One week...after the deadline...
So...cold... Too damn cold!
I suddenly sit up in my bed, shaking like a leaf. Why the hell is it so cold in here? I mean, I like it cold when I sleep, but this is just ridiculous! Wait... Like most people do when it's cold outside, I pretend I'm a dragon, seeing my warm breath in the cold air.
"Okay, this is just stupid."
I get out of bed, despite the fact I can't even feel my fingers. When I look around, I found what seemed to be the source, but I don't remember leaving my window open. I go over and close it, wondering how it opened in the first place...
"Wait a minute..."
I look back through the window...feeling the faintest sense of...something out there. Why do I get the feeling I'm being...watched? I shrug it off for now...only before I lock the window and close the curtains just in case. I lie back in bed, covering myself with all my blankets, even my sheets.
The next morning, I woke up feeling much warmer than last night. I start the morning with my usual routine: Shower, put on my uniform, brush my teeth, and grab my bag. Before I left the boy's dorm, I asked around if anyone else's room was colder than usual last night. But everyone I asked said that their room was normal.
Until I see Tsukune...
"Hey, dude?"
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Was your room...colder than usual last night? Like so cold you could see your breath leave your mouth?"
Tsukune looks to me with worry. "Yes. Exactly yes, was yours like that too?"
Alright, now this concerns me. "Was your window open last night?"
He nods. "Yeah...even though I never open it."
"..." I thought it was already strange that I was the only one affected by this strange occurrence, but now that it happened to Tsukune as well, this could mean trouble. I know we don't exactly go looking for enemies, but they have their way of finding us. But what could they want with us this time? I swear if it's another 'fan club' scenario...
"Do you think we should be worried?"
"...Not a lot, but I think we should be on our toes for today. Just in case."
Despite the slight paranoia from myself along with the human, that wasn't gonna stop us from selling more newspapers this morning. Ever since we exposed Gin as the peeping tom, got Ms. Ishigami fired, and that creepy slug guy kicked out of school, people haven't been able to keep their hands off our paper. I gotta say, it feels nice. We gathered quite a crowd this morning, that might be because our club mainly consisted of beautiful girls, but I didn't really care. However, Tsukune and I did get approached by those girls who thought we were the peeping toms and they apologized for jumping to conclusions. We apologized for having to see their...privacy for the sake of the paper, but they understood our intention. One of the girls even looked at us with a shy smile, and I must admit, it felt...nice. Considering that I rarely get looked at in that way...and no, I'm not counting the Medusa calling me cute.
"Man, these papers are sellin' like hotcakes!" Gin triumphantly says.
"Yeah, it's great after all the hard work we put into it," Tsukune adds.
"I'm surprised some even come near our stand with you here Gin."
The Werewolf looks at me with a not-so-innocent smile. "Aw come on! You're still not mad at me are you?"
"No," I point to our local Succubus and Vampire. "But I'm sure they are."
Moving past our banter, we continued to hand out our newspapers throughout the morning. I meant it when I said I don't hate Gin, he may be a creep, but at least he's trying to make up for it...even if he still peeps on girls every now and then. At least he hasn't made moves on Moka since then.
"Whew! We did it!" Yukari shouts while holding an empty cardboard box over her head. "We really did it! We got rid of all of them!"
"Well, it looks like this issue of the paper was another big hit for us!" Kurumu adds.
"I don't think 'Orc Girl Caught Breaking Bathroom Stalls' qualify as groundbreaking news, Kuru."
"Hmph!" She smirks. "News is news, Elijah. You're just upset we haven't covered something really groundbreaking yet."
"...Okay, you're not wrong."
"Hey, you guys," Moka grabs our attention. "What do you say we all throw ourselves a wrap party for once? We could all bring some snacks!"
After all our work, I say we deserve a break. "I'm game. How about you, Kuru?"
The Succubus nods enthusiastically. "That's a great idea!"
"Count me in," Tsukune adds.
"Sounds like a good plan to me!" The young witch throws her hands in the air.
"Wait, hold on," Moka looks around. "Has anyone seen Gin? Where did he go?"
"Strange," the human added. "He was here just a second ago."
"Whatever, he's probably hitting on girls again, don't you think?" Something tells me that Kurumu is right on the money. "Forget him, he's not invited."
"That jerk's the enemy of all women!" Yukari shouts.
"Well then, lamenting wolf-man degeneracy aside, what do you guys wanna do to celebrate?"
"We should buy some snacks from the campus store," Moka suggests.
"Yeah! We should get some drinks too, right?" Yukari adds.
"Alright, but no alcohol."
"Always the responsible one, aren't you?" I ask as I playfully hit his shoulder. "While you guys can take care of the food, I can provide...the most important part."
Kurumu smirks at me, knowing exactly what I mean. "Oh? And what's that?"
"What else?" I smile back. "The music."
She rolls her eyes at me. "I swear, you're slowly turning us all into metalheads."
"I know other good songs too, you know?"
"Sure," We share a small laugh. "All right then, it's a plan. After class is over we'll meet at the newspaper club with the snacks and drinks and 'necessities'." The Succubus nudges my arm.
"You people are all buddy-buddy, aren't you? You Newspaper Club people." The sound of a soft voice from behind gathers our attention. We see a girl with lavender-colored hair and aqua-blue eyes. What's a little confusing about her is that she's not even wearing her school uniform. Well, besides the skirt, she's got a white sweatshirt with long dark blue sleeves with a black singlet underneath, and long dark and light purple striped stockings. "And you all like each other. Personally, I never understood that way of thinking."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" Kurumu shouts defensively.
"Easy there, Kuru."
"Newspaper..." The girl's voice was raised to be just barely audible. "Can I have one?"
"Oh. Sure," Tsukune reaches for the wrinkled newspaper he has in his pocket. "As long as you don't mind it's all messed up."
This girl...she's kinda cute, I can't lie.
The girl shuffles over to us. After she takes the paper from Tsukune, she gets a closer look at the boy's face...but the weirder part is that she does the same thing to me. Do some people in this school know nothing about personal space?
