Reunited

A girl with pink hair was walking towards the Academy and many heads turned as she walked by. Male heads for the most part, though more than a couple female ones did as well.

Her walk was graceful and happy, showing just how cheerful she was and how much she was looking forward to attending the school again.

To her side walked a much younger girl, this one black haired and with an unmistakeable glint of intellect in her eyes, one far greater than her years would otherwise suggest.

The younger girl looked at the older one from under her wide-brimmed witch's hat and giggled. "Moka-san, you're as amazing as ever! Everyone's admiring your beauty and grace!"

The girl in question blushed at the praise and turned denied the 'accusation'. "W-w-what are you talking about Yukari-chan? That's not true!"

Just then two boys proved her wrong by doing a way too stiff introduction. "Excuse us, we have been taken aback by your beauty. Can we become aquaintances?"

Yukari giggled as she watched Moka try to put the poor boys down lightly. "You better stop that. It won't work, flirting with Moka-san I mean. She has already chosen Tsukune-san to be her future lover!"

"YUKARI-CHAN!" Cried out the now beet-red Moka, embarassed beyond belief. The two dejected boys were instantly forgotten in favour of scolding the younger witch. "What are you talking about! I never!"

Yukari giggled again, amused at Moka's embarassement. "I know, but I did it so they would leave Moka-san alone. They are not worthy of you anyway! Only Tsukune-san is worthy of you and when you admit your feelings to each other, you will go to bed and eventually share it with me and our sweaty bodies will be writhing top, bottom and middle and..." By now the girl was off in her fantasy world, drooling and bleeding from her nose, imagining all the things Moka and Tsukune would do with her.

"Yukari-chan!" Moka's voice snapped the witch from her fantasies. "Don't say things like that! It's so embarassing!"

Before Yukari had the chance to reply, a voice, masculine this time, interrupted them. "Moka-san, Yukari-chan! Here you are! I've been looking for you!"

Both girls instantly recognized the voice. "T-Tsukune-san! Y-you didn't hear that conversation?" At his confused look, she amended. "I-I mean, you're here already! It's been so long!" And with that she hugged the boy.

She thought it was just a friendly gesture until his arms wrapped around her body and her world shifted. There, wrapped in the boy's strong arms she felt different, she felt safe, she felt... complete in a way.

Now if only Yukari's fantasies stopped affecting her like that!

"I know, I missed you so much too..." His voice sent shivers down her body. He had grown in the six months they had been apart, it was obvious in his voice and the fact he was now slightly taller, in the small amount of stubble that was now breaking out the skin of his face, marking his passage to adulthood. Though, if she were really honest with herself, she also noticed how toned his body felt under his clothes. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the point of view, his scent had a very weird, though expected, effect on her. Namely revitalizing her thirst for his blood.

"Tsukune-san... I... it's been so long and I... I'm so thirsty!" Before he even got the time for a reply, she had sank her fangs into the soft flesh of his neck and happily began drinking his blood.

Tsukune chuckled at her reaction. Once, a long time ago, it hurt and annoyed him. Now, now he saw it in a different light. He saw it not only as a minor form of atonement for not being good enough for her, but he also quite liked the fact that his blood kept her well and happy. The intimacy of her lips on his neck was an added bonus. Without even a hint to it, he began channeling his youki into his blood, enhancing its power and taste.

The world almost lost focus for Akashiya Moka as she drank what could be considered ambrosia for vampires. The effect was strong that it even woke up her sleeping personality, shaking her from the Rosario-induced stupor and giving her a small taste of what she had been asking for in the past six months. Outer Moka could quite sympathize with her Inner Self at that moment; his blood really was heavenly.

In the meantime, the dejected boys were looking at Tsukune not quite understanding what was happening.

"W-Who the hell is that?" Asked one, obviously missing Moka's greeting.

"That's Tsukune-san, Moka-san's lover!" Supplied the ever-cheerful witch. She was only too glad to dissuade others from messing with her vampire fantasy.

"What? A guy like that? What does she see in him, he looks so weak and plain!"

