strong kick to it's jaw as he did, sending it rearing back. In doing this, he caused a large surge of pain to shoot through himself, causing him to collapse onto all fours once more, which just amplified the pain, in turn forcing him to grit his teeth to keep from screaming as he cringed.

The second beast, which had recomposed itself, took advantage of this and pounced upon Tsukune, impaling him on it's right set of claws as it did. Blood burst from his mouth against his will then, just as blood blasted from his chest onto the ground as the beast's hand came out the front side of his abdomen, doubly staining the snow with crimson. "Ugh...I-f-fuc-fuck..." Is all he managed to get out, as blood continued to spill from his wound, especially as the monster ripped it's limb back out of him, causing more blood splatter and worsening the wound that much more. All the pain was too much and he collapsed face first onto the ground, his vision slowly beginning to fade and his monster energy leaving his bloodstream as he did. "M-M-M..." No matter what he was going to say, it didn't matter, as there was no one around to hear him. And that just made the fact that the first creature, which had recovered from the last blow it had recieved, had turned it's attention away from the ghoul to the snow woman lying in the cave, that much worse.

How did he know it was aware of her presence? He just did. Besides, why else would it abandon it's prey and head toward the cave?

"MI-Miz-Mizore...ru-run...run Mizore!" He managed to cry, in spite of the agony he was currently in and how much blood filled his mouth. Unfortunately his attempt to warn her was in vain, as there was no response, and the thing drew closer and closer to where she lie, a sinking feeling forming in the teen's gut as it did. Since that was the case, Tsukune began trying to crawl over to the cave, to block the monster's path, but before he could even move more than an inch, the second beast, which still hovered over him, flipped him over so that he was lying on his back. It salivated as it prepared to devour him, it's jaw opening as it prepared to take it's first bite. Still, all Tsukune could think about, was the fact that one of these things was converging on Mizore, even worse, she was helpless because of the state she was in, the state he had put her in. As he thought about that, images of the beast ripping and tearing into her flesh as it devoured her, blood spraying eveywhere as it did, flashed over and over again in his mind. "Mizore...no, no! NO! I won't let her die, I WON'T! I will save her, I will save her! I WILL NOT FAIL THIS TIME!"

The holy lock glowed, as a surge of energy rushed through Tsukune's body, allowing him the strength he needed to move once again. He didn't waste time either, as with one well placed punch, his knuckles digging into the creature's throat when the blow made contact, he knocked the thing to the ground. Sparing only a moment after getting to his feet, he sent half the power he had ammassed to his right fist, before driving it down into and through the beast's head, punching right through it and covering the snow with it's black blood, killing it instantaneously. Not a split second after that, he had whirled around and took off at great speed, sprinting toward the cave, where the other monster had finally found Mizore, using up the other half of the energy to make sure he got there in time to save her.

He timed it perfectly, as just as the last of the energy faded, he was there, in the cave. And there the creature loomed over her, ready to feast upon her flesh. With no power or time left, he acted in the only way that could save her. He threw himself over her, shielding her from the beast with his own body, doing so just in time, as it's jaw clamped down tight , burying all of it's ridiculously sharp teeth into his right shoulder. Tsukune in turn grit his teeth and bared it, taking the pain in Mizore's place. And that pain would only get worse, as the monster, with one swift motion, proceeded to rip a large chunk of flesh out of the ghoul's shoulder, causing blood to spray from the wound and for a lot of the life liquid to run down his chest and back. The agony he was in because of this caused him to scream, as it was just pain, pain and more pain. No matter how much he endured, there was just more of it waiting around the corner.

The creature swallowed the chunk of meat it had torn from it's prey, blood spilling out and running down it's jaw and neck as it did. It quickly came back for seconds, lifting it's hands and pressing them into the teen's sides, digging it's claws into his flesh, drawing more blood in the process, opening it's maw once more. Without warning, it then clamped down on Tsukune's head, it's teeth burrowing into the back of his skull, even piercing the bone, just as they slid through his forehead, as that was as far down as it got to go thankfully. Nevertheless, as his crimson life force ran down his face and the back of his head, he couldn't help but scream once more in agony, this time at the very top of his lungs.

This scream of agony seemed to jumpstart a chain reaction, as right after it occured, Mizore's back arched, as she too screamed at the top of her lungs, spikes of ice forming and shooting out from her torso, passing harmlessly through the hole in Tsukune's abdomen and skewering the monster biting into him from behind repeatedly, ripping themselves out of it's flesh and then stabbing back in, again and again. The pain of this caused the beast to cry out, it's jaw unclamping as it let go of it's prey. It's scream ran parellel to Mizore's, as the ice spikes continued to skewer the thing over and over again, until, finally, it fell back onto the ground, dead, it's black blood pooling around it. And as it's scream died, so did Mizore's, the ice spikes receding into her body, as she lie flat on the floor of the cave once more.

Once more, Tsukune was left as the only living and conscious being, though it was just ever so barely. He had sustained a multitude of injuries, a large hole in his chest, shattered legs, holes riddling his arms, legs and some in his sides as well, a hunk of flesh was torn from his right shoulder, and blood also spilled from the holes in the back and front of his head from being bitten down on. All in all, he was rather fucked up and was definitely lucky to be alive. Even still, his body was nearly numb from all the pain it had endured, although not quite, as when he collapsed to the side, avoiding falling on Mizore by doing so, agony wracked his form from the minor impact because of all the injuries he had accumulated. He didn't have the strength to scream though.

