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 276.

Kyouko leaned against the bar with a tired sigh. The retail industry seemed to be booming. Her legs felt sore from the bottom of her feet all the way to her shoulders. She was thankful that it was finally Friday night. She was going to get a chance to relax over the weekend, and was looking forward to doing just that. At that moment however, Kyouko was at a bar with the other department managers of the store sharing drinks and complaints about customers.

Kyouko liked her job, most of the time. She met some very nice people, once in a while. There was a nice amount of structure to her work, with enough variety to keep in challenging. It was just too bad that couldn't seem to find a man that was willing and ready to take her away from it all. Thinking about her love life always made her feel frustrated. It wasn't realistic, but she wanted to blame her cousin for her troubles.

She knew there was no competition between her and Tsukune, but their mothers acted like there was. Any time she visited home, or even called her mother, Youko was reminded that Tsukune was doing well with his career, and that he had a fiance. While her own career was going well, the men she dated never lasted more than a few months. Her life was mostly work and home.

Thinking about her home made her want to scowl. She lived in a modest apartment, supporting herself proudly. She was careful to keep her home clean, out of pride, and just in case she ever had any visitors. Her boyfriends had all visited her home a few times before breaking things off with her, but she knew that her poor luck with romance had nothing to do with how she kept her apartment. Again she wished she could blame her cousin. He had a huge apartment and his own maids.

What she really was upset about was the unfairness of it all. She was the older of the two. He should be looking up to he for guidance like an older sister. Instead, he was getting along just fine without her. Kyouko use to have it all planned out. Right about now, he should be getting his first real job after college and moving into a little bachelor apartment. She would visit him to make sure he was eating right and keeping his place clean. When she thought he was ready, she would then introduce him to some of her juniors at work. But now she would never get to play older sister again.

Kyouko scowled as she nursed her beer. She had a good life, some good friends at work, and some wonderful family. She knew she should be content with the things she had going for her, but she still wished that Tsukee had followed the script she had planned out.

XxxxxXxxX

Tsukune was almost glad that his phone started ringing. After days and nights of following people around, he was ready for some good news. He was working to identify as much of the Tate no Kai network was possible before any direct action was taken. Lieutenant Tanaka was in charge of the investigation, with Tsukune being the lead officer in the field. In the office a team of people were going over bank and phone records. Tsukune had three people assigned to him to help him monitor suspects and to visit possible targets for Tate no Kai raids and protection scams. Yakuza Lieutenant Ross was in charge of the left hand side of things. He was investigating businesses that were potential targets of Tate no Kai that had things going on that would keep them from reporting problems to the police. He had offered Tsukune some men as well, but was politely refused.

When he first heard his cell phone ring, Tsukune had been sitting in an unmarked car for hours. The sun was setting and the soapland's business was starting to pick up. He pulled out his phone hoping for some new information to help the case. When he checked the caller identification he doubted that would be the case.

"Hello?" Tsukune answered the phone.

"Hello Aono-san," A woman's voice came through. "This is Mori Nori."

"Ms. Mori, Kurumu is not with me right now," Tsukune said. He had refused her offer of representation about every year since Kurumu had signed up with the agent. The only other time the woman had called him was when she wanted to talk to Kurumu when the Sweetheart Chef was too busy with Tsukune to answer her agent's calls.

"I am aware of that," Nori said. "I called because I want to talk to you about something important."

"Important in what way?" Tsukune questioned.

"Important as in, it is a good thing you are a police officer," Nori said. "It is about Kurumu, but this is something very serious."

"Is Kurumu in trouble?" Tsukune asked. As he spoke with her agent he focused on his awareness of his lover. Kurumu was in a bright mood so he knew she was not feeling threatened at the moment.

"That is what I would like to talk with you about," Nori replied. "There may be some trouble, but I... I want... I would appreciate a chance to sit down with you so I can explain everything, and maybe you can help me out."

"I can see you the day after tomorrow," Tsukune told her, thinking about his schedule. "Unless this is an urgent matter..."

"Day after tomorrow is fine," Nori said quickly. "In fact, that is perfect. Kurumu will be meeting with her magazine's editor that day."

"And you don't want to bother her with this," Tsukune observed.

"Ahh... that's right," Nori admitted.

"I will see you the day after tomorrow," Tsukune said with conviction. "First thing in the morning."

XxxxX

Mori Nori soon learned what Tsukune meant by 'first thing in the morning.' When she arrived in the office two days after her phone call to him, he was already there. Dressed in black and red riding gear, he was sitting calmly in the small lobby making the receptionist nervous. The receptionist only opened the office fifteen minutes ahead of Nori's usual arrival time. On that day, Nori had arrived ten minutes earlier than usual. She had hoped to get a little work done before Tsukune's arrival.

Look back, she realized that she should have known better. She was used to dealing with idols and hopeful idols who often felt important enough to keep others waiting for them. Tsukune, a man perfect for being made into an idol, was working on a police career very seriously. It stood to reason that he would start his mornings early. She thought of those recruiting shoots he had done, showing him doing physical training, and had no problem imagining him going running before dawn.

"Good morning," Nori said to him when she saw him. "I hope I have not kept you waiting long."

"Good morning," Tsukune returned, standing to greet Kurumu's agent. "And no, I just arrived a little while ago."

