Beneath the Surface

Study Date

Tsukune Aono woke up with a few minutes to spare before his alarm clock went off. Once again he was right on schedule to get to class on time. Every day after the very first day of school when he had been late, he had been very punctual. He was very proud of that fact, and so was his mother, Kasumi.

Kasumi observed her son carefully as he ate his breakfast at a normal pace. It was refreshing to see him be so responsible and disciplined with regards to waking up and getting to school on time. He had never been like that before, which made her wonder what made him change.

She thought for a moment that perhaps her little Tsukune had found a girlfriend, a good enough explanation for such a dramatic change in her son's behavior, but she dismissed that thought. While she loved her son and he was quite a nice boy, she knew that he was very shy and not particularly good with the ladies. There was simply no way.

Still, she thought as she watched him finish his meal from the corner of her eye as she cleaned up in the kitchen, Something or someone has made him change. Not that I don't like it, but I do wonder what the reason behind this is. Perhaps some of his friends were beginning to have some good influences on him. She had met Rocca and Saito, both of them very nice like her own son. She could see how they would be friends.

Minutes later, he was bidding her goodbye and walking out the door with a cheery smile.

She watched him leave, still wondering.

-xxxxxx-

Moka put down her pen, having finished writing another letter to her father. She liked to keep him updated on her life away from home. She looked it over again to make sure everything was perfect before she placed it into an envelope and sealed it. Her father had never once replied to her, but she knew that he read them. She wondered if he shared her letters with the rest of her family and thought that he probably did not. He wasn't exactly the

She was very soon out the door with her suitcase in one hand and packed lunch in the other, ready for another day of school.

As with every early morning walk to school, her thoughts turned to Tsukune. The only friend she had. While most people would think that a sad thing, she was extremely happy that she had him. She wasn't sure what she would do without him. She had always felt so alone, with no one really accepting her because of her looks or what she said or how she acted. Ever since she left home to live on her own she has questioned whether it was the right decision. She had not been accepted by anyone. Not until Tsukune.

As if on cue, Moka spotted the familiar figure of Tsukune Aono in front of her as they neared the gates to the school.

"Tsukune! Tsukune!" she called out to him, breaking out into a jog.

He turns around with a big smile on since he knew it was her from the sound of her voice. "Hi Moka! Ahh!"

She greets him with the usual big hug that sends him stumbling back a little as she half jumps onto him, which he always enjoys though he feels heat on his cheeks every time.

He smells so good today, she thought as she let go of him. The urge resurfaced again and began to grow in her, but she forced it down. She couldn't do it. If she did it again he might get scared away, and then where would she be? At least he did not seem to remember or think much of the first time she bit him.

Her green eyes met his brown ones and they stood there for a few seconds grinning stupidly at each other before they looked down and away with embarrassment. They then made their way into school, walking all the way to their classroom and sitting together in the back row like they always did.

As the lecture neared its end, Tsukune was again spacing out. His eyes drifting to over to the window to look outside. It looked like it was going to rain. He frowned at that observation since he had neglected to bring his umbrella. He hoped it would not rain too hard.

As his thoughts continued to focus on the weather and the world outside the classroom in general, his mind was recalled back to the classroom upon hearing the dreaded words he hadn't heard so far this year: "... and as you know the first round of tests will begin next week. I hope you've been studying, class!"

The teacher grins knowingly. Half of the class has not even begun to study and a quarter are behind on schoolwork for sure. That quarter included one young boy named Tsukune Aono.

Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh craaap! I forgot about the tests! I'm so behind on my schoolwork! thought Tsukune in a panic, his eyes filled with dismay. He had this weekend to study and he couldn't put it off any longer otherwise he'd fail those tests. He grumbled at the thought of spending his entire weekend studying but it had to be done.

Moka tugged on his shirt just as the lunch bell rang. She leaned over from her seat to get closer to him, their sudden closeness made him forget about the tests for a moment and think only of her.