His vision began to go dark then, it nigh impossible for him to keep his eyes open, let alone fight off the shadows at the corners of them that threatened to overtake him. "I'm s-sorry...girls..." But, just as he was about to give in and let death take him, Mizore began to mewl in pain, her face contorting as she did. "Mi-Mizore?" He managed to rasp out, blood still coming out of his mouth as he did. "Ts-Tsukune...Tsukune..." It was then that she cried out once more, clutching at her left breast as she did, trying to get at her heart, as it wracked her with her own agony. She even began to cough up blood, that's how intense her pain had become. Her condition was deteriorating, and fast, that was clear.

That was just the thing to snap Tsukune out of it, as his holy lock began to glow, and he fought to get to his feet. "Ca-can't-t d-die. I can't die, no-not now. I cannot die now. Not...not when her life depends on me. I hav-have to be str-strong, I have t-to stand up. I have to k-kee-keep moving, for her sake. For all of their sakes!" He told himself, as he shakily stood, his wounds fighting to heal themselves with little success. Even if they wouldn't heal, that didn't change what he had to do. So he came to Mizore's side and gathered her into his arms, the blood that covered him staining her clothes as he hugged her close to his body. "I won't let you die Mizore, I promise you." With that he exited the cave, stepping over that thing's body as he did.

Two people stood outside a large icemade hut, said hut was almost like a house with how it was built.

The first of the two was male, stood five eleven to six feet with an average, if perhaps a bit muscular build. He had blue eyes, a light shade of blue hair styled into a moderate length and pale skin. As for clothing, he wore a grey kimonon with a black sash and matching sandals.

The second of the two was female, stood roughly five ten with a curvacious build. She had blue eyes, light blue tinted silver hair styled similar but not exactly like Mizore's and pale skin. She wore a white kimono with purple sash and matching sandals.

These two stood outside their home, watching and waiting. They had heard screeches in the distance, and they knew exactly what creatures those screeches belonged to. "It looks as if someone or something has riled up the Wendigo." The woman said.

"Indeed Tsurara. I wonder, just what did it? After all, they haven't been active in decades after all." He remarked.

"I find myself wondering the same thing Kohaku dear. Though to be honest, I'm just glad they waited until Mizore was out of the house to act up."

"Mhm." He hummed in agreement. The Wendigo were extremely dangerous, they even posed a threat to vampires. Of course they would be glad that their daughter wasn't around when they decided to come back out after decades of hybernation.

As the two stood guard, preparing for the coming Wendigo attack that they were sure was going to take place, they were caught off guard as they caught sight of someone in the distance, lumbering forward toward them, carrying someone as they did. As they drew closer, both the snow woman's and the snow man's eyes widened a great deal, as they saw just who it was. Tsukune Aono, who they hadn't seen in almost a year, shirtless and riddled with wounds ranging from minor to critical, carrying their unconscious daughter, who's clothes were stained with blood. Whether it was her blood or his was unclear to them.

They were so shocked by this sight, it took them several long moments before they could react. What really snapped them out of it, was as he drew closer, Tsukune called out to them. "He-help, help! Mizore needs medical attention! SHE'S DYING, SHE NEEDS HELP NOW!"

Shaking themselves out of their stupor, they raced to the two, reaching them in about a minute, taking Mizore from Tsukune as they did. "What the hell happened!?" Just as Kohaku got his words out, Tsukune was explaining. "One of her ribs pierced her heart, she's bleeding internally. Yukari and Ruby tried to heal her, but we were told that that wouldn't help, that she needed special treatment from another snow woman. Please, hurry, it's been hours, she-she..." He began to stumble then, his words slurring as he tried to convey to them that they needed to help her, now. "I-It's...a-all my fa-fault. I di-did it. I-I'm so ve-very so-sorry." He collapsed face first into the snow then, darkness beginning to consume his vision. "Hu-hurry, sav-save her, pl-please..." He begged them, reaching out as he did, before falling unconscious, his face planting into the snowy ground.

Tsukune shot awake, sweating and panting as his eyes ran all over his surroundings. "Wh-where am I?" He questioned, as he continued to look around. It took him a few moments, but he soon realized exactly where he was. He was inside the lodge that he and the other girls, minus Kokoa, had stayed at when they were visiting Mizore's parents. It was a field trip of sorts. They certainly hadn't expected to be taken to a ski lodge, that's for sure. The fact that it was run by Mizore's mother had also been surprising. He didn't realize it back then, but this wasn't where they actually lived, he had come to realize that over summer break.

All of that was besides the point, as he wondered where Mizore was. He had obviously made it, otherwise he wouldn't be here, lying on a couch in front of a burning fireplace. Not to mention the fact that just about his entire body was covered in bandages. A third of his face, the whole of the back of his head, his entire torso, his entire right arm extending from his fingertips to even a little past his coillar bone, his left arm from his fingertips up to his shoulder and both his legs from the knee cap down to the ankle. Though he couldn't quite see the bandages on his legs, as he now wore a pair of black jeans, though he lacked any other clothing, someone having to have changed him. Probably the same person who bandaged him up. Usually such a thing would embarrass him, but he was too concerned with where Mizore was and if she was okay to even think about being embarrassed.

