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 219

The Aono house was a lively place that afternoon. Moka and Ruby had accepted an invitation from Tsukune's mother to come over for the afternoon. Other visitors included Tsukune's cousin Kyouko, and his friend Hana. Hana's mother, Fuji, was also there, along with Mai, Kota's mother. The mothers kept trying to draw Moka into talking about her relationship with Tsukune. As the only one of the younger women dating anybody, she was made the center of attention over and over again as the conversation keeps touching on romance.

Eventually the larger group split up. For the mothers it is time for their afternoon dramas. The younger women move to the kitchen to continue talking. For Hana it was just the opportunity she had been waiting for.

"Moka, Ruby," Hana was almost bouncing on her toes. "I've been waiting to tell you this. I've been accepted to your school. I will be attending my third year there."

"Congratulations," Ruby offered.

"I wish you good luck," Moka added.

"You're going there?!" Kyouko choked. "Are you nuts?"

"What?" Hana questioned. "Why? What's wrong with the school I want to go to?"

"Do you have any idea what kind of place that it?" Kyouko demanded. "It's a school full..." She looked around to make sure the mothers weren't listening and lowered her voice before continuing. "It's a school full of monsters." She finished in a low voice.

"Tsukune warned me about the youkai," Hana said stubbornly. "But that's not going to stop me."

"Why would you want to go to someplace like that?" Kyouko pressed. "I've been there. I've seen what kind of monsters run wild there. You'll get killed for sure."

"It's not like that," Moka moved to support Hana. "What you saw was somebody trying to get revenge because they got caught abusing their power, and the students."

"The school is much safer than it was before," Ruby said. "Tsukune has made sure of that. The Student Police is the largest club in the school."

"That's right," Moka added. "No big problems had happened on school grounds all last year."

"See," Hana said to Kyouko. "I'll be fine. If Moka made it through school safely, then so can I."

"Moka..." Kyouko choked. Her voice came out as a harsh whisper. "Moka is one of the monsters."

"What?" Hana asked.

"Kyouko," Ruby said sharply.

"She may look all sweet and nice," Kyouko went on. "But she's a vampire."

"What?" Hana turned to Moka. "No way."

"Kyouko," Ruby gave Tsukune's cousin a harsh look. "Are you trying to get Moka in trouble? Because if you are, you'll only end up hurting Tsukune, and you know that is not acceptable."

"Oh please," Kyouko argued. "I know how you feel about my cousin. You'd be happy if..."

"I know how Tsukune feels about Moka," Ruby cut her off. "And how Tsukune feels is what's important."

"Moka?" Hana questioned the blushing young woman, ignoring the pair glaring at each other.

"It's true," Moka said in a soft, low voice. "I'm not human."

"Oh. My. God," Hana whispered. "This is... This... Does Tsukune know?" Her eyes were wide with excitement.

"Yes," Moka's expression shifted from embarrassed and annoyed to proud and happy. "Tsukune knows all about what I am, and he doesn't have any problems with it."

"I can't believe this," Kyouko hissed. "What is it that..."

"I will thank you," Moka said in a firm tone to Kyouko. "To not question my relationship with Tsukune."

"But you..." Kyouko began.

"Forget her," Hana said, drawing Moka's attention back to her. "I want to know more about your school, and about you. Tsukune told me some things already. He even said that there are charms to keep people safe."

"I don't think..." Moka began.

"This really is not the place to talk," Ruby interrupted.

"I know a place we can go talk," Hana volunteered.

"That sounds like a good idea," Moka said.

"Yes," Ruby agreed. "Tsukune would not like it if we let too much information get out." She gave Kyouko a dark look.

"Fine," Kyouko said with a huff. "But I'm coming with you. I want to know more too, and Hana needs somebody to look out for her."

Hana gave a burdened sigh.

Xx

The mothers had no objection to the younger women stepping out for a while. Fuji spared her attention from the television for a moment to encourage her daughter to enjoy hanging out with the others. Of the four, Kyouko was best able to understand the television dramas the mothers enjoyed, but even she found them far less interesting than the older women did.

