Chapter 9
Would you like some salt? + Vampire
Today is feeling like it's going to be annoying.
What do you mean?
I just feel this sort of… feeling. I don't know how to describe it.
Is it like that nervousness you felt when Shinjiro…
Sort of, but less intense.
Damn, maybe we should keep our eyes open.
I plan to.
As we head into the club room, I start getting the layouts ready while I prep the Ishigami article.
Moka, who has long since put the Rosario back on, walks up behind me and asks, "are you feeling better today Minato?"
I nod and smile at her. "I'm not feeling homicidal towards my new… brother-in-law… anymore, so I would call that a clear improvement."
She laughs awkwardly as we get to work, and the others soon arrive to help.
-P+V-
About halfway through the day's work, Neko- I mean Shizuka, brings some snacks.
"fish crackers?" asks Yukari.
"I have my preferences too you know." She responded as she ate some of said crackers.
Deshi seemed a bit melancholy as she typed on the computer, finishing the article on Ishigami. So, I went over to her to talk with her for a bit.
"everything alright Deshi?" I ask.
She sighs and says, "I have this really bad feeling. And I'm worried it has to do with the PSC."
I raise my eyebrow.
Her too? And she thinks it's about those wannabe yakuza?
This doesn't bode well.
"I feel something too. So don't worry, you aren't alone in this." I say as I pat her on the shoulder.
She blushes and says, "thanks. I actually do feel a lot better hearing you say that."
I smile at her but suddenly I feel an intense feeling of fear and shame jolt through me.
What the hell was that?
That was your bond with the Lovers.
What do you mean Orpheus?
Later, go to her.
Good point.
As I walk towards Kurumu, I see her reading a letter, and when I get close, she hides something in the scraps bin.
"Kurumu? Is everything ok?" I ask gently.
She looks at me in panic for a moment, but when she meets my eyes, she deflates.
"I, need to go. I realized I forgot to do something really important." She says as she is unable to meet my eye.
I nod, and say, "I can tell something's wrong. Please let me help you."
She looks shaken, and the others start to approach as she freaks out more, until she suddenly just shouted, "I'm really sorry!" and she ran from us.
Moka and Yukari looked at her leave, and then looked to me in confusion and concern.
"what happened Minato?" Moka asked.
I look at the scraps bin, and frown. "I don't know, but I think we're about to find out."
After saying this, I check the bin and find-
Woah, momma, thems some spicy pics!
Ryoji, some tact please.
Sorry, I was caught off guard.
I was too. But now we know.
I skim the letter as the others each check the pictures.
Alone, monster tree, spread pictures.
"blackmail." I say as I crush the letter in my grip.
"that's horrible! Who would do such a thing!?" shouted Moka.
"a sick pervert!" growled Yukari as she pulled out her wand.
"a pervert with like, no skills with photography. These angles are all off, and don't properly…"
Gin notices our stares and finishes with, "um, yes, bad guy, let's go kick his ass."
As we start tracking Kurumu and this 'Nagare' person, I ask Gin "what's this Monster tree, anyway? Is it alive?"
He shakes his head, "no, it just looks like it wants to eat people, the nickname just sort of spiraled out of that."
As we round the building I catch a glimpse of the tree and…
"I think I get it." I say.
At the base of the tree is Kurumu and some skinny kid who looks kinda sweaty.
I guess these stereotypes exist for a reason, huh?
Apparently.
Kurumu notices us and she looks surprised.
As we get closer to her, her emotions are easier for me to feel.
Shame, anger, fear, her emotions are strong, and are starting to upset me.
This guy is pissing me off.
Calm yourself. Her emotions are not yours. When we have a moment, I will focus on getting these emotions properly filtered, but for now, focus on the situation at hand.
Thank you Orpheus. We really need to talk about this later.
I feel him nod as this Nagare turns to see us.
"Damnit, I told you to come alone. Well, I guess this will be fine too." I hear him say quietly.
I draw my sword and he blanches; his sweating intensifies.
