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 222

Tsukune wasn't sure if he should be angry at himself or not. He was angry at how his weekend had ended. He and Moka had just gotten the mood just right for a special night alone when Ruby had come for him.

"Ruby!" Moka had hissed when she had answered the knocking at the door.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quickly. "But a message was just sent for Tsukune." She held up an envelope with the Youkai Academy seal clearly visible on it.

"Tsukune?" Moka turned to him.

Tsukune had followed Moka when she had gotten up to answer the door, and was standing a short distance behind her. He saw the envelope and felt his insides clench. He felt an incredible urge to reach past Moka and push the door closed. It would be so easy to do, because he knew neither woman would try to stop him. With a sigh, Tsukune reached out and took the envelope.

"Damn it," Tsukune swore under his breath. He opened the envelope and read the enclosed letter.

"To Aono Tsukune,"

"Student Counselor of Youkai Gauken,"

"Faculty Advisor to the Student Police Club,"

"Greetings," The letter began.

Tsukune wanted to groan. He had hoped to be done with the Board Chairman and his manipulative ways. He had graduated. He had survived that damn school. Tsukune had done every crazy, stressful, damn near impossible thing the man had demanded of him. And now the Board Chairman was still yanking on his strings. Tsukune could feel the low growl rumbling in his chest as he read on.

"I trust that my letter has found you in good health and enjoying the fruits of your labors," The Board Chairman's words made Tsukune want to smash something. "I just wanted to remind you that tomorrow will be the start of the new school year at our school. Your young friend will be starting classes, as one of four humans currently enrolled. Additionally, you have several friends and followers still in attendance that would benefit from your continued support of the Youaki Academy and its goals."

"It is my hope that you will be present at tomorrow's opening ceremonies. It would help encourage the faith of the students to know that you have not abandoned the school now that you have graduated. After the opening ceremonies, there will be time for you to meet with your friends. Additionally, there will be a luncheon for the faculty and student leaders."

"With warmest regards,"

"And bright hopes for the coming year,"

"I will be counting on you..."

"Shit!" Tsukune nearly spat.

XxxxxxxX

Twelve hours later Tsukune was still angry, but was doing a good job of not letting it show. His anger was simmering in the back of his consciousness as he waited for the opening ceremonies to finish. He was dressed in a nice suit of charcoal gray with a red shirt. When he was called upon to give a short speech, he stepped forward calmly.

"Students of the Youkai Academy," Tsukune had said in a clear, firm voice. "I am Aono Tsukune, a graduate of this school. During my time as a student here, I worked hard with my school mates to help everyone have a good and safe experience as we worked for a better future. It is my hope that all of you will be loyal friends to each other and continue to work together."

For the students that knew him, Aono Sempai was cool, composed, and looked like he could do anything. To the first year students he was intimidating. Tsukune just hoped he didn't look like a fool.

The opening ceremonies ended soon after Tsukune's speech. It was also the end of the official day for most of the students. The Student Counsel had plans for attending the luncheon. Most clubs were quickly producing signs and banners, and even a few tables, in the hopes of recruiting new members. Akira had the Student Police out in force, keeping the peace and scouting for new membership, while Sheezu had a detail of office staff doing parade marching drills. Because most of the office staff were female, the demonstration had three young men surrounded by girls marching together.

Tsukune suspected that the Student Police would have some new members by the end of the day. As the students started to head in every direction, the staff were free to tend to their own interests for a while. Tsukune set off to find a few people he wanted to talk to.

"Tsukune!" Hana called out with an excited shout, hurrying towards him.

"Hana," Tsukune greeted her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fantastic," Hana beamed. "This school is awesome."

"I'm glad you like it," Tsukune said.

"I love it," Hana corrected. "I arrived Saturday afternoon. When I got to my dorm... Oh my god. I would have never guessed that there were so many youkai."

"I am sure it was a surprise," Tsukune said. He remembered how relaxed many students were about their youkai or human appearances in the dorms. He guessed that it was Hana's own desire to see and believe in the impossible that let her see past the Glamore that Lord Gray had planned to set up.

"You!" An accusing shout rang out. The source of the shout was a fuming but still cute Kokoa that was stalking towards Tsukune and Hana. She was carrying a banner on a pole that advertised the Newspaper Club, and it looked like she was ready to use it to take a swing at him.

"Hello, Kokoa," Tsukune said. "Congratulations on being the editor."

"Thank you," Kokoa said with a bitter smile. She was editor because everybody else in the club had graduated.

"Hello, Sempai," Hana said as she offered Kokoa a bow. "I look forward to working hard with the Newspaper Club. I hope that you will help look after me."

Kokoa's pride warred with her irritation with Tsukune. She wanted to rant at Tsukune for luring Moka away from home, and her. On the other hand, Hana, as a junior member of the club, was her kohai.

