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 243

The walk back to Mizore's house was a quiet one. The memorial had given Tsukune a lot to think about. He felt honored that Mizore had shared it with him.

Mizore saw to Tsukune's comforts when they were back home again. While she started preparations for supper, Mizore explained more of the history of the village. It turned out that her people were illiterate before the young scholar had started teaching his lover. When he finally climbed the mountain with her, he had brought along his knowledge, and his love for learning.

In the beginning the village had been little more than a few houses built around a couple of mountain caves. The scholar helped the place to become more. He had helped to plant the seeds that would grow into a community with its own traditions, beyond being just a handful of youkai living together for safety.

It was because of the scholar that mizore's people had been able to prosper. As they learned more about food production and preservation, the little village could support a larger population. As the population grew, so did the the number of individuals that could contribute to the village's prosperity. Over the many years, as the village grew up, the snow women continued to go out into the world each winter, but in addition to finding mates, they were also looking for things that would help their community.

It was a story about the power of love. Love had brought happiness and prosperity. Love had been the seed of change, and the key to building a future. Tsukune realized that he had a lot to live up to.

XxxxxxXxxxxxX

Moka had been surprised by the invitation. Her father had asked her to meet with him for supper at a nice restaurant. A part of her had been worried that it might be some kind of trick, but with meeting in a public place, that was unlikely. She decided that meeting with her father would be worth the small chance that he was going to try to coerce her in some way.

As Moka prepared for her date with her father, she made sure to take some precautions against trouble. She washed thoroughly to make sure none of Tsukune's scent was on her, even in her hair. She wanted to make sure she presented the appearance of living a life of proper restraint and modesty for a young woman. Her black evening gown was actually her servitor in disguise. If there was any trouble, Moka would be able to flee in an instant. As a final touch, showing that she was indeed her own person and capable of taking care of herself, Moka left the rosario at home.

The cab ride to the restaurant would have seemed long, if Moka had not been nervous about meeting her father. As it was, the trip felt like it had gone by in an instant. Looking back on the night, Moka would always have trouble remembering much about the restaurant. It was big enough to be impressive, but wasted enough space with table arrangements and decorations to keep exclusive, and to keep it from being crowded. She gave her name to the maître d' who, with proper respect, showed her to her father's table.

The actual time for meeting her father had been left flexible. Moka was the first one seated at the table, but her father arrived only a few minutes later. It was a simple strategy. He had been waiting in a private lounge or at the restaurant's bar in comfort until he was notified of her arrival. Publicly, she appeared to be waiting on him. Issa had been the one who's time was too important to be spent waiting at an otherwise unoccupied table.

"Good evening, Father," Moka said as she stood to greet him. "You are looking well."

"Good evening," Issa said with a small smile of approval for Moka's appearance and demeanor. "I am glad you could join me tonight, my daughter."

They sat down at the table together. A waiter arrived to provide menus. Moka was not surprised that there were no prices listed. It was the kind of restaurant that a person did not visit if they were worried about money.

Conversation and food were both served up expertly. Moka and her father were both polite and casual as they shared little bits of information back and forth. If anybody had been close enough to overhear them, they might have thought that father and daughter were being cold and distant with each other. In truth, it was one of the most open and sharing conversations Issa and Moka had ever had. They were not just using words and tone of voice to communicate, but their hands, eyes, and body posture as well. It was a civilized way to have a conversation without blurting things out publicly.

Issa was proud of his daughter. There was no denying that she had learned all of her lessons well. Nor had she abandoned what she had learned when she had left home. For Moka, the time with her father was surprisingly exciting. The conversation with her father was one held between sovereign adults, rather than elder to minor.

"Moka," Issa said as the desert plate were taken away. "I want you to know that I approve of your decision to make your own life for yourself."

"Thank you, Father," Moka gave a small smile and a tiny bow of her head. "That means a lot to me."

"You are my daughter," Issa said with a little posturing. "Of course I want you to be able to prove your worth on your own." He deflated a little but his facial expression warmed as he pulled something from his pocket. "We can call this a late graduation present from me to you." He put a small piece of stiff paper on the table and slid it over to her.

"Thank you," Moka accepted the token without looking at it, because that was when her father stood up.

"You will always be my daughter, Moka," Issa said with pride in his voice. "And I only want the best for you."

He left without another word. He had ended the date the way he had started it, in control of everything. Once he was gone, Moka looked at the small piece of paper in her hand. It was a valet receipt.

