Here In My Arms

by Platinumsabr

(AU) What laid in wait past Anti-Thesis? A choice. What lay in wait past the choice? Consequences. A future...with who? Decisions, decisions, some not up to me, show me the truth, what I'm meant to be... (Rated M for adult content)

28. Dream A Little Dream

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^^ Dream A Little Dream ^^V

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While there were many ways in which Tsukune was different from others his age, he wasn't immune to stress. Like most people would, he had actually tried to predict what he would be feeling after the assembly, after being introduced to the entire student body as a member of the new 'Student Police.' For better or worse, none of his expectations had come true. Naturally he would rather have had one of his optimistic endings happen, but those had always been best left to his imagination. As it was, if he was being brutally honest with himself he could admit—at least in the confines of his own mind—that he had salvaged the situation as best he could. Especially important, considering he was the one to near ruin it.

Despite how it had worked out, and well at that, illusions had never been part of the original plan. Not that there had been too much of a plan in the first place, really, but he and Moka had exchanged a general idea of what they would be sharing. What he hadn't anticipated would be how she would be sharing it. When he had felt her uncertainty, her fear, during her shaky beginning, he had given her back every confidence he had in her. No amount of planning could have prepared him for what she did with that confidence.

It was true. Nothing had prepared him for the depth of Moka's speech, or the memories it had brought back so vividly—maybe too vividly. It was only worsened by the audience. True, there had been more than a few overjoyed to have their favorite idols in positions of authority, and better yet, positions where they would be forced to interact with those they wouldn't otherwise—them, in other words—but there was just as many visibly upset at what had been revealed, and some even nodding off at the early hour after so many days of sleeping in. It made him angry. Moka was telling them about what was arguably one of the most painful moments in her life and they were too distracted to care.

He didn't even realize what he had done until Moka was finishing up and he saw the looks being directed at the stage. He had done that to them, he had forced that upon them, and the worst thing was...he didn't care. They understood now.

At least he had taken their minds off of it soon after.

Kissing Moka in front of everyone was crazy, a spur-of-the-moment decision that even now he was having trouble believing he had done. But it was amazing. Oh was it ever amazing. The young woman in question was still smiling, walking by his side to class while trying, and failing, to get the pleased flush to fade from her cheeks every time a random passerby whistled or winked—the glares he received just made him laugh. Had it stopped at that, Tsukune would have considered the assembly a rousing success; however, there were still a good many that hadn't yet shaken the images they had seen beforehand. That...was an unpleasant side-effect.

He only discovered the true scope of what he had done when they sat down in class and waited for the stragglers to arrive. There were always some that waited until the last possible moment to get through the door, so it wasn't something instantly obvious. When the bell rang and the class went through its starting routine, Tsukune wasn't alone in noticing the small, but evident amount of spaces left unfilled in the room's desks. Not really the best way to start the new term, but who was he to judge? As long as he didn't find them in the scope of his priorities as a PSC member, not one at all.

It took him longer than it should have to recognize the other glaring absence. Had Moka not muttered something under her breath, it might have taken him even longer.

"Where's Yukari?"

He had forgotten that they were in the same homeroom this year, though it did explain why he hadn't detected it sooner. It was actually quite nice to have their entire group together for their last and most stressful year—at least academically-speaking. Come to think of it, he was positive Ruby had likely had a hand in that; he would have to remember to thank her if that turned out to be true. He took a look around just in case, but sure enough, the little witch was nowhere to be found.

Not long after that, he realized the possible reason why.

And he had finally been feeling better about himself too.

"I am such an idiot," he muttered as he pressed his forehead against the cool wood of his desk.

There was really nothing else he could say.

V^^^V

If the others noticed that he didn't speak again that whole class they didn't say anything, and they were only understanding as he slipped away during the break between classes. They knew where he was going.

Just as he thought, almost all of the beds in the nurse's office were filled, and he didn't doubt many had just gotten notes and left. The infirmary was only for the cases that didn't warrant the hospital, and really the only treatment for what the students had been put through was rest. He would know.

He might have had trouble figuring out where Yukari was but for one thing: Rei was with her. Even before whatever had happened to his borrowed blood that morning, he could always find her. Now it was just easier.

The first thing he saw when he rounded one of the curtained partitions was her bright white hair, made only more prominent by her dark complexion. It looked like Yukari had lent her one of her textbooks, and she was calmly flipping through the pages as she kept watch in the chair by the witch's bedside. He knew she could feel him just as surely as he could feel her, so he wasn't surprised when her silver eyes flicked up to greet him. They weren't accusing, which was frankly more than he deserved, but he could feel the ache in her heart as surely as if it were his own.

He was beginning to wonder if it would have been better if the awareness he had to his 'bonds' had stayed the same.

"...Hey."

She snorted softly. "And a good morning to yourself as well, Tsukki. So nice to see you this fine day. Whatever brings you here?"

He sighed. Well, everyone expressed their displeasure in different ways. Sarcasm was never a good sign with Rei. "How long has she been asleep?"

His familiar shrugged, looking for all the world nonchalant to her surroundings. "'Twas not the simplest of tasks, but she prevailed some time ago. I find myself sympathetic to her plight, if her experience was anything like mine. I seem to recall praising your storytelling when first I was told the tale, yet having seen the story firsthand I find it…woefully inadequate."

In a flash her book was on the chair she had just vacated, and he found himself yanked down to her level by his jacket, staring into eyes much more reptilian than they had been moments ago. "Have I wronged you in some way, Tsukki? Did I somehow deserve to watch that which I treasure most harmed so heinously?" she hissed, sibilant voice a deathly whisper. "First I am made the fool by that Valentine, now I must watch you burn in front of mine own eyes!? I do not fear flames! I am born of the mother Earth, the elements heed me; but fire, fire is mine, part of my being, as easily breathed as air! It could no sooner harm me than the deer I stalk! Must I live through a memory where my greatest strength is as useless as my very presence? I was not there, I know this, I was not even part of this world then, but I could…I was…why could I not—? Why could I do nothing?"

It seemed like he would be cursing himself a lot today. The illusion had worked well, done exactly as it should have to the entire school population, but at the same time he didn't even want to think of what it would have done to someone who was actually there to remember it like Yukari, or someone like Rei, whose way of thinking was inherently odd to even a monster, let alone a human. Her life revolved around her treasures, and while she had claimed the rest of their family as part of her hoard, she told him time and again that he was her crown jewel, her companion, the one she chose before she was even out of her egg. When it came to him, her reactions couldn't be likened to anything within rational experience, for in that she could only be what she really was – a dragon. To her, watching what Moka had said to be a 'best friend' go through what she described wouldn't be just a friend. She would be trapped, weakened and helpless as she watched what she so jealously guarded be nigh obliterated by something she normally would have laughed at.

And if that wasn't enough, she knew it was that priceless treasure that had caused it. She had been the one to hone and encourage the use of his incubus skills over their time in Paradise, her to take the base Kurumu had built and turn it into a debilitating offence.

Though it was sorely lacking, the very least he owed her was an apology. "I'm sorry, Rei. The whole thing just kind of…happened. I didn't mean to—no, I did, but I didn't realize what it would all mean until after, I swear! I know I hurt you, and Yukari, but I honestly didn't mean to. I'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."

Her teeth clenched, but the anger on her face cracked into something infinitely more heartbreaking as her grip loosened and she pressed her head into his chest. "'Tis impossible for me to not know that, Tsukki. I know you, I feel you, and yet still I find myself torn between throttling you for what you have done and dragging you to my cave and imprisoning you there, so I might know you are safe at all times." She paused, suddenly contemplative. "Having said that aloud, I may just do both in order."

The chuckle escaped him before he could stop it. "So I'm going to be the damsel in distress, held captive by the big bad dragon? Which one of the girls would be my knight in shining armor?"

"None," Rei scoffed, and his would-be laughter died in his throat when she seamlessly tacked on, "They would be right beside you."

And then he was able to laugh, because it was yet another rejoinder so purely Rei he didn't even know if she was trying to be funny or not. Her shy grin told him it was probably the former. "There are certainly worse places I can think of to be trapped, and worse company to have there, but I don't think that would work."

"I feel you would find me a most benevolent jailor," she replied imperiously, but her expression had regained some levity in his embrace, enough to tell she really was joking now.

He smirked. "So I may be trapped, but at least I've got a pretty warden, huh?"

She straightened a bit, clearly proud even as her dark skin became just a bit darker as blood rushed to her cheeks. "You flatter me, but I will not be so easily appeased."

"Oh really?" he drawled. "Are you going to make me beg for forgiveness? Throw myself upon your mercy? Kiss your feet?"

Just the mention of him kissing any part of her body made her temperature rise. "For claiming remorse, you have a most strange way of acting the part," she retorted, but made no move to exit the hug they had yet to end.

Had she been taller, he might have been able to rest his head on top of hers, but she still felt it when he gently kissed the crown of her hair. The heat that had suffused her cheeks almost instantly traveled lower, and not for the first time did the dragon curse the human form she had taken. He couldn't know what he did to her, she knew that, but sometimes she just wanted to grab him by the hair and…and…but she couldn't. Not yet. It was bad enough she would look his age, if not older, in under a year's time, but to try anything before that, when Yukari still had so many years to go? She couldn't do that to her. The adolescent sorceress had proven herself a pleasure to be around, and the idea of causing one of her treasures, her…friend…pain, was not an appealing one.