"Uh...what are you doing?" I ask.
"So..." The lavender-haired mystery girl takes a step back, and that's when I notice the lollipop in her mouth before she takes it out. "...you two are the famous Tsukune and Elijah, huh?" She smiles at both of us boys. "you two are a lot cuter than I thought you'd be."
"What?"
"Come again?"
"I'll see you later..." And with that, she takes her leave, leaving me and Tsukune beyond confused.
"What was that all about?"
"No Idea," Tusukne answers me.
"Do you guys know that girl?" Moka asks us, mostly Tsukune with a hint of jealousy.
"I've never seen her before in my life."
"Me neither," I add.
"Well, whoever she is, I don't like her," Kurumu adds with the same amount of jealousy.
"Yeah, tell me about it!" The young witch agrees.
"Come on, guys, let's just forget about her. We'll have the time of our lives after school today, right?"
"Yeah!" Everyone enthusiastically agrees with me.
"So, that's the plan," Moka addresses me and Tsukune. "Kurumu will buy the rest of the snacks and you guys will handle the drinks. Sound good?"
We boys nod in agreement. "You got it."
Kurumu steps over to Tsukune, leaning to rest her head on the boy's shoulder. "And I made a special treat for you, Tsukune. With your name all over it." She nuzzles her head into the boy's neck, obviously making the boy's face turn red...and slightly annoying me. but why?
"Come on," Moka, having enough of Kurumu's antics, pulls the succubus away from Tsukune. "Let's go, we got a party to prepare for."
"Alright! Alright! I'm going!" Kurumu reluctantly abides by the vampire dragging her away, leaving me and Tsukune alone.
"Well," I speak up with a hint of annoyance as they turn around the corner. "at least she's eased up a lot on the flirting."
Tsukune lightly chuckles. "Yeah... At least she's not...suffocating me," He looks down to the floor, muttering, "...as much."
"I think that's the least of our worries today..."
The boy looks at me, confused. "What do you mean?"
I look around, making sure that not many people are eavesdropping on our conversation. "Don't you think it's a little weird that both of our rooms were blistering cold this morning, and then all of a sudden this girl comes on to both of us? Not only that, but we literally just found out that she's in our class ten minutes ago. 'Supposedly' absent for all this time, might I add."
"..." Tsukune looks down in thought. "I mean, it is a little odd. She even sits in front of me. I never even knew this girl existed until today, and I'm sure you didn't either."
"Definitely not. But...I don't think we should be too worried. I mean, she could be nice...maybe? She seemed gentle-hearted, so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt."
The boy nods. "Yeah, I didn't feel anything too off about her. So maybe she's nice? Definitely cute I will add."
Tsukune nods in agreement. "True. Let's just hope that this optimism turns out to be right this time." Tsukune nods in agreement, but his attention is soon brought to something behind me. This causes me to turn around and see where he's looking and my eyes are met with... I really need to learn to shut my fucking mouth.
The mystery lavender-haired girl from this morning peeks out from behind a corner, smiling sweetly as she speaks to the two of us in a soft voice. "...Hello."
"..." I didn't want to make the situation more awkward than it already was, so I gave her a half smile in return. "Hi. You're Mizore, right?"
Tsukune follows my lead, smiling more brightly than me. "So, is there something we can do for you?"
Mizore comes out from around the corner, holding the same crumpled-up newspaper that Tsukune gave her this morning. "I read your paper...and as usual, the articles that you two wrote were the most entertaining."
This confuses the two of us, no one's really complimented our articles before. "You're familiar with our work?" Tsukune asks.
"That's a first..." I add.
She responds by first pulling a thin, blue notebook from her bag and handing it over to Tsukune. On the back is an artistically styled, golden heart. On the front was a white anthropomorphic rabbit wearing Shakespearean-era clothing and holding a trumpet. It even has her name written on the cover. "Even when I wasn't in school, Ms. Nekonome always brought me issues from the Newspaper club for me to read."
I tilt my head in question. "Does that mean you're an unofficial member? Because Ms. Nekonome never mentioned you before."
Mizore shakes her head. "No. But I think I would like to be. Of all the articles I've saved, yours were the ones I saved the most."
"...I'm sorry, 'saved'?" I ask.
"Oh...wow. Is that a fact? Hehehe..." Tsukune nervously laughs but still tries to keep up his nice smile. He opens the notebook, his eyes widening as he sees the context inside. "...D-Dude!" The boy whispers to me, allowing me to see what he's...
"...What the fuck?!" I whisper back. This notebook... It's plastered with cut-out sections of our newspaper that Tsukune and I have written either together or separately. Even the ones where I talked about women's safety in Yokai Academy, Tsukune's section on rights for cleaner men's restrooms, and even the one where Tsukune and I got together and discussed the benefits of a better future between humans and monsters. A lot of people were skeptical about our article at first, but a lot took our thoughts into consideration. That's the one thing I like about our club, we can actually reach people with the power of the press. But this? This is stalker-level shit!
"What do you two think? I even scribbled in a few comments and ideas I thought of."
Oh, these are comments alright! Almost every cutout has her handwriting scribbled on it. Despite it being really creepy, I have to admit that she has really pretty handwriting. But it doesn't take away from the fact that she's made comments about the both of us like some Stan fan. Comments such as...
'What caring guys!'
'Elijah really has a vision.'
'Tsukune's a genius!'
'Which one truly shares my soul?'
'Only men who truly understand a woman's feelings could write this.'
'Mizore Aono...Mizore Everett.'
Mizore has even written our names, mine having a little heart over the 'I'.
'I will never give up. If I can't have one, then I'll have the other'
"..." That last part scares me. Is this how the other girls felt when they were peeped on by Gin? Or how Kurumu felt when that slug bitch sexually assault her?
The girl notices our visibly distraught reaction to her notebook and speaks softly as she crosses her legs innocently. "It's just that...whenever you two write your articles, you always write from the point of view of either the weak and helpless or the outcast that is always left out..." Mizore tilts her head and smiles. "...Like me."
"Huh?" We say.