He wasn't in the best condition, as while his skin was no longer blue tinted, he still had many wounds, was pale and suffering from bloodloss as well as frostbite. Not to mention his messed up legs. He didn't spare so much as a single thought to any of that though as he stood. Shocks of pain were there to greet him, but with what he had been going through the past few hours, he was able to brush it off and begin moving to the door. Halfway there, his attention was caught by a voice speaking up, "Where do you think you're going?" Looking to the source of the voice, the teen was greeted by the sight of Tsurara, having just entered the room. "Misses Shirayuki..." He said her name with more than a little surprise. He shook it off though to answer her question. "I was just going to check on Mizore. I knew you wouldn't keep her here since it would only complicate her healing process, and since you own this lodge, I sorta figured your house wouldn't be too far off."

"You're to trudge through the cold just to check on my daughter, even though you're on death's doorstep? My aren't you sefless. Or perhaps you're just arrogant." She said this with a hint of curiosity in her voice, not actually asking him directly, but clearly wondering it to herself.

"I-uh..um, I'm not entirely sure what you're getting at. I was concerned, so..." He was clearly confused by what she was saying. Was she angry with him? He couldn't tell.

"Mmm. Well there's no need for that. She was certainly close to death when you brought her to my husband and I, but she's fine now. I removed the rib that had punctured her heart and mended her ribcage with special ice made specifically for that purpose. I also stitched up the hole in her heart with ice thredding. It will take some time, but eventually she'll be back in perfect health."

With that news, Tsukune could finally relax, and he did. His muscles untensed and he nearly fell over as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank the gods."

"Yes, well, now that you know, do me the courtesy of leaving the premises."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you wan-wait, what?" Tsukune inquired, thinking he had heard her wrong.

"You heard me young man. I want you out of this lodge and as far away from Mizore as possible." Her calm facade faded then, as a scowl took it's place on her face.

"Wh-what? Why!?" He asked the obvious question

"Why? Are you joking? First I find out you're human, second hand mind you, then I find out you've become a ghoul. On top of that there's the fact that you're courting several of my daughter's friends and her at the same time, and then finally, there's what you've done to her."

Tsukune was unsure how to come back as she spoke, though he did wonder who had told her he was human at one point and was now a ghoul. Then a look of confusion appeared on his face as she finished, prompting her to elaborate further. "You said it yourself, 'It's all my fault, I did it. I'm so very sorry.'"

The teen felt like he had been slapped in the face as his words were thrown back at him. "I-I-I didn't, I mean I did say that, bu-but you don't know the whole story." He insisted.

"Oh the story? Please then, tell me what she did to deserve it. Did she not do as she was told? Did she embarrass you? Had you been drinking and you lost control of yourself? Which of these little tales are you going to spin for me?" Tsurara asked rhetorically.

"Wh-what!? No, hell no, of course not! It was none of those things, I swear!"

"Hmm, I see. Well it really doesn't matter. I mean do you really think why you did it will make any difference to me? You did it, that's all that matters. There is no excuse for it."

"I-well..yeah you're right. But you still don't understand! I know what I did was unforgivable! I know it better than anyone! But at least hear me out so you know exactly what happened! You have to understand!"

A mighty chill spread through the air, as frost began to gather around Tsurara, her eyes glowing as it did, her anger clear. "I have heard enough out of you! The one and only reason you are still alive is because of what you went through to get Mizore here! If not for that I would have killed you on the spot for what you have done to her!"

"Misses Shirayuki, I'm begging you, please just listen to what I have to say! I-"

"For the last time, enough of your babbling! You seem to be under the impression that I care, well you're wrong! You know nothing of me, my daughter or our race! And since you insist on being so petulent, allow me to explain just why it's so important for my dear daughter to find the right one, which you've made quite clear is not you. We Snow Women are different from females of other races, in that we cannot birth children after a certain age. Twenty two to be exact. Understand? She has little more than four years before she can no longer bare children. If you don't understand how critical it is for her to have children, I'll tell you. Both Snow Women and Snow Men are on the brink of extinction. There are very few of us left. If Mizore doesn't have at least one child, then our race is almost certainly doomed." She paused then, allowing her words to sink into the teen's boy mind.

She didn't wait too long to pick back up though. "Besides her, there is only one other Snow Woman capable of reproducing, and even if she does, our survival is not guaranteed. Do you know how hard it will be to find my daughter's special someone in only four years? The time she wasted on you could have been better spent looking for whoever he might be. If she can't find him soon, then she'll be married off to the first person that meets the set bare minumum standards. And the last thing I want to do is marry my daughter off to some stranger! Now do you understand!? Now do you get why she can't afford to waste anymore time with you!?" As she near screamed these words at him, tears began to trail down her face.

Tsukune was left speechless for several long moments, his mind going a thousand miles a minute. When he did manage to find his voice, he didn't really have anything more to say than, "I-I didn't know...I'm so sorry." Tears began to run down his face as well then. "I know you don't believe me but...know that I love your daughter more than life itself. I would do absolutely anything for her. I never meant to hurt her, I would do anything to take back what I did...but I can't, life doesn't work like that. It hurst so much to think that I'll never be able to see her face again...but I love her more than enough to let her go. If what's best for her doesn't involve me, then I'll leave. I won't fight you, I promise. Just please...please let me see her one last time, to say goodbye. Please." He was prepared to get down on his knees and beg if he had to, but that wouldn't be necessary.

"Fine. You may say goodbye. But then you must leave and never return. And know that when you do, you will never see my daughter again." Tsurara stated this in a way that left no room for arguement. And...Tsukune agreed.

