Author's Note:
Wow, this story's getting more attention than I thought it would… You have no idea how happy that makes me.
Now for some replies to some reviews:
First, to all of you, thank you for leaving the review and for the praise. It means a lot to me
DariusXXI: But there are so many of them!
Still, you have a point. I think I'll settle for Moka, though the others will definitely play a role (apart from providing ammo for teasing).
If any of you dear readers figure out the main girls' roles then you'll get an internet cookie (for those under 16) or an internet beer (for those over 16), as well as a special mention. Maybe you'll even get a special reward.
Lone Gundam: "You'd never know it by looking at her, but that woman is an alien's worst nightmare."
Doctor Vahlen is one scary scientist… One of the possible new gene mods is mentioned in this chapter, but that's all for now. Of course there will be other Gene Mods, but there will be a certain complication with making them work with humans. A complication that will be dealt with in time...
The New Master of Evil: The friend that dared me to make it thought the same thing. Now he's eating his words and I'm drinking his beer.
I'll try to keep the cliches to minimum, but some will get in. It's inevitable. Don't worry, there won't be many… I hope. As for the operative's life in the Academy, well, it will be gossip fuel in the HQ for a while.
drake202: I hope that this chapter will satisfy some of your curiosity. As for the xenophobia, well, remember that when in human form the monsters are indistinguishable from us, at least on first sight. It's hard to hate them when you have to constantly remind yourself that they're not human…
And now enjoy the story.
"Hey momma, look at me! I'm on my way to the promised land!" Christopher Redmond sang to himself as he tapped his foot impatiently. The young boy looked pretty ordinary - short cropped black hair, brown eyes, a face that was a bit sharp… His height was a bit unusual for his age, easily adding one or two years to his real age.
His clothes consisted of what appeared to be a typical school uniform - a green jacket that he had tossed over his shoulder, a white dress shirt and a red tie. However, the cargo pants that he wore and the way he had rolled the shirt's sleeves up as far as they could go were probably against school regulations. Not to mention the tie that was loose…
Still, Christopher (Chris to his friends, Lightning when he was on a mission) would have fit into any American city. Unfortunately, he wasn't in the United States… He was standing at a bus stop somewhere in Japan and thus he was attracting quite a few looks.
"Come on… where's that bus?" Chris growled after checking his watch. How could his ride be running late? It was a school bus, for god's sake!
Letting out a sigh the boy put his hands in his pants' pockets and leaned against the bus stop's rain shelter. As he continued waiting his thoughts strayed back to the events that led him here…
"Wait, what?" Christopher almost shouted. "Run that by me again, Commander…" Bradford let out a sigh at the young boy's words.
"You're going undercover." He explained.
"Yes, I heard that, but… Permission to speak freely, sir?" Chris asked.
"Granted."
"Sir, are you out of your mind? You're sending me back to school?"
"A school for monsters." Bradford added.
"Monsters which we were abducting and killing until a few days ago. Look, why do I have to go there? Wherever that "there" is..."
"The Council has issued us new orders. I don't know how they managed to enroll you in that school… What I do know is that it is essential for you to infiltrate this school in order for us to understand our new enemy better."
Chris grit his teeth. Of course the Council would change their orders… It couldn't be simple… No, he couldn't just live his life in the headquarters and go on missions when something pops up…
"This is Vahlen's idea, wasn't it?" He asked. The doctor was always riding his ass to get some education… She just disliked him ever since that accident…
"No. While Doctor Vahlen…" Bradford put an emphasis on the title. "...agrees wholeheartedly, she didn't initiate the idea. I assure you, this plan was created by the Council and I agree with it. You will either comply, or you will be sent into the brig for insubordination."
Chris let out a sigh. It was tempting… So tempting… But he knew that the only parental figure he had, as well as all his friends would be disappointed with him if that happened…
"Alright, fine." He grumbled. "When do I leave?"
"In a few weeks. First you need to prepare."
The weeks that followed were hell… Not only did he have to catch up with his studies in order to at least be on the level he should be, but he also had to learn Japanese… Thankfully Doctor Vahlen had a new machine that would help him learn at an increased pace… Unfortunately it was a prototype and didn't have all its kinks worked out… That, or Vahlen enjoyed seeing him suffer with headaches… At least he was fluent enough in Japanese now, enough to fit in this "Yokai Academy".
Though he was still going to write his notes in English…
And there were the surgeries to conceal the implants that stuck out of his body after the Genetic Modifications. Those would have raised some questions…
He also got quite issued some equipment, though nothing that made him feel better about being surrounded by the enemy.
