Rosario Vampire Fan Fiction ❯ Two Guys, A Vampire, and a Monster Academy ❯ Deadlines and Blackmail ( Chapter 7 )

Two Guys, a Vampire, and a Monster Academy

Disclaimer: I do not own Rosario + Vampire storyline, background, characters and similar media. Anything that sounds familiar to the readers is more then likely not mine, but originated from a source that I do not remember clearly. I may not be able to own my OC in this fiction.

Chapter 7: Deadlines and Blackmail

Two days have past since the incident with Hitomi Ishigami, a Saturday as the two cousins commuted from the Student Dormitories to campus grounds, particularly the classroom that is used by the Newspaper Club for meetings and to write reports for the Monster Academy Newspaper.

“I still think that the whole setup is wrong.” Lou groaned as he stretched his arms and back. “I mean isn’t the school newspaper suppose to be a once-a-month kind of thing instead of this little sporadic schedule and printings?”

“Sore dewa (well), beyond rumors, the newspaper IS the only best way to know what is happening at Monster Academy.” Tsukune defended with a chuckle. “Add in the fact that the bus schedule doesn’t allow weekend leave and pretty much little source of entertainment and distraction from class work and you got yourself a school chock full of boredom.”

“I’m tellin’ yah, add in an arcade and the fights around here will drop significantly!” Lou declared as he pulled out his Sidekick Mobile Cellular Phone. “And a little internet access wouldn’t hurt either!” The American groaned.

“Tsukune! Lou! Ohayo (good morning)!” The cousins heard just barely a moment before they felt themselves pushed forward, almost to the point of falling to their faces as a pink headed vampire leaped upon their backs and wrapped her arms around their necks in a friendly hug. Again.

“Ohayo Moka-san!” Tsukune greeted after he recovered.

“Yeah, yeah, good mornin’ to yah too, Pinkie.” Lou stated as he turned Moka’s head to face his cousin. “Now if you would be so kind as to point them fangs that way.”

“Nani? Naze (why)?”

“Because it’s your turn, that’s why!” Lou argued just as he felt something grab his left arm. He sighed. “Mornin’ Sabrina.....”

“Ohayo Lou-kun ~Desu!” Yukari giggled as she hugged the American’s arm tightly.

“Jail time is in my future, I just know it.....” Lou rubbed the bridge of his nose in a vain attempt at soothing over the migraine that is already afflicting him.

“Ohayo Tsukune-kuuun!” Kurumu exploded onto the scene as she, in one fluid motion, pulled Tsukune from out of Moka’s grasp and into her bosom. “Meeting you is worth getting up in the morning!” The succubus proclaimed as Tsukune struggled to breath.

“Chotto (hey)!” Moka exclaimed, performing a staring duel with the succubus once more.

“Pamela!” Lou exclaimed, drawing both the vampire and Kurumu’s attention. “For god’s sake, GIVE THE MAN SOME AIR!” The succubus complied after squeaking in surprise as she let go of Tsukune’s head and he was allowed to breath again.

Moka, seeing her chance, pulled Tsukune away from Kurumu. She countered by pulling him back into her well endowed embrace and soon the two were in a tug of war with Tsukune being the rope.

“Lou-kun! Onegai (please)!” Tsukune pleaded.

“Sorry, no can do.” Lou then lifted his left arm to whom Yukari was still attached. “I got my own ‘girl problems’ to deal with.”

“Ara (oh)! That reminds me!” Kurumu recalled. “You never DID explain what you said yesterday!”

“What?” Lou asked, hoping that Kurumu wasn’t inquiring what he thought was being referenced.

“You did say that it was ‘a story for another time’!” Kurumu stated. “Well, it’s ‘another time’!”

“Actually I was hoping for ‘never’ for that one.” Lou dead panned, to which Tsukune agreed by nodding his head.

“Tadashii (right) ~Desu!” Yukari exclaimed as she recalled the events from yesterday. “What DID you mean by that ~Desu?” Moka was just as curious, granting Tsukune the reprieve of being the rope if only for that one moment.

“I’d better not.” Lou declined. “It’s a bit personal and I really doubt that my Couz’ here would appreciate having his own history being divulged without-”The American was silenced by the collective look of the other monster girls that demanded that he tell the tale. “Sorry Couz’, looks like we’ve been out voted. Again.”

Tsukune simply groaned in response. He did not like how the girls will react from the story. It might even make his situation worse exponentially.