Tsukune followed Tsurara into the large ice hut, making sure not to fall behind the whole trek, until they reached the room Mizore lie in, her father beside her. She was still unconscious, but no longer appeared to be in pain. She had even been changed, now wearing a light blue kimono instead of the bloodstained clothes she had been in before. She had also been lied out on a pallet made of several blankets and some pillows. And upon the Tsukune's and Tsurara's arrival, Kohaku stood, eyeing the boy as he did. "He's agreed to leave peacefully and abide by our wishes to never see our daughter again, if we allow him to say goodbye." She explained, to which Kohaku nodded in agreement.

The vampiric teen kneeled down next to the unconscious snow woman and took her right hand with his own. "Mizore...if you can hear me, there's something I have to tell you. I-" Before he could speak any further, a multitude of ear splitting screeches resounded in the air, causing an avalanche in the distance, catching the three's attention.

"Wendigos." Kohaku stated, his eyes narrowing.

"They're coming this way." Tsurara added.

"Wendigos?" Tsukune questioned. "You mean those creatures that attacked me on the way here?"

"Judging by your wounds, I'd say yes." Tsurara confirmed.

"Just what are they exactly? They came after Mizore and me on our way here."

"Wendigos are an acient S-class monster, born from when a spirit of cannibalism possesses a human or monster that has consumed the flesh of their own race. They were thought to have gone extinct decades ago by most of the monster world. The majority of their race was wiped out long ago, but remnants remained for hundreds of years, until the last of them went into a state of semipermanent hybernation. Something seems to have woken them up though, and are they ever cranky." Kohaku explained.

"I see." Tsukune looked to his bandaged shoulder then, before speaking once more. "I'm guessing they like to eat people? One took a bite out of me, though you already know that."

Tsurara nodded her head at that. "Yes, that's exactly what they like to do. "

"And you're sure they're coming here?" The teen inquired.

"I'm certain of it. Why?" Tsurara questioned.

"Because if they are, I need to stop them. Mizore's defenseless as she is, someone needs to protect her." He said, standing as he did, preparing to leave the hut.

"Yes, someone does. And that someone will be us, her parents. This doesn't involve you, so just hurry up and leave." Tsurara insisted.

"No way. I could never, would never leave her like this. I'll leave just like I promised, but not until I know for sure that she's safe. I already told you, whether you believe me or not, I love your daughter more than anything, and I will not just sit by and do nothing when I could be protecting her!" He didn't stick around for any further arguing, as he left the hut.

"Why you!" Tsurara growled, aggravated by the teen's actions. Which in turn caused Kohaku to chuckle. "I like him."

"You like him!? Have you already forgotten what he's done to our daughter!?" She nearly shouted at him.

"No, of course not." He told her, as he thought to himself, "But I'm beginning to suspect that there's more to it than we think there is."

As Tsukune emerged from the icemade building, he took notice of the Wendigos as they came speeding towards the place. There were seven of them in total, moving about in pack form. All seven looked just as the three that came before them, big, hideous, hungry and dangerous. And as they closed in they split up, three coming at him, while the other four made a beeline for Mizore's parents, who had just come out of the ice hut/house. And as they did, the teen let himself focus on his targets, as he was sure Tsurara and Kohaku could handle themselves.

His three targets drew close, so he took a battle stance as his holy lock began to glow. "I may not be at full strength, but I still don't intend on letting you past me." Drawing on his strength, he managed to summon a full hundred percent of his power, subconsciously realizing as he did that there was more left in his well of energy, especially compared to before the attack on Yokai Academy. So he tried for a bit more, and while it was a bit of a struggle, he was able to secure another twenty percent. And with that he was ready to go.

The three Wendigos had split up and were coming at him from all sides, except from behind of course. And as they closed in, they lunged forward claws swinging and teeth snapping, only to miss their target completely as he lept into the air, revolving in a rolling fashion as he asceneded and descended. Before they could try and attack once more, Tsukune unfurled himself from his spinning and came down on them, landing on the ones that had come at him from the left and the right, balancing himself on their heads with each of his feet. As he did this, he raised his right fist into the air, before bringing it down fast, hitting the third beast, the one in the middle, in the head. While doing this, he pushed down on both of the other two, forcing them to the ground to lower him, as he sent a surge of energy to the fist that had struck the middle monster, driving it into and through his cranium, bursting out of it's neck with a splash of black blood, killing it instantly.

As it's body hit the ground with a thump, the other two shot up, knocking the ghoul off of them in doing so, screeching in anger as they did. Tsukune flipped through the air before coming down and landing firmly on his feet, ignoring the shooting pain that doing so caused. Still standing after doing so, he prepared himself as they charged him once more, thinking to himself as they did, "It seems I'm still suffering from my injuries, because I can't keep ahold on the power I draw out. Just that little stunt cost me a good bit of it...but even at this rate, I should still have enough to take them down. "

Just as the beasts reached him once more, he performed a single spin, using it to build momentum for a kick that he launched at the end of it, said kick finding it's mark with the chest of one of the creatures, sending it flying back from the force of it. And as that one flew back and hit the ground, the other came at the teen with it's claws, doing so in a way that left him little to no room to dodge. Since that was the case, he met it head on, ramming into it left shoulder first and proceeding to lock his arms together behind it's back, just as it buried it's claws into his sides, tearing parts of the bandages as blood began to soak through the rest of them. The vampiric teen grit his teeth and bared the pain as he grappled with the beast, before exerting his superior strength to lift the predatory creature into the air. It didn't stay there long, as Tsukune followed through and threw himself back while keeping his footing, bending backward as far as he could and slamming the thing head first into the ground, executing a belly-to-belly suplex. In doing so, he buried it's head into the ground, having punched through it with the force of the slam.

