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!

.

V^^ Fantasies and Familiars ^^V

.

If there was one thing that should not bother Tsukune Aono, it would have to be surprises. Life, and her maniacal sister-in-crime, Fate, seemed all too happy to throw those at him time and again. From learning he had been accepted into a high school without any qualifications, to learning that aforementioned high school turned out to be for monsters, his life had been one big surprise after another. Whether it was a tribute to his unfailing belief in the good side of people, or perhaps just his stupidity was up for argument, however the case was that surprises still managed to affect him. Like, for example: finding his name in bold print on the undergarments of three of his best friends.

After learning that the young woman he had instantly fallen in love with was a vampire; after being the target of a jealous succubus; after finding a girl four years his junior with magical powers of all things, and learning of the plight of witches and their waning sanctuaries, one would think he would have gotten used to them by now. Then again, if that were the case he wouldn't be affected by Mizore's constant appearances from anywhere and everywhere, and that was the farthest from the truth. Even if he was in a wide open space with nothing to hide behind for miles, he would probably expect her to pop out of his shadow.

Yes, Tsukune Aono and surprises were old friends—the kind that laid traps for the other knowing they would walk into them, that is.

The newest addition to that freakishly long list would have to be his dreams. The only day he could remember not having one was the day he had gone on his date with Kurumu—and Mizore, eventually. That day he had slept like a rock, and it certainly didn't help his blood-deprived body when he had lost so much more through his nose the next morning. A week had passed since then, a week since Kurumu had informed him of their new-and-improved training regimen, and a week since the dreams had started. The only reason he even knew of their existence was because of the lingering traces he could feel at the edges of his consciousness, like he had been doing something all night and just couldn't remember it. What was odd was how they never scared him. Normally he would have his reservations about something as strange as that, but he knew, instinctively, that it was something to be welcomed.

However, he could let all that go. It was trivial at best, and his training with Kurumu and Mizore was improving all the time. Honestly, it had taken everything he had not to scream in frustration during his first session with Mizore, but he was making headway in the undefined realm of manipulating both water and its solid state at least. Illusions were still infuriatingly hard for him to make when it came to causing any kind of physical effect, but Kurumu had confidently stated that that was something only the highest level of Succubae could do, so the fact that he could even reach for that goal was impressive enough. He had to admit, their training schedule was working, even though it seemed completely contradictory to his powers. Like most things in his life however, the time alone with them was both a blessing and a curse. The reason why was painfully obvious on both accounts.

That had been how his days had been going. If there were club activities he went to those, then he would meet up with his training partner for that day and they would spend the following two hours humiliating him and showing him how much he had to improve. After that, he would usually meet up with Moka for more vampiric cooking lessons. To this day he found it hard to believe they had actually made love, and their skin still glowed whenever they were alone. They had yet to have a repeat performance, and Tsukune's body was none too pleased with that. He remembered those dreams well, which was most of the reason he blushed whenever he was alone with her.

Add to that the superheated anomaly of his rosary recurring every morning, and though his life had never been better, Tsukune Aono was thoroughly conflicted. Between the growing sexual tension stretched far too tightly among himself and a certain pair, the progressively strange dreams and the influx of power he felt the following mornings, and the condition of his rosary during that time, Tsukune didn't know what to do. That wasn't entirely true, but it was taking some time to get used to, to put it lightly. Moka had even been allowing him to drink her blood more often than before, and that was the biggest bonus by far. He had no way of knowing a certain succubus had conned her into it in an amazing display of innocent deviousness, but had he known he certainly wouldn't have complained. Though he had hated his ghoul nature before he could control it, he couldn't deny that her blood was the most delicious thing he had ever tasted, and probably because he had wanted it for so long.

Then there was the way Mizore and Kurumu had been looking at him lately, not to mention the way he had been looking at them. Each day the atmosphere around their training sessions became gradually heavier, and he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep himself focused on what they were saying and not on the movements of their lips. Just yesterday Kurumu had caught him in his daze, but her smirk said clearly she didn't care. Her kiss seconds afterwards had said all that and much, much more.

Tsukune had never been a stranger to frustration before either; having young women like the kind around him all the time was torture in a great many ways. He couldn't act on it for the first two years because of fear, and that made for some very interesting subconscious wanderings during the night. The one that always stood out the most was when he had dreamt of being in bed with Moka's inner self, but truthfully that was rather tame compared to some of the others. He was a young man in the height of sexual maturity, and with friends like his, enemies were preferred.