The sack next to him contained not only his clothes, but a heavily upgraded laptop as well. It was going to help him a lot, especially with his studies. A hidden compartment concealed some of the more secret equipment, including one of the few weapons he had for this mission - a Plasma Pistol. He would've preferred a nice Plasma Rifle, but the chances of someone looking through his stuff were great… And he couldn't exactly carry it everywhere.
At least he could carry his other weapons with him without fear of being seen. The weight of the combat knife hidden in a sheath strapped to his leg was quite comforting. Same with the Arc Thrower that was folded on his side. The normally bulky stun device was made streamlined and collapsible just for this mission…
'Thanks, gramps.' He thought. Doctor Shen was the only parental figure that Chris retained after he had to join XCOM… The old engineer was like a grandfather to the boy… It was he who helped him get over what happened in the Alien Base. It was him who gave him hope… And it was him who vouched for Chris when he went to talk with the Commander about joining the fight.
If it wasn't for Shen's word then Chris doubted that he would ever go out there and fight, even with his abilities. The boy owed so much to the old engineer…
Chris' musings were interrupted by the sound of screeching tires. Looking up he blinked at the sight of the normal-looking school bus.
"Finally!" He exclaimed and pulled an earbud from his ear before picking up his sacks and backpack as the door opened. "You're late. I was thinking of leaving." He told the bus driver as he climbed in the (surprisingly) empty bus.
"A bus driver is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to." Chris stopped and stared at the man.
"What's the matter, boy?" He continued with a chuckle. "Toad got your tongue?"
"Shuddup and drive…" Chris snarled and sat at the frontmost seat, throwing his bags next to him as the creepy man laughed.
"Don't make yourself comfortable, boy. We will be in front of the school shortly."
"Yeah, right…" Chris snorted. Like any sensible operative would do he had studied the maps of the surrounding area, both official ones and satellite images. Nothing indicated a school for monsters anywhere nearby… Or any monster communities, for that matter. After stretching he rested his head on his hand as he watched the countryside pass by.
"You best be prepared, boy." The driver called out, prompting a raised eyebrow from the student.
"For what?" He had a feeling of what the driver was going to say…
"Yokai Academy is a terrifying school…" Chris rolled his eyes. The man was trying to be creepy… Well, he would need to work harder for that. The bus driver had nothing on an excited Vahlen…
"I know, I know." Chris droned and leaned back as they entered a tunnel. His eyes drooped as he started to think about the monsters. He had only seen a couple of them, bound and unconscious on their way to the labs…
"Commander, we've lost GPS contact." A technician reported, turning around to face Bradford. The XCOM Commander was watching the blue hologram, his face thoughtful. Until a few seconds ago there had been a small red dot in Japan, indicating Chris' position.
"Try to contact him." He ordered. The technician nodded and turned to her console again. Bradford waited patiently for a minute before she turned around and shook her head.
"No contact, sir." She reported.
"Damn it..." Bradford swore. "Keep an overwatch for him. Contact me the moment he comes online." The technician nodded and Bradford looked back at the holographic globe. "I guess you're on your own, kiddo..." He whispered before heading to his office...
Chris' eyes immediately snapped open as he saw the landscape on the other side of the tunnel. It had nothing in common with the Japanese countryside they traveled through just a minute before… Gnarled, dead trees, blood-red sea, dry ground and a dark and gloomy atmosphere…
"What the…" He whispered before glaring at the laughing bus driver.
"What's the matter, boy? You look surprised." The man's eyes glowed from under his cap as he looked at the American. "You said you knew what you were in for." Chris returned the glare through the mirror as he gathered his bags.
"I said I know that the school is 'terrifying', not that it was in a place like this." He snapped at the chuckling man, ignoring the urge to deck him one as he walked past him and down the steps.
"Be careful, boy." With that last warning the doors closed and the bus drove away. Chris took a few deep breaths to calm himself before looking around.
He was standing on the edge of a barren cliff overlooking the red sea. A pumpkin-headed scarecrow next to a large dead tree indicated the bus stop. Chris took one look at the bus' schedule before clicking his tongue. It only came once a month… Well, there went that option for an escape route.
Reaching in his pocket he pulled his phone out and checked the reception. No bars… A few taps on the screen switched the connection over to the XCOM satellite that was in geostationary orbit above Japan.
No reception again…
"Great, no support, no ride out…" Chris muttered to himself as he selected a song to listen to and put the phone in his pocket. "Well, I've had worse."