Letting go, he stood upright as he pulled forward, removing the thing's claws from his body in the process. Biting his tongue, he kept the pain to himself, as he turned to face the struggling to free itself beast. Not wasting time, he kicked the Wendigo hard in the abdomen, knocking it onto it's back as it's head popped out of the ground. Not allowing it anytime to get up, he focused power to his left fist and drove it down into and through the wendigo's face, his hand coming out the otherside of it's head with a splash of black blood. With that another Wendigo had been taken care of.

Only one left on his end, and that one was back up and rushing him. Turning to face it, he prepared to counter it's attack. "I've got about seventy percent of the power I drew out left. Enough to take the thing down, but...to do it, I'll have to draw it out and wait for an opening or..." His mind drifted to Kohaku and Tsurara, thinking they might need backup, he decided to go with the second option he had. "Time to get reckless." He said to himself beneath his breath and proceeded to charge at the monster.

He met the Wendigo head on, delivering a jaw-jacking punch as it raked it's right set of claws across his face, nearly getting his eyes in the process. Both of them stumbled back from the attacks, but Tsukune was the one to recover faster and throw himself back into the fray, despite the blood beginning to block his vision. And throw himself he did, tackling the beast with the entirety of his body weight, knocking it to the ground. There on top of it, he wasted no time in proceeding to pound it's face in, beginning to assualt it with a barrage of fists, every third punch or so managing to knock out some of it's teeth. The Wendigo didn't just take the abuse though, as it's face was beaten in, it flailed it's limbs, clawing at it's attacker over and over again, managing to bring blood to the ghoul from his arms and torso. He grit his teeth and continued on through the pain though, sending more and more of his energy to his fists as he pounded it's face in, before, eventually, the creature's skull caved in from all the damage it was taking. And as it did, the teen spared one last punch for it, near splattering it's brains on the ground with said punch. It died moments later from hemmoraging of the brain.

Standing, he couldn't help but begin panting, feeling exhausted already, showing just how injured he was. If he was in top condition, he wouldn't even be close to being this tired, but with everything he had to endure, well, it was expected to say the least. Disregarding his own well being, he wiped the blood off of his face onto the bandages of his arms, the blood mingling with the rest of said crimson liquid on his arms and staining his bandages fully and completely red, on his arms at least.

"I've got thirty percent left...just great. I hope that'll be enough to help." He thought to himself, as he looked to Tsurara and Kohaku, only to see that while they had not finished off their enemies yet, they were doing quite well against them. Only...there was one missing. "Four Wendigos went after them, but I only see them fighting three. Where's the fourth one?" He wondered, his eyes searching for it, as a feeling of dread began to consume him.

As Tsurara and Kohaku followed Tsukune out of the icemade building, they took notice of the approaching Wendigos, as they split up, three to the teen ghoul and four to them.

"Looks like it's time for us to put down some Wendigos." Kohaku stated, as the very air around him seemed to freeze.

"I haven't done that since I was a girl. My father couldn't stop laughing at my reaction to seeing one the first time, or the fact that my attacks did little more than irritate it." Tsurara reminisced, as the air around her too seemed to freeze.

Kohaku smirked at her words, "I remember that. You came back to the village with this flustered look on your face, and anytime anyone said anything about it you'd get so angry. Not to mention you'd blush like a schoolgirl. You were really embarrassed about it. It was honestly pretty cute."

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Cute huh? You're one to talk."

The four Wendigos were upon them then, but even still, they continued to chat with one and other. "Oh I am am I? How so?" He questioned her, as he evaded two of the beasts who had lunged at him.

"You remember when your mother brought you that manga from the human world you had been asking for for months on end?" As she brought this up, she too evaded two of the creatures attacks.

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Momichi told me about it and I was hooked before I even read my first copy. " He recalled, as he formed a sphere of ice and sent it hurtling toward one of the predators, the ball hitting it's mark and shattering upon making contact with it, causing it to stumble slightly, and stop to regain it's balance.

"You were so excited you couldn't stand still. And when you actually finished reading the thing, it was all you were able to talk about for weeks. Anytime anyone indulged you enough to listen to everything you had to say about it, your face would light up like the fireworks at a festival. You were so cute when you were ten that it almost hurt to look at." She told him this, as she summoned a row of ice spikes, that when they appeared caused two of the monsters to skid to a stop to avoid hitting them, forcing them to change their trajectory and try again to come at her.

"Is that so? You didn't seem to think so back then. If I recall correctly, your feelings on my behavior were, 'It's just a stupid book, calm down already. I mean really, how annoying can you be?' stop me if I'm wrong." He told her, as he followed up her ice spikes by creating an ice fist the size of a person, and proceeding to slam it into the two wendigos, knocking them to the ground hard and causing them to roll several feet.

"That's not how I felt, not really, that's just what I said to you, what I wanted you to think I felt. What I really wanted to say was how much I liked you, but...well, you know how girls can be at that age. We don't know how to deal with those kinds of feelings, so we lash out at the one we like." She explained, as she covered her husband, who had left himself open to help her with the two trying to attack her. She did this by firing shards of ice from both of her hands, the projectiles soaring at the two wendigos trying to attack Kohaku. These ice shards hit one of their marks, embedding themselves in the skin of one of the beasts from it's torso down to it's knee caps, though it still kept coming.

