A strong wind kicked up her unbound arctic blue tresses. Her sleeveless black dress fluttered about her calves as she regarded the solitary grave upon this cliff overlooking the sea. The weathered stone had her full name etched upon it but lacked the dates defining her tenure with the living.
Her mother embraced her from behind, pulling her against a soft bosom which was clothed in a white dress almost the exact same style as hers.
"You know this isn't yours."
"It may as well be."
Mommy squeezed her tighter as the scent of the ocean carried up to them.
"Your friends would never bury you so far away."
"Does it matter what they do with a dead body?"
"You're not dead."
"My friends don't need me."
"Your friends love you."
"I'm nothing but icing on a cake."
"That means you're sweet."
"It means I'm unhealthy and unnecessary."
"Most cake is better with icing."
"The fact that my dead mother came to comfort me is all the proof I need."
Mommy sighed, relaxing her grip though her warmth remained.
"Why must you insist on making this hard on yourself?"
"I'm not doing anything."
"This is your dream. Your world. Why do you want a grave?"
"I don't have a choice in what I dream."
"You have much more control than you want to admit."
Kurumu scowled, pulling away from her mother. She turned about to regard mommy.
"What's the point in having a happy dream? The real world isn't going to change."
"A dream is supposed to reflect where you want to go."
"This is reality, Mom. We all die alone. Nobody was there for you. Nobody will be there for me."
"Your friends love you."
"It would be better if they didn't."
"What will happen to your friends?"
"They'll manage just fine without me."
"If they have to, yes."
"Maybe they won't bury me in a remote location. But stuffing me in an urn that they barely pay any attention to isn't much different."
Mommy snatched both of her hands, giving them a squeeze.
"I don't hold that against you."
Kurumu felt a surge of guilt and grief.
"Of course you don't. Because you're dead."
Mommy smiled with such patience in her eyes.
"Because I love you and want you to be happy."
"What you want doesn't matter now."
"Do you want Moka to die?"
Kurumu frowned at the turn of conversation.
"No. Of course not."
"But if you die, what you want no longer matters. It's fine if she dies after you, right?"
"That has nothing to do with what we were talking about."
"Why don't you care about what your friends want?"
"That's not true!"
"None of them want you dead."
"I know that. But I-"
"Your life would have been much easier without Akashiya in it."
Kurumu shivered at the sound of Mizore's voice. The snow girl was seated on the edge of the cliff with her back to them. She was wearing her old white shirt with the center pocket and black, long sleeves. The snow girl chucked a rock into the horizon.
"That's not fair."
"Your mother wouldn't have died."
Kurumu shivered again, looking into mommy's calm eyes.
"We don't know that. Many succubi died over the summer."
"Your mother would not have been on their radar if not for Akashiya."
"It wasn't Moka's fault!"
"Tsukune would have never been brought to Yokai Academy. He was only here because of Akashiya. His father would still be alive and he would still be human."
"No. If Tsukune hadn't come to Yokai Academy, Coach Kotsubo would have killed you."
Mizore shrugged, tossing another stone into oblivion.
"Maybe that would have been better."
"Don't say that! You're happy now! You have Aoi and will have a baby."
"But we all know that child isn't his. He might say he is fine with this, but I know he resents it. The rest of my life will be tainted by the fact that I bore another man's child."
Kurumu trembled, knowing this Mizore was only echoing her own thoughts.
"But he will marry you, Mizore. What you have with Aoi is not like my relationship with Nijiro. Nijiro will leave me long before Kokoa graduates from college."
"We should both jump. Leave this world that has nothing good for our futures."
Kurumu appeared on the ledge beside Mizore, pulling the ice cold girl against her.
"No! You have family. You'll have Hatsue. You have so much more in your future."
Mizore cocked her head, regarding her with emotionless sapphire eyes.
"If you die, your wants won't matter. I won't live in a world without you in it."
"Isn't that what you want?"
Kurumu shuddered at her mother's words.
"No. She has to live."
"But if she lives, it means she doesn't love you. Isn't that what you are afraid of? That finding happiness means you no longer care for the people you've lost."
"This is different. She has so much to live for."
"What makes you think you don't?"
And Kurumu started to sob.
"I can't be happy, Mom. I don't know how."
"You are loved. You know that."
"It won't last. Just like Tsukune, they will all find someone else. I won't have anyone."
"Kurumu."
Kurumu looked up at Tsukune's voice. He stood on the edge with empty eyes.
"I'll never forgive you for what you did."
And he fell back off the ledge, causing Kurumu to cry out. She dove after him, with arms outstretched.
"Tsukune!"
Kurumu sat up sharply, reaching for a dream that vanished in an instant. Her vision began to spin as a sharp pain assaulted her head. She brought her hand to her temple as she fought off the vertigo and confusion. She was in a bed with a velvety black sheet drawn up to her waist.
"You're awake? Did you have a bad dream?"
The familiar voice drew her attention to the young man lying beside her. Ginei had lifted up on one elbow, favoring her a roguish grin. His chiseled chest was bared with his wolf head pendant dangling by the black cord about his neck. His bangs were pushed back by the green bandana from last night.
She remembered the party. Drinking. Crying. But this room. She looked beyond him to the furniture lining the wall. The dresser with the lamp and mirror. The corner stand with the open lower shelf. Her luggage on the floor. This was her room in the Huang family mansion.
"Shall we continue where we left off?"
The sudden surge of sexual desire startled her. She shrieked, shoving him roughly off the side of the bed as her heart beat rapidly with a rush of adrenaline. His legs were caught up in the covers, yanking most of them off the bed as she scurried off the other side.
Ginei laughed on the floor, freeing his legs. He was only wearing a pair of black boxers which betrayed a genuine interest to fulfill his lecherous thoughts. She realized that she was still in her black tank top and gray shorts from yesterday. She hefted the chair which had been in this corner by the bed.
"Why are you in my bed?!"
Ginei got to his feet with a smug grin and his boxers at attention.
"Making you feel better. Tears don't suit you."
"I would never be that drunk!"
Kurumu chucked the chair across the bed which he deftly caught. He snickered, setting the chair down and taking a seat. He patted his lap as he continued to flood her senses with delicious debauchery.
"Come here. I got something nice for you to sit on."
Kurumu was about to respond when she noticed a stain upon the disturbed white sheets still covering the mattress. The bright red spot made her gasp. She looked at him with disbelief as her hands flew to her groin. These shorts were loose enough for it to have happened.
"How could you? Taking advantage of me while I was vulnerable."
Ginei smirked, wagging a finger at her while still sporting that massive erection.
"You have that backwards. I was starting to think I might die before you finally passed out."
His nonchalant attitude and persistent lechery pushed her over the edge. Kurumu cried out in denial, lunging over the bed. Her fist connected with the side of his jaw, knocking him and the chair over. She stumbled about, kicking aside the chair.
"You're lying!"
Ginei scooted back on his ass, cupping his cheek with one hand while holding the other out to her.
"Wait, wait! You don't have to be so rough!"
"I'd never be desperate enough to have sex with you!"
She kicked him square in the face, knocking him flat on his back. He immediately covered up his face with his hands.
"Please stop. I won't resist."
The meek submission bothered her. It felt fake since his body was still up for the naughty behavior and his thoughts were just as bad. She stomped on his offensive member thankfully confined in his boxers, causing him to groan deeply.
"I don't need a dick inside me to feel better."
"You should tell her the truth before she makes you sterile."
Kurumu whirled about, spying Mizore in the open doorway to the bathroom. The snow girl was dressed in her school blouse and skirt with the outline of her black sports bra visible through the thin fabric.
"What is going on?!"
"You passed out last night so Ginei carried you to your room."
"And you left me with him?!"
Mizore smiled softly, sitting on the mattress at the foot of the bed.
"No. Ginei only came up here an hour or so ago. He wanted to tease you when you woke up."
Kurumu grimaced, touching the side of her head as she wandered over to the bed.
"What time is it?"
"About noon. Since he wanted to prank you, I drew that spot on the blanket with a red marker."
Kurumu swatted Mizore in the back of the head before sitting beside her.
"I'm not a virgin, moron."
Ginei snickered, finally getting back to his feet. He massaged his crotch.
"Yet you fell for it. You took one look and knew my package would do you in."