During this third year on the other hand, something had changed, and the last line had been crossed. He was glad mind-readers were absurdly rare even among monsters, because his thoughts were getting less innocent with every passing day. With Moka it was especially difficult, because though the temptation had been there before, now he had something to associate directly with that arousal. Of course, being who he was, the subject was difficult to address, which only made the tension between him, Kurumu, and Mizore all the more agonizing. All he knew was he had a sinking feeling in his gut that one day the tension would become too much, and just like with Moka, something was going to give. The only questions were when, and with whom.

If only he knew about the conversation Moka and Ruby had had the week prior.

V^^^V

When Moka Akashiya finally pulled herself out of bed it was well after noon, and considering how early she had gone to sleep the night before, it could be wondered if there was anything to the legends of vampires sleeping for centuries at a time. Of course she knew they weren't true, but it did earn the first giggle of the day. Her body felt thoroughly refreshed after the lengthy rest. Thanks to all the blood she had consumed the night before and the day after that, she felt even better than she would have normally.

Her muscles ached in protest when she stretched, forcing them out of their blissful respite, but it quieted quickly. More rest wasn't needed, she felt better than she had in a long time. If not for her natural healing capabilities, merely sitting would have been torment the day before, but she would have gladly dealt with that. It was a more than pleasant reminder of what she had done. A healthy blush rose to life on her cheeks just as she thought about it. They had finally done it; professed their love physically; claimed each other just as she had hoped one day they would.

She couldn't help but wonder who would be next though. It was a terribly kept secret how much each of them loved him, and with his turning, things had taken a whole new angle. Far from being disappointed, she was actually rather curious. She had had years to get to know the women that soon fell in love with him just like her—though it took longer for a certain part of herself to admit it—and with everything taken up a notch as it were, it was only natural.

Kurumu was always the most forthcoming, but she knew better than to count out Mizore. The snow woman had been getting continuously more physical with her leisurely seduction, and blunt, to be perfectly honest. Waking to find the blue-eyed beauty in Tsukune's hospital bed had definitely pounded that home. Ruby was the dark horse, but after meeting her serious, observant side personally, she wasn't about to rule her out. She had some distinct advantages going for her, but her responsibilities as the headmaster's aide were a disadvantage if ever there was one.

She shrugged as she threw off her covers to get ready for the day. She had cleaned up her room after school yesterday, since Tsukune had gone to train with Kurumu. A small part of her had hoped he would come by in the evening so they could eat together again, seeing as how their first meal had gone to waste. She wouldn't trade what she had gotten instead of that for the world though. She suspected that much like her, he was simply too tired. Not that she could blame him, or even wanted to for that matter.

Heck, she couldn't wait for it to happen again.

After going through all the motions for another day, it was already vastly apparent that without Tsukune, life was boring. She had homework she could do, but as far as she was concerned it could wait for a while. It was easier to do schoolwork in the evening anyway, the beautiful day was too enticing for her to spend all her time indoors. Shucking her pajamas with practiced ease, she slipped on one of her more casual outfits and, after checking to make sure her hair was still nicely brushed, made her way out the door.

It was no big mystery why she found herself in front of the Newspaper Club's room. If she wasn't walking to her room with Tsukune or talking with their friends, it was pretty easy to guess where the pink-haired vampire was more often than not. Surprisingly, the room wasn't empty when she opened the door, and she saw Ruby organizing some papers into proper places within their shelves. It was just like her to be working on their day off.

"What'cha up to, Ruby-san? Don't you ever take a break?"

The witch looked over with a carefree smile. "Of course, but I need to get some stuff ready for club! Nekonome-sensei has been pretty bummed lately with the lack of things to write about, so I'm just getting some materials ready for next week. If we keep skipping club activities we'll be disbanded!"

Moka laughed. "Yeah, but since our members seem to like being hospitalized lately, it can't really be held against us!" she joked cheerily. "What with everything Tsukune's been going through, and us as a group really, there was no time!"

Ruby chuckled back. "Yeah, no doubts about that. Sorry I couldn't meet up with everyone yesterday by the way; sometimes I wish I were a student! The headmaster seems to be putting more on me every day, but it does feel nice to be trusted so much!" She suspected she might not have wanted to miss them that particular day however, when the pinkette's cheeks began to match her hair at the mention. "I didn't miss anything, did I?"

"N-No!" the vampire exclaimed quickly—much, much too quickly for Ruby's tastes. Feeling the disbelieving look thrown her way, Moka coughed nervously. "R-Really!" An eyebrow rose. "I'm not lying!"

