Recruitment Disaster
Tsukune groaned as he got off the bed, standard issue hospital bunker to be exact. Though he knew his body was repaired, he could still feel some phantom pains from the claws and teeth of the other.
The Other! The other him!
In a burst of memory, everything came back, sparked by that feeling of pain, and Tsukune's eyes widened as he looked around frantically.
He was quick to realize that the room was larger than most, something needed for the other three beds that were in there with him. Each bore a known face.
Across him was Kurumu, next to her Mizore and next to him slept Kokoa.
Tsukune sighed, relieved to see that none of them were badly hurt; they didn't even have a drip in their arms.
Something that sounded like a cross between a snore and a sigh, with a hint of a mumbled something, came from between Kokoa and him. Turning his eyes to the 'culprit', Tsukune realized why it sounded cute there for a moment; Moka was sitting in a chair, her candy-pink hair covering most of her chest, except the silver glint of her Rosario. Her head on the girl's lap, little Yukari was also in dreamland.
Releasing a drawn-out sigh, Tsukune got off the bed and padded his way to the toilet, feeling the need to release some of the pressure.
He turned on the light and promptly froze solid.
In the mirror he didn't see himself. No, he saw himself, but not him staring back at him. A cold smirk was plastered on his face, brown haired lined with red streaks made of blood. Orange-red, burning, eyes stared back through reptilian pupils. A drop of blood made its way down from the forehead and a long, pointed tongue reached out to taste it.
Tsukune's eyes blinked.
The other face was gone and in its place was his own, ashen pale, brown-eyed one.
He dragged a hand down to his face and peered into the image in the mirror, trying to make sure his 'true' face was there.
"Oh god..." His whisper belied all his fears and terrors. In his mind the throaty chuckling of his other side let him know just what had happened. A quick look on his left arm verified his fears, realizing how many links were broken.
Tsukune staggered back until he hit the wall and collapsed on it, almost paralyzed in terror of what had happened.
He had done it. He had released all his pent up fury, his anger, his wrath... for one instant he let go of his control and...
It took him several minutes to gather his thoughts again and gain the power to move his own body. When he was able to, he wordlessly exited the small room he was in, got his clothes from the hospital locker with his name, got dressed and left, only once looking back at the room where his four precious people slept.
Had he looked on for just a second longer, he would have seen a pair of blue eyes open and mist sadly. He would have even heard a sound like a soft, chocked sob come from the one to so rarely show her emotions.
Checking out of the hospital was easy, no one would dare question the Student Council President. It was relieving in a sense.
Because nothing else had a semblance of relief. People coughing and groaning in pain did not draw his pity or kindness as usual.
Weaklings.
A part of him voiced that word with contempt. Try as he might, Tsukune found that to his utter horror he couldn't find a shred of care for them in him.
They were pathetic, weak and infirm. They deserved that suffering for being that way. Only the weak suffer, the strong rule.
Teachings of his Demon but they weren't made with its voice; they resonated in him with his own.
Biting back a curse, Tsukune walked around the Academy's grounds, heading for the Headmaster. Surely he would have some way of helping him. He hoped.
The heavy doors stood imposing before him but he had to knock. He had to find a way to maintain his sanity. His hand rose to knock, but even before that he heard the Headmaster's voice letting him in. The doors opened without visible aid managing to creep him out just like every time it happened.
"Why hello there Tsukune-kun, what can I do for you today?"
"You can start by repairing my chain." Well that was off to a good start.
"I can't do that Tsukune-kun, I've already told you why."
"You said, but you didn't do anything about it! Why did you have to make the damn chain so inflexible anyway? It's not like it wouldn't find a way to escape it anyway!"
"And it seems that more of the chain's links have been broken, correct?" The boy's flinch was answer enough. "I have spoken with the one to teach me sealing... he can't do much about it either. I've sent him some samples of your blood, just in case, but hope is rather dim. I can't help you artificially seal your demon away, not even completely as I could before; you have grown too accustomed to it and completely locking it away would kill you due to withdrawal."
"Then what am I going to do? Just today I saw it's face instead of mine in the mirror! I scoffed at sick people, I almost laughed at someone who broke his leg on accident! I feel I'm going to loose my mind!"
"I may be able to help, somewhat. But it is not a cure, do not be mistaken. I could try to teach you a bit more on meditation, something to help you fight your demons. But it's going to take time and effort. At least a day and that's to learn the most basic aspects. At best it is going to mute the demon, not make it go away. Maybe not even that."
Tsukune this time did scoff at the Headmaster. He turned around on his heel and marched off, furious. "Pathetic."
Behind him, he left a Dark Lord who was maybe for the first time in decades unsure of what he should do, if his plan maybe wasn't so perfect after all. In his office, a small letter written by a human's hand lay out of sight but not out of mind.
Back in the hospital room, Mizore had woken her duet partner up, gently nudging her. "Get up boob-girl, something's wrong with Tsukune."
The sleepy succubus took some time to convince to leave dreamland, but when she did, she realized that her Destined One had already left, without telling them even! That was definitely troubling.
The two girls quickly hopped out of bed and got dressed before going off to look for their beloved Tsukune.
The boy himself however was faring much worse than they thought. After his talk with the Headmaster, he had developed a headache that felt like a wolf was gnawing on his brain. One hand covered his face and the other was furiously punching in the button for a water bottle from the vending machine, something to take off the edge from his thirst. It had grown by leaps and bounds during his stay in the hospital, he felt absolutely parched.
When the bottle came out, he drank it in mere seconds, but it didn't work.
Disgusted he tossed the plastic container away, not even caring to put it in a trash bin, unable to bother about it. "Damn..."
He wasn't thirsty for water. He wanted blood. A part of him even rejoiced at the thought of blood, warm and sticky, flowing down his throat.
Tasty, warm blood. Moka's blood would be the best. But Mizore's would also be cool, like a refreshing lemonade in the midst of summer. He could even bet that Kurumu's would taste like sugar and cinnamon, what with how much of the stuff she ate through her legendary cookies.
His head met the railing on the roof violently, causing it to cave. He knew he shouldn't, he shouldn't want to drink blood, it was bad to drink blood. But, no matter how much he said so, he couldn't deny the fact that it's exactly what he wanted, like an addict looking for his fix, knowing it would make everything better if he could just get a drop of blood...
Again he slammed his head on the railing. Damn...
"Tsukune!" A familiar voice shouted and he didn't even have time to turn around before a succubus smothered him in her chest. "Tsukune! You're fine! I woke up but you were gone! I was so afraid something had gone wron-"
"Kurumu... let go of me." His voice was cold and the succubus noticed that he wasn't struggling like usual; he was actually pushing her back. He was rejecting her.
"T-Tsukune? What's wrong? Can I help?" She asked taking a step back, looking at him worriedly.
"Wrong? What's wrong? Everything is wrong! So just leave me alone!" He shouted at her. He couldn't help it, he was just so angry.
"No way I'm letting you go off like that!" She said and Tsukune almost snarled at her, more than a bit annoyed at his request being annoyed. "Not when you're like that! You should come with me, we'll find a way to help you!"
