Disclaimer: I don't own Rosario+Vampire, nor do I make any money from the writing of this story. Simple enough, ne? Just don't copy from this story and we're all good!
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V^^ Complications ^^V
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It was just another day.
A boring day that had started out like any other, Kokoa Shuzen had gone about her morning ritual like she had hundreds of times before. Though momentarily interested by the explosion of demonic energy that had been the talk of the school the day before last, not only had it vanished nearly as soon as it had appeared, but it had also been raining buckets, and she had no desire to writhe in pain that particular day. Or ever. It was a crippling weakness, but it was a small price to pay to wield the awesome power associated with her grand race.
Now a proud Second Year of Youkai Academy, the redheaded vampiress had left the dorm the same time as always, hoping to 'bump into' her sister like she did every other day. The route was the same as always—one that most assuredly had not been memorized according to her sister's routine—though bidden by some unknown instinct this time she kept walking down the path, away from the school and closer to the boy's dorms. There was a trembling in the air, something that ignited her inborn youki detector without even being emotionally agitated.
There were only a few powers she had ever felt that had done that, one of them being her beloved sister. The possibility that she had stumbled upon her sister, unsealed, so close to the men's dormitories had her blood boiling. She must be with that sorry excuse for a man again! That's the only explanation!
She had been practically jumping for joy over the past two weeks, seeing that both Tsukune and Moka had been conspicuously absent from each other's presences. He hadn't even shown up for school at all yesterday. She had taken great pleasure in trying to hang around with her sister over that time, but she looked devastated to an extent that just plain hurt to be around. Something had happened between the two, and she had a good idea what, but the fact that her sister seemed so depressed meant her own actions had caused her pain as well.
That didn't sit well with her at all. There was always a certain congruity between Moka's personalities, meaning that for the most part they felt the same way, at least to certain extents. The depth of the pain her sister was in told of the equality of the emotion, and that her precious sister was feeling it that much meant both were nothing short of overcome. She couldn't understand that. She knew her sister would have known the relationship she had with the human could never work out, so why did she still look so broken in spite of that? If she was alone with him now, she would find out for herself.
Urging herself to stay quiet, she silently crept along the tree line. She could feel the power getting closer, it was somewhere near her, and the fact that it seemed to be alone meant the little loser she always hung out with wasn't even giving off any youki anymore. Her mouth fell when she finally came upon the being she was searching for.
Silver hair danced wildly in the air as the body spun, issuing smooth kicks to nothing with practiced grace. Fighting invisible enemies coming from every side, the combatant shot his arms out, impeccable poise and precision behind every strike. For a seemingly simple kata it was amazingly complex, flowing from punch to kick and vice-versa with maximum force and no energy wasted. It was, in a word, incredible.
It was also chillingly familiar.
Her throat refused to work when she finally took in the belted slacks on the body, the standard white button-up tucked impeccably in while the tie wrapped around his neck flew about. There was no skirt, no knee-length hair, it wasn't female at all. She felt the eyes on her before she saw them, and her knees shook when she saw the feline pupils lock in on her, their scarlet background nearly swallowing her whole.
She was looking at a vampire. Not just any vampire either, but one of her onee-sama's caliber!
And he bore a face she knew all too well.
"No way…" came the breathless whisper, "No. Way!"
Disbelief and outrage burned in her blood. It couldn't be true, there was no way it was possible. He had her sister in both forms, been the special recipient of her personal training even! He had everything she had ever wanted from her sister, all but two things. Now it was down to one, just one thing he lacked that she knew in some sense she had.
She was moving before she could order herself to, her faithful bat taking the unspoken command and turning into one of her trusty, enormous weapons. The spiked morning-star smashed the ground where he had been standing seconds prior, and to her supreme irritation he had managed to move out of the way like it was second nature. Despite how heavy the weapon looked—and rightly was—her strength made swinging it easy, and it was soon directed at its target once again. He weaved through her blows frantically, and she took sick satisfaction in the fear on his face.
"Kokoa-chan, wait! I can explain!"
White hot fury erupted within her. Even his voice, the weak, arguably sweet tone of the weakling's voice had been charged, overloaded, with power, just like her sister's true form. "Shut up! Die! Just DIE, DIE, you imposter!" Her demonic aura flared around her, ruby eyes blazing. This couldn't be happening; she was still asleep, dreaming a terrible nightmare.
"Damn it—" Swing. "Kokoa-chan!" Kick. "You're not—" Punch. "Making this—" Swing. "Any easi—oh crap!" That one had been rather hasty after a particularly close brush of steel against his hair. "Any…easier for me!" The normally mild-tempered tone rose in frustration, and soon she was immersed in demonic power so strong it was like her sister was right in front of her. Her next wild blow at his head stopped dead in its tracks when he finally did something rather than try to evade her every strike, and Kokoa felt her entire body shake when she saw his hand holding off her weapon, feet inches into the ground after taking the weight behind it. The truly fearsome aspect was he looked no worse for wear either.
"It's not possible…it can't be you…" Numb fingers dropped her weapon, and Kou reformed and perched himself on her shoulder just in time for her to sink to the ground in a despair that threatened to take her over.
