Tsukune stopped his momentum as he passed the wooden beam. Seconds passed and nothing happened. Standing he pushed on the upper portion and was disappointed when it didn't fall. Two days now Tekeshi had been in a coma from Moka's punch, but not because of cerebral swelling. It didn't make sense to Yukari, or any of the doctors that had examined him. He just wasn't waking up, and it had everyone worried.
It was easy enough to tell when anyone was worried if you watched their actions. Moka threw herself into training. Harumi compulsively trimmed her nails almost to the quick. The twins, well they did something, it was hard to tell with their nature. Utsuki constantly bit the inside of her cheek. And Tsukune lost his ability to focus his yokai.
He was one of three masters of the Dimensional Sword Technique. The others were Akua and Tekeshi, though he preferred not to use it. If Tsukune could not focus enough to just form a blade sharp enough to slice a wooden beam then he knew that he was beating himself up on the inside worse than he thought. Things were too tense at the moment. The possibility that Kouyo could attack at any moment, the students were as rough as ever, and his only child was in a coma due to a rebellious nature that was cause by his refusal to answer the boy's questions. He was headmaster of the year material for sure.
"Headmaster, I have news from Ms. Shirayuki," once of his assistants informed him.
If she was sending him a message it was important, otherwise she would have made a trip from Hokkaido. He had a sneaking suspicion that she still thought he might love her in the same way he loved Moka. He hated to break her heart, but it just wasn't meant to be.
"Center yourself. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. You don't stand a chance if you just grab for it blindly. You must give the power a strong vessel with which to fill, as you are now you would turn to dust. With great power comes the responsibility to use it to everyone's benefit, not just your own."
Tekeshi growled, "Would you stop just repeating every corny remark about power that has ever been said. It isn't helping. Honestly it makes me want to choke you to death, as pointless as that would actually be. Besides, how long have you kept me here, and how long do you plan to keep me?"
"About two days, and until you manage to center yourself."
The look Tekeshi produced wouldn't have just soured milk, it would have made the cow die, "I hate you so very much."
"Moka, I will say this one more time. There is no logical reason for Tekeshi to be in a coma. I checked him thoroughly, and he isn't showing signs of abnormal brain activity. In fact I wouldn't even call it a coma, rather he is in a state of deep sleep. I don't know why, and I have no idea on how to wake him up," Yukari explained for the third time.
Moka was more than worked up. Even though vampires often bonded through sparring and training, mothers were still mothers and avoided causing serious injury to their children. Moka had always pulled her blows more than necessary, both because she loved her son, and because she was slightly afraid of what her mother in law might do to her. Very few people were aware of the Valkyrie that was Kasumi Aono when her grandchild was injured even slightly. Even if she was just mortal, the woman had scared Issa Shuzen when he had stepped inside her house with his shoes on just after vacuuming the floor. Moka was sure that the fainting spells when she got worked up were all acts to make people think she was more fragile than she actually was.
It still didn't help with the fact that currently her son was in a comatose state, whether it was a legitimate coma or not. Even Kokoa had known something was wrong and contacted her to find out what it was, and when she heard that her nephew was hurt she nearly went ballistic blaming Tsukune, despite the fact she had been told that he was like this after Moka had hit him.
She kept vigil by his bed as much as possible, with Utsuki accompanying her. She found it pleasant to talk to the young human. She was very impressed with her. She was more worried than she let show about him, while the yokai girls were walking around in a daze. What everyone said about her was true as well, she was second only to Moka in her physical appearance, something that had surprisingly not caused a major conflict. It may have been because Tekeshi was almost always with her, and very few of the other students had not heard about the beat-down that Kaguko Fauru had endured at the hands of the Headmaster's son.
Sitting there talking to her kept Moka from going completely insane waiting. She learned that the girl was from Tama originally and had moved to Shibuya when she was still an infant. She secretly enjoyed American music, which Moka found perfect since Tekeshi happened to be a musician whose entire repertoire was American Rock. Utsuki hated being hit on since most of the time the guys who did so only wanted to sleep with her, rather than have any kind of a meaningful relationship with her, something Moka was all too familiar with from high school.
