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, than you should not read this.

Chapter 153

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Nori asked her client. They were 'back stage' after the daily live broadcast, and Kurumu, the 'Sweetheart Cook' was practically glowing. She had set up a 'study date' with her boyfriend.

"Yes," Kurumu insisted. "A hundred times, yes. I need to keep up with my school work if I want to go to college, and college will help my career."

"I'm not asking about that," Nori said. "I mean about the part where your boyfriend comes to visit you and you expect him to just help you with school stuff. You are more likely to spend your time... not doing school work. I can tutor you. I graduated college, so you will probably get better marks on your work."

"But you are not Tsukune," Kurumu said. "I want Tsukune to help me because it's him."

"And just how are you going to keep your attention on your studying?" Nori pressed.

"Because it's Tsukune," Kurumu grinned darkly. "He will keep me focused because he is serious and understands how important my career goals are to me."

"And you're not going to try to distract him?" Nori questioned.

"Of course I will," Kurumu continued to grin. "I am going to tease him and flirt with him. He is going to respond by being patient but firm about getting the school work done."

"It sounds like you have your evening all planned out," Nori observed.

"Heh," Kurumu chuckled. "Nori, I have the evening, night, and early morning, and the rest of my life with him all planned out."

The agent looked at her client and blinked in surprise. She had dealt with teen age girls plenty of times. She had watched aspiring idols burn out, fizzle, or just give up. Some had gone off in search for more money, and ended up slipping down into erotic modeling, pornography, and worse. A lucky few found success and were able to cope, not only with the popularity and excitement, but with the decline into obscurity that came after. Kurumu, Nori knew, had a plan. She was grateful that the busty and cute teen was looking ahead for more than just popularity and money. What surprised Nori was how Kurumu's determination to succeed was matched by her desire for her boyfriend.

"Don't worry so much, Nori," Kurumu tried to sooth her agent. "Tsukune wants me to be able to reach my goals because he loves me. The reason I want to be a success, is because I love him, and I want to be somebody he can be proud of."

"I see," Nori said. She blinked a few times. "But I still think you are taking a big chance. What will your fans think if they hear that you're having a boyfriend visit you in your hotel? What will your mother think?"

"My mother would wonder what took him so long to come and visit," Kurumu explained. "As for the fans, they will work themselves into a fit imagining what did or didn't happen."

"You're probably right," Nori sighed. She gave her head a little shake to clear it. "So what time is this guy supposed to arrive?"

"He's already here," Kurumu said.

"What?" Nori almost came out of her skin.

"I told him where we were going to be today," Kurumu explained calmly. "And invited him to watch the show. He arrived during the broadcast, but has kept his distance. He probably did not want to bother me while I was working."

"How do you know all this?" Nori questioned. "Did he message you or something?"

"We have a special connection," Kurumu said, intentionally being unclear.

"At least he has some sense," Nori said.

Xx

Nori wondered what Kurumu could have been thinking. She had invited her boyfriend to a live event. Nori had seen up and coming idols make that same mistake before. It was bad enough that Kurumu admitted to having a boyfriend. If she did anything to identify him to the crowd, he could find himself being attacked. While Nori didn't think any of Kurumu's fans were that rabid, yet, the young man could still be put in an embarrassing position. Also, he would see his girlfriend getting a lot of attention from the fans. More often then not, Nori knew that when a boyfriend attended a live event, it damaged the relationship, damaged the idol's career, or both.

Nori had high hopes for Kurumu, and didn't want to see her mess up a good thing. Normally an agent wouldn't spend much time with a new talent like Kurumu. Nori had intended to treat her like any other client and supervise from a distance, only being with her at the start of a new job, and for any meetings. But Kurumu had a potential that Nori could not ignore. On only her second job, after just a few days, Kurumu had moved from a supporting roll to the lead. It had been a stroke of luck, and had probably given her a year or more head start on her career. Nori wanted to help make sure Kurumu's career was a success, if for no other reason than the money she would make from her client, so Nori had made Kurumu her top priority. Given that most of Nori's clients never got more than a few catalog shoots or some kind of mascot jobs, it was easy to see where her efforts would bring in the best rewards.

