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 94

Tsukune was glad that he had taken the opportunity to talk with Ogono Aiko. He had started the conversation in order to keep the mood around him light, so that his friends wouldn't worry. The conversation had turned into a good distraction, to keep him from brooding over what had happened, and what it meant. And while Tsukune had been born and raised human, he felt it was a good idea to talk to normal people to help him stay in touch with the human world. He may never have the normal life he had grown up to expect. But that didn't mean that he should not support others that still wanted that for themselves. As he got off the bus and headed for the hotel, Tsukune's mind worked through everything he had seen and heard since waking up that morning.

XXXXXX

As Moka headed for the bath with the other female students she hoped that there would be another disturbance like the previous night's. She doubted that there would be any peepers a second night in a row, but any excuse to limit her exposure to unprepared water would be welcome. If all else failed, there was the old, and embarrassing, back-up excuse of being on her period.

"You better be careful," Moka heard a girl saying to Aiko as she walked into the bath.

"Excuse me?" Aiko questioned.

"That boy from that school," The girl said. "We saw him trying to put the moves on you on the bus."

"I think you misunderstood the situation," Aiko replied calmly. "Aono and I were just talking."

"Puh-leese," The girl sighed and rolled her eyes in an unattractive way. "Do you know how many 'girlfriends' he has at his own school? He is a playboy. He just wants to get you to."

Moka watched the exchanged for a moment. She suddenly had the urge to revive a very old practice among vampires. That girl was being rude and offensive, insulting Tsukune and belittling Moka's relationship with him. Moka speculated that if she dragged the girl to the water and ripped her throat out, her blood might be enough to make the large bath safe for Moka to use. Bathing in bloodied water, hence the legends of vampires bathing in the blood of virgins, was what Moka's kind used to do before the right mixture of herbs was discovered. It was probably the smell that made the practice unpopular to begin with.

"Rina," Aiko said on a cool, firm voice. "Your tone and your words are offensive. Not only are you unfairly judging someone you do not know, you are insulting my judgment as well. I know you love to gossip, and have warned you about it in the past, but a proper lady does not make a habit of putting others down." She gave the girl a calculating look. "Or is it that you are just jealous that no boys wanted to sit beside you because your hips took up too much space?"

The girl, Rina, instantly went red in the face. A look of rage coming into her eyes. She opened her mouth and raised a pointing finger, but whatever she was about to say was lost.

"Aiko," Another girl spoke up. "You shouldn't say such things to Rina. You know that her wide hips just means that she is well suited to having lots of babies."

"You're right, of course," Aiko flashed the other girl a smile before looking back to Rina. "I am sorry for my harsh words, Rina. I am sure that your future husband will be very pleased with your... hips."

Moka smiled as the other girls walked away from Rina. It was good to know that the little snit's attitude was not well accepted by her classmates. But Moka felt that a little more direct chastisement was still in order.

"Excuse me," Moka said to Rina in a voice a little louder then it had to be. "I do not care to hear you speaking poorly about Tsukune. You have no knowledge of what he has sacrificed for the people close to him, and for our school. If you insult him further, you will not be happy with what happens next."

"Phah," Rina rolled her eyes at Moka. "You're just one of his girlfriends."

"That's right," Moka smiled. "And I would do anything for the man I love." Moka looked over Rina's shoulder. "And so would they."

Rina turned her head and looked behind herself. Two more girls, the big breasted one and the quiet one with the sucker in her mouth, were standing there, clearly just having entered from the changing area. Rina didn't think they could have overheard anything, but the idea of being out numbered gave her chills.

"Remember," Moka said in a cool voice. "Only a fool rushes to judge someone, and a lady must not be a fool." Moka turned and walked away.

"I heard what you said," Aiko spoke up as Moka sat down to wash close by. "You were right about her being foolish, but I don't appreciate you threatening one of my school mates."

"Aiko," Moka said with a small, firm smile. "I like you, so I will tell you honestly. I was doing that girl a favor. I was not threatening her, I was warning her. My Tsukune would not like it if she got hurt, and many of my school mates will not sit by to hear him be insulted. So to keep her from getting in trouble, I told her the truth."

"I see," Aiko said. "Then I should thank you for looking out for her. But it still sounded like a threat."

"She should count herself lucky," Moka said. "I am saving her from herself. Those of us that are close to Tsukune have all had to learn a very painful lesson about blind assumptions. That is a part of the reason we are so loyal to him. We all hurt him badly at some point, but he saw the good in us, forgave us, and help us to see the good in ourselves."