"h-hey, now, you better put that away unless you want the whole school to see these pictures!" he says holding up more copies of the pictures we saw earlier.
Yukari holds up her wand and says "accio pictures."
The pictures are yanked from his hands and Yukari wordlessly incinerates them after she catches them.
"That won't do you any good, I've got copies saved and- "he was interrupted by gin rushing in, taking his camera.
"Hey! What the?!" he panics as gin starts checking the camera.
"Jesus kid, you need a life. Assuming you survive this, that is." Is all gin says before handing the camera to Deshi.
As Deshi looks through it her expression turns thunderous.
"if you don't explain how you got these pictures, you might not make it to a teacher for your disciplinary actions." She says while pulling out her bo.
If she's actually threatening him with violence, he might be even worse than I thought.
His sweating gets worse, and I feel Kurumu's anger build as she hears more.
She growls out, "what the hell is wrong with you? Did you do this shit to other girls?"
He looks unhinged as he starts laughing, "oh please, I do this to whoever I want!"
As we all start approaching him he transforms before our very eyes, turning into a slug-like creature, and spraying out a nasty smelling gas.
We go to attack him but the closer any of us gets, the weaker we become, almost like.
"he has some sort of paralysis toxin in that gas!" I shout, cursing myself for not thinking about the gas more.
"HA, exactly! Smart guy, and this gas of mine is why I can do whatever I want! I can do whatever I want to any of you! And I think I'll start with the pretty little miss Moka!"
I interrupt his plans with a simple but effective response of, "Ishtar, Me Patra."
As Ishtar makes her appearance, she clears our bodies of the poison.
When we all stand up, his face goes slack in shock.
Kurumu stands up and is raging.
"how dare you threaten my future Sister! You can mess with me all you want, but you don't fuck with my family!" she screams.
All of a sudden Ishtar appears behind her and Kurumu glows for a moment before she starts visibly outpouring energy.
The Monster tree comes to life before our eyes and starts attacking Nagare.
"what the hell's happening?" I ask.
I thought it was just a tree.
Moka's rosary started glowing as her other self spoke through it.
"it's just a tree, but it seems Kurumu has unlocked one of her race's most powerful abilities. The power of illusions."
I raise my eyebrow. "I think this is a bit more than a trick of the mind."
"you would be right. Succubus illusions, at their very weakest can trick the eye. However, the stronger the succubus, the more powerful the illusion." She continues.
We watch as the tree picks the slug up and slams him back down.
"admittedly, it should be impossible for an illusion to actually pick someone up, though I'm sure it has to do with your bond with her. Your power seems to actively warp reality." She finishes.
Ishtar, did you do something to make this happen?
Not precisely. She was already about to unlock the power of illusion. I simply answered her subconscious calling for power through her bond with you.
You mean she is using my persona power to do this?
Hardly. She is using her own strength, but it's potency has been increased thanks to your bond with her.
Like how I can create stronger persona because of my social links?
EXACTLY like that.
I see. That makes sense when you put it that way.
As my internal conversation ends, Kurumu slams Nagare back into the ground and kicks him in the face.
As she walks over to us she looks like she's about to cry and I can feel her shame again.
"I'm so sorry everyone, I- "
She's interrupted by the other Moka saying "don't act pathetic after such a display of power Kurumu. I won't have my 'future sister' acting like she did something wrong when she was being coerced by a slimy slug like that. We all saw the pictures, and we all know why they exist. You are a victim in this, but you did not stay a victim. Seeing the potential, you showed off today makes me proud to call you my future family."
To be honest, all of us were a bit shocked by that. She had never said something so…emotional, before.
Wow. Moka must be impressed for her to flat out consider her an equal. A vampires pride is on a whole different level.
You're telling me.
Kurumu hugged Moka and cried, leaving the others to surround them till it was just me ang Gin on the sidelines.
"I wonder if she's that strong because of you, or if she had the potential all the while." Gin ruminates.
I shake my head. "from what I understand, shew always had the potential. I just made it a bit more potent."