Tsukune couldn't tell what she was thinking, but the twinge in their bond told him what she was feeling. He could be forgiven for mistaking the reason. "I really am sorry," he repeated softly, and she looked up at him in confusion.

"Have we not already resolved that?"

He blinked dumbly. "Wha–? But I was sure… You were feeling sad again, weren't you?"

She blinked back at him, mortified. "Was it truly that apparent?"

He wanted to say yes, but he knew before he ever opened his mouth that it would be a lie. He may have a lot of experience reading the moods of his friends, but he was by no means flawless in their interpretation. As much as he was a vampire, there were times when he was very much a man and they were women. While not telling her did cross his mind, his family had been monsters from birth and had been instrumental in helping him with his menagerie of otherworldly talents. He tried to be as vague as possible when it came to what he had been doing when his borrowed abilities took a leap into the downright freaky, but given that Rei had been encouraging their use all through their time in Paradise, he figured she would be interested in the development.

She was, and her brow furrowed. "How very curious. Our bond has always been open to me, and I suspected you merely required more time to become comfortable with us before 'twas the same for you. We made significant progress while in my realm, as you know." That he did, but he always found it amusing that she considered Paradise her realm, even if it wasn't far from the truth at this point. "'Tis most strange, however. We shall have to discuss it with Kurumu and Mizore upon completion of classes. Speaking of which, should you not be heading back?"

A glance at the clock told him he probably should, but he had to do one more thing first. Letting go of Rei, he stepped over to Yukari's bedside. Even in her sleep he could see the tightness in her face, and the way she was squeezing her pillow spoke of anything but a peaceful rest. He drew his fingers softly over her forehead to brush aside her hair, unsurprised when they came away sweaty. She whimpered and cringed at the touch, and his throat bobbed with emotion as his eyes stung. He leaned over her, gently pressing his forehead to hers as he closed one of her hands in his.

"I'm here, Yukari. I'm right here."

What happened next was hard to put into words. There was a sudden, horrible, wrenching sensation, as if someone had grabbed his brain and snapped it ninety degrees without informing the rest of his head that it was supposed to move too. Through what felt like a mile of water he heard a swish of displaced air as his abruptly uncomfortable back adjusted itself and something rustled into place, but he found he couldn't focus on that.

All he knew was that he was fading…falling…through an ocean or space itself, he couldn't tell.

He should have been terrified, he should have been panicking…but somehow, for some reason…he couldn't. Despite not knowing what was happening, he knew what he was doing. Despite not knowing where he was going, he knew how to get there.

It was just that simple.

V^^^V

Tsukune didn't know what he had been expecting when he stumbled to a jarring stop, but he really should have.

The stench hit him first, so strong it nearly made him gag. He had only been exposed to it once before but once was enough for it to never leave his memory. In his mind it would always be associated with defiance to a youko, a refusal of arrogance even in the face of horrible consequences. It was the scent of burning flesh.

The rest of the scene filled itself in quickly after that, revealing a building he knew intimately playing out a scenario he would rather have never seen again. On one end stood a man in a uniform not unlike the one he himself had put on that very morning, and on the other was a group clustered around the smouldering form of what he knew had to be his body—and wasn't that a weird thought?

It was odd, he decided, looking at the scene from an outsider's perspective. His memory of the event ended after taking the blast of fire meant for Moka, so it was morbid curiosity that made him want to see the recollection through to the end. He couldn't though, not when Yukari was crying, panicking over his broken body even as the scene rewound before his very eyes and forced her to relive the moment of his blackened and blistering body falling into Moka's arms.

The whole thing was surreal. It felt real, smelled real, looked real, but apart from already knowing it was nothing more than a memory, he had just seen time rewind with his own eyes. What he had done was horrible, amazing and horrible all at the same time. He had made this nightmare of a memory into a nightmare once more, and he would have to take responsibility for that. It didn't mean he had to let it go on.

"That's enough," he stated softly, tone ice-cold.

Surprisingly, or maybe not if they were where he thought they were, the world around them froze.

There was no more stench, no more sound or color in the realm halted mid-motion. Only the sobs of the young witch and the steps he took to her broke the suffocating stillness, and then even those were muffled as she was tucked into his body, held tight against his chest as he fought the guilt clawing at his heart. Every now and then he whispered apologies into her hair as she shook, not comprehending or even acknowledging the change in her situation. All Tsukune could do was hold her and wait for it to pass.

This was a screw-up to end all screw-ups. How long had it taken her to get over this the first time – then he went and dug it up, worse than before, giving nightmares fuel that would last how much longer now?

Eventually he felt her heartbeat slow and her breathing steady, either because enough time had passed that she was able to calm down or she had finally taken in her new circumstances. He knew he was probably late for class by now but he honestly didn't care. He couldn't help the chuckle forced from him when her hands began roaming his torso tentatively, as if trying to reconcile where she was with what had been going on before.

"…Tsukune?" Yukari rasped weakly.

A grin forced its way through his gloom as he brushed her hair out of her face."What gave me away?"

Other than him being her only male friend currently at the academy, that is, and he wasn't near as blessed as the rest of their friends in the chest region for obvious reasons.

She stiffened suddenly, yanking herself away from him so fast she actually managed to tumble out of his arms. As she righted herself before him, tear-blotched features became overcome by awe and, as if beyond her control, a hand hesitantly made its way to his cheek. When it touched and he leaned into it obligingly, she gulped noisily. "Sweet Merlin and Morgana…how?"

"Hm?"

She wasn't looking at Tsukune Aono the illusion, Tsukune Aono with his fabricated human appearance. Tsukune Aono the vampire was looking back at her. Despite his abilities, despite the fact that he drank his family's blood on a regular basis, despite all of that, it was so easy to forget what he really was when he had only been allowed to stay in this form for all of two weeks before it was hidden under the façade of his former humanity.

"You're…you're you! Vampire you! I mean, what…I can't remember…what was…? I thought Rei and I were…but then… You were burning, and I couldn't move, couldn't…! Then…then you're here, and, and…you!"

Taken off guard, he looked down at his skin to see that it was definitely not the tan he had always had, instead it was the deathly pale porcelain he had come to associate with red eyes and silver hair. Best he could remember, his rosary was still firmly in place, so, "…The heck?"

Yukari was of the same sentiment, but she had finally taken the time to look around her. "Tsukune…what is this? I'm sure I was just in the nurse's office with Rei, and then I fell…asleep…" Her eyes widened in time with her sentence trailing off, and Tsukune felt the uncomfortable urge to fidget when she fixed those wide eyes on him. "I'm dreaming, aren't I? Literally dreaming."

He shrugged sheepishly. "I…think so? You looked like you were having a nightmare and I wanted to help you so badly… Next thing I know I'm here."

He had so much more he wanted to say to her. He had explanations—good explanations even, but were they? He had said as such to Rei, but looking at Yukari now, seeing what she saw, could he really say the same? He could, and he would even be telling the truth, but all those explanations turned to ash in his mouth. The bottom line was he had hurt her, unintentionally or not, and he dropped his gaze. "I know it won't be worth much right now, but I am sorry for making you relive that. That was never my intention."

A snort of laughter caught his attention, and he stared incredulously at the witch that now had both hands covering her mouth as she tried and failed to stop giggling, giggles that gained volume until she was cackling and cackles that escalated until she was simply sobbing into his chest again. He let her cry herself out again as he rubbed her back, but even as she quieted he could feel the occasional chuckle ripple through her.

"At least one of us can find something to laugh about in this situation," he commented idly, and his breath escaped him in an explosive whoosh when her seemingly dainty fist parked itself in his abs.

"I'm laughing because I can't believe you ~desu!" she hiccupped as she wiped at her eyes. "I can deal with a memory, even a nightmare. But you, you…you're impossible, Tsukune; do you know what you've done? You jumped into a dream because you didn't want me to go through it alone! Seriously, how many people can say something like that?"

He smiled reluctantly. "I suppose that does sound pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"Cool? Tsukune, this is amazing! Kurumu could probably hijack our dreams if she wanted to pretty easily, but she's a Nightwalker-class succubus! You're not even an incubus and you can trap a whole gymnasium in an illusion tailor-made to their own memories! Do I really have to tell you how incredible that is?"

"…Not when you put it that way. Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"Not a chance!" she replied brightly, and Tsukune laughed as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Yeah, didn't think it would be that easy."

"I want at least one date out of this before I let you off the hook ~desu!"

He slumped, but he couldn't blame her. With his relationships with the others reaching new levels as they explored intimacy behind closed doors, it was only natural for Yukari to feel somewhat left behind even if she said otherwise. He was glad she and Rei had become fast friends, but because of the gap in their ages he had always tried to avoid being alone with her for any length of time. As she smiled at him though, despite the traces of tears still marring her face, he knew that argument wouldn't hold water for too much longer.