"Tsukune?"

"Yes, Moka?"

"I was hoping... that we could study for the tests together. Is that alright?" she asked him hopefully.

Wow, it's like she read my mind or something... he thought and he grinned at her, "Of course, Moka! That sounds like a great idea!"

Her mouth stretched into a wide smile, showing perfect white teeth. "Great!" she followed up by asking him when he wanted to get started. "If you want, we could start later today."

Tsukune sighed. He was hoping to take the rest of today off, it being Friday after all, and start studying tomorrow but he knew it would be best to start studying that very same day. Resigned to an entire weekend of hitting the books, he nodded, "Sure thing, Moka. Would you like me to go over to your house or would you prefer to come to mine?"

Moka thought for a moment. "Well," she paused, "You can come straight after school to my home since you walk me back anyways." Her eyes suddenly lit up, "And I can cook you some dinner! I've been practicing."

He smiled genuinely, "I'd like that."

Ever since Saito had spoken to him about Moka, he had been a bit wary and curious of her. But he could not see how any of those rumors about Moka could be true. He had resolved to get to know her better and to find out for himself the truth about Moka Akashiya, but at the same time he did not want to push her too hard on trying to open up else suffer pushing her away from him.

That afternoon, as the final bell rang out the school day, Tsukune and Moka continued to follow their routine by walking home together. On their way out of school, Tsukune pulled out his phone. He had to call home to talk to his parents about his study session with Moka.

Dialing the number, he wondered what his parents would think of him studying for tests at Moka's house. Knowing his parents, they would be both happy and worried. Happy that he was making friends at this new school, particularly with girls, and worried that he was growing up too fast and that this might be more than studying.

As the phone began to ring, he looked to Moka with that last thought in mind.

Her interested in being more than a friend with me? Yeah right. He laughed at the thought in his head.

"Hello?" his mother's voice answered through the phone.

"Hey, mama."

Recognizing her son's voice, she began to worry. "Why are you calling home? Did something happen? Are you okay?"

"Calm down, mama. I'm fine. I was calling to let you know that because I have some tests next week I really need to study. A friend of mine offered to study all weekend together so we could both do well, so I won't be home until probably late tonight," he explained, making an effort not to say who his friend is.

There was a moment of silence, though Tsukune could barely hear an audible sigh of relief. "Okay, dear. But what about your dinner?"

"It's okay, she said she'd cook for me." Big mistake.

"SHE? You're studying with a girl at her house? Is she your girlfriend?" His mother couldn't believe it. Her little Tsukune had a girlfriend! "How could you not tell me?"

Tsukune shushed her, "Mama! It's not like that. We're good friends and we want to do well on our tests next week so we're studying together."

"Okay, hun. Well, I'll be sure to save you some leftovers if you come back and decide you're still hungry," she said.

"Thank you, mama."

"I hope I'll be meeting your girlfriend some day soon, okay?"

"Bye Mamaaa!" he said with slight annoyance and embarrassment. He glanced over to Moka, thankful that she had not heard a word his mother had said.

As soon as he hung up, she started to giggle and Tsukune wondered if she had heard the conversation after all.

He gulped, "Wh-what's so funny, M-Moka?"

She cocked her head to the side and smiled, "You call your mother, mama! That's so cute!"

-xxxxxx-

They arrived at her home, a nice townhouse with two floors. Quite similar to Tsukune's actually. It was not lost on Moka that this was the first time ever that she had brought anybody unrelated to her back with her to where she had lived. She hesitated a moment, wondering if... No, she would wait to tell him. He didn't need to know just yet.

Her key turned in the lock and she opened the door, turning and smiling at Tsukune. "Welcome to my home!"

Tsukune was actually quite impressed with the place. From the outside the townhouse looked like any other normal home, but on the inside it seemed the place was tricked out! He wondered what Moka's parents did for a living because they seemed to be quite wealthy from what he was seeing.