Gin nods and joins the group hug.
After a moment of hesitation, I do the same.
I'm not great at hugs.
-P+V-
As we returned to preparing the news article, we had Kurumu add in a quick article about Nagare, and his self-admitted crimes against women. She had a downright malicious smirk on her face as she started writing, and for just a split second I thought I felt some pity for the boy.
Then I quietly burped, and the feeling was gone.
You would think the students would start making a connection between your newspaper club and the way people who cause trouble around you end up beaten or dead.
I'm pretty sure their hormones and teenage stupidity combine with the monster instinct to exert power over each other, and it makes them a big horny mess of trouble.
So it would seem.
Incidentally, I think we should discuss the situation with Kurumu now.
That would be for the best. Close your eyes and think of the representation of Tartarus in your mind. We can discuss the issue in here while virtually no time passes outside.
Alright then.
As I close my eyes, I feel my persona pull me to Tartarus.
Opening them I'm in the grand meeting hall, and only a few are here.
Orpheus Telos is at my right, Messiah is at my left, and a few of my max rank persona in the hall, I notice an additional persona standing next to me.
"hello Alice." I say.
She gives me a dazzling smile and hops in my lap.
"it's nice to meet you properly Onii Chan." She says as she hugs me tightly.
I look at Odin who nods.
So, this is THE Alice then.
It gets more interesting in here by the day.
I turn back to Orpheus and say, "I assume you solved the emotion channeling issue?"
He nods and replies, "your bond with her is especially strong due to the nature of a soul bond. In others they might feel the slightest hints of their partner's emotions in intense situations, like being able to tell if something is wrong with their lover, but for you, who's power is so heavily connected to the power of bonds, and who reached such a level where you could hear the actual thoughts and words of your bonded friends, the power of this connection is borderline emotional synchronization."
That sounds dangerous.
Kurumu is very emotive, and I'm…
Well, this could be troublesome.
"yes, it could. That's why I was doing all I could to get it more balanced. After her own power started growing, thanks in part to the training we gave her, and because of your growing closeness to her, the already strong bond was getting stronger. But now we have a solution that should make things much easier." As Orpheus finishes saying this he motions over to-
"Kurumu? What are you doing here?" I ask in surprise.
And sure enough, right in front of me, sitting in Ishtar's seat is Kurumu. Though instead of the Yokai academy uniform, she has Ishtar's cloth outfit, complete with horns and ankle bracelet.
"you're right and wrong. I'm still Ishtar. I'm now also your connection to Kurumu. I'm her linking point. I'm the connection made manifest in a way that won't cause trouble for you." She says as she waves at me.
I look to Messiah, to see his opinion on the matter.
He looks at Ishtar and sighs, his melodic voice echoing through the room. "it fundamentally changes Ishtar at the deepest level. For all intent and purpose, she is a new being who is a mix of Ishtar and our bonded. Her personality will change over time to reflect Kurumu, but her power will remain the same. If you achieve such a bond with others, it will happen again."
I frown.
"I thought Kurumu was the only one that could happen with. Because she's a succubus." I say.
Alice and Odin both laugh.
Alice says, "you're silly Onii Chan. A soul bond has nothing to do with a succubus. It is when two souls are so deeply connected that they cannot be separated. Humans do it when they find 'True Love' and plenty of other races do the same. When a soul that is compatible with another gets close to it, they reach for each other. Just like you felt when Kurumu Nee San reached out to you. Back when you had yet to beat Nyx, you were still closed off on some level, because you didn't want to hurt anyone. But now, you're free. And once you find others you have a compatible soul with, you might find these connections blooming like Red Roses."
Odin interjects. "what's more, is once you meet your old friends, there's a chance your own soul will reach out to them first. So, we will need to start getting something set up for them."
I look to Orpheus, he smirks and says. "I've got a plan for that, but don't worry. As the power of your bonds made manifest, I will all too happily take on the burden of preparing you for this new concern."
