Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Rosario Vampire. I am merely twisting the creator's vision into my own dream. If the supernatural, sexuality, or violence is offensive to you, then you should not read this.

Chapter 84

Akira leaned back from his desk with a sigh, and wondered how Tsukune did it. His senpai had built up the Student Police from nothing, while still working on the School Festival Committee no less. That was right after Tsukune had managed to plan the first ever student elections at the school, following in the wake of the Newspaper Club shutting down the corrupt Public Safety Commission. Even today, the Captain of the Student Police had put in a half shift at headquarters before performing a walking inspection of the school. He was keeping up with his responsibilities to the Student Police, the Newspaper Club, working off campus part time, and even had a good relationship with his girlfriend, or girlfriends depending on which story a person believed. Akira was in awe of his senpai.

Akira was working hard to follow his captains example, but felt like he wasn't doing a very good job. He only had three things to commit himself to, and it was hard work. He was second in command of the Student Police, so Tsukune had been bringing him along to meetings with the Student Counsel, and once to a meeting with the Board Chairman. That man made Akira's skin crawl. He was doing fewer shifts with the Student Police then Tsukune had in the previous year, but with the responsibilities of his position he had to be more thoughtful of everything he said around other members of the Student Police. He was reminded of that little truth every time he walked into the headquarters office and saw the twins. Akira was unsure of exactly what he had said, but somehow he had agreed that the twins, Kumi and Rumi, would be Tsukune's personal secretarial staff. Since then, the sisters had practically lived out of the office. They took messages, ran errands, collected his mail from the Love Letter Club, and even made tea for the captain. It was a little creepy to see how devoted they were to a guy they hardly knew.

In addition to his Student Police duties, Akria still had to keep up with his school work. He was managing to keep within the top third of his class, but he wasn't sure how. Most of his dates with Aimi were spent studying together. He felt a little bad about that. Akira wanted to spend time with her without distractions, so he could focus on Aimi and let her know how special she was to him. Akira wondered how Tsukune kept the women in his life so happy.

XXXXXXX

Tsukune felt like kicking himself. It took three days to get an answer back about how he could contact Lord Gray, and the simplicity of it made Tsukune feel stupid. All he had to do was ask Hiru to carry a message for him. Tsukune had been carefully writing a letter for days, trying to be sure that all the information that seemed important was included, without sounding like he was babbling. Once he knew how to send it, it took less then an hour to finish it. Feeling more then a little foolish, Tsukune took the letter to Hiru, who had made a den of sorts under the back of the house.

Hiru's den was just a shallow space where the sun never reached, leaving it in constant shadow. The creature somehow managed to fit herself within that space when she wanted to. As Tsukune approached, he mentally called out to Hiru and she emerged from her den.

"Hiru," Tsukune said as he scratched her behind the ear and willed a portion of his youki to flow into her. "Can you take this letter to Lord Gray for me?"

Hiru purred and moved closer to Tsukune. She carefully took the letter in his hand between her teeth. Tsukune let go of the letter.

"Thank you, Hiru," Tsukune said, using both hands to scratch her head.

Hiru enjoyed the attention for a moment longer, then set off to deliver the letter. She sprinted forward and ran through a figure-eight pattern. After her third lap, having left faint tracks on the ground, Hiru leapt into the air and dove at the middle of the figure-eight. A kind of hole opened in the ground just before Hiru struck and she flowed into it. Tsukune saw Hiru disappear. The hole that had swallowed her closed, leaving no sign that it had ever existed.

Tsukune gave himself a shake. Hiru disappearing into the ground wasn't all that unusual for his life after all. Tsukune headed back inside. He had school work to finish.

It took Lord Gray a week to respond to Tsukune's letter. During that week, Tsukune and Kurumu had another round of meetings in the human world, and another night together. Moka had made late evening visits to Tsukune's house every night he was there, but had not spent the night with him. Mizore also visited Tsukune's house every evening, and hovered close by every day she could.

Tsuesday evening, Tsukune returned to his house after dance practice with Kurumu, and saw Reaver dozing on the front walk. The large wolf looked up at Tsukune, but otherwise ignored him. If the creature wasn't carrying a message for Tsukune, he wondered if someone might be waiting for him in side. With a sense of anticipation, Tsukune opened the front door of his house.

"I'm home," Tsukune called out as he entered.

"Welcome home, Master," Ruby greeted him.

"Sorry to intrude," Lord Gray said.

"It is not an intrusion," Tsukune said. "Please, be at ease."