Those bright red eyes, so like her own, looked at her sympathetically. "I'm not trying to take your sister away from you."
Her every muscle tensed. Can he read minds? "W-What are you talking about?!"
He crouched down to her level, not daring to touch the irate vampire who would sooner take off his head than allow him to lay a hand on her. "You know what I mean."
The words cut to her center, ashamed he had been able to see through her so easily. She never made an effort to hide her adoration of her older sister, but that he had seen her unease so effortlessly was simply unsettling. Not about to admit to her weakness, she snapped, "I thought you couldn't stand the thought of living as a youkai!"
He flinched, and she smirked victoriously. His melancholy smile soon after made her stomach twist. It felt like she had kicked a puppy. "I did, once. It's funny, isn't it? I wanted power to protect you all, yet it came in the form of what I had hated. But you know, eventually I couldn't conceive of living without the vampire blood in me…and soon I was shown just how abysmally inadequate I was even with it." She winced. There was so much pain in that last line she had felt it.
"My parents are in the human world, and I love them, so, so much, but…the thought of being separated from Moka-san forever…it terrifies me. Going back to a normal human life, marrying a normal human woman, having a normal human family… I…I just can't imagine it anymore. You're right, Kokoa-chan, I did hate everything this place embodied, I didn't belong here; but now…there's no other place I'd rather be. You're her sister, no one can replace you in her heart. I'm just…trying to find my place there, surely you can understand that?"
The sad thing was, she could. She had spent her entire life trying to scrape up the smallest bit of recognition from her family, and now with everything done with she knew she mattered to her sister, no matter what form she was in. Deep down she knew how much Tsukune had suffered to get to where he was, but it still pained her to see the pedigree his powers had taken. While she would never acknowledge it to his face, the weakling had been getting progressively more attractive over the time she had been around him. Now with gleaming silver hair falling all around his face and kind red eyes burning out from under long bangs he looked absolutely edible.
She nearly choked on the laughter that wanted to burst out of her lungs at the thought.
Not about to let him off the hook just because he did her sister's beauty justice in his new form, she quickly responded with, "You disgrace my race or Onee-sama and I really will kill you."
He chuckled uneasily while rubbing the back of his head like he did so often, and she almost smiled at him. He could be so unwittingly handsome sometimes it was downright unsettling. "I'll do my best."
"What the heck were you doing out here alone anyway? You're not still training with Onee-sama, are you?"
Another nervous chuckle. "I usually do some in the morning before I walk to school, but…let's just say I was up earlier than usual today." He didn't look particularly happy that he had either.
Kokoa eyed him suspiciously. "Something happen?"
"I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep, probably because I pretty much slept through yesterday. Since I was still practically asleep, I decided I might as well get myself up since I obviously wasn't going back to bed. I went to the washroom to get myself ready and splashed some water on my face without thinking about it."
The redheaded vampire visibly recoiled. "Are you a moron or what?! Good god, talk about a good way to start the day…"
Tsukune grimaced. "Tell me about it. Let's just say I had some energy to burn after that."
The younger girl could only shake her head in her palm before looking through her fingers skeptically. "Then you probably haven't eaten anything today yet either, have you? Blood may be our primary diet, but food does help curb the thirst."
As she expected, the red-eyed man rubbed the back of his head again in embarrassment. "After being so wonderfully reminded of my weakness to fresh water, I was too scared to eat anything."
She stood up unexpectedly, and Tsukune nearly fell flat on his butt. Walking over to where she had dropped her bag earlier, he saw her rummage through it before something hit him in the chest. Grasping hysterically at the object lest it fall, he was beyond surprised when he saw a perfectly formed rice ball in his hands.
"Kokoa-chan…"
The young woman turned away awkwardly. "D-Don't get the wrong idea! Get some tomato juice when we get to school, I won't have someone who shares Onee-sama's blood fainting in the middle of class!"
"Speaking of school…"
A bell rang in the distance, and both vampires' ruby orbs widened in fear. As the two ran off to the academy with supernatural speed, Kokoa's words could be heard as clear as day.
"This is all your fault!"
V^^^V
The school halls were relatively deserted, but that might have been a good thing considering the blur of speed rushing through the walkways would have been rather uncomfortable to run into. Roll call was just starting in homeroom, and the door burst open just as Tsukune Aono's name was called by the cheerful blonde cat demon, unintentionally bathing the class in the demonic energy he was radiating without thinking.
Alphabetical order truly did suck for those with a last name starting with 'A.'
There were only a couple of people in the class not completely panic-stricken under the powerful yet surprisingly docile youki, and Shizuka Nekonome only raised an eyebrow over her perpetually squinted eyes.
"I'm sorry I'm late! Getting to school was a fight-and-a-half today!" More like just a 'half,' but Kokoa would kill him if he ever thought that out loud of the gradually growing vampire.
What was probably even more surprising was the fact that their teacher barely seemed startled at all. If one looked close enough however they might question the barely opened eye discreetly giving the vampire an appraising once-over as he came in. It was there and gone in a second, and she was soon back to her regular hyperactive self. "Good morning, Tsukune-kun! Please try to be on time from now on! The teachers have been informed of your circumstances and the reason for your absence yesterday, but please try to keep your youki to a minimum in class."