Aiko saw the light in Moka's eyes as she spoke about Aono Tsukune. Aiki understood that Moka was in love, and thought that maybe she understood a little about what it meant to be in love. She remembered her own, brief time with Aono, and remembered how she felt after just a single conversation. Aiko suddenly felt a stab a jealousy as she looked at Moka.

XXX

Rina was in a sour mood all evening. She came from a good family that had once been in service to the Shogun of Japan. Her family was still rich and well respected to this day. Rina had never been satisfied with her social standing at her school. She was in the top ten percent of her classes and had an excellent sense of style, but for some reason her popularity, both with her teachers and her classmates seamed to be limited and she didn't understand why. Aiko, on the other hand, came from a family who's money and social standing only came from commercial success over the last two previous generations. The girl herself was only a little taller then average with an average figure, but her grades were in the top rank. Aiki was always pushing herself, trying to prove that she deserved to be with the true elites. Rina had seen Aiko talking to that boy from another school, showing the truth of her common blood. She tried to remind her classmate that she had an image to protect, for the sake of the others if not for herself. In return, Aiko had been insulting, and then that other, common, girl had shown her face, and had the nerve to make threats. Well that kind of thing could not be tolerated.

Rina decided that the she needed to take that outsider girl down a few pegs, and if it pulled Aiko down with her, so much the better. Rina knew that before she tried anything she would need to do a little ground work first. She started out her plan for revenge by asking questions. Questions were wonderful tools, Rina had been taught. The right questions would bring her information and even plant seeds of ideas, fears, and doubts. Rina asked her questions among her classmates, and the among the girls of the other school as well. She tried to gather information and plant little ideas while looking for a way strike out at her targets.

Rina never understood how a person could be their own worst enemy. Her popularity at school was hampered by her own negative attitudes and exaggerated sense of self worth. While her family was politically savvy, Rina was not. She knew the theories of political survival, but had not learned how to apply them correctly, and was unfortunate to be surrounded by young women that understood such things better then she did. Rina, a selfish girl, having never seriously considered any world view other then her own, made the mistake of going against a member of the Youkai Academy, where Tsukune had been encouraging others to find strength and purpose in standing together.

Rina was still trying to plot her revenge as she laid down for the night, not noticing the way so many other girls in the room were not looking in her direction. Aiko was much better at reading the atmosphere. She had been aware of Rina's maneuvering, and had even cautioned her classmates discreetly to not get involved. As the lights went out, the chill in the room was unmistakeable.

Rina opened her eyes and found herself in a strange place. She was in the courtyard of a dark stained and crumbling castle, laying on the ground in nothing but her nightgown. She quickly climbed to her feet and looked around in confusion. She discovered that she wasn't alone.

"Took you long enough to open your eyes," Kurumu scoffed. "You really are a worthless person."

Rina looked at the big breasted woman without comprehension.

"I warned you," Moka said.

Rina's head whipped about to face the new voice, seeing the pink haired girl watching her.

"What's going on?" Rina demanded.

"We're going to teach you an important lesson," Ruby said.

Rina looked about, seeing more and more girls appear around her. She recognized a few, but many were unknown to her, with twisted faces and angry eyes.

"You brought this on yourself," Kurumu said. "You never learned to care about others. You never tried to help anybody if it didn't help you in some way. You decided that you didn't need anybody that didn't fit in to your little world."

"We talked to your classmates," Moka said. "They told us what kind of person you are."

"Before you hurt someone," Ruby said. "We decided to teach you a lesson. If you want, you can call it punishment for acting like a spoiled child."

"What are you going to do to me?" Rina cried out, her blood cold with fear.

"Why Rina," Kurumu smiled. "We are not going to do anything to you girl. In fact, we were just leaving."

Rina watched in shock as the three strange girls simply faded from view. Around her, the crowd of girls, strangers, classmates, distant relatives, started to move. They moved closer to Rina, their hands reaching out for her.

"No!" Rina screamed and looked for a place to run. "Stay away!"

Rina ran for the doors to the keep. The old timbers, left to rot for the lack of care, broke away at the first push. Rina found the interior of the keep to be empty. She ran inside, seeking to escape the crowd that followed her, calling out her name as they shuffled forward. Everywhere that Rina looked was dirty and neglected. Cheep plastic furniture, once painted to look shiny and pretty, stood cracked, chipped, and useless. Only the stone walls, hard and uncaring had any substance to them.