Expensive-looking everything was everywhere. From the furniture to the carpeting and even the light fixtures.

"Wow, Moka. Your home is really nice!" He said that with sincerity.

Like most townhouses in the area, the home had an open floor plan. The front door opened up to a little entry way, where they took off their shoes. Walking further in Tsukune found himself in a living room slash dining room at the back corner of which were stairs leading up to the second floor, no doubt where the bedrooms were located. In the opposite back corner was the kitchen.

It was so shiny with the nice marble counter-tops, brand new stainless steel appliances, and nice dark wood for the cabinets.

She blushed slightly, "Ohh, it's not much really. It's only where I live in the city. You should see the house where I grew up!"

Tsukune faced her. "Oh? Where's that?"

Her eyes went wide at that and she quickly changed the subject, "Uh, it's not that important right now. How about you get ready over on the dining table and I'll go upstairs and change. Then we can start studying. Okay?" She didn't wait for an answer as she left a somewhat confused Tsukune standing there.

He eventually went to the table and set down his book bag. He took out what he needed to study for next week and laid them all on the table.

Moka came back down a few minutes later, having changed into some black short shorts and a simple white top.

Tsukune couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked before he caught himself and shook such thoughts away. He was there to study with her, nothing more. He could not afford to get so distracted.

Once Moka had all her stuff out they looked at each other.

"Alright, Tsukune. What do you want to study first?"

"Well, if we tackle the hard stuff now we can work on the easier subjects later this weekend as we get closer to the tests. It should help keep the stress levels low," he offered.

She gave a nod. "Sounds good to me. What do you think is the hardest subject?"

"Math!" Tsukune stated matter-of-factly.

-xxxxxx-

After a few minutes, it was clear to Moka that Tsukune was not only not paying attention in math class but was not doing the exercises and homework that were assigned either. Instead of being mad at him though, as Tsukune had expected she would be, she was actually more than happy to help him out. They spent the next two hours working on the math material.

Slumping his head down on the table, Tsukune groaned. "My head feels like it's been electrocuted." He had to admit though that he had learned more in those two hours about math than he had half-paying attention in class, if at all. Even his notes they had found were fragmented and missing many elements, which he was embarrassed about.

"Don't you worry, Tsukune! You can use my notes from now on whenever you need them." Her hand had reached out to grab his and squeeze it reassuringly.

He smiled at her, "Thank you so much, Moka. I... I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Probably fail your tests," she replied instantly with a giggle, still smiling.

He laughed nervously, "Yeeahh... probably."

They then both noticed that they were still holding hands and abruptly let go of one another awkwardly.

"So, uh. What's next?" asked Tsukune.

"Well, are you sure you're comfortable with the Math material now?"

Tsukune slowly shook his head, "Not entirely. But I think we can go over it again tomorrow. We should move on to another subject." He did not really want to continue studying math after having already done so for two hours.

"Well, we can start studying for Science. That's pretty tough." Moka was already reaching for her science textbook as she spoke.

They spent about an hour and a half on the material before they were interrupted by a grumbling that emanated from Tsukune's stomach. Actually, it had been grumbling for a while but Tsukune had been ignoring it until it finally got loud enough that Moka had heard. She had of course been concerned.

"You're hungry Tsukune! Why didn't you tell me?"

He grinned sheepishly at her and shrugged, "I didn't think I was that hungry, really."

Moka stood up and moved to the kitchen with a purpose. "Well, I'll try to cook something up real quick!"

"Can I help?" asked Tsukune as he stood and stretched, walking over to the counter that separated the dining area from the kitchen proper.

The pink-haired girl shook her head. "I want to do this myself, Tsukune. You go and rest! If you want, you can watch some TV."

"Are you sure?"

"Mhmm!"