"Wait, all girls do that? Huh, and here I thought that was just you." He shot with a cheeky grin. To which she responded sarcastically, "Ha ha, very funny."

All four wendigos had regrouped and were charging the snow woman and snow man again, as they drew too close though, the two summoned giant ice spikes, two from the left and two from the right, that, while not directly hitting the creatures, knicked two of them, knocked them off balance and broke their formation. The rising of these spikes out of the ground also knocked up a ton of snow, minimalizing the husband and wife duo's vision, which allowed one of the beasts, the only one to not be hit by any of their attacks, to slip away unnoticed.

While the three wendigos recovered, Kohaku and Tsurara looked to one and other and came to the decision that it was time to end this. So, their monster energies rising and fluctuating, they prepared for a combo attack that would finish the predatory creatures. As they did so, frost began to visibly contaminate the air all around the three beasts, soon completely surrounding them. And just before they could try and get out of the zone created by this frost, it solidified into a multitude of mirrors, said mirrors covering every possible exit big enough for the things to try and slip through.

The wendigos began ramming into the mirrors, scratching at them, trying to bite into them, anything they could possibly do to shatter them and get out of the trap they were in. But by then, it was already too late. "Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Tsurara and Kohaku exclaimed in unison. As they did, they began breaking apart into shards of ice, before breaking down even further than that into flakes of snow. The entirety of their bodies did this, before they were nothing more than floating flakes of snow, Said snow drifted in the wind until they reached the mirrors of ice, before seemingly being absorbed into them. From there their bodies reformed in every mirror, appearing all around the trapped monsters. As they did, their hands and lower arms shifted into ice, molding their shape into two different forms, large mallets for Kohaku, large railroad spikes for Tsurara. And at that point...it was all over.

In the blink of an eye, the husband and wife duo shot out of the two mirrors they were truly in, moving with incredible speed as they raced toward the wendigos. Once they reached them, before they could defend themselves or even react to their enemies presence, Tsurara buried one of her railroad spike hands into the chest cavity of one of them, before pulling away, the spike breaking off and staying burrowed in the beast's flesh. Not a splitsecond after that she was at the throat of another one, piercing it between the eyes with her other spike, it breaking off as she pulled away as well. The ice spikes grew back as she reached the third one, allowing her to pierce it's lower abdomen and throat, the spikes once more breaking off as the woman pulled away. Kohaku came right behind his wife, using his mallets to hammer the spikes into the creatures and skewer them with said objects, as they were forced all the way through and out the otherside, black blood splattering everywhere as a result while the things screeched in pain. "Mallet-Spike Combo!" They finished the name of their attack, just as their targets dropped to the ground dead. And as they did, the surrounding mirrors shattered into pieces, falling to the ground where they melted into snow.

There they stood, in the middle of the three corpses, as their hands and lower arms shifted back to their original states. Their eyes remained on the dead beasts for a few moments, before they looked to one and other. Neither of them showed it, but they both knew just how much of their monster energy that technique used up. They certainly didn't have enough to do it again, that's for sure. Nevertheless, they had taken the beasts down, and without sustaining a single injury either. "Looks like we still got it." Kohaku said. "I could have told you that dear." Tsurara replied.

Their banter didn't go any further than that however, as they realized that the fourth one was missing. And as they looked for it, their eyes soon found the sight of Tsukune. The condition he was in...well, it wasn't pretty, that's for sure. Seeing him like that, well, they could guess what had happened, so they quickly rushed over.

Tsukune's eyes shot to and fro, looking everywhere for the missing wendigo. When he couldn't find it, his heart sank, as he assumed the worst. "Mizore!" As he whirled around to rush to her aid, he came face to face with the seventh wendigo, the pack leader. Before he could so much as react to it's presence, it took hold of him by his head, lifting him into the air by it. He grabbed hold of the wrist of the hand it had ahold of him with, as he began struggling to get free of it's grasp, but with only thirty percent power left, he didn't have much hope of being able to do so. And in spite of his efforts, he just couldn't summon up anymore.

The beast lifted him over it's head, before taking hold of his right leg with it's other hand and beginning to pull him two different directions. As it did, the ghoul had to bite his tongue for the hundredth time that day, to keep from cying out in pain, as his fucked up leg, one of them anyway, was injured even further. It only got worse from there, as the beast roared and began to tug at his head and leg even harder. In doing so, it began to forcibly tear the teen's neck and leg muscles one after the other, increasing his pain tenfold.

This continued for several long moments before, Tsukune's bones, muscle tissue and the flesh of his leg began to tear as well, increasing the pain fifty fold. If this kept up, there was absolutely no way he could keep his pain quiet. And that was proven, as his right leg, the one the creature had ahold of, began to visibly rip, blood flowing all down it as it was pulled apart at the kneecap. It was a gruesome sight, as his flesh was torn, revealing muscle and even bone. It wouldn't be long before it came apart completely, leaving him with only half a leg. Things got worse, as his neck and torso began to do the same, the flesh slowly beginning to rip and tear away, blood flowing as they did, his bones stretching and starting to break apart as well. As this happened, all the wounds he had recieved on the trek here reopened and began to gush crimson, not to mention the tearing of all his bandages. And that was it, that was his limit. Tsukune could no longer keep his pain, no his agony, quiet, as he let out a blood curdling scream. Said scream lasted for almost half a minute, before it all proved too much for him and he passed out from the immense pain.