Yukari laughed at the poor boy's confusion. "Tsukune-san may look weak, but that's because he has a perfect human disguise. In fact, Tsukune-san can take on a Vampire if he ever got serious!" Well, that wasn't exactly true, but best to boast and dissuade these fools rather than having them pester her vampire couple later on. "Really! I saw him do it! He's amazing when he wants to be!"

Unfortunately for the vampiress in question and her 'breakfast', another girl was near there and she wasn't inclined to let things go on like that.

"Yahoo! Tsukune!" Kurumu shouted as she leapt at him. "I missed you so much!" And with that she had pulled him away from Moka and smothered him in her cleavage.

Of course, that had the unfortunate side-effect of interrupting Moka's meal. Her first live-blood meal in six months. Her first Tsukune-blood meal in six months! The Succubus was going to suffer!

"Kurumu-chan!" With a warcry she leapt at the succubus and began fighting.

In a completely childish way.

"And that would be Tsukune-san's worshiper, Kurono Kurumu. She's real strong too, so don't underestimate her!" Supplied Yukari, though she wasn't as cheerful this time, instead choosing to glare daggers at the blue-haired girl.

Two kunai made of ice were thrown from a bush and a monotone, soft voice came from it. "Stop it you two, you're embarassing my future husband."

"Mizore-chan!" Replied Tsukune waving at the girl.

Unfortunately, Mizore's habit kicked in at that moment. She blushed and proceeded to shock him with her bluntness again. "Tsukune... Let's go make a baby."

And before he had the time to react, Tsukune was being dragged off by an amorous yuki-onna who was saying that he shouldn't be embarassed since it was going to be her first time too.

"And that is Tsukune-san's stalker..." Said Yukari. Even though she seemed annoyed, inwardly she was glad that all her friends were there.

Ignoring the boys who were asking her about Tsukune and the other girls, mostly on how he managed to 'snag such hot chicks', Yukari giggled before walking next to Tsukune and watching the three girls duke it out in an absolutely ridiculous and childish way.

It was good to be back.

Later on, the group was just settling into their new homeroom, one of the few that actually remained mostly unscathed during the mass destruction that had happened.

"Yahoo-hoo!" Shouted an ecstatic Kurumu. "We're all together this year! With Nekonome-sensei too! Is this fate helping me get my Destined One?"

Tsukune laughed heartily. "More like someone told the Headmaster that he'd better put us all in the same room or he would stop doing his chores..."

"Tsukune-san?" Asked a curious Moka. "What do you mean?"

Tsukune rubbed the back of his head apologetically. "Well... you know how my cousin reacted so... I couldn't go back to the human world..." He looked a bit dejected there. "I probably never will either..." When he raised his head to look at them though, he wasn't sad, he was determined. "So I used that spare time to stay here and trained. I'm different now, I have to learn as much as I can about myself. Of course, the Headmaster took advantage of that and had me do his chores. It was good training though, few things train your stamina as much as carrying rubble on your back all day long..."

Well, that explained his improved physique at least. However, none of the girls there was exactly happy with that developement. The reason? They had told Kyouko to stay away from Tsukune until he got back to the human world, believing he would get the first chance to go home. But he didn't.

The poor girl, and poor Tsukune as well, neither knew what the other thought and it only increased the hurt for both.

Not one of them caught the irony of that; it was the same with them only in a far subtler way.

Moka made to speak to Tsukune about it, but she didn't get the time; Shizuka Nekonome entered the classroom and her happy-go-lucky, extravagant personality prevented her from telling Tsukune what a mistake he had made.

Unfortunately, she also forgot about telling him later on, and so did the other girls, leaving Tsukune in his belief that his cousin-that-was-like-a-sister hated him.

At least the pink-haired vampiress was justified in her forgetting. Due to her drinking the blood she had craved for six months, her other side was less than happy about still being sealed. So, the silver-haired version of herself spent several hours nagging her about 'keeping his blood all to herself' and 'not sharing the goods'.

It would be hilarious hadn't she actually gotten a headache from all that.

Deciding to get some time to herself, and try to calm down the irate Inner voice in her head, Moka took the first chance to explore the new school.