"I look forward to working with you," Kokoa said politely with a small bow of her head. "You can start by carrying this." She passed the banner to Hana. She started to turn back to Tsukune.

"You will be going to the ball Friday, won't you Kokoa?" Tsukune asked.

"How..?" Kokoa blinked.

"Everybody that was on the club trip last summer was sent an invitation," Tsukune answered.

"I would like to go," Kokoa said a little sullenly.

"That's good," Tsukune said. He threw her a smile. "Maybe you can take Hana along as your guest. Make it your first club event and write about it in the paper."

"Hey," Hana looked excited. "That would be fantastic. Sempai," She said to Kokoa. "A club trip the first week of school. You would be the coolest club president ever."

"Editor," Kokoa corrected absently. "That would help with recruiting..." The young vampire mused.

Tsukune drifted off before he could get too caught up with Hana and Kokoa. Tsukune was mostly just taking the time to be seen by the students, to give them the idea that yes he was still around to help protect the peace. At the same time he did not want to be too involved with anything, because he didn't want to undermine Akira's authority, or let people use him as an excuse to be careless.

XxxxxxX

Hana was disappointed that Tsukune had taken off so quickly. She would have liked to talk with him some more. She noticed Kokoa appeared unhappy with him, but decided it was best not to ask about it.

"Let's go find some more members," Kokoa had said, before starting off towards the dorms.

It was a strategic decision. With the official school day over for most of the students, many of them were already headed back to the dorms. While joining a club was mandatory, the deadline was still a few weeks away. That meant that there were still plenty of students in the dorms that had not decided on a club yet.

"Sempai," Hana spoke up. "I think waving this banner may not be the best way to find members for the Newspaper Club."

"What do you mean?" Kokoa stopped and turned to face her.

"It just seems to me that we're not really doing anything," Hana said.

"Well what can we do?" Kokoa challenged.

"Well..." Hana said carefully. "We should do something that shows people what the club is about. Maybe we could interview some people? Tell them that we are from the Newspaper Club and that want to hear what they want see in the school paper. That way we get them to think about us, and about our club."

"That could work..." Kokoa mused. "And if anybody has a really good idea, we can try to recruit them. If somebody wants a good cooking section because that's something they're interested in, we may be able to get them to join the club so they can write it." Kokoa smiled. "I think this could be a good idea. Let's start with the second year students."

"Why second years?" Hana asked.

"Because some of them will remember the paper from last year," Kokoa explained. "They may want to follow our examples from the past, and if we can get just a few of them, we can have some kohai to keep the club going next year."

"That makes sense," Hana agreed.

"Also we can explain that we want second years to be in charge of any first year students we get. The second years can be our department heads," Kokoa smiled. "Offering a chance for power and authority is a good way to lure in followers."

"I see..." Hana wondered if her new editor might be the kind of person that seemed to have a little too much interest in power and position.

XxxxxxxX

Tsukune had no problem remembering why he had looked forward to graduation so much. As he attended the luncheon he had to keep his feelings under control and away from his face. The idea of spending an afternoon with the few teachers that had an active grudge against him was not a nice one. Nekonome Sensei kept saying how proud of him she was when talking to the members of the student counsel, or the other teachers, but kept giving him cold, hurt looks. Other teachers had a more active dislike for Tsukune. Kotsuba Sensei, the gym coach, was as full of himself as always, and tried to give Tsukune a ration of bad attitude. Tsukune simply stared the older man down. He had physically beaten the coach in the past, and had intimidated him into submission in front of his peers. The coach was really spineless when it came to dealing with Tsukune.

Tsukune tried to avoid the teachers he didn't get along with. Instead he concentrated on being available to talk to the the members of the Student Counsel. He wanted to be supportive of the ones that had the responsibility of representing the interests of the students. Tsukune believed that a good Student Counsel would help prevent another Anti-Thesis or Public Safety Commission from getting a established.

When the luncheon was finally over, and Tsukune was free to leave, he couldn't get away fast enough. He did not want to get drawn in by some other plot of the Board Chairman because he lingered a little too long where he would be easy to find. As it was he talked with the man long enough to be polite, and to mention to masquerade ball some of the now third year students had been invited to. After his brief conversation with the Board Chairman, Tsukune went to gather his jacket and helmet.

It was time to go and he was ready to make his escape before anything could go wrong. Tsukune also didn't want to hang around because he found being at school without his girlfriends to be a little lonely and depressing. Once he made the first Jump away from the school, Tsukune was able to give a sigh of relief.