Kurumu huffed with a blush, turning her nose away from his yummy degeneracy.
"In your dreams."
"It's a good thing you reacted before thinking. It was obvious we didn't do anything."
Kurumu shivered, hugging herself. He was pulling on a pair of black slacks.
"Well these shorts are loose…"
Ginei snickered, zipping up with a shake of his head.
"Two things. That lovely aroma of sex is missing. Maybe your sense of smell isn't as good as mine, but if I really was that big to make you bleed, your pussy would be aching something fierce right now."
"Shut up!"
Mizore placed a cold hand on Kurumu's thigh, squeezing gently.
"You shared a bed with me last night but no steamy scenes of infidelity happened. I was disappointed."
"What were you hoping to happen?!"
"You were drunk and I was lonely. I thought you would be amorous but you slept so peacefully."
Kurumu scowled with embarrassment and frustration.
"Ginei! Get out!"
Ginei laughed, slipping his arms into the long sleeves of a lush green dress shirt.
"Is my presence turning you on?"
"No! I've been wearing this since Christmas Eve. I would like to change clothes."
"Maybe the dirty girl would like me to give her a bath."
She could not deal with his perverse fantasies and smug grin.
"Get out!"
Ginei chuckled, turning his back on her and stalking away as he buttoned up.
"Fine. But you started this. Everybody at the party saw you shamelessly flirting with me."
Kurumu bit her lip as he exited the room. She tried to recall the events from last night but her memory lost most of its clarity halfway through the bottle. She remembered crying over Tsukune not loving her. Over her mother. Over Moka and their dangerous situation.
"What did I do last night?"
"You didn't molest anyone."
Kurumu laughed, wincing as another sharp pain stabbed her temple.
"I guess that's a blessing."
"Mostly cried. Said a bunch of stuff that most of us didn't need to know."
"Couldn't you guys have stopped that?"
Mizore shrugged nonchalantly.
"Nope. When Yukari and Ginei tried to silence you, you started throwing your charm about and making everyone depressed. Ms. Uzukawa kept feeding you more booze, making you more incoherent. When you passed out, she admitted that had been her plan to shut you up."
Kurumu sighed, leaning against the chilly snow girl.
"I'm so sorry."
"Everybody is worried about you. Yukari decided to make the trip last night since she could use your energy for the spell and you wouldn't be any worse for it."
Kurumu pushed off the bed, wandering over to her luggage. She knelt down, rummaging through the contents for a moment before sighing again. She had left her purple lace ribbon behind but at least the staff had cleaned and folded her laundry.
"Where is everyone now?"
"Most of them are training with the Huang family."
Kurumu nodded, pulling off her tank top and dropping it beside her. Thinking she might as well wear her school uniform, she grabbed her crimson lace bra and slipped it on like a jacket.
"We should join them."
"Tsukune was at the party last night."
Kurumu laughed as she fastened the front clips together. She tucked her breasts into the cups.
"I'm well aware that he was."
"You didn't try to fuck him."
Kurumu paused, absently fixing up her straps. She swallowed thickly as she grabbed her school blouse.
"Just because I was drunk, doesn't mean I would."
"But we did it with the mirror."
Kurumu shivered, slipping her arms into the sleeves. She slowly started to button up.
"That was different."
"What has changed?"
Kurumu scowled, glancing over her shoulder at the snow girl whom remained on the bed.
"Everything! I have a boyfriend."
"But he can't have babies with you."
Kurumu huffed, grabbing her school skirt and red lace panties from the luggage. She set both aside as she got to her feet, rolling her shorts down to her ankles.
"I've already done my biological duty. You're carrying my kid."
"That's not how it works for men."
"I'm not a man!"
Kurumu pulled her panties up over her curls.
"But you could have had sex with Tsukune to have another child. Nobody could have stopped you."
Kurumu sighed, stepping into her skirt. She pulled it up to her waist and tightened the hem.
"I don't know, Mizore. Maybe being drunk isn't the same thing as the mirror?"
"You gave back the memories you took from Tsukune and me."
Kurumu paused with a frown. She leaned down to fetch a pair of socks.
"I couldn't have been that drunk."
"It wasn't pleasant. Remembering how I betrayed you."
"I already told you about that."
"It's different. I remember it from my perspective now. How cruel I was to justify it."
Kurumu grimaced, pulling on her socks. This sucked.
"What makes you think I gave Tsukune's memories back?"
"He admitted he had them at breakfast."
Kurumu huffed, stalking back over to the bed. She sat down heavily beside Mizore.
"He doesn't even know what he's lost. I suppressed your memories. But since a drop of my blood could undo any tampering I did with his mind, I took his memories away. That's not something I can easily fix."
Mizore stood up and cocked her head.
"Maybe it would be best if you don't see Tsukune."
"Why not?"
Mizore grabbed her by the shoulders when she stood up. Her sapphire eyes betrayed concern.
"Because I don't know if the two of you seeing each other is good for you."
Kurumu huffed, slipping out of Mizore's hold to start for the door.
"I'm not training for Tsukune's sake."
Before she could even get three steps, Mizore grabbed her from behind with a chilly embrace.
"Don't go. Stay here with me."
Kurumu shivered, touching Mizore's arms about her waist.
"Don't be silly. We need to train for rescuing Moka and maybe fighting Fujisaki."
"There's isn't anybody to train us, Kurumu."
"But we can't just do nothing."
Mizore sighed, relaxing her grip.
"I can't go with you."
Kurumu frowned, turning about in the embrace.
"Why? Is this because Moka doesn't want you there?"
Mizore smiled, letting go of Kurumu. She touched her hands against her belly, regarding Kurumu with soft, resigned eyes.
"I can't go with you. One minute here is one hour in Master Touhou's world. They plan to have two sessions a day. A two hour session after breakfast and a four hour session after lunch. The others have already spent days in that world."
Kurumu's eyes widened as her heart tensed up.
"Does that mean Tsukune has already fully become a vampire?"
Mizore frowned with a shrug.
"I don't know, Kurumu. They haven't come back yet."
"We have to go!"
"I can't!"
Kurumu could feel Mizore's frustration with the severe drop in temperature. She hugged herself, falling back a step in confusion from the snow girl trying to regain her composure.
"Tsukune and the others will spend two extra weeks in that world today. I can't be doing that Kurumu."
"Why not?"
Mizore laughed at her confusion. The snow girl caressed her belly.
"One week of training would be fourteen extra weeks. That's good for Tsukune whom needs every extra minute he can get. But it's bad for a girl whom is expecting. I can't do that to Aoi."
Kurumu gasped at her own stupidity. Mizore would go from seven weeks to twenty two by New Year's.
"Stay with me, Kurumu. Neither of us need to be losing weeks in there."
Kurumu grimaced, glancing back to the door. Ginei was standing in the open doorway, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed.
"I have to find out if Tsukune is okay."
"I'm willing to escort your sexy ass to the training grounds."
"Isn't it almost lunch? They should be returning in the next thirty or so minutes."
"That's true, Mizore. Which means we could squeeze a day's worth of training in."
"What are you going to do this whole week while we are training?"
Mizore shrugged impassively at her.
"Listen to music. Continue writing my story."
"Be her usual antisocial self."
"Ginei. Be nice."
Ginei chuckled at her admonishment. His smile was warm.
"She's not coming with us, Kurumu. Even if we find her a trainer, it would be best to keep her out here. We don't want any possible complications with that precious baby of hers."
It felt wrong abandoning Mizore like this but she could not argue against those concerns. She wandered over to Ginei's side.
"I'll come back for you."
"Sure. See you in twenty minutes?"
Kurumu pouted at Mizore's casual dismissal while Ginei chuckled.
"Hey! I'm feeling guilty here!"
Ginei grabbed her by the shoulder, steering her out into the hall.
"Leave the poor girl alone, Kurumu. She needs to get to work on her next story for my paper."
Kurumu frowned as she allowed him to guide her down the corridor towards the main foyer.
"Did you convince her to come back to the newspaper club?"
"I convinced her to submit her stories to me. I'm pretty good with my tongue. Just ask Mika."
Kurumu pushed his arm off her shoulder with a huff.
"You keep your hands and tongue away from me."
"Where is the fun in that?"