Lifting his bags over his shoulder the boy walked off into the dead forest and towards Yokai Academy…
"Don't look up in the sky, you're gonna die of fright!" Chris sang the lyrics as he walked past the tombstones. The forest he was in put him on the edge… The dead trees, the murders of crows and the tombstones made for one hell of a horror movie set. And knowing that there were monsters just beyond it made things even worse…
"Now all that's left is for something resembling a Muton or a Chryssalid to appear and attack me…" He grumbled to himself before stiffening and looking around, his hand going up to pop an earbud out of his ear. What he just did was a direct challenge for some higher power to screw him up… While Chris wasn't superstitious, he knew better than to taunt the universe like that… It was something that every soldier learned not to do.
The universe seemed to oblige as a bicycle seemed to fly through the air towards him. Time seemed to slow as his Hyper Reactive Pupils followed the movement of the bike and its passenger.
His instincts, prompted by the humanoid (and female) shape, took over. Moving a step to the side he let the bike crash and continue next to him while the driver collided with his chest.
Unfortunately Chris had underestimated the speed that the girl was travelling at. The impact sent him staggering back a few steps before he tripped over an exposed root and fall hard on his back.
"Fuck you, universe…" Chris groaned in English as he opened his eyes. His back hurt from the fall since he couldn't roll to negate the impact… "And fuck your irony." He added as he looked down at the weight that was sprawled on top of him.
It was a girl wearing the uniform of Yokai Academy. A pretty normal looking girl, if you discounted the long, pink hair and the fancy rosario that hung from a choker on her neck. A groan from her and she looked up. Green eyes, pretty face, looking just like a normal human… A girl that would be the hit in any high school.
"I-I'm sorry…" She apologized in Japanese. "I got dizzy and my eyes went blurry… I'm anemic and…"
"It's alright." Chris smiled and raised a hand to placate her. "I understand, no need to apologize. Are you hurt?"
"No, thank you." The girl smiled back at him. "You managed to catch me in time… What about you?"
"I'm fine." Chris waved a hand. "I've been through worse…" His voice trailed off as he remembered a couple of near-death experiences he had. Plasma and laser shots, close Chryssalid encounters, a battle of minds with a Sectoid Commander…
His life was weird…
Coming back to the here and now Chris was surprised to see the girl's face close to his. She seemed to be… Sniffing?
'Umm…" Chris hesitated. "What are you doing?"
"I can smell your blood…" She whispered and a shudder went through Chris' body. Her hand moved over his shoulders and the boy hissed as she touched the back of his head.
It seemed that he had cut his skin when he fell, because her fingers were colored red when she pulled her hand back.
"Oh…" He said, making a note to wash that as soon as he got in the school.
Chris couldn't see it, but the girl sniffed her bloody fingers before licking them. He certainly felt her breath against his neck though...
"Hey! What are you doing?" He asked. Was she really going to kiss him? He wasn't going to object, but it was too sudden and…
"I'm sorry… I can't help it…" She whispered.
And then he remembered. He was going to a school for monsters. A school where he would be the only human. Which meant that the pretty girl wasn't a human…
Unfortunately that realization came at the same moment he felt a pair of sharp fangs pierce his skin.
Chris' body went rigid in surprise before he pushed her away, not caring about the amount of damage a pair of teeth in the jugular could do.
"Hey!" He shouted as he scrambled away, pressing a hand on the wound to stanch the bleeding while he…
Wait a second… Where was the blood? He should've felt it flowing between his fingers, but when he pulled his hand away there were only a couple of drops on them. And the feeling of his chest being soaked with the red life-giving fluid was missing…
"What… What the hell?" He asked in English, looking at the girl who flinched and shrank under his gaze. She looked on the verge of tears…
"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to… I-I'm a vampire and your blood smells and tastes so delicious…" Chris gulped. Vampire? From what he could remember from fiction Vampires were always on top of the food chain… And the first monster he met was a vampire?
Well… For an apex predator she looked cute… If a bit meek. Chris' heart seemed to ache as he saw the trembling girl and he sighed.
"It's okay…" He switched back to Japanese. "Just… Please, show restraint in the future, okay?" He asked as he pushed himself up. The sharp pain in the back of his head made him wince before he ignored it. It wasn't as bad as the headaches he frequently had… After dusting his clothes off he walked over to the girl and reached out.
"I'm Christopher Redmond." He introduced himself as he helped her up.
"Ah… An American?" She asked, tilting her head and he nodded. "Ah… I'm Moka Akashiya. Please take good care of me." She said with a bow.
It seemed that she missed Chris' momentary grimace. He disliked all the bowing and other bulshit that the Japanese put so much emphasis on…
"If you let me then I will." He said with a slightly strained smile. Again, the girl didn't notice it and looked around.