Rina tired to escape, but there was no way out. She tried to call out for help, but their was nobody to hear her. The keep was like her heart, empty of anything meaningful. She was alone.

XXXXXXX XXXX

Tsukune spent the night restlessly. A part of the reason was because he kept expecting Mizore or one of the others to pay him a visit. Mizore had lived up the expectation, cuddling with Tsukune while the flashlight was passed around a second night in a row, this time regular ghost stories were the topic. Tsukune begged off, and nobody insisted that he take a turn. Once the room grew quiet, Tsukune lay with Mizore and reflected on what had happened to him in the palace gardens. At one point in the night Tsukune had felt a rise in youki from the floor above. Mizore felt it also, Tsukune guessed, and suspected that she had been expecting it, because as Tsukune tensed in anticipation of trouble, Mizore moved to distract him.

Mizore knew of the plan the other girls had, and knew Tsukune would not be happy with them over it. She had accepted the duty of keeping him from getting involved. When she felt the rise of youki from the room above, Mizore went into action. She quickly climbed on top of Tsukune and pulled his head to her, kissing him. While his mouth was covered with her own, she reached between their bodies and into his boxers to take hold of his flesh. She had the advantage over Tsukune, and it made her feel excited. Mizore knew that he would not want to make a scene. She could take what she wanted from Tsukune then and there, as long as she was quiet about it. It was only the fear of hurting his feelings, and her relationship with him, that kept Mizore from going too far.

Tsukune realized that Mizore was trying to distract him. He recognized the youki above as coming from Kurumu more then anyone else, but her emotions were not those of someone in danger. Whatever was going on, Tsukune knew that getting involved would likely cause more trouble then it was worth. It would be like rushing into a room to investigate a yell, only to discover it was a changing room and a girl had yelled because of something harmless. No, Tsukune decided quickly, he would wait until there was some kind of sign of real trouble before he got involved. That meant that he was free to deal with Mizore, and her hand.

Tsukune had grown tired of his female friends being able to use their gender, and his, to manipulate him. Tsukune had made it a personal goal to become able to maintain his self control when his friends started to act forward, or otherwise get out of hand. Tsukune put a hand to the back of Mizore's head, pulling her more firmly into the kiss. With his free hand, he touched her body.

Mizore was thrilled. Her body tingled with excitement. Tsukune was kissing her back, forcefully. She felt his hand on her skin, it felt so warm that she though it should leave burns in its wake. Mizore moaned into Tsukune's mouth as his hand slipped inside her robe. His fingers touched her breast lightly before moving to her side. He traced the line of her ribs and slid his fingers under her arm.

Suddenly Tsukune was tickling Mizore. She tried to cry out, but was muffled by his forceful kiss. He body twitched and jerked from his assaulting fingers. She realized what he was doing and refused to surrender. If he was going to hold her head in place, that meant that she didn't have to hold his, giving her both hands free to attack him. She tried to tickle Tsukune in return, but that only made him twitch a little before tensing. The pair wrestled silently in the futon, their robes falling open and their bodies moving against each other.

"Tsukune..." Mizore hissed.

Mizore tried to talk, to laugh, to cry out, but Tsukune wouldn't let her. As she tried to escape from the ticlking, Mizore moved around, rubbing her body against Tsukune. Somewhere in the middle of her struggles, Mizore remembered that it was Tsukune that she was with and changed her tactic. She stopped trying to escape his poking fingers. Instead, she took one hand and grabbed his wrist, guiding his touch.

Tsukune got caught up in the heat of the moment. Wrestling with Mizore had started off as a challenge, but grew into something more. He and Mizore were both seeking control of each other in some way. Tsukune didn't realize when things changed, but became distantly aware they they had. His hand that was meant to be holding her in a kiss to keep her quiet had relaxed. The hand that had been tickling her was held under her own as he kneaded her breast.

"Mizore," Tsukune whispered, breaking the kiss. "We can stop now." He carefully removed his hand from her breast.

"We don't have to," Mizore whispered back.

"Yes we do," Tsukune said flatly.

Mizore reluctantly ended her assault on Tsukune and settled down as if she intended to sleep on top of him. Tsukune crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes. Mizore's slender body didn't weigh much, so he decided to leave her be. She would move when she got too uncomfortable, or too warm. As he drifted off to sleep, Tsukune wondered what Mizore had been keeping him from getting involved in.