No matter how she complained, she was growing. It was hard to tell because she was surrounded by women almost ethereally beautiful to a one, but she wasn't the little girl she had been when they had met. Point of fact, she would be turning fourteen in six short months. The age gap now was uncomfortable, but given more time what was four years between them? It was nothing, especially not to an ageless vampire. Ageless, hell, it was nothing to anyone in their early twenties! What she had described when she asked for the mark standing out in stark contrast to her left hand's ring finger wasn't a childhood infatuation, it wasn't something to mock or deny. It was the same thing he felt when he looked into Moka's eyes, when Mizore would gently touch his hand, when Kurumu would smile and kiss his cheek, when Ruby would blush under his scrutiny.

It was something that, even now, he could feel in his heart of hearts for the witch in front of him. It was love. But love, more than all things, was patient—even if she didn't want to be.

He closed his eyes and let a long breath out through his nose. "If that's what you want."

Yukari froze, violet eyes wide. "What – really?" she squeaked.

"Really," he confirmed softly. "If this—" he gestured around them,"—is something I can do now, I might as well take advantage of it."

Her entire body lit up with excitement. "That's right! If this is all in a dream, we can go anywhere we want, do anything we want! Huhuhu…"

"Not anything you want," he replied dryly.

"…Killjoy," she said with a pout, but the sudden color to her cheeks was telling. "You could at least be shirtless."

Tsukune made a sound halfway between a squawk and a yelp as he very suddenly found his upper body lacking anything that had been there moments earlier. He gave a longsuffering sigh when he heard her cheer, and a deadpan look when he noticed her eyeing up his pants.

"Don't even think about it."

"Aww."

He rolled his eyes as he brushed himself off and stood up, offering a hand for her to do the same. "We should probably wake up; God knows with our luck time won't pass any differently in here, and I've been here for a while already. Not that I regret it, but this really hasn't been a good day in regards to my start as a PSC member."

Yukari scanned the grayed-out scenery with interest. "In a minute. There's something I've always wanted to do…"

That said, she strode over to the frozen Kuyou and summarily introduced her foot to his testicles. Tsukune grimaced on reflex as the blond reanimated and fell to the ground in agony, and again each time the little witch stomped on the spirit fox's groin until she was bent over and panting.

"Hah…hah…and stay down, you rat bastard!"

She straightened and, after a cleansing breath, skipping back to him with a smile. "Okay, we can go. I feel a lot better now ~desu!"

Tsukune just looked at her for a long moment. "You know, Yukari, sometimes you scare the ever-living crap out of me."

V^^^V

The school nurse got a fright of her own when she reached down to shake the young man's shoulder. It wasn't an easy task, what with the majority of the room in the curtained space being occupied by his positively massive wingspan, but she hadn't expected him to awake so abruptly. When those wings swung around she fell awkwardly into the small preteen already in the cramped space, but the girl had no trouble holding her in place until she could safely stand again.

There was some startled grumbling from the other side of the bed as his wings folded behind him, but the medical professional in her was able to appreciate how aware the newest PSC leader looked despite having just awoken—or should that be having just fainted? She knew he hadn't been here earlier, and the commotion that drew her had just happened—likely the release of those gargantuan wings.

"Awake, are we? I would appreciate it if you don't transform so flippantly in my office again." Seeing his confusion, she crouched over him and examined his eyes. "Are you okay? Experiencing any nausea, disorientation maybe?"

"Wha-?" Tsukune barely had time to answer before she was shining a light in his face. "Ack!"

"Hmm, pupillary reaction normal. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"What? One! I'm fine, I just came in here to check on Yukari. What time is it?"

"Confusion over time? Normal in these cases," she granted magnanimously, "You have approximately two minutes until the next class begins, but are you sure you're okay? Have you been recently concussed? Your transformation seems quite rushed, since you neglected to remove clothing that would otherwise be damaged in doing so. As a health care provider, I would be remiss in my duties if I let you go to class without making sure you're in good health."

"Huh? Oh come on!" he groaned when he looked over his shoulder and saw the wings balanced behind him. "This stuff was brand new! What is going on with me today?"

And it was a question he meant far more seriously than the tone it was spoken in. Even as he willed the extensions to go away, it took greater effort than it would have just yesterday, in line with what he had experienced that morning with Mizore's abilities.

But he knew now what had been bothering him in Yukari's dream, where he had inexplicably regained his true form regardless of the annoyance around his neck. The reason he hadn't noticed the change was because he hadn't felt any different at the time. He had gotten used to his power being muted even to his own senses, but before he had taken on the rosary he had felt…invincible. The power made him feel like he could do anything, like his muscles were constantly ready, daring to be used. It was practically a physical thing inside him, rushing to be exposed, to tell everyone and everything around how powerful he was. It resounded in everything he did, everything he was, until even his voice thundered in his ears with its effects. It was so ingrained he had never even noticed how much he had until he wasn't able to access it anymore. He hadn't felt that in the dream.

Yet another thing to discuss with the others when they had the time.

"Thanks, it was getting stuffy back there!" Yukari jibed as she crawled around him. "So you must have transformed instinctively when you did…what you did," she finished lamely when she noticed the nurse.

"Ah, Sendou-chan," the mummy acknowledged, "Are you feeling better?"

"Better than I was! Now come on Tsukune, we need to go!"

She had almost pulled him from the bed when he blushed and sat down again. Yeah, there was definitely air flow where there shouldn't be. "I can't! My clothes, remember?"

Yukari slapped her forehead. "Of course. Here." That said, she grabbed her wand from the bedside table and tapped it to his top and pants in turn. "Now let's go, we're already late ~desu!"

When he felt for the hole his tail had made, nothing but smooth fabric met his fingers. "You're teaching me how to do that," he stated, dead serious, as visions of no more uniform costs danced in his head.

She giggled at the look on his face. "None of it was missing, so it was simple to get the threads to reattach. Now go—go go go, come on!"

As she pushed him out the door, she threw a last glance over her shoulder. "Thanks for everything! And Rei, we'll go over what you read after school, alright?"

The door shut.

"A~nd they're gone. My, what a rush you young people are in nowadays. They didn't even ask for a note for their next teacher," the bandaged nurse mused aloud.

Silver eyes slid sideways as Rei picked up her book. "Then would you be terribly opposed to letting me ask for them?"

A Familiar's work, it seemed, was never done.

V^^^V

Neither was Tsukune's, because while Rei had saved his and Yukari's tardiness issue earlier that day, it didn't change the fact that he had said he would be joining the janitors after school. At the time he had just been glad that he wasn't scrubbing toilets, but sweeping even one of the expansive hallways of Youkai Academy wasn't a small chore by any means, and he had been given a whole wing. At least the school had more mechanical methods of making washing those same floors easier, but sweeping was still a must.

He had been surprised by how many people approached him though—many of them curiously of the female variety—but it was actually quite comforting that they felt they could come to him for information about the Commission, even if he had told them so during his part of the speech. That was a couple of hours down the drain right there.

Currently he had another problem on his hands. Seeing that they didn't have any other pressing matters that day—which they didn't see happening very often in the immediate future—the others had already made their way to Paradise for more practice. That wasn't the problem; he had long begun to find their training in Paradise to be kind of relaxing. Sure it was exhausting and often painful, but at the end of the day he always felt better after having exercised the strength he had worked so hard to develop.

Finding them wasn't the problem either. He had no lack of experience tracking, especially in Paradise. Even without that he knew Moka was off with Kokoa, Mizore had probably paired with Noriko as they were wont to do, and if Rei was with Yukari and Ruby like usual that meant poor Isao was with Kurumu if she wasn't with any of the others and letting him slack off.

So it was simple when he actually put his experience to use to find who he wanted to. His problem had more to do with the fact that he really didn't want to find any of them anymore, not after what he had discovered on his way over. But he had made a promise.

Both Ruby and Yukari were delighted that he had sought them out, and Ruby showed him that enthusiastically when she tried to wrap her tongue around his tonsils.

"Ahem," Yukari coughed pointedly, and Ruby removed herself from her lover with an embarrassed giggle. Tsukune's mood was practically impossible to maintain after such a greeting, and he grinned before pulling her back for a quick encore.

Cheeks flushed red, Ruby smiled shyly as she was let go and tried not to rub her thighs together. Tsukune being assertive never failed to get her motor running. "Good afternoon, Tsukune."

"It definitely is now, Ruby. Thanks."

She flushed darker.

Yukari coughed again, but her smirk was wholly playful rather than annoyed. "Yes yes, lovey-dovey later, explanations now. What'cha up to, Tsukune? Normally you're with our cute kouhai."

She rarely referred to Isao by name, since he was one of the few people who acknowledged her as his senior schoolmate.

"Well, I thought since you've been out here for a while already you wouldn't be opposed to a little rest around now," he replied easily, his gaze knowing.

The little witch gawked at him before jumping into his arms with an excited squeal, which only confused the other two currently watching. To Yukari's delight, he didn't put her down, merely settled her against his chest more comfortably like she weighed nothing at all. As she rested her head against the firm planes of his torso she knew that to him, she probably did.

She saw Ruby looking on curiously as Rei smirked behind her, and felt her face heat up when he settled cross-legged in the shade offered by the nearest tree and set her in the bowl of his legs. She swallowed nervously. While she knew he wasn't trying to excite her, she was a hormonal teenager a mere shift in position away from the lap of one of her crushes—and he was still holding her! As if his arms weren't enough, demonic wings burst from his back with a sound not unlike unfolding leather, and soon they and his tail were cocooned around them, further hiding them from the light.