"The way you two think about things...and your personality are a lot in the way that are like me." The mystery stalker comes closer to us boys, a little too close that she's practically leaning against us. "...You guys must be so lonely, right? I know exactly what that's like-"
"Okay!" I say, stepping back and pulling Tsukune away with me. "I just remembered that Tsukune and I have a very important thing to do at a place!" The girl looks disappointed but I'm too disturbed to even care right now, so I pull out one of my cards and throw it against the ground. "Teleport! Have a nice day!"
POOF!
"..." Mizore is left alone in the corridor, feeling...alone once again. But this little incident would not let her falter. "...So, they like playing hard to get, huh?"
"HUUUAAAUUGGGHH!"
"That's it, just let it out..." I pat Tsukune on the back as he lets the contents of his stomach marinate the local plant life, good thing that most of the bushes around here are dead. But then again, of all places, why did I think of the pond where I first met Kurumu? Oh well, I don't think that's important right now.
"Next time," Tsukune looks back up at me, a little annoyed. "warn me that you're about to use that card!"
"Sorry, pal. Good news though, I only have a few more of those," I help him up to his feet. "And look at the bright side. You didn't throw up as much as last time!"
"...How is that better?"
"...Fair point."
"But more importantly, what the hell are we gonna do about that girl?! She's literally stalking us!"
"I know, and we'll deal with it. But right now..." I look back at the pond, an idea just popped into my head. "...When was our last sparring session?"
"Huh?" Tsukune looks down in thought. "...Last week, I think? After we made our deadline."
I nod. "Right. That was when I taught you how 'Stoneskin' works," I chuckle at the memory. "I really wish you could've seen the look on your face when I tried to stab you with a pencil and it broke in my hand."
"I didn't think you'd try that, okay?!" He shouts at me. "I thought you were just gonna punch me or something!"
"Where's the fun in that?" I laugh.
"...you're crazy, man." He says in annoyance, but I can see him smiling.
"Just wait until I teach you about 'Investiture of Flame'. Makes you immune to fire."
"So...what's today's session about? We don't really have a lot of time since we have the party to get to soon."
I smirk. "Just good old hand-to-hand combat. While it's important to properly wield magic, you also need to learn how to rely on other methods. Remember how you managed to get a hit on the art teacher but didn't really do anything?"
Tsukune looks away in shame. "...Yeah, I'm still weak."
I rest a hand on his shoulder. "That's only because you're human. But even so, you can become as strong as me if you train properly. I'm not the best teacher for you to have, but I can teach you a lot about what you don't know."
He smiles at me. "Thanks, man."
I nod. "It's my privilege. Now, come on..." I take a few steps away from Tsukune, squaring up to him and raising my fists. "Show me what you got, Aono."
The boy smirks at me, his eyes filled with determination. "Let's go!"
Moka
The vampire girl happily hums to herself as she sets all of the snacks she and Kurumu brought for the party. If they weren't waiting on Tsukune and Elijah, they all would've dug into this smorgasbord of snacks and hors d'oeuvres.
"Where are Tsukune and Elijah?" The young witch asks as she enters the clubroom. "I'm starving! If they don't get here soon, they'll have to beg for table scraps!"
"They'll be here," Kurumu reassures Yukari. "They have to if Tsukune's gonna get to enjoy this absolutely delicious treat I made for him!" The succubus happily shows off a plate full of heart-shaped cookies, each one has a little note written with delicious icing. "I even added the secret ingredient..." She giggles.
"Unhealthy obsession?" Yukari jokingly says.
"NO! It's love, dummy!"
"Oh? I thought only you called Elijah that. Does that make him not special anymore?"
"Shut up!"
As the young witch and succubus fight over something that even Moka wouldn't understand at the moment, she stares out the window. The vampire sighs sadly as she thinks about where her friends could be, more importantly to her, Tsukune. She knows they wouldn't miss an outing with them unless it was something important, so where are they?
Come on, guys...where are you?
"I'm sorry..." The soft yet sudden voice surprises not only Moka but the others as well, bringing their attention to the door of the club room. There stands...Mizore Shirayuki leaning against the doorway. "I'm afraid that both Tsukune and Elijah won't be coming."
"H-Huh?"
"Hey!" Krumu yells, confronting the girl. "What are you doing here? And what do you mean they won't be coming?!"
Mizore ignores Kurumu and keeps her gaze on Moka, slowly walking towards her. "Can I ask you a question, Moka Akashiya? What are you to Tsukune?
"Wha- Gaugh!" Before she could even give an answer, Moka is suddenly grabbed by the throat and slammed onto a nearby desk. Mizore had just pinned her down. "Wh-What are you doing?!" She barely squeals out.
"Hey! Get off of her!" Kurumu attempts to free Moka from her attacker, but is also pinned down by...another Mizore? What? What's happening? "What the?! Why are there two of you?!"
"You're in my way," The Mizore that has Moka pinned speaks. "If you weren't around, he'd be mine. When he's with me, he's always thinking of you."
Nngh! Her hands...they're as cold as ice...
"And don't get me started on you," The second Mizore says. "The only time I have ever seen Elijah smile so genuinely is when he's talking about you!"
"H-Huh?! What are you talking about?!"
"GET OFF OF ME!" Moka slaps her attacker across the face...shattering half of it away. At first, Moka believes she really hurt the girl in an attempt to free herself but soon realizes...this Mizore was entirely made out of ice.
"Tsk. These bodies you see are just my ice dolls. The real me is with Tsukune and Elijah."
"What?"
"One of them shall be mine, and no one is taking them away from me. No one!"
SMASH!
Thank goodness for the young witch's washtubs. Yukari makes good work as she smashes both ice dolls, freeing her friends. Moka coughs a little, rubbing her neck. "Thanks, Yukari."
She winks. "No problem! But we need to find the guys right now! Who knows what the real one is doing to them!"
"You got that right!" Kurumu agrees. "Let's go!"