"I know this little place where Tsukune and the others used to go to," Hana spoke up once they were all outside. "It's a little ramen shop where the owner is always busy reading his paper or working, so he won't pay attention to anything we talk about."

"A ramen shop?" Moka questioned.

"Really?" Ruby added with a smile.

"Yes," Hana said. "Tsukune and his friends liked the place because it was inexpensive, and it was close to the other places they liked to hang out at." She flashed Moka and Ruby a smile that was touched with embarrassment. "I would tag along sometimes to get away from my mother. She never did understand why I liked my anime and mangas to have more action than romance."

"Did you play with Tsukune often?" Moka asked to be polite, and to see if she could learn anything new about the man she loved.

"When I could," Hana replied. She went on to share some stories about her time with Tsukune and his friends back before they went to high school, but she had to admit to the truth, that most of the time the boys had not wanted her tagging along.

The stories were nothing exciting, but they did give Moka and Ruby some things to think about. Moka wondered what her life would have been like if she had encountered Tsukune before high school. Ruby had grown up on the edges of the normal human world. She wondered how it would have changed her life if she had found a friend like Hana when she was younger. She thought about how the human girl was interested in magic. A friend like that might have saved Ruby from a lot of pain and sadness. A friend like Hana might have kept Ruby from trying to kill Tsukune and the others. While ruby was happy with her life, and couldn't imagine even wanting to change it, she thought that Hana should be encouraged to follow her dream, for the sake of all the other youkai that could be helped.

It turned out that the ramen shop was a popular place that day. Three people were already seated at the counter with their backs to the street. Hana thought that she might have to come up with a new place to talk with the others, but then she recognized the three customers.

"Kota, Nagi," Hana called out to the two she knew best. Seated between them was Nagi's girlfriend Kiyo.

"Huh," Kota turned when he heard his name. "Oh, hey Hana. Hey! It's you." Kota brightened when he saw who was with Hana.

A round of greetings, and when needed introductions, were made. The new arrivals found seats at the counter, almost filling the shop. Behind the counter Emmy was dressed in a shirt and jeans and had an apron covering her front. It turned out that she was working part time at her uncle's shop.

"What can I get you, Sempai?" Emmy asked Moka.

"Sempai?" Kyouko questioned.

"She just graduated from my school," Emmy volunteered.

"What?" Kyouko gawked. She looked from the cute-if-plane girl behind the counter to the pretty and sweet looking Moka.

"Yes," Moka said with a smile. "Emmy is one of our friends from school. Kiyo here," Moka jestured. "Was my housemate in the student village at school."

"Wait," Kyouko blinked. She looked at the two boys. She saw how close Nagi was to Kiyo, and how he drew her closer protectively as she watched. "Do they know...?"

"Kota and Nagi were invited to our school festival this year," Moka said.

"We were asked to represent out schools," Nagi said proudly. "That's how I met Kiyo."

"I met Kota here last year," Emmy said as she set out cups of tea for the new arrivals.

"But..." Kyouko blinked.

"Kyouko," Ruby said with a calm smile. "I just want to remind you that Tsukune cares very much about the safety and happiness of his friends."

Kyouko turned to give Ruby a dirty look. Frown met smile for a moment before Ruby's expression turned into something less than friendly. Kyouko looked away.

"It's not like I could ever tell anybody," Kyouko huffed.

"Hey, Emmy," Hana spoke up, not wanting to get caught up in the friction between Kyouko and Ruby. "I'm going to be going to your school next term."

"Really?" Emmy asked with a surprised but excited look.

"Congratulations," Kota offered.

"Too bad Tsukune isn't hear to see this," Nagi observed as he made a gesture to take in everybody in the small shop. "This is the kind of thing he'll be sorry he missed."

"You are right," Moka agreed. Humans and youkai were sitting together at the ramen shop, with everybody there knowing it. It was the kind of coexistence that Tsukune was hoping so hard for.

"Hana," Emmy asked. "Do you think you would like to join the Drama Club?"

"I don't know," Hana answered. "I am thinking about joining the Newspaper Club."