"You're acting an awful lot like Tsukune-san yesterday. When he came up to get his rosary he looked like he was going to jump out of his shoes at a moment's notice. He almost did, actually." She snickered softly, but hastily fixed her pink eyes on the younger woman. "You know you can talk to me, right?"

The hurt tone actually made Moka wince. "I didn't mean it like that. It's…well…I guess I forgot one of us wasn't there to not know."

Clarity brightened the aide's face. "Ah! If you're talking about the dorm, I've already made a note of it! Don't worry, you weren't the only one who noticed." The blush nearly took over the vampire's body, and the eyebrow rose again. "Something else?"

"W-Well, before that, you know about vampires, right?"

Ruby smirked. "A lot more than you'd probably like me to know. It's been a little pet project of mine for a while now."

"So you know about our…um…habits?"

"Which ones? I know about a lot of your…ohhh! You mean about the whole 'morality' thing. I was wondering when you were going to bring that up with Tsukune; God knows I wouldn't mind being his…" she trailed off in a daze with a giggle, but soon shook her head embarrassedly. "Ahem, that is to say, yeah, I definitely know."

The emerald-eyed woman visibly relaxed. "Okay, that makes things easier. I didn't want any of our friends to know without knowing…that. I should probably tell you the dorm is fine, I mean, it's not going to fall down on anyone's head."

The suspicious expression came back to the witch's face. "And you would know this how?"

Moka tapped her index fingers together shyly. "B-Because…I think I caused it. More like, I was one of the ones who caused it," she confessed.

"Again, you did this, how?"

"Y-You know…Tsukune's a vampire now…I'm a vampire… And we've waited a really, really long time… One thing led to another and…"

Both of Ruby's eyebrows shot into her hairline as her friend rubbed her rosary for assurance. "L-Let me get this straight…that…really was…you and Tsukune-san…?" The other woman nodded meekly. "Doing…it?" Another nod answered her, and suddenly Ruby's flesh was brighter than Moka's hair, but the flush wasn't totally out of embarrassment. "So…the sounds?"

She wanted to die. Leave it to Ruby to keep on questioning. "Yeah, probably us. You won't tell the headmaster, will you?"

"Tell him?!" she cried. "To hell with that, I wanna join you! So which one of you got him first?" The vampire tapped the rosary with more purpose that time, and the witch's eyes got wider. "No wonder. I don't think any building was built to handle two unsealed vampires, fighting or…not."

Moka could only hope the blush on her face dissipated sometime that day; it felt like it would never go down. "Y-Yeah. Just thought you should know."

Ruby smiled as she crossed her arms over her own generous bosom. "I think I saw Kurumu-chan waiting for someone at the bus stop earlier today, and if it was it might be that Tsukune-san is actually trying to get this to work. It'd be hard for any good little human to suddenly understand the workings of an immortal, so I'd bet he's just trying to spend a little more time alone with her. He's definitely not like some other guys, who'd jump at the chance, that's for sure."

The pink-haired woman smiled serenely. "And that's why this'll work out. Most vampires just stomp on other people's feelings when they sleep around, and it's not often love that keeps families together. He's my mate, and he knows he's going to be with me forever, but we've grown to love our friends far more than just friendship. I knew he would have trouble with it, and I'll admit some thoughts crossed my mind as well, but he's a vampire, and it'd be pretty stupid of me to hold him to human limitations. Others' 'forever' isn't quite as long as ours, but I know he'll spend it with them just like he'll spend it with me."

Warmth sparkled in the other woman's eyes. "So I guess it's just a matter of when, huh? It does feel nice to know I'm not competing with anyone anymore." After a quick look to the clock on the wall, her eyes widened again. "Wow, I really lost track of time. Have you eaten yet? We could go and grab something from the cafeteria."

She smiled again. "That'd be great."

"Then you have to tell me how he was!"

Poor Moka almost fell flat on her face.

V^^^V

Ignorance could truly be bliss.

With a sigh, Tsukune Aono finally dragged himself out of bed. For how hard Kurumu and Mizore were working him, he suspected getting up in the morning would be far more painful if he didn't have his now-natural healing abilities. Still, nothing they could do could amount to Inner Moka's Training of Doom. If they heard what she had put him through, they'd probably never believe him.

Once again, as he got up and stretched, his muscles were far from sore. In fact, as had been the case for the entire week so far, he had never felt better. He sighed in relief when he stretched and bones cracked in response, snapping everything back into place. The hot bath he always took after training was done for the day turned out to be useless when he came back from Moka's room, because generally he then had to take a cold one as well. Really, it shouldn't be that hard to be around her after what they had done, but then again, it could be because of what they had done. It was only when he was changing that he realized the double entendre in his thoughts, and managed a chuckle.