"My bike!" She gasped as she laid her eyes on the vehicle that was a couple of meters away and ran to it. Chris picked his jacket and sacks up and tossed them over his shoulder before following her.
He couldn't help but whistle at the damage… The frame was bent, quite a few of the spokes were broken and the back wheel's hub was out of its socket…
"It's dead, Jim." He announced in English, causing Moka to turn around and blink in confusion. "Nevermind…" He continued in Japanese. "I don't think you can drive that again, not without it getting some serious repairs first." It seemed like this was the wrong thing to say as Moka looked ready to cry… Again. Was she really a vampire? She acted so… ordinary… Or at least Chris thought it was ordinary. His view was a bit screwed after an year with XCOM…
"Don't worry, I'm sure that somebody at the academy will be able to fix it. Why don't I help you with that, hm?" He asked, switching one of the sacks to the other hand before picking the bike by the frame with the now free hand. It was surprisingly light, and his genetic modifications made him stronger than he looked…
It appeared that Moka wasn't impressed by the feat, but then again, this was a world of monsters… Such strength was probably normal around here.
"Well, shall we go?" Chris asked, allowing for Moka to lead the way.
She probably had a better idea of where did they need to go anyway…
The walk to the campus was filled with chatter as the two teens got to know each other. Though Chris didn't reveal much of his past… How do you tell a vampire that you're a soldier in a secret military organisation that, until a few months ago, battled aliens and until a couple of weeks ago was abducting and killing monsters indiscriminately?
Yeah…
Chris noted how Moka disliked humans because she was bullied in school… But then again, how many sane human would believe that vampires existed?
About as many as those who would believe in aliens…
As they reached the campus Chris paused and stared. The main building looked like a haunted mansion… He didn't want to think of the classes he might take inside…
Moka didn't seem disturbed in the least as she literally dragged him towards the dorms. The buildings looked dilapidated, ready to fall apart.
"Should I leave this here?" Chris asked, pointing to a bicycle stand that looked out of place next to the entrance. Moka nodded and after a few tries he managed to put the front tire between the bars.
"I'll go and put my bags away. I guess I'll see you at the opening ceremony." Chris waved goodbye as he went to the boy's dorm.
He was quite surprised when he entered… The halls were pristine and clean, a far cry from the dilapidated building outside. It was mind-boggling and inhuman…
Then again, he was dealing with monsters, as he had to remind himself every now and then. The students around him may look human, but they only looked like that… Like a second skin…
He shuddered at the mental images that thought gave him and made his way to his dorm room. Second floor, room 215. Again, he was met with an ordinary, if a bit bare room. A single bed was set against the wall, a nightstand with a night lamp on top next to it. A simple desk was set in front of the window, probably to catch the sun while the student was studying. There was also a dresser and a small bookshelf. Unfortunately there wasn't a bathroom… Oh well, he could deal with a communal one. There weren't private bathrooms in the XCOM barracks, after all.
Dropping his bags in the middle of the room he took a look outside the window. The view wasn't bad, right towards the female dorms… Chris chuckled at that. Now if only he had a pair of binoculars and he could live every teenage guy's dream…
Shaking his head Chris put on his school jacket. A smile came on his face as he felt the small cylinder in the inside pocket. It was something he pilfered from the armory… Hopefully he won't need it, and if he did then he hoped it would work…
With that thought he walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. After a small detour to wash the blood from the back of his head he went towards the entrance ceremony…
Finding Moka was easy. Her pink hair stood out in the crowd and Chris easily made his way through the students to her.
"Hey Moka." He greeted the vampire as he sat in the seat next to her. "How were the dorms?"
"They're great!" She exclaimed with a smile. "I have a whole room for myself! It feels just like home! And I also have a bath!"
"Damn, you're lucky." Chris chuckled. "I have a room for myself too, but I have to use the communal showers…"
"That's too bad… I can't imagine what it is to bathe with so many people…"
"Eh, I'll manage." He waved a hand and leaned back. The opening ceremony seemed pretty straightforward. A welcome, an introduction of the school's purpose and goals. Blah-blah-blah, nothing that he didn't know from the briefing. He used the time to get a nap while the vampiress next to him listened intently.
When the ceremony was finally over it was time to part with Moka. Or at least he thought so. It was a surprise to find that they had the same homeroom and that they shared almost all classes.
That was awfully convenient… Oh well, he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
They were among the first students to arrive to class. Which was fortunate, because they could get themselves good seats that way. Chris chose a seat next towards the middle of the row next to the window, with Moka sitting in front of him. The strange sy outside didn't allow for much sunlight, so that wasn't an issue, and the view was… Well, it could be good when your other option was a boring class.