Unlike the other girls of the class, who were staring at the new Tsukune in front of them, Moka, Yukari, Kurumu, and Mizore were glaring at them for staring at Tsukune. It was unavoidable, but eventually a hand got raised. To their unreserved irritation, it was one of the girls that was still doing a rather poor job of concealing her ogling. "N-Nekonome-sensei…is…is that really…Aono-kun?"
Tsukune looked around curiously, hopelessly confused. "I still belong to this class, don't I?" He smiled lightheartedly, and a few students backed away instinctively at the sharp fangs that came into view when he did so.
"Tsukune-kun's seal broke the other day, so until he can get a new one he's being allowed to come to school in monster form!" How she could make everything she said sound like the first idea of its kind the class had yet to figure out.
"Not to sound stupid, but can't he just transform like the rest of us?"
Shizuka's tail wagged wildly in excitement. "Of course not, silly, the Vampire is an S-class monster for a reason! Some are simply so strong even when they try to assume a human form the strength of their youki makes it impossible! That's why most resort to some sort of external seal to keep their energies under control! Take Tsukune-kun here for example: he was just trying to get to class and his youki's like this! Imagine him angry or thirsty!"
It really didn't help that his stomach chose that moment to growl hungrily. It might have been better had he not eaten the rice ball Kokoa gave him, because that just made him want more. Even the grassy taste of the rice from the herbal water seemed to be all but gone now that he was a vampire, and his power jumped at the thought of more food.
Half the class scooted backwards nervously as the young vampire held his stomach.
"S-Sorry. I kinda had a bad couple of days; didn't make this morning too good either."
The golden-haired teacher cocked her head to the side with a worried frown. "Are you going to be okay? If you need to be excused just ask; Sensei wouldn't want to be in the sights of a hungry vampire!" she cajoled cheerily, and his friends almost fell out of their desks. Tsukune's fangs throbbed at the illustration, and Shizuka chuckled warily as she saw his eyes trail down to her neck. "Tsukune-kun…?"
He shook off his trance hastily, flustered he had been looking at his teacher the same way she looked at fish. "You're…you're right. This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come to school without a seal!" He dashed out of the door faster than he had come in, suddenly critical he get himself away from the heartbeats of anything living lest he do something he knew he'd regret.
The days before had been fraught with ordeals and distractions, and yesterday he had been practically comatose, so he hadn't had too much time to dwell on it. Now the thirst was prominent. Things might have been different had he been able to eat something more filling than a rice ball that morning, or if he hadn't splashed water on his face like the idiot he was, but the fact of the matter remained he was now just as thirsty as he remembered he had been when he first transformed.
How?! How can Moka-san deal with this day after day?! Does it get better eventually? He couldn't believe he had looked at his own teacher like she was something to eat!
Collapsing next to the drink dispenser he smashed the button for tomato juice, inhaling the substitute in huge gulps that turned the can to garbage in no time. Moka had been right, it really did take the edge off the thirst. At least now he felt like he wouldn't attack the first student that passed him by.
"I thought you'd be here."
He nearly jumped at the unexpectedness of the voice coming from behind him, and whirled around to see his ever-faithful stalker walk up from one of the exits. "M-Mizore-chan! Shouldn't you be in class?"
She shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time I skipped. This is more important anyways. We talked with Moka yesterday, and she said the thirst would be greater than normal for the first few days. Kurumu and I decided we'd take turns, and I won the rock-paper-scissors match."
Tsukune turned a rather amusing shade of white. "T-Take…turns…?"
The snow woman flipped her choppy hair to the side with an elegant wave of her head, exposing her delicate throat to his eyes. "Giving you blood of course. Doing it to Moka would just make her thirsty and the whole cycle would start over; but hey, we figured since you offered your blood to her every day, we could do the same now that you're in the same predicament."
"You nearly died last time!"
Mizore scowled. "You're comparing me to human women. Youkai have always healed fast, even if we don't heal as fast as vampires. I'm more than healthy enough for the amount of blood you'll need."
His resolve was failing fast, and she could see it in his eyes. "But…what if I can't control myself?"
Her eyes softened and she walked forward, boldly twining her fingers together behind his neck. It wasn't like Kurumu's usual embraces, it was gentle, trusting. That she had never done anything like it before made it all the more thrilling, and something deep inside him stirred at the caring hold that had nothing to interrupt it for once. "Tsukune, I trust you, all of us do. You'll learn to control this just like you learned to harness your ghoul power, we all know that."
His body acted without his mind's consent, twirling them around until he had his blue-eyed stalker pinned against the wall that had once been behind him. Her scent filled him, the crisp, cool freshness of the purest mountain spring. Back when he had been a human that had been his favorite kind of water, the kind that froze his throat on the way down and made his whole body shiver as it reveled in the intense cold that released it from the dread of dehydration. He found himself in the same position once again, but this time that liquid was the blood of a woman. A drop dead gorgeous woman.