Nori just needed to help keep Kurumu from making any mistakes. It was clear that the up and coming star was not going to budge on seeing her boyfriend. Nori decided that the next course of action was to have a few words with the boy in question. If she could explain the situation to him, and he was half as responsible and caring as Kurumu said, he would agree to keep his visit short, and to keep a distance from her events in the future.

XxxXxxX

Tsukune thought that maybe the youkai that lived in seclusion had the right idea. The mall was packed with people. Canned music warbled out of speakers not up to the task, in the hopes of promoting the festive holiday spirit among the shoppers. If it wasn't for Kurumu, Tsukune would have avoided the place as if it was on fire. He had watched Kurumu's broadcast from a distance, on a television in the window of an electronics store, but close enough he could hear the crowd cheering as she repeated her cookie spill trick. According to the messages and calls they had traded to work out the timing for his visit, Kurumu had two live shows left to do that day. Tsukune planed to watch them discreetly, and then meet Kurumu when she was done. On his back he had a pack containing the things she needed to do her school work, and a few things he would need if he ended up spending the night.

Still, Tsukune thought as a little old woman elbowed him viciously to get to a sale, if Kurumu had not asked it of him, he would not have come. He was more than happy to spend time with her. If she had asked to meet him at her mother's apartment, or even at her hotel room, Tsukune would have agreed. The mall, however, was just not his idea of a good time. He decided to slip into a book store to escape the crowd.

"Stop!" A voice shouted, carrying over the crowd of shoppers. "Help! Thief!"

Tsukune turned out of reflex. Coming his way at a dead run was a pair of teenaged boys. One of them was carrying a purse. Tsukune considered the situation carefully. The pair of boys were being slowed down by the crowd, but it still looked like they would escape eventually. More people were shouting now, some in alarm, others in anger. Because he was watching, Tsukune saw the boy with the purse perform a hand-off. He passed it to a third teen who tucked it under his jacket even as he acted like he had been pushed aside like so many others. He even yelled at the two running teens.

It was a very tidy way to operate, Tsukune thought. If the first two were caught, they could argue that it was a miss understanding, because nether of them had the purse after all. Tsukune did nothing as the two teens ran past him. Instead, he moved to close in on the one with the purse. Tsukune borrowed from what Mizore had shared with him. He called upon his youki and concentrated on the idea of being unimportant. Tsukune focused as best he could on the way he remembered being before meeting Moka. Small, weak, so average in appearance as to be invisible. He wrapped the idea around himself and slipped through the crowd. He was almost on top of the one with the purse when he saw a tired and frayed police woman finally push her way through the shoppers.

Tsukune smiled at the opportunity that had presented itself. He dropped the idea of trying to be small and unnoticed. Squaring his shoulders and tensing himself for action, Tsukune shifted his thinking to that of a trained and experienced police captain as he reached for his identification. He went from Tsukkie-kun to Aono-Sama in a blink.

"Stop right there," Tsukune commanded in a firm voice.

"Whaaa!" The teen hiding the purse jumped in shock, and would have bolted if Tsukune had not caught a hold of his collar. "Hey!" The much smaller boy shouted. "Let me go. Let me go."

"What's going on here?" The police woman said, attracted by the yelling.

"Help me," The teen boy struggled to pull free of Tsukune. "This guy's a bully."

"Sir," The police woman looked to Tsukune, who was calmly holding the struggling boy in place. "What's going on?"

"This boy is under arrest," Tsukune explained, offering his identification to the police woman. "He is an accessory to the purse snatchers that just ran through here."

The police woman scanned Tsukune's identification with her eyes as she heard what he said. He was out of his territory, but he was still a captain. She looked back at Tsukune.

"Captain," She said politely. "If what you say is true..."

"Check under his jacket," Tsukune said.

"You can't do this to me," The boy protested. "I ain't done nothing wrong."

