Plans+Vampire 5 - (Rosario+Vampire Capu2, OC!I)
Shirayuki Mizore sat by the window. Despite the huge room offering her not only enough space to pace about and enough comfy seats to rest and think, the young woman was glaring outside the window as snow fell quietly all around.
A familiar sight, one that usually reminded her of the slow life that she was accustomed in her own country. It wasn't as soothing, however, not when the thought of being robbed away for the freedom to chose her lover left her helplessly stuck in her own steps.
How did she end up in this spot? What did she do to deserve this?
These questions ruptured through her usually 'chill' attitude. Gone was the easygoing and laidback nature of her personality over the future as the bleak surroundings of her adulthood turned her life into a less than ideal nightmare.
As she morosely glared outside, her body tensed up as a familiar click reached her ears. Glancing slowly to the side, right where the door was, Mizore thought she would face a maid telling her it was time or... the man himself, the one that was supposed to be her fated lover.
Yet, none of those options was the answer. A head peeked inside, the familiar sight drawing a perplexed look as the familiar youth slipped inside the room as soon as he saw her.
"Shirayuki-senpai."
Mizore blinked, her mind instantly remembering that there was another student that had tagged along the Newspaper Club. What was his name? Shinji? No... Shinpei! But, why was he here- were the others there too?
"Why are you here?" She inquired, and then got surprised when the boy focused first in blocking the door with the key available, then pushing some furniture against it and... huffing.
"Getting your ass out of here since the guy you got paired with is a rapist. And a bit of a murderer."
That... sounded concerning.
"Oh."
"This should be enough as I get the rope ready," Shinpei mumbled, retrieving said rope out of his bag and carefully opening the window beside her. "So, if you can be my lookout then-"
"No."
He paused, then narrowed his eyes at her, the flattest look possible aimed at her flatter look and... he facepalmed.
"Why?"
"Tsukune doesn't love me."
...
"Did he tell you that?"
"No, but-"
"He told you that he doesn't want to bang you in those circumstance," Shinpei interjected, his voice ringing the harsh truth. "That's not 'I do not love you', it is 'if we have a baby now, life is going to get sucky'. Which is quite smart if I have to be honest."
The boy got back making some knots by the window, and Mizore... frowned.
"We Yuki-onna can't have children after 17. That's why it is important to me."
"Which is a tragedy in two parts," Shinpei replied distractedly, getting the rope ready even as she refused to come along. "First, you are told that it's imperative for you, as a Yuki-onna, to focus on getting that baby benefit. Which, truth be told, it ain't that fun at 17. Then there's the fact that you are not that accustomed with the reality of early parenthood."
"My mother taught me how to handle the basic chores," Mizore admitted with a hint of pride, but overall a general disinterest in the kind of accusation the boy was leveraging. "So, what you are saying is-"
"What happens to the rest of the group?"
Her mouth hung open at that sudden question and a sharp pain by the chest caught her off-guard. "W-What?"
"The group. What happens to the rest of the group? You know, those girls that have turned their friendship, crushing on and romancing of Tsukune-san into a fucking question of life or death. Tell me, what happens then? You get pregnant and... what happens to them? They remain friends and ignore the pains of heartbreak?"
...
"Let me tell you something, Shirayuki-senpai, and I hope the message comes to you nice and clear," Shinpei hummed as he finished getting enough knots by the window's edge. "Harems suck. Your entire group of friends is a powderkeg that either causes issues because you all are competing for that one 'nice guy' in town or actually end up in those heavy situations where you can actually get hurt or worse because of it."
Mizore blinked, eyeing her hands for a moment as she noticed how cold they felt.
"You and the other girls- hell, I would say the entire club is made by good-willed people. The issue you are disfunctionally latched to one another. The moment the status quo breaks... you all do," The boy hammered grittily. "Like, have you actually looked into your friends' family situations?"
She did, and it was another detail that made 'making the step forward' so difficult.
"I did."
"Then you know it all ends ugly the moment one of you girls 'win', right?"
"...I do."
He sniffed, nodding at the knot. "Then find a way around your own limits. Adopting is a thing, magic is a thing- hell, I bet you could get so many children to these lands to repopulate a bit," Shinpei hummed flatly, then stopped to properly look at her. "One thing that always stuck to me is an advice from my dad: 'if you are beaten and at loss, then get up and find a way to make this work without selling your soul for it. You are not dead, and you are not sick. All you are right now is a loser, and now you have to work your butt off to be a winner'."
That... sounded reasonable. In fact, it made so much sense that Mizore looked back to her own actions. She liked Tsukune, he was a nice guy and there was no doubt in that.
But who was she to demand his love and his firstborn?
Sure, it was fair to say the other girls were like this too, but Mizore's own despair stemmed from her biological plight, one that she shared with her entire species: she had a limited biological clock for pregnancies and... she was taught since she was a child that she had to get a proper baby out before she was over 17.
It never occurred to her that... no one else did that. It was just them Yuki-onna, and this was a mindset that was deeply entrenched after centuries of doing this over and over again. It refused to find alternatives and, as Shinpei had just mentioned, magic could actually fix that.
The many mishaps Yukari had caused were proof that magic had an hefty range of opportunities so... what if there was a way to give her a more human-like chance to be a mother? What if she could remain pregnant after school unlike how her mother ended up dropping out due to their biological clock?
The thought crossed her mind, and she found Shinpei giving her a smug look. And she didn't like it at all.
"What?"
"I just find it amusing when someone that thinks has a 'reasonable grievance' is given a chance to understand their naivety. And yes, you are a naive person, Senpai."
Rolling her eyes, Mizore was about to say something but their chat was interrupted by a loud noise as someone slammed against the door. They both turned to stare at it and... then another slam hit the door, cracks appearing against its surface and almost breaking through.
"Can you please, you know, freeze that?"
Despite her lingering unease, Mizore was feeling a little less compelled to 'give up to a life with a rapist and a murderer'. Ice soon was coating thickly the entire area surrounding the door, strengthening the section as she carefully shifted to go down first by the rope.
Shinpei followed next right as enough space was available. There was now a reason to hurry since there was no way they would be given a free chance at leaving but...
They actually had that.
There was a bit of a chase due to some servants noticing their descent, but Mizore and Shinpei rushed back to her mother's home without any serious interruptions. And as Mizore was suddenly bathed in hugs by her friends, she had to provide a different story than then truth because-
"Also, do me a favor, Senpai," Shinpei pointed out tensely, stressed by the lengthy run back to safety. "Do-Don't tell anyone that I helped you, just mention the place had crappy guards or stuff like that."
"Why?"
"I don't like the attention. And I will be most crossed if you don't help me out about it."
An odd reasoning, but Mizore could understand it since she could recognize a fellow 'introvert'. She had to come up with a few details, but no one questioned her in that regard... beyond the odd look that Kokoa gave her. It wasn't one that outright called her out but... did she perhaps catch the boy's smell off of him?
Inwardly shrugging at the matter, Mizore decided that today had been a big day and, while the entire house was in standby for battle in the eventuality her 'fiance' decided to track her down, a certain someone had gone back to his room and...
Gone to bed early because today had been indeed a lengthy day.
AN
While MC thinks he just did a one-time nice thing, he may have ended up befriending Mizore and... as a good senpai, she has reasons to nag at him at times.