The violet-haired beauty gasped at the unanticipated but greatly desired action of her love interest. She was hoisted up to his eye level, allowing him to inhale the scent from her neck greedily, which sent shivers of a whole different sort through her naturally cold body. Whether he knew it or not she didn't know, but she could feel him against her thighs, and his heat was driving her wonderfully insane. It figured it would take a transfiguration of vampiric proportions to make Tsukune admit his more primal desires.
Her world lost focus as his fangs punctured her veins, releasing the nourishment into his waiting mouth. It wasn't with the same untamed frenzy as the day before last, instead he gently coaxed the blood from her with soft suckles that had her womanhood burning. The pleasure was the same as she remembered, blocking any and all pain she might have felt from his bite from her mind. She felt like she was melting against him, but even if she died she wouldn't want him to stop. After an eternity that seemed much too short he pulled away, carefully licking the remnants of blood from her already closing wounds. Even supported as she was by him she still buckled in his grip, jostling her hips against him and letting her feel his masculinity without question.
Half-lidded sapphire eyes gazed near drunkenly into fiery ruby, and frost coated the surroundings from the state of the snow woman and the vampire filled with her power. Their breaths hung in the air as their faces neared, a blind compulsion she felt no need to fight against. This wasn't innocent, the lust hidden deep in his gaze had her heart thrashing inside her. They were so close, so close it felt like he was sucking the very air out of her lungs, but at the last minute he hesitated.
She saw the battle take place inside him, and sighed sadly. He could only close his eyes and rest his head on her shoulder, ashamed of himself for yet another hurtful action towards one of the ones he cared for. She merely secured her arms around him tighter, comforting him in light of what should have hurt her. Honestly, she really wasn't about to complain. She may not have gained a kiss, but she was still pressed rather intimately against him, and that more than made up for it in her mind.
"It's okay Tsukune, I know." He went rigid in her grip, and she chuckled softly. They'd have to be blind not to notice it. Rubbing her cheek against him, she swept her soft skin over his hair before positioning her mouth by his ear, bathing the lobe in her cold, hot breath. "And I don't care. I'll be happy as long as I know you love me too. Snow Women have always been infamous as mistresses."
He froze in a whole new way, and Mizore simply giggled demurely as she disentangled herself from his hold. With a strut that looked entirely too enticing on her she strode off, sending only a wink over her shoulder at the shocked vampire.
When his limbs finally defrosted enough to move, he collapsed. Panting hard, Tsukune could only mutter, "Holy hell…"
Things had just stepped up, and in a way he had never anticipated.
V^^^V
By the time Tsukune made it back to class homeroom was already over, and Mizore was sitting back in her seat, looking like she had never left in the first place. The thought came to mind that she probably hadn't, knowing how easy it was for her to make ice clones. It was a rather handy skill to have. The class seemed visibly less anxious now that his youki was more placid, even though they didn't want to think of what had happened to make it so. Though they couldn't sense demonic energy to the extent vampires could innately, there was an instinctive sense of fear that came from feeling the power so much higher than theirs, and the lack of agitation did their hearts good.
Try as he might, he just couldn't devote all of his attention to classes. Between his new transfiguration into one of the most feared monsters in the world and the revelation of his snow woman companion, Tsukune Aono was through the rhetorical loop. He had always known that they cared for him—loved him, if he was being perfectly honest with himself—but that he had just been told so openly that she still loved him even though he loved Moka rocked him to the deepest part of his once-human morality.
He wanted so badly to try with one of them, but the whole point of his potential death had been to see if he really could become a vampire. As naïve as it seemed, he had never thought beyond that too much. Now he was, and the knowledge that he could be with Moka if she deemed it fit kept turning a mind that wanted above anything to turn away back to her. Every time it did, he felt a new jolt surge his system, one just as justified as his love for her.
Anger.
Normally he was a very calm person, one that hated fighting unless absolutely necessary. He had always known he was never her equal, but the hope had been there that for once she would be able to look past that intangible senselessness. He had been kidding himself. Now however, now he knew he could be her equal, but how to go about showing her that, he had no idea.
Other than the thirst he was bombarded with whenever he hadn't drank for too long, he felt no different than when he was a ghoul. Of course, the feel of his youki had changed drastically, as had the way he tapped into it, but for the most part he still felt like the human Tsukune Aono. How to show the woman he loved that he was different than he was before when he felt no different than he was before was a conundrum the likes of which he had never dealt with.
"Tsukune-kun?"
"Gah! I-I mean, yes Sensei?" he answered quickly, and only then did he notice the problem on the board behind her. Oh please no, anything but that.
"I asked you to solve this question and you ignored me. Care to try again?" The math teacher was one no one wanted to get on the bad side of, though she had had a healthy fear of vampires since her encounter with Moka in their first year.
His eyes scanned the equation frantically, and his mouth moved before he could tell it to. Kagome Liliko froze at the head of the class, and looking to his side he could see Moka and Kurumu's open mouths. He heard more than saw Mizore's lollipop fall, and turned back to the chalkboard in confusion. Everything had just fallen into place and again, he had done something before he could fully understand what he was doing. Why can't I keep my mouth shut?! "Um…hello?"