Tsukune didn't want to have a pointless argument.. He started to shake the boy about by his collar. When the boy felt himself losing his balance, he tried to put his arms out reflexively. Because he had concentrated on protecting himself from falling, he had messed up. The purse fell from under his jacket.

"Ah ah ah ah..." The boy stuttered.

The police woman felt a smile curve her lips. It was her first smile in days. The boy was busted, caught red handed. All it would take was a little paperwork and he would be spending the start of the new year in jail. She pulled out her handcuffs.

"Now you just need to make things easy on yourself," The police woman said as she started to lock the boy's hands behind his back. "Tell me the names of your accomplices and where I can find them."

"Never," The teen boy said, lifting his chin.

"You will," Tsukune said, pulling the boy around to face him. "Because you know you want to do the right thing."

"They're my friends," The boy protested.

"Friends that get you to help them snatch purses, you don't want," Tsukune growled. "You are going to tell us everything, or you are going to face a very bad end."

Tsukune reached for his youki and concentrated on the anger and pain he had endured to protect his friends. He remembered how he felt when he discovered what had happened to Kurumu. He drew up his feelings from when Mizore had been taken. He remembered gangsters that had wanted to exploit Moka and Sun. Tsukune drew up his youki and projected it with his anger at the boy. Tsukune was going to do this boy a favor by protecting him from becoming the kind of monster that preyed on his fellow humans.

The police woman watched as the out of town captain pulled the teen boy close. She hoped that he wouldn't be too rough with the little thief. To her surprise, all it took was one scary frown from the captain. The boy started shaking, then he started talking. The police woman almost didn't get her notepad out in time to take down what the boy was saying. The boy spilled out everything he knew. He gave up his friends, he gave up the location of the empty store they and the rest of their small gang used as a hang-out. He listed every little crime he could remember having any part of. All the while the boy sweated bullets. The police woman's smile grew wider.

With what the boy had to say, she knew she was going to make a round of arrests. It was the kind of opportunity that could boost her career. Maybe she could catch the eye of that young lieutenant she was interested in. As she lead the boy away in handcuffs, the considered how she would word her report. Yes, she thought to herself, it was going to be a merry holiday after all.

XXxxXX

Nori felt the beginning of a tension headache coming on. It was the last live show of the day. Kurumu was still glowing, and it was making the fans excited too. The boyfriend had not shown up yet as far as she could tell. The police were thick around the area as if expecting trouble. To Nori it was a recipe for disaster.

Kurumu ended her show with a smile. Instead of the shower of cookies, she held up a cake on a tray. The cake was round and had white frosting, with 'For my Sweetheart' in red icing across it.

"Remember," Kurumu said to the audience. "Take care of your sweetheart."

A cheer went up and the show came to an end. Nori slipped to the back stage area to meet with Kurumu. If her boyfriend had not shown up by now, there was a good chance he wasn't going to, and a depressed client could cause problems. In the small area that was carefully watched over by the crew, Nori found Kurumu quickly changing clothes. Of all things, she was putting on a motorcycle riding outfit.

"Why are you wearing that?" Nori asked.

"Because Tsukune would have come here on a motorcycle," Kurumu answered. "And in this weather, I told him to be sure to wear his heavy riding gear."

"Are you sure it's a good idea for you to wear that?" Nori said. "You can just take a taxi back to the hotel. Besides, that looks a lot like what you wore when you did your last job."

"I know," Kurumu smiled cutely. "Tsukune and I showed up for a meeting once in out riding gear and the manager saw us. He had them make costumes for us based off of our gear."

"What if someone recognizes you?" Nori protested. "I've seen the video's from that job. You and your partner looked like a real couple."

"We are a real couple," Kurumu said firmly. "Why do you think Tsukune and I danced so well in the first place. That was how we got the job." Kurumu finished putting her things away in the chest that the crew would be moving to the next location. She picked up her helmet and turned back to her agent. "And I am sure some of the people who come to watch me will make the connection. I have already had plenty of them ask me if I was the one they saw dancing. One of them even told me he had gotten a copy of the video. He brought a still photograph from the final show for me to sign."