Elijah
"Ha...Ha... I gotta admit, Aono. You're getting a helluva lot better." I say with an exhausted breath. For the past ten minutes, Tsukune and I have been sparring. Neither one of us delivers a good enough blow to knock each other down but we equally dodge and block each other's attacks almost as perfectly. I came close when I attempted to roundhouse kick him in the head, but he was getting faster. We did manage to make contact with our attacks. Tsukune's was, of course, weaker, but they were a lot more effective than the last time he ever hit me.
"Thanks...maybe you're just getting slow." He says with a smug grin.
"Oh? Getting cocky now, are we?"
"Just...ha...trying to lighten the mood. I know I gotta long way to go."
"You're getting better, that's the main thing." I pat his shoulder, smiling at his progress. "I think that's enough for now, we should get back to the club."
Tsukune nods, smiling back at me. "Right, let's go."
"Aww, you guys are leaving already?"
"..." The both of us stop when we hear that voice. We look at each other for a second, hoping that we didn't hear what we clearly...just heard. We turn around, seeing...
"AH!" We both shout.
"M-Mizore?! What are you doing here?!"
"And more importantly," I add. "How did you find us?!"
"It was easy," The lavender-haired girl smiles sweetly at us. "I just followed my heart." She laughs at her corny line.
"...Right," I say. "Well, it was nice seeing you...again. But we really need to get going, right, Tsukune?"
"Y-Yeah!" He adds as we slowly back away as if we're backing up from a wild animal. "We don't want to worry Moka and the others. So we really gotta go."
"Yep! I don't think Kurumu would be too happy if we're late!"
"..." Mizore's gaze turns darker...and the area around the pond is slowly surrounded by a thick fog. And I don't know if it's just me, but I feel...cold. "...Oh, I suppose you want to see her, Tsukune?"
"Huh?"
"And you want to see your special little succubus, huh, Elijah?"
"What are you talking about?"
"They're the ones you really want to see, aren't they? If you two don't stay, there's no telling what I might do to those girls."
"W-What are you saying? Mizore..." Tuskune asks in disbelief.
"Uh, is it just me, or is it getting colder? It feels like it's around negative forty degrees Celsius out here!"
"..." Both Tsukune and Mizore look at me completely dumbfounded.
"That's negative forty degrees Fahrenheit."
"That's freezing!" Tsukune shouts.
"You're an idiot."
"Well, say it in American next time!"
"But we're not in America."
"...Fuck."
"Enough of this..." Before Tsukune and I could react, Mizore pushed us toward the pond. But instead of falling into the cold water, we fall flat on our asses onto...ice.
"What the?!"
"The pond...it's frozen!"
I try to stand, nearly falling once again but I remain on my two feet. Tsukune just stays on his hands and knees to keep himself up. Looking back to our supposed attacker, i see Mizore walking towards us. Her lavender-colored hair has now turned to solid ice and her hands are now extended into sharp claws made out of ice as well. If I wasn't worried, I would think that the way the sun is practically making her icy hair glow.
No! You're being attacked, Elijah! Focus! But before I could even attempt to find my deck, Mizore forms and entraps us in ice. Damn, this is cold! So...this is what an abominable snowwoman's power is like? I only ever heard of them in research but never encountered one myself. I try to wriggle around to no avail, so I try the next best thing. "Mizore! Why are you doing this?!"
"I won't let you two get away from me." She says with more determination in her voice than malice.
"W-What the hell are you?" Tsukune says, struggling in the same trapped position as me.
"You really never seen a snowwoman before?" Mizore answers the boy. "I have the power to bend ice to my will and make it do whatever I want. Don't you two understand? It was fate that we met. We were drawn together because we all share the same loneliness. There's a special connection, and I think we could be great together. Embrace me so we can warm each other's frozen hearts. Either you, Tsukune, or you, Elijah...or both."
"I don't like that last option!" I shout."Sorry, dude, I don't bend that way!"
"Me neither!" Tsukune responds to me.
"Well then," The snow woman smiles at us, looking innocent as if she's not holding us hostage. "If I freeze you two, you won't be able to go anywhere. You'll be mine then, won't you? You guys...are all I have that's why I have to make either one of you mine. Only mine."
"..." There's something about the way she said that. All that you have? What do you mean, Mizore?This ice is starting to get on my nerves, and I can't feel my feet. I need to think of something quick before-
"Tsukune!"
Before a Vampire shows up in the nick of time being carried by a Succubus! I smile at the sight of our friends flying in. "You guys!"
"No... You're supposed to be gone! What did you do to my ice dolls?!"
"You underestimated the power of a little witch's washtubs! She turned your ice dolls into ice cubes!" Kurumu shouts.
"Stay out of my way!" Mizore, now angry, uses her ice powers to throw large icicles at Kurumu and Moka. This causes the succubus to lose her balance in the air and crash right into Tsukune, breaking him free from his entrapped state.
"You guys okay?!" I shout as I try to look back at them.
"We're good!"
"Ow, bitch made me twist my wing!"
"Well, if it's not too much trouble, Kuru. Could you be a lamb and get me out?"
"Oh, right!" She perks up, nearly slipping on the ice. Using her immense strength, she breaks me out of the ice...but I end up tripping and knocking us both down. After we stumble, I lift my head up...meeting Kurumu's violet eyes only mere inches away from my own.
"...Uh." I can't even think straight as I feel her breath on my face, making it heat up. "...Hey."
Her face slightly turns pink "...H-Hey,"
"Right in front of me, too?" Mizore's voice breaks our attention from each other and we quickly get off one another. "You two trying to get in the way between the love of Tsukune, Elijah, and myself...you two need to disappear," She raises her icy claws. "I've had enough of you two."
"What is she talking about?" I hear Moka say under her breath.
Before anyone could say anything more, I took my stance in front of our saviors, spreading my arms out. Tsukune does the same. "That's enough, Mizore."
"Just stop," Tsukune adds calmly. "Stop before anybody else gets hurt."
"..." Mizore drops her guard, almost in disbelief. "...Why are you stopping me? Of all people, you two? But...we share the same loneliness, why would you-"
"You're wrong!" Tsukune interrupts. "I'm not lonely at all!"
"But...Tsukune..." Mizore's voice breaks...as if she's genuinely hurt by our intentions.