Despite the worry for her son she started plotting. Tsukune was not Mikogami, he didn't have the same kind of foresight with which to know such things, yet he had found the perfect girl for Tekeshi, even if he was reluctant to see a relationship develop between them. Moka, however, knew that she was the best thing to help temper Tekeshi's faults. He was a grade A jerk, she was almost an angel, that alone was reason enough, add in the fact that they had the same taste in music and the foundations were there.
"Are you centered yet," Common Sense asked.
Tekeshi growled, "I am getting tired of being asked that every hour on the hour. If I was centered then the albino bastard over there would let me go."
"I heard that, and I'm not an albino, this is what you are going to look like at full power," the embodiment of power returned.
Two voices yelled in perfect sync, "Screw you asshole."
Utsuki examined the little knife like weapon that had fallen out of the sleeve of Tekeshi's blazer. If such a thing had happened at a human school the military would have responded with tanks and machine guns, here she didn't even think anyone would notice it. In fact it just seemed like Tekeshi, he had said something about having to use force multipliers against some of the students here in the future if they started to get overly confident. Everything about him was counter to everything that she would have thought of in the past to describe a male high school student.
"Where did that come from," Moka asked entering the room and spotting the blade.
"It fell out of his blazer sleeve. I think I've seen one before, but I don't know what it is called," the younger woman replied.
The vampire examined it for a second before answering, "It's called a kunai, they are a shinobi weapon, or ninja weapon, whichever you prefer. I don't know why Tekeshi would have any hidden in his clothing though, vampires prefer unarmed combat. Then again he has never much stuck to the average vampire persona, that might be his father's human heritage in him. You humans always seem to find someway to distinguish yourselves from everyone else. I think that is why your race is so formidable, everyone has their own ideas on how to live, so you make progress instead of stagnating."
Utsuki made a show of examining the scroll work inscribed on the weapon for a minute before speaking up, "Mrs. Aono, what is it really like being a vampire?"
"What do mean," Moka asked, not sure of the question the young human had asked.
"Ruby-sama explained a little about vampires to me, but she said that I should really ask you since you've been one since birth."
Moka's left eyebrow went skyward, "Why just vampires? Why not ask about Yukki-Onna or Succubi?"
"I insulted Tekeshi on the first day of class, and he threw it back at me, and explained some things that Ruby-sama didn't. I don't want to do anything like that to him again. He's been so nice to me no matter what, and didn't deserve to be treated like that."
"I will try to tell you some things, though I am not really sure what to tell you. The problem is that I was born a vampire, I have never had to think about it. I suffer from anemia, I enjoy fighting, and I really can't think of anything else to say. I guess start asking questions."
Utsuki looked down at the kunai she was holding as she thought, "Ow," and slipped cutting her hand.
"Are you ok Utsuki-chan?"
Tekeshi sat cross-legged on the bed as he kept his breathing steady. He worked to clear his mind, which is a chore for anyone that is extremely intelligent. Trying to track down each and every stray thought was like hunting for an egg in a coop full of roosters, they were there, but few and far between. He didn't understand how this image of power was able to keep him here, as far as he knew this was his mind, his body, and responded to his will.
He groaned, "Is he truly keeping me here, or does he have me convinced that I cannot leave without his say so? There has to be someway that I can wake up without him releasing me."
As he thought he started to notice an odor. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact it seemed slightly familiar, and made him feel hungry. That meant he was either smelling food, or blood. On second thought, if he was smelling blood then he was also smelling food. For some reason it made him think of Utsuki, and how her blood had a somewhat sweet, but also tangy smell to it, and how he wondered how it would taste. How it would feel to sink his fangs into that porcelain neck, that look so doll-like it seemed it might shatter if he tried.
His eyes opened.
Moka shook her head, "No, we do not live forever. We may live for a millenia, but I do not know of anyone that old myself. Everything grows old and dies, that is simply the way the world works. The old dies so that the new may live."