I nod and prepare to return to the conscious world when Odin holds up a hand to stop me.
"what is it Odin?" I ask, slightly annoyed, as I really do need to make sure the article is good.
"this bad feeling you are getting. It may be my fault. I have a bit of a gift for future sight. And my being in your sea of souls may be causing a small bit of precognitive sensation in you." He says as he stares at me intensely.
As I go to speak, he interrupts.
"no, I cannot tell you what I saw. For every self-fulfilling prophecy there is a self-destroying prophecy. Unless there can be no harm in telling you something. I will not be sharing anything beyond these unintentional sensations." He says with an air of finality.
I sigh and say "I know that already. I would never ask you to play the role of prophet for me. you forget, a lot of our persona have heavy Greek inspiration. I looked into the Greek mythology when I realized that. One thing I learned is that prophets are much more trouble than they are worth."
Odin nods and says, "good, that is an important lesson to keep. I apologize for holding you up."
I return his nod and return to consciousness.
-P+V-
The next day, as classes winded down, we all convened on the newspaper club room and started printing copies to hand out.
"this issue is going to be great! I can't wait to hand them out." Says Kurumu as she starts stacking the paper copies.
"don't get too excited, trouble's brewing." Says Deshi, as she walks in late.
"late again? One of your contacts tell you something?" asked Gin.
She nods and sits down. Her face is dark like a storm on the rise.
Her hands shake as she takes a deep breath and says, "the committee has noticed our habit of cleaning up messes that they would be expected to. They are going to confront us today at the paper stand."
Gin looked at her in shock and disbelief. "already?! But it hasn't even been a year, and we haven't mentioned them once!"
As the others start discussing the situation I close my eyes.
You have a plan?
Not yet. First I need to know something.
"Deshi." I ask, silencing the nervous arguing.
"y-yes?" she asks nervously, as if sensing my own seriousness.
"I need you to answer some questions about the committee for me. once you answer those questions, we can make our decisions from there." I say as I stack the last of the newspapers.
She nods at me, and I turn to Shizuka.
"the same for you, if there's anything Deshi doesn't know, that you do. Please mention it."
Shizuka nods, and I look to gin who says, "I get it, same as them right?"
I nod and sit down and start thinking.
"how many members do they have?"
Deshi replies with "around 150, all years including the youngest in the middle school division, and the oldest in the university division."
I nod and write that down.
"how are they divided, are there groups, teams, divisions?"
Deshi says "there's the grunts, students who want to feel powerful, most are pretty weak. Then the soldiers, students who can actually fight, probably as strong as Saizou Kamiya from your homeroom."
Who?...
"next we have the squad leaders. They command groups of soldiers and are the first to actually be concerning. They are usually suited for specific types of work and focus on that." Deshi continues.
Specialized members… that could be concerning.
"next are the enforcers. Students who can cause intense damage on their own and are usually pointed at a problem with orders to make it go away. after that, is the inner circle. The members with the most power, or influence. There were four of them."
As she says that she looks at me and says, "I was one of them."
I nod and give her a reassuring look.
She smiles at me for a moment, then says, "the inner circle was me, a jorogumo named Keito, a Cerberus named Morisaki, and a witch named Shion. We were directly subservient to Kuyo, the leader of the Committee."
So, she's one of the strongest.
But she essentially gave up on fighting back against him. So, the power difference is big then.
Exactly, good observation Ryoji.
I try.
I ask my next question.
"how many are willing, and how many are unwilling?"
She looks somewhat conflicted.
"to some degree, everyone was willing. Even I was at first, when we were a real force of good. When Kuyo was one of the inner circle, we were an effective force for peace here. When he killed the last head and took over, we weren't all that bothered. The head of the committee is supposed to be the strongest after all. But when he started the protection rackets? I said something."
She looked to the ground and said, "he had Shion make a seal, and he put it on me. and I became his loyal toy until you saved me."
She looked to me and said, "I miss them. The people they were. Now, I might have to fight them."
She looks like she's going to cry.
