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 98

Tsukune wondered if his bad luck was just being lazy because of the Summer break, or he had confused it be traveling. Monday had been a good day, all things considered, but his bad luck had caught up with Tsukune by Wednesday. He had been enjoying a lazy, after breakfast moment of working on his Summer assignments when someone knocked, not gently at his door. Tsukune was being summoned to the Board Chairman's office. Tsukune took enough time to dress in his uniform and make an attempt to look presentable before going to see the Board Chairman. He was grateful of Ruby's company as she followed along, even if she would be waiting in the outer office during the meeting.

"Come in, boy," The Board Chairman called out as soon as Tsukune arrived in the outer office. "I have some exciting news for you."

Tsukune entered the office of the Board Chairman with all of his senses alert. The man in charge of the school was behind his desk, as usual. The furniture was the same, and there were no extra doors to be seen. What was unusual were the five men and one woman, all dressed in blue suits, standing off to one side in a line. Tsukune did a quick threat assessment of them. He could feel a low level of youki from them, but could not detect any focused intention, or any weapons. Tsukune let them slide into his peripheral awareness and focused his attention on the Board Chairman. The man was smiling too much for Tsukune's comfort.

"How have you been, Sir?" Tsukune asked politely as he reached his usual place in front of the man's desk.

"I have been bothered by something as of late," The Board Chairman said. "It has come to my attention that the area around our school is not being properly watched over. To solve this shortcoming, I have decided to expand your responsibilities."

Tsukune had been expecting something like this. He did not groan, or even flinch. He just stood calmly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"Beyond the boarders of the school campus, but within the area enclosed by the barrier," The Board Chairman explained. "There are some places that are in need of supervision. Boy," The Board Chairman stood. "You have done very well with your Student Police, but I am afraid that it is no longer enough." The man came around the desk. "The shopping district the student's frequent is a part of a larger community. A small town exists beside the school that supports the academy, and is in turn supported by us. It is a symbiotic relationship. It was recently brought to my attention that while your Student Police have done remarkably well at keeping serious problems from arising on campus, the town has not has such diligent protectors." The Board Director moved to stand in front of the strangers he had gathered in his office.

"It has been decided that the town needs a police presence," The Board Chairman said. "A koban is being constructed and will be finished at the end of the week."

A koban, a police box or miniature police station, was being built in the town adjacent to the school. Tsukune heard what the Board Chairman said, and for a brief moment thought that it was good news. Perhaps the Board Chairman had called Tsukune to the office to meet the police officers that would be staffing the koban. It would explain who the strangers were. Tsukune gave up on the idea of good news before the Board Chairman finished turning around to face him. The man had said he was giving Tsukune 'additional responsibilities.' Tsukune tried to remain calm as he felt his heart and stomach drop, looking for a place to hide from what was coming next.

"I am placing you in charge of the town police, boy," The Board Chairman said. "For now, these people will help you staff and manage the town police. Once you recruit your own officers, these people will help train them."

"Ahhh," Tsukune tried to respond.

"You will go with them for now," The Board Chairman instructed. "So that you can beguine your training. When you get back you can start looking for police officers from among the students or local residents." The Board Chairman glided over to Tsukune and rested his hand on Tsukune's shoulder. "I expect good work from you, boy."

XXXXXXX

Ruby was nearly in a panic. She watched Tsukune leave with a pained look in his eyes, and a tiny hand gesture to her, telling her not to follow. Ruby knew what she had to do. She ran down the hall and threw herself out the first open window. She flew back to the village to alert the others.

The Tsukune Fanclub assembled at Tsukune's house. Ruby had knocked on Moka's door first, taking her away from her school books. She went to collect Yukari while Ruby roused Kurumu. It was only mid morning, so the succubus was still in her pajamas and working on her breakfast. Mizore was already in front of Tsukune's house by the time Ruby left Kurumu's. The snow maiden was always quick to notice when something was happening, when it involved Tsukune. Once everybody was together, Ruby filled in the others about Tsukune's meeting with the Board Chairman. While there was nothing to be done at the moment to help Tsukune, having everybody familiar about what was going on did help the young women feel a little better about waiting.

The fanclub meeting broke up before lunch. There wasn't anything to do but wait, so the members of the little group headed off to take care of their on responsibilities. Yukari waited until until Kurumu and Mizore left before approaching Moka.

"Moka," Yukari called out to the older girl. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure, Yukari," Moka answered. She had noticed the tense way the little witch had been holding herself during the meeting. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Um," Yukari looked around. They were still in Tsukune's living room. She decided that it would probably be the best place to talk because they would have some privacy there. "I wanted to talk to you about, umm." Yukari was having trouble finding her words. "You know I love you and Tsukune both, right?"

Moka suppressed her first reactions to Yukari's words. It would hurt the young witch if Moka reacted badly. Instead she nodded her head.

"You have said so many times in the past," Moka said.

"I was talking with Tsukune the other night," Yukari explained. "And he said something. He said that I wasn't considering your feelings. Tsukune said I should try talking to the other Moka, because she wouldn't want to share."

"Tsukune was right," Moka said. "She doesn't like sharing. She doesn't even like sharing Tsukune with me."