"Dude..." I say, trying to calm things down but he continues.
"Just leave us be!"
"...So, you're rejecting me? Both of you?" She looks down, struggling to hold back her tears. "You don't care about my feelings at all? Why...why...WHY?!" Mizore cries to the heavens, causing the area around us to be obscured in a sudden blizzard. I cover my face, but it's still cold as hell. When the blizzard dies down...Mizore is gone.
"Huh? Where did she go?" I say.
"...She's just...gone."
Crack!
I look down at my feet, seeing... God dammit...
"Oh no, the ice!" Kurumu shouts right before it completely shatters underneath our feet and we fall into the freezing cold water.
SO FUCKING COLD!
Later...
"...ACHOO!"
"Bless you," I say to Tsukune as the four of us sit around the clubroom table with blankets wrapped around each one of us. I don't know how long we were in the water, but thank God that Yukari came along when she did and managed to get us out with one of her spells. I didn't know she could levitate us. I'll have to ask her to make me a card for that for troublemakers in the future. Moka, of course being the vampire, was weakened by the water, but she was okay. The rest of us just need to stay warm.
"Man, now my cookies won't be fresh thanks to Frosty the Snow Skank."
"Don't worry, Kuru. They'd be delicious either wa...wa... ACHOO!"
"Bless you," Tsukune says to me.
"Man, you guys really had a rough time, huh?" Yukari asks us.
"Yeah," I answer. "Thanks for getting us out of there."
"I definitely didn't want to get hypothermia,"
"'Hypo-what-dia?" Kurumu asks.
"Means he's a big crybaby," I say.
"Not helping, dude."
"Sorry, bad habit. I know we all planned this wrap-party but here it is down the drain."
Kurumu lets out what might've been the cutest sneeze I've ever heard in my life. I internally sighed as that thought just came to me. What is with me lately? "Damn..."
"Geez," Yukari cringes at the sight of us. "You guys are like a bunch of old geezers."
"Much appreciated sarcasm, Yukari," I say. "But you wouldn't know how to make a Pepperup Potion, now would you?"
She shrugs. "Sorry, potions aren't exactly my specialty. I'm still learning the basics."
"Damn...oh well, I'm sure this will pass soon enough." While the others try to have a decent conversation despite our condition, my mind lingers back to what Mizore said to us. 'You guys are all that I have'. What exactly did she mean? Does she...really have no one? She sounded...really hurt when she ran away. Maybe...I should talk to her instead of running away again. Since when did I ever run away from a problem? You know what? Tomorrow, I'm gonna see if I can reason with her.
"Elijah?"
"Huh?" I answer Kurumu, ending my thoughts. "Yes?"
"That girl...she was stalking you too, right?"
"Yeah..." I nod slowly.
"..." Kurumu doesn't say anything more. Instead, she only looks away from me, frowning...
My plan of just having a simple talk with Mizore was, of course, flawed. I didn't account for her not showing up to class at all today. In fact, no one has seen the snowwoman since yesterday afternoon. This...was not a good thing. Ms. Nekonome, being the caring and supportive teacher that she is, wanted us members of the Newspaper Club to check in on her. Well, she specifically wanted me, Tsukune, and Moka to check in on her. I'm happy to oblige, but as for the other two...
"Ms. Nekonome! You can't be serious!"
"Us? Visit Mizore?!"
"..." Yeah, they weren't exactly on board.
"Yes," Ms. Nekonome answers Moka and Tsukune. "She hasn't come back today... And she's been absent for most of the semester. She shouldn't be missing that much school." Our teacher looks to us with a warm smile. "Which is why you three need to find her and bring her back."
I know that the other two are skeptical, and it's reasonable, even I think it might be a bad idea. But I think this could be a good thing. I smile back at Ms. Nekonome. "We'll be sure to take to her, ma'am."
She nods. "I'm counting on you guys..huh?"
"May I speak with you, Ms. Nekonome?" An older man with red hair, piercings on each ear, and a sports shirt laced with black spots down the sleeves approaches our teacher. "It's about the same girl, Mizore Shirayuki."
"..." If I remember correctly, this guy is our gym teacher, Okuto Kotsubo. I don't have that many interactions with the guys since the only thing we have to do even to pass gym is just show up.
"Oh! Mr. Kotsubo! Do you know what's wrong with Ms. Shirayuki?"
"You haven't heard? Something is quite wrong. last night, she attacked two of my boys from the soccer team. She left them near death!"
You mean the 'football' team you uncultured prick. And besides, why would Mizore attack two people for no reason? I know we hurt her yesterday, not to mention she attacked us too, but even if it wasn't intentional, I don't think she'd be the person to do that.
"They're gravely wounded. Not only that, she froze them in ice. If they'd been found even a moment later, they would both be dead. As it is, they're in critical condition." I could feel this man's scowl burrow deep into my soul, drilling what he was saying to be true...and I don't believe it for one second. "This is the second time Mizore's behavior has led to such dire consequences. In addition, she's chronically truant. She has turned into a problem student. This school doesn't have the resources to handle her."
"..." But it has the resources for every other problem with this Academy? Yeah, right. I want to blurt that out, but I don't want to cause a scene in front of all the other teachers and staff. Plus, I don't know what other teachers could be corrupt like...that damned Medusa.
"Our only course," Mr. Kotsubo continues. "is expulsion."
"Gh!" I try my hardest not to call out this ridiculous claim. Expulsion my ass! What are you really hiding, 'sir'?
"Hmph." The gym teacher must've noticed my glaring...even Tsukune's. The boy looks as pissed off as me. Could he...be thinking what I am? "You two must be Tsukune and Elijah..."
"What of it?" I say without a hint of respect, letting my temper get the better.
"...No matter," He ignores us and brings his attention back to Ms. Nekonome. "We'll discuss this later, Ms. Nekonome...in private."
I could practically taste the venom from his voice. I always hated gym, but I think I just found someone new to fill that space. Right next to bullies. I look to the others, Tsukune bears the same look of disgust while Moka has a more concerned look on her face.