"Shut up!" He knew it was wrong of him to say it even before he opened his mouth but he couldn't stop. "Just leave me alone! What do you know? What do you think you can do? Nothing! I have to deal with it so just leave me the hell alone!"
With that he was gone, leaving the girl crying on the roof. Mizore appeared next to her almost immidiately, trying to comfort her friend.
"He... he's so cold Mizore... I... I couldn't feel anything from him... It's just like when he first changed, only worse... Now it's like he has turned completely different... I... I think I'm going to loose him Mizore..."
The snow girl nodded and helped her up. "I'm following him. Go find Moka and Ruby, they might be able to help."
Kurumu let out only a soft, chocked sob and left, disheartened and almost crushed in sadness. Her duet partner though began to follow Tsukune, wanting to understand why he changed so drastically.
She found him mere moments later, raging on another roof.
"Damn it! Damn it all! Why did I have to say that? God dammit! Now she's hurt!" He shouted. "Ugh, and what the hell's up with this headache, it feels like my mind's on fire!" His fist landed on one of the brick chimneys and it cracked under his strength.
Mizore walked out from behind it, her eyes soft, but she didn't speak.
Very low on the virtue called 'patience', Tsukune snapped at her. "What do you want? Here to annoy me like Kurumu does?"
She just shook her head and raised her right arm, a large block of ice on her palm. "Ice. Helps with headaches." She intoned in a monotonous voice, offering him what little help she could.
Tsukune looked at the ice pack in her hand and then her face. A part of him told him to shout at her for doing unnecessary things, to rage about her not giving him some time alone.
The rest of him however told him how special that offer was, considering how little she spoke or interacted with him usually, preferring to stalk him instead.
His hand shook as he himself did with his internal battle but in the end he took the offered ice and put on his head. "Th... thank you..." It was as if he couldn't say the word, but he managed it in the end, turning away sharply.
Mizore only nodded, knowing she didn't have to do anything else. She looked over him for a bit before leaving, but also letting few words of encouragement reach his ears just seconds before vanishing. "We're all here for you Tsukune. We trust you."
She didn't see him nod, nor the tears that threatened to fall from his eyes.
"I'm... really pathetic, aren't I? Hurting them again and again..."
Back in the hospital, Kokoa had had enough of her sister evading her questioning. "Argh! I've had it!" She shouted. "Will some of you tell me what the hell Aono is? I've already seen his monster form but I have no idea what he is!"
"Kokoa-chan, that's rude!" Said her sister, Moka. She didn't want the girl reacting badly to Tsukune's true identity being exposed. He was already going through enough.
"I think it's time we shared the truth with Kokoa-san~desu." Said Yukari, shocking the group. "Kokoa-san is very smart, she is bound to find it out. It's best if she learns it from us rather than confuse things later."
Even though the vampire in question didn't say it, she was really thankful to the witch, finally someone could see her worth. "That's right! Now spill it!"
"The truth, Kokoa-chan is that Tsukune-san... wasn't born a monster... he became one... I made him one..."
And then, truth upon truth were revealed to the little girl who could barely control herself to stop gawking and looking from one speaker to the next, her jaw hanging open.
Who knew that scrawny, average-looking, possible pervert, weak-seeming boy was actually a dreaded Akuchi. At least now several things began to make sense.
Then Kurumu walked in, crying. She leapt into Moka's arms and just stayed there sobbing, mumbling something about 'hates her' and 'made angry'.
It took several moments for the pink-haired girl to calm down the one in her arms, or at least enough to tell her what was wrong.
"I'm loosing him Moka... My Destined One... I can't feel anything from him, it's like he hated me! He told me to leave him alone, he almost hit me!"
"W-what?" Asked the incredulous girl. "Tsukune-san? No way! There's no way he would act like that!"
"No~desu, there may be a way... Remember? Several links broke back then, and he used a lot of power to fight the impostor... There's a chance it might have affected him..." Said the witch, which caused the orange-haired girl to nod as well.
"True. Besides, you told me he's overprotective right? And that guy hit you and Mizore. If I'm right, and I think I am, he considers himself responcible for it; if he didn't have that power, then the other one wouldn't and you wouldn't have been hurt."
It was surprising insight, but not all that unanticipated, especially since vampires are extremely close to their instincts. Even Inner Moka verified that possibility, not to mention that she had felt the Ghoul's powers awaken temporarily, powers that fed on the same feelings as Tsukune's Inner Demon, something that could have powered up that personality enough to wrest control or affect the boy. Since the Demon seemed focused around fury, there was also the possibility that with increased 'hold' on Tsukune, it could also affect him, leeking out its vile emotions and making him extremely irritable.
The succubus however didn't believe that; she kept on crying, thinking that he really hated her. It was only when Mizore came to the room and told her how sad he was at snapping at her that the succubus began really calming down.
While that went on, Yukari approached Kokoa and sat right next to her. "You're scared of Tsukune-san, aren't you? Or were at least. I can understand that you know. The first time he transformed, it was horrible..." She said and shuddered, reliving the memory of Tsukune's first transformation. "He had no control, he had become little more than an animal, killing people left and right, even eating some of the dead... For that kind Tsukune-san to turn into that... I was so scared, I almost stopped seeing him."
That was quite surprising to Kokoa. Sure he was scary, but to that point? She could understand the other girl though, but her pride caused her to reply hastily. "Scared? As if, I was just surprised is all!"
Yukari giggled a bit there. "No need to lie, Kokoa-san, we all were scared, even Tsukune-san. But the point is, that by fearing him, I hurt him much more than he hurt me. It took him almost sacrificing his life for mine for me to get over that fear. It was then I realized that, Akuchi or not, in demonic or human form, no matter what, Tsukune-san is Tsukune-san. He cares about us the most and would give his life for us in an instant. The point is, Kokoa-san, that Tsukune-san has been going through some very hard times and, even then, even through having to kill a friend, through betrayals and constant fighting, through not even knowing what he was, Tsukune-san kept on fighting, for us. The truth is, what is the scariest about Tsukune-san, isn't his battle form." She then looked at the girl with a focused, determined look. "It's his determination. Who else do you know that could go through all that, start from nothing more than a human with not even an idea that monsters exist, and could go all the way to one of the strongest monsters of the entire Academy and still not hurt anyone if he even had the slightest chance to do it?"
Kokoa looked at Yukari and began to understand more and more about the enigma known as 'Aono Tsukune'.
He seemed cold at times, but in fact was warm as the sun. He seemed happy, but within him he carried a daunting burden. He seemed normal, even for Youkai standards, but he was anything but normal.
And, as much as she wanted to deny it, he was one of the few people she could admit were worthy of being a vampire; people like that were extremely rare. Which, of course, would explain why her sister reacted that way to him.
Kokoa huffed and got off the bed, sick and tired of sitting there. Besides, she had something to do, or rather someone to smack back to his senses. If that idiot didn't get how damn lucky he was to be near her onee-sama, then she'd have to make him see it. "Whatever, I'm out of here. See ya." And she was off.
Nightfall came and Tsukune was still on that roof. He didn't need to go anywhere, didn't want to go anywhere. He didn't want to see them, didn't want to accidentaly hurt any of them.