They reached the foyer in seconds. Sections of the balcony were still charred from the salamander's fire that Huang's father had summoned to combat Akua. Kurumu stuck close to the wall, not wanting to test out the integrity of the structure by the railing. She followed Ginei over to the start of the stairs.
"Why didn't you go train with the others?"
"I did for two days. But since I called dibs on you being my partner, I cut out early."
Kurumu descended the stairs to the central landing which no longer had carpet.
"I hope you aren't planning to grope me and pretend like that is some kind of training."
"I know you're quite the handful but I promise to be gentle."
"Spare me the sexual innuendo."
"You are far too good to be wasted on that boy."
Kurumu frowned as she arrived at the central landing. She hesitated as he started down the second flight of scorched steps.
"I'm lucky to be with Nijiro."
"I wasn't talking about your backup plan."
"Nijiro isn't my backup plan."
"Nobody will believe that after how you carried on last night."
Kurumu pouted, hurrying down the stairs to catch up to him.
"I was drunk. I'm bound to say stupid things."
"You made little Hineri cry."
"Why? What did I do to her?"
Ginei stopped at the base of the steps.
"You charmed her big sister into being very honest about how happy she was with Tashikana's decision to stick around with her."
Kurumu came to a halt upon the last step above him.
"That doesn't sound too bad. Mizore said I made everyone depressed."
"You did. Said things about me that I would have preferred guys like Tashikana and Kaneshiro to not know about. Some of us were lucky that you didn't know us too well. Others. Not so much."
Ginei turned away and started off.
"I figure a day's worth of tit and ass grabbing will make up for it. Consider it your punishment."
Kurumu frowned, following him into a hallway on the back side of the dining room.
"That isn't fair. I didn't mean to do it."
"I'd watch your back when school starts up again. Little Hineri might not forgive you."
"Kumiko needs to accept the fact that her sister is happy with Tashikana."
They reached the end of this hall, turning left into another one.
"I wouldn't claim little Hineri is the most reasonable of individuals."
They passed by an intersecting corridor which went in both directions. Ginei kept to this hallway, pausing at the first door on the left.
"Was anybody else embarrassed by my words?"
Ginei sighed, grabbing the black knob and twisting it. He pushed open the door.
"Embarrassed isn't the right word. You brought up Haiji's little sister. That boy Mizore accidentally killed. My friend Kaito and how I lost my virginity to one of Lord Chiki's guards."
He sighed again, letting go of the knob and walking into the next room.
"You wanted us all to feel as bad as you felt."
There was nothing she could say as she followed him into the room. One of the walls was on a diagonal slant and had a double door which Ginei was approaching. She absently closed the door behind her, taking note of the shelves stocked with random things.
Ginei opened one of the slim doors to the next room. These black wood panels had a long rectangular pane of hazy glass in the center with a square of glass directly above that. Above these doors was a glass pattern framed inside a black semicircle. The pattern was cut up into seven equal white glass petals with a yellow glass half circle at the center. Yellow and white sections filled out the remaining areas.
She followed Ginei into the next room which was in the shape of an octagon. Black wood paneling came up to her waist with white walls stretching up to a point where the ceiling began to curve towards the center. A golden chandelier hung from a black circle at the center of the dome.
There was a set of doors similar to the one she had passed through in the center of each of these eight walls. Black wood lined the wall and then cut towards the center of the room at each point where the walls came together. These wood lines met a smaller octagon about a ring of Chinese characters for the different elements. Curved white tiles were placed on the inside of this ring to separate it from a smaller ring of Chinese characters about a pool of water in the center of the room.
"What is this room?"
Ginei stalked over to the pool of water.
"It's something that old man designed decades ago. Something about these runes helping the flow of energy but the kid fessed up that they have multiple power lines feeding this room. Don't ask me for a better explanation of how it works since I didn't make it."
"So where is everyone?"
"I think that will be easier to just show you. Follow me."
Ginei hopped over the ring of characters to land in the middle of the pool. To Kurumu's surprise, he fell through the water's surface without making a splash or a sound though ripples roiled out from his point of entry. Even more surprising was that this clear blue circle was deep enough to swallow Ginei whole.
"Ginei?!"
Kurumu hunkered down next to the pool, peering into the water but all she could see was the chandelier overhead. Her heart fluttered with her confusion.
"Come back here! What am I supposed to do? Is it safe for me to dive in?"
Her heart continued to flutter with worry as he failed to answer or reappear. Taking in a deep breath, she thrust her head into the water with hopes for an answer.
The environment on the other side had her mind reeling. She was looking down into the sky. Buildings stretched up on either side of her with balconies and air conditioning units. Signs jutted out from the structures bearing the names of shops and services.
Kurumu saw Ginei standing near her. He leaned over, offering his hand. He said something but the pitch was so high and fast that she had no idea what to make of it. But she could guess his intent.
Kurumu timidly reached into the pool with her left hand as her mind continued trying to process the situation. He snatched her hand at an insane speed, yanking her hand firmly. She cried out as she fell forward, sliding into the pool.
"Wait! I'm falling!"
Ginei hauled her the rest of the way into this world. He whipped her to the side, painfully wrenching her shoulder before he released her hand. She fell hard on her ass upon the paved concrete road.
"Where do you think you're going to fall to?"
Kurumu whimpered at the slight pain in her rump. She rubbed her aching shoulder as her mind adjusted itself to her new environment.
"That was… weird. I fell into the water."
"The gravity reverses on you the moment you clear the portal. With the differences of gravity and time, it's best to jump in and get it over with quickly."
Kurumu nodded thoughtfully, taking in the surroundings. They were on a street inside the city. A Kai Bo supermarket was next to a Wah Hong restaurant on her right. To her left a side street cut away between a fruit vendor and a meat shop.
"Didn't you jump in feet first?"
Ginei chuckled, walking over and offering her a hand.
"And landed on my face. Not the most graceful landing, but this was only my second time."
Kurumu smiled, taking his assistance to get up. She breathed in deep, noting the strange lack of smell. The last time she had been in a market like this, the scent of cooking food had filled the air. She turned about, noting the Wan Kau Yau Fook roasted food sign.
"What is this place?"
"I was told that it was a mirror world created by that old man. Something about it being the reflection of the city upon the water."
"So none of this is-"
"Real. It's the perfect place to train. We can wreck this place as much as we want and the old man can restore it between sessions."
Kurumu gestured at the vegetables stacked in baskets outside the supermarket.
"Is the food real?"
"Nope. Everything here is an illusion. They had to bring enough real food and water for five days when they set out this morning."
"Water too?!"
"Unfortunately. There's no electricity or working plumbing. The main camp is this way."
Kurumu grimaced as he walked down the street towards the white sign of the Sun Luen Tai food market.
They walked by the nearest intersection, staying on this street which curved. They passed by a building with a glass elevator and the black letters of the Wan Chai Market over an open entrance. It also had an escalator going to an upper level from the street.
Beside this was an apartment building. A walkway overhead connected the next two buildings. A road cut away on the left after the Canadian Fine Foods shop. They kept on this street, walking towards the traffic lights up ahead.
"How did he capture all of this in a reflection?"
"Your guess is as good as mine."
"I have to admit but I didn't think Master Touhou was this powerful."
"I guess he's just one of the many examples of looks can be deceiving."
Kurumu perked up at the sound of familiar voices when they arrived at the intersection. Ginei turned to his left, raising his hand and calling out to the group whom stood all the way at the top of the hill where the street started to curve to the left.
"Kurumu! I'm glad to see you're okay!"
Kurumu grinned at Rubi's energetic greeting as the witch trotted towards them. The witch was garbed in that pink corset bustier with the ruffled skirt drifting about her ankles. It felt like forever since Rubi had worn that outfit due to the school's rigid stance against teachers and staff having bared shoulders.
As confused and happy as she was to see Rubi here, her attention was drawn to Ms. Hitori. The teacher with her crimson locks styled in a pixie cut was garbed in a short sleeved, yellow blouse and black slacks. Her unbound tresses reached the small of her back as she chatted with her dark haired companion. The other phoenix had on a sleeveless white shirt with a mandarin collar and a loose pair of black pants.
