Outsider Chronicles: Shadow and Vampire

When I died, the very last thing I was expecting was to wake up again. Well, actually, I wasn't expecting to wake up as a whimpy Harem protagonist either. Still, I guess it could be worse...at least I can actually defend myself. Unfortunately, there may well be something worse than Alucard on the horizon and theres fuck all I can do about it.

And here we go again! This idea came to me while I was thinking about a story where our Outsider Tsukune was a Fallen Angel, similar to Anna Milton. I've basically scrapped that idea, although I am having fun writing out various scenes where a re-Graced Tsukune kills Kuyo in various painful ways. This idea has nothing to do with that however. Instead, it has more to do with a series of books I adored but never got around to finishing. What are they? Well, you'll have to wait and see! For now, enjoy!

Chapter 1

You know, I always knew Religion was bad for your health. Why do I say that? Well, the last time I went into a Church, I was killed by a massive crucifix falling on my head. Oh yes, I'm dead as a doornail. How can I be telling this story if I'm dead? Well, I have been reincarnated. Yep, reborn as a baby for a new life with my old one intact. Unfortunately, I quickly discovered that I wasn't quite as lucky as I thought. Why? Well, I had apparently been reborn as everyone's favourite wuss who is somehow irresistible to monsters, Tsukune Aono. Well, this is going to be a fun existence…

Growing up was...oddly normal. I mean, what else can I say when I just went to school and acted like a normal kid? Sure, I had an extra life knocking about in my skull, but all that really did was make me very annoyed at my time as a baby and gave me a leg up at school. Still, thanks to that, I'd probably end up not having to go to Yokai…

Alright, someones fucking with me! There is no way I could have flunked all my high school entrance exams like that, not after all the preparation I did! And yet, here I was, on the bus to Yokai, plotting a painful death on whoever it was who screwed me over. Sure, I knew there was little chance of me getting killed if things went as I expected, but that didn't mean I liked the idea of basically being helpless! The only good thing about all this is that I made sure I wouldn't be completely helpless by learning as many martial arts as I could. Unfortunately, I was willing to bet good money they wouldn't do me much good unless I could find a way to enhance my strength.

"Hey kid, your going to Yokai, right?" said the Driver suddenly, breaking me out of my musing.

"That obvious huh?" I asked sarcastically.

"I hope your ready for this, Youkai Academy can be a reeeealy scary place," he cackled, ignoring my sarcasm.

At that moment, we entered the tunnel and everything went black. A few moments later, we emerged on the other side into the creepy world that was the inside of the Barrier around the school. I sighed and stood, grabbing my bags.

"Oh, before I forget, I have something for you," said the Driver, pulling something out of his glove box, "Here."

I caught the box he tossed to me and looked at in confusion.

"Why would you have something for me?" I asked.

"Hehehe, just a little something a relative of yours asked me to hold onto," he said.

I blinked.

"What relative?"

My only response was a creepy laugh as the Driver shut the door and drove away. I frowned and looked down at the box. As far as I knew, both my Parents were only children and I didn't have any Great relatives. After a moment, I shrugged and put the box in my bag to be looked at later. For now, I had a Vampire to meet.

I made my way through the trees, keeping an ear open for Moka's bike. It didn't take long for the sound of a bike reached my ears, followed by a cry of alarm. I took a neat step to the side...only to get beaned in the side of the head as the bike came flying out of the woods and slammed into me, knocking me flying.

"Ow, that hurt," I groaned as I opened my eyes, only to see a pair of emerald eyes staring back.

I blinked, before letting out a low groan as I realized that I'd stepped in front of Moka instead of avoiding her.

"Oh my gosh, are you OK?" gasped Moka as she pushed herself up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"I'm sorry, I just came over faint because of my anemia," said Moka.

"Again, not a problem," I said, probing my throbbing nose where shed kneed me.

When I pulled my fingers away they came away bloody.

"Aw crap," I muttered.

"O-oh, your bleeding!" gasped Moka, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket.

She leaned forwards, only for her eyes to glaze slightly as she did.

"Oh, that smell…" she breathed as she leaned in closer, "I can't resist it…you see...I'm a Vampire!"