"Moka. Tsukune. Elijah. A moment?" Our attention is brought by another one of our teaches...one that not only do I dislike, but who makes me very uncomfortable. Our math teacher, Ms. Ririko Kagome. "Are you three causing trouble again?" She says, adjusting her round-framed glasses as her long reddish-brown hair flows with the air conditioning.
"That depends," I say. "Does someone else need an ass-kicking?"
Ms. Kagome gets a little close, tracing her finger seductively down my left cheek. "...Such a bad boy," I would jack slap her ass out of the back of her head, but I would also not liked to be expelled. Thankfully, she backs off, her tone turning more serious. "If you three keep playing with fire, you'll get burned. The other teachers aren't as nice as me."
You? Nice? Right.
"This Mr. Kotsubo, for one..." She continues. "He's famous for preying on the ladies and hounding students who don't suit his fancy. He's already gotten one student expelled last year." Our math teacher looks back at the three of us, bearing a worryful expression. "I wouldn't make an enemy of him."
"...With all due respect, ma'am. This is starting to sound like something that needs to be brought to light. If we are ever to live among humans peacefully, we must first learn how to live peacefully amongst ourselves. And I think from the many things I've seen from my time here at Yokai Academy, there are a lot of problems that fly by so easily with no consequences. There are bullies that get away with preying on the innocent. Creeps and stalkers that would do far worse to humans than they do to the students here at Yokai Academy. Even a teacher that you worked alongside was kidnapping and torturing poor girls for her own sick, twisted reasons. So, if you think I'm just going to stand idly by when there's another problem that needs to be solved, then you underestimating my resolve, ma'am."
"..." Our math teacher only offers a blank expression before she walks away. "Don't say I didn't warn you three..."
"Did she really almost kill two students?"
The three of us were joined by Kurumu and Yukari. We shared the information that we learned only moments ago outside of school. Like always, Kurumu was more worried about Tsukune's well-being rather than getting to the truth. I want to believe that Mizore is a good person at heart because if she wasn't, she would've hurt us back when we...practically rejected her. I mean, she's cute, but...I don't know, I guess... Do I?
"Why would she do a thing like that?" She continues.
"'Cause her heart was broken!" Yukari shouts with a wide smile. "Elijah and Tsukune rejected her and she lashed out! Plain and simple!"
While Kurumu shuts up the young with by covering her mouth, I look over to Tsukune as he bears a remorseful frown. "...This was my fault. I said those things without even considering her own feelings."
"Don't be ridiculous," Kurumu says as Yukari squirmed in her grip. "That girl was stalking you and Elijah, right?"
"Yeah!" Yukari agrees as she gets out of the succubi's hold. "She got what she deserved!"
"Knock it off, guys, seriously," I say in a demanding voice. "I don't believe that she would do something like that."
"I'm with Elijah, guys." Moka agrees.
"Me too," Tsukune says. "I think...she's just really lonely. She's not a bad person."
"Believe what you want," The sudden voice from behind scares the five of us. "The fact is that she did it"
"..." Great, it's our 'teacher'. "Hello, Mr. Kotsubo," I say with no enthusiasm.
He sneers at me. "Hello, Everett. Disregarding your disrespect, if any of you need proof," Mr. Kotsubo holds up...
"That's-"
"This notebook was dropped at the scene of the crime."
"That's Mizore's notebook!" I hear Tsukune whisper to me.
The coach proceeds to open it with no concern for the girl's privacy. "I'm sure you understand my justification for reading it." He skims through a few pages, smirking as he looks back at Tsukune and me. "So...she's got the hots for you two, huh? She fell in love with a teacher at the beginning of the semester too. naturally, her feelings were not reciprocated and she vented her wrath by stalking the object of her affections and freezing him in ice. This resulted in her avoiding school. and now... Well, you see what sort of student she is. Tell me, Elijah, Tsukune. Don't you wish she would just...disappear?" Mr. Kotsubo sneers at us, his voice dripping with venom. "How could she be anything but detrimental to everyone else's-"
"Cut the bullshit already," I interrupt, having enough. He's surprised that one of his students is calling him out, even cussing at him too, and so is everyone around me. "This 'teacher', it was you, wasn't it? And I bet there's more to this than you claim. Let me guess, you saw her in a more...vulgar way, you made a move, she defended herself, and now you're trying to make her the bad influence of this story."
"..."
"Am I right, coach?" I sneer.
"..." He has nothing to say...because he knows I'm right. All he could do was turn around and walk away, gripping his fists to the point where his knuckles would turn white. "...I don't have to sit here and take this."
Once he's out of sight, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Looking at the source, I see Tsukune looking at me with concern in his eyes. "You okay?"
"...I'm fine." At least I say I am. I take a few breaths to calm myself down, I need to think straight. I'm pretty sure I just made an enemy and I don't even know what he is. No matter, I'll deal with it when the time comes. Because something tells me that I'll be delivering a proper ass-kicking soon. "Come on, let's go see if we can talk to Mizore."
Tsukune nods. "Right."
"Not you, Moka."
"Huh?" The vampire looks to me in confusion. "But why?"
"...I think it's better if she'd hear an apology from the people that hurt her yesterday. But you can wait outside the dorms if that makes you feel better."
She nods in understanding. "Okay."
"Room 106, this is it," I say as I look at the door of Mizore's dorm room. I'm glad she's staying on the ground floor, I hate stairs. While Tsukune and I were on the way here to the girl's dorms, he confided that he was absolutely disgusted with how many good-for-nothing teachers there are at Yokai Academy. I agree with the boy's annoyance and I want to bring these people to justice. And soon we shall. "Wanna do the honors?" I ask him.
"..." He answers by knocking on the door of the snowwoman. After a good minute or so, he looks at me in worry. "I guess she isn't here. But Ms. Nekonome said she might be at the cliffs."
"The... Oh, yeah. I forgot that it's actually a nice view down there."
"...Who is it?" A soft and gentle voice comes from the other side of the door, surprising both of us.
"...Guess she's home," I say.
Tsukune smiles. "This is good. Mizore? It's...Tsukune and Elijah."