Miyamoto stood solemnly with his arms crossed next to Master Touhou. He looked at home in his karate gi beside the elder garbed in a brown robe over a white one. The old man puffed on his pipe, regarding Kurumu's approach with his eyes hidden behind dark glasses.
As Kurumu passed by a sign on the right for a foot massage parlor, Rubi snatched her up in an embrace.
"I didn't expect to see you here. Don't you have work?"
Rubi laughed, pulling back to arms' length.
"I left a note on his door before we left. I couldn't pass up the chance to learn more magic."
Kurumu smirked as she resumed her walk to the others with Rubi latched to her side.
"Hopefully you don't get fired for this."
They passed by a building which transitioned into apartments on the upper levels. On the other side of the road on their right was the Lui Kee education services center. Seven rows of narrow windows were above seven rows of teal panels which were all held in white metal framing. Across the street from this building was a hill with several trees. The rise flanking the street was made with concrete stones.
"Hey, Kurumu."
Kurumu smiled at Yukari's greeting. The witch was trying out her new sky blue sundress with the straps knotted up to make the garment tight against her budding bosom. She was not wearing a bra.
Otonashi waved at Kurumu, standing beside Yukari. The siren had on a long sleeved, mint green dress with a rounded white lace collar that had a thin black cord tied in a bow in the center. The fabric was crimped about her midsection before transitioning into pleats which reached her ankles.
"Hey, Yukari."
"Are you feeling okay?"
Kurumu laughed, noting this last stone building on her right was an international church. There were several bags of perishables spread out in this empty intersection.
"I think so. Is this your main camp?"
"It's near a bunch of open areas which are convenient for training."
"Will you be training with us?"
Kurumu smirked at the bright smile Huang favored her. He was sporting an indigo, sleeveless shirt made of crushed velvet. His black pants were made of satin.
Standing beside him was his cousin. Ms. Han's modest curves were held in a teal Chinese dress with an indigo floral pattern. Her ebony hair was pulled into twin buns which were tied up with indigo ribbons.
"I'll think about it. I'm glad to see Ms. Hitori has returned to us."
The teacher huffed, absently brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Somebody took his time getting me here."
"It's been years since I've been to the main family headquarters."
Huang laughed merrily, gesturing at the couple.
"They've been in Hong Kong since Wednesday. Our agents picked them up hours after you left."
"Did he renew his contract with your family?"
Huang grinned broadly with an emphatic nod.
"Yes. Called it a Christmas gift."
"Be grateful, kid. That's the best gift you could possibly get."
Kurumu let go of Rubi, glancing about the area one more time.
"Where is Tsukune?"
"I have that young man training with Master Yao."
Miyamoto huffed at Touhou's answer.
"A shame. I would have liked to spar against the Master at least once."
"So Tsukune survived becoming a full vampire."
Touhou chuckled with a puff from his pipe.
"No, young lady. When Master Yao says the boy is ready, I will consider fulfilling Mr. Aono's request."
"Is everyone breaking for lunch or did I miss the fun?"
Miyamoto chuckled as Ginei strolled over to pat Otonashi's head.
"We were about to call it a day. Have a cooked meal for a change."
"Looks like you still have some provisions."
"Only because half of these women are very picky about eating."
Yukari huffed at the remark by the phoenix.
"It's mostly snack food. Hopefully the staff will shop for healthier meals."
"Healthy food won't last ten days, little lady. Get used to it."
"As soon as Master Yao returns with Mr. Aono, we will head back to the real world."
Kurumu took in a deep breath, not the least bit disappointed with that. She was hungry and not looking forward to what Ginei called training.
"What kind of training have you guys been doing in here?"
Huang grinned wide with his eyes lighting up.
"It's been wonderful, Ms. Kurono. I spent two whole days with Master Touhou."
"Speaking of that, maybe we should redo our training partners for tomorrow."
Huang laughed merrily, placing his hands on his hips.
"Intimidated with the prospect of facing me?"
"Intimidated with the prospect that I would be wasting a whole day."
Kurumu laughed at Yukari's cold response.
"How are you guys picking partners?"
"We've been playing rock, paper, scissors!"
The enthusiasm behind Huang's answer was somehow more shocking.
"Seriously?!"
"True. Some of us clearly have preferences on whom we want to train with."
Yukari huffed indignantly at Ms. Han's remark.
"What good did my day with Mr. Miyamoto do?"
"But I will treasure that day forever."
Yukari thrust a finger at Miyamoto.
"Kurumu! Fix that loli loving head of his!"
Kurumu giggled along with the others.
"I thought Lady Otonashi would be your preference."
"Our little bird is. I enjoyed her company for two days before they insisted on this new system."
"Because you weren't training her at all. At least with me she actually learned something."
Kurumu perked up at Ms. Hitori's comment.
"Oh? What did you learn to do with our teacher?"
Otonashi smiled softly, touching her slight bosom.
"She's helping me fly."
"You didn't know how to fly?"
"Not very well. She's also having me dodge attacks while flying."
"A criminal thing to even think of causing our little bird harm."
"Shut it, Mr. Miyamoto. She wants to participate in a serious fight where the enemy will try to hurt her. I'm doing her a favor."
"Can't she just sing?"
"She's a glass canon, Mr. Morioka. Just like our witches. They need to work on evasion and defense more than their offense."
"Haiji would be Lady Otonashi's shield."
Miyamoto nodded at Ginei's cheerful remark.
"I would. But Ms. Hitori is right. It would ease my mind knowing that she can fend for herself."
"She can sing, Haiji. Her voice can disable opponents when she wants it to."
"We won't be fighting young kids in a school, Mr. Morioka. You are greatly overestimating her abilities."
"I don't mind the lesson. I'm looking forward to my next session with Ms. Hitori."
Ginei sighed at Otonashi's cheerful tone.
"Whom else did you get paired up with?"
"I watched camp yesterday and was with Ms. Xinyi today."
"Who have you been training with?"
Rubi perked up at Kurumu's question.
"The first two days I worked with Ms. Xinyi. Then I was with Mr. Huang whom held nothing back."
"And she enjoyed that beating too much."
Rubi blushed at the phoenix's amusement.
"The experience was needed."
"What exactly happened?"
Yukari snickered, wagging a finger at Rubi.
"What do you think? She was punished before she could cast any spells. Repeatedly."
"Witches are so troubled in one on one situations."
"It's not so bad if it's against another witch, Ms. Xinyi. I'm hoping that we get paired together."
"Me too, Ms. Sendou. I'm also hoping for a good lesson with Master Touhou."
Touhou chuckled in a cloud of smoke. He nodded at Ms. Han.
"I would need a divine garment to handle your training, young lady."
"I wouldn't mind a change of clothes. I've been wearing this too long."
"I'm just glad that my training hasn't been too physical."
Kurumu giggled at Yukari's remark.
"Oh? What training partners have you had other than your wasted day with Miyamoto?"
"I worked with Master Touhou the first two days since he promised to teach me how to summon all the monsters serving their family."
"Which she has proven quite capable of. I dare say she is a better summoner than a useless descendant whom I had the misfortune of being paired with twice."
"I'm not useless!"
Touhou chuckled, taking the pipe out of the corner of his mouth.
"At least today was productive. I have all of the necessary measurements to have a divine garment prepared for Ms. Toujou. Now I will be able to train her more seriously."
"I'm looking forward to being paired with you again, Master Touhou."
Kurumu shook her head, wondering if Rubi believed this old man's nonsense.
"Whom else did you get paired up?"
"I had Rubi yesterday and camp duty today. Both were kind of a waste so I practiced my new summons."
"That's not a nice thing to say."
"You have nothing to teach me, Rubi. I'm a better witch and you know it."
"You don't know every spell I can cast. I know dozens of transmutation spells."
Yukari frowned at the pouting witch.
"Those are high energy. Why do you know spells like that?"
"I lived in the woods. Experimenting was a fun way to pass the time."
"What good is a transmutation spell going to do in the middle of a fight? You need to be working on disables and kills."
"Maybe I could use the versatility transmutation allows to improve my disables?"
"That will just take more time, Rubi. Time is not our friend in fights."
Rubi sighed heavily and a long stretch of silence followed. Kurumu managed a smile.
"I didn't think to ask this, but how is your family doing? Have your parents and sister recovered?"
Huang grinned, crossing his arms about his chest.
"They are all still bedridden but conscious."