Lord Gray was seated at the table, sipping tea, with his companion Sakura beside him. The tall man was dressed casually, with his long duster folded up beside him. Sakura, a bakeneko, was leaning against her lord, with her ears showing and her tails waging in slow, almost floating sweeps behind her. Tsukune excused himself for a moment to clean up before joining the others at the table. Ruby knelt close beside Tsukune to serve him and to wait for any instructions.

"Let me start by saying that I was surprised by your letter," Lord Gray said. "I thought that you and the young lady in question were already close."

"Ahhh," Tsukune tried to think of a way to express his concern. "Kurumu and I are close, but… I was wondering if, because of what happened, my feelings and hers were in some way getting mixed up."

"Hmmm," Brone nodded. "I see. Well you are still new to life, so I can see why you are concerned. But you don't have to worry about it. I am sure you will get used to it soon enough."

"I thought that it would only be temporary," Tsukune said. "You said that the crystal was only useful for controlling someone for a limited time."

"You are looking at the wrong part of the whole picture," Lord Gray told him. "Trapping a piece of soul inside a crystal is of limited use, because the crystal is not alive. It cannot keep a soul fragment alive. But you are alive, and you have what it takes to keep that fragment of your friend alive and to help it grow even."

"What?" Tsukune sounded more then a little alarmed at that.

"A living soul is what makes a person real, instead of just a golem of flesh, or whatever. That piece of the girl's soul that was forced into your body, if it had been left in a crystal on a shelf, it would have withered and faded over time. But that changed when it was placed within you. Your body is mostly carbon and water. With your supernatural healing ability, the carbon of the crystal was absorbed into you. Her piece of soul was also drawn into you, made a part of you. And because you have feelings for her, you give energy into that piece of soul, sustaining it."

"But I love Moka," Tsukune argued.

"I said feelings," Brone reminded Tsukune. "Admiration, affection, envy, hate, all of these are emotions, feelings. They all carry energy towards the person or thing that inspires them. The only way you could ever expect to banish that piece of soul from your friend would be to erase all feelings towards them. You would have to not care about them at all, ever again. Over time, that piece of soul would wither away.

"That's not going to happen. Kurumu is important to me," Tsukune insisted.

"I know," Brone said calmly. "There are ways to remove a soul, or a piece of one, but they are not very nice for whomever's soul you are picking on. Your friend already went through that once."

"And I wouldn't want anybody to have to go through that," Tsukune sighed.

"You might as well accept it," Brone said. "You can't go backwards, only forward."

"I understand," Tsukune sighed and nodded.

"I doubt it," Lord Gray said smirk.

"What?" Tsukune looked at the man sharply. He didn't know if he should be offended, or worried that Lord Gray knew something.

"Souls are complicated and diverse," Lord Gray said after a sip of tea. "I have been studying them for a long time and there is still much that is unknown. And I am hardly the first to research this field. Souls are changed by the way they interact with each other, and they are not limited to just people."

"What do you mean?" Tsukune asked.

"Everything that is alive has a soul," Brone said, slipping into lecture mode. "This is what makes it a living thing instead of just a moving thing. But a soul can change over time, and many philosophers believe that it is the purpose of being alive so that our souls can grow and change to become something greater. Let me give you an example." Lord Gray reached out and stroked Sakura's head. "My friend here was once a cat, but in her lifetime she was surrounded by emotions, and not a little cruelty and hardship. Because of what happened to her, and around her, her soul grew stronger. When she had lived long enough, and her soul had grown in power, and she learned more and more, Sakura became a Bakeneko. Her sense of self, her identity changed. She became a youkai. In the time that I have known her, she has matured as a person, and her soul has continued to evolve, slowly."

"But I'm happy how I am now," Sakura smiled up at her lord.

"I know," He smiled back, still petting her.

"It's like how I changed," Tsukune said, nodding. "After I came to this school, I wanted to become a better person, a better student so I could be with Moka and my friends. I wanted to become stronger, so I could protect them, instead of them always having to watch over me."

"That's right," Brone agreed. "And when things happened to you, because you wanted to be better, to be stronger, you used the events of your life to help you."

Tsukune sighed and looked at the holy lock on his wrist. He had changed. When he went home at the end of his first year, his mother and cousin both commented on it. He had been worried they would see something bad in the way he had changed, but if they did, they never said anything to him about it.