In doing so he seemed to convince the monster he had died, as it stopped pulling shortly after he went quiet. It pulled him down, stared at him for a few moments, then proceeded to throw him aside, his body hitting the ground with a thump. Then, then it turned and moved towards the ice hut/house Mizore reside in.

There he lied, where his body had been thrown down, unconscious and bleeding from claw wounds and torn flesh. He wasn't likely to wake up anytime soon, if at all. And yet, his holy lock pulsed and began to glow, All for one reason..."Mizore...I ha-have to protect Mizore..." Those were his last thoughts before losing consciousness, and so intent on protecting her he was, that those five words continued to echo through his head. His ghoul blood reacted to this strong, burning desire to protect Mizore and began to fill him with power, forcing it through the filtering system of the holy lock as it did. With just how much power it was sending through, and how fast it did so, the holy lock couldn't hope to keep up, and so his transformation began to take place. Starting with his eyes becoming a glowing crimson. "Mizore...I have to protect her. I must protect Mizore. I can't, won't let anyone hurt her." He said to no one in particular, as his eyes shot open.

Looking down, his eyes caught sight of his torn tissue, his leg being the worst, literally only hanging on by a few thin strands of flesh, blood gushing from where it was just barely connected to his kneecap. His torso and neck weren't pretty either, but they weren't nearly as bad. Not that he cared at the moment, not when one of his precious people were in danger. So he had no problem refocusing his attention on the entryway to Mizore's home. He had to get there, quickly. So, even though his regnerative factor had been kicked into overdrive, he didn't wait to stand and instead began crawling toward the icemade building, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. "Mi-Mizore...don't wo-worry, I-I won-won't let any-anyone hurt you. "

With every passing moment, he was filled with more and more power, his brown locks beginning to bleed into silver one by one, as he continued to crawl at a frighteningly fast pace, a dark red aura building around him all the while. Soon enough he reached the doorway, where the door had been broken into pieces from the wendigo pack leader breaking in. Once there, he forced himself to his feet, in spite of the fact that his right leg still wasn't fully reattached, which made walking not only a hazard, but a disgusting thing to witness, what with the tendons and muscle tissue and all.

His transformation was almost complete, as the schelera of his eyes turned pitch black, but what would happen next would push it over the edge and complete it.

As he entered the room Mizore lie in, she came to, only to see a wendigo looming over her, salivating as it's jaw opened wide to devour her. She was disoriented and being assualted by flashes of what happened on her way here, having subconsciously experienced it all alongside Tsukune, and was face to face with something out of a nightmare. So it came as no surprise that she cried out in fear, especially since the image of her lover lying on top of her being eaten kept appearing in her mind over and over again. And that scream was what triggered the last of Tsukune's transformation, black vein-like patterns emerging on the right side of his neck and face.

"NOOOOOO!" He cried as he lunged forward, getting there just in time to grab ahold of the monster by it's jaws, keeping them pried wide open so it couldn't dare harm Mizore. "You filthy scum! How dare you, how dare you!?" His rage was almost palpable, as he held the creature at bay, the thing clawing at his arms and struggling to break free from his hold, to no avail. "Did you actually think I would just sit here while you tried to eat her!? I will not allow you to so much as touch a single hair on her head, you vile disgusting creature!" With that he began to exert his superior strength, pulling it's bottom jaw and upper jaw in the opposite directions, his grip so tight as he did that it's teeth began shattering under the force. It began crying out in pain then, it's muscles pulling apart as the teen forced it's mouth into two different directions. It progressed rapidly from there, as it's jaw bone began to crack under the pressure, while it's flesh and muscle tissue began to tear away from each other, blood beginning to run from the openings in the tissue as they did. It began to squeal in agony, squirming and thrashing about, as it tried to escape from it's enemy's grip, terror in it's eyes. But alas, it was far too late to run now.

Starting from it's jaw on down to it's pelvis, it's flesh was torn from itself, skin, muscle and tendons destroyed as it was brutally pulled apart. "You will not hurt her! Understand!? YOU WILL NOT HURT HER!" Then, with a cry and a mighty heave, Tsukune proceeded to rip the wendigo completely in half, it's flesh ripping and tearing apart at an almost indescribable rate, blood spraying from it's body all the while, courtesy of broken blood vessels.

And that was it, with that the final beast had been killed, it now nothing more than two halves of a corpse, which the ghoul held in his hands. He, Mizore and the floor of the immediate area beneath them had been soaked in the monster's black blood because of what he had done, but it didn't matter. She was safe, that was what actually mattered. So, with that accomplished, the monster energy began to leave Tsukune's body, though his transformed state failed to fade away as it did.

Throwing the halves of the wendigo corpse to the ground, he began to pant, as all his injuries caught up with him. As he did, Mizore stared up at him from where she lie, her mind connecting all the pieces of the jagged puzzle that were the current events. It clicked in her head soon after, her hidden injury being exploited and worsened during the battle with Kuyo, his mocking words on the matter, Tsukune's victory, his journey to save her, though her memories of that were fuzzy and not all too clear, and what had just happened in front of her eyes. So, all her questions answered and her confusion cleared away, she sat up, speaking her lover's name as she did. "Tsukune..." There was no fear in her voice, despite the grizzly and frightening state he was in, only concern.