So there she was, not just sitting next to Tsukune but sitting on him, their shrouded faces mere inches from each other. Her heart felt like it was going to hammer out of her chest it was beating so hard and he expected her to try to sleep at a time like this!?

His honey-brown eyes seemed to glow in the meager streams of sunlight not blocked by his wings, and despite herself she felt her eyelids fluttering closed.

"Kurumu said she could do this, so I figured I should be able to too. I'll see you soon, alright Yukari?" he whispered softly, and she made a sound that might have been an agreement before her head fell against his shoulder, fast asleep. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then gently pressed his forehead against hers. He had only done this once before, and on accident no less, but he doubted it would matter.

He had never put anyone to sleep with Kurumu's abilities either, and that had been almost frighteningly easy.

Just as he thought, those once-borrowed gifts jumped to the fore with but the slightest inclination of their need—then he felt the now familiar sensation of fading into blackness.

In moments, though there were two bodies still sitting in the shade, two minds were somewhere else entirely.

V^^^V

Tsukune stepped through a shattered hole in Yukari's dream-reality for the second time that day, but this time he was a lot calmer about the prospect of this new power than he was before. He absently looked down at his hands, and was unsurprised when they shook, sprouted incubus claws and shook back to normal.

Yeah, that wasn't disconcerting at all.

Huh, he thought speculatively. Whatever it had been before, the dreamspace now looked like the inside of a house. It was…quite homey actually, with a positively massive bookshelf dominating one wall of the living room he was standing in. The smell of fresh baking wafted from the kitchen across from him, and he had to admit, even for a dream—where anything was potentially possible—this was…very nice. The house wasn't huge, but it was certainly a nice home for a small family. Kind of like his own.

Then Yukari came skipping around the corner, beaming from ear to ear. "Heya, Tsukune! This is so cool! I could tell the instant you were here, and then I could control everything! Everything ~desu! Instant lucid dreaming! We are SOO abusing the kerfuffles out of this!"

Her enthusiasm was too infectious for him to not smile back. "So this is somewhere you know, then?"

"My house!" she chirped happily. "So technically I'm the first one to get you into their home! Take that, Kurumu!"

"To be honest I'm shocked I didn't appear in your bedroom then."

"Don't think I didn't want to," she pouted, "but I checked my mirror; still thirteen and that's one thing I can't change—probably for the same reason you look like your vampire self in here. I had a lot of time to think on this today, and that just confirmed it for me. This isn't about how we usually look, these are our mental avatars, and you can't lie to yourself…unless you're crazy, but I don't think any of us are that kind of crazy."

As she rattled that off, Tsukune had to admit she made sense. It figured that she thought a day was plenty of time to think on something. He gave a noncommittal hum of agreement as he went back to looking over the house he found himself in, and out of curiosity picked out one of the books on the shelf. To his surprise, he found it was actually filled with content…and strangely made him smell lemon tarts. Eyebrow raised, he checked another. And another.

"These are books. Actual books," he said dumbly.

"Well, yeah. It may be a dream, but this is happening in my head. Even if I didn't remember every line of those books, there's a common theory out there that we subconsciously remember everything we do and that's the reason dreams can be as weird as they are. The whole thing is imagination and data mixing together as our minds sort through the day. I'm sure we could even find a few full books in Kurumu's dreams somewhere."

They shared a look, then broke out laughing.

"That wasn't very nice, Yukari."

"Aw, I'm sure she'll get over it."

"So," he drawled after another laugh, "your brain is just as impressive as ever, isn't it? I saw your score: number one three years and counting. Why are you still in high school?"

She fidgeted nervously. Giggled. Looked at him. Blushed.

He cupped his face in his hands and groaned. "You didn't want to leave us behind, did you?"

"That's part of it," she agreed easily, "maybe even most of it, but it isn't bad. I'll be graduating at fourteen, how much worse do you think it would be if I was in university even before that? They would have a hard time taking me seriously, and even when they did when I inevitably make them eat their scores, how many friends would I have? I can go to university now knowing I've got a family waiting for me to come home to. I've got the best of both worlds now."

Tsukune sighed and slumped into the couch. "You are seriously scary smart; you did have the good sense to fall in love with Moka too. That's probably the only thing I'll ever beat you at there." He cracked an eye open to look at her critically. "But even smart people can be off sometimes. We've never really talked about what we're going to do after school, but Mizore wants kids, Moka wants university, I think Kurumu wants to start her career, Ruby'll keep her job here…that's a lot. We're going to have to find a place to live, even if it's near Mizore's parents' place if they help us out. But Yukari, what will your parents think if you want to live with us? They hardly see you since you're at a boarding school so much of the year, and like you said: you'll still only be fourteen when we graduate."

"That is true," she grumbled as she settled beside him. "I guess I didn't think of my parents in the grand scheme of things. But! Ruby and I are almost done the plans for our teleportation talismans! That should make things easier even if I can only do day trips to you between school and them! I'll just have to work extra hard to get it done as soon as I can!"

"Really? Not done revolutionizing magic quite yet?"

She giggled. "Not a chance! I'm hoping our new 'advisor' will be able to help me in a few places. We've…kind of hit a bit of a roadblock. Ruby was actually allowed to look at the finer workings of the headmaster's Rosary of Judgement, but that turned out to be a bust. No surprise, since it's like comparing a supercomputer to a pocket calculator. Isolating the one bit we would need for these talismans would be like searching for a needle in a stack of other needles, and there's no telling if the way it's implemented there is the same way I've theorized. The Judgement Artifacts are…kind of hard to classify in magical terms. I think that's why the headmaster let her see it in the first place. But since we've all seen that she has real experience in the field, I think it will help a lot!"

"So I guess we're playing the waiting game until then."

When nothing else was forthcoming, he fiddled with his hands, then finally clapped and snapped to his feet. "Well! That's enough introspecting for the day, are you going to show me around?"

V^^^V

It was easy to distract himself with other things as they explored Yukari's childhood haunts. They had never had occasion to simply sit down and talk, and here in her dreams they could do so much more than that. For all they knew about each other, there was just as much they didn't know, and Yukari was happy to remedy that.

She showed him around her house, her neighbourhood, and introduced him to facsimiles of the coven that gathered from the surrounding area. It was a small but friendly group, he discovered, as she played through some of her fondest memories of them. He found her house the most interesting, because every once in a while they stumbled upon the odd post-it note somewhere out of place but easily found, with variations of "I love you," or "I'm so proud of you," written in colorful inks. Rather than smell, from them he always felt a bone-deep warmth that was frankly invigorating to the soul. It was a singularly unique experience.

He found out that the reason he usually smelled something when looking over an item was because of how 'memory palaces' worked. It wasn't like in a fantasy story where everything was stored alphabetically or labeled like books, but rather that certain memories were associated with something else and the thought of that thing would bring up the memory of what it was associated with. She had never seen what kinds of effects lucid dreaming would have on a memory palace, but the physicality of her memories was an interesting thing to experience, and something she vowed they would explore further at a later date.

He also learned that she knew sign language, and the reason for that and those notes were one and the same—she had never heard her mother's voice until she was nine years old. Apparently she wasn't the only gifted witch in her family, as her mom was widely known in the worldwide community of halfbloods for her similar leaps in magical prowess. In fact, she had become so powerful and proficient with magic that it started acting at her every word, which, Yukari explained, was why the first actual instruction Ruby had left in his notebook outside of the language was to find a trigger phrase to get him in the right state of mind for casting. It was to become habit so that a magician didn't use their power unintentionally, which was also the reason for the esoteric language. Good in theory, but of course, not so simple in practice. Good magicians like herself could cast silently if they were familiar enough with the spell, but what would happen if a magician was so familiar with their magic, so connected with their focus and in tune with the language, that their whim came to life with but a word given voice?

It was actually one of Yukari's first major papers submitted to the magical community, and the first indication to the world at large that Fujiko Sendo's daughter was someone to take seriously even at so young an age. Together, it still took mother and daughter a long time to circumvent her silence, but Yukari treasured every one of the notes she found at the strangest times, placed just to remind her transcribed what her mom couldn't say aloud. It made it all the more special when the first thing she had heard her mom say to her had been, "I love you."

It made his own problem feel so very petty.

So as they explored some of his happier memories of where he grew up, he told her. How he had seen the test scores posted after he was done his self-imposed detention and worried that Moka would be disappointed in him—that she expected more from a vampire, like herself. How he was certain he had done better and the nagging anxiety that told him it wouldn't be good enough for later on, just like his scores for high school. It had hurt a little when she laughed, but she assured him she for one was impressed with how high he had jumped in the placements compared to his first year, and even how Kokoa had grumbled about how the 'effin incubus' would naturally find himself placed 69th overall.

Of course they had already known, they just hadn't thought anything of it. As he looked back on it, he was kind of embarrassed he had given it the reaction he did.