"And Mr. Hao?"
"Still in the hospital, but he'll be released soon. He will be able to return for our New Year celebration."
"You have big New Year plans for next week?"
"No, Ms. Kurono. The Chinese New Year comes with the first new moon on January twenty ninth. And from what I hear about the situation at Yokai Academy, I may actually celebrate it with my family."
Yukari huffed, turning her nose away from him.
"Don't expect us to still be in Hong Kong for that."
"There is our champion of justice."
Kurumu shivered at Ginei's declaration, feeling Tsukune's eyes upon her. He was coming down the street in the company of Master Yao. He was dressed in that mint green track suit with the Yokai Academy logo. The bald, older gentlemen had a dark blue robe with a black sash about his waist.
"Shall we pack up the provisions?"
"No need. Real things inside here won't be harmed when I reset the world."
As Tsukune neared, Kurumu noticed that his outfit was scuffed up with dried blood stains. His face was battered and bruised. He managed a smile and a halfhearted wave.
"Good to see you're awake, Kurumu."
"Why are you so beat up?"
"The boy lacks focus and discipline."
"I'm trying, Master Yao. But I can't keep my mind from worrying about Moka."
"If you cannot defeat me even once, there is no point requesting for Master Touhou's help."
"But I know that I would best you easily if I could fully tap the power of my vampire blood."
"Big words from a young man whom is too slow with telegraphed attacks. It's not like I'm using the powers of my race to defeat you."
Tsukune grimaced at the bald man. He turned to Touhou.
"Our Headmaster said that becoming a vampire was the only way I could defeat Lord Fujisaki."
Touhou placed the end of his pipe in the corner of his mouth, puffing out a cloud of smoke.
"I'm hungry. Time to go."
"Master Touhou!"
"Not now, Mr. Aono. I have a session with my old friend tomorrow which will be much more useful than killing you. When Master Yao says you are ready, I will think about it."
Tsukune clenched his teeth as the elder started walking away.
"But I don't have time."
Kurumu squashed her urge to respond to him, unsure of what she even wanted to say. Turning her back on him, she followed the others down the street. Tending her growling stomach would be an easier task.
Kurumu sighed, holding Yukari close to her bosom. She ran her fingers through the girl's hair while her mind continued to fill the witch with memories of Miyamoto's training under Mr. Tsuyoshima. She was dimly aware of her environment while she forced Yukari to live through these memories, which was an improvement. Normally she would be dead to the world while doing something like this.
She mildly wondered how close they were to lunch. Not that lunch was something to look forward to but it was their tenth day inside this lifeless world. Lunch would be their last crummy meal before they ran off to their final training session. After that, they would finally return to the real world.
Her last three days of training had involved this tactic. Get in contact with her opponent and force them into her memories while trying to keep awareness of her physical surroundings. Ginei was easy because he liked grabbing her tits. Rubi had also been easy because she had not expected their session to be any different than the last time they had trained together.
Yukari had been the most difficult since the witch had enchanted her earrings with wards to prevent her from being knocked out instantly. This was the result of her getting pitted against that phoenix guy twice whom clearly had no issues with beating up little girls. He was the worst partner to get, having thrashed Kurumu thoroughly on the fourth day. Kurumu never wanted to fight Mr. Huang again.
Getting to Yukari had required doing something Kurumu had not tried before. She had made an illusion of herself. Master Touhou had suggested this tactic when she had trained with him five days ago, saying it would help her deal with opponents like Mr. Huang in the future. So when Yukari took out the illusion and went to check on the fake, Kurumu had pounced upon the unsuspecting witch and subdued her.
She felt Yukari's mind try to rationalize out of her prison but Kurumu smothered her logic with the grief Miyamoto had carried during that first year of training. She would keep Yukari hostage until lunch. Most likely the witch would come out of this with decent karate skills just like Rubi and Ginei had. Miyamoto had given her permission to do this after their training session together four days ago.
There were four opponents Kurumu had not faced in the ten possible matches. She had not been paired with Ms. Hitori, Ms. Han, Huang or Otonashi. Her second day had been against Rubi and she had gotten Ginei for a second time on the third day. On the seventh day she had been in charge of the camp.
After ten days of training while in the company of Huang and Mr. Huang, Kurumu was starting to think it would be easier to address Huang as Fang. Not that she had much reasons to chat with that idiot but it had been confusing when she talked about him with Ginei. Ginei was already using the kid's first name and nobody seemed to object to that.
"How is the training going?"
Kurumu shifted her awareness to the pair of young women smiling down at her. Like everyone else, Rubi and Ms. Han were still dressed in the same clothes. One of Ms. Han's ribbons was enchanted to allow her to speak fluent Japanese.
"Are you two done?"
"It was quite enjoyable."
"Ms. Toujou surprised me with her versatility. I didn't expect half of the spells she used against me."
"I wanted to show you something different since we haven't been together since the beginning."
Kurumu sighed, relaxing her hold on Yukari's consciousness. The witch immediately jerked free, pushing out of Kurumu's lap. The witch looked about in confusion.
"What time is it?"
"Time for lunch, Ms. Sendou."
Yukari grimaced, touching her temple.
"I did not need a karate lesson."
Rubi laughed brightly, holding her hand down to Yukari. The frowning witch took the offer, getting up on her feet as Kurumu did the same.
"Ms. Kurono did the same to me. It might prove useful if we need to defend ourselves."
"That's what wards are for. You know how to cast those."
"How did Ms. Kurono get to you with your wards up?"
Yukari blushed at Ms. Han's inquiry.
"She did something that I didn't know she could do."
Kurumu chuckled, turning her back to them. She sashayed down the street towards their main camp, prompting the others to follow.
"That wasn't bad for my first attempt."
"When did you learn how to make illusions of yourself?"
"Master Touhou could explain it better, but all monsters have some control over how you see them."
"This isn't a matter of changing your appearance. You weren't where I thought you were."
Kurumu grinned, reaching over to tousle Yukari's hair.
"It's called displacement. It also helps that I've seen the world through your eyes so I'm aware of how to trick your special perception."
"And here I thought I had you beat for sure. There was no way you could touch me with my wards up and I knew that I could knock you out with a spell before you could charm me with your other senses."
"Don't fret over it, Yukari. Did you want to spar again after lunch or practice more with your spells?"
"There isn't much to practice. I don't forget a spell once I've learned how to cast it unlike some people."
Rubi whimpered, wringing her hands.
"I don't forget them. Some spells are complex with so many parameters that I make mistakes."
"Drawing energy from the environment to fuel your spells is something all witches can improve on. Fast spells often require drawing from yourself which isn't good for a long battle."
Rubi sighed at Ms. Han's comment.
"But drawing from the environment can kill the land."
"The land doesn't do you any good if you're dead, Ms. Toujou. Nor will it thank you for your sacrifice."
"That doesn't mean I have permission to use it as I see fit."
"You won't be killing an environment in here, Rubi. You should take Ms. Xinyi's advice."
Coming around the bend of the street, Kurumu spied a trio in the main camp. It had been Mr. Huang's turn to mind the camp so his presence was no surprise. Miyamoto and Fang were with him.
"What is on the menu for today?"
Her call drew their attention. She could feel the sexual interest of the phoenix, hoping he would not say something silly as they drew closer. Miyamoto leaned over to pick up a plastic bag.
"We got one bag of dried plums left. I believe you liked those."
Kurumu giggled, holding her hand out as she crossed the last stretch to the camp. Miyamoto smiled, handing over the clear bag.
"I am looking forward to a cooked meal tonight."
Mr. Huang snickered as Yukari knelt down to sift through the plastic bags for a snack lunch.
"I could cook something."
Ms. Han laughed with a shake of her head.
"Cooking dry goods would only make them inedible."
"If we brought more water, I could cook some noodles and rice."
Miyamoto nodded thoughtfully at Mr. Huang's proposal.
"That would be better than trying to train on a diet of crackers, dried fruits and chips."
"Don't forget nuts."
Fang laughed, tossing a bag of pistachios to his cousin. The young woman deftly caught it.
"Thank you, Cousin."
"Yes. What a lovely sodium rich diet we have."
Mr. Huang chuckled at Yukari's sarcasm.
"I'll bring it up at dinner tonight. We need more calories."