"Oh crap!"

CHOMP!

"OW!" I yelped as Moka bit down on my neck.

My yelp snapped Moka out of of her blood drunk state, making her snap back.

"O-oh, I'm sorry!" she gasped.

I gently probed the bite mark, only to find that it was barely a bruise.

"No harm done," I said, "So, Vampire?"

"A-ah, yes," she said, blushing, "Um…"

She looked down, eyeing me from between her bangs.

"Y-you don't hate Vampires, do you?" she asked.

"Cute!" I thought.

"N-not at all!" I said, rubbing the back of my head as I blushed, "I don't have any problem with Vampires."

Moka's nercus look immediately changed to a blinding smile.

"Thats great!" she squealed, "In that case, would you mind being my friend?"

I smiled.

"Sure, no problem," I said, "I don't know anyone here anyway."

I got to my feet and held out my hand.

"My names Tsukune Aono," I said.

Moka accepted my hand with a smile and let me pull her to her feet.

"Moka Akashiya," she said happily.

And with that, we headed into school.

The next few hours were pretty normal for the first day of school, with orientation, meeting new classmates and so on. Then, I found myself in my new classroom listening to Nekonome explain about Yokai Acadamy being a School for Monsters and the rules about never revealing your Monster identity to anyone, any Humans found being slaughtered and so on. Oh, and Saizou's announcement of how he thought Monsters should just eat or rape any Human they found. I made a mental note to kick him in the nuts later. I was broken from my distraction when the door opened and a familiar voice reached my ears.

"S-sorry I'm late Miss!" said Moka, "I-I got lost."

"Oh, its no problem," said Nekonome, "Take a seat."

Moka nodded and turned to the class, prompting the expected barrage of yelling from lustful Monsters. She was apparently oblivious to it however as she scanned the room for a seat. Then, she spotted me and her face lit up with a vibrant smile.

"Aw shit," I thought.

"TSUKUNE!" she squealed, leaping across the classroom (literally) and grabbing me in a tight hug, much to the ire of everyone else.

"Urrrg, someone shoot me," I thought as I was dragged through the halls by an excited Moka.

Now, being dragged by a pretty girl wasn't the problem, oh no, that would be the glares and Killing Intent being leveled at me by the male population of the school. It was getting rather uncomfortable.

"Hmm, such a pretty one."

We stopped as the owner of the voice stepped out in front of us. I scowled when I saw that it was the bastard known as Saizou Komiya.

"Your Moka Akashiya, correct?" he asked, "I'm your classmate, Saizou Komiya. By the way…"

He suddenly grabbed me by the collar and lifted me bodily off the ground.

"Whats a beauty like you doing hanging out with scum like this?"

I scowled and grabbed his wrist, digging my fingers into his tendons. While he may be much stronger than I am, his body was still Humanoid, so he probably shared the same weak points as Humans. I was proven correct when the pressure forced his fist to open.

"Huh, maybe you're not as weak as you look," growled the Monstrel as he let us go, "Even so Moka, you should be with a real Monster, like me."

He gave what he probably thought was a charming smile, but was actually a leer and swaggered off.

"Prick," I muttered.

"Are you alright?" asked Moka, "That big lug didn't hurt you did he?"

"Nope, I think he was going for scare rather than hurt," I said.

"I'm glad," said Moka, "I'd hate for you to get hurt because of me."

I shrugged.

"He seems like the type who'd target those weaker than him, so I'd probably end up in his sights anyway," I said, "But thanks, its nice to know you care."

"Of course I care!" said Moka, "We're friends! Besides…"

She blushed cutely.

"We're on bloodsucking terms!" she said happily, "And you should be proud. Your blood is sooo delicious, much better than any I've had from transfusion packs!"

"Glad to hear it?" I said hesitantly, unsure as to if I should take that as a complement.

"Also…" she blushed again and looked at me shyly, "You were my first… and a girl never forgets her first time."

I blinked and blushed brightly.

"A-ah, Moka, I really think you should have worded that differently," I said.

Moka blinked at me innocently.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

I blushed brighter and looked away.