"When two souls interact," Lord gray continued. "The can bring about changes in each other. It is this interaction that helps all of us to grow, if we have the courage to let it. Some people live their lives in fear of change, and forever remain weak because of it. They may have strong bodies, but when it truly counts, these people will always fail. Many of them know this is true, even if they won't admit it. They come to hate and fear the people like you, people with inner strength. I believe you have run into them a few times here at your school. They are bullies and thugs that use different excuses to hide their own weaknesses and fears."

"I see," Tsukune said, reflecting on the man's words.

"Now close your eyes and listen to my voice," Lord Gray said. "I am going to help you learn a little about souls, and how they interact.

"Yes," Tsukune nodded.

Tsukune closed his eyes and tried to relax. He took slow, calming breaths, blowing them out. He was aware of Lord Gray speaking words of approval, encouraging him to relax into a meditative state. Tsukune was able to tune out his awareness of his physical body and slipped into the inner space within himself. It seemed like only a moment before Tsukune was floating in that non-space where his inner youkai rested. Tsukune took a moment to take in the details of his other form. His youkai form was a living weapon, a creature capable of great harm and destruction. Tsukune had embraced his inner youkai, not because of the harm it could cause, but for it's ability to protect others from harm. A katana could kill, but it could also block a blade intent on killing. Tsukune was aware of how he had changed since coming to the Youkai Academy, both physically and down into his soul.

Somewhere from beyond himself, Tsukune was aware of being directed. Within his inner non-space, Tsukune expanded his awareness. He quickly found his connection with Kurumu. In his mind, she appeared within his non-space as a ghostly image of herself. Her cute face was smiling and her eyes were clear and focused as they looked at him. He could feel the warmth of her emotions radiating from that ghost-like body, through it, from the living heart and soul of Kurumu. Tsukune could feel a longing within his heart to embrace that warmth. But there was more to be aware of. Tsukune could feel that there was more in this non-space that he had to see. There was no true direction or distance in this inner space. It was just a mater of changing his focus that let Tsukune perceive something else.

Once he pushed past the most obvious, his awareness expanded. Tsukune became aware of another sense of warmth and focused his awareness on it. He saw it within himself as a shining light, blood red and pure silver, blending together in a pink glow. Tsukune instantly recognized it as Moka. Tsukune felt his longing to embrace her rise up as he felt the warmth of her feelings, and he marveled at the sensations.

There was a sense of wonder flowing though Tsukune as he cast his awareness wider. Within that non-space Tsukune discovered pieces of his closest friends and family that he could recognize. His awareness recognized the individuals in some primal way, and his mind gave them images his consciousness could understand. In the distance, measured not in space but by association, Tsukune was aware of countless little flecks that winked and glowed. A strange new understanding touched Tsukune as he rose up from his inner space.

Tsukune's awareness of his physical self returned. First he was aware of Lord Gray's voice, and then of the feel of the floor under his body. Tsukune realized that his head was down, with his chin on his chest as he sat slumped down. He took a deep breath and sat up, opening his eyes. He had trouble focusing them, and could feel the moisture on his cheeks, as his new understanding sank in.

"Master?" Ruby asked. "Are you alright?"

"I am fine," Tsukune said, giving her a warm smile.

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

"Nothing," Tsukune said, reaching out to touch her face gently. "Nothing at all." In his mind, Tsukune had recognized Ruby as soft and comforting, downy raven feathers of silver and black filled with warmth.

"I see that you understand," Lord Gray said with a calm smile.

"Yes," Tsukune turned his head towards the man. "I am beginning to understand. Thank you."

"I'm glad," Brone said with a sigh. "The more you understand now, the easier it will be to understand more in the future." He finished off his tea in a quick swallow.

"What?" Tsukune questioned.

"Look, Kiddo," Brone said as he picked up his duster and stood up. "There are a lot of things going on in the world right now, and you are caught up in them. When I first stepped into this world, like you, it was to help out a friend. It was like learning to swim by jumping into the ocean to save someone that was drowning. I was reckless and ignorant, but I have been swimming ever since then. You took that same leap I did, but now the sharks have multiplied. I am going to do what I can to help you, not just to survive, but to achieve." Her pulled on his duster. "I'll see you around."

Tsukune watched the man head for the door. Sakura followed behind him dutifully. She paused at the door and smiled back at Tsukune.

"You're in good hands," The catwoman said before stepping out into the night.

"Master," Ruby questioned. "What is it you understand?"

"It has to do with the nature of souls," Tsukune said, turning back to her. "The way they interact and can connect to each other." He reached out and touched her face again. "Thank you, Ruby."