Tsukune woke early, while everyone else in the room was still asleep. Mizore was still beside him and the sky was just starting to brighten. With a little coaxing, Tsukune managed to get her to return to her own room, while he went to visit the water closet. After answering to nature's demands, Tsukune didn't feel like sleeping, and didn't want to disturb the guys that were still sleeping, so he made his way downstairs. The clerk at the front desk directed Tsukune to a lounge where he could find vending machines and watch television. When Tsukune entered the lounge he saw a girl in a hotel robe sitting on a couch, hugging her knees to her chest. The girl looked up as Tsukune entered, and he could see her face. Her eyes were red and her face was puffy; she had been crying.

"Oh," Rina said. "It's you."

"It's me what?" Tsukune questioned, turning his attention to the vending machings.

"You're that playboy that has everybody fooled," Rina accused. "They all think you are some dream come true, but I don't. I see you for the monster that you are."

"Oh really?" Tsukune said with a crooked smile. "Let me guess, you said something, and my friends got upset with you. Is that what happened?"

"Nothing happened," Rina snapped with a huff.

Tsukune knew he had scored a hit. He used his cell phone to make his purchases from the vending machines. He took two cans of juice and sat beside the girl who was watching him with scornful eyes.

"I'm Aono Tsukune," He introduced himself, offering her a can of orange juice.

"Shinchu Rina," She replied.

"Shinchu," Tsukune nodded. "Have some juice, and I will tell you why you are right about me."

"What?" Rina was expecting the playboy to make excuses, or maybe try to explain how it was all a misunderstanding, not to admit that he was some kind of creep. She accepted the can of juice while watching him carefully.

"I was a nobody before starting high school," Tsukune started his story. He opened his can of juice and took a drink. "I had a few friends, some guys I went to school with that lived in the same area as me, but nothing special. I never even had a girlfriend. I almost didn't make it into high school. I was the average, invisible, nobody."

"The first person I me at high school was Akashiya Moka," Tsukune explained. "Imagine how it felt, an average guy like me was suddenly talking with someone as beautiful and as special as her."

"What's so special about her?" Rina huffed.

Tsukune let her vent her frustrations, and answered her question as he continued.

"Moka comes from and old and rich family," Tsukune said. "I don't know if they are nobility, or just related to it, but her family has a lot of restrictions and traditions she has to live up to. Because of her family, Moka had problems making friends, and was always alone. While I was excited to talk to a beautiful girl, she was glad to have someone to talk to that wasn't afraid of her family, or trying to take advantage of her. We ran into some problems, but got through them together." Tsukune smiled as he paused, thinking about Moka and himself.

"We had some arguments and misunderstandings," Tsukune said. "But we were friends, so we were able to forgive each other." Tsukune blew out a sigh. "And then I met Kurono Kurumu."

"The one with the big boobs," Rina stated.

"Yes," Tsukune nodded. "She was pretty and had a high opinion of herself, but she didn't have any friends. She saw all guys as possessions, things she could collect and use, and then discard. She saw girls as competition. Kurumu used her looks, and her chest, to intimidate and embarrass other girls. When she saw Moka and I together, Kurumu saw a challenge. She wanted to prove herself by taking me away from Moka."

"And did she?" Rina probed.

"No," Tsukune answered honestly. "But she did cause us some painful moments. Moka and I had just had an argument about, well we came from different worlds. Moka and I had just had an argument, and like an idiot, I stormed off by myself. That was when Kurumu made her move. She played weak and harmless, so I let my guard down. Then she tried to flatter me by acting sweet. But I was feeling bad about my argument with Moka and didn't really give Kurumu the attention she wanted. She provoked another argument between me and Moka, and then got me alone and tried to seduce me, to prove that she could."

"That's horrible," Rina protested. "You should be ashamed of yourself. And she should be too."

"I was ashamed of myself," Tsukune told her. "I was ashamed and angry at myself because I had let a petty argument come between me and Moka, and because I was so slow to apologize, I had hurt Moka even more. When Kurumu realized that I wasn't going to give in to her, I wasn't going to betray Moka and give Kurumu what she wanted, Kurumu was furious. She wanted to kill me, and Moka, because she had finally run up against a girl that wouldn't give up, and a boy that wouldn't give in to her."

"And then what happened?" Rina wanted to know. She absentmindedly opened her can of juice and took a sip, listening to the story, and watching the emotions on the boys face, was more entertaining the an afternoon drama.