"It's a pity that we can't return to the real world for our meals."
Yukari huffed at Rubi, handing up a clear bag of dried shredded cuttlefish.
"The kitchen staff would never be able to keep up."
Kurumu giggled sitting beside Yukari. She opened up the bag, pulling out a dried plum. She popped it into her mouth, chewing slowly.
"I'm definitely looking forward to sleeping in a real bed. I don't understand what is wrong with the beds in this mirror world, but they are not comfortable at all."
Yukari nodded emphatically as she opened up her bag of shredded cuttlefish.
"This is almost worse than the training inside the Headmaster's world."
"Not really. That was always hot and humid and it was perpetually day. If we brought futons, we might actually have a decent night's rest inside here."
Kurumu nodded at Miyamoto's assessment.
"That would be nice. It's too bad that I didn't bring my training outfit like Moka suggested. I would rather train in that than any of my street clothes."
Yukari sighed heavily, fussing with the straps of her sundress.
"As annoying as it was to wear those bodysuits, they were easy to train in and were expendable. I'm always worried that I'll ruin my outfit."
Kurumu echoed that sentiment along with Rubi.
"We should bring that up at dinner. I've been holding back in all of my fights."
Everybody looked at Mr. Huang. As Kurumu stuffed another plum in her mouth, she glanced at Yukari.
"Maybe street clothes are fine."
"Yea. It was embarrassing enough to wear a skintight outfit around Miyamoto and the PSC guys. I don't want Ginei and this pervert to see that."
Fang laughed merrily.
"You have nothing to be ashamed about. I'm well acquainted with your body and have no complaints."
"Well I have complaints and don't need your approval."
"Shall I be heavy handed with him for our afternoon session, Ms. Sendou?"
"I don't care what you do to him."
Kurumu giggled as Miyamoto offered Fang a smirk.
"Prepare yourself for the punishment of offending Ms. Sendou."
"Don't act innocent, Miyamoto. Yukari didn't enjoy her training session with you."
"That was before you came, Ms. Kurono. I haven't had the privilege of being paired with her again."
"Which is fine by me. We all heard about how you just played with Otonashi the last time you got paired up with her. I don't need to be treated like your little sister."
Miyamoto flinched. He glanced aside, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Sendou. I'll try to take the training with you and our little bird more seriously."
Kurumu smirked at him as she chewed down another plum.
"Oh? Does this mean you won't play with little Kurumu if we get paired up again."
Miyamoto's eyes glazed over as a lax smile crossed his lips.
"That was so much fun."
"I'm curious how that worked. If I was the first person you projected an illusion of yourself on, then that means you just changed your appearance with him."
"I've done that before. You've seen me imitate Hajihachi."
"Which you weren't able to maintain when Ms. Roniushi hugged you. How did you keep up the illusion of being a little girl for him to play with?"
Kurumu smiled softly, hesitating with her answer.
"Lord Chiki had many memories of holding little girls. It was easy for me to make Miyamoto believe that he was tossing around a small me."
"I'm curious. If we had watched this, would we have seen a small you?"
Kurumu grinned at Ms. Han, shrugging.
"I honestly have no idea."
"It might be worthwhile for us to try out multiple opponents now and then."
Mr. Huang snorted at Ms. Han's suggestion, leaning back on his palms.
"I could take on all of you if I wasn't concerned for your safety."
"This isn't about bragging, Sir. It isn't very likely that we will be fighting one on one matches. We all need this experience."
"We can discuss that at dinner. And we should also do away with this random partner nonsense. As funny as it is for me to get paired against some of you twice, I still haven't had the pleasure of sparring with that little Otonashi girl."
"I object to you causing our little bird harm."
Mr. Huang chuckled at Miyamoto's stiff declaration.
"I see you've come back to us."
"I have. And I will take you down if we are partnered up again."
"Sure thing, boy. I wouldn't mind a fourth round."
"How did your latest session against Fang go?"
Miyamoto tore his gaze away from Mr. Huang's smirk to regard Kurumu.
"I continue to be impressed with his skills. He easily keeps up with me."
"It's nothing, Mr. Miyamoto. I've been training with Master Yao for years."
"He says that but he's so good at martial arts that Master Yao has asked him to abandon his sorcery training for years now."
Fang clenched his fist, shaking his head solemnly.
"It is true that I take more after my mother, but I must fulfill my duty as heir to the Huang family. That position has always been held by the most powerful sorcerer of the family."
Yukari turned a bright smile on Ms. Han.
"So what changes do you plan to make when you take over the family?"
"Oh, come on! You know I'm right here!"
Ms. Han giggled at Fang's distress.
"Sadly that position has always been held by a man."
"As long as the kid can summon the four divines, he will be fine."
Fang perked up at Mr. Huang's remark.
"Exactly. The only one I have left to master is Baihu."
"Good luck with that, boy. Baihu is even grouchier than I am about being called out of his comfortable retirement by a third rate sorcerer."
"Forgive my ignorance, but how do you summon creatures into a place like this?"
"It's not that difficult to understand, Mr. Miyamoto. If my cousin can be in a place, he can always make a magical gate."
"What if he can't cast magic in that place?"
"It's rare for you to be in an environment where you can't cast magic."
"He has a valid question though, Ms. Xinyi. When we tried to rescue my Moka, Yoshii Kiria created a field which disrupted the flow of energy."
Ms. Han pursed her lips in thought.
"Those fields are difficult to perfect. Did you try tapping your own spirit?"
"I try to avoid resorting to that because I don't have much."
"It sounds like you need to practice doing that if your enemy is capable of throwing up such barriers."
"She needs to do something other than her usual whining, bitching, moaning and complaining."
Yukari blushed at Mr. Huang's rant.
"I'll have you know that I have already mastered all of the summons."
"Do you know how to summon this Baihu?"
Yukari huffed at Miyamoto.
"Master Touhou would not teach me how to summon the four divines. Said that was a specific honor reserved for the family heir."
"I'm still amazed that you learned how to do all of that in such a short amount of time."
Yukari grimaced at Fang's enthusiasm.
"It wasn't that hard. Don't forget that I'm a genius."
"I don't think I've met another witch so talented. It makes me want to expand my spell repertoire."
"I noticed that you lack anything resembling an offense when we fought."
Ms. Han smiled softly at Miyamoto.
"My specialty has always been surveillance, defense and enchantments related to those things."
"But you must know how to summon beasts to your aid."
"It was never my place to learn those, Mr. Miyamoto."
"Would you object to me teaching them to you if we get paired again?"
Ms. Han giggled at Yukari, shaking her head.
"If Master Touhou wanted me to learn those, he would have taught them to me years ago. But I won't object to any other forms of offensive magic you have at your disposal."
"I thought the two of you were already trading spells."
"We have been, Ms. Kurono. I loved learning how to fly and becoming ethereal."
"I'm surprised that you didn't know how to do those."
"Well my mother isn't as experimental as yours. Diminishing my molecular stability was not something I was confident about trying. I'm still amazed at how simple it was."
"How did your training with Ms. Kurono go?"
Yukari sighed at Fang's grin.
"Terrible. She made me learn karate."
Miyamoto laughed heartily.
"That's three down. I'm looking forward to partnering with one of your victims. I need to know if my memories are enough to make them competent in a fight."
"Kokoa handled you pretty easily afterwards."
Yukari huffed, wagging a finger at Miyamoto.
"Kokoa was handling this loli lover without any difficulty even before you gave her those lessons."
"True. Ms. Shuzen was already a competent fighter. A pity she isn't here with us."
"I would like to fight you, Mr. Miyamoto. I want to test my new skills."
Miyamoto nodded politely to Rubi.
"I promise I won't have you charmed into being my chair like Ms. Kurono did."
"That wasn't so bad."
Kurumu blushed as attention shifted to her. She stuffed another plum in her mouth.
"Didn't you harass me enough about this last night?"
"I still think it's lazy. We are supposed to be training to get stronger."
Kurumu pouted at Yukari.
"I was working on my awareness."
"While Rubi served as your chair for hours."
"You all need to get better at resisting my charm. Don't forget that Fujisaki has a succubus working for him. She might charm you into fighting each other."
"That succubus won't be preying on our weaknesses like you do."
"Mr. Morioka! Welcome back!"
