Disclaimer:I do not own Rosario + Vampire. I do, however, own the specific type of dragon that I am using in this story, my OCs (Tsukune's dragon father and… someone else), as well as the plot elements that I haven't taken from R+V.

I'd just like to throw out a thanks to all those who have followed and favourited my story (special thanks to Rosario Lover for taking the time to send me a PM.) I never expected this story to get so popular so quickly… it's only been a week and I've broken 4000 views with 45 follows and 34 favourites. I was expecting a tenth that much, tops. My gratitude to you all for supporting my writing hobby and making it so enjoyable.

If you like Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter (and who doesn't?) then check out my new crossover by tacking this onto the end of the basic url (because it won't let me put in the full address for some reason): s/10218607/1/A-Fowl-Wizard

Finally, before I get any flame about Tsukune being OP, he is supposed to be OP. He is a Red Dragon, a member of the most powerful youkai species on Earth. This story is not about his journey to get stronger, but his journey to get better as a person and to throw off his biased and bigoted upbringing and family.

#~#~#~#

The following afternoon, Kurumu and Moka were walking to homeroom. Tsukune had got up early, leaving a note for Moka at their usual meeting spot to tell her not to wait for him. The pair of them were surprised at the sudden change that Yukari had undergone after being saved. Kurumu had heard how she had apologized in front of the whole class for her pranks, and how she had seemingly matured overnight. The latter part died in her throat as they opened the door to their clubroom to find the little witch about to throw herself on Tsukune. "Tsukune, I love youuuu- erk!"

Not so much as glancing in her direction, he had caught her in midair by the top of her head, one-handed. Lowering her to the ground with a sigh, he turned to the two older girls standing frozen in the doorway, made an apologetic face, then looked to Yukari. "Alright, what's this about?"

She giggled. "I loved Moka already, but when you both came to my rescue yesterday… you were so awesome, Tsukune! You took out those lizardmen in seconds! Even after I'd been horrible to you, you still saved me! That's why I fell in love with you too!"

An exasperated growl escaped Tsukune's lips, but he didn't comment, instead standing and walking over to the girls. "Morning, Kurumu. I assume Moka's filled you in on what happened last night?"

The succubus nodded. "Yeah, and not just me. Someone overheard, and apparently a couple of people saw the fight, so now everyone in the academy knows."

Growling again, Tsukune pinched the bridge of his nose. "God damn it. The last thing I need is another rumour… never mind, it can't be helped. Moka, just please try to be a little more discreet next time."

Blushing slightly, the pink-haired vampiress nodded. The rosary clinked, somehow managing to convey dissatisfaction, and turned away from him. The young dragon frowned at it. "Silver, is something wrong?"

Only the fact that when there was finally another fight, you didn't let me out. I get bored in here, you know!

"Sorry, Silver. Tell you what… if you want to fight, I could use a sparring partner. I haven't had a real challenge in far too long."

Really? You think you can take me?

"I think I can do more than that, I think I can train you. You need to learn some proper techniques. I've seen you fight twice, albeit briefly, and you have poor form. You've always been pitted against significantly weaker foes where your strength is all you need. In a real fight, you'd be in a lot of trouble. It might look impressive to the lesser youkai, but power isn't everything. Skill and strategy wins more fights than strength."

Poor form?! Why you –

"If you're so confident, you should have no trouble in our sparring match. Moka, come to that clearing where we met this evening. I'll let Silver out then."

… fine.

Moka frowned. "Hey, don't I get a say in this? It's my body too!"

"Do you really think I'd to anything to seriously hurt you?

"…no. But I still don't like it."

It might your body too, but the 'too' is important. You're out all the time. I've been out twice since you first put that rosary on. I think I should get my chance, shouldn't I?

The pink-haired vampiress sighed, and gave in. "Fine then. I suppose you're right, you do deserve to have your fun, but I got asked to model for the art teacher this week, so please try not to get beaten up too badly."

Beaten up?! I'm a vampiress! There's no way I could get so hurt!

"And he's a dragon! You did hear him say that, right?"

Tsukune smiled as the argument carried on.

#~#~#~#

"What?! All week?"

"Tsukune, I did tell you earlier-"

"No, you said this week. Not all week!"

Moka frowned. "Why are you so worked up over it?"

"Oh come on! You seriously don't… AGH!"

Throwing up his hands, he spun on his heel and walked off. He couldn't quite believe it. It was his birthday in six days. He'd told her before, more than once, and yet she'd still agreed to model for the art teacher. He scowled. Even if she was off modelling all the time, at least he'd get to see Silver.

#~#~#~#

That evening, he flew out to the clearing to meet Moka. As he soared through the night sky, he relished the feel of the rushing air around him, the strange weightlessness that came in flight. Without conscious thought, he called on his inner fire, raising his youkai and pushing it through the underside of his wings to heat the air, giving him more lift. He performed a stunning series of aerobatics - twists and turns, dives and loops, wingovers and snap-rolls – but it was all in idleness. What he really wanted to do was cut loose, let go of his control and resume his dragon form. He enjoyed being human, much to his surprise, but it still wasn't a patch on being a dragon. However, he knew he could never do that here. Resigning himself to remaining crammed inside a tiny form, locking away all but a fragment of his power, he swooped down and landed to find Moka waiting for him.

The pink-haired vampiress was staring with undisguised awe at him, and he realised he had been glowing from the inside as he called up his fire, rendering him visible. She must have been watching him fly, a theory confirmed when she spoke. "Tsukune… that was amazing…"

He waved a hand nonchalantly. "Not really. Slow flights aren't all that hard."