She shook herself free of the shock and smiled in a downright seductive way. "Very good, Tsukune-kun. I'm glad to see you're paying attention…even if it looks like you aren't."
He resisted the almost overwhelming urge to wipe the sweat from his forehead in relief. He couldn't resist the desire to look back at the question though, and while it was slightly more advanced than what they had been learning previously, it still fit in with his studies. How it came together in his mind so simply had him a bit stunned though. He had never been overly smart before. Maybe the studying with Moka-san is paying off!
They hadn't had their study sessions in over two weeks now, since his confession had gone so horribly awry. Still, it felt good that he hadn't zoned out completely during the ensuing days, otherwise that question would have made him look like even more of an idiot than he felt.
On the other hand, Moka was having just as much of a problem concentrating on class as her fellow vampire. She felt drawn to him, to the crimson eyes staring at nothing in particular out the window. The changes to his body over the years had almost been too much for her, but apparently not enough. Now was a different story. She could even sense her inner self looking him over appreciatively, studying the silver hair that caught the sunlight so beautifully.
When he was a human with the desire to protect and befriend her it had been hard, as a ghoul with the desire and power to protect her even harder. Now as a full-fledged vampire, Moka Akashiya felt a pull stronger than anything she had ever encountered before. As a vampire, he was more than her every dream come true, and as a Blood Sage, wielder of the heralded ketsueki karite skill, he could very well be stronger than her. The desire to test herself against him was overpowering, the desire to see if he really could best her even more so. Just his appearance had arousal firing through her, all of her, and she wanted to see his strength so much it almost hurt. She wanted to be with him so, so badly—had wanted to be with him even before—but she needed to do that first.
He was adapting surprisingly well, though for once she had no other experience or information to go off of. She had never seen a human turn into a vampire before, and she had never been told of it either, probably to stop this very thing from happening. She had fallen in love with a human, and now as a vampire she found him all but irresistible. Instinct was still clearly driving most of his actions, but he was fighting it, wrestling it back into his control. The very fact that his youki had an underlay to it as kind as his personality when vampires were a warlike species by nature testified to that.
He was changing in accordance with his new powers, and the most recent child of the night was already exhibiting signs of the increased intelligence most vampires were born with naturally. Every passing second she found her heart ensnared in chains even heavier than the last, and the truly alarming detail was it was of her own free will. It hurt her to know she had rejected him, but if she hadn't they wouldn't even know about this new potential he had unlocked.
She hated irony.
By the time the lunch bell rang she was horrified to notice she had spent all her time doodling in the margins of her notebooks. Her inner self might have berated her on that had she not been just as caught up in what she was doing as her outer self. She noted his lack of a lunchbox, and though that wasn't really surprising considering the cafeteria, a thought came to mind instantly.
"Tsukune!"
His head swiveled instantly to her at the call, even as he was getting up. "Yes, Moka-san?"
A shiver rushed through her at hearing her name called in his new voice, but she quickly shook it off. "Do you want me to help you pick out lunch? I can give you a crash course on safe foods…if you want."
Relief flooded his eyes, and she felt warmth spring through her. Before either of them knew what was happening he was hugging her, and she felt her entire body blossom in the hottest red imaginable. His warmth was intoxicating, and his larger frame encompassed her like never before. If felt, put simply, safe.
There were more than many muted mutters of malcontent concerning his manhandling of Moka, but no one was about to speak up to the vampire in the presence of a teacher. Or to a vampire, period.
When he came to his senses he backed away instantaneously in terror, nearly dropping her flat to the ground in the process. "I-I'm sorry, Moka-san! It's just…damn it…everything…everything just sort of…happens now. I barely get time to think of what I want to do before I'm doing it!" He was clearly struggling for words, trying to put what was going on inside him into verbal form and failing miserably. "I was just so relieved, and then…then…"
The desire to blush again came back twofold. He was running on instinct, just like she knew, but some part of her recognized that would only be what he would want to do without inhibitions. It would still be him doing it. How many other times has he wanted to hug me but been too scared to do it?
Inner Moka turned her head downwards. She knew where his fear had come from. The irony never failed; now she wanted him to touch her, and he was too afraid to.
"It's okay, I know. I expected this to happen. You're not used to the constant state of heightened awareness, and you're reacting before you realize it. Of all that I can't expect, this one seemed pretty normal."
He grinned. "Define 'normal.'"
She laughed. "Our normal."
"Well, that pretty much explains everything, doesn't it?" Even the other three off to the side had to laugh at that. It was so true it was sad.
"If you slept through yesterday like you should have, then it's no wonder you were so thirsty this morning! Nothing like an unavoidable diet to make you hungry!"
"Yeah, and one rice ball doesn't really do anything when you get that hungry."
Moka cocked her head to the side with a confused pout. "You ate a rice ball? Normally that'd make you pretty sick…"
"Oh, Kokoa-chan gave it to me, so it was all right!" he explained with a friendly smile, and Moka's eyes went three times their natural size.
"You met Kokoa this morning? Is that why you were late?"