Behind Tsukune's back the receptionist made a motion with her hand, mimicking the act of unlocking a door. She was telling Nori that the man had been out front before she had even opened the office that morning. Nori at least had to admire his polite nature.

"Well come in to my office and we'll talk," Nori said, gesturing the way.

Once behind the closed door of her office they quickly got down to business. Nori produced a thick folder and set in on the desk. She turned it so the contents would be facing Tsukune and opened it. Tsukune received enough fan mail of his own to recognize what he was looking at. He also realized that what he was being shown was not just letters from the usual gushing fans. He quickly scanned through the contents of the folder before returning his attention to Nori.

"If this is all the jealous hate mail Kurumu has received," Tsukune said. "She is not doing as well as I thought."

"Not even by a percentage point," Nori smirked. She was glad to see he was taking it so well. She had seen family members and significant others in the past who became so upset over such things that they demanded their loved one end their public careers. "That is just this week's collection. I wanted you to see that first so you could make a comparison." She pulled out another folder and passed it to him.

The second folder contained more hate mail. He was not surprised that there were those that wanted to spit venom at Kurumu through mean or spiteful letters. If he investigated he knew that some would be from men who were frustrated that she wasn't showing them personal attention. Some would be from women that were jealous, accusing her of any number of imagined things. The second folder held hate mail of a different kind however. They went beyond the usual name calling. The level of animosity was almost like the person who wrote it had been personally injured by Kurumu's success.

"This is more serious," Tsukue said with a slow nod of his head as he closed the folder. He was going to have do some investigating.

"When I called you the other day," Nori said as she pulled out one last folder. "It was after we had received this letter."

Tsukune accepted the folder and opened it. His insides turned burning cold when he saw the letter. I was a very long winded and almost formal sounding letter that accused Kurumu of being a a traitor to Japan, and demanded that she quit her attempts to corrupt the moral fabric of the nation. It accused her of fraud for claiming to know anything about food or nutrition, and that she should be locked up before she cold poison the minds of others as she had surely poisoned their bodies with her cooking.

It was a letter that clearly was written with an active and burning hate. Tsukune knew he was going to learn everything he possible could about the sender of the letter. Even setting aside his personal interest in the issue, the letter demanded that he take action, because at the top of the page was the crest for Tate no Kai.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention," Tsukune said. "Have any of your agency's other clients received these?"

"Not that I am aware of," Nori answered.

"If they do, please let me know right away," Tsukune said as he prepared to leave. "We are taking this group of radicals very seriously."

XxxxXxxXxXx

Tsukune didn't know if that was what Tate no Kai intended, but the letter to Kurumu marked an escalation of events. It turned out that the Sweetheart Chef was just one of may media personalities that had been sent a threatening and condemning letter. Once Tsukune started asking around, the number of letters quickly reached concerning numbers. It was clear that Tate no Kai was getting too comfortable.

"Here is what I suggest," Tanaka said to his co-conspirators. "We need to do something to shake Tate no Kai up. Ross, talk to your people. Have one family sweep their area and clean out Tate no Kai. Rough up all of their collections men. Drive them out of that one area only, but make a clean sweep of it. Let us know and we will alert the local police. Once your people cut off the collections, we'll crack down on the bag men and their handlers. Will charge them with racketeering, or whatever else we can think of. We will see if we can scare some information out of them, but what we really want to do is rattle the higher ups of their group."

"I like it," Ross grinned. "More importantly, I know a boss that will like it. He's had a few of their men roughed up, but this will be something he will really want to get behind."

"Tsukune," Tanaka turned to his junior. "I am going to get some visible orders sent through the proper channels for you. I want it well known that you are visiting high schools on the other side of the country doing the recruiting thing. Take your team with you for back-up. During the day I want you to be a being visible, flag waving, target. At night, visit some of the places Tate no Kai has been collecting from. I want you to look as decadent as they accuse the police of being."

"I can tell all the high school students about how working for the police is one big party," Tsukune grumbled.

"And while you're at it," Ross added. "Find me a monster girl."

Tsukune gave the man a dirty look.

"What?" Ross demanded. "I'm not asking for a lot."

"I think I need to look up somebody I knew back in school," Tsukune sighed.

"Now we're talking," Ross nodded.

"He was almost as big of a womanizer as you are," Tsukune went on. "I can bring him around and he could seduce all the women, so you won't have anybody but your wife to talk to."

"Man..." Ross rolled his eyes. "You are too young to be taking all the fun out of life for someone else."

"We just have very different ideas about what is fun," Tsukune pointed out.

"You wouldn't know a good time if it bit you," Ross accused in a huff.

"You have said that before," Tsukune reminded him.

"It's still true," Ross shot back.

"Alright," Tsukune said with a small nod. "You go ahead and believe that." He stood up and got ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" Ross asked.

"I'm going to go see a woman with fangs," Tsukune said casually. "And see if she is in the mood for a little biting."

Ross gave him a dirty look. Tsukune gave Ross a smirk. Tanaka just rolled his eyes, feeling like an old man surrounded by rookies.

"I don't know about biting," Tanaka said as he pulled himself to his feet. "But I think I will see if my wife would like to share some time with me as well."

"Alright you old men," Ross sighed. "Run on home for an early bedtime. I'll call you when things are ready to move."

"Good night," Tanaka offered.

"And good hunting to us all," Tsukune said.

Everybody was in agreement with that.