Yukari was pleased to be placed in his confidence. She learned obscure little things about him that she wasn't certain even Moka knew, and some not so little. Like how he had initially struggled with having a relationship with more than one of their family because of how much he knew his father loved his mother. How he had grown up with few friends outside of Kyouko because of the social stigma his father had sadly gained by working what he needed to and little else, securing himself forever resigned to middle-management but allowing himself time to be at home with his wife. How Tsukune had fought a niggling resentment for his father for the longest time because of it, even though Kyouko had tried to explain it to him. How that resentment turned to respect when he met them and finally understood what Kyouko had been trying to say. How in the beginning he wasn't certain if having more than one of them would allow him to show that kind of love to each of them as they deserved…then finally resolving to try anyway if they were willing to.

With that came his worry about where they should eventually live. Since he knew Mizore wanted to start a family as soon as possible, he knew he would need to find work, but he also knew he didn't want to spend all his time working and miss out on the family he had made like so many of his countrymen. He also didn't want to make his kids go through the same thing he did, which put him between a rock and a hard place, and since he didn't know much about youkai settlements, he wanted to know if that was a viable alternative.

Before that moment, Yukari had thought she had already reached the limit of how much one person could want to kiss another. Tsukune's maturity in some things never failed to surprise her at the oddest times, and while she was arguably even more advanced for her age, the things that weighed on him constantly were things she could usually say had only passingly crossed her mind. It made loving him so much easier and waiting for him so much harder.

They talked, they laughed, they even—somehow—managed to play arcade games at a store Tsukune and Kyouko had frequented often when they had their allowance, and roamed the park they went to when that ran out.

Yukari wasn't certain how first dates usually went, but she was certain the only way hers could have gotten any better was if it had crossed into triple-X ratings. Or if Moka was involved. Or both.

Both, definitely both.

Only one thousand, six hundred and forty-two days left 'til her eighteenth birthday.

Not that she was counting or anything.

.

V^^^V

.

Five weeks; just over four if she was being technical. Noriko Myobu had counted thirty-two days since term had started, and she was fairly surprised she had lasted one day after that stunt Tsukune had pulled at the opening assembly. While her cousin hadn't featured personally in the illusion shared with practically the entire school, the Third Years had to know who that fiery fate had been bestowed by, and there was enough family resemblance between them to make Noriko honestly worried for her well-being after the fact.

As one of two hand-picked for leadership both that year and beyond, she had to be an example for her classmates, and the odd time she was confronted, Tsukune's words rang constantly in her head. He had known from the second he saw her what she would be facing, and as much as it irked her, it was a lot easier to see where they were coming from now. Luckily for her, the other thing that illusion had done was give everyone a healthy respect for fire. Generally, for those confrontations that looked like they were going to get physical, all she had needed to do was light up her hands and they backed off. Generally. It wouldn't be a school for monsters if the odd fight didn't break out every now and then. The paperwork that generated sucked. Of course that usually got her in trouble with the person she was patrolling with at the time, but that only happened when that person wasn't from the Newspaper Club. The one time it had happened when she was with Mizore, the snow woman had even offered her a smirk.

Considering how expressive she was when not around her friends—that is: not at all—Noriko counted it as a win. Out of the entire PSC, maybe even the entire school, she liked Mizore the most. She had other friends of course, but the long hours spent with Mizore had gained the two a kind of easy harmony all the more important to Noriko, because she found she looked up to the older teen a great deal more than she expected to when they met.

The thought of the other Commission members took Noriko's mind back to what they had accomplished over the past month.

The patrol schedule had only experienced a few hiccups in implementation, since they were all technically on duty at all times. They had a few radios for use, four of which were always with the leaders, three were reserved for those on duty, and one was left in the clubroom just in case. The staff had one in their lounge too, in case they needed to be called. They had only needed to be used a few times, but that was enough to prove their worth.

More embarrassing was what the Commission planned to do for the festival. Since they were in charge of security they couldn't really be part of what their respective homerooms were doing, so someone had suggested they participate in the spirit of the season—as a group. Of course everyone loved the idea, given the emphasis costumes had been given at the announcement, but no one could agree on what to go as. She would have preferred that to be the end of it, but no, someone had a brainwave and most everyone sans her had loved the idea. Moka in particular thought it to be delicious irony. The only possible setback had been the procurement of the often elaborate costumes for such diverse sizes, but no, someone had offered an easy solution in the form of magical means. Then the excitement got real. She knew most of the Commission was eagerly looking forward to the festival now, for more reasons than before after their senior leaders had surprised them with test cases later on.

Any irritation she had kept for Tsukune Aono since that dumbass suggestion kind of evaporated when she got a firsthand look at how delicious his ass looked in that…abomination. It didn't show off the muscles she knew he had near as much as she expected either, which seemed impossible given what the abominations were constructed from.

The imaginations triggered by seeing Moka in something similar were better left unexplored. As if that wasn't enough, she could practically smell the lust as they pictured Kurumu in an outfit of her own.

The curvaceous succubus obviously knew this too, by her positively wicked grin.

Then again, Noriko knew she really wasn't one to talk about imaginations, considering what had been going through her mind as she subtly—or what she hoped was subtly—ogled the fine male specimen showcased before her. She was a teenager, practically made of hormones; she was allowed to look—and fantasize—so long as she remembered he was taken. And boy, taken really summed it up well.

The first week had been the easiest, for a given value of easy anyway. The Newspaper Club had put out the PSC edition they had worked on over the break, and it really had helped their public perception as the Commission worked to get itself working smoothly. It had also been when sign-up and interviews were held for the job experience course, and while some Third Years had signed up, since most of them were looking for further education after graduation, they were a minority among the enthusiastic First and Second Years. She shouldn't have been surprised that the whole of the Newspaper Club barring Yukari and Rei had signed up, but perhaps that had been because she had been holding out hope for the continuation of their training sessions. It had been pleasant to find that they still had them scheduled, even if it was only for the hour before curfew.

She soon came to realize that amount had been exchanged for intensity, and she had thought they were intense before.

Week two had started the training process for those involved in job experience, outlining the dangers of the various jobsites and the safety equipment they would be wearing. If it wasn't an actual course the process would have been even faster, but as paperwork needed to be done as did book-learning before practical-learning, that time was stretched out. As it was, the projects that were proposed to be done by the school festival were started by heavy equipment the students couldn't work around anyway, so it still worked out.

Week three had been when the stress fractures began to show. With the changing of the seasons—finally noticeable thanks to a dragon's influence—a flu bug had been going around, and Mizore had been hit harder than most. She had been nauseous on and off constantly, and that made her more irritable than normal. Since her eating habits suffered, so did her strength, and coupled with her irritability had made their sessions…unstable. Some days her mentor's ice would seem to barely hold itself up against her fire, and others she was pouring everything she had into restraining the tidal wave of frozen death trying to eat her up.

The schedule faced frequent changes too as people switched off with those sick, and keeping everything fair was a constant challenge to the four leaders—two of which were being spread increasingly thin. Neither she nor Isao had tried out for the job experience course, even with the prospect of being paid. Isao because…well, she thought it was because he was a lazy bastard; but she hadn't because she had worried about this exact possibility.

Between homework, studying, club activities, festival prep, job experience, PSC duties, and still taking the time to help their junior leaders improve, most of the Newspaper Club was dealing with enough for two people individually on a daily basis. Tsukune and Moka especially, since they were the ones that had to deal with any problems from the Commission outside of any normal obligation.

Honestly, she didn't know how they did it. There just didn't seem to be enough time in a day to do all they did and get enough sleep to wake up the next day and do it all over again. Tsukune did it with a smile.

She supposed it was only a matter of time until she began entertaining, or perhaps recognizing that smile in her more risqué dreams. Not like it was a surprise. Both of the girls she had been friends with before they all became members of the Public Safety Commission thought he was hot; which was why they weren't keen to remind him that he had actually met them before. Drywall dust and wood chips do not a good first impression make, though it did explain why he didn't recognize them. She had been ribbed on more than one occasion about how lucky she was to be getting private instruction with the senior leaders. They were joking of course, and by now in the middle of week five it had become a private joke between them to refer to personal time as private instruction. With the dreams she had been having lately, it wasn't even that far off anymore.

Her thighs tingled at the memory, and Noriko shifted in her chair and looked at the clock she had on her nightstand. She was almost done her homework for the day, and it was still quite a while until their regularly scheduled torture/training. If she wanted, she'd definitely have enough time to…

"Attention, captains of the Public Safety Commission; this is the headmaster," crackled the radio beside her open notebook.

She huffed in exasperation as she rolled her eyes at the interruption. Then logic reared its ugly head. She paused, eyeing the little black device on her desk not unlike a live grenade. She knew the staff had a radio, but the headmaster? She had only spoken to him once in person, and even if it turned out it had been his way to introduce her to Tsukune, it had still been a nerve-wracking experience. All monsters respected power, and the headmaster of Youkai Academy was recognized the world over as a Dark Lord. Sometimes it still boggled her mind when she thought of how the Newspaper Club talked about him—and about how much they interacted with him. Maybe that was the reason he was taking the time to personally—

"Sometime this afternoon there was an altercation between two PSC members and a number of as-of-yet unknown students, which resulted in the hospitalization of the Commission members. Faculty is onsite and an investigation is underway. If you have any information you think could be relevant to this attack, please inform a staff member at your earliest convenience."

The line went dead, and so did something in the pit of Noriko's stomach.