"..." No response comes from the girl, so I speak up.
"We're sorry if we're bothering you. And...we're really sorry about what happened yesterday. We...really hurt you, didn't we? We were just overwhelmed with someone...liking us so much. And we weren't concerned about your feelings when we ran away."
"I'm sorry too, Mizore. I know I said I wasn't alone, and it's true. But I know what it's like to be lonely like you, and so does Elijah. So...if you want, you don't have to be alone anymore. Let's just start over as friends, okay? Do you...do you think you can forgive us?"
"...Do you think you can give us that chance?"
"..."
CRASH!
One moment, Tsukune and I were smiling at a shut door, hoping the girl behind it would forgive us. The next...we were blown away through the wall to the outside of the dorm. Looks like talking isn't going too well. I cough a little as I get to my feet, helping Tsukune in the process. "You okay, dude?"
"Yeah..." He says in pain, holding his arm.
Looking back, we see the snowwoman slowly walking to us, her right hand extended to shards of ice, bearing a sad frown. "Mizore, wait!" I shout.
"W-We just wanted to help you!"
"Yeah! We know about Mr. Kotsubo! We know that you're not the one who attacked those two guys yesterday! We don't want to get expelled! So...please! Let us help you!"
"...Expelled?" She says in slight surprise.
"...But I have to know," I say calmly. I don't want to accuse her, but I have to be sure. "Mizore, did you...really attack those two?"
"..."
"...Even if you did," Tsukune adds. "we know you didn't do it on purpose. We know you're not like that. So if the three of us go there together and apologize, I'll bet they're wiling to-"
"Apologize?" Mizore says as she looks down at her feet, her fists shaking. "Why should I? It wasn't me."
"Huh?" I say.
"Okay, yes. I froze those guys yesterday. But I was just angry, okay? As soon as I realized what I had done, I melted the ice and freed them both. They were both completely fine."
"..." I knew it, that mother-fucker lied to us! "Mizore, we-"
She turns away from us, walking away. "Do you really think I would do that to innocent people?" Mizore turns back to us, smiling sadly as tears fill her eyes. "...I'm disappointed, Elijah, Tsukune. I hoped that of all people, you would understand me."
"But-" Before either of us could say anything more, the snowwoman disappeared in the thick fog. "Wait! We... Fuck!"
"Dammit!"
"Tsukune! Elijah!" We hear the familiar voice of our vampire friend. "I heard a loud noise, what happened? Was Mizore here just now?"
I groan. "Yeah, but she's gone! I thought we were so close! What did we do wrong?"
"I don't know," Tsukune shares my frustration, more at ourselves than the girl who ran away. "But we need to find her, fast! We can fix this, I know we can." He offers his hand to me, I take it with pride.
"Let's go!"
The three of us hastily make our way to the cliffs. Thank God that Ms. Nekonome gave such crucial information, I just wish that they weren't so far away from the school! I really need to start working out more. This mile jog feels more like a marathon, at least I'm keeping up with Tsukune and Moka. But honestly, I think they're purposely slowing down for me.
Eventually, we reach the end of the path and through the clearing. We see Mizore not too far from us, she's...oh no. Mr. Kotsubo is towering over the poor girl, making my blood boil...no. Cool yourself, Elijah. Just calm down and think of a plan. You have no idea what he is, so just wait for an opening and see what-
"Let me go!" Mizore shouts...pushing her assaulter off the edge of the cliff. "M-Mr. kotsu-" She is cut short by a long tentacle wrapping around her foot. Pulling her towards the edge of the cliff.
"Shit!" A tentacle?! That could be an abundance of monsters! Alright, I'll just settle for for a spell to boost my strength to pull Mizore away from that beast and tsukune can use one of his offense cards. "Tsukune!"
"Yeah?!"
"I'll get Mizore out of there! You try and get his grip off of her!"
"M-Me?!"
"You got this! Trust me! Just remember what I taught you and you'll be fine!"
"...Okay!"
"Alright," I pull out my deck, swiftly skimming through until I find exactly what I'm looking for. Here we go. "Bull's Strength!" I toss my card, I feel no immediate effect, but I know it'll work.
"Sparks!" I hear Tsukune shout, his card disintegrating.
We run to the edge of the cliff as fast as we can. Only a few feet away...Mizore loses her grip. Time slows down as I leaped toward the edge. "MIZORE!" With some sheer luck, I grab her by her wrist. The strength boost thanks to my card is helping me with my grip, but I still need to pull her up. Not to mention... Shit...he's a fucking Kraken?! This is gonna take more power than I thought. Tsukune's sparks spell is effective against Krakens...but not enough. "Hang on! I got you!" I do my best to smile, reassuring the poor girl. "You're gonna be okay."
"You fool!" I see what could only be another tentacle reaching from below the cliff up to me. If that thing gets a grip on me, I don't know if I'll have the strength to get it off and get Mizore back up here.
"Let go you son of a bitch!" I hear Tsukune shout as I also see him send multiple lightning strikes to the Kraken. This stuns him, giving me the perfect opportunity.
"NNNNGGGGHHHYAAA!" With the newfound strength I was given, I hurled not only Mizore, but Mr. Kotsubo as well back to the top of the cliff. He loses his grip on Mizore and is tossed a good distance away. The girl now on top of me looks at me in shock and awe.
"...You...saved me."
"Uh..." I shimmy my way out from underneath her, my face slightly heating up. "...It was nothing...heh. Don't forget about Tsukune, too, you know."
She looks to the boy who's come to our side, smiling brightly. "...Tsukune, t-thank-"
"I've had enough!" Our moment of peace is suddenly cut off by the loud roar of our gym coach. Looks like he's recovered, and to make matters worse, my spell has worn off. So that means Tsukune's has as well. I don't wanna have to bring the Inner Moka into this since I want to prove that I can handle it without her...wait, what am I saying?! This is a fucking Kraken! I can't take it down with... No, there is one. But...I can't be the only one to cast it.
"Tsukune..." He looks to me, confused as I hand him one of two of my most powerful spells that my mother made for only when it was essential. But in all honesty, I think she couldn't help herself but make them. But she only made two. "...It is time."