"There was a fight," Tsukune said. "Both Moka and Kurumu come from homes where being able to fight, to protect yourself can be very important, a mater of pride or even life and death."

"Mm'hm," Rina nodded. She understood how the daughters of rich families could be in danger. Her parents had make her take self defense classes, and whenever she went out she had can of mace in her purse. The idea of two girls from rich families fighting was a scary thought.

"Moka is a wonderful person," Tsukune said. "But her temper... She was ready to kill Kurumu, literally."

"What happened?" Rina was hanging on Tsukune's words.

"I stepped between them," Tsukune said. "Kurumu was crying, Moka was so angry that she couldn't see past the moment. I stepped in between them and made Moka take a moment to think things through. Kurumu learned to see past herself, and to see others as real and caring and feeling people, not just obstacles and challenges. We all became friends after that. It took some time, but we joined the same club and learned to get along."

"If I had been stronger," Tsukune sighed. "Or maybe smarter, I could have handled things better. Before I knew it, all of my close friends at school were these strong girls that all needed my support in some way to help them. I fell in love with Moka, and would do anything to stay in school with her. When the school needed a scapegoat because somebody was causing problems, they nearly expelled me, because I really was a nobody after all. Moka told me that she would quit school and follow me. That was when I realized that she loved me as much as I loved her."

"But I am a weak willed fool," Tsukune cursed himself. "I didn't push the others away. I let my other friends stay close, because I cared about them and wanted them to be safe and happy."

Rina was caught up in Tsukune's story. She could hear the scorn in his voice and the dark emotions on his face. His bitter laugh was scary.

"We were all so close," Tsukune explained. "Like family it seamed. I was too busy being happy to have friends, and a girlfriend that loved me, that I didn't see the danger. Little by little my friends worked their ways in, closer to my heart." He finished his juice and crushed the can in his fist.

"What kind of fool am I?" Tsukune asked, looking Rina in the eyes. "What kind of beast am I that I am too weak to push my friends away, because I am afraid to hurt them. To the point that I have made them a part of my life and would feel like a lost a part of myself if they weren't there. Any normal person should be happy to be in love, to have that one special person in their life. Not me," Tsukune scoffed. "I have to keep helping my friends. I have to keep protecting them and accepting them in my life until I find myself falling in love again."

"Shinchu," Tsukune said with a sigh. "You are right about me. I am a selfish monster that is in love with more then one woman and I am stupid enough to let women that say that they are in love with me stay around me even when I already had one girlfriend." Tsukune sighed again.

"I'm sorry," Tsukune said. "I didn't mean to vent my feelings like this. The truth is that we all need people in out lives. Having friends, people we care about, helps us from being alone. Friends can give us strength to do what we need to do. They can help us know our limitations so we don't hurt ourselves. We keep each other from making bad choices, most of the time, and help clean up the messes the other times. I may be a selfish idiot, but I am glad I have my friends in my life."

Rina was thrown off balance. Aono Tsukune, the playboy, had just twisted her image of him in ways she could not understand. He was a caring friend, filled with passion and fear. He was a playboy, collecting girls around him, but only because he really cared for them and was trying to help them. He was more worried about hurting them then about getting hurt. His open honesty was somehow compelling. She looked at him now, seeing the young man as something totally unexpected.

"Can I ask you something?" Rina said, breaking the silence in the lounge.

"Yes," Tsukune nodded.

"Your first night here," Rina asked. "Why did you warn your friends about the boys trying to peek into the girls' bath?"

"Because I knew that they would be upset if someone peeked at them," Tsukune said. "And to try to keep the boys that wanted to peek from getting hurt."

"But they did get hurt," Rina said.

"They got a few bumps and bruises," Tsukune said. He held up the remains of his juice can, wadded up into a ball two centimeters across. "Moka is stronger then I am, when she is angry, and my other friends are almost as strong. What wold you have done, if you saw someone spying on you in the bath, and you happened to have a weapon close at hand?"

"I see," Rina said slowly. She wasn't entirely sure of Aono Tsukune understood what women felt about being peeked at, but she did notices that his reasoning was focused around what others would feel. Rina would have expected him to be jealous, of trying to protect his friends out of possessiveness. She took a moment to reflect on his words and attitude.