That dread quickly thawed from ice straight into a towering inferno of rage. She knew who was patrolling today, but more than that she knew who was patrolling personally.

"Of all the cliché, piss-poor, lame-brained excuses for…" she spat under her breath, already stripping her all-too-flammable clothes as she ran for the door. It hadn't even shut before fire lit the sky and it was a flaming kitsune making its way across campus at a breakneck pace. Her sense of smell was only slightly more powerful than a regular human's when in their shape, but that was nothing compared to when she was as she was meant to be.

Oh she had a very good idea of what had happened. Clichés existed for a reason after all; it was because they worked. When it came to revenge, there was one that sat above all: 'if a target is too powerful or protected, there is always someone close to them that isn't.' Classic Friendly Target.

She had only two close friends, and that was the way she preferred it. She had plenty of acquaintances in the PSC, she was on good terms with most of the Newspaper Club, and she had something that she had no idea what it might turn into with Isao, but she really only had two close friends. In typical fashion, that would make them stand out for people looking to get at her, for whatever reason they deluded themselves into having.

But—and oh how she enjoyed the thought—clichés went more than one way; that was why there were tropes. And they had just Mugged the Monster. All the more literal this time, considering the setting. If they thought she would surround herself with people who didn't know how to take care of themselves, they had another thing coming. The very fact that they had made it into the PSC with her should have been enough of a clue for that.

She also knew that even if Hitomi and her mentor had been incapacitated, there would doubtless be at least one suspect in custody. It was practically impossible for there not to be, given what Hitomi was. She found a few false leads from bloody scent trails which lead to the gym and karate club dojo, but she was sure she found the right one when she encountered a smell too noxious to adequately describe. Following that, and tallying her trek to well across almost the entire grounds all told, the first thing that caught her eye—apart from the veritable war-zone the surrounding space resembled—was the two stone statues of students in stages of panic. She managed to keep her dark laughter inside, but she couldn't keep the vindication out of her eyes as she looked at their panicked expressions.

It made her relax, even if infinitesimally. There wasn't just an investigation underway, there wasn't much need for an investigation in the first place. They just needed to wait for Hitomi to de-petrify the witnesses so they could get more names. It wasn't as if scent could be used for further identification. The smell at the source was unbelievable, and she would have transformed back to her human disguise if she wouldn't also be incredibly naked were she to do so.

On her way to enlighten the group of official-looking adults about the likely circumstances of the attack, her sensitive ears pricked and a young woman fell from the sky into a picture perfect three-point landing. Of course, with this young woman, Noriko wouldn't expect anything else.

It did explain the itch at the back of her neck since school ended, now much stronger with the source right in front of her.

'Inner' Moka had been swapping places with her Outer personality ever since actual work had started on the construction projects, and she had been making every effort to keep her youki output as low as possible. In hindsight, Noriko knew she shouldn't have been surprised such a thing was possible, but even as low as she could make it, Inner Moka's aura could still make other monsters' skin crawl instinctively. From across campus. She took a certain amount of vindictive glee in how Moka's immaculate features scrunched up and she instantly grabbed for a handkerchief to cover her nose.

Though blinking back tears at the overpowering smell, those reptilian eyes took in the entire scene with one glance. "Friends of yours?" she asked brusquely, already putting her work gloves into the back pocket of her jeans as she walked over to the statues.

Noriko padded beside her, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Not hardly, Captain Akashiya. I don't recognize them, but I have had my share of confrontations already…and my friend Hitomi was scheduled for patrol today. She would do the same for me."

The vampiress hummed thoughtfully through her makeshift mask as she examined the area around the frozen students. "Since you're not surprised by this, you must know either she or her mentor is capable of petrification then?"

"Hitomi, Hitomi Raida" she confirmed.

"That figures," Inner Moka muttered quietly, but Noriko's sensitive ears heard her regardless. She filed that tidbit away in the mental folder she had for all the reasons Inner Moka seemed to dislike her.

Unlike Isao, who had been getting plenty of time with his captain of equivalent gender, Moka hardly associated with her even in her pink-haired form. To be fair, the outer Moka offered civil responses if pressed, but the silver-haired true vampire only just managed to keep her contempt hidden. On the surface, that should have been enough for them to at least look like they got along, but to Noriko the truth was all too clear, and that chafed at their every interaction. Then again, considering Moka's speech at the beginning of the semester, Tsukune's illusion would have only reinforced her wariness of the youko so like the one they had previous dealings with. Not that it made it any easier for Noriko to deal with, but she reminded herself of it often when she and Moka butted heads. As it was, she and the vampiress had a tumultuous relationship best described as live and let live.

"Why are you here, anyway? I know Hitomi and I've got a good idea why these jackoffs decided to attack her, but you're…" She took pride in not quailing under Moka's unimpressed look, and simply raised a vulpine eyebrow.

"Someone under my authority was hurt. I'm going to know why and how. You answered the why, now for the how."

"Then our next stop is wherever they took Hitomi. They're not going to be telling us anything until she's back here, and even I wouldn't be able to follow a scent through this sewer unless I had an item to gain a baseline."

Moka nodded reluctantly. "Tsukune made a spell that can eliminate scents, but that wouldn't work since it gets rid of every scent." Hopefully the youko wouldn't look too deeply into that. The preceding weeks would have been far more unbearable without it.

"Huh. I didn't know that. Thankfully my human form can ignore the exhaust the heavy machinery doing construction puts out. A spell would explain why it's not more prevalent."

Her senior blinked, as if just reaching that conclusion herself, and Noriko's eyes narrowed even as the skin behind Moka's handkerchief pinkened tellingly. The silence stretched into uncomfortable…until Moka finally decided to ignore the subject completely and started for the group of staff still chatting nearby. Noriko's grin went from ear to ear as she sauntered behind. Moka liked to encourage her 'invincible' image—and it wasn't entirely without merit—but every now and then that image cracked. Noriko wouldn't say she lived for those moments, but the days in which they happened were always brighter.

Moka may be an S-class youkai, but youko were too. The most recognizable of their race, the Nine-Tails, were powerful enough to be worshipped as gods. It irked her something fierce for Moka to look down on her, but she had to bite her tongue and take it because point of the matter was: despite their similar ranking, she was far from nine tails, and there was no denying Moka's power.

Her thoughts were derailed as the woman in question jerked suddenly, with possibly the most undignified noise she had ever heard her make.

She snorted before she could stop herself. "You okay?" she asked, valiantly holding the rest of her laughter back.

Moka glowered, but it definitely wasn't in top form. She was more confused than upset. "I…don't know. That was…strange."

She might have said more, but then the earthquake hit—rather, it felt like an earthquake. The air shook almost as much as the ground as a furious roar that seemed to come from everywhere tore the relative peace of Youkai Academy, and the sky darkened momentarily as a great beast passed overhead.

"Was that…Rei?"

That was surprising. Rei and Yukari had been thick as thieves since school started back up, and practically the only time anyone saw either of them was during classes or before they all called it a night. What has her panties in a twist now? Probably would have been a better metaphor if Rei wore panties—and hadn't that been a shock to discover—but semantics.

Moka however had turned contemplative, inward, to the bond between blood-bound vampires Tsukune had been making both she and Omote ever-more aware of since he had gained access to it. It was awfully silent, impossibly silent for something that had hardly quietened in weeks—unless someone was purposely silencing it from his end. Her eyes darted to the student-shaped statues almost of their own accord.

"Oh he wouldn't." And if she said it enough, she might even begin to believe it. "He didn't. Did. Not. Nope." She hissed a breath through grit teeth and nodded to herself. "Yup—gonna kill him; I might actually kill him this time."

Noriko normally might have taken the time to tweak Moka just a bit, especially considering what she had just learned, if not for the fraying of the fine control the vampiress had been so careful to preserve.

There were few things more terrifying than witnessing what should be a strictly metaphysical phenomenon gain visible, tangible expression in the physical realm. At first, this manifested as an eldritch glow that almost dripped in its potency out of Moka's very pores, but as it grew it began to affect the entire environment around her. Being that Youkai Academy was encompassed within a dimensional barrier few sapient beings could even begin to appreciate, let alone understand, the force of Moka's aura clashed with the energy of the Grand Barrier itself to produce a warped, hazy atmosphere that didn't so much cause an 'itch' at the back of their necks as it did ram a spike of sheer terror straight into their spines.

Then she was gone, so fast only the split ground at her feet marked her passage.

The spirit fox wasn't too proud to deny that even her legs weren't shaking after that little display. It seemed ludicrous to consider that she shared the same rank as this daiyoukai that truly deserved the title. But she did. And so too would she have that title.

One day.

She looked back to the duo of tails flicking behind her, blazing ragged trains so blue they were turning green at the edges. To think of how far she had come in not even two months…

One day…

For now, she would ensure the staff had every weapon at their disposal when Hitomi came back to thaw out her victims. Then, and only then, would she go to see her friend…and thank the one that would allow her to do so.

If Moka didn't kill him first.

.

V^^^V

.

Kurumu chuckled quietly as yet another of her coworkers almost killed themselves after failing to tear their eyes away from her. Lucky for them they were done for the day.