Ginei waved at Fang's exuberant greeting. The werewolf walked alongside Ms. Hitori at a steady pace.
"How did the training go?"
Ginei smirked as he came to a stop beside Miyamoto.
"Horrible. I didn't get a single feel."
"You better be joking."
"What's to joke about? I have an excuse to grope one of the hottest teachers on campus."
Mr. Huang snickered as Ms. Hitori picked up a bag to rummage through the remaining snacks.
"Sounds like my woman was too hot for you to handle."
"I'm not your woman."
"Whenever I tried to get close, she would ramp up the temperature. The only offense I could muster was in the moments after one of her attacks."
"What offense? You were running away the whole time."
Ginei chuckled as Ms. Hitori pulled out a clear bag of dried apricots.
"What else could I do? I can't win against an opponent like you."
"But you've fought salamanders before."
"I've fought against kids whom barely know how to use their powers, Kurumu. I stood no chance against Kuyo in a straight forward fight."
"Sounds like your training session was about as useful as mine."
"Oh? Did Kurumu get you good?"
Yukari sighed dramatically, pulling out a wad of shredded cuttlefish.
"She made me learn karate."
"That might be useful, kid. I'd like to test it out against Haiji if we ever get paired."
"I'm waiting for that moment."
"Don't act so full of yourself, Haiji. I was putting you in the dirt without any karate training."
"Would you like some nuts, Mr. Morioka?"
"As long as they aren't in a wrinkled, hairy sack, I'll take them."
Kurumu smirked, putting another plum in her mouth as Fang handed over a bag of pistachios.
"Do you think Mizore is bored without us?"
Ginei chuckled, opening the bag and shaking out a bunch into his palm.
"Doubtful. That girl is probably writing and listening to her angry music without a care in the world."
"And here comes our little bird."
Ginei slapped the nuts into his mouth, turning about. Otonashi was skipping towards them with Master Touhou trailing behind her. The elder was holding Otonashi's thick, black songbook while puffing clouds of smoke with his pipe. The siren arrived in seconds, hopping up into Miyamoto's arms.
"Did Master Touhou treat you well?"
"He did. We worked on some new songs and he took my measurements."
Miyamoto's eyes darkened as he set the young lady back on her feet.
"Sounds like I have to help an old man into his grave when our paths finally cross."
"Good luck with that. I couldn't touch the old geezer."
Kurumu smirked, aware that Ginei had trained against Touhou the day she had been in charge of camp. He had been beaten up so bad that he had slept through their morning session the next day.
"Were you able to understand that book?"
"I was, Ms. Sendou. She has many wonderful songs in here. Songs for hypnosis. Songs for healing. Songs for inspiration. Songs for devastation. I could spend weeks with this book and that young lady."
"And what did you need her measurements for?"
Touhou tucked the book beneath his arm while grabbing the end of his pipe. He puffed deeply.
"I need to be able to focus on my training with Ms. Otonashi. I have a divine garment in mind which I think would be perfect for her."
"Not this again."
"She would make a perfect Izumi Konata."
Kurumu shared a glance with Yukari whom rolled her eyes.
"We don't need to dress up as obscure anime girls to help you train us."
"Obscure?! Lucky Star is new! The first volume hasn't even been out a year. I swear you girls don't even know your own culture."
"Only an otaku would think comic books represent our culture."
Ms. Han giggled, holding her half eaten bag of nuts against her slight bosom.
"I don't mind. I wonder how long it will take to make a Sailor Mercury costume for me."
"I'll be putting in the orders immediately after dinner. I cannot continue training for long without the aid of my divine garments."
Ginei snickered, popping another handful of pistachios into his mouth.
"Do the guys get these divine garments?"
"I don't know, bandana boy. Maybe I should turn you into a little black pig."
"What does that have to do with cosplay?"
Touhou sighed heavily with a cloud of smoke.
"I swear. You are all too cruel to your elders."
Kurumu downed another plum, reducing the count in the bag to seven. She glanced down the street towards the park in which Tsukune was training with Master Yao.
"If Master Yao says Tsukune is ready, will you turn him into a vampire?"
"He's already turning into a vampire, Kurumu."
"I know that! I'm asking if Master Touhou will do this dangerous process."
Touhou took in a deep breath, letting out a puff of smoke.
"Hard to say. The odds of success are low."
"Why is that? Aren't you just speeding up something that will happen naturally?"
"Not entirely true, Ms. Sendou. The process Mikogami wants me to perform on that boy is called human modification. It involves forcefully reconstructing the body to use spiritual energy. Assuming the patient survives, a normal human being could become a sorcerer."
Yukari snickered, gesturing at Fang.
"Sounds like you have a test subject."
"Hey! I can cast summons!"
"That boy's issue is with his mind and focus. Even if he did have physical restrictions, his parents would never allow me to subject their only child to such a dangerous operation."
Kurumu nodded, mulling over the conversation.
"Master Touhou. Would it be possible to make Tsukune human again?"
"But Mr. Aono feels terrible about what happened with Ms. Akashiya. He already hates himself for being too weak to do anything."
"It was just a thought, Rubi. I'm also thinking about Kaneshiro."
"An odd thought. You've barely spoken to Tsukune in the past ten days."
Kurumu sighed, unable to deny Ginei's remark.
"What you are proposing would require two things to happen. First would be a full blood transfusion to remove the catalyst causing the change. If that is successful, then the patient would have to undergo a life threatening process to close all of the channels of energy which may have opened."
"So it is possible."
"Yes. Though it is my opinion that it would be easier and safer to go the other way. This procedure will take decades off the life of the patient. Decades aren't nearly as important to a monster since their open channels allow for a longer life span."
"Tsukune isn't going to want that, Kurumu. He doesn't want to be powerless."
Kurumu grimaced, knowing Yukari was right.
"I'm just worried. He's going to make a huge sacrifice for this one fight."
"And a rescue. Don't forget that we might have to forcefully take my Moka back from her sister."
Touhou chuckled with a puff of smoke.
"Akua is a genius in combat, Ms. Sendou. She has beaten me in our spars that involve only martial arts and mastered my dimension sword technique without my instruction. Even if that boy survives this transformation, he will never defeat Akua."
"I don't need to defeat her. I just need to be able to block her attack."
Kurumu shivered at Tsukune's voice. He walked calmly towards them alongside Master Yao.
"If I can keep Akua occupied, my friends will be able to get Moka out of there."
"That's just stupid, Tsukune. Nobody is leaving you behind."
Kurumu nodded at Yukari's comment.
"Yea. Or Akua for that matter. We can't leave her with Fujisaki."
"Then I'm counting on you all to take care of that. Right now we have no way of defending ourselves against Akua's attack. I'll act as our shield until we can subdue her."
Touhou sighed, turning to the bald man.
"Is the boy even worthy of attempting this?"
"His technique could improve but he is prepared for your operation."
Touhou sucked in another deep breath with wisps of smoke trailing from his mouth.
"Very well. We are calling it a day."
"What?!"
"I'm not interested in filling my belly with these snacks. I want a good meal and a warm bed."
"But what about the evening session?"
Kurumu huffed at Fang's protest, getting to her feet.
"I have no desire to stay in here longer than I have to."
Fang grimaced, touching his belly.
"But I just downed a whole bag of pistachios. My stomach isn't ready for a real meal."
"Aren't we going to surprise the others by coming back so early?"
Touhou chuckled at Miyamoto.
"Early? My boy, we will be less than ten minutes early."
"Does this mean that you will accelerate my transformation into a vampire tomorrow?"
Kurumu's heart seized up.
"Don't do it."
Tsukune frowned at her as Yukari stood up with a sigh.
"Don't listen to her, Tsukune. Kurumu is getting cold feet."
"This isn't cold feet, Yukari. This is serious. He could be human again if he wanted to be."
"But the Headmaster said-"
"You only have to return the rosary to Alucard. That's what Akasha told Akua. That will destroy him."
"Even if it is that simple, Fujisaki will never allow it. I need to become stronger to protect Moka."
Kurumu clutched her chest, feeling her heart twist.
"But you might die!"
He looked at her with a calmness in his soft eyes.
"I haven't thought about being human again since I realized how much of a liability I was to everyone. I can't go back to that. I don't want to sit on the sidelines and hope that things will work out."