I hold her hand in mine and say "if you don't want to fight them, you don't have to. I'm going to try to resolve this without violence first. But if things go sour, I won't ask you to fight."
As one tear goes down her cheek, she smiles at me.
That's another rank on her social link.
Shush.
"I'll fight for you no matter what." She says as she gives me a more confident look.
I nod and smile at her.
I turn to Shizuka.
"is there any information you may have that would benefit us either in combat or negotiations?" I ask as I notice a strange presence in my peripheral.
It doesn't seem hostile. so, I doubt it's the committee.
Thanks Messiah.
"well… admission records are the only thing that would be helpful under these circumstances. But I would have to petition the headmaster for access to those." She replies with an apologetic grimace.
Suddenly the presence I had sensed a moment before speaks up.
"I'm afraid I wouldn't be releasing them in this occasion regardless."
Everyone else jumps in surprise, while I merely turn to the voice.
Standing in the back of the room, looking out the window, was a man of average height, wearing flowing white robes.
Shizuka found her voice first.
"Headmaster! W-What are you doing here?" she stutters as she bows towards him.
So, this is the headmaster?
Be careful, that man is a Kishin. I can taste the power in his aura.
Thank you Kohryu.
The headmaster looked at me and smirked before he started speaking to all of us.
Did he?...
"I keep abreast of the goings on in the school, and one of the things I've been paying attention to just so happens to be in this room. So, when I saw what was brewing I decided to take a moment to speak with mister Arisato here." He said as he turned to face me.
Though his eyes were hidden in shadow, I could feel his gaze lock with mine.
"you've made a name for yourself in the few months you've been here. Fighting those who would, left unchecked, cause a lot of trouble for the staff." He says as I notice something interesting.
The others have stopped moving.
Localized time distortion. He's keeping this chat between the two of you.
That's nice of him.
"I'm only fighting those who cause trouble around me. I'm no superhero." I respond as I sit on a desk.
His smirk widens, and he says, "and when you see an injustice, or an act of cruelty? you simply can't help yourself can you?"
I frown at him.
He has no idea… dis they not tell him about you or something?
"that's where you're wrong." I say, as I get up and walk to stand next to him.
"oh? From what I've seen, you seem to be quite the hero complex." He says as he joins me in staring out the window.
For a moment we stand in silence.
Just watching the students mill about.
Talking with each other.
Flirting.
Laughing.
Living…
"what did Igor and Naruri tell you about me?" I ask.
He shrugged his shoulders.
"practically nothing." He said with an audibly louder smirk.
He seems far too happy about that.
He continues by saying "they showed me your school records and told me you were being brought here directly before your death. They told me you were a wielder of the power of persona, and they told me you were a 'good person'. That's all they said."
He looked at me and said, "since you know his name I'm sure you know that once he told me to let you in to my school, I had no choice. But I trust him far more than I think you would ever understand."
I see now. That's why he's so happy.
"I'm little more than a fun little mystery, that you trust will help your school. Is that about right?" I ask.
He frowns and looks at me once again.
"you are more than that. You are a student of Yokai academy first and foremost. You are here to learn, above all else." He said with a serious expression.
Huh, I guess he takes his role as headmaster pretty seriously.
"then you are an amusing mystery I trust will help my school."
Never mind.
At least he trusts us to a degree.
"to answer your original question. I can help myself. To help someone in need requires little more than the basic concept of empathy. All life on earth has some level of empathy, it's effectively a survival tool for any group of people, necessary for groups to form in the first place."
I turn to look at him while allowing my emotions to fade away, back to who I once was.
For a split seconds I saw his expression flash to something new.
A trickle of fear.
"when I was young, I was stripped of my emotions. They quite literally died. Until a little over a year ago, my time, I felt nothing. Not even Empathy." As I said this I walked over to the same desk I sat on previously.
"it's easy to feel empathy now, when it's towards a friend, or comrade. But… with strangers, I still make that conscious choice. To care about them."