"W-well, it sounds like we did...that," I said.

Moka looked confused for a moment, before realization crossed her face and it lit up like a christmas tree.

"O-oh, I-I'm s-sorry!" she stuttered, "I-I-I…"

I chuckled at her embarrassment as my own faded.

"Its OK, I know you didn't mean it like that," I said.

Moka's blush increased and she looked away. I chuckled again and took her hand.

"Come on, lets go explore some more," I said.

Moka looked up at me and nodded, her blush now reduced to a slight reddening on her cheeks that only made her look cuter.

Our next stop was the dorms that, although they looked horrible on the outside, were actually rather comfortable on the inside.

"By the way, what kind of monsters are you?" asked Moka suddenly.

I jumped at the unexpected question.

"O-oh, well I'm…" I started, not sure what to say.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot we're not supposed to tell other people that," said Moka.

"OH THANK GOD!" I thought.

"You know, you don't seem much like a Vampire," I said, more to get the conversation away from me than anything, "Other than the bloodsucking thing that is."

"Well, I may look Human now, but if I were to take of my Rosary, I'd transform," said Moka, indicating to her cross, "Its a seal meant to keep my powers suppressed."

She shuffled closer.

"But, it does not seal my weaknesses," she said.

I sighed and tilted my head on one side.

"Go ahead, just don't take to much," I said.

Moka looked surprised before she smiled and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you Tsukune!" she squealed, before biting into my neck.

"Well, that was an interesting experience," I said a little later on, "Now, lets see what this is."

I was in my room, having come here after feeding Moka to get my stuff unpacked. I was just finishing up and had found the box the Driver had given me. I had forgotten about it with everything that had happened during the day, but now I had it in my lap and was ready to see what was inside. It was a simple, wooden box with what looked like a family crest on the lid, consisting of a red shield with a rampant, black dragon in the middle, a skull on top and a pair of skeletal hands emerging from the sides, one holding a sword and the other a ball of fire.

"Thats interesting," I muttered, running my hand over the polished wood.

As my fingers touched the crest, I felt a slight prick and pulled my hand away. A quick check revealed that my finger was unmarked, but the latch on the box clicked open.

"Very interesting," I said.

I opened the lid to reveal that the box contained a book bound in black leather and a ring made of black metal with a green gem set into it. I raised an eyebrow and reached out to pick up the ring.

"OUCH!"

The metal was ice cold, cold enough to burn my fingers. The ring clattered onto the floor and the shadows around it immediately began to twitch and shift.

"What the hell," I muttered, "Whats…"

I pushed the ring out of the way, wincing as the metal burnt me again, and pulled out the book, opening it to the first page to find a letter inside:

To my descendants,

This book contains the sum total of knowledge I have gathered over the years about Magic, Monsters and our amazing world. May it serve you well and aid you in your endeavors.

Zobek Crafty.

I raised an eyebrow and started flicking through the pages. My raised eyebrow was quickly exchanged with a look of absolute shock as I skimmed the pages. This book was a combination of Grimoire and Bestiary of monsters and magic from all over the world, from Vampires to Werewolves to Kitsune. And the Magic...now that made me stop and stare. Elemental, Wall-Walking, Runes, Energy Throwing, Necromancy and to cap it all, information on True Names. The Magic listed in those pages was not the stuff Yukari used, oh no, not when I found an entry on the Faceless Ones and another on a war between Sorcerers. Somehow...I was related to someone from the Magical World of Skulduggery Pleasant!

I sat back and stared up at the ceiling. I wasn't sure what all this meant for the future of the world, but theres one thing I knew. I was no longer going to be the damsel in distress. Not when I could learn Magic and fight for myself. I looked back down at the book, which was open on the page on Necromancy, and smirked. Well, no time like the present!

And done. So, Tsukune won't be quite as squishy as he is in canon, not with the help of a bit of Magic!

For now, the Skulduggery Pleasant side of things will be limited to Magic and a few comments from the characters. Whether that will change in the future, I don't know yet.

Just who is Zobek Crafty? And why did he leave the box with the Driver? So many questions, so few answers. For now however, they'll have to wait as I am signing off. Until next time!