He was so afraid in part. He was so afraid that this boiling fury he felt pent up within him would explode and hurt his friends. How could he face them like that? How could he look at them with anger or apathy in his eyes?
He had to recover his ground against his own Demon's advances, but how to go about doing that, he had no idea. Maybe he could take the Headmaster's advice, if the offer was still open.
In that lonely rooftop, Tsukune let himself cry for the first time in many months, his tears enlarging the pool of water that came from a now-melted ice pack, a gesture of friendship from a friend he didn't deserve.
"Well, didn't take you for a crybaby Aono." The snotty voice of Shuzen Kokoa reached his ears and he met her dismissive eyes with his own tearful ones.
"What would you know of me? You're so lucky. You're a vampire, you have parents who wouldn't despise the mere thought of you. You have a sister who loves you and you're not afraid to love back. So what would you know of me?" He asked, tired of hiding so much of himself.
"Eh, at least I didn't cry when onee-sama beat me every time. I didn't cry when she left, or when mother died. I didn't cry when Onee-san looked like she lost her soul. And I sure as hell don't cry every time Father beats me up for being a failure." She said, leaning on the railing. She didn't know why she was doing it, she couldn't find a definite reason for acting as she was, so older than her real age. But she wanted to know, she wanted to know about the one to have gained her sister's affections.
Because Kokoa could see that her sister liked this Aono guy. Even if she herself didn't accept it, Kokoa could already see that her sister treated him much differently than she treated everyone else, even her own little sister. Also, she had witnessed his power and knew that something was wrong. When Kurumu came back to the hospital room in tears, she knew that something was very wrong; he hadn't once sounded hurtful or as mean even when she tried to hurt his friends. Something must have happened and Kokoa wanted to know what. Couldn't have this guy hurting her Onee-sama like that now, could she?
"Hah, that's nothing." He said and she would have thought it mocking had there not been very true pain in his voice. "Try having a demon sealed in your soul. Try having it narrate how it would feel to sink your claws in your friends, eat your parents and rape your sister. Try imagining that and then think about feeling its emotions on top of it. Want to know what's wrong Shuzen-sama-sama? Here's what's wrong; I was a freaking human, a normal, average, ordinary human until I came here. I came here and your oh-so-wonderful sister helped awaken a demon in me. It's eating away at my sanity every day and all I can do is cry about it. Like things never changed, like I'm the same pathetic human I was before... Look at me... I'm one of the strongest monsters in the entire Academy and yet all I can do is cry about it... My Inner Demon is right it seems... I'm pretty pathetic..."
Kokoa hummed as she looked at the boy in front of her, re-evaluating her opinion on him. Truth be told, not half of what he had said were a surprise; her sister had told her a few things after Kurumu had calmed down a bit. But she could sympathize with him. She didn't know exactly how he felt, but at least she could understand the 'fury' part. She could understand about having every fiber of your being screaming at you to kill someone and resisting it for no reason you can even remember.
"I know, some of it anyway, nee-chan told me... Tell you the truth, I'm rather impressed. What with a human holding that thing back, she said you had to fight it in your mind every day. I also think that onee-sama would be impressed too."
"Heh," His chuckle was broken and sad, almost mocking. "words of encouragement can't do me that good with my situation. Compliments don't work on a demon... Only strength does and I can't even find in me the strength to care to fight it..."
This time Kokoa scoffed at him, almost as if disgusted. "We vampires are a proud, noble race. That means two things; we don't give up and we don't praise anyone easily. You have the luck to be near one of us, let alone of my onee-sama's caliber, and call her friend. You can even see her every day. You should be grateful for it and stop whining. Life's not fair, your demon's not nice and you have to do something about it. That's all there is to it, baka." Then she was gone, her bat squealing excitedly in her ear about something or other.
"Grateful huh... I wonder..."
That night the Headmaster got a surpsise visit in his office. It wouldn't have been so had he not considered re-evaluating his plans. Still he grinned at the boy in front of him.
"It seems you have found some courage boy. Now come, it's time for training. I hope you told your friends this would take at least a day however."
Tsukune gave him a grin almost identical to the one on the Headmaster's face. "A day? I'll be done in less than that. I have to go to school in the morning and finish my newspaper article on top of that."
The Headmaster let out a short chortle at that and pulled the boy with him into the deeper areas of his sanctum, where he reigned truly supreme, his will able to control and alter reality at his whim.
In there Tsukune trained to control himself and overcome the hate within. In there, Tsukune was taught about meditation techniques that were safeguarded by ancient philosophers and zealously hidden away eons ago.
It was to great surprise to the Exorcist when indeed, Tsukune learned the first, basic, steps to meditation in less than a day. Apparently the boy had found something to strive for, a goal to wrap himself around and toss all else in the air. He seemed to have grown a bit even.
Good, he was going to need all the help he could get, especially if he kept on breaking the Lock's links at this speed.
The next day, Tsukune didn't show up at all, not at homeroom and not at club activities. Not a single soul had seen him. It was worrying, very worrying, but Ruby assured him he was fine and within Academy grounds.
When, the next morning, Tsukune still didn't show up for homeroom, something that cause much worry to his friends as well as the entire class. Even Nekonome-sensei opened one of her perpetually squinted eyes as if to make sure he really wasn't there. Even Moka couldn't find him with her supersensory sense and neither could Mizore track him down despite her respectable skill in the area.
When homeroom ended, early in the afternoon, the group quickly made its way to their club room to let their teacher know they would be skipping activities to look for their friend.
What awaited them there was different than what they had expected.
On the table was a large article ready to be published and on it Tsukune's pen name. But around it were four smaller boxes with the name of each of the girls on it.
They slowly, almost carefully opened their boxes to find each had a small gift. Moka's was a small blood pack with Tsukune's name on it. Mizore got a large collection of lolipops in all tastes imaginable while Yukari received a small pouch filled with arcane paraphernalia, useful for her various experiments, amongst them even a blood sample from Tsukune in his battle transformation. Kurumu got the largest one; an wide assortment of various cookies and candy, imported straight from the human world, and with them a note of apology; "I'm sorry for snapping at you, Tsukune."
The four girls looked at each other confused, not quite getting what had happened and missed the entrance of another in the room. "Well, seems like he finally got some courage back in him, didn't he?"
"K-Kokoa-chan?" Asked a rather surprised Moka. "What do you mean?"
"Hmph, after you told me what youkai race he is and boob-lady over there came in crying, I had to confront him. And what did I find? Almighty Aono Tsukune-sama crying on the roof like a weakling."
Kurumu almost exploded at the girl with the way she spoke about her Destined One but Mizore quickly put her hand over the succubus' mouth, silencing her.
"I mean, what kind of guy cries like that? Being the nice, caring soul that I am," At that she glared at Kurumu's indignant look. "being the nice and caring soul that I am, I smacked some sense into him. The baka should be grateful for being near my onee-sama, even in nee-chan's form, every day of his life."
"Indeed I should Kokoa-chan..." Tsukune's voice came from the door and he looked absolutely exhausted. He didn't get much time to dwell on the looks he was given before Kurumu leapt on him and pulled him to her generous bosom.