She was quickly found by Tsukune. "Hey, why are you so down Moka-san? I thought you'd be happier. Usually I'm the one who is gloomy."

Moka giggled at his antics, he had really changed. "It's not important... just things I guess, thinking and all." The boy nodded and looked expectantly at her and she knew she had to say more. "I just... I don't know... we've all changed and things haven't been going well... though they could have been worse... And you didn't even go home for the entire break!"

The Akuchi smiled at her and made a 'follow me' sign. "Come on, let me show you something cool." He led her behind one of the new statues. There he pressed a small indent in the wall and a door opened, leading to some stairs going up. "The whole school had to be built from scratch, so I thought, why not make it better? Now, it doesn't just look like an old haunted mansion/castle, it has hidden corridors. You can't access them normally, even if you know where they are, but those in the Student Police and the Student Council get special permits to use them. Sure helps us get around."

It was a dimly lit flight of stairs leading up, with small orange lights providing for them. Moka touched the side and felt the newly made brick wall. "Wow... so I guess you're still in the council this year Tsukune-san?"

"Unfortunately... yes... I'm going to be swamped with chores, since I was the only one from the council that was active during the festival fiasco, which apparently has made me the go-to person. I've even been asked to reform it. At least it lets me change things a bit, make it a bit more fair, you know? I discussed it with Kuyou-kun as well about both sides' privileges. We had six months to do it so we put quite a bit of thought into it."

"Kuyou... you don't mean that Youko Police Officer?" Moka was stunned and more than a bit frightened, last time she had seen him, he had tried to burn them all alive.

"Yes, him. I know, it was bad. I still remember his flames sometimes... But, despite it all, he's very honorable. Don't look at me like that! He is honorable, in his own way. He just lost his path. Our encounter helped straighten him out. He's much nicer these days, even tries to make other Police members get off their power trip. He helped me quite a bit too, during the break."

By now, they had reached a door and Tsukune pushed it open, revealing it to be an exit to one of the many rising pillars on the outside. The view had improved much during the break. Now there were some green vines growing up the walls and even a small lake with a few willow trees on the banks. It looked more lively but had lost nothing from its 'character'. She could even see what seemed to be a small cave-like well ahead, probably for the dark-dwelling monsters.

"Wow... it's beautiful up here..."

"I know. Me and Kuyou had a lot of work to do, it's a wonder we ever got the time to fight..."

"F-fight?"

"Yeah... I'm a combat-type monster, obviously. Besides, I get the feeling that Ishigami wasn't the last case of trouble we'd get on our lap. Don't forget she was never captured and neither was Kiria. These two could be working together. So I needed the practice, including learning to feel more comfortable in my other form, as much as I may hate resorting to it. At least, now I can fight somewhat even in this form, I learned to channel my youki much better than before. Though that might be Moka-san's blood helping me..." He grinned sheepishly there, as if he was thankful for her blood, which he was eve though she was scared he hated that part of her.

"I... I see... so Tsukune-san got stronger right?"

"Well, more comfortable fighting anyway... I still don't like fighting, but at least I can actually dodge some attacks. Kuyou made sure of that, the damn pyromaniac..." He muttered the last breath, several months of getting repeatedly scorched by the demonic fox's flames. "I even get to know Ruby-san a bit more, she's a very interesting person once you get to know her. Did you know she is a shoujo-manga fanatic? She invited me to her room once to give me something she had made and I almost got buried in her manga!"

Moka giggled. Then realized that he had been invited into another girl's, no woman's, room. She felt a pang of anger and more than a bit of worry. She didn't call it jealousy though. "Y-you went to Ruby-san's room? W-what for?"

"Well... Ruby-san said that, and I quote, 'as much as she liked seeing me dressed in rags, sometimes I should really avoid showing some things to everyone'. So, she made me this." With that he showed her a small pendant, more like a choker he wore. It was simple with a few colored beads and woven cloth, but it was beautiful in its simplicity. In the center there was a small flat stone pebble with a single weird rune carved on it. "It repairs my clothes when I exit my other form. Considering I can't very well ask for extra uniforms from my parents any more, it's really useful..."