It didn't take long for the other students to come in and find themselves seats. Many of the boys looked at Moka with less than pure intentions, something that the girl didn't seem to notice. But Chris did, and he took note of that…
Finally their teacher came in just as the bell rang. Chris had some trouble reading the kanji she wrote her name with, but he was spared that by her introducing herself.
"Hello everyone and welcome to Youkai Academy." She greeted them. "I'm your homeroom teacher Shizuka Nekonome."
"As you know, humans control most of the Earth." She continued. "That is why we have to fit in as well as possible, especially after the recent massive attack from an unknown faction of monsters."
Chris raised an eyebrow. A monster attack? How didn't XCOM know? What happened, and why weren't they...
Wait...
"The monsters attacked the humans two years ago, but disappeared just recently."
No way... They thought the X-rays were monsters like them? Well, Chris could agree on the monster part, but they had nothing in common with the ones here. The xenos wanted to kill and probe humans, while the monsters wanted peaceful coexistence... More or less.
"Hey teacher." The boy next to Chris spoke up. "The humans are weak. Why don't we just slaughter the males and take the girls for ourselves?" And Chris' thought halted. Of course this would happen when he thought about peaceful coexistence...
It wasn't clear if miss Nekonome's frown was because of what the student said or because she was interrupted.
"You are mister..."
"Saizou Komiya." The boy replied as Chris studied him closely. He looked like a typical bully, and not the clever type...
"Do you know what kind of weapons humans have?" Chris asked, not even flinching as the entire room focused on him.
"Do you know what a fifty-cal is?" Chris continued. "It's a type of bullet that's this big." He could see his classmates' disbelief as he showed them the approximate dimensions of a sniper bullet.
"It can punch through a steel plate this wide." He once again used his hands to indicate the size. "Do you believe that you'll fare better?"
"You're lying." Saizou grunted and Chris smirked.
"No, I'm not. Just go on the internet and Google it up. And..." Chris leaned forward. "Humans are probably developing even stronger personal weapons..."
The truth was that they already had stronger weapons. Laser weapons had even greater penetration and much better accuracy, and XCOM's plasma weapons were even stronger...
"Thank you for your input, mister..." Nekonome interrupted anything that Saizou was going to say.
"Christopher Redmond." He supplied her with his name as he leaned back.
"Thank you, mister Redmond." The teacher nodded. "As your fellow student said, humans have terrible weapons and won't hesitate to kill us on sight."
She was a bit wrong, Chris thought. Some of them would be unlucky enough to be stunned and taken by Vahlen...
"Which is why you must wear your human disguise at all times when in the human world. And to help you with getting used to your human form we have a rule here at Yokai Academy: all students are to be in disguise at all times."
It took all of Chris' self-restraint not to sigh in relief. This rule was going to help him immensely... Ever since he accepted this mission he was afraid that he would have to show his "monster form" at some point. But with this rule in place... Well, his chances just jumped sky-high.
And there was also the fact that most if not all monsters were much weaker in their human forms.
The rest of the class went on smoothly enough. Chris almost forgot that this was a school for monsters, it was that ordinary.
Finally the bell rang and the human was literally dragged out by an excited vampire in order to explore the school and its grounds. Chris complied, both because he was a bit reluctant to deny Moka, and because it would be better to have a mental map of the place.
It turned out to be interesting as well. The school had many nooks and crannies filled with strange stuff. For instance, the library was actually in the basement. Chris noted its location for later. If he was lucky then there would be mooks on monsters, detailing their abilities and/or weaknesses... Those will go a long way in discovering what the new threat could do, and adapt against it. Plus, the possibility of new gene mods couldn't be ignored... Last he heard Vahlen was working on creating a regenerative gene-mod after autopsying a couple of Trolls...
Probably the most important discovery were the public phones. At least he had a way to communicate with HQ, even if it was audio only. Maybe Shen could find a way to transmit any data and reports he got.
The tour was quite informative. It could've been better if Moka hadn't turned out to be the clingy-touchy type... Chris didn't exactly dislike the contact, even if she was a monster... But the glares he got from most of the boys (and quite a few girls) put him on the edge...
After a few hours of exploring the two decided to rest on a bench near a pair of vending machines. Chris was sipping from a can of cola while listening to Moka go on about how tomato juice acted as a substitute for blood... The human couldn't comprehend the mechanics of that... The only thing that the juice and blood had in common was that they were both red... Well, human blood, that is. The aliens had much more colorful blood...
He was just going to file that fact for later and send it back to HQ the moment he had a connection. If he was lucky then there will be a return video of Vahlen tearing her hair out while trying to figure how that worked.