He hissed as yet again when he tried to move his rosary from under his clothes, the silver cross burned as if it had been in a furnace all night. He watched the reddened flesh of his fingers heal, and decided to wait a little while before he tried it again. It really was getting annoying, not to mention potentially dangerous, so he resolved to talk to Ruby about it sometime during the day. Having never seen Moka's do anything like it, the phenomenon actually worried him a bit. The weird energy he always found himself imbued with when he started the day was welcome, but he would be daft to think the two weren't related in some way. He needed to find out how.

Unlike the other days however, something new revealed itself today. It started out small, barely perceptible to the half-awake teen, but gradually grew until it was a dull throbbing in his ears. It was like hearing something on a frequency he could just barely pick up, and like most things in his life, it just had to be supernatural in some way. It didn't sound right, and the longer he was awake the more annoying the sound became. It was like something was…calling him. The thought of it being more than it seemed was proven when he plugged his ears and still the sound persisted, which rapidly degraded his good mood.

The mother of all headaches was on its way, he just knew it, and by the time he was done breakfast he wanted to scream. Why did it sound like he had heard it before? Why did he know he should recognize some aspect of what he was hearing? At the moment, those questions were discarded for the simple reason that every time Tsukune thought the sound had gone away, it would return, constantly there, just within perception, just enough to make his teeth grind.

He practically ran down the road in the vain attempt to escape the sound, but it followed him relentlessly. He knew he must look strange, running with his hands over his ears down the path to school, but he would do anything to get rid of the damn annoyance that just wouldn't leave him alone!

Moka waved when she saw him approach, but it faltered when she saw his state. He seemed visibly annoyed, nearly in pain, and when he stopped in front of her she could tell how hard he was trying to ignore whatever it was that was causing it. The concern was plain on her face now, and she put a hand on his shoulder to get him to look at her.

"Hey Tsukune, is something wrong?"

He bared his grit teeth. "Can't you…hear that? It's been driving me crazy…all morning! I…I can…hear something…like it's…calling…me. Dammit…why won't it go away?!"

Now she was getting really worried, and mostly because she couldn't hear a thing other than his labored breaths as he fought to keep his growing frustration under control. "Come on, we'd better go see Ruby-san. Maybe she can get us in to see the headmaster before school starts." His only answer was to nod with the grimace still in place, his eyelids squinted tightly shut in concentration. While Moka knew Kokoa would wonder where they went, this took precedence, so she quickly grabbed one of his hands and ran to the school. Luck would have it that the girl in question had seen the exchange, and took off after them in curiosity.

Since they usually arrived at the same time, unsurprisingly, Mizore, Kurumu, and Yukari saw the two sprinting into the building, and it was hard to miss Tsukune's facial expression. Instant alarm budding in their bodies, they quickly made chase, if not just to see what was wrong. Of course, the elder witch was startled when they burst into the waiting area of the Exorcist's office—which doubled as her main workplace. Upon seeing the looks on her friends' faces, and whom they were looking at with them, it wasn't hard to put two and two together.

"Tsukune-san, is something wrong?"

His arms trembled as they struggled to keep his hands even harder against his ears. "Noise. Weird…noise. Dull. Low. Feels…strange. Calling…me. Won't. Go. Away!"

Her eyes darted around frantically as she fought to come up with some idea of what was going on. When they widened, Kurumu nearly pounced on her to get the answer. "Maybe he's finally starting to hear it…"

"Hear what?" the succubus cried out worriedly.

"Nature. He drank my blood almost two weeks ago, and he never showed any signs of a witch's power. Maybe something triggered his waning witch's sense, and it's trying to get him to find it!"

The urge to scream was getting larger. "Nature? I can hardly…concentrate! Feels like…stereo feedback!" he shouted, just so he could hear himself talk. "Besides, that was…a long time ago!"

Maybe it was in the way it was worded, but that explanation flicked on a switch in one of their minds. "You know, that's kinda weird, that sounds like what Kou-chan can do when we need to find each other," Kokoa muttered in bewilderment. "It's like a dull scratching, right? At the bottom of your ears? Just loud enough to bug the hell out of you?"

Tsukune could have cried he was so happy someone understood. "Yes! It's exactly like that! How do I get it to go away?"

The younger vampire shrugged nonchalantly. "That's easy: find your Familiar."

A simultaneous look of relief came to those present, until just as simultaneously something occurred to all of them.

"WHAT?"