Tsukune rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "She caught me doing some katas outside the dorm, and…well…she didn't take too well to my new look." The girls around him winced. They could only imagine. "I managed to avoid being pounded into a bloody pulp, we had a little talk, and she let me off with a death threat and a rice ball, so I think it all worked out in the end!"
"For now," the pink-haired vampire groaned.
"For now."
"Then come on, let's go get some lunch people! I'm starving!" Kurumu shouted excitedly as she jumped onto Tsukune's back and nuzzled his neck affectionately, turning the vampire's pale skin an interesting shade of red.
With Kurumu and Yukari practically hanging from him, the four made their way to the cafeteria.
V^^^V
After what had indeed been a crash course in potentially sickening foods, Tsukune had been devastated to learn that some of his favorite dishes required too much water to eat safely. Naturally, he had been beyond delighted when Moka told him of the equivalents, and the special menu that was made to cater to certain monsters not able to eat regular food.
It felt nice to be able to talk with her again, though his broken heart throbbed every time he tried to think of ways to show her he had changed. He was still so new to the vampire thing he didn't want to do exactly what Kokoa was afraid of and disgrace a race he was now part of. He above anyone knew the true Moka, and the fear of acting against her standards was debilitating. He could only be himself, and that had been exactly what she had rejected.
Suddenly he wasn't all that hungry, and the food already in his stomach churned.
Great, just great. The rate I'm going there'll be no point to me turning into a vampire in the first place!
Kokoa had joined them at their table, refraining from trying to beat the vampire out of Moka for the moment. She seemed to sense something was amiss, and her eyes trailed lazily over to him. "Somethin' up?"
Grasping hastily for a reason to pacify her well-founded concern, something came to mind. "No, not really. I'm just wondering…what's a 'Blood Sage?'"
She started coughing violently as she tried to choke down her mouthful of food, and Moka just barely succeeded in concealing her fleeting coughs. "How in the hell do you even know what that is?!" she screeched hysterically.
The former human scooted back in his seat at the reaction. "When I was waking up a couple days ago I heard Moka-san and the others talking about it. Curiosity, I guess."
"They're vampires that've learned how to use the supernatural power in the blood of their monster victims before it was used as food. Only the really old ones that lived during the warring times have that title now!"
There was a long stretch of silence as he and the others chewed their food, but then they saw the realization hit him, because what little color was left in his face drained away. Wide eyes turned to an uncomfortable Moka, who looked like she was trying to hide under her plate. "Moka-san…?" The question hung in the air unspoken, but they all knew what he was asking.
She hesitated, but answered nonetheless. "Ruby-san thinks it's because your body got so used to absorbing the supernatural power of my blood that it's doing the same now that you drink it. Mizore-chan didn't make that ice the other day Tsukune…you did."
Kokoa had now turned a shade of white reminiscent only of a hospital. "Are you telling me…he's a Blood Sage?"
Her sister only nodded. "It's the only explanation we could come up with."
It took a moment, but eventually she simply sagged back into her chair with her arms crossed. "I don't believe you."
The other women almost fell out of their chairs. If nothing else, she was good at denial. Another topic for discussion wasn't needed because they soon found themselves interrupted, and rather rudely at that.
"Hey, Senpai! Fight me!"
Those present looked around in confusion, that is, until they came upon a quite arrogant-looking monster standing in front of their table. Arrogance he had, to the point of cockiness even, but that didn't mean much to the group. Kurumu eyed him up and down with the finality only a succubus could give it, and eventually scoffed lightly. "You look alright, but I think I'll pass."
The younger boy fought off the embarrassed flush. "No not you, the vampire!"
Tsukune looked at Kokoa in shock. "Wow, Kokoa-chan, I forgot people can call you Senpai now. You must be getting pretty famous in class."
The tick developing over the teen's eyebrow couldn't be healthy. "No, not the shorty! You, you moron!"
He might have continued too, had he not been smashed into the ground by a giant hammer. An incensed redhead stood over his unconscious form, fuming. "Watch your manners around your betters, kohai." Stalking back to the table in barely-restrained fury, Yukari beamed at her.
"Way to show 'em, Kokoa-san!" She smiled at that, letting her regular pride bleed back into her confidence.
"Whatever! That was a cheap move! He was challenging Aono-senpai over there, not you!" the monster that had been surprisingly unnoticed right beside his now unconscious friend raged.
Tsukune stood from the table, and the girls scooted back at the way his silver hair covered his eyes. "So you're saying it's her fault for the challenger not being ready to be taken up on his challenge?"
The new monster recoiled at the dark tone in the even darker voice. "N-No! But he said you!"
"No, he didn't. He distinctly said 'vampire' if I'm not mistaken. Kokoa-chan had every right to take him up on it."
"Quit yapping crap! You want a fight, you got one!"
He was quickly charged by the new assailant, and Tsukune couldn't help but notice how slow he seemed. Even when he had fought Kokoa earlier in the morning, he had still been able to keep up with movements that once would have eluded him completely. His training with the inner Moka allowed him many feats he had never been capable of before, but in his new form it seemed even slower than usual. Evading was simple, just a half-step to the side and the attacker was thrown totally off-balance, leading into yet another perfectly telegraphed punch that was easily read and avoided. Of course, by doing that he was only making him angrier.