"Tsukune! I'm so sorry for pressing you and not leaving you alone! Thank you for the cookies they're great and we can share them together! You can come in my room and we can do all sorts of thin-"
There she was cut off by a blushing Mizore who promptly froze her solid to free a suffocating Tsukune. "Relax you big-breasted moron, you almost killed him."
While the Black and White Duet began one of their usual fights, Moka and Yukari looked at each other before sneaking Tsukune free of the makeshift battlefield, much to Kokoa's chagrin.
Said girl decided to ignore the chaos going on around her, she knew it would be over without injuries and pretty soon if neither Moka nor Tsukune reacted to it especially, and instead chose to read Tsukune's article, the one on the criminals.
"Hey!" She said once she started going through it. "Why isn't onee-sama here? She was the one who defeated the boss, wasn't she? She should be dominating the entire page!"
And there went her obsession with one side of her sister only.
"W-Well," Said Tsukune, rather uncomfortable at the looks he was getting. "doing so would reveal Moka-san's true form and that's forbidden for normal students you know. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Kurumu-chan and Mizore-chan. Everyone did their part, even Yukari-chan who was forced to stay back and tell Ruby-san where to find us. You did as well, since you were the one to find the hideout."
"B-But... but Moka-onee-sama was the one to beat their leader! She should be the one to-"
"Let it go Kokoa-chan..." Said Moka calmingly. "None of us does it for the sake of recognition. We just to what he have to do to make the Academy a better place."
"Yeah, yeah!" Added Kurumu. "We don't have to look for trouble, usually trouble looks for us and we beat it on the head! Now, let's go! We have a newspaper to print and distribute! The Newspaper Club is back in action! Yahoo!"
Being hyperactive was a good thing this time because it drew the girl's attention away as they filed away to get to the editing and printing room. Kokoa made to go with them but thought better of it and left quietly, leaving the club to get down to its business.
The very next day she was at the club's room again. She couldn't help it. She was attracted to these people like a metal to a magnet. Each and every one of them was unique with a dose of insanity and yet, despite their differences, they were managing to hold it all together. She wouldn't admit it, but she was envious of them. She wanted to be older so she could be amongst them as an equal.
"So, why are you here this time Kokoa-chan? Did something happen?" Said the succubus, looking up from her article, a cookie recipe for 'The One Who Holds Your Heart Without Knowing It'. It was really subtle the way she stole glances at Tsukune while writing it.
The freshman was taken aback. She didn't even know herself why she felt she had to be there, why that place, no the people of that place, felt like a second home to her despite knowing most of them for only a few days. "Err.. well... I came to see nee-chan, that's why! Maybe even see onee-sama!" She amended, quickly naming a reason. It wasn't all that hard really; it was one of the reasons she spent so much time around that group.
"Eeeh... I don't believe you." Said Kurumu, making Kokoa curse the fact that succubae were innately talented at reading people. "Wait, maybe it is... it couldn't be!"
"What?" Said Mizore and Moka, making even Tsukune raise a head in question away from his own article.
"I bet you want to join the club!" Came Kurumu's declaration, almost making the young vampire facefault at the sheer confidence she held.
"W-What? No way! I-"
And then the girl was swept away at the sheer festivity of the event; having a freshman join their club that is. It was a simple matter for Yukari to create colorful ribbons and small fireworks while Kurumu and Moka flanked the little girl telling her how nice it would be to join them. Even Tsukune smiled at her and welcomed her to the club.
And through that, the girl couldn't fathom just how things could have turned that weird in that little time. "But I never said I'd join!"
"It's alright!" Kurumu 'comforted' her. "If you don't join us now, you'll be sorry later!"
"Yeah, the Newspaper Club is the best! We have adventures and a lot of fun every day!" Went on Moka.
"Who would join this club anyway?" Came Kokoa's denial.
Unfortunately for her, the answer came immidiately in the form of Mizore. "I would. I wasn't a member formally, but here is my introduction."
"I would like to join too, I got permission from the Headmaster, despite not being a student." Said Ruby. Then she blushed deeply as she looked at Tsukune. "Order me around however you like!"
Then things became worse as Nekonome-sensei joined the group. The problem? She was dressed in a cheerleader's outfit with the sign 'Newspaper Club' emblazoned on it.
"Which reminds me..." Said Tsukune as if realizing at that moment. "We've got freshman recruitment period now. We should go gather more people. We could really expand the club this way."
And so poor Kokoa was dragged along with the rest of the group and was promptly suited up with a cheerleading uniform, despite her protests.
Though, the girl had to admit, it did certainly make her sister look good, how better would she look as onee-sama? Of course, then came the point that it was extremely degrading for her as a proud and noble vampire. Mostly because the outfit made her look cute and sexy, which drew all sorts of perverts in the Newspaper Club's stall.
Some of them even made to harass Yukari, them being lolicons and her being classified as 'cute', but thankfully Tsukune was there to prevent that with a smile and a small show of youki.
Which of course had the side-effect of drawing the attention of several fangirls who thought he looked 'cute'.
It was when Kurumu-fans started fighting Moka-fans that Kokoa decided she'd had enough. With a mighty leap, she was off, uncaring about showing her unmentionables to those underneath her.
"What kind of people are they? Treating me like a kid, dragging me around, dressing me up in such an embarassing outfit... Why do I hang out with them?" She asked herself atop one of the many pointed pillars of the school.
"Well, because it's fun, of course. And we're all nice people and care for you." Yukari's voice came from behind the girl, shaking her from her not-so-internal monologue.
"What the hell are you talking about? This way, the way things are going, I'm never going to get better... I'll never be able to reach Onee-sama's caliber. That's why I don't have time to waste on such things!"
Yukari giggled. "Is it alright to think like that? It would be boring to live that way. Kokoa-san is Kokoa-san and Moka-san is Moka-san. I would know; I'm one of Moka-san's fans too!"
"W-w-what? What are you talking about?"
"Heehee... in truth, Kokoa-san, you love Moka-san, don't you? I can't blame you, she's perfect in every way; beautiful, graceful, so smart... It's hard being next to your idol every day..."
Kokoa gawked; she was so happy she could cry. Finally someone that could understand her! "You... you mean that? You're not kidding are you?"
"Nope! And then there's Tsukune-san... When he was human he was kind and caring and warm... Now he's so much more manly!" Squealed Yukari before shaking herself out of her fantasies. "But the point is, I know what you're going through. I still believe the Newspaper Club is the best option for us to be, but if you want, I'll help you find another club to join. So, what do you have in mind?"
Kokoa hummed and thought about it. "Well, to catch up to onee-sama, I have to learn how to fight better. So is there any martial arts club? Like a Karate Club or something?"
The witch quickly recalled from memory where all the club stalls were located and pulled the excited vampire with her, ready to go meet their destiny and get stronger.
It didn't work. As soon as they got to the Karate Club, where a small gravestone breaking exhibition was taking place, they were even refused to attempt to do it. Which pissed off Kokoa more than just a little bit.
Worse; they were denied entrance in all Martial Arts clubs, just for being younger.
"Dammit!" Raged Kokoa as she kicked a small stone, her supernatural strength nearly sending it into orbit. "Why do people underestimate us so much? Just for being younger! I'm as strong as any of them! I know I could beat most of them easily, even if Kou-chan stayed on the sidelines! This is so unfair!"