He remains quiet for a moment, before saying. "even though you could watch them die without a care, you still make the effort to care for them. Why would you do that? If they knew you were human, they would try to kill you. No hesitation. Yet you have the choice, and you choose to protect."
I think for a moment. And then I say, "because the world is harsh, and people always suffer. Maybe I won't make a difference in the whole world, but if I can help a few…"
I look him in the eye once again and faintly smile.
"maybe the world won't be quite so bleak."
His breath caught for a moment before he said "you remind me of an old friend. I hope you realize I won't be releasing those files to you regardless."
Moka surprises me by speaking up, unknowingly informing me that the private conversation was over.
"but they're killing innocent people, and they might try to kill us next! We need something to even the odds!"
Gin says, "the club was slaughtered last year. You didn't do anything then either."
The headmaster nods. His creepy grin back in place as he says, "that's because a school is a place of learning. And in this world, things can become very dangerous very quick. So, to teach you how to survive outside these walls, we won't protect you inside."
His reasoning doesn't sit well with us; however I can tell he has another reason he won't tell us…
Remember why we're here? An asshat like this Kuyo guy sounds like the kind to want to kill humans indiscriminately. Maybe he's involved and the headmaster can't do anything about him without tipping his hand?
That's a good point.
An accurate one too
What the?
Relax, I'm just using a light version of legimency, a wizard skill that even weaker witches and wizards can do. The most I can do is talk to you right now.
As he argues with the others he continues to speak to me.
So, I was right then. You cant do anything because it would endanger the rest of the students?
Precisely.
Suddenly, I understand his goal here today.
"I understand. We'll reform the PSC ourselves. Once Kuyo has been knocked down as many pegs as needed, we'll fix what he broke." I say as I pull out a notebook and start planning our campaign..
The others look at me with confusion and mild shock.
Kurumu says, "I thought we were getting more information first?"
I nod and say, "we know what we need to now. Thank you headmaster, your reluctance told us all we need to know."
His smirk widens and he says, "should I have my secretaries prepare the letters to the parents?"
While the others look somewhat concerned, Deshi especially, I simply shook my head and said, "if things go the way we want, then no. but just in case, prepare one."
"oh? And who for?" she asks, already knowing the answer.
I look at the club, and I know what we need to do.
I turn to the headmaster and reply "Kuyo."
Hello everybody. I apologize for the long wait; however this chapter took a lot out of me.
One problem I faced with it was Kurumu, and her connection to Minato. The emotional connection they share was always going to come to light in this chapter, but I could not figure out how to do so while keeping things still close to canon, so I just condensed the whole Nagare incident down and focused on the rising tension towards the PSC.
Another issue is something I have been alluding to for a fair while now.
This world isn't closed off.
Yokai academy may be where Minato Arisato is having his new adventures. However, how many of you have wondered where Yu Narukami (Minato's brother-in-law) and Ren Amamiya (who we know has awakened to a form of his power in the real world through a stressful situation) are at this time?
Wait… none of you?
Oh…
Well this is awkward.
I guess I'll tell you anyway.
Ren is in New York, about to start at Empire State University, having left Japan to pursue a life without persecution for his cow expunged criminal record.
And Yu works for INTERPOL as a special detective and was recently given a promotion to become the head of a new INTERPOL taskforce/ agency, responsible for investigating possible supernatural happenings around the globe.
Beyond that, we have a few other groups and individuals around the world, (and in connected worlds) who's stories beg to be told.
And of course, those of you who followed me way back when, already know who is joining the academy in year two.
As you can imagine, working on over 7 stories spanning roughly 23 in universe years, each one taking place apart yet intertwined with each other, is a tad tough.
Doing so while also working a full-time job is tougher.
And while some of what I'm making will be made in part by you, the fans and community, there is much to do before I can hand some of the reigns over to yall, and there are plenty of these stories that I cannot let go of, due to their direct importance to the main overarching storyline.
So
TL/DR: more connected stories coming, takes a while because of life, you get to play in some parts of my sandbox soon.
Until next time friends.