"But you're the same person," Yukari protested.

"It doesn't quite work that way," Moka said.

"What do you mean?" Yukari asked.

"We are two people, but we share a single body," Moka explained. "We have some things in common, but see the world in different ways. In a way, we are like sisters that are forced to live together. It's not that we dislike each other, but there are times when we do not get along."

"Oh," Yukari said.

"Imagine what it would be like if you had a twin sister," Moka suggested. "You're both witches, you're both smart, but you have to share the same bedroom, and the same desk. The difference is that your sister likes having pets and doesn't like mangas. The two of you always have to find ways to share space. If you take up too much space with your mangas, she will put them under or on top of her cages, where they might get chewed on, or stained."

"Ewww," Yukari could imagine all too well what might happen to her mangas in that kind of situation.

"Now imagine you and your sister fall in love with the same boy," Moka continued.

"Like Tsukune?" Yukari perked up.

"Like Tsukune," Moka agreed. "And you want to take him back to your room. You need to talk to your sister, to make sure her pets are all in their cages, and their cages are clean. You also have to make sure that it is alright with her that you bring your boyfriend over."

"But she likes him to," Yukari eyebrows went up. "So she should want him to come over too."

"Maybe," Moka said. "But not until she is ready. She might want to have the right dress, or to have her hair and makeup done first. So you have to give her time to get ready."

"Alight," Yukari nodded.

"But you have things to do," Moka continued. "So when your sister is ready to have this boy over, you won't be able to spend any time with him."

"I'll just have to see him later," Yukari said. "We'll just have to take turns."

"But your sister doesn't want to take turns. She wants to keep the boy to herself," Moka explained. "She wants to keep him like one of her pets, always there for her. Someone she can talk to and take care of. Someone that is only hers. But because you and her are almost always together, sometimes you get to share your boyfriend. Sometimes she has to share him with you."

"Well that kind of sucks," Yukari pouted.

"Now imagine that you finally get your boyfriend to yourself," Moka went on. "You're sister is going to be busy all day because one of her pets got loose and she has to find him, and clean up the mess he made, so you know she isn't going to bother you. You hurry off to meet your boyfriend so you can have him all alone."

"Yeah..." Yukari's eyes unfocused as she visited her happy place.

"You meet your boyfriend," Moka tried to ignore the little witch's creepy smile. "You reach out to hug him. And suddenly Kokoa gets in your way."

"What?" Yukair cried out in protest. "What? Why? Nooo, he's supposed to be my boyfriend."

"How would you feel?" Moka asked. "What would you do?"

"I'd bash her over the head with everything I could find," Yukari said. "I'd make sure she never got in my way."

"Now," Moka said, her voice growing firm. "How do you think my sister would feel? She finally gets her time with Tsukune, and you're suddenly there, what do you think she would do to you?"

"I..." Yukari paused. It was almost the same argument that Tsukune had given her. "But if we took the time to explain things," Yukari tried to argue.

"Yukari," Moka cut her off. "What do you think Tsukune and I do when we are alone together?"

"You guys hold hands," Yukari said. "And hug and kiss each other. And someday you will..."

"Alright," Moka cut her off again. "You're right. Tsukune and I do hold hands, and embrace, and kiss each other. I also bite him. He shares his blood with me, because he knows I enjoy the taste of him, and the feeling of his energy flowing. He is sharing his life with me..." Moka gave herself a shake to keep from being distracted. "When we are doing... what we do, what we share together, what do you think you would do if you were there?"

"Ummm," Yukari paused.

"When I am with Tsukune," Moka went on. "I want all of his attention to be on me. And I want to have all of my attention on him. All you would be able to do is watch."

"I don't mind," Yukari said. "I can just wait."

"Wait for what?" Moka asked.

"For when you're finished," Yukari said. "Then I can have my turn."

"When Tsukune and I are finished..." Moka gave the girl a look. "When we are finished, it ether means we have run out of time and have to go do something else, or we are too tired to continue."

"Well," Yukari tried to find an argument for her case. "I could just cuddle with you, and take care of whoever isn't satisfied yet."

"Yukari," Moka said. "I'm sorry, but you just don't have what it takes to satisfy me. And I don't just mean because you are a girl. I can smell you, the scent of you is completely different from Tsukue. It is like trying to replace a meal of red meat with beans and rice."

"Well what about Tsukune..." Yukari tried to argue.

"There are two of me," Moka cut her off. "Tsukune is never left unsatisfied."

"But..." Yukari felt her world crashing.

"Yukari," Moka said calmly. "Tsukune and I consider you a good friend. A member of our family here at school. Someday I hope to have a life with Tsukune, and while you will always be our friend, there are going to be some things we will not share with you."

"Moka," Yukari sniffed. She felt like hear heart was breaking. It wasn't fair, Yukari thought. Her most important people didn't want to include her in their love. She had been with them through so much. The tears started to fall. "I'm sorry," Yukari managed to say. She ran out of Tsukune's house, feeling hurt and embarrassed.

Moka watched her go. She moved to the door and watched until Yukari reached the safety of her own house. A part of her wanted to comfort her friend, but she held back. Yukari needed to learn the boundaries of her relationships.