"No, it was really impressive… I wish I could fly like that…"

She looked up with a wistful expression. Even though he was still upset with her, Tsukune couldn't help but smile. "I could take you up one day, if you like."

Now, Moka was looking back at him happily. "Really? Would you? That would be amazing!"

Can we get on with it, please? I want to fight!

"Of course, Silver. Sorry, Moka, it's her turn now."

Reaching out, he tugged the rosary off the chain. The vampiress's youkai filled the air as she changed. When the sudden surge died down, she brushed her argent locks away from her face and took up a fighting stance. Tsukune raised an eyebrow. "What sort of a guard do you call that? You're open in more places than I can count."

"What do you know about it?! I was trained-"

Her words were cut short as Tsukune blurred into motion, his fist tapping lightly on her ribcage as he pulled his punch. "Six, maybe seven broken ribs. Probably a ruptured lung, possible damage to most of your other internal organs. Completely crushed side, your arm is going to be pretty much useless, and you probably can't take the pain, given you've never been in a serious fight before. You were saying?"

Stepping back, he motioned her to attack. She snarled, unhappy at being so easily shown up, and launched a devastating roundhouse kick. Tsukune sighed and dropped into a low hook kick, spinning on his left leg and sweeping his right just above the ground to collide with Silver's ankle as her foot flashed by overhead. Her leg was pulled out from under her and she fell onto her back with a yelp, but jumped to her feet almost immediately, ignoring Tsukune's offered hand.

"Alright, so you're fast. I'll give you that, but you are not going to beat me!"

This time, she held nothing back, letting loose a brutal flurry of kicks from all sides. None of them connected; every single one swept through an afterimage of Tsukune, who had long since moved. With a cry of frustration, she launched into a flying front kick, which was when he struck. Stepping forward, he passed to the outside of the blow and struck down with his elbow, hammering it into the vampiress's stomach. She hit the ground hard, making a small crater, and lay there as she struggled for breath.

Tsukune bent down and pulled her arm over his shoulders, lifting her to her feet against all the protests. "Solar plexus strike. You're going to have a little trouble breathing for a while."

"I… know… that much!"

She tried to break away from him, but the lack of breath made her weak and unsteady. The young dragon kept hold of her and took her over to a stump, sitting her down on it. "Well, I had to make sure. You say you were trained, but your teacher can't have been that good. Your technique is sloppy and your physical condition is bad. The only reason you can fight like you do is your vampire strength, and you'll only get so much of that before you're tired. You are in serious need of training."

"And you think… you can give it to me?"

The question was accompanied with a foul look, but Tsukune grinned. "I think so, yes. I spent a decade training with the world's best. I know my stuff. You're smart, you shouldn't have too much trouble picking it up."

"So… how long until I can fight you?"

"You should be able to pick up some decent techniques in maybe a month or two. That will let you defend. If you want to be strong enough to seriously challenge me, then at least a year, if not two. It will be a lot of effort, but the payoff will be more than worth it."

"Two years?! I… you… there's no way it would take me that long!"

Tsukune sighed again. "This is your problem. You are far too proud, refusing to entertain even the slightest notion that someone could be better than you at anything, even when they just comprehensively defeated you without breaking a sweat. You couldn't even see where I was, let alone land a hit. You were looking at afterimages the whole time."

"Like I said, so you're fast. If I actually hit you, it would be a different story."

The young dragon raised an eyebrow. "Let's see what you've got, then."

Standing, he faced Silver in a relaxed stance with his guard down. The vampiress, having had enough time to catch her breath, grinned and wound up one of the most powerful kicks she had ever delivered. She'd show the arrogant reptile his place… and since he'd even asked her to do it, she wouldn't get in any trouble for injuring him. Her leg blurred as she put everything she had into one, earth-shattering kick.

A shockwave blasted out, shattering the ground, as Tsukune blocked it one-handed, letting the ankle of the striking foot impact on his wrist. The argent-haired vampiress felt bones shatter in her leg and screamed. Rolling his eyes, the reptilian youkai caught his collapsing friend, laid her gently on the ground, and started examining her leg.

"AAGH! I HATE YOU!"

Sighing, he ignored her ranting and laid a gentle hand over the damaged leg. The fibula and tibia both were shattered badly, little shards of bone stuck in all the wrong places, tearing into muscle, ligament, tendon and cartilage every time they shifted. Summoning up a powerful healing spell, he paused for a moment. "This is going to hurt like hell. I have to put all the shards of bone back in the right place. I'd say feel free to hit me, but I don't want you damaging anything else."

A grin flitted across his face as Silver scowled at him, before he clamped his hand down on her shin and extended his awareness inside it once again. The screams that came from her as he shifted the bone fragments were almost inhuman, and he did what he could to lessen the pain, but he was limited in this form and he had to keep most of his attention on the leg. He couldn't have finished soon enough, but when he did, the leg was intact with no sign of ever having been damaged. The vampiress was unconscious, so he clipped her rosary back on and carried her back to her room.

Everything had gone to plan – the vampiress should have learned a valuable lesson about pride and complacency, and would be driven to train as hard as possible by her desire to beat him. He was looking forward to the point where she would be able to give him a run for his money, though that was a way off yet.

As he walked back to his dorm, he considered the training program he had gone through, and began to make alterations to fit it to the needs of his student.