"H-Hey, come on! What'd I do?!" he yelled as he dodged another punch while weaving through the outdoor cafeteria's tables and their occupants. The courtyard wasn't very far away, and soon enough he had more space to maneuver in, though his younger challenger continued to get more and more frustrated as time went on.
"Come on! You're a vampire! That's reason enough, ain't it?!"
The area was suddenly lit up by the flare of demonic energy that burned from Tsukune's body, and he caught the next punch in one hand. The temperature must have dropped ten degrees, because a perpetually maintained climate was suddenly covered in frost. Red eyes scorched into their opponent's frightened face as his power climbed around them, and he just only resisted crushing the offending appendage in his hand.
"You need to calm down and chill out, or you'll really end up getting hurt."
The monster pulled back his numb hand in shock, and Tsukune turned back to his table, suddenly repulsed he had wasted the time on the trivial being.
"That's exactly what I'm talking about, you damn vampire!"
Tsukune didn't even look back, he didn't need to. A spike of ice so tall it rivaled the school tower shot up from the ground, encasing the irate monster in its frozen prison. He had felt it the moment he had gotten angry enough, knew the cold power radiating from inside him was Mizore's leftover blood. There wasn't much left, but there was enough for what he had needed. How he knew that he didn't know, but he wasn't about to question his instincts after what happened. He had changed, even more than he originally thought, and that didn't bother him one bit. There was one thing that would never change though. He could allow many things, but letting any of his friends, especially Moka, be insulted so blatantly was not one of them.
The tower of ice shattered into a million harmless shards, and the monster at the center was left shivering, both in cold and fear.
He glared over his shoulder, and if possible the First Year shrunk back further. "Maybe that'll cool you down. I don't like fighting, but I will when I have to. Don't you ever insult them again!"
The cafeteria was silent, those who had watched the First Year try to fight his Third Year superior barely blinking in fear of being the next ice sculpture. Tsukune was known all over the school for three things: his girls, his reliability, and his kindness. No one had ever seen Tsukune Aono mad, and this time he was just insulted. Needless to say, a new legend regarding the soft-spoken teen was born that day. Never, under any circumstances, get him angry.
Kokoa was nothing but an open-mouthed, babbling mess when he returned to the table, and he couldn't help but laugh at the look on her face. He was kind of uncomfortable with the looks the others were giving him though, and Kurumu fanned herself hotly.
"Whew, I think I just fell in love with you all over again!"
And he consequently missed his chair sitting down.
They all failed in concealing their laughter—even Tsukune—at that. Still trying to fight off her giggles, Moka looked at him softly. "You know Tsukune, you are one of us now too. He wasn't just insulting Kokoa and I." It was just like him to think of others before he even bothered worrying about himself.
He grinned in embarrassment. "R-Right. Keep forgetting, you know? I let him off easy, it would have been better had I taken off your rosary and let you deal with him."
That time Kokoa laughed maniacally. "It would have been worth it to see Onee-sama wipe the floor with him!"
Moka chuckled nervously. True, her inner self would have done that, but it would have been a much faster ordeal than most would expect for the injustice of insulting her. There was one thing driving her instincts now, and she knew first chance she got she would have jumped Tsukune. She was going to fight him. It wasn't a probability, there was no chance involved. It was a fact, and would there ever be fireworks when it happened.
"You're a natural with ice, Tsukune. I knew we were a lot alike," Mizore muttered in her gentle voice, and he smiled despite himself.
"I wish I could take credit for it, but it was another one of those things that just kind of happened. I do know it used up the last of your youki I had in me, so it won't be happening again today."
Nonetheless, she smiled. "I could help train you with my abilities after school some days if you want. I'm sure it would come in handy. Reverse Moka has already taught you pretty much everything you need to know about fighting as a vampire when she was training you to use your ghoul abilities, but that she can't teach you."
The warm smile back had Moka's stomach twisting, though she knew a vampire's morals were significantly different than humans'. In fact that didn't bother her at all, it was that she might not end up being with him even with that that caused her to worry. "You know, I think I'd like that. I'll be sure to take less blood from you in the morning on those days then. Is that okay?"
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
"No faaaiiirrr! Tsukune has to train with me too! I'm sure he'd be great at illusions and witchcraft!" Kurumu exclaimed happily as she pasted herself to his side, and he had to smirk at her enthusiasm.
"Sounds like a plan." The need for blood had already been pounded into his mind; the thirst was not something to be ignored. He figured he might as well expand his skill-set since he had to drink their blood to survive in any case.
"Would you like me to teach you how to cook, Tsukune?" the emerald-eyed vampire asked timidly. She couldn't stand the thought of him spending so much time with them, alone. He looked at her with wide eyes and gulped heavily. "My other self taught you how to fight, but I can teach you how to live as a vampire now that you share all of my weaknesses. You'll need some of my herbal pills if you ever want to take a bath again anyways."
The thought of him in a bath with Moka came to mind unexpectedly, and he had to fight down the blush that wanted to rise on his pale cheeks.