"Ah... I see..." Damn, now she was angry at Ruby-san for giving him something that useful! Deciding to change the subject lest her annoyance became obvious, she continued. "So what did you learn from Kuyou-san? Martial arts or something?"

Tsukune didn't laugh, he almost broked down in laughter. "M-m-martial arts? Haha, no way, no way! He just kicked my ass in my human form until I learned to react enough to at least see his punches. Then he started sending his subordinates to beat me up, which they were all too happy to do actually, at least the males, the females for some reason chose to hang back." Tsukune shrugged, he had a good idea as to why, but he didn't want to think about it too much. "In the end, I learned how and where to hit on my own. Either I got better at fighting, or I would get knocked around silly. Near the end, me and Kuyou actually had a few spars and, I must say I have a hard time even getting to land a blow on him. Inner Moka-san must be amazing to actually beat him!"

Moka sighed internally, at least he didn't forget to compliment her Inner self, it helped calm her down. She turned to look at the horizon again, where the red sea met the always cloudy sky. She felt more than heard or saw Tsukune lean on the railing and exhale slowly, relaxing on the roof, their roof.

The silence was comfortable and yet awkward, but they did nothing to break it, each waiting for something to happen.

It did, but not in any desirable way.

The cry of a male, the cry of pain from a male came up to their ears from a floor below. Tsukune was quickly shook from his relaxation and ran for the stairs, with Moka right behind him.

Until they got to the floor, the sounds were getting worse, like someone was actually beating on several people, like a small fight had broken out.

When a girl's crying reached Tsukune's ears, he grit his teeth and sped up even more. His youki was agitated enough that Moka had no trouble sensing it even without her supersensory radar. It also drove the point home; he had gotten much stronger, or at least more in tune with himself in the past six months.

When Tsukune stepped in the corridor the sounds were coming from, he almost snarled in fury.

Several students, fellow students, with names and faces and lives, were all lieing bloodied on the floor. A girl was lifted in the air, hanging from her throat at the hands of a large bully and several of his friends.

"You! Stop this immidiately!"

The large bully turned to Tsukune and sneered in disgust. "Or what, weakling? What are you going to do? Cry your way to momma? If you give us that cute chick behind you, we'll let you walk away with your limbs mostly intact."

"I am warning you! Put the girl down and step away from the students or I will be forced to fight!"

The bully mocked Tsukune by mimicking his voice. "I will be forced to fight! Hahaha! What's this a joke, shrimp? Me and my gang are seizing this stupid place! We waited through the past semester, but we're sick of it! Everyone here's weak and pathetic!"

"You are the pathetic ones." Tsukune's voice held cold contempt and he began walking towards the group. "You are unable of doing anything unless it is to break or destroy. Unable to create, unable to protect, who are you to dare to lecture me? I am Aono Tsukune, Council Member. These people are under my protection and you have ignored my warning. I am no longer responcible for what is about to happen. If you give up, you will be handed over to the Student Police with minimal injuries. Resist and I will have to fight you."

Moka gasped when she saw Tsukune march down the bullies and at them as if they were not even insects before him. It was scary, how emotionless and cold he sounded. On the other hand, she couldn't help but find him commanding, much like the way a lord would command those beneath him. To have power and only use it when needed, that was Tsukune, that was a true noble man.

She hated the fact that he wasn't also a vampire, because then things would have been so much simpler for her.

But the delinquents didn't care about anything like that. The minions charged at the command of their master, using their superior physical power to beat the little upstard, even shifting to their true forms which revealed them as hybrids to those who could tell them apart.

Moka closed her eyes just before the first blow was about to land and waited for the sound of tearing cloth, furious roaring and flesh being torn.

It didn't happen. What reached her ears was a deep 'oof!' sound, as if someone had had the air violently expelled from their lungs.

Her eyes snapped open and she gawked.

Tsukune had dodged the straight punch by leaning to the side and then moving to the side, which was towards his attacker, and smashing his elbow full-power at the charger.

Said person double over as the blow landed on his sternum and emptied his chest of air.

Tsukune's elbow quickly straightened in a vicious backhand that sent the kneeling monster rolling into the floor, right before he made a spin that placed him right inside the defence of the second attacker.