He reads it, his eyes widening with shock. "S-Seriously?" The human boy asked me with a hint of excitement. When I told him about these cards, he must've thought back to the exact same anime I watched. My mother even admitted that's where she got the idea of this spell from.
"You guys!"
"We've been looking all over- Holy shit! is that a Kraken?!"
The two of us ignore the sudden arrival of the succubus and young witch as we take our stance before the towering Kraken. I look over to the human, he shares the same smirk as me. I really hope he remembers the line...because this is gonna be awesome. We toss our cards. As they disintegrate, a dark blue surge of power begins to absorb into us.
"Darkness blacker than black, darker than dark..." I begin.
"Merge with our deep crimson, we beseech thee!"
"The time of awakening has come! From the boundaries of righteousness,"
"Come! Oh justice! As an intangible distortion!"
"Dance!"
"Dance!"
"Dance!"
"..." The girls could only look in confusion as the boys chant "...Do you guys have any idea what they're doing?"
Kurumu shakes her head. "No idea."
"...No way," Rather than being confused like the vampire and succubus, Yukari...is amazed at the sight of raw power. "Do it, guys! Blow that guy to smithereens!"
"Transform our torrents of power into a destructive force! One without equal! Return all of creation to cinders, and come from the abyss! This is the mightiest means of attack known to man, the ultimate attack magic!"
Tsukune and I point triumphantly to the Kraken, ready to send it back to whence it came. This attack most likely won't kill him, but it's definitely gonna hurt. Mom, you're gonna be so jealous when I tell you about this!
"EXPLOOOOOOOSION!"
A straight line of fire and death descends down from the sky, blasting away anything in its path. Once it comes into contact with the Kraken, he lets out a painful shriek as he's knocked hundreds of yards away off the edge of the cliff.
"...Holy shit!" Yukari shouts in excitement. "That was so cool!"
"Hell yeah, it was!" Kurumu agrees. "They really put that guy in his place!"
"...They were so cool," Mizore softly says as she looks in awe as the smoke clears.
"You guys, that was-"
"..."
"..."
When the boys finally came into their vision through the smoke, they had already collapsed on the ground.
"Guys?!"
"What happened to them?!"
"Oh...right," Yukari says as she suddenly remembered a crucial detail with explosion magic. "Since Elijah and Tsukune aren't masters at magic, the spell drains a lot of their energy on novice users. So...they're gonna be out for a while."
"Seriously?!" Kurumu shouts.
The young witch nods. "Seriously."
"Worth it!" Elijah shouts with his face still planted into the ground.
"Totally!" Tsukune agrees.
"...Seriously, what are we gonna do with you two?" Moka holds her face in her hand.
"Hey, at least I didn't have to step in this time. Plus, it was a pretty cool explosion."
"...Agreed." Everyone said in unison to Inner Moka's statement.
The Next Morning...
Coach Kotsubo was so badly injured by our explosion, they say he's gonna have to spend three whole weeks in the hospital. Thanks to us, the truth slowly emerged. Kotsubo will be fired, Mizore's expulsion has been overturned, and the curtain is finally closing on this story.
"Did you hear? Kotsubo's in the hospital!"
"They say someone blew him up!"
"An explosion?! No way!"
The four of us couldn't help but chuckle at the other students gossiping about yesterday's confrontation. I hardly remember it since I was riddled with exhaustion from my spell. Tsukune was too. But damn was it worth it.
"Well, well, well!" Ms. Nekonome says to the four of us as we enter the clubroom. "If it isn't Yokai's finest investigators! Thanks to you, Mr. Kotsubo will be fired and Miss Shirayuki will not be expelled! I say you all deserve some time off. So as of this weekend, you don't have to worry about your deadline! Just leave it all to me!"
"Oh, wow. Thank you, Ms. Nekonome!" Moka says sweetly
"No work for once!"
"Finally some free time!"
"Well then," I say. "How about we all go out this weekend? How about to the off-campus market and mall?" Personally, I've always wanted to check it out on my own. I've heard it's got everything from stores to even a small movie theater.
"I'm down." Tsukune first agrees.
"Me too!" Moka agrees.
"Count me in too!" Yukari happily says.
"Don't think you're gonna leave me out!" Kurumu smiles.
"..." I feel the room slightly get colder as a chill goes down my spine. "Is is just me or did it just get...colder,"
"...Could I maybe join you?"
"AH!"
We all collectively scream at the sound of Mizore peeking at us from behind the entrance of the room. But...there's something different about her this time.
"...Did you cut your hair?" I ask.
The girl giggles as she twirls a strand around her finger, her cheeks showing a small blush. Mizore's hair used to be just about below her shoulders, now it's just a little shorter. I have to admit, it suits her. ...It's cute too. "Do you like it? I feel...so much lighter. And it's all thanks to you."
"Ooh! It looks super-duper good on you!" Ms. Nekonome says as her tail wags.
The lavender-haired snowwoman giggles at her teacher's compliment. "Thank you..." She looks away shyly. "And...if it's not too much trouble. Could I maybe...join you're club?"
"..." I smile. "Well, I wouldn't mind. How about you guys?"
"Of course you can!" Moka agrees.
"Here, here."
"Well, I guess it's not too much trouble." Kurumu looks away and pouts.
"Well then," I say, offering Mizore my hand. "Welcome to the Newspaper Club."
"..." Mizore smiles sweetly at me, taking my hand. Her hand is cold, soft, but also warm. "Thank you."
"Now that that's out of the way," Kurumu pulls out a large plastic container from her bag. "I still have those cookies from yesterday! Everyone dig in! Especially you Tsukune!"
Everyone happily abides by the succubi's offering, even Mizore. When she takes a cookie, she notices something strange about the wording on the icing. Mizore heard how she wanted Tsukune to enjoy the cookies more than anyone else...so why does this particular one have 'Elijah' written on it? Especially with a little heart over the I? Instead of bringing it up, she just shrugs and takes a bite.
"...Wow, this is really good."