XxxxxxXXXXX

Tsukune dragged himself home Saturday morning. While somewhere in his mind he questioned the change of labels, from 'his house' to 'his home,' and wondered when that switch had occurred in his head, most of his thoughts were centered around going to bed and sleeping the rest of the day. During the past seventy two hours, Tsukune had undergone three weeks of training. Most of it had been about law and police theory, learning about the roles and responsibilities of police officers, and the structure of police organizations in Japan. Enough physical training had been crammed into the schedule to keep Tsukune from getting any real rest. He had been trained how to fight to subdue a person without doing any lasting harm, which Tsukune appreciated more then some of the other things he had gone through. A small but graphic and effective piece of his training had been how to resist losing control of a situation to a female that tried to use her body to manipulate him. Tsukune's instructors were impressed at how well he kept his self control over all, but thought he got embarrassed too easily. They had a way to help burn that potential weakness out of him, or at least wear it down significantly. He wasn't sure how it had been managed, but when he was released from training, sure that he had been gone for weeks, his instructors told him it had only been three days. Tsukune was exhausted in mind and body. His inner youkai was nearly as worn out as well, from the intensity of the training. During his crash course, Tsukune had learned how and when to use his Youkai abilities to assist him, and in some cases how and when to use them to an apparent disadvantage to trick someone.

Tsukune felt a sense of relief when he finally reached the front door to his house. Even as he reached out for the door handle, he pressed his awareness forward, exercising the skill and paranoia that he had been practicing for the last three weeks/days. He could feel the layers of energy around his house, most of them matched the youkai aura of Ruby within. He could even feel Hiru asleep in her den out back. With a sigh, Tsukune opened the door.

"I'm home," Tsukune called out in a tired voice.

Ruby had felt Tsukune's hand touch the door handle, alerted by the wards she had weaved around the house. She stood and bowed as her master opened the door. Relieved to have him home, Ruby's anxiousness of the past three days quickly retreated.

"Welcome home, Master," Ruby greeted Tsukune.

When she looked up, Ruby gasped at what she saw. Tsukune looked all used up. He had bags under his eyes his cheeks looked sunken in. His school uniform was gone, possible into the large black duffel bag he was carrying on his back. Tsukne was dressed in a gray track suit that looked like it had been dragged over kilometers of rock, dirt, and gravel, with Tsukune in side it. Tsukune let the bag slip from his shoulders and it hit the floor with a heavy thump.

"I'm going to need a bath and bed," Tsukune said. "In that order."

"I did not know when you would be home," Ruby said. "So I have a bath waiting for you."

"Yes," Tsukune sighed. "Ruby, I love you."

"Eep," Ruby felt her legs go weak and her entire body tremble.

Ruby's heart fluttered with joy. The honest and blunt way Tsukune had just said that he loved her made her so happy she wanted to cry. She held back her happy tears for later, her master needed her attention first. She followed Tsukune into the bathroom, where he stopped and stood, looking tired, almost asleep on his feet.

"Help me out," Tsukune said as he started to pull off his track suit.

"Yes master," Ruby agreed.

Tsukune was tired down to the bone. He wanted to relax and rest in the worst way, and was determined to get what he wanted. Fortunately he had a secret weapon on his side in Ruby. His self proclaimed slave always wanted to do everything for Tsukune, who much preferred to look after himself. Tsukune was too tired to worry about things like pride or modesty, and was going to let Ruby take care of everything until he felt better.

Ruby helped her master undress and got him seated on the bath stool without incident. She spared only a moment to strip off most of her own clothes and toss them in a bundle into the corner, before preparing to wash Tsukune's back. She was rewarded by his relaxed sigh as she set to work on him. She washed his back from his shoulders all the way down, even reaching around to wash his sides, all the parts he let her wash without tensing up in the past.

"Hey," Tsukune grunted. "What about the rest? And don't forget my hair too."

Ruby's eyes went wide. Tsukune was never so willing to let her care for him. Excited, and determined to do a good job, Ruby applied herself to cleaning Tsukune.

Tsukune enjoyed the attention. While he would have liked to have Moka, or Kurumu, with him most of the time, Tsukune admitted to himself that there was an advantage of having Ruby help him out in the bath some times. He didn't need to do anything, or worry about giving attention in return. While Ruby's hands did make him twitch a few times, and her fascination with some areas of his body could be a little awkward any other time, Tsukune enjoyed being able to relax and leave everything to her. After he was rinsed off, Tsukune allowed himself a soak in the bath, with Ruby watching over him to make sure he didn't fall asleep and drown. She talked to him, telling him about what had been going on while he had been away, while he soaked in the hot water.

When Tsukune caught himself nodding off, in spite of Ruby's presence, he knew it was past time for bed. He climbed out of the bath and let Ruby towel him off and dry his hair. Finally he was done waiting.

"Wake me for supper," Tsukune instructed as he left the bathroom. He was a little unsteady on his feet as he made his way to his room. With a little smile on his face, Tsukune crawled into bed. He closed his eyes and was asleep before he could finish a single yawn.