The witch sat on a small stone too, sighing sadly. "I guess it's because we're children, they can't take us seriously~desu..."
"Argh! If only we were older, we could show these bastards a thing or two! If only I was as old as onee-sama, I'd be able to get in these clubs easily!"
"Get older... Of course~desu! I can't believe I forgot these! Behold!" Said the witch, pulling a large glass bottle filled with what seemed like pills from her hat. "Magical item; Growing Drops! I made them for just such an occasion! I haven't polished it much or tested it on anyone except my pets, but it should work! I've checked everything and it should work properly~desu."
"Growing... drops? What the hell is that?" Asked a rather curious Kokoa, peering at the large pills. They were brightly colored with various swirls.
"Hehe! Instead of telling you, why don't I just show you? Here, take one and see for yourself! The power of my Growing Drops!" Said Yukari, taking out a pill and handing it to Kokoa.
With her having exhausted all other options, the vampire girl decided to trust her new friend and promptly swallowed it in one go.
A few minutes later, a new bombshell walked towards the Karate Club stall. She had orange hair, knee-high socks and a cheerleading uniform that left rather little to the imagination. Eyes turned to the woman and jaws dropped as some howled at her beauty and grace. Of course, the girl lapped it all up happily.
"Hmm, I'll try your little event. But I'll pay two thousand yen if I loose after I try."
The one in command tried to reject it, but upon seeing such a beautiful girl willingly come anywhere near him, he turned into a gawking fool. Probably because no girl had ever come within ten feet of him willingly.
The girl stood in front of the gravestones and raised her hand in the air where a bat perched itself and wrapped its wings around her hand, turning into a battle glove-like weapon.
A small huff later and the fire-haired beauty had smashed her fist on the pile of gravestones, breaking all of them in an instant. The force was great enough that they knew she would have broken even more than the thirteen already presented, had there been any more.
"Well, seems like I won!" Said the girl, making a small happy jump that made several parts of her anatomy jiggle around and subsequently turn several male onlookers into drooling idiots. "I'll be taking my fifty thousand yen now. Bye-bye!" And with a large pot in hand she was gone, leaving more than a few of them fighting each other on who she had looked at first, whom she had smiled at and similar things.
Moments later, the girl was behind some buildings talking to her accomplice. "Did you see them looking at me? Did you see their faces? They even called me sexy and graceful! Like my Onee-sama!"
The accomplice however was more interested in counting the fifty thousand yen they had earned. "Yes, the plan was a success, a great success Kokoa-san... Now we can earn back every bit of mocking from them... hehehehe..."
Kokoa giggled in a way that would make males swoon at her friend's antics. "Your Growing Drops are wonderful Yukari-san! Taller vision, greater power... and more importantly... this!" She said and pushed forward her enlarged bosom. "Touch it!"
With such an open and honest invitation, Yukari quickly abandoned counting money in favour of turning to her sister-in-crime and promptly groping her. "Wow... this is amazing~desu..." It might have been less misleading had she not been dripping blood from her nose and having a near-ecstatic look on her face.
Kokoa was just beginning to like the weird feeling she was getting from her breasts when someone thought it a good idea to interrupt them. "That was really amazing! We would like you to join our club!"
It was the weird guy that held the bet pool in the Karate Club accompanied by another big-boned member of the same group.. The nasty part was that even Kou-chan the bat could tell they had less than honorable intentions about her joining their club.
Kokoa regarded them with the finality only a vampire could give. "No, you guys are too weak. I need to get strong, really strong. I can't afford to be in a club with such weaklings."
"Wh-wh-whaaaaat?" They said in stereo. "You can say that only after beating us! Take this!" And they were on her.
Only to be defeated in a second by the new-and-improved Kokoa.
Both girls were just as surprised by this turn of events. Yukari was mostly stunned by the fact that Kokoa really was Moka's sister after all; no one could fight on that level and still treat it like nothing more than a low-level warmup. Kokoa on the other hand cared more about the fact that she could feel her strength grow within her and flow like an unstoppable torrent. That way, she was sure that her sister would notice and accept her if they fought.
But she didn't get much time to enjoy her victory as four others, dressed in the same Karate Club outfit appeared behind the two other defeated boys. The one who seemed to be their leader, a man with white hair but somehow black eyebrows glared at Kokoa. "While I thank you for sparing me the time to educate that idiotic junior of mine, but didn't you get carried away a bit there? I won't let anyone insult my Karate Club!"
"T-t-third graders! This is bad Kokoa-san!" Stuttered Yukari; she had a very bad experience with third graders.
Kokoa however was as confident as ever. In that form of hers, she could not be defeated that easily. "Stand back. Kou-chan and I are going to handle this, right Kou-chan. Now come, if you beat me, I'll join your club!"
The group's leader let out an almost proud smirk; finally someone who knew what it meant to fight. "That's a good spirit, woman. It'll be good to have a fighter in my club instead of these two idiots."
And then, just as they charged each other...
Kokoa's body shrinked and her clothes almost fell from her body.
The surprised girl looked around curiously. "Hey, why did everyone get so big all of a sudden? Even Yukari... Wait!" She nearly shrieked. "They didn't get big; I got turned into a kid!"
The Karate Club members' fists made a nasty sound as they clacked their fingers, ready to lay a beating on the girl and Kokoa knew she was in deep trouble. Trouble she could not depend on others to protect her, considering how badly she denied their help before.
"Yukari! Hurry up and change me back to normal!" She screamed at the young witch, who at the moment was taking several steps back; for being in a kid's body Kokoa certainly did look very intimidating.
"I-I can't do that now Kokoa-chan! I-It seems my Growing Drops number 1 experiment has failed! Please don't hurt me~desuuu!"
Poor Kokoa was shell-shocked at the developments. Initially, she took the pill to get closer to her great and beautiful sister, but right now she was the exact opposite!
Unfortunately, she didn't get the time to debate long on it. "Now what? You think that turning into a little girl like that is going to make our war stop or something? Just because you turned into a child, doesn't mean I'll forgive you for not only beating my club members, but also making a mockery of Karate in front of me. Better be ready to die little brat." And he looked absolutely pissed.
The two defeated Club members thought it would be a good time to interfere. "P-Please beat her up boss! S-she probably changed to a girl to catch you off guard, just like they double-teamed us by surprise! Teach her how great Karate really is!" Inwardly however, he knew it was just a scheme to punish the brat who beat him up by double-teaming an 'honorable' person like himself.
"You shut up, weakling. I'll deal with you later." Said the Karate Club leader, sparing a cold look to his junior. "As for you girl, get ready."
"Ugh! Doesn't matter who you are, I'm not gonna loose!" Said Kokoa with more confidence than she was feeling. Still, the vampiric blood within her couldn't let her give up without at least giving as good as she took.
Then it was over; in an instant, the leader's fist was less than an inch from Kokoa's eyes. A wave of wind, blasted backwards by the sheer strength of the blow cracked the wall, several feet behind the girl.
"W-what? That... that was just a straight fist thrust!" Thought Kokoa, terrified. "If I had a chance to beat him in my adult body, I have no way of doing it now! He's going to beat me!"