The weather may have been getting chillier as October lengthened, but it still didn't require more than long sleeves to compensate for it. Sweat was a part of life with physical labor, and hers just so happened to practically paste her shirts to her generous chest. It didn't help that even dirty and worn, she looked more like a pinup model for construction than someone that had actually walked off a construction site. The spring in her step didn't do much to hamper that assumption either. She virtually couldn't help it.

For the first time in her life, she, a succubus, one of the primordial seducers, beauties that often beggared imagination, was finally getting enough sex!

When she had figured out what Tsukune was doing with Yukari all those weeks ago, she had been torn between envy, awe, incredulity, and not a little amount of fear. The strength inherent of a vampire made it not as ridiculous as it seemed for how quickly he had went from simple parlor tricks to gymnasium-encompassing deliria, but dreamwalking…that was the realm of the Nightwalker—why that particular class of succubus gained their designation even. She hadn't even begun to show him how to do that. She hadn't even begun to think that he could do that. And they were using it to study! Then she thought of the possibilities.

The first time they shared a dream she showed him why succubae were considered the progenitor of nocturnal emissions. Best of all: time had very little bearing in dreams, so she couldn't even reasonably recall how long they went at it. Only that it involved nearly every possible position, and more than a few that just plain weren't.

Turns out that in dreams, succubae could make copies of themselves that could interact with the world around them, and they all shared sensation. Since Tsukune was an incubus in all but name…

The shiver she felt was not at all from the cold, and it went straight to her simmering nethers. She couldn't wait to find Tsukune and see if he was up for a little post-work fun before the next item on their agenda.

That was the other reason the succubus was finally feeling satisfied. The stress of their schedule didn't really show with how long they could spend in dreamland, but there was stress, and it did build. When Tsukune first asked if she wanted a quickie during lunch break her head swiveled to him so fast they probably heard her neck crack in the dorms. Apparently it was all thanks to Mizore's stern influence on the matter, and Kurumu had made sure to thank her appropriately.

Precedent set, the other girls were quick to partake of the offer whenever they could, and that was if Tsukune didn't come to them first. It had gotten to the point where he had started keeping condoms with him at all times, since Ruby's alchemical solution was much harder for the girls to tote around. It also made destroying the evidence much easier. Combined with the spell he had made chiefly for that purpose, she was one satiated succubus indeed.

So, either Moka hadn't taken advantage of her blood-mate yet today…or she had and lost control during. There were other explanations, but those were the ones Kurumu thought were the most fun. They also kept her from worrying about those other explanations. Both Moka and Tsukune had been called away from work before for PSC reasons, but none of those times had involved Rei, and Rei in full form no less. It didn't inspire confidence in what she would find. At least Moka had calmed herself in the meantime.

There was only one thing to do then, since she didn't know anything.

Mizore smiled wanly as she saw her duet partner approach. With all the sites currently being worked on, she was the only one working with another of their group. Tsukune and Moka were so used to being in—or being forced into—positions of authority, it wasn't surprising in the slightest that they were on separate jobsites as de-facto supervisors under their respective foremen. Somehow, Mizore had managed to follow him even there. She greeted her with a hug that was eagerly reciprocated.

"Howdy, babe. How you holding up?" Kurumu asked softly. Her sallow skin was a far cry from her regular wintery translucence, which meant her nausea must be acting up again.

"Same old same old. 'Least it must be a flu; don't know if I'd live it down if a snow woman caught a cold." Her bright blue eyes glittered with humor, and Kurumu laughed.

"So tell me: will we finally get you to a doc when we go find whatever it is our fearless leaders have done now, or was Moka's little freakout earlier a false alarm?"

The ice maiden sighed. "Looks like you might just get your wish. I overheard the headmaster reporting an attack on today's patrollers from Tsukune's radio. He didn't stick around too long after and hasn't been back since. Now he could have gone to the scene of the crime or~"

"…he went to find who was hurt," the Nightwalker finished as she buried her face in her hands. "Which means we're going to find him in the hospital bed they were just in. God dammit. That would explain Rei and Moka."

Mizore quirked a little grin. "He's going to need that hospital bed."

"Oh he won't have just them to worry about." Kurumu's nails flashed to their full length. "And we're finally going to get you in for a checkup. I swear…"

The grin turned unrepentantly wider. "I don't know, between you and Tsukune I think I enjoy all the attention."

Her lover's amethyst eyes darkened with intensity. "You'd know all about being between me and Tsukune, wouldn't you?" She ran a finger down a pulse-point tenderly, and Mizore's eyelids fluttered. Yes, she definitely knew that. "Now come on; we both need a shower before we bother going anywhere."

The snow woman couldn't follow her fast enough.

V^^^V

Tsukune came to awareness faster than he had the last time he was in a similar position, and his eyes instantly began to follow the swirling trails of light dancing beside his bed. It took a few seconds for him to realize it wasn't his bed, and soon after to realize the dancing lights were actually two flaming tails, wagging lazily through the air.

"That didn't take as long as I thought it would, considering what you did to get to Hitomi and Maki-senpai," the youko commented idly, as if breaking into emergency surgery was an everyday occurrence.

Tsukune gave a rueful smile and groaned deeply as he stretched. Thank goodness he had filled up on as many doctors and nurses as he could beforehand. They had all admitted to being curious about his ability when he explained his reasoning, but he certainly had to talk fast. "Well, I knew what I was doing this time, I didn't just jump into this feet first like I usually do. I even thought to save my uniform when I saw how bad off they were—until then I thought I might have been able to tough through it." He chuckled at that.

"Yes, you most definitely reflected upon this more than wonted," said someone from the shadows of the room, voice dripping with sarcasm. "You even had the foresight to dull your connections beforehand. Therefore, what transpired when you turned your body into a conduit for the pain of two persons beaten to near death, those dulled connections did not hide that act—" A harsh glow illuminated the nostrils and razor-sharp teeth of a furious Rei as she stepped out from behind Noriko, arms crossed. "—they merely made it a surprise. How shall I repay you for that, I wonder?"

His chuckle then was decidedly nervous, and he scratched the side of his head. "Uh, he-hello, Rei-chan; you're looking lovely today."

She was, even though she was only wrapped in a white bedsheet. She had added a full year to her appearance since the start of the semester, and the once short little girl had not only shot past Mizore and Kurumu, but was already taller than Moka and almost as tall as Ruby. For a girl that looked three years younger than one and five years younger than the other, it was clear she wasn't done growing either. Privately, Tsukune suspected she wouldn't stop until she was as tall as he was. She had always considered herself his partner, his equal in everything; he could easily see that translating into her eventual stature. Alternatively, since she also considered her true form perfection, she could very well end up taller than him in an unconscious desire to emulate it.

That emulation was already clear enough. Her human body was perfect to a fault. Normally such rapid growth would have left a person tall but gangly as they filled in; Rei had bypassed that stage entirely. Her curves were small but more than apparent, just as the rest of her was lush and finely muscled under her dark, blemish-free skin. She was symmetrical to the point of the uncanny. Similarly, she looked just as unimpressed as she had before his compliment.

"Do not 'Rei-chan' me, Tsukki. 'Twill not work."

This time, went unsaid. Luckily the darkness of the room and her skin hid the slight blush even the smallest of praises had engendered.

"Oh please, you're about as firm as a bag of marshmallows when it comes to him," Moka interjected from her place unnoticed in one of the room's chairs, resting her cheek on her fist.

Tsukune damn near leaped off the bed. "M-M-Moka! You're here! I mean, of course you're here! Rei's here, so you…" He hung his head. "Shit."

Her smile was all malice, and the way her eyebrow was twitching didn't bode well for him. "'Shit' doesn't even begin to describe what you're in, Tsukune Aono."

He gulped.

Moka pointed at Noriko then at the door, and the spirit fox rolled her eyes and slipped from the room, settling down just outside to listen with great amusement as Moka verbally tore a strip off her blood-mate with increasingly colorful language.

"You could have waited in there with me, you know," Noriko said to the girl sitting on the other side of the hall, face burning at what she was hearing.

Hitomi Raida adjusted her wire-framed glasses out of habit and tried to hide behind her incredibly long hair. "I-I've spoken to him, like, two times. I'm not going to invite myself into his hospital room!" She leaned towards her friend after checking to make sure the hall was clear. "Not with Captain Akashiya in there too! S-She's scary when she has silver hair, but she's scarier than normal today."

Unfortunately, Noriko understood the sentiment. "Don't take it personally. Really, don't. She's prickly on her best days. Plus, her boyfriend just did something incredibly stupid for someone he barely knew."

As expected, that lit up Hitomi's face again. "Why did he do it, you think?"

The flaming fox rolled her shoulders in the vulpine approximation of a shrug. "It's just who he is. You and Maki-senpai are PSC too; he probably felt responsible for you. Whatever his reasons, I'm grateful for it."

She smiled bashfully as she pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "I'll admit seeing your ugly mug was one of the better things I could have imagined after waking up from that, all things considered."

"Thanks, bitch," Noriko retorted dryly.

"Don't mention it, whore," her friend replied with a smile.

They laughed, then laughed harder as the door to Tsukune's room shook after a particularly vulgar length of obscenities.

"What do you think she's doing to him in there, hm?"

"Private instruction?"

