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, then you should not read this.

Chapter 324

"Kurumu wrote me a long letter all about how she met Tsukune," Ageha spoke up. "I was glad to hear that she thought she had found someone special. I just didn't realize how special he was going to become."

"Oh?" Kasumi blinked at the shift in the conversation. She was sure that that there was more to Kurumu's story, but Ageha was changing the flow of things. It was like when one drama show ended and an episode of a totally different show began. There was a mix of disappointment, frustration, and hopeful excitement all at once.

"You know that Tsukune used to by shy and quiet," Ageha said.

"Oh my, Yes," Kasumi nodded.

"For two years Kurumu chased after him," Ageha began.

"Mother..." Kurumu protested, feeling some embarrassment from her mother's amused voice.

"Closer to two and a half," Tsukune added.

"Thank you," Ageha smirked at Tsukune before turning back to his mother and continuing. "So for more than two years, my daughter, a spirit of seduction, spent her time chasing after Tsukune, and all she had to show for it was a loyal friend. I was thinking that he might not like women at all."

"Anything worth doing," Tsukune said with a lifted chin. "Is worth taking the time to be sure it is done right. This includes building a relationship."

"Well I am glad that Tsukune took his time," Kurumu said as she leaned into him and hugged his arm. "It gave me time to understand how love really works."

"I am glad that he cared enough for you to rush to your rescue," Ageha said with a smile filled with emotions.

"That's right," Kasumi blinked. "Tsukune helped rescue you that time." She let out a heavy sigh as she thought of the romance of a man being the hero for a girl, knowing it was her son and the young woman beside him.

"Wait," Kasumi tilted her head to the side as her thoughts shifted. "Tsukune, Moka said you came to her rescue. So did Ruby. And you came to Kurumu's rescue." She paused as she processed the information. "Just how often have you had to rescue someone?"

"I don't recall," Tsukune said with a small smirk. "I was more concerned with how many times I had to be rescued. I may have wanted to help Moka on the first day, but she saved me from the ogre when all I could do was distract him. Moka saved me from Kurumu. They both saved me from the swim club."

"The swim club?" Kasumi questioned.

"They were mermaids," Tsukune gave a shrug. "They wanted to recruit new students, like me in my first year, to use as food." He gave another shrug, this time with a small sigh. "After a while, we, that is to say the Newspaper Club, were just always looking out for each other."

"Tsukune..." Kurumu growled. "I do not know how you can make the rest of us sound so reasonable."

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked.

"What Tsukune isn't telling you is how Moka, Mizore, and I were always fighting each other over him," Kurumu said with a frown at her lover. "We all cooked obentos for him. We all tried to study with him. When his schedule with his committees and everything got too hectic, I thought I had a chance. I started pushing my way into his dorm room to play housewife."

"You didn't," Kasumi gasped, amused at the idea, and at the same time mentally applauding Kurumu's inventiveness.

"Oh yes," Kurumu nodded. "I started cleaning everything and mending his shirts while he was out doing everything he could for the school." She scowled darkly for a moment. "But then Ruby became his personal slave and my plan was chucked out the window."

"It wasn't my idea," Tsukune protested.

"I am sure Moka thought it would be a good way to blunt my strategy," Kurumu said. "But it turned out to only be a temporary setback after all."

"What did you do next?" Kasumi asked with open curiosity.

"I found ways to get Tsukune alone," Kurumu answered. "I wanted to seduce him slowly, because I had already learned that just throwing myself in front of him didn't work."

"She would invite me to dinner in her dorm room," Tsukune spoke up. "She would wear things like a simple sundress with a blank white apron, and have me sit at the table and just talk with her as she cooked. We made a game of it." He gave Kurumu a smile as he remembered those dates.

"A game?" Kasumi was loving the story she was hearing.

"She would talk about our school mates, but called them the neighbors," Tsukune explained.