"You don't understand. Do you honestly believe that any of us could go on if you were to die?"
There was a heavy, awkward moment.
"I think I would be fine. What about you?"
Haiji nodded solemnly at Ginei.
"I will remember his sacrifice fondly."
"Don't be killing me off yet!"
Kurumu laughed with a strangled sob.
"I'm being serious you jerks."
"You are being overly dramatic, Kurumu. We all know that there is a risk. Master Touhou just told us that changing him back into a human was also dangerous."
"Then let it happen naturally! He doesn't need to rush this!"
Tsukune chuckled, pounding his chest.
"Have some faith, Kurumu. It's Moka's blood flowing in my veins. I know that I will survive this process."
"Hold on. Are you saying that it is Ms. Akashiya's blood which is turning you into a vampire?"
Attention shifted to the intrigued elder.
"Wasn't that obvious?"
"The girl carries Shinso blood, Ms. Sendou. Precious blood. I'm surprised that Ms. Akashiya was allowed to give that away without getting permission from her family."
"A bad situation sort of forced her hand. I've also had blood from Mrs. Shuzen and Kokoa to improve my odds of surviving the Rite of Ascension."
Touhou nodded thoughtfully at his explanation.
"I see now why Mikogami has such high hopes for this."
Tsukune smiled wistfully.
"Maybe it's because I'm connected to her through that blood, but even though she's not around, somehow I can tell…"
He nodded with certainty.
"I can feel what she's feeling. She's in a very vulnerable state right now. Lonely. Surrounded by enemies. Scared and worried. Trembling like a little girl. I have to go to her. Comfort her. Set her fears to rest."
Kurumu scowled at the glossy look in his eyes.
"There you go making up crap about your imaginary girlfriend."
"She's not imaginary!"
"Moka went to Disneyland with Akua, Tsukune! Does that sound like a scared, little girl?"
"Well, I-"
"And her plane to Tokyo didn't leave until this afternoon. She's not even in Japan yet."
Tsukune laughed nervously, touching his cheek.
"Okay. Maybe I am imagining things."
"And to top it all off, the girl you are so in love with is Hatsue! The baby that is keeping Mizore from training with us because we don't want that poor girl to be born yet."
"I'm aware of that."
"The blood that is flowing in your veins is Moka's, Tsukune. The girl that you made feel so unloved that she begged Master Touhou to lock her up behind a fake personality."
Tsukune smiled, looking directly in her eyes without fear or concern of her charm. He did not falter.
"I told my mother everything about Moka and Hatsue."
Kurumu frowned in confusion.
"What? Why?"
"Because she's my mother and I value her counsel. I told her about the situation with Hatsue. How you and I had intercourse due to a magic mirror which resulted with you putting my baby into Mizore."
"She's not your baby."
"I told her that and my mother cares little about political matters. Hatsue will be my daughter regardless of how much contact I have with her. My mother will never condone that."
Kurumu's heart twisted as she looked into his unwavering eyes. Filled with kindness. Resignation. The same feeling she had felt when Hatsue had talked about Tsukune. Tears started to well up in her eyes.
"You can't just give up on her like that."
"You were pushing me to pick the vampire. How Moka was the owner of the body. How it is her blood that saved me. How Moka was always there and saw every moment I shared with Hatsue."
Kurumu shook her head in disbelief as the tears started to roll down her cheeks.
"I've been stubborn and foolish. Unrealistic and naïve. Hatsue was trying to be Moka. So the girl I fell in love with was not Moka or Hatsue. You were right. I was wrong. I'm putting my trust in the counsel of the two women whom matter most to me. I will make things right with Moka."
It was over. She saw it in his eyes. He had decided that Moka was his love. And her aching heart knew that would work.
Cupping her hand over her mouth, she dropped her bag of dried plums. Tears fell freely down her cheeks as she turned and ran away. She heard the others call after her, but she only picked up her pace. She had to be alone. She refused to deal with this.
She turned down the street which went to the portal but she had no interest in leaving now. She cut onto a side street on her left, running wherever her heart took her. Her foot caught on something and she fell into a stand with flowers, knocking the display across the narrow street. Weeping, she rolled onto her back while covering her eyes with the back of her arm.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Kurumu lowered her arm, seeing Ginei standing over her. Her vision was blurred from her tears.
"Leave me alone."
Ginei sighed, sitting down beside her waist. He turned his back to her as he took in a deep breath.
"I told the others to go ahead without us. But I'm not leaving without you."
"Go away."
He turned towards her, leaning over. He brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.
"I told you before. Tears don't suit you."
Kurumu socked him in the jaw, forcing his face away from hers.
"Stop hitting on me!"
Ginei chuckled as she resumed bawling. He pulled away, nursing his cheek.
"If you really wanted me to leave, you would have charmed me away."
"You'll just get lost again."
"True. That was troublesome. It's your fault for letting me wander off in a strange city."
She wept, refusing to respond. He let her cry for a long while. Exhausting herself. Painfully.
"Why are you so upset? Isn't this what you wanted? For him to go after Moka instead of Hatsue."
"I never wanted this. This compromise. I only said it because I wasn't going to get what I wanted. I thought this would be best. For him and Moka."
Ginei sat stoically as she rasped and sobbed out her words. His back looked so distant despite being within arms' reach.
"Why do you insist on being everyone's mother?"
"I'm not!"
"You dare saying that after you turned into mine in the middle of our fight? I have enough trauma in my life that I didn't need groping my mother added to the list."
That was his fault. Kurumu sobbed, pounding the bottom of her fist against his back.
"I'm dying!"
"Don't be stupid."
"You don't understand! A succubus can die from a broken heart. I can feel how much it hurts. This is why I'll never survive that operation Kokoa wants me to get. I can't even breathe properly right now."
"Because you're bawling your eyes out."
Kurumu whimpered, clutching her breast. Her heart beat erratically.
"I'm serious, Ginei! I secretly hoped. When he realized his dream girl didn't exist. Maybe he would take me back. But his eyes. He will never pick me. Never!"
"If you know that, then why keep stressing about it. Forget Tsukune."
"I can't!"
"But that's what is hurting your heart, dummy! You are killing yourself."
Kurumu whined, massaging her breast but it did nothing to relieve the ache deep inside her chest.
"I'll never survive. Not like this. My heart is too weak."
Ginei let her cry for a painful minute before his shoulders relaxed.
"You need to stop requiring him to love you."
"I don't."
"Yes, you do. You love him but you're holding yourself back because he doesn't love you the same way. That's what is killing you. You're trying to make love conditional."
"What would you know about love?"
Ginei finally looked over his shoulder with a warm smile. His smoky gray eye was warm and patient.
"Love is enduring. First and foremost. It's not about passion or lust. It's about wanting what is best for another person and doing all you can to make their life easier. Regardless of if they do the same for you."
Kurumu's heart eased with his words.
"Don't be stupid. You'll just get used that way."
"That's not the point. Why did you tell him to pick Moka over Hatsue?"
Kurumu swallowed, knowing the answer. She had always felt Moka was more likely to be his dream girl because of his physical attraction to Moka's body. His love for Hatsue was an untested theory that might fail if he was not attracted to the body they found for Hatsue.
"I wanted him happy."
"Yes. Because you love him. Genuinely. You didn't want to sabotage him by sending him after a girl you thought he had no chance with."
Her heart twisted painfully as another tear rolled down her cheek.
"It still hurts."
Ginei reached over to brush the tears from her cheek.
"I know. Stop hurting yourself. Open that big heart of yours and love him as much as what you feel is best for him. Let go of that selfishness strangling your heart."
Kurumu took in a deep, ragged breath and sighed, letting her body relax.
"What about Nijiro?"
Ginei chuckled, withdrawing his hand.
"I honestly don't know enough about your relationship with him to give you any advice. But it's not impossible to love more than one person. I love you, Kurumu."
Kurumu coughed up a laugh, absently massaging her breast.
"That doesn't give you permission to squeeze my tits."
"I know. I also love Lady Otonashi and Tora. But I know that I'm not the best partner for these girls I care deeply about. I can only hope that I can be the best for Mika."
Kurumu breathed in deep, closing her eyes.
"Yea. Maybe someday I'll be the best for someone too."