XxxxxxxX

Tsukune had an unexpected but welcome surprise waiting for him when he got home. It had started with a phone call. Moka had been upset that her night with Tsukune had been ruined by his summons from the Board Chairman, but that had not kept her from being aware of Tsukune's own distress. The next morning, Moka had called Kurumu. The succubus had been surprised by the call. When Moka explained the situation, Kurumu had been quick to agree to help out. Her own love for Tsukune was all the motivation that she needed. Kurumu then used her familiar to send a message to Mizore. That was all the planning that was involved. By the time Tsukune returned to his apartment that afternoon, what was waiting for him was almost a party.

Tsukune was not surprised to find Kurumu waiting for him. He had felt her presence and her excitement before he ever got home. Finding five women sitting together in his apartment was a surprise however, because Moka, Kurumu, and Mizore had included Inari in their gathering, and Ruby, instead of playing maid/hostess, was sitting with them. The Me sisters welcomed Tsukune home. When he stepped from the entry way to the living room, he was greeted by five bright smiles.

Tsukune had two thoughts rush through his mind, each with its own wave of emotions. The first was how beautiful the five young women were as they smiled at him, making him feel lucky and loved, while feeling his own affection and love for them swell. The second thought, accompanied by a jolt of panic, was a sense wondering if he had forgotten something important and they were all waiting on him.

While Tsukune was taking in the sight of five pretty women, they were looking at him. His small hesitation, a flash of a smile mixed with uncertainty as his thoughts and feelings flashed across his face made the young women want to smile a little more. The handsome/cute honest Tsukune that they had all fallen for was still there. Each of them saw the man they loved, and knew that he was still alive and well.

"It's good to see you all," Tsukune said after a short pause. He gave them a warm smile once he was sure he had not forgotten anything. "This is a nice surprise."

Tsukune approached his friends and they stood up to meet him. He went to Moka first to give her a warm hug and a quick kiss. He knew that such a gathering would not be possible without her consent, not with Inari included and everybody being polite.

"How was your trip?" Moka asked after her kiss.

"It was alright," Tsukune shrugged. "The student village has doubled in size." He moved to Mizore next. "I hope the trip wasn't hard on you," Tsukune said as he reached out to embrace her.

"There were no problems," Mizore said as she put her arms around Tsukune's neck. She pulled him in for a kiss.

"That's good," Tsukune said when his lips were free again. He stole a quick glance down.

"Everything is fine," Mizore reassured him.

"Good," Tsukune gave her an extra peck on the nose.

"Tsukune..." Kurumu protested the delay in receiving his attention.

"Yes?" Tsukune teased with a smile as he moved to her with his arms out.

"You're mean," Kurumu said as she embraced him.

"Completely horrible," Tsukune agreed.

Kurumu tried to pout at Tsukune's teasing, but getting kissed made that hard. Of course she had a new reason to pout a moment later when Tsukune ended the kiss. He was careful to avoid causing trouble for himself by keeping the affection he was showing each of his girlfriends close to even.

Tsukune didn't hug and kiss Ruby. Instead he caressed her right cheek with his left hand, earning him a shy smile from her. Then he took his right hand and slapped her left cheek with just enough force to make am audible clap. That made Ruby blush brightly and smile broadly.

"Captain..." Inari said nervously as Tsukune turned to her.

"I think we're off duty here," Tsukune said as he offered her a hug.

Inari accepted the offer quickly, almost afraid he would retract it. It felt good to hold him close, and he smelled good too. She was just starting to relax in his arms when he let go of her, leaving her unsatisfied enough to want to pout.

"Please, everyone," Tsukune said. "Make yourselves comfortable."

As everybody sat down again, Tsukune moved to be beside Moka, earning her small smile of approval. Ruby didn't sit down with the others this time. Now that her master was present she wanted to serve him. She joined the Me sisters in setting out refreshments and then knelt close to Tsukune. Inari was feeling a little out of place at the casual gathering, even more so after watching Ruby. If they were going to be fulfilling roles, she wondered if she should be standing guard or something. She settled for just sitting down in a position that made sure all the others were closer to Tsukune than she was.

As the group relaxed and conversation picked up, Mizore was feeling self conscious. While everybody had come together to be with Tsukune, they were all paying attention to her, even if it was in subtle ways. She liked the way Tsukune kept looking in her direction, but when the others did it it made her feel shy. She knew what was going on though. She was carrying Tsukune's baby, and while there were no outward indications, the others were still watching her for them.

Mizore could guess what her friends were thinking. They were wondering if she really was with child. They wanted to trust her, but there was that old rivalry among them, from when they had all been trying to drag Tsukune off alone, one way or another, that left a seed of doubt, raising the question if maybe, just maybe, she was not truly pregnant, but simply trying to trick Tsukune into being with her. Also Mizore could see the tiniest bits of jealousy in her friends' eyes. They all wanted what she had. Mizore was feeling a little self conscious from the attention, but was still able to smile, because she was the only one in the room blessed with Tsukune's child.