"Miyamoto Haiji, Karate Club Leader. I won't forgive anyone who mocks Karate." He said in a rough face. Then, to Kokoa's and Yukari's great surprise his face suddenly softened and he grinned. "Well, not like I would really punch a child or something." He said, putting a hand on Kokoa's head and patting it. "I bet you didn't know I was a big kid-lover, did you?"
"Wh-what?" Kokoa was rather freaked out by how suddenly he changed.
"Anyway, we're off. I'll deal with you two fools at our club room"
"W-Wait!" Said Kokoa, rather incessed at the fight stopping in such a weird way. She had her pride after all. "The fight isn't over ye- Hey! Put me down!" Then she started screaming when Haiji suddenly picked her up like the small kid she was and waved her around, saying how cute she was.
It would have been a compliment, had he not been blushing and drooling while doing so, something that tipped Kokoa and Yukari as to the real reason behind him being a 'kid-lover.
"You're no kid-lover! You're just a lolicon!" Screamed the both of them in unison. Kokoa even tried to hit him, but his arms were much longer than hers and she couldn't reach him.
"Anyway, now I got to punish my two stupid subordinates, so we're out. Take care little girl!" And then he was gone, dragging his two defeated juniors on the ground by their legs.
"Well... that wasn't too bad, right Kokoa-san?" Said Yukari.
"Wasn't too bad?" Screeched Kokoa, making the witch back off as, even though she was in a child's body, she still managed to look intimidating. "I got turned into a freaking child by your Growing Drops, then I get humiliated like this and you are saying that it wasn't too bad? I can't even go to the Newspaper Club to get help because they'll just make fun of me when they see how I ended up!"
"I-I don't think they'll mock Kokoa-san... and it's not like we have anywhere but the Newspaper Club to go to..." Said the little witch, though she didn't really believe it.
And she shouldn't; as soon as Kurumu saw Kokoa's new form, she broke down in laughter and even Mizore had a hard time covering her giggling.
"Ahahaha! You look so cute Kokoa-chan!" She said, ignoring the impotent glare sent her way. "You look so cute right now! When I have kids with Tsukune I wish they'd look just like you!"
"Who's going to have kids with Tsukune, you big-breasted moron?" Said Mizore, standing in front of Kokoa semi-protectively, though mirth could easily be seen in her face. "Tsukune is my future husband."
And then began a tug-o-war with Kokoa as the tug, her attempts to escape fruitless before a pair of girls whose 'kawaii-radar' had activated.
It's when they started calling her their own child that she really got worried. Who knew if she would stay like this forever? Or if she would have to grow up from that age the old-fashioned way?
"Stop teasing her already!" Shouted Moka, who apart from not wanting them to tease her little sister was also quite annoyed at all the children talk. "She doesn't like it!"
"Moka-san is right, for now we must find a way for Kokoa-san to return to normal. Even though I don't get why you would take the Growing Drops in the first place..." This time, Tsukune made a very good work of forcing Kokoa expose her secrets.
"W-Well... I wanted to get stronger and went to the Karate Club and the other martial arts clubs but they didn't accept children so..."
"You were going to join the Newspaper Club though, weren't you?" Mizore interrupted her.
"I never said that, even once!" Again with her denial, Kokoa exploded, drawing questioning looks from everyone around, even the older witch, Ruby, who had come to help Yukari find an antidote.
"Why not?" Said the older witch of the group. "Even I did and I'm not even a student here. Being around with Tsukune-san and the others... being ordered around... I would do anything..." And then she was lost in weird fantasies whose details the group could only guess, though the drooling, blushing, nosebleed and soulfull looks to Tsukune's direction gave them a good enough hint.
"W-w-what?" Came Tsukune, reeling away from the witch. As if it wasn't bad enough to deal with Kurumu and her not-that-subtle advances, now there was another woman who tried to do such things to him? Couldn't they understand that he couldn't be with any of them?
"Get away from my Tsukune, Ruby! I have enough rivals for my Destined One as it is!" And then the succubus was on Tsukune's defence in her traditional way; smothering him in her chest.
"Stop suffocating my future husband in your chest, boob-monster!" Came Mizore's answer to the girl's challenge and they were off again in another childish fight.
Meanwhile Moka had taken Kokoa by the hand. "Come on Kokoa-san, we have to go to the arts and crafts club and find you some proper clothes."
That was the magical word that caused the warring duet to stop its infighting and instantly teleport next to the minature vampire. "Clothes eeeh..."
Kokoa was left to wonder if it would be better off to parade around the entire school in her oversized clothes rather than be pulled along with these two in search of clothing.
And lo and behold, her fears came true. It started out innocent enough, or at least their looks were innocent. And then it escalated; from human kindergarten clothes to cosplay, then to baby outfits, even more cosplay and then a teddy-bear outfit.
Understandingly the vampire girl was more than a bit angry at the way she was treated, especially by the looks of joy on the group's faces; they must surely be mocking her!
"You know, this is just like having a child." Said Kurumu.
"Yeah, only without the pain of giving birth or having to wake up in the middle of the night." Countered Mizore, who was having too much fun to be legal.
"True, but also without the pleasure of it. You know, just me and Tsukune, on a bed, naked..." And the succubus was off drooling and imagining all sorts of things, leaving poor Tsukune coughing at the images she was evoking in his mind.
"Hah" Jumped in Yukari, after finally having explained the process of Growing Drops to the elder witch. "why would he prefer you? Tsukune-san will be with Moka-san and then invite me and drink from this forbidden fruit of eternal youth!" And now even the witch was trying to pull Tsukune to squish him in her chest, regardless of how an impossible task that was.
Thankfully, Mizore's timely intervention saved the poor boy from the fate of being convicted to life as a lolicon by other onlookers. "You can't do anything of the sort, brat. Tsukune prefers a more average size, like peaches, see?" Following her declaration, Mizore rather proudly presented her chest to the poor boy who wanted to just get away from all this insanity.
At least Moka had finished selecting a proper outfit for Kokoa; a nice victorian-style black dress. It looked very nice and satisfied the girl's standards enough to put up with wearing it.
"See Kokoa-chan? This is good right? It suits you perfectly!" Moka said happily, though a part of her also remembered another with a similar dress, only she had long pink hair...
"Y-Yes... this is good..." Said the temporarily youngest of the group, actually liking the way she looked, even if it was a bit too formal for casual wear.
"Yay~desu! And once I finish making my Growing Drops number 2, Kokoa-san can try them again! She'll look amazing in that outfit!" Exploded a happy Yukari.
"Y-you think so, Yukari-chan?" Asked Kokoa, hope in her eyes. If she looked good in something that classy, then it would mean she's getting closer to her big sister, right?
"Yes~desu! You were really pretty and really sexy while you took the pill! And your breast was all soft and -mmph!" And Kurumu interrupted the witch, slapping her hand over the girl's mouth.
"What have I told you about such things? Act your age for once!"
The little witch summoned a basin over the succubus' head and promptly slammed it on her. "You're just jealous of me and Moka-san winning Tsukune-san's heart and body!"