Moka blinked as comprehension hit her. She had arrived by taxi cab. A valet receipt meant that there was a car for her to drive home. Her father would only arrange such a gift for her if he had known in advance that she had earned her driver's license. She wasn't sure if she should be happy or worried.

XxX

Moka's new car was a perfect example of her father's thinking. The little BMW Roadster was silver with a black interior. It was a car that announced its presence just by being seen. It was also a car that sad money was less important than style. There was no back seat. The overpowered engine would drink fuel faster than anything more practical would. There was no way the roadster would ever be anything more than something for personal convenience and flare.

Moka looked at the car as the valet handed her the keys. It was the kind of car someone with money would use when they wanted to do their own driving. As she settled into the leather driver's seat, Moka was aware of every detail, right down to the new car smell.

"Father..." Moka growled.

XxxxxxxXxxxxxX

Kurumu was enjoying the current trend of her work. She was doing live appearances to promote a line of cookware. Even better was the line was mostly bakeware, so she was baking things for every appearance. The producers had hired an assistant, but all Kurumu would let him do was clean up. She did her own prep work, because she wanted to be confident in how her food would turn out.

Kurumu was glad that the producers and the client company were willing to work with her in the planning of their events. They worked out a plan together of doing basic baking Monday through Thursday suitable for someone that only did a little cooking. She would make things like cookies and bread that would let her showcase the cookware. On Friday she would prepare something more challenging, such as tarts, turnovers, cake roles, pies, and even baklava.

Each week she would be appearing at a new location. It was less demanding than her first cooking job. Two shows a day for five days, then a weekend off while the stage was relocated. After the second week, knowing a good thing when they saw it, the production company negotiated for a second sponsor company. Kurumu received a bump in pay, and in return she used recipes mostly from her sponsor's line of cookbooks.

The tour was a good opportunity for Kurumu. It helped increase her popularity both directly by her appearances, and indirectly by news mentions of her live events. Videos clips and pictures from her shows were offered to news agencies. It was the kind of foundation job that would help her to establish her in the minds of her market base.

The stage for the live events was a trailer that had everything she needed built into it. It could be towed to a location and opened up to be a working kitchen. It had tanks for clean and dirty water so the sink worked. The stove and oven worked of the propane tanks. Kurumu had said she would be willing to work anywhere they could safely set up the mobile kitchen. She knew that before she was done, she would be doing appearances in major shopping districts and small villages all across Japan. She even had a plan to appear in Akihabara to teach otaku how to cook more than instant ramen.

Kurumu was back stage between shows when she received Tsukune's text. He had just left Mizore's village and wanted to know if Kurumu would be free to meet with him. She closed her eyes and concentrated on her sense of Tsukune before answering his message. She could feel him, his heart was beating steady and even, his breathing was slow and steady. She decided to take a chance and call him.

"Moshi moshi..." Kurumu swore she could hear his smile in his voice. "How are you doing Kurumu?"

"How did you know it was me?" Kurumu teased.

"Caller ID," Tsukune offered.

"It could have been Nori using my phone," Kurumu argued.

"True," Tsukune agreed. "But you became really happy when I answered, so I knew it had to be you."

"Awwww..." Kurumu protested. "So when are you coming to see me?"

"When do you want me to get there?" Tsukune asked. "I don't want to bother you when you are working."

"Well I am in Takasaki. Just a few kilometers from the university," Kurumu said. "Just get here as soon as you can."

"Yes dear.." Tsukune said with an exaggerated sigh.

"Tsukuneee..." Kurumu complained, because she knew he was teasing her.

"I love you," Tsukune replied. "And I'll see you soon."

"I love you to," Kurumu ended the call.

XxxxxX

It was a quick trip for Hiru and Tsukune. While there were no direct jump points to his destination, Tsukune had been learning how to navigate the strange network more and more. In addition to what he had learned from Bus Driver's lessons, Hiru had some special talents of her own. They arrived in Takasaki in less than an hour, and closed in on Kurumu's location while she was still setting up for her afternoon show.

"Tsukune..." Kurumu waved to him from the mobile stage.

Tsukune waved back as he made his way through the thin crowd of shoppers. In his riding gear, he only stood out a little. When he reached the edge of the stage, Kurumu hopped down into his arms.

"Hey Sweetheart," Kurumu smiled impishly.

"Hey Sweetheart," Tsukune smiled back. "I hope I'm not interrupting your work."