That was enough to get the conversation about the school going. Kyouko was feeling left out, because what little she had to say about the Youkai Academy sounded like she just didn't like the place. In truth she had never liked it. She had found a few weird rumors about Tsukune's school on the internet when he had first left to attend the place. After her visit, she had given in to Tsukune's desire to attend not just because it was what he wanted, but also because she had seen how much the girls close to him wanted him to stay, and they had intimidated her.

Kyouko had intended to watch over Hana to make sure the other girls didn't mislead her, but she realized that she was going to have trouble being the voice of reason. As she listened, the others, even Tsukune two little friends were making the school sound like someplace normal. It was almost enough to make Kyouko question her visit to the place.

"But why aren't you telling her the important part?" Kyouko demanded, breaking into the conversation.

"What do you mean?" Emmy asked.

"Your school is a place full of monsters," Kyouko insisted. "Hana's life will be in danger."

"It won't be like that," Emmy argued.

"Not everybody there is going to be dangerous," Hana said. "Besides, I can probably get a charm like Moka and Tsukune to keep me safe."

A silence fell over the group. It was only for a few heartbeats, but it was enough. Hana looked around at the others.

"What?" Hana asked.

"Hana," Moka said gently as she put her fingers to her rosario. "The part about this being a charm to keep me safe. I don't think you quite understand. It is a limiter. It doesn't keep me safe from others. What it does is make me safe for others to be around."

"It's true," Kiyo spoke up. "Moka, when her seal is removed, was one of the strongest youkai at the school."

"But..." Hana was feeling confused.

"What Kyouko is saying is true," Ruby said as she shot Tsukune's cousin a dark look. "But it is not the whole truth. For the last three years, Tsukune was the only human attending Youkai Academy. During that time, he became a leader and helped make the school a better and safer place. Next year, if you don't change your mind, you will be one of several humans. The Board Chairman's hope is that someday half of the students will be humans. The purpose of the school is to teach youkai how to blend in and get along with humans, and to help build a foundation for peaceful coexistence."

"But what about Tsukune's charm?" Hana asked.

"The lock he wears is similar to mine," Moka answered. "Because of what has happened to him, he has to wear a limiter. It helps him control his power."

"Wow..." Hana breathed.

"You see why you can't go there?" Kyouko insisted. "It would be impossible for you..."

"But I want to do the impossible," Hana said, cutting Kyouko off. "That's the whole point. I don't want to live in a world where the impossible is only something I can read about in a manga. I want more excitement in my life than watching dramas and wondering who's going to get kissed next week."

"Don't you see?" Hana went on. "This is my chance. If I can do one impossible thing... Just one! That means that there is nothing that cannot be done. If I can do one impossible thing, and somebody else can do a different thing everybody said is impossible, then we can keep going until we have a world where nothing is impossible. We will have a world where dreams will come true. We could cure cancer. Somebody could find the end to world hunger. Japan could even lead the way in space exploration and we can all go to the moon."

Kyouko's jaw dropped as she listened to Hana. The younger girl was beyond reason. Instead of seeing the danger in front of her, she was excited about chasing dreams.

"You're just like Tsukune," Kyouko complained.

"And there is nothing wrong with that," Moka spoke up.

"Sempai is the hero of our school," Emmy added.

"He's always been someone we could count on," Kota said.

"The world could use more people like Aono Tsukune," Kiyo added while Nagi nodded in agreement.

"Hana," Ruby said. "Tsukune was able to do the impossible more times than I can count. I think that being considered to be like my master will be the highest complement anybody can ever give you."

"You're right," Hana agreed with a smile and a nod. "I want to be just like Tsukune."

"Are you crazy?" Kyouko demanded. "There is no way a girl like you can make friends with Youkai. It would be impossible."

"Emmy," Hana said to the girl behind the counter. "You're a youkai, right?"

"Yes," Emmy answered carefully.

"Will you be my friend?" Hana asked.

"I would be honored," Emmy said with a smile.

"There," Hana turned back to Kyouko with a wide grin. "One impossible thing accomplished. What's next?"

"You're impossible," Kyouko complained with a sigh.