"Tsukune would tell me about his student committee work," Kurumu added in. "But made it sound like it was all office work. He called the head of the school a demanding client." Kurumu felt a small giggle escape her smile as she remembered those fun times with Tsukune.

"We were having fun, and Tsukune was learning to relax while he was alone with me," Kurumu resumed explaining the strategy of seduction she had tried. "But I knew I had to keep pushing him in little ways our we would be 'just friends' forever. But I also knew I couldn't push too hard, or I would damage everything I had been building up so far."

"Yes," Kasumi nodded. "Go on, go on."

"Well, if Tsukune was used to being alone with me, the next step only made sense to get him used to being very close to me," Kurumu struggled with how to explain her attempt to include skinship in her relationship with Tsukune.

"Kurumu decided to try to get me used to seeing more of her body," Tsukune took over the explaining with a mild smirk. "But she had already guessed that I couldn't take too much attention at one time. One day, after eating dinner together in her room, before I could leave, she brought over a basin of warm water and a wash cloth."

"Oh?" Kasumi wrestled with her imagination. The mental images wanted to race in with all kinds of scenarios, at the same time she wanted to listen clearly to what was being said.

"Kurumu was very careful to be shy about asking me for a favor," Tsukune gave his lover an amused grin.

"A favor?" Kasumi's voice nearly cracked.

"That was the first time Kurumu asked me to wash her wings," Tsukune said calmly.

"Oh my," Kasumi breathed. "Asking him to wa... Wait... Wings?"

"That's right," Tsukune nodded.

"Wings?" Kasumi asked again as she turned her full attention to Kurumu. "You have wings."

"Yes..." Kurumu nodded, feeling a little uncomfortable under the human woman's stare.

"It only makes sense," Ageha said with smooth confidence.

The elder succubus then summoned up her strength, her youki, and used her Illusion ability. Tsukune could tell what was done only because of his familiarity with the power being used, and from careful, close observation. Ageha used her ability to shield the area around the private table, wrapping it in an illusion that everything was perfectly normal.

"Kurumu is my daughter after all," Ageha continued without missing a beat. "And we are both Succubi." At that point she summoned forth her own wings.

Kurumu followed her mother's lead. While his mother stared, slack jawed in surprise, at the two, now winged women, Tsukune was free to notice some of the differences between Kurumu's and Ageha's full youkai forms. Both women remained beautiful, even with their wings and tails. While Kurumu remained cute and curvy, Ageha actually took on a leaner appearance. Tsukune also noticed that almost hidden within Ageha's hair was a pair of black horns.

"You have wings..." Kasumi observed in a near whisper.

"And Tsukune washed them for me," Kurumu nodded with a small blush. "He didn't run away from me because I was something other than a normal person. He didn't act like I was some kind of freak. He has always accepted me for who I am, without letting what I am bother him. Mother Aono, it is no wonder that I cannot help being in love with him."

"I..." Kasumi paused for a drink. "I can understand what you are saying."

Ageha and Kurumu banished their wings.

Kasumi took a long drink from her glass as she let her mind run through everything. A part of her mind was going through historical dramas where the hero of one kind or another ended up with a spirit or monster falling in love with him. Such dramas were usually very spicy. Another part of her mind was analyzing what she had learned so far. Moka was a Vampire, a kind of super-human creature, but she was also a very sweet and loving young woman. Kasumi wasn't sure exactly what a succubus was supposed to be, but Kurumu was a nice girl, and Ageha was someone that Kasumi counted as a good friend.

Kasumi considered the situation for a minute. She didn't know where the wings came from, or disappeared to, but as remarkable as they were, Kurumu had still been herself. Kasumi remembered back to a friend from her school days. She had been a sweet girl, and a good student, but was unfortunate enough to have a rather large mole on the side of her jaw. It had been a black, fungus-like lump that sprouted thick hairs. The girl had always done her best to wear her hair in a way to hide the mole, but never with much luck. Half way through high school the girl had tried something foolish to get rid of the mole herself.