"It's fine," Kurumu answered as Tsukune lowered her to the ground. "I have some time until my next show. I am just setting things up..." Her words trailed off as a thoughtful expression came across her face.

Tsukune saw the look in her eyes and knew it was time to run. Unfortunately that was something beyond his ability, and not just because Kurumu was holding on to him. He settled on rolling his eyes as he waited for the inevitable.

"Tsu-ku-neee..." Kurumu drawled in a cute voice. "Could you do me a little favor?"

"Ma-a-ay-be," Tsukune shrugged.

"Great," Kurumu brightened.

She burst into motion. Tsukune was aware that he had not actually agreed to anything, but Kurumu was confident that he would give in. He knew she was right, as long whatever she was thinking would not hurt his relationship with Moka.

Kurumu's idea involved Tsukune doing very little. She found a chair from somewhere and set it on the edge of the stage and set a small table in front of it. She had Tsukune take off his riding jacket and hung it over the back of the chair, and then made him sit in it. His back was to the audience, so he figured it wouldn't be too embarrassing to play along. As a final touch, she quickly poured him some tea and gave him a newspaper to read.

When the next show officially started, Kurumu was ready. The stage lights came on and she knew a camera was recording everything on stage. The portable kitchen set was a little crowded with Tsukune and the furniture added, but not enough to cause any problems. Kurumu gave her scripted performance, complete with included sales pitches. Through it all, Tsukune sat in his assigned chair, reading the paper and sipping tea.

"...And there you go," Kurumu said as she pulled a tray of biscuits out of the oven. She held them up for the audience to see their golden brown color. "Now you just let them cool." She turned the try over and let the biscuits fall on to a serving plate. "The non-stick surface makes it all so easy," Kurumu said with a wink. She set the tray aside and straightened out the biscuits as she continued to talk.

"Now while your biscuits are cooling you can prepare your choice of toppings," She set out a service with butter, marmalade, and honey as she talked. Finally she added a few of the biscuits to the smaller service tray. "You don't want them to be so hot that they burn your sweetheart's mouth, but they are best served while they are still warm enough to melt the butter." She carried the tray over and set it close to Tsukune. "Nothing says you love your sweetheart like food filled with good feelings." She broke one of her flaky biscuits in half and buttered it while reminding people that the recipe of the day in the sponsor's cookbook. Finally she held out her buttered piece of biscuit, offering to Tsukune.

"Say ahhh.." Kurumu said with a wink and quite pose.

"Ahhhhhh..." Tsukune said clearly while keeping his face turned away from the audience. After Kurumu popped the morsel into his mouth he ate it happily. "Hmmmmmm!"

"Good cooking, Sweetheart approved," Kurumu improvised as she turned back to the audience with a big smile.

"Sweetheart," Tsukune said, deciding to do a little improvisation of his own. He put down the newspaper and reached for the service tray. He added a little honey to the leftover half of biscuit. He broke off a piece. "Ahhhh..." He held out the morsel for her.

"Ahhhh," Kurumu played along, posing in a cute but suggestive way.

Tsukune popped the quarter of biscuit into her mouth. When she closed her mouth to eat it, Tsukune let his finger linger on her lips. What the audience couldn't see was him eating the rest of the biscuit with a smile. What they could see was the Sweetheart Chef blushing prettily.

XxxxxxXxxxxX

Kurumu had a fan base among the males of Japan that covered a wide range of ages. A few had found their way to her live show. One of them recorded a good quality video that included her sharing a biscuit with her sweetheart. The video was uploaded to the internet, to a site dedicated to AV Idols, where there were pages dedicated all to the Sweetheart Chef.

Her fans posted their feelings to the video. They expressed their love for Kurumu. Her sweetness and cuteness made her fans want to be boyfriend. Her body made them want to be her lover. Together, they made her fans envious of her 'Sweetheart.' Some were sad that Kurumu was not available. Most were simply jealous of the man that received her affection. More than a few posted comments of hate and anger.

The video and comments spilled out to other websites. Mori Nori, always trying to watch out for her client, saw the video and was filled with frustrated emotions of her own. Regardless of the time, she had to call Kurumu.

XxxxxxX

Kurumu was having a wonderful time. Tsukune had taken her to a hotel, different from where the production company had put her up. Room service and a night in had been the plan. The plan had been going fine until Kurumu's Phones started to ring.