"Well, could you stop fighting for now?" Asked the boy in question as he finished making refreshments for the group. "Better not spill the coffee or something. Oh, and Kokoa-chan here's a cream soda, Moka-san said you liked it?"
Said girl cheered at the sweet drink placed in front of her. "Yay! Sweet stuff banzai!" Then looking around, she realized she was the only one not drinking coffee; even Yukari had preferred the bitter concoction. Her pride instantly flared like it was wont to do that day. "Hey! Why am I the only one not having coffee?"
Before Tsukune had time to justify it by saying it was Moka-san telling him what she liked, Kurumu had the bright idea of messing with the girl one more time. "Well, you're a kid now, kids can't have coffee."
"What are you talking about? I'm a proud vampire! I'm not a kid, I can drink coffee too, even if it's with a lot of sugar and milk!"
"That just proves my point." Said the succubus haughtily, not realizing just how annoyed the little girl was. "Doing things like that is a kid's way. Chibi!"
And then Moka had to do the exactly wrong thing. Namely pat Kokoa on the head comfortingly. "Kurumu-chan is right. You cream soda is better for you this time." She also wanted to finish by saying something like 'until your body returns to normal' or something, but she didn't get the time.
With all the fiery temper that was in her, gathering and compressing into one huge burst of frustration, the chibi-fied Kokoa exploded. "I've HAD IT!" And overturning the table with her supernatural strength, stormed off, tears in her eyes.
No one understood her. Not even Yukari-chan helped her deal with it. Hell, it was Yukari's fault to begin with! But worst of all, she was hurt by her sister; she kept babying her, treating her like a child when they were only one year apart in age. It hurt her the most because back when they really were children, her sister would always comfort her the 'vampire' way; namely by beating hear down without mercy. That held special significance for the orange-haired girl because that meant that her sister took her seriously in an entire home where no one expected anything from her.
In an entire home filled with people to talk to, only one person ever looked her in the eye.
And that same person now babied her, underestimated her and mocked her.
Her run, away from the group she thought hated and made fun of her, brought her to a clearing away from the school, a place she could vent her heart out and hate them as much as she wanted.
It was a pity that, in her rage, she didn't notice she was being followed until her pursuers showed themselves by surrounding her. And their leader was the same Karate Club jerk who called her dishonorable.
"You... leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for your stupid stunts." She said, still thinking she was in her old body.
"Eh, why would we do that, we're in the mood. What you did back there, getting Haiji-teme angry at me, did you think there wouldn't be any concequences for it? Everyone here is people who didn't fit in the Karate Club and we're all here to beat the shit out of your upstard little body, you bitch!"
Realizing that they weren't going to leave her alone, Kokoa took up a basic stance to defend herself. Luckily for her, her bat wasn't going to let its master fight alone; he flew off to warn the Newspaper Club.
Back in the room Kokoa stormed off of, Moka sighed as Kurumu raged about Kokoa being a stubborn brat. "Stop it Kurumu-chan, it's not her fault... we hurt her. We tried to baby her and treat her like a child... Because Kokoa-chan is the youngest of us sisters, we always made fun of her... In our house, no one ever took her seriously. So she came to resent us... Only we treated her like equals and that's why she clinged on to us, knowing we wouldn't underestimate her... By treating her like a child while I was 'big' and 'adult', I've hurt her feelings... She wants to be known and cared for, but she wants to be cared for as herself, she doesn't want people treating her nice for being younger or a sibling..."
"Moka-san is right. Kokoa-chan is like Inner Moka-san; they are both proud warriors at heart. That's why Kokoa resents people underestimating her; she wants to earn her recognition. I can understand that a bit..." Said Tsukune, earning a nod from the younger witch. She too had realized as much.
"But..." Said Kurumu. "What can we do? When I just see her like that, she's just too cute and small, I can't treat her like an equal!"
Before they had time to argue about what they were going to do, something crashed into the large window and broke it. Looking down at the broken glass, wanting to find what did it, they saw Kou-chan with a small note hastily scrawled together; 'Help' it said. Knowing who the pet belonged to, the group quickly picked up the bat and asked it to show them where the girl was.
As they were going out that door however, Yukari grinned. "Well, I may have a way of fixing things..." And she took off her hat.
The clearing Kokoa was in had been quickly turned into a battlefield. Utilizing her increased agility, even if it came with a tremendous price, she moved much too fast for the attackers to get hit. At least she maintained a modicum of her true power, considering it was supernatural in origin. However, her youki had 'de-aged' with her body, which meant that it was much weaker than normal.
Kokoa knew she was in a rough spot, but she couldn't afford to ask for help from her sister, not while Moka was still 'old'. She would have to find a way to do it on her own. At least these were bullies and lacked the resolve of a true fighter. Which gave her a large edge, seeing as already they were re-considering attacking her. It 'wasn't fun any more' as some of them admitted loudly.
But, just as things were looking up, something grabbed her from her legs and she saw it was long claws leading to the hands of the same guy to rile up all these bullies against her.
"Hahaha! Thought I'd have run away by now? This isn't a matter of Karate so I can find in whatever way I want! Now get ready to pay you upstart bitch! You're gonna give us a good little show!"
And against Kokoa's greatest fears, the leader of the bullies grabbed the side of her dress and pulled, tearing it apart.
Then it stopped too suddenly and too soon to be normal and Kokoa noticed that there was blood running down the guy's forehead, blood that seemed to come out of a wound caused by a... metal card?
"Hi Kokoa-chan, I'm here to help you." Said the witch with a voice that Kokoa remembered to be much younger. It came from a body that almost made Kokoa have a nosebleed, and she was a girl!
A girl walked into the clearing and she was clearly an adult. Her cleavage was hardly contained in her cheerleader's outfit and the witch's hat on her head fit comfortably but giving more attention to her face. It was the hat, the haircut and the wand she held that told Kokoa who she was, and she still couldn't believe it. "Yukari-chan? What the? You took the Growing Drops?" Then she turned nasty. "Are you trying to baby me too?"
To the vampiress' surprise the witch shook her head and smiled before a puff of smoke obsucred her smoke, before dispersing and revealing her to be in a kid form as old as Kokoa's 'new' body. "Twelve minutes and thirteen seconds. Seems that's the limit of my Growing Drops. It's a failed creation~desu."
The bullies quickly regrouped, relieved in the fact that the witch had been turned from a drop-dead beauty to a weak child.
The long, sharp nails of a succubus quickly educated as to the mistake of such assumptions, especially when followed up by a yuki-onna's icy talons.
"Well, Moka sure got it right; we can't baby Kokoa like that." Said Kurumu. Kokoa's head slowly creaked over to the voice and she gawked.
"You all got turned to chidren!" And it was true; Moka, Kurumu, Mizore and even Ruby had been chibi-fied. Moka even held Kou-chan in his hammer-mode. On the sidelines, Tsukune watched on amused. He hadn't taken the Growing Drop for a very simple reason; as a Council Member, and the President at that, if he were to take part in such a fight, it could lead to several problems which could include the loss of his position.
While he didn't care about the position itself, it granted him many powers in the administrative side of things and he could use that to more effectively protect his friends. So, for now he was content to watch, though ready to interfere if any of his friends got hurt.