V^^^V

Unknown to the infamous Newpaper Club, the headmaster of Youkai Academy wasn't in his office; in fact, he wasn't even in the same dimension as them anymore. He had long thought it overdue to look through Paradise and see the damages done by his two reckless students, but truthfully he had been putting it off as much as he could. The realm had been hard enough to facilitate, let alone populate with monsters. He really didn't want to see what they had done to it.

It was a sad reality that back in the older ages, where mankind was well aware of monsters, many had been unable to live in harmony. Monsters with special physiologies were hunted for the unique things they carried within them, and those lacking the sentience of the higher races were coveted as paranormal work assets, war beasts, even pack animals. The monsters were used to dealing with the animals of their ilk like humans were used to the domesticated kinds of theirs, however when the humans rose up with the beasts under their control, that only hastened the poor species' extinction.

He had found all that he could in his travels, saved that which he could into the protected realm. They were hardly tame, but they knew enough to leave certain species already present alone. The amalgam of different, often dangerous, monsters in the same place made for an incredibly treacherous place to tread, but it made a perfect place for training, there was no denying that. A real threat of death was always conducive to growth. None dared attack him though, that was a given that had been acquired through years of trying, and also an affect of the holy aura he radiated normally.

As he walked through the uprooted, broken tress, the Exorcist sighed. It had been a long time since he had seen the destruction two vampires were capable of, and it certainly didn't help that the two that had happened to be fighting were of the strongest their race had seen in hundreds of years. Lilith's commentary as they walked earned a few chuckles, but otherwise even the pixie was entranced with the widespread devastation only two beings had sown.

He could only shake his head as he came across a great expanse of shredded landscape, clearly broken from the inside out. It was apparent this particular area had been the arena for an extended fistfight between them, because the way in which the ground had been broken attested to a great deal of force put upon an immovable object. Vampires were one of, if not the only, monster with the power to do something like that and still stay in the same place to take a receiving blow.

There was something to be thankful for in the pride that plagued the eternals, and that was they had long thought humanity to be beneath them. They preferred to blend in, use their longevity to amass riches and followers, rather than risk an end to their blissful existence with war. They had no doubt they could destroy their foes, whoever they be, but most had no desire to build up the world again once it was destroyed. They would rather ensure the source of their nourishment stayed healthy, for that matter. If the humans had come up with one great idea, it would have to be blood banks. As long as the humans were happy in the idyllic illusion they ruled the earth, things would continue on as they had, even if they didn't know they were being manipulated.

Such is ignorance, but that was fine. One day they might get bored, and start a war for the hell of it as was in their nature, but that time had yet to come. If the younger ones wanted their taste of war, they went to the many already existing in the world around them. In any other place what would be considered murder was instead hailed as fighting for one's country, and to a vampire that was the perfect excuse to wet their fangs.

The Exorcist sighed. Tsukune and his friends had managed to prevent the largest uprising of monsters in a very, very long time, but the other sad reality was it was bound to happen again. Years, decades, centuries; time rarely mattered to things like the bitterness of supposed superiority, especially when that superiority had already been quashed once before.

A low crooning caught his attention, and his interest piqued, the robed man walked through the destruction towards the source of the noise. He stopped dead mid-stride when he came upon the cause, and resisted the almighty urge to rub his hand down his face in exasperation.

"Child, when I said you were going to make the coming years interesting, I didn't mean for you to start right now," he groaned to no one, as he looked forward into a crater that had been fashioned into something else entirely. What had caused the impression in the earth had recorded evidence, but now the marker had been formed into a makeshift nest, and in the center a large black entity laid protectively, one that wore a red bandana around its neck.

Lilith cackled wildly from on his shoulder, clutching her tiny belly as her legs flailed in her hilarity. "Oh this is too rich! How many years have you been trying to get her to reproduce?"

"The more accurate question would be how many years haven't I spent. That would be easier to remember."

"Talk about 'wham bam thank-you ma'am!'" she parodied maniacally. "He probably doesn't even have any idea of what he did!" She fell back into laughter, pounding his shoulder with her petite fist as tears welled in her eyes. "Please…make it stop! It's too much…it hurts…!"

He would have glared at her had she not had every right to find what was in front of her funny. He settled on allowing himself to put his face in his palm, looking through his fingers to the phenomenon before him. The boy seems bound and determined to keep getting himself into the center of things that don't concern him, even when he doesn't know of them! He cast a critical eye on the skies above. You sent him here to torture me, didn't you?

"We're getting closer! It's…getting louder!" a voice shouted from in the trees, and the headmaster looked over in time to see abovementioned boy stumble out of the foliage with his friends behind.