The fire that made up Noriko's cheeks flared brighter, but then she waved her head, as if contemplating the possibility. "Nah. She usually looks like she wants to rip off his clothes. Today she seemed more likely to rip off his head."

Hitomi giggled, and the youko grinned as she laid onto her paws. Not seconds later she was upright again, as she caught sight of Mizore and Kurumu walking towards them. Mizore looked rather like she had been clubbed upside the head, but funnier was the way she saw Hitomi turn red again out of her peripheral vision at Kurumu's ever-present swagger. Not like she had anything to complain about. Noriko glanced enviously at her well-developed chest, but even that managed to look small compared to the voluptuous succubus. She swore they had gotten even bigger!

A sculpted blue eyebrow rose inquisitively at the two in the hall, and a smirk followed when the noise of the room filtered through. "Kicked you out, huh?" She looked over Hitomi, who fidgeted under her gaze. "You look familiar, but I can't remember your name. You're PSC, right?"

The girl nodded jerkily, and Noriko saved her from having to talk by straightening to attention and explaining, "This is my friend, Hitomi Raida; same year as me. She and her mentor were the ones attacked today, and they would've been much worse off if Tsukune hadn't jumped in. Maki-senpai still hasn't woken up, but when she does we can start…dealing with the situation. The faculty already have two in custody, but they're not going anywhere until Hitomi here thaws them out."

That managed to get Mizore's attention. "Frozen?"

Hitomi gave a quick shake of her head and adjusted her glasses again. "Um, petrified, actually."

Kurumu whistled softly. "Whoo boy."

The youko barked a laugh. "That was about Captain Akashiya's reaction too."

"She would," the succubus snickered. "Gorgon?" From the girl's jump at the question, she knew she had hit the nail on the head. "Same name even. Damn, you know…no, I don't even know what to say to that. Round you two out with a few more monsters and you'd have all the pains in our collective ass from first year. And we thought you were bad enough," she said with a grin as she nodded at the fox so like Kuyou.

Noriko plopped down onto her belly and couldn't resist putting her paws over her eyes in frustration, while her friend giggled merrily. "Shut it, you." She just giggled harder.

"Well, as fun as this is, we did come here for a reason. Sounds like we should probably get in there before Moka hurts him too badly. Nice talking to you, Raida-chan. We'll see you around, Riko."

"But-but I haven't thanked him yet!" Hitomi blurted, and flushed once again when her senior's eyes turned to her.

Eventually, Kurumu sighed. "Look, now's not the best time. Just give it a little while to calm down then you can thank him all you like. It's not like Tsukune, or Moka for that matter, is going to let things end here. We're going to get the bastards that did that to you, but for now, why don't you see how your mentor is doing, okay?"

The gorgon nodded, subdued but appeased. "…Okay."

As the two trotted off, Mizore's pleasantly cool hand found hers. It was shaking. "Thank you," the ice maiden whispered.

She squeezed it gently. "Happy to help. Do you want to do the honours, or should I?"

With a deep breath, Mizore pushed open the door and stepped inside. Moka paused only momentarily in stalking around the room with her hands in her hair, but just as quickly resumed as she let out an aggrieved growl. Tsukune looked like he was trying to crawl into the wall and Rei looked entirely too amused by the show being presented. Normally it would have amused her too, but seeing them, seeing him, suddenly made everything so real her head felt light. She didn't even realize she was swaying on her feet until Kurumu's deceptively strong hands were steadying her from behind.

This is really happening, she thought, her impossibly blue eyes glistening as they trailed between Moka and Tsukune. This is really happening. This is really happening.

Her feet moved. One step at first, then another, slowly and carefully placing each foot in front of the other like the ground was going to fall out from under her at any moment. Then she was running, full sprint into a concerned Moka, who was not expecting her to wrap her arms around her neck and kiss her. She made a muffled sound half of protest, half pleasure, as the snow woman deepened the embrace almost without effort, angling them perfectly for her well-practiced tongue to be put to use. Red eyes were wider than they had ever been when she pulled away, and Mizore knew she was crying but she just couldn't care.

"I love you. I mean it, I love you. I've told you before but I had to tell you again, and I'll tell you as many times as it takes for you to know I mean it." Leaving the vampiress looking rather like she'd just been punched in the stomach, Mizore ran to Tsukune and literally jumped into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist so she could kiss him senseless. Tsukune happily obliged her. Her smile when they parted was radiant—tear tracks, runny nose and all.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Okay? I'm totally okay. One-hundred-percent A-Okay. I'm so okay I'm terrified," she laughed, but Tsukune knew she meant it because he could feel her trembling.

"That doesn't sound like you're okay. Are you feeling sick again?"

Mizore swallowed, sure she was looking him straight in the eyes as she said very deliberately, "I'm not sick, Tsukune. Turns out I was never actually sick. That's just a side-effect. I know why you couldn't heal me and why you couldn't figure out what was wrong. There was nothing wrong. Everything is so, so right but it wasn't supposed to happen and I'm so scared that you'll…" She sniffled, and wiped her face with her sleeve. "I'm not sick, Tsukune. I'm pregnant."

To be fair, he made certain she was safely back on her feet before he allowed himself to collapse onto the bed, her hands in his. Kurumu was next to her, grinning like a loon as a punch-drunk Moka stumbled to her mate and looked at Mizore with much the same expression.

"You're…what?"

"Pregnant," she repeated, unable to stop crying or smiling. "About a month along, they figure. They gave me another test to take tomorrow morning, but I know. I'm pregnant."

"H-How?" Tsukune finally managed to ask. "Not…not that I'm… But we've been very careful with…"

"That's what I thought too. That's why I didn't even consider…I thought I was just a little late," she said softly. "So then I started thinking about what we could have done, any time that could have changed. They think I'm a month along, Tsukune. We were only using the elixir back then. Ruby's contraception isn't something that can just be defeated like a forgotten pill or a broken condom. Why did it snow on September first without a cloud in the sky?"

It took a moment, but she could tell when he figured it out because his grip spasmed. He began chuckling helplessly. "Yeah. Yeah, that would probably do it, wouldn't it? All the more reason to leave the biting to the professionals."

She shrugged coyly, though she wasn't about to dispute the point. She had been the first one to say it, after all.

The silence stretched as everyone in the room came to terms with the reveal.

"…This doesn't change anything," Moka ultimately decided. "We might not have planned this, but we all knew it was going to happen sometime before school ended. You're a part of our Clan now. My children are your children. Your children are my children. As long as we can keep this hidden until after my father inevitably makes his next move, you'll be no more of a target than you would be normally as one of our friends."

"I could always drop out," Mizore stated calmly. Kurumu gasped, but her duet partner was nonchalant about the notion. "What? I was going to be doing uni online anyway. I drop out, start working what I can for my mom, and finish my diploma by correspondence. The rumor mill will go crazy either way, but if I'm not here that's all they'll be: rumors."

Even though the argument made sense Kurumu looked heartbroken by the concept, and Tsukune was no more enthused. The less said about Rei, the better. Moka was the only one that seemed to even be considering it. "Hopefully it won't come to that."

Her words may not have been the most convincing, but her tone said that was the end of that.

Then Tsukune finally put voice to the as-of-yet-unspoken fact: "I'm going to be a dad."

Mizore nodded, eyes bright. "I'm going to be a mom."

"You're really pregnant."

"I'm really carrying your baby."

"I'm kind of freaking out here."

"At least you know my parents won't want to kill you. They'll be our biggest supporters."

He laughed reluctantly. "It's not your parents I'm worried about. You haven't seen my mom when she gets angry."

"Aw, don't worry, Tsukune. Your pregnant wife will protect you."

Kurumu snorted trying not to laugh, and almost turned purple when Tsukune narrowed his eyes at her.

"This is crazy."

"It is. And amazing."

"And amazing."

He knew his vampire blood had to be responsible for some of what he was going through. Normally he looked at Mizore and saw a woman he loved. With just a few words, he looked at Mizore and she was now the future mother of his child. That vampiric part of him exulted in it, raced his heart not from fear, but excitement. She was pregnant with his child. His!

"Holy crap."

Fortunately, fainting was the farthest thing from his mind.

.

V^^^V

.

For certain other students within Youkai Academy, their minds were filled with unease as they waited for the axe to drop. They hadn't been able to move their co-conspirators, stone as they were when they had been interrupted, and the staff hadn't left them unattended to grab later. Not that it would have helped, with their condition.

They could only hope their victims were sufficiently injured to give them extra time. It was only the next day and most were already making plans on what to do as they sat in class.

Those plans never got the chance to become anything more.

The entire school felt the heat-shimmer of power glazing their senses, and as door after door was knocked, those students got to meet the heads of the Public Safety Commission personally, flanked by two pissed off but perfectly healthy familiar faces.

"Hello," the incredible woman with silver hair greeted. Her smile made her seem welcoming. Her eyes promised pain. "You wouldn't happen to remember these two, would you? They certainly remember you."

Most fainted immediately.

V^^^V

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Author's Notes: Honestly, there's too much to put here and I won't do that to you. If I do, I'll just update my profile with it instead. In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'm sorry for the incredibly long hiatus. Life happens.

Enough about that. If you wouldn't mind dropping me a review, I'd appreciate it. Did you find my homage to another series?

Have a wonderful day and a happy new year!