Kasumi considered what she had been told about her own son. Moka, Ruby, and Kurumu had all said they loved him, at least in part, because he accepted them, even the parts of them that were not what most people would consider acceptable. If someone like her son had come along in time, back in the day, then maybe that girl would have lived to graduate high school.

"Tsukune," Kasumi said with her face filled with emotions. " I am so very proud of you, but how could you keep all of this from me for so long?"

"Well now that you know this much," Tsukune gave his mother a smile. "Ageha has a friend she can talk to, and you can talk to her about everything as well."

"It would be nice to have more to talk about with you," Kasumi said as she turned to the other mother. "You've never really shown an interest in the drama programs I like to watch."

"I'm sorry," Ageha said with a small shrug and a cute smile. "I live drama, so I don't have much need to watch it."

"Well I guess that's true," Kasumi sighed.

"But you know," Ageha gave Kasumi a grin and a wink. "We can gossip about Tsukune all we want. I bet you would like to hear about the first time I met him."

"Oooh, yes," Kasumi nodded.

Tsukune resisted the urge to shudder. Kurumu, who also remembered that first encounter gave him a pained look of embarrassment. She understood what was coming. Now that his mother knew about her youkai nature, the woman would get to hear all of her own mother's stories about Kurumu's awkward moments growing up.

XxxxX

Kasumi was almost dancing when she reached home. She had so much fun talking with Ageha that if it had not been for Tsukune, she might have talked all night. As it was, after undressing and washing up, it was almost time for Koji to start his day when Kasumi finally crawled into bed with a smile.

Kasumi still had an endless number of questions she wanted to ask. If anything, the number of questions had grown, but that didn't bother her as much as it would have a day before. A part of the reason Kasumi was able to relax in spite of all her questions, was that she now, in Ageha, she had someone she could talk with about all the impossible things she was learning.

XxxxxxxxxX

Ruby started her day with a smile. Her master had come home from his evening out with his mother happy with how things had gone. He had shared that happiness with his servant in ways that made her happy too. She was feeling tired from it, but receiving her master's attention was always a good thing to Ruby.

Tsukune on the other hand was enjoying a lazy morning in bed. He had a few things to take care of later in the day, but felt no need to rush into action. His evening with his mother had gone well, but had run late. The only reason they had not been forced out of the club at closing time was because it was Ageha's club.

Tsukune was laying in bed, looking up at the ceiling, as he thought about what lay ahead of him. His mother was taking the revelations better than he had expected, which made him worry that something was going to set her off later on. He still had a few things he wanted to tell her. It was reasonable to expect that his mother would figure out that Mizore was youkai, now that she knew as much as she did. That she could figure it out didn't let Tsukune off the hook for telling her though. Once his mother had a chance to learn about all the women in his life, and to get used to the idea that they were all something more than human, Tsukune knew he would have to tell her the truth about himself.

That thought bothered him. He had no doubt that his mother would not disown him once she knew. He was more worried about the storm of guilt she was likely to feel over sending him off to a dangerous school in such a thoughtless rush. He worried everything would come to a boil at once and things would go bad fast.

Tsukune was letting his mind wander though his worries when he heard his phone ring. It was not one of his priority ring tones, like the one for Moka, so he didn't get up to answer it. Instead, he waited in bed as he heard Ruby rushing to answer the phone.

"Moshi moshi," Ruby said into the phone as soon as the call connected. "Aono's residence..." She waited for a moment while the person on the other end spoke, using the brief window of time take some extra, deep breaths to recover from the dash for the phone. "Just a moment, Hana," Ruby spoke the girl's name aloud so Tsukune would know who was calling. "I will see if my master is available."

Tsukune frowned when he heard who was calling him. He and Hana were not really close friends, in spite of their connections to each other. He couldn't help but wonder why she would be calling him. He gave Ruby a nod and held out a hand for the phone.

(A/N)

Sorry to leave you all hanging...

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of enjoying your life?