"Why are you doing this?" Nori demanded. "What will your fans think?"

"I am hoping they will think that Tsukune and I are a strong couple," Kurumu said. "And that they will respect that. It will do my career more good to be seen as being faithful and dependable than to be just a pretty flirt."

"I just hope you know what you are doing," Nori shook her head. "You seem to be going out of your way for a boyfriend that didn't even bother to show up."

"I told you," Kurumu said. "Tsukune's already here. He's been close all afternoon."

"How would you know?" Nori questioned. "All of your cell phones have been turned off. I haven't even seen you check for messages during your breaks."

"I don't need a phone to know where Tsukune is," Kurumu said proudly.

"Then where is he?" Nori demanded.

"Right over there," Kurumu pointed through the curtain that closed off the back stage area.

Nori gave Kurumu a questioning look. Her own doubt faltered as she saw the confident smile Kurumu gave her. What was strange was the way Kurumu's arm moved. It was as if she was pointing at a moving target only she could see. When she pointed behind Nori, the woman felt an itch between her shoulder blades.

"Kurumu," A voice called out. "Is now a good time?"

"Come on in Tsukune," Kurumu bounced on her toes as she lowered her arm.

Nori felt a little unnerved after Kurumu's little performance. She nearly missed it when a tall young man in red and black moved past her. She instantly recognized the boyfriend, Tsukune, because he looked almost the same as he had in the dancing machine promotional material. She watched the couple embrace warmly, and had to admit, they did look like they shared something special.

"Tsukune," Kurumu said in a warm voice. "I would like to introduce you to my agent." She turned him about a little without letting go of him. "This is Mori Nori."

"It is nice to meet you, Mori san," Tsukune said, freeing his right hand to offer it to the woman.

"Nori," Kurumu went on. "This is my, everything, Aono Tsukune."

"It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Mr. Aono," The woman said as she took his hand. "Please, call me Nori."

"Call me Tsukune," Tsukune replied. "Thank you for working with Kurumu."

"It has been my pleasure," Nori said. "Perhaps you would be interested in working with her again. I can manage you too."

"Nori," Tsukune said with a wide smile that turned flat in a second. "No."

Kurumu snuggled against Tsukune with a sleepy smile on her face. Their time together had gone almost exactly according to her expectations. From the mall where she had been working, Kurumu and Tsukune had returned to her hotel room. She planed to work on her school assignments until it was time for dinner, take a break to eat, and then hit the books until it was time for bed. Her plans at that point were very simple, and she had been looking forward to them.

Tsukune had surprised Kurumu once they had reached the privacy of her room. Once they were safe from prying eyes, when Kurumu tried to tease him a little, she found herself getting kissed in a very passionate and aggressive way. Tsukune then made his position clear.

"You get an assignment finished," Tsukune said. "And you get another kiss."

Kurumu threw herself at the school work with determination. She got two kisses before supper. During supper, while they ate, Tsukune held a text book and tutored her on math. After supper, she got another kiss. Kurumu had been ready to study all night to get more of those kisses, but Tsukune was too practical for that. He made her stop because she had work in the morning, and he knew how important it was to her.

"But, Tsukune," Kurumu had protested as he started to put the books away. "I can get at least one more assignment finished tonight, and I want another kiss."

"Well," Tsukune gave her a crooked smile. "You can keep studying if you want to." He set the books down. "I'm just going to take a bath."

Kurumu dropped her pen without another complaint. Tsukune still got a little jumpy when she goosed him, and she thought it was cute how he tried to act proper when they washed each other. After a nice bath, they went to bed together. As a gentleman, Tsukune did not try to take advantage of Kurumu, but she was not going to let him off the hook that easily. It was midnight by the time they had finished their passionate coupling.

Kurumu was happy with how her time with Tsukune had been spent. She knew that her school work could be finished on time. He had proven to her satisfaction that he did still love her and enjoy her company. The only complaint she had was how fast the time had gone by.