The serene scene of two high-school students chatting was shattered by the arrival of an unpleasant acquaintance...
"Hey you." Saizou's shout drew their attention. "American."
"Yes?" Chris asked as he looked up. The other student was standing in front of him, looking quite angry. Several other delinquents were gathered at a distance, probably as back-up or something...
"What was that crap you were saying in the homeroom?" The monster growled.
"Just the truth." Chris shrugged and turned to Moka. "So, where were..."
Unfortunately, the casual dismissal didn't sit well with the other student. The human suddenly found a hand grabbing the front of his shirt and jacket before he was lifted in the air and pushed against a column.
Chris grunted as his back hit the stone. That thing with the monsters being weaker in their human form? If this was Saizou being weak then Chris didn't want to fight him at full power... At least not without a Titan Armor and a nice plasma rifle, at least.
"Listen there, human lover. I don't care about your lies. But if you make me look bad in front of the others again then I will rip you in half before taking your girl for me. Understand?" Saizou growled, lifting the boy up another foot or so.
"I understand..." Chris croaked. If he was right then he was lifted at the perfect height... "That you're in need of a breath mint..."
"You think you have a smart mouth, eh? Maybe I should rip it off..."
Chris didn't let him finish as he pulled his foot as far back as he could before swinging it forward. He didn't use his full augmented strength for the kick, but he did put some of it behind it... He figured that if Saizou was this strong then he could take some pain.
The few curious boys who had been watching the exchange, as well as Saizou's goons, instinctively winced and crossed their legs as Chris' foot made contact with the monster's crotch.
The monster's eyes bulged out comically and he let out a high-pitched scream of pain as he dropped the human and clutched at his privates. The human didn't even stumble as he landed down and walked past the downed enemy (heh).
"Come on, Moka. I think we haven't explored the forest towards the cliffside." He took the vampire's hand and walked past Saizou's stunned goons.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before they walked into the forest.
"Chris..." Moka began hesitantly. "Was what you said true? The humans... Do they really have such powerful weapons?"
"Well... I kind of lied... The ones I described are more powerful. And that only scratches the surface."
Moka was once again silent until they reached the edge of the woods.
"Why... Why do humans have such weapons? Why would they need them?"
"It's just the way we are." Chris said without thinking. "We need bigger weapons to take on bigger enemies and..." He paused and turned around. Moka had stopped a few meters back, her green eyes staring at him in disbelief.
"W-we?" She asked. Chris blinked in confusion before replaying the conversation in his head. Then he promptly cursed himself for the slip.
"You... You're a human..." She took a step back. "Your smell... That's why it is human..."
"Moka, wait!" Chris took a step forward, but that only caused her to flinch back.
"No! Stay away from me!" She shouted, halting the boy in his tracks. "Don't... Don't come any closer... Human..."
"Moka, calm down... I'm not going to hurt you..." Chris raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Let's just talk this out and..."
"No, you're lying! You're just like every other human... You lied about yourself, you lied about your weapons... You probably lied about being my friend!"
"Actually, I never said I wasn't human..." Chris tried to diffuse the situation, but it didn't help in the slightest.
"Go away! I don't want to talk to you... I don't want to see you, human!" She spat the last word like a curse before running into the woods.
Chris let out a sigh. Not even one day into the mission and he had given himself away... Exalt covert ops were easier than that...
Oh well, there was no use crying over spilled milk. What happened happened. He would have to live with the consequences and adapt. It was one of the lessons that his fellow XCOM soldier, Shaojie Zhang taught him.
He would have to find her and somehow make her stay silent... Either through persuasion, bribery, or intimidation... He hoped he could succeed with the first or second option... Intimidating Moka was something he didn't want to do... She was a sweet girl, even if she was a monster. Actually, she was very human-like in her bubblyness...
"Well, well, well..." A very unwelcome voice shook him out of his musings. Chris turned around and saw the last thing he wanted to see now.
"A human, eh?" Saizou asked as he and his goons stepped out of the treeline. "That explains why you act so high and mighty..."
The small band started to circle Chris. There were eight of them, including Saizou... The human immediately recognized this from Zhang's stories as a typical gang behavior. The leader was going to talk before he was going to be attacked by the goons...
"What's the matter, human? Cat got your tongue?" Saizou asked before an abnormally long tongue slid out of his mouth, hanging below his chin. His goons laughed at the display, before Chris spoke:
"Wow, that line was older than my great-grandpa. How long did it take you to come up with it?" He asked with a smirk.