The Akuchi stepped harshly onto the delinquent's foot, disrupting his focus at the underhanded tactic, but also opening his stomach and kidneys wide for the 'shrimp'.

Three punches later and the delinquent met the floor like a sack of potatoes; one to each kidney and another vicious thrust right in the middle of the stomach.

Puke erupted from the latter, but Tsukune ignored it in favour of pivoting out of the way of a lashing fist. He grabbed the offender's other arm and used his otherworldly strength to pull and smash him, head first onto a wall, actually making several spiderweb cracks.

The next two were defeated in much the same way; using rookie strikes that however held immense power in them and were deceptively effective and well-timed.

After the last of the subordinates fell, their leader charged Tsukune from the back, hoping to crush the insolent whelp.

Seeing that, Moka cried out Tsukune's name as a warning. She needn't have.

Windows not only allow one to see to the outside, but also make wonderful reflective surfaces.

With a small ripping sound, a long spiked, muscle-covered, segmented tail erupted from Tsukune's tailbone and wrapped around both arms and the torso of the gang leader.

"I told you I would have to fight, now look what you've done!" The tail began constricting and the sound of protesting bones came from the bully's torso. "I can't let you go that easy, you know. You have hurt my fellow students. You're going to be punished for that. Unfortunately for you, I'm not going to issue that punishment. Right, Kuyou-kun?"

Said Student Police leader stepped forward, dressed in his black and gold uniform. "I told you not to adress me that familiarly Aono. But yes, unfortunately for this fool, I am the one to administer punishment. We'll take care of things now, let the idiot go."

Tsukune obeyed and released the ring leader from his tail and said male fell to his knees, trying to shake the pain from his torso. "W-what a fool! Now I can transfo-" He didn't get to finish as a Police member smashed his staff onto the perpetrator's head, knocking him out cold.

Kuyou nodded approvingly at Tsukune and quickly issued orders for the delinquents to be gathered and transferred. He grinned slightly when he saw some of his female subordinates arrive.

"Kuyou-sama, we heard some commotion and came over to- Tsukune-sama!" And cue Tsukune getting swarmed by highly excited girls, asking him how he was, how his day had gone, if he had fought, if they had missed anything important, if he had been hurt...

The poor boy only gulped uncomfortably once he saw Moka glaring at them, a phantasmal image of her other self hovering over her, unleashing killing intent that would make plants wilt.

Despite her glaring however, Moka could not refute one point; Tsukune was becoming more and more like a man, leaving behind the boyish side of him that she had found so cute last year. It would be sad if she didn't find his newfound one much more attractive. Unfortunately, that in and of itself was unsettling for her.

There was a reason after all for that old, though oft ignored even when it held power, rule that vampires only mated with vampires. Not for the purity of their blood, but for the inevitable heartbreak; even if not truly immortal, a vampire could live to be several millenia old... far longer than any other Ayashi.

It took the two some time to get free of the swamping fangirls, but in the end Tsukune and Moka managed to get away from them.

"Tsukune-san, you were amazing back there! You didn't even transform once! That training must have really paid off!" She said, complimenting him. While his fighting form had been that of a rookie, it was effective and she wasn't about to deny that. Especially considering that he fought in a human body rather than a restrained monster body.

He chuckled embarassed at that. "N-Not really. I told you I learned to use my youki a bit better right? I used as much as I'm allowed with the Lock in place to enhance my strength, otherwise they wouldn't even have felt my strikes." Not entirely true; he had also forced his muscles to condence and enhance like they did in his demonic form, but he wasn't about to let that fact out. It was bad enough that he revealed the fact he could do partial transformations.

Which of course Moka had noticed. "But, how could you manifest your tail? I don't understand, I thought you had to fully transform?"

He cringed a bit, not because of the question, but because of all the fights he had had with his Inner Demon to acquire that ability. "Yeah, I thought so too... Turns out I can regulate my transformation and only let some parts out... It's still weaker than my full battle form, mostly because my Inner Demon is usually guiding me... It... its instincts, its combat understanding, make fighting easy. But when I'm only bringing out parts of my other form, it doesn't help me at all and I have to depend only on myself. I had to work a lot to get to the point I am now, and even then I'm not at my Inner Demon's level..." That admission saddened him, as if it gave some points off to the Inner Demon rather than himself.