Yukari however, had no such reservations. "Right on ~desu! We can all have a bath together!"
They lit up like Christmas trees.
V^^^V
Training had been put off until Mizore recovered completely, and since he didn't want to feed from Kurumu until tomorrow when he'd really need it, it was decided they'd just walk back from school together. The Newspaper Club hadn't been very busy lately, though Tsukune made a mental note to do a column on prejudice against vampires later. It was with great joy he found himself walking beside Moka back to the dorms, but some part of him still ached every time he was around her.
He stopped when he noticed that she was no longer beside him, and turned around to see her a few feet behind him, her long pink bangs covering her stunning green eyes from view. "Moka-san? Are you okay?"
The ensuing silence was suffocating, and he gulped nervously.
Finally she looked up at him, and he could see the wetness invading her eyes. "Tsukune, I know this could never be enough to excuse what I did to you, but I have to say it. I'm…I'm sorry, Tsukune. I feel like such a stupid ditz for saying this after you turn into a vampire, but believe me, I'm really sorry. It's just…"
She felt a hand gently grip her chin, and even as her mind was computing that, soft flesh met her lips.
Emerald eyes opened wide in shock before fluttering closed as warmth spread through her, not caring in the slightest that she had yet to fight him. His lips were just like she had always imagined them; gentle, with a careful insistence behind them that coaxed her own to meet his loving motions. She had never felt anything like it in her life, and this time she couldn't find any desire within herself to pull away. She practically fell into him, into the desire that was burning deep in their bodies, into their first kiss. It was hot and cold, terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time, and when he removed himself from her lips she couldn't withhold the whine of disappointment.
A blush greater than anything in her life now adorned her body, but Tsukune only seemed slightly flushed. If anything, he looked apologetic. "I would write that off as instinctive, but that time I knew perfectly well what I wanted to do. I could never hate you, and I know I'll be paying for that little stunt in spades next time I need to remove your rosary, but I had to let you know. I'm sorry too, Moka-san, because I'll always love you no matter what you do to me.
"I'll find some way for you to accept me, so until then, maybe it's best if we held off on those cooking lessons. I want nothing more than to be around you, but doing that…hurts right now. Until I can hold you, both of you, without fear; until I know that you love me back or don't love me at all. If this isn't love I don't know what it is, but I love you." Her glistening eyes kept watering, but then he continued. "I love you, but I also love Mizore-chan, Kurumu-chan, even Ruby-san has a place in my heart. I tore off that lock just to see if this could happen, if I had one last chance with you, but I won't keep hurting them if it's not possible. I need to know what to do; if you really don't love me after that, at least then I can move on."
Her heart stung at his words, but he was right. He had every right to move on, but the thing was she did love him. She knew her inner self did too, probably even more than she did for it to be affecting her as much as it was, but she couldn't bring herself to say it to someone she didn't believe her equal. He was a vampire now, the same race she was, and truth be told she was starting to care less and less about fighting him after that kiss. It was something she had to do though. She simply had to see.
"…Fight me." The words were soft, barely noticeable even in the all but noiseless environment, but Tsukune's enhanced hearing picked it up.
"What?"
She inhaled, steeling her heart within her. "Fight me. Challenge me, the vampire Moka Akashiya. Beat down my pride, make me see you. If you can do that, you'll get your answer." He looked horrified at the thought, and sorrow twisted her features. "If you can't…then you already know, don't you?"
She walked away, down the fork that lead to the female dorms and away from the man she loved. As much as she had tried to prepare herself for it, the pain of her heart only increased, and all because of her stupid pride. So lost was she in reflection, when her inner self spoke up she almost jumped.
Steal Belmont.
The simple command had her reeling. It wasn't a choice, there was no if's, and's, or but's; those two words had spoken in no uncertain terms that she was to take the headmaster's priceless whip. W-Why?
Steal that whip or so help me I'll give you the worst migraines you've ever had for the rest of our godforsaken life!
She shrunk back in fear, if only mentally.
Inside her seal, Inner Moka rubbed her lips softly. If he won't challenge me…I'll challenge him.
V^^^V
Tsukune was still in shock, both over what he had done and what was said afterwards. Nothing was ever easy, not with him. He loved her, but he couldn't stand the thought of fighting a woman. Call him old-fashioned, but he had been raised to be kind to girls, not to hit them. He knew she would be insulted if he ever said that to her as an excuse. She would expect him to go all-out, just like he was sure she would.
The catch was: could he do it?
As he neared the dorm, imagine his surprise when he saw a group of youkai there, and from the way they straightened when he approached, they had been waiting for him.
"Hey vampire, we heard how you dealt with our buddy at lunch. How about you fight us too?"
He sighed. As much as he didn't want to admit it, this was exactly what he needed right now. His blood roared in delight of the possible bloodshed, and a smile more menacing than anything Tsukune had ever created before came to life on his face.
"Just remember, you challenged me."
It was going to be a long week.
V^^^V
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Author's Notes: Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or just want to talk, send me a line. I wouldn't object to you filling in that review box either.
'Til next time!
Sabr