An experienced eye on the situation immediately clued him into what was going on, and this time he did rub his hand down his face in exasperation. The fairy on his shoulder saw it fit to look over confusedly, and unlike him, she just started to laugh harder when realization dawned. She fell to her back, gasping for breath between her boisterous bouts of merriment.

One of them looked over at the sound, and Ruby's eyes widened when she saw who was there. "M-Master! What are you doing here?"

Putting back on his composed demeanor, he cast his odd eyes on them critically, and they shrunk back. "I believe I should be the one asking that question. Taking a field trip are we?"

"We're just trying to find what's driving Tsukune crazy!" Kurumu retorted defensively. "Speaking of that; how is it now, Tsukune?"

The man she was asking was doubled over with his hands on his knees, but the look of irritation was finally off his face. "Better, actually. I think we're almost there, it's practically gone."

She jumped cheerfully. "All right! I can't believe you contracted a Familiar without even knowing about it!"

I can, the Exorcist thought sarcastically, glad they couldn't see when he rolled his eyes.

"I wonder what it is!" She looked over to where Moka and the others had stepped ahead of them, and when she caught up she stopped in a stumble when she noticed how pale they were. Then there was the fact that their eyes were half as big as their heads. "H-Hey, guys, what's up?"

They merely pointed.

When she saw what they were pointing to, her jaw dropped. "No. Way."

Tsukune walked his way forward hesitantly. "What's everyone staring at?" When he looked down into the crater that looked oddly familiar for some reason, he blanched, but the deadpan expression stayed in place. "You know, why doesn't this surprise me?"

A great black wyvern laid over what was most definitely a mass of dark eggs, but no number could be determined because of its girth. A tattered red cloth was wrapped around the base of its neck, and it growled at the onlookers threateningly. When they looked closer it was easy to see the red bandana was actually a blood-soaked shirt wrapped into an improvised bandage, and that made the specific identity of what was in the crater very clear. It was the same wyvern Tsukune had attacked and fed from during him and Moka's climactic battle.

"What are you waiting for, Tsukune-kun? Go, she won't attack you." What that meant was clear too; only Tsukune would be accepted into range of the nest, any others wouldn't be taken to too kindly.

He gulped heavily as he slid down the crater's incline, but the beast made no move to harm him. The large eyes of the lizard tracked his every movement, and he gulped again when it moved its head over to him and scrutinized him carefully. Whatever it was looking for was obviously found, because it soon lowered its head submissively and rose to its feet, revealing the mass of eggs beneath. When that happened, one thing stood out distinctly, and that was the egg at least twice as large as the rest, and where they were black, this one was pure white. It just had to be that one that the Wyvern nudged with its nose, rolling it cautiously towards the terrified vampire before it rested at his feet.

Now the headmaster really wanted to shake his head. Of course it would happen this way, it involved the young man after all. He was going to need a couple of aspirin after this ordeal. That young man looked up at him in confusion, and he laughed his patented enigmatic chuckle. "You didn't think it was her, did you? You defeated her soundly and drank her blood, but you did another thing without knowing: you gave her some of your blood." Tsukune's eyes widened and darted back to the shirt around the creature's neck. "Your bloody shirt obviously sufficed to expose her to your blood through her open wounds before they healed, but it was your bite that kindled…this."

Mizore was not very pleased with where this discussion was going. "Let me guess: the pleasure he usually causes with his fangs jump-started her hormones or something, right?"

Another dark chuckle came then, along with his always creepy smile. "In layman's terms. You know there are species of lizard in the world that actually don't require a male to propagate. Since she is, in essence, the last of her kind, dragons have long been capable of parthenogenesis. All she needed was the right trigger to her chemical balance. You should be proud, you not only rekindled the dragon race, but you also gained the first real dragon to be seen in centuries as your familiar."

Ruby looked like she was going to faint. "Y-You mean…the wyvern is able to bring back their four-legged ancestor?!"

"It's one of the loopholes to being able to create offspring with an XY chromosome system. Dragons are hardwired to guarantee their race survive as long as one remains. Of course, once more males are available again the asexual reproduction will become unnecessary, but that remains to be seen. With this batch of newborns, we may even see more of the dragons of legend in the future. This time, it looks like the first chose our little Tsukune-kun as its partner." It was taking everything he had not to sound overly amused or frustrated at the development too.

"It's still in the egg!" Kokoa shrieked, and jumped back when the wyvern hissed at her.