Because that's what the Inner Demon was reminding him at that moment. How he was pathetic and weak without his influence, how no one would ever truly accept him unless he forced them to, how he denied himself the exhilaration and rush of power he felt when he beat up those delinquents...

Moka noticed that sadness. She might be flighty most of the time, but she was perceptive enough when she had to, she just didn't like to. She was too cheerful a person to focus on reading a person's emotions. Unless of course it was one of her friends, such as at that moment. She didn't quite get why he was sad, but she suspected it had to do with some feeling of inferiority to the sealed part of himself. She went through that phase as well every time her Inner Self scolded or belittled her. Unlike his case however, her Inner had her Outer's best interests in mind so it wasn't done with malice but rather a way to encourage or annoy her enough into action.

Sneaking a peak at his wrist, she saw the form of the Lock, the artifact that was tailored specifically to his needs, to his special circumstances. Not only did he have to deal with his burden as an Akuchi, but also that of a Ghoul.

He was probably unique in that. It wasn't because he was the first Akuchi to be granted Vampire blood, it must have happened before for sure. However, what made his case special was that not only was he given the blood of a Shinso Vampire, who were on a whole other level than others of their race, but also due to how he gained his Demonblooded abilities. Normally, if an ayashi was given the blood of another, they would gain little benefit, 'burning' it for a short term boost or simply refilling their own stores, depending on the circumstances. However, Tsukune wasn't a monster when he was given her blood. He became one afterwards. Because of that, his body was already adapting to the vampiric blood inside him when his demonic heritage was awakened. And with both abilities being blood-based, it made things even more complicated.

Moka was just beginning to realize that Tsukune could very well be the first of his own race. He could be unique, he could be the first vampiric-based Akuchi.

She hoped at least. Maybe, if he were, he could gain at least part of her vitality and live long enough to be at her side for more than a blink in the endless centuries of life she would live through. If she was really lucky, he might even become immortal if his already mutable demonic blood adapted well enough to her blood.

The vampire trapped inside her rosario shook her head. She too would have liked that, but she was more down-to-earth than her pink-haired side. She knew it would never happen, she knew it could never happen. Everything had its place, nothing could simply change his place in the world. Her place was inside that seal, her place was to live an immortal life and live it alone. As much as Inner Moka would want to change it, she knew she couldn't, she had resigned herself to her fate long ago.

Her resignation never meant she stopped praying that somehow, sometime, something would change and she would be able to defy that bleak fate of hers. Words she had prayed several months ago when her mistakes finally became apparent were repeated again, unvoiced this time too, but with a different context to them. 'If only...'

Outer Moka however, as much as she could understand her Inner self, wasn't privy to her thoughts. So she was left in more naive thoughts and fantasies, those of living a life next to the man who would love her forever.

It was a total coincidence that this man had chestnut hair and brown eyes.

Yup, total coincidence.

Yukari would never know just how much her words affected the vampiress.

But for now, she was content to go to Youkai Gakuen, have fun with her friends that were almost as close to her as family. For now, she was content laughing along with Yukari, fighting with Mizore and Kurumu about Tsukune and sharing with them her life.

At least seeing their faces when she told them how Tsukune reacted to the bullies was hilarious.

The new year in the Monster Academy was looking bright.

Four girls and a boy all had a single wish that day, hoping it would come true; "I wish this would last forever, these days of peace and laughter."

Hopes and wishes of youth rarely come true. But that is why the youth who dream would fight all the more fiercely to protect their dreams.

A/N: And we're off to the new start. Now it might have taken me a bit to get out, but here it is. Hopefully it's up to par, if not you know what to do; give a yell and I'll see what I can do.

Today, on this 9/6/2012, I, Soulblazer87, do hereby leave this site, possibly forever.

I shall not update this, or any other story.

I shall leave them on, however. Should you desire to follow my stories, do so in my new site of residence: www dot yourfanfiction dot com.