Nori, as it turned out, was seriously worked up. She called Kurumu's secondary phone, the one that was just for business calls, first. Kurumu had heard the phone, and had gone so far as to check to see who was calling her. She decided to let it go to voice mail, muted the ringer, and turned her attention back to Tsukune, with whom she was cuddling. Then Nori called Kurumu's tertiary phone, the one for on site / on the job calls, that may or may not all be about actual work. When that was ignored, It was Kurumu's primary, personal business, phone that started ringing.

"What could possible be so important?" Kurumu complained with a pout. The ringing of one phone after the other was getting on her nerves and spoiling the mood.

When her personal phone stopped ringing Kurumu gave a small sigh. The distraction seemed to be over. Kurumu redirected her attention to Tsukune once more, trying to restore the playful mood. They were both cuddling half naked on the bed, talking about a road trip they might someday take together around Japan. Tsukune would mention places that were well known for their beauty or history, and Kurumu would mention places that were considered ether romantic for some historical reason, or were popular honeymoon locations.

And then Tsukune's phone started to ring. Kurumu gave Tsukune a sour look. He gave her an apologetic smile. He checked his phone, but the caller ID said 'unknown.' He gave a sigh before answering the call.

"Moshi Mo..." Tsukune began.

"Kurumu is there, isn't she," Mori Nori accused.

"Hello Mori-san," Tsukune sighed, looking towards Kurumu and rolling his eyes. "We were just talking about you."

"Damn it!" Nori swore. "I knew it! What the hell do you two think you're doing?" She was so loud that Tsukune was holding the phone a hand's span away from his ear.

"Nori..." Kurumu barked back. "Leave us alone."

"Kurumu..." Nori yelled. "What are you trying to do?"

"I am trying to have sex with Tsukune!" Kurumu yelled back. "But you are spoiling the mood!"

"That's not what I am talking about," Nori demanded.

Tsukune passed his phone to Kurumu as her manager's voice came down to a more reasonable level. He did not want to be in the middle of their argument, even if it was going to probably be about him in some way.

"I am talking about that stunt you pulled today," Nori went on. "What were you thinking? I have told you you can't do things like that."

"Nori," Kurumu argued. "Tsukune came to see me today. I decided to have a little fun with him while he waited for me to finish working. That was all. I didn't do anything the sponsors would get mad about."

"Kurumu," Nori complained. "You are going to have to choose..."

"Don't you dare!" Kurumu snapped, cutting the other woman off. "Don't you dare try to tell me that I have to choose between by work and Tsukune, because I already told you how that would go."

"I am talking about your career," Nori argued.

"I am talking about the man I love," Kurumu said in a deadly serious voice. "I can live without being famous. I can live with a career as a waitress in a diner or serving up drinks in a bar. I can not live without the man I love. I have told you before. Tsukune comes first!"

She ended the call and pushed the phone at Tsukune. Kurumu gave Tsukune and angry look, challenging him to argue with her. Tsukune carefully put the phone out of reach.

"Kurumu," Tsukune said gently.

"What?" Kurumu grumbled.

"I love you too," Tsukune reached out to hold her. "I would love you even if all you could cook was instant ramen."

"Even if I never get famous?" Kurumu asked.

"Of course," Tsukune kissed her forehead.

"What if I couldn't find any work at all," Kurumu gave him a shy pout, warming up under his attention. "You would have to support me."

"I could live with that," Tsukune said.

"Tsukune..." Kurumu leaned in for a kiss.

XxxxxxX

Kurumu went to work the next day with a glowing smile. She wasn't worried about Lieutenant Tanaka turning up, or any investigations. She lived well within the human world. Even if the police somehow messed up her career, it wouldn't matter to her. Kurumu was in love with Tsukune, and Tsukune loved her in return. That was all that really counted.

When she reached the location of the portable stage, she saw that some changes had been made. A small extension had been built, making room for a chair and table without crowding the work area. On the back of the chair was a suit jacket. On the table was a folded newspaper.

The production manager had liked Kurumu's improvisation. Her target audience was the young housewife crowd after all. Having something masculine on the set helped with the idea that what Kurumu was selling was something women wanted because their men would enjoy it.

Kurumu saw the changes, and listened to the reasoning. Nori could complain all she wanted, but it was Tsukune that was making Kurumu so popular. He was her Sweetheart. He was the reason she wanted to do her best. And now, because she had wanted to have a little fun with him, the clients were even more happy with her work. Kurumu couldn't help but smile at the situation.