The scene Haiji Miyamoto walked in on was that of utter chaos.
Little girls were running around like berserk monsters, beating people up in various, imaginative ways.
He just stood there and gawked, waiting for the chaos to end.
Maybe he shouldn't have stayed there. Because, he was quickly noticed by Kokoa, still on her combat high. "Hey! That's him! The Karate Club leader! He's a lolicon!"
Poor Haiji was never noted for his superior intellect or tact, a problem that made him point at himself and ask in a completely clueless way. "Who me? Yeah, I'm a lolicon, so?"
Big mistake. Being women, a hate for perverts was almost engraved into their genes and, high in adrenaline as they were, they quickly converged on Haiji, a cry in their lips. "Hentai must dieee!"
The Karate Club Leader tried to take up some form of defencive stance to protect himself, but the girls were simply so adorably cute he was lost in his lolicon fantasies and forgot to properly set up his defence.
The result? With the creation of a new technique named 'Child-only super unbeatable anti-pervert technique; RAINBOW DESTROYERRR!', he was defeated in an instant, smacked around by the various girl's weaponry, be it metal cards, metal basins, claws, hammers or the weird wing-like things Ruby used.
The bullies, the ones of them still conscious anyway, couldn't help but ask themselves; "Who are these girls anyway?"
"We're the Newspaper Club!" Was their reply and the perverts fled quickly once they noticed an adult walk in, Tsukune, who was clapping and laughing.
"Great work everyone, that'd teach them to mess with us!" He said almost tears on his eyes from the mirth.
Moka looked at Kurumu and Mizore conspiratorily and then at Tsukune who had the good sense to gulp at their pleading looks.
"Tsukune-saaan? Could you give us a ride, pleaaase?" They dragged out with doe-eyes on their faces, almost pouting at the poor boy.
"R-ride? But, I, err..." He looked at the other girls to avoid doing that before his head slumped forward in acceptance of his fate; seeing nothing but pleading children faces was too much for him. "A-alright..."
And so, Youkai Gakuen was the first place to have the spectacle of a dreaded Akuchi running around on all fours with several excited girls on his back screaming 'Faster, faster!' and other similar things.
Unfortunately for the boy, the fact that he was that gentle in his demon form sparked a whole new swarm of rumours and discussions about 'how good with children' he was or 'how good a father' he would make, much to the poor boy's chagrin.
Unfortunately for the Club's success, the rumour that the Newspaper Club destroyed the Karate Club, if it only was the leader and through underhanded ways, gave a rough reputation to the group.
On one hand, male applicants became afraid that they would be eaten, some of them even believed that Kurumu of all people would do it. On the other hand, female applicants became afraid of the jeaoulsy they might invoke into the group's girls, fearing that they would begin having 'unfortunate accidents' or something in order to be kept away from the male of the Club.
Understandably, that last part didn't sit well at all with Gin, but with him being absent the group escaped most of the perverted werewolf's hazing.
The problem was that with zero freshmen applicants, the Club would begin to decline, they could even be cut off completely. After all, even if the Student Council President was in the club, even he had to abide by the rules, which meant that there would be few things he could do without inciting a lot of hate about 'controlling media' and whatnot.
It certainly brought a lot of unhappiness to the group.
So, there they were, sitting around the Club's table, debating about what they could do. That's what Kokoa saw first when she entered the club room.
"What's gotten all of you so gloomy?" She asked, though the more perceptive ones knew there was something else she wanted to talk about as well.
"Shut up brat..." Snapped Kurumu half-heartedly. She was really hurt by the rumour that she would 'eat people'. "People think I'm going to eat them! Me! It's not fair! Every applicant pulled back!"
"Yeah... looks like we're going to go under..." Moka followed up.
The vampire girl looked haughtily at the group, though even that wasn't done with true malice, not after yesterday's events. "Well, it's not like any of them were worth the trouble, they were just perverts. But, if it means that much to you... I... I'll join you." And she then turned away, lest they see her blush.
Too bad for her, it didn't work; she was instantly surrounded by the excited group and was pulled along them into a long celebration.
Said celebration also included quite a bit of alcoholic beverages, though low on overall quantity. It was still too much for Kokoa and Yukari, who were easily inebriated by the mixture, natural considering it was their first time drinking it.
The reduced inhibitions brought on by that little fact ended up in making one of the most ridiculous and embarassing conversations ever. In fact it also served as great blackmail material, or it would have had Kokoa not explained in no uncertain terms that she would kill whoever dared speak of that event.
The event being that the two inebriated girls, the witch and the vampire girl, at some point decided to admit to each other that the other's adult form was extremely sexy. Thankfully, they both fainted dead away before their conversations escalated into actions, but it still brought everyone to tears in mirth when Kokoa asked Yukari in an all-too-serious tone if 'twelve minutes are enough'. It was not that curious that for the next week, every time each of the two girls saw the other, they blushed and turned away quickly.
The next day, after homeroom was completed, Kokoa was quickly briefed in how a newspaper was written and the girl almost groaned at how much work they had to do to maintain a constant stream of papers at regular times. Thankfully, that week's paper was already well on its way.
After the appointed time was over, the girls picked up their stuff and made to leave the room when Tsukune held Kokoa back.
"Yukari-chan told me you were looking for a way to get stronger. It took me a bit to get you clearence for it, but here it is." He said and gave her a small piece paper.
When Kokoa opened the paper, she saw only a few blueprints and a small set of arrows. "A map? Instructions? What the hell is this, some treasure hunt?" She asked the boy who was on his way to following his friends out.
Tsukune looked back at her and grinned. "Nope, it's better; there's a training room there. I go there to train on the weekends with the rest of the Student Police Committee. You'd fit right in and it's going to help you get stronger. They certainly helped me get more comfortable in my transformation."
When he left, a wide grin etched itself on the girl's face. There were few things that appealed to vampires more than the chance to fight someone strong. Unknowingly, the 'baka' had just given her a great present.
Well, now she'd just have to make sure he was worthy of her onee-sama.
If only she didn't have her other mission hanging over her head. Ah well, she thought when Kou-chan reminded her, some things are more important than others, and that's what one has to aim for.
A/N: And here's the newest chapter with a good dose of angst, anger and, what else, insanity.
Some of you may think that Tsukune changed too suddenly, like he had a mood swing or something. That is not completely wrong but it's not right either. Demonblooded who push their powers too much, staying in their demonic forms for too long or going in places where demonic power runs high or even give in to their Inner Demon's advice too much begin to incur what is known as Taint. Taint is both spiritual and physical degradation as the demonic powers within it run rampant. Because Tsukune got so furious, agreeing with his Inner Demon, while also releasing several links and his own Ghoul powers as well as fighting for an extended period of time, he incurred a large amount of Taint in one go. Amount that allows his Demon to alter his perception of reality. That is why he saw himself 'demonized' in the mirror, why he was so thirsty for blood, why he had that headache and why he snapped at Kurumu. Taint leaves on its own after a bit, but only small amounts. To give a perspective; Tsukune gathered a total of 3 Taint, at 10 he looses his soul. The meditations he worked on with the Headmaster as well as letting his Taint bleed off on its own played a great part in his mental recovery.
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.