"Dragons are a magical race," Ruby explained simply. "Back when there were more of them it was said they were just as strongly tied to nature as witches, and there was also their impressive size. They never stop growing, but I read some could shape-shift like the vampires' familiar of choice: the bat. We have to consider that this is also the first time a dragon has ever been a familiar; in fact, what Tsukune-san did is probably so unlikely it may never happen again. He just happened to fulfill a very specific list of qualifications, on a weaker subspecies of dragon, in the perfect condition to revive her ancestors and begin the Familiar contract. Even vampires tended to stay away from full-grown dragons back in the day."

"Well said, Ruby-chan," the headmaster praised, genuinely impressed. "I'm glad to see you're expanding on your history. Keep reading the books in my study and you will have professors red with jealousy in no time." She blushed brightly under his kind words, and Lilith stuck her tongue out at her.

Tsukune picked up the basketball-sized egg gingerly, and the annoying feedback that had been in his ears all morning turned into a gentle purr. Where the former sounded like some kind of supernatural alarm system, the latter sounded like he was actually hearing what lay protected inside the shell he was holding. It was…comforting, really.

"I feel kinda bad because I didn't mean to do this to you, little fella, but I'll try my best to be what you expect. If that's fine with you, I'm fine with it too; how's that sound?" The hum in his ears got louder, becoming more of a happy rumble, before vanishing completely, leaving him in peace once more. "I'll take that as a yes." He smiled at the wyvern, and the beast nodded like it understood before resuming her perch on her eggs.

Walking back to where his friends stood, still staring for the most part, he cocked an eyebrow at the Exorcist. "You wouldn't happen to know when this guy'll hatch, would you? I don't have to sit on it or anything, do I?"

That mental image caused the headmaster to laugh. "Hardly. Once the pact is complete she should hatch right away, because unlike normal animals, there are special magics that bind those specifically contracted. Long ago when the first vampire made his agreement with the patriarchal bat of old, it was agreed that the bats would set aside certain offspring every generation. If a vampire wanted a familiar from the age-old pact, it was only needed that both sides agreed on the partnership. Not all species are imbued with sentience, so in those cases it was trial-by-combat more often than not. It would appear that dragons are of that persuasion."

Kokoa snorted derisively, likely unhappy that someone else knew about the vampires' Familiar contract. "Yup, that sounds about right. Kou-chan's pretty free-roaming, but he knows where he belongs. Some people mistake friends for familiars, but that's just because they don't know about what goes on to make a true familiar. Hell, if we're getting into the specifics, dopey over here almost could've been mistaken for one at one point."

Tsukune restrained the growl bubbling up in his chest. "I take it you're talking about me, huh?"

The redhead looked over at him like he was the dumbest thing alive. "Duh, who else had to get saved by my onee-sama's blood again and again? I swear, if anyone else almost got killed as many times as you did, they'd be used as a housemaid!"

Moka put her hand on her half-sister's shoulder warningly. "That's enough, Kokoa-chan." From within her seal, Inner Moka snarled as well.

The younger vampire huffed, irritated. "Fine, fine. That guy's got the devil's luck going for him, I'll admit that. He could probably walk into a feminism convention and end up running away from a strip-attack!" Tsukune coughed hoarsely, and the others smiled widely through their chuckles. The weird thing was it was probably true too. She noticed the look on her violet-haired friend quickly return to something else, and cocked her head to the side confusedly. "What crawled up your butt?"

Mizore scowled and turned back to glare at the wyvern, who merely cracked one eye open to regard the angry monster. "I wanted to be the first to have children because of Tsukune."

There was a near instantaneous mass face-fault that none but the headmaster and Lilith escaped.

"I don't even know why I hang out with you guys," Kokoa moaned as she rubbed her poor nose. "You're all sex-crazed maniacs."

Kurumu rolled her eyes while she picked herself up from the ground. "Don't knock it 'til you've tried it, brat. Twenty bucks says you pass out from one of his bites!" Behind them, Tsukune turned florescent red.

"You're on!"

"Um, don't I get a say in this…?" the man in question asked timidly.

"NO!" both women responded at once, and he shrunk back.

Kokoa stomped up to him and exposed a side of her neck before putting her hands on her hips stubbornly. "Come on, bite me! I dare you!"

Her elder sister placed herself between her and her target quickly, waving her arms frantically. "Kokoa-chan, you really don't want to do this, believe me!"

"Get out of my way, Onee-chan! I'm gonna show all of you once and for all this guy's charms aren't all they're cracked up to be!"

At that Moka scowled childishly and twirled around to look at Tsukune. Leaning up to his ear while being cautious of the egg in his arms, she whispered, "Forget what I just said. Amp it up and let her have it!"