That didn't matter to her parents however, who had arrived just in time to see the teen catch ahold of the wendigo by it's jaws and proceed to brutally tear it apart. They had sat there, there eyes wide in shock, as he took it apart like it was nothing. But as he moved on Mizore, his focus now on her as he took a shaky step, they were snapped out of it. Leaping into action, they rushed him from behind, forming one arm each of theirs into blades of ice, aiming for his heart together as they pivoted forward to impale him on their swords.

"NOOOOOO!" Mizore cried, as she lept to her feet and threw herself in the way of the attack, a wall of ice forming itself almost instantaneously between Tsukune, her and her parents. They were relieved this happened, as while they had to tear their blades out from the ice wall and hadn't hit their target, it had prevented them from harming their daughter, which would have occurred with her throwing her body in the way like that.

Mizore stood in front of Tsukune's back, behind the ice wall with her arms stretched out to her sides in a defensive position. Tears flowed from her eyes, as she demanded answers from her parents. "How could you!? How could you try and kill Tsukune!? Answer me!"

"What the!? How could we not!? After everything he's done to you, how could you possibly ask us that like we're in the wrong!?" Tsurara questioned her daughter.

"He killed that wendigo without even using an ounce of effort, then he turned his gaze to you. We had to protect you from him." Kohaku answered her, his calm anger showing through.

"Protect me? From Tsukune!?" A bitter laugh escape Mizore at that. "That's rich. Tsukune would never hurt me." She told them straight up.

"Never hurt you!? Mizore, do you even know why you're here in the first place!? That human bastard hurt you so badly that you were dying! One of your ribs had punctured your heart! How much of a beating must he have given you to do such a thing!? He almost killed you dear!" Tsurara exclaimed, her ire burning.

"You have no idea what you're talking about! That wasn't his fault! His ghoul side was on a rampage! I got that injury from saving him from it! Tsukune would never do that to me, and you'd know that if you took the time to get to know him! He loves me, he loves me so much that it hurts him! And human bastard!? Is that what this is all really about!? Did you try to kill him just because he's human!?" Mizore's own anger showed through, as it amped up and slowly turned to rage.

"Of course not! That has nothing to do with it!" Both Kohaku and Tsurara exclaimed in unison.

"Oh really!?" She questioned, her doubt clear. "Then why on Earth would you attack him!? He made the journey here all on his own, most of it on foot, and took all the pain that was meant for me, taking my place and nearly being devoured by one of those things! All the while blaming himself for what was happening, acting as if he deserved it! How could you possibly think that he was capable of doing this to me!?"

"Mizore stop." Tsukune began, having turned to face her back, as his hair finally began to change, bleeding back to brown, just as his eyes did, his black vein pattern submerging back into his skin. "Don't-" He was going to tell her it wasn't their fault, that they were right, but Mizore knew this and cut him off. "NO! I will not stop! I will not let them go on thinking and saying these kinds of things about you! They have no right!" As she proclaimed this so vehemently, Tsukune's strength gave out and he fell back onto the ground, though managed to remain conscious.

"Excuse me!? No right!? We have every right to protect you from some bastard who nearly killed you! If we left you with him, there would surely be a next time! And then you might not be so lucky!" Tsurara said with tears of her own rolling down her face.

"You're not listening! You don't understand! Tsukune would never ever hurt me!" Mizore proclaimed with conviction, her faith in her lover quite clear.

"You obviously don't know him as well as you think you do then!" Tsurara insisted, reffering to her near death at his hands.

That was the wrong thing to say however, as it pushed the young woman over the edge. "I know him better than you could ever hope to! The fact is that you have no idea what Tsukune has gone through or what he's done for me! If it wasn't for him you wouldn't even have a daughter now! I was so lonely, I had no one, no one! You weren't there, you didn't make me feel like I was worth something, like my life meant a damn! He did that! He was the one to save me when all I wanted was to end it all! He did more than you two ever did on the first day I met him! How fucking pathetic is that!?" Another bitter laugh escape her then. "The months after that my life was filled with things I had never known, like friendship and love. With every passing day my world grew brighter and brighter, all because of him! How could I not fall for him!? Our lives were full of twists, turns, ups and downs, but never once did my feelings ever fade, no ,they only grew stronger."

Mizore stopped for a moment, letting her words sink in, before she continued. "I ached and pined for him for so long, until, finally, he let me be his. So what if I have to share him!? It's far better than not having him, that's for sure! And I don't care if you approve or not, because screw what you think! The only thing that matters to me is him! And I'm sick of people beating him down and walking all over him! And I'm sick of the fact that he lets them and even agrees with them and tears himself down for them! He thinks of himself as some kind of sub-being, one that doesn't deserve happiness or love, and feels guilt when he receives them. And it's all because of the way you and everyone else like you treat him! Understand!? He lives his life with nothing but shame and guilt when he's done nothing to deserve to feel like that! Because he's human, because he's a ghoul, because he has multiple lovers, because he's weak, because he's strong, because he can't control his power, anything and everything is a reason to hate him and make him hate himself to you people! But I won't allow it, not anymore! Not from you two or anyone else!"

Mizore's eyes began to glow as her monster energy began to pulse, the air around her frosting over as she finished speaking. "So if you want to kill him, you'd better kill me too! Because I'd sooner take your lives than allow you to take his!" She declared, as she prepared to battle to the death with her very own parents.

"Mizore..." Tsukune breathed her name with a mix of emotions, tears running down his face.

To be Continued...