"Why you... Shuddup!" Saizou snarled at one of his goons who had snickered. "You..." He turned back to Chris. "Do you know the punishment for being a human here, in Yokai Academy?"
"Hmm..." Chris rubbed his chin in thought. "Having to look at your ugly mugs whole day?" He asked mockingly.
"Argh!" Chris' lips parted in a grin as one of the goons roared in rage and charged him. The strike was clumsy and telegraphed, and the human didn't waste any time. A second later the assailant was laying on his back, wondering how did he end up in this position.
But he wasn't the only one... Seeing their comrade going down like that made the others charge. Chris crouched a bit, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he readied himself for a fight.
The first punch was fast, but Chris' Hyper Reactive Pupils allowed him to see the attack and bat it aside before he retaliated with a knee to the stomach. A quick one-two downed the enemy and another kick sent him in another charger.
A movement on the corner of his eye warned him of another approaching fist. Ducking under it he swiped with his foot, kicking the monster's feet from under him. There was no time to render him unconscious, however, as Chris had to roll away from a bulky guy.
Standing up the human was briefly surprised as a pair of arms wrapped around him. Then he brought his head back, smiling at the satisfying crunch and yell of pain from the monster behind him.
Pushing away from the grabber he kicked back before leaping up. His gene-modded muscles propelled him several meters in the air, just in time for another monster to pass under him and crash into the one with a broken nose.
To add injury to insult Chris landed on top of the two and quickly kicked them in the heads. That rendered both unconscious, which nearly halved the enemy's fighters.
"Well then." The human looked around. The four remaining monsters were standing at a safe distance. They were cautious... Good.
"What are you waiting for?" Saizou growled to his remaining goons. "Attack him!"
"What?" One of the other students asked. "Are you out of your mind? Didn't you see what he did to the others?"
One of the perks of being the "kid" of the base was that everybody looked out for him and made sure he would be safe. When the soldiers proposed to teach him some moves for close combat Chris accepted immediately. While he was nowhere near the level of any XCOM soldier he was no slouch when it came to combat. And when you compared that with the lack of experience and technique of his opponents... He could've been a black belt master in their eyes.
"Then transform and attack him, you idiots!" Saizou snarled before following his own order. Chris' eyes widened slightly as he saw the transformations...
One of them spread his hands, feathers sprouting over them as they turned into wings. His shoes bursted apart with eagle-like talons… A harpy, if Chris was to guess... The other two shrank instead, becoming something that looked like the unholy children of an ape and a toad... Goblins, if what he remembered from the base was correct.
And finally there was Saizou himself. Chris' first thought was that he was facing a Muton… He certainly had the bulk. But instead of the metal armor that covered the alien soldiers Chris could see bone plates that covered the student's substantial muscles...
"Well then... Seems like you guys upped the ante." Chris straightened up with as he concentrated on his targets. "I guess it's time for me to do the same."
His eyes flashed purple, causing the monsters to gawk in surprise. Before they could recover Chris thrust his arm forward, a wave of unseen Psychic energy shooting out towards the monsters.
The students' pupils shrank as fear gripped their hearts. They didn't know what was happening, they could only feel the panic seeping inside them, telling them that they needed to run, that they needed to get as far away from here as possible…
And the effect failed as a long tongue wrapped around Chris' hand, ruining his concentration. It was just his luck that the Psi Panic didn't work on Saizou…
"I don't know what you did, human…" The monster growled, somehow managing to speak through his tongue while Chris tried to pull his hand free. "But it won't work on me." With that he jerked his head to the side. His tongue whipped to the side, sending the human hurling into a tree.
Chris fell to the ground, grunting and wheezing in pain as he tried to get the air back in his lungs.
"Um, Saizou…" The harpy began, panting heavily as he watched the larger student approach their target. "A-are you sure he's a human? I-I haven't heard of humans being able to do that… Or to jump as high as this guy…"
"Shut up!" Saizou growled, looking at his goon . "It doesn't matter if he's human or not! He's still going to die for humiliating me!"
The monster turned around, his tongue shooting out, ready to finish off the pest. However, there was something unexpected… Saizou didn't expect Chris to move and his tongue reflexively wrapped around the tree trunk. There was a flash of metal and the monster roared in pain as several inches of sharp steel pinned the muscle to the tree.
"Do you know what happens to whatever you are when it's struck by an Arc Thrower?" The boy asked as he let go of the knife and pressed something metallic against Saizou's tongue. "Same thing that happens to every other x-ray out there." With that he pulled the trigger.