"Everything you've told me makes it seem like the only real difference between humans and vampires is the water thing, being monsters, and your diet," the human said.
"In truth Utsuki-chan, those are the most important differences. We feel the same emotions, we are subject to greed, lust, and destruction just as much as humans are. Most Yokai are the same way. Some are closer to humans than others though. If you met the twins on the street, would you peg them as anything other than regular girls with extremely pale skin?"
"I guess I woul-," a blur knocked her to the ground.
It took Utsuki a second to comprehend what hit her, and she wasn't sure when her head cleared. It looked like Tekeshi, but the eyes and hair were wrong. The eyes were cold and hungry, not the usual warm and cocky look he had. The hair was a dull silver pink instead of the usual tricolor. The sight had her scared half out of her wits.
While trying to decide what to do Tekeshi suddenly was implanted into the ceiling and she was moved out of the way of his return. Getting in a sitting position she saw Moka in a fighting stance ready to send a second strike his way. Utsuki couldn't believe that Tekeshi would attack her.
"Utsuki-chan run, get someone to get some blood bags and get them in here," she yelled as her son charged her.
Utsuki barely comprehended the sound of flesh striking flesh as she followed the order. As she was running down the corridor to the nurses' station she ran into something that felt like a brick wall. Looking up she started to wish she had stayed in the room.
"Watch where you're going china bitch, you already caused me enough trouble so don't force me to mess your pretty face up," the months since their last encounter hadn't seemed to cool Fauru down any.
Before she could say anything Utsuki heard a wall shatter. Tilting her head back she saw Moka pulling herself out of the wall across the hall from Tekeshi's room. Complete and total fear started to well up inside of her as she saw the younger vampire enter the hall.
"What the hell, there trouble in the family. Maybe he will be out of my way soon," the snow orc said, unaware those would be his final words in life.
The sound of Fauru's voice caught Tekeshi's attention. Vampires are extremely attuned to sound on a primal level, it having been one of their original tools for locating prey before the rising of civilization. It took less than a heartbeat for Tekeshi to lock on to and cross the distance between himself and the orc. Utsuki was right there as Tekeshi's blow landed.
In his state Tekeshi didn't regulate the amount of power in his blow, and despite being weak for a vampire, he was still stronger than any other breed of yokai. When it landed Fauru's ribcage completely collapsed and the rag doll left flew until it impacted the nurses desk at the head of the hall. Then he turned his sight downward.
Utsuki could only utter one word, "Tekeshi."
With that word his eyes became clears and he fell to his knees. His hair started to darken in places to brown and pink, while others lightened to silver. He was breathing hard. He clenched his fists hard enough to start blood dripping onto the white tiles of the floor.
Moka approached him cautiously, somewhat favoring her right ankle, "Kodomo, do you know what is going on?"
He stayed silent. Unresponsive. It was like he was in a separate place from himself to the two.
The next move surprised Moka. Despite her fear Utsuki suddenly flung her arms around the younger vampire, and it sounded like she whispered something along the lines of 'stay with us'. Moka had expected her to run, she was human after all. Fight or flight responses were usually predictable between the genders, females would run while males would stand. Here Utsuki was hugging him.
"Utsuki, thank you. Your voice was enough to clear my head. Right now you should get the hell away from me while I am still coherent enough to understand what I am doing. I have not had any food or blood since I've been down. I am very hungry, and you smell like the finest cuisine imaginable right now," Of course, what could have been a romantic moment was ruined by him being analytical and crass.
Moka wasn't going to give up yet though. There were about two and a half years of school left, and she wasn't in any hurry.
A/N: I am cutting this off here. I know that is plain cheesy at the end, but I am just sick and damned tired of this staring me in the face every time I open My Documents. I will try to have a better chapter up next, but I don't know when that will be. And quickly on the subject of self inserts, I have only every tried one, it failed horribly, like Vietnam War horribly, so I will not be doing one to publish at any point in the future. The previous sentence is also an abomination of bad mechanics and punctuation.