Well, he had been meaning to get back at the pint-sized tyrant for a while now. After the night with Moka, he had a very good idea of what his bites inflicted. He couldn't be blamed for what happened; she had asked for it. Literally. "I apologize in advance for this, okay Kokoa-chan?"

She snorted as she shook her head in frustration. "Whatever. Do your worst!"

Oh this I have to see, Inner Moka thought, her fanged smile spread wide.

"Don't say I didn't warn you…" That said, he did just as Moka had told him to do, pushing up what control he had over his threshold as high as he thought it could go before plunging his teeth into her neck. He had yet to feed today after all, and it was a welcome excuse.

Ruby red eyes turned to saucers. Pleasure coursed through the young woman's body with a ferocity it never had before, even when she did it herself. She was an adolescent teen, and exploring their budding sexuality came with the territory. This she had never expected however; this put all her attempts at pleasure to the lowest level of shame. Her breathing turned ragged, her fingers numbed, her toes curled, before ultimately her eyes rolled back in her head and her knees buckled. The last thought that went through her mind as her world turned black was: Best twenty bucks I ever spent.

Tsukune caught the unconscious vampire with one arm, now cradling the egg in one and her in the other. He would be the first to admit her blood was damn tasty, almost like liquid cinnamon, spicy and hot all the way down. After all her talk, her pleasure tolerance hadn't been near as big as she had thought obviously. "Well, she was warned. You'll testify to that when she tries to kill me, right?"

Kurumu laughed haughtily. "I think killing you will be the last thing on her mind when she wakes up, Tsukune, I can promise you that."

Inner Moka on the other hand was rolling with laugher, leaving her sealed self to muffle her own outwardly.

Yukari looked at the redhead in her love's hold with a pout. "Why does she get a bite and I don't ~desu?!"

Mizore patted her on the head. "You'll get your turn in a few years, Yukari-chan. It's not safe…or even legal, I think." The little witch pouted again and crossed her arms over her chest with a huff.

"Not that I'm trying to change the topic or anything," the former human lied hastily, "but I still don't know when this thing'll hatch, and holding them isn't getting any easier…"

"Oh, sorry Tsukune!" Moka quickly grabbed her younger sister from her lover's arm, and he exhaled greatly when he was able to hold the egg with two hands again. That had been a pretty precarious balance, to be sure.

"And as for wondering about it hatching, since vampires are a monster that revolves around the giving and receiving of blood, just put some on the shell. She may know you're there, but she can't do anything until you do that and seal the pact," the Exorcist answered calmly, and everyone nearly jumped. They had completely forgotten he was even there!

Eager to get his mind off of what had just happened, he offered a hand to Moka. Knowing what he wanted, she smirked before digging her fangs into his palm, getting a taste of her own before relinquishing it back to him. He rubbed his bloody hand down the egg, and almost instantly it was absorbed into the pearly white casing. A loud crack was heard soon thereafter, and he hurriedly put the oval onto the ground in front of him. The wyvern's interest was gained at this, and a large tear then developed in the hard covering, splitting the shell all the way around. They all held their breath as the egg rocked impatiently, and high-pitched squeaks made their way through. Abruptly, the whole thing shattered, and a tiny, pure white lizard fell awkwardly to the ground.

Large, leathery wings flailed around, each almost twice as large as the animal was itself, until the miniature dragon finally rolled onto its belly and shook itself free of the slick coating lingering from its egg. Amusingly, the top half of the egg still remained on its head, and the poor thing stumbled blindly on its four legs, squeaking pleadingly, before Tsukune had mercy on the small creature and tossed it to the side. The silvery dragon blinked its large gray eyes as it took in its new surroundings, and managed to fold its disproportionate, membranous wings into itself until they were plastered to its sides. Those innocent, steel-gray orbs honed in on Tsukune instinctively, and the minuscule reptile clambered its way up his clothing until it was wrapped protectively around his neck, where it nuzzled his cheek happily.

Tsukune laughed as the scaly cheek rubbed his and he ran his hand down the dragon's long neck, earning a pleased rumble from its small chest. "Well hey there little guy, nice to see you too!" The women had been suspiciously quiet, and he looked over to see them looking at him and the pint-sized myth with stars in their eyes.

Oh no.

He had seen that look before.

"CUUUUUUTTEE!" they all squealed at once.

He was promptly tackled by five overexcited girls.

"GYAH!"

Short, breezy rasps came from inside the nest, and if the headmaster didn't know any better, he would have sworn the wyvern was laughing.

V^^^V

.

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