He watched her for a moment as she prepared the food before turning around and walking past the dining area to the living room. A nice leather couch was placed against the wall, over which was a large painting of a sailboat out in the ocean during a sunset. Right in front of the couch was a nice wood and glass coffee table. On opposite wall was a mounted flatscreen HDTV. He noted that it was connected to a sound system and, taking a moment to look around, he found there were five speakers total placed strategically around the living area.

He moved over to the window, pulling aside the drapes to look outside. It was pretty dark out there, the last vestiges of light from the sun casting a faint glow on everything. But even that slowly was fading away, giving way to the darkness of night.

Tsukune sat down on the couch, noting how comfortable it was. He cast a glance over to the kitchen and saw Moka looking very focused on the cooking. He smiled.

Reaching for the remote, he turned the TV on. As the flatscreen came to life, the station that was currently on was one of the national news channels. Sound seemed to come from all around him as the sound system did its magic.

"... Fairy Tale, Inc. lawyers did not comment on the current lawsuit being brought by the Internet giant. In other news..." Tsukune changed the channel.

He surfed mindlessly for a while, feeling totally relaxed on the comfortable leather couch. His attention from the TV was broken when Moka finally said that dinner was ready. Turning the television off he went over to the dining table where the food had been set.

"Wow, Moka. This looks pretty good. You didn't have to cook so much though," he said, understanding now why it had taken her so long to cook. She had made four different dishes.

She clasped her hands together in front of her chest, fingers intertwining as she looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, it's just that... well, I know you like steak but I didn't have any. And since I wasn't sure what other kinds of food you liked..."

"Well, there's not a lot of food that I don't like, to be honest." He looked at the food she had prepared. "And these look good to me." He sat down, eyes still on the food which meant he completely missed the happy look that Moka gave him. "Shall we?" he asked as he helped himself to some fish.

-xxxxxx-

Tsukune unlocked the front door of his house and stepped through. The lights on the first floor were still open, which was strange since usually by this time his parents were already upstairs. He shut the door and instantly heard the shuffling of footsteps.

"Hey little cuz! How was your study date?" a familiar voice called out to him as he was quickly enveloped in a hug.

"K-Ky-Kyoko!" He was not expecting to see her there, especially so late at night. "What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too, Suki." She sticks her tongue out at him as she steps back.

His older cousin, Kyoko, lived only two blocks away from him and they grew up together as pretty much brother and sister. Her light teal eyes looked at him with great interest.

"Wait, how did you know about me studying with my friend?"

"Isn't it obvious? I came by to pay a visit and you weren't here, so naturally I asked your mother." She grinned, "She was so surprised that you had a girlfriend. Well, I was surprised naturally but I'm not so sure if it's true..."

"W-w-what?! She's not my girlfriend!" He raised his hands, palms facing her as he said that.

"Mhmm.. I know you, Suki. You're not exactly one to go out and get a girlfriend while starting out in high school. Something's suspicious about this..."

"Suspicious?" asked Tsukune, confused.

"Yes," came the reply in a matter-of-fact tone. "Are you pretending to be out studying with some girl, but you're actually goofing off with your friends? Maybe even doing something illegal? Don't you lie to me Tsukune Aono!"

Tsukune gave her a look that basically said, 'are you serious?'

"Don't give me that look! I'm just saying that this is suspicious and that's one of the possible scenarios I've thought of," she said, crossing her arms.

"Look, Kyoko. No, I'm not doing anything illegal and I'm not goofing off with my buddies," he explained, "I was actually studying!"

If anything that made Kyoko even more suspicious, and she pretty much said so. "And since when have you been so focused on studying? That's not the Tsukune I know! You're hiding something," her eyes squinted at him as she raised her right hand and pointed at him, "And I intend to find out what."

With that she walked past him and left through the front door, bidding him a good night before the door closed.

For the life of him, Tsukune could not understand what had transpired. His cousin acted very strangely sometimes.

Author's notes: What do you guys think? Reviews are appreciated, all the more if they are constructive ones. :) Also, I know it's somewhat slow for now but things pick up soon enough.