The electrical current traveled through Saizou's tongue and inside his body. The monster spasmed for a few moments before falling still, its heart stopping. Chris had set the Arc Thrower to its maximum, which was enough to stagger a Muton and maybe even incapacitate it if the user was lucky. Truth be told, the alien heavy troopers were much tougher than the monster…
"Holy shit!" One of the goblins shouted.
"Screw this, I'm out of here!" The harpy replied as he spread his wings and tried to take off. It was the most sensible solution… But he wasn't fast enough. Chris' eyes flared purple and a wave of fear washed over the monsters, this time strong enough to freeze them on the spot.
The adrenaline-fueled Psionic human didn't waste any time as he wrenched the knife free from the tree (and Saizou's tongue). Gripping the bloody blade in his hand he threw it with surprising accuracy. The knife hit the harpy in the chest, the monster letting out a strangled scream as the blade pierced his lung.
The two goblins couldn't do anything as the glow from Chris' eyes intensified. Their heads started to throb painfully, the blood pounding in their ears. The world seemed to tilt as they swayed, their fear-paralyzed bodies suddenly finding it hard to tell which way was up. Strange colors started to swirl over their vision before several blood vessels popped. Blood started to flow from their ears, nose and eyes before they collapsed.
Chris let out a sigh and leaned against the tree as he let go of the psychic onslaught. Psi Panic plus Mindfray, both upped to eleven… That was an instant kill on creatures with low Psi defenses… But it also brought one hell of a migraine to the attacker as well.
By the time Chris felt good enough to move the harpy had died, choking on the blood in his lung. The XCOM trooper grunted as he pushed himself from the tree, a sharp pain coursing hrough his ribs. It seemed that Saizou had managed to bruise or even crack one or two when he tossed him in that tree…
Slowly he walked over to the student's body and removed the knife. After cleaning it in the bird guy's feathers he slid it in the sheath on his ankle.
Thank goodness that Saizou was distracted long enough for him to pull the knife out without being seen. That was a stroke of luck…
"Let's hope I don't need any more luck like that…" Chris muttered as he looked over the corpses and the still unconscious students. He couldn't leave them like that… They knew that he was a human… They would have to be disposed of...
Oh well, it wasn't going to be the first time he killed a non-human. Within a minute all monsters in the clearing were dead, leaving the human to clean his knife before using his phone to take some pictures of the monsters. Vahlen would kill him for the missed chance of getting samples and making autopsies, but he would handle that when he got back to HQ.
At least disposing of the bodies was easy. He was strong enough to drag or roll their corpses to the edge of the cliff before pushing them into the sea.
Now he just had to find an alibi and he was going to be scot-free…
And get some ibuprofen for the pain, as well as use the Medikit. This was going to be a bitch…
Unknown to him, Chris' fight was witnessed by a certain pink-haired vampiress... And the fight made something within her stir...
Author's Note:
I know that it's a cliche, but it's hard for me to imagine the beginning of the Yokai Academy shenanigans without the confrontation with Saizou. As you may have noticed I tried to avoid a few cliches by making a bit of divergence from the original episode. I've also decided against unsealing Inner Moka for now, and the two aren't friends yet.
It took me a while to settle on the ending for this chapter… I thought of several other, including one where Moka dies and one where a whole XCOM squad saves Chris. There was the standard Inner Moka meeting as well. I think I might make some of them as an Omakes or something...
Now, to address a few things that I doubt will go unquestioned.
A normal XCOM soldier would probably beat a monster like Saizou. One with weapons and armor, even just Tier 2 or even Tier 1, would trounce him. One with Gene Mods and/or Psi abilities will be an overkill.
However, Chris is none of those. Sure, he has sufficient training to go in the field against the aliens, but he lacks experience in fighting things like the monsters. And he doesn't have any weapons or armor either. It was only after he was injured and had adrenaline surge through his body that he managed to briefly use lethal Psi techniques.
As for his slip-up, well, he has experience with infiltration missions against Exalt, where he didn't have to pretend he wasn't a human.
For those of you that expected Tsukune, my apologies. But can you imagine him with Psi abilities and military training? Because I can't. Tsukune won't make an appearance in this fanfiction. If you're wondering about his fate, well, it could be anything. From living peacefully somewhere in Japan to being killed in a number of ways - from scorching plasma and falling debris to becoming a baby Chryssalid's mommy.
Now, for the next chapter. I have no idea when will it be out. I'm having a lot of work to do in the real life, not to mention a few other fanfictions I'm writing. I'll try to write it as soon as possible though. I promise you, I won't give up on this fanfic, like I did with Monster Hunter to Vampire.
Well, that's all for now. Stay tuned for the next chapter where we will see how will Chris deal with Moka.
And remember to review. It helps with my motivation.