Tsukune let Rina have time to consider whatever was going through her mind. He turned on the television to check the weather report and pass some time. As he watched the early morning news, Tsukune absentmindedly toyed with the jade bead that hung around his neck. He was still unsure of what his experience in the palace gardens meant, and he had no doubt that he had experienced something real. He knew he had committed himself to something and couldn't help but wonder when, and not if, it was going to come back around and bite him.

"It suits you," Rina said, startling Tsukune out of his own thoughts.

"Excuse me" Tsukune said, turning to face the girl.

"Its suits you," Rina pointed to the bead Tsukune had in his fingers. "The Magatama, it is a symbol of benevolence, of kindness. I think it suits your nature."

"Ahhh," Tsukune gave her a nod. "Thank you."

"Where did you get it?" Rina asked.

"It was a gift," Tsukune said. "From my family," He added.

"Oh." Rina fell silent again.

Tsukune paid enough attention to the news tho catch the weather report. It would be a good day for walking around, sunny but not too hot. The sports news was nothing exciting. When the daily horoscopes were presented, Tsukune lost interest. He checked the time and saw that it was almost time for breakfast.

"We should get going," Tsukune said, standing up. "The others will be waking up soon and will probably wonder where we are."

"I doubt they'll care where I am," Rina sighed. "I don't really have any friends."

"If you take the time to care about others," Tsukune said. "Sooner or later you will find people that care about you."

"Is that how it works for you?" Rina asked.

"Yes," Tsukune started for the door. "Ask my friends, politely, about how we met."

"How important are your friends to you?" Rina asked as she stood.

"I gave my life up for them," Tsukune said as he left.

Rina was stunned. There was a hard edge in Aono Tsukune's voice with his last statement. It made his words so solid, so absolute, that Rina knew he was telling the truth. It was the kind of absolute certainty that made people take notice. Rina suddenly longed to have kind of conviction about something in her life. Even as she started to leave the lounge, Rina paused. Aono Tsukune had used the past tense. He had not said that he would give up his life for them. He said he had already given up his life for them. His conviction suddenly had an edge to it that made Rina wonder.

X

Aiko was not sure how she should feel that morning. Like most of the other girls, she had been woken up several times in the night by Rina's screaming. Apparently she had been having nightmares. The creepy thing was the way the girls form the other school all wore smug little smiles every time Aiko caught them looking in Rina's direction. When Aiko had finally gotten up in the morning, Rina's futon was empty. The missing student appeared as Aiko was washing her face. Rina offered a general apology before seeing to her own morning needs. At breakfast, Rina kept looking towards Aono, making Aiko wonder what might have happened while everybody else was still asleep. To complicate maters, Aono's friends noticed the change in Rina and were eying her sharply.

"Tsukune," Moka said in the hallway after breakfast. She and the other members of his fan club had cornered him. "Did something happen with that girl?"

"I ran in to her this morning," Aiko heard Tsukuine say. "She looked like she had been crying, so I talked to her for a little while."

"Just talked?" Kurumu questioned.

"I bought her a can of juice," Tsukune added.

"It's alright," Moka said, giving a look to the other girls around Tsukune.

Aiko wondered about the connection that group shared. The mystery deepened when the girls closed in on Rina while everybody was getting ready to go out. Aiko tensed, wondering if her classmate was going to be in danger of getting hurt.

"You spoke with my Tsukune this morning," Moka had stated.

"Yes," Rina gave the other girl a nod.

"And?" Kurumu challenged.

"And," Rina deflated a little. "I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to judge him the way I did."

Aiko was surprised to see the other girls all flash smiles at Rina and each other.

"Tsukune did it again," Yukari laughed.

"Did what?" Aiko blurted out. She immediately blushed with embarrassment. She had given her self away that she had been listening in.

"What he has always done," Ruby said with a smile, and the same light in her eyes as the others. "He has turned a potential enemy into a friend."

"Senpai, has a power over others," Yumi said as she finished tying her hair bow in place. "Rumor has it that even the teachers admire him for his ability to solve problems."

"If you take a little time to talk with Senpai," Emmy said as she brushed out her hair. "He has a way about him."

"He's not that great," Kokoa crossed her arms with a huff.

"You're just jealous," Yukari accused.

"Jealous?" Kokoa demanded. "Of what?"

"Of his relationship with Moka," Kurumu said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kokoa turned her back to the others, red faced.

Aiko was caught up in the explosion of giggles that went around the room. The tension from only moments before was forgotten and Rina was no longer being singled out. It was, Aiko thought to herself, a good way to start the day.