“Alright....let me see how I get this started.....” Lou began. “Tsukune here was about seven or eight at the time, I think. He wasn’t really accepted by the other kids at my hometown at the time due to the fact that he was simply a foreigner with strange ways and the like.” The other monster girls listened to his tale closely.

At a neighborhood park in the middle of a beautiful and sunny summer day, all the children were busy on the playground with games and joyous roleplay as they swung, slid, climbed and jumped while their parents watched like good sentinels. All for but a few, with many of them uncomfortable playing with unknown children and in an unknown environment, and only one because he was simply a foreign child in a foreign land. He simply busied himself watching the other children play and hoping to play amongst them.

“You’re not gonna just sit there and do NOTHING are yah?” The foreign child’s American Cousin leaned over his smaller build, his upside down head blocking the child’s view of the playground. “That’s just no fun!”

The child contemplated on the offer when he was suddenly pulled to his feet. “Come on Tsukune! I am NOT going to sit here and watch you mope like last summer!”

“L-Lou-kun! Demo (but)-”

“You just NEED to let them get to know yah better! Trust me!” Lou dragged his cousin towards the playground.

“D-demo, I’m foreign! They won’t like me!”

“Tsh, are you THAT empty headed! Look around! There’s a LOT of kids around here who would probably count as ‘foreign’! What does that mean anyway? Nevermind, I’ll figure it out myself. As I was saying, we got dark skinned kids, light skinned kids, small eyed kids, brown eyed, blue eyed, discolor eyed, tall, short, fat, thin! And they’re ALL having fun with each other!” Lou lectured. “Heck, even that green-skinned kid is playing- Wait, what green-skinned kid?”

The American cousin looked around, hoping to spot that child he mentioned earlier while Tsukune took his cousin’s words and thought about them. Then Lou turned back to his cousin. “Look, if it helps at all, I’ll just bring some of MY friend to come over and play with you. Do a little slow integration, intermingling, so you can feel more comfortable.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, Dad says those words and since Mom isn’t yelling when he says them, I figured that they were good words.” Lou reasoned before he patted his cousin on his back. “Trust me, you’ll like playing with the other kids.” At that moment, the two cousins spied someone quickly hiding behind a tree. They weren’t sure what it was. “Did you see that?”

“Who is it?”

“I don’t know, the Easter Bunny?” Lou shrugged.

“‘Easter Bunny’?”

“Well, Christmas is still a few months away and it wouldn’t have been as funny.” The explanation caused Tsukune to sigh at his cousin’s antics. “Anyway, let’s go find it!”

“Nani?”

“Well it’s better seeing you mope around and just stare at other kids having fun! That’s what parents’ do!” Lou answered as he grabbed his cousin’s hand and half-dragged him to the tree where they saw the stranger. However, once they arrived, they found nothing.

“Where did she go?”

“‘She’?”

&ld quo;Well, she had long hair.” Tsukune replied.

Lou sighed before he responded. “Cousin, from one kid to another, you REALLY shouldn’t judge if a girl is a girl or not solely because of the length of their hair.”

“Nani?”

“I&rsquo ;ve done it before. And as Matt would say: ‘It wasn’t pretty’.” Lou explained. “And trust me, it wasn’t pretty one bit.” Then Lou spotted a flutter of long hair. “‘Thar she blows!’” Lou pointed at another tree.

“You said-” Tsukune was interrupted when his cousin pulled him towards where he saw the flutter of hair. This continued for nearly three minutes before the cousins were able to find their spy after out foxing the stranger from any tree trunks and bushes to hid behind.

“We got yah know!” Lou declared. “So who are you?”

The stranger turned around to reveal herself to be a young girl of their age whose ethnicity and skin tone was closer to Lou’s own than Tsukune. “H-hi.” She nervously answered.

With a raised eyebrow of surprise, Lou turned to his cousin. “Alright cousin, I’ll give yah this one. You were right about her being a ‘she’.”

“What’s your name?” Tsukune asked, only to receive a confused look in return.

“Wrong one, Tsukune. English.” Lou reminded his cousin. Nodded, Tsukune spoke the question again in English.

“....Angela Smith.” The dark haired girl replied. “Is that how you say ‘what is your name’ in-”

“Japanese.” Lou finished for Angela. “I’m Louis McCorray, but everyone calls me Lou, and this is my cousin Tsukune Aono. So why were you spying on us?”

“I-I’m sorry.” Angela apologized. “I-I’m not good with others...”

“Oh good! You two have something in common!” Lou then pushed Tsukune closer to Angela. Their close proximity to the other, even though it was arm’s length, caused both of them to blush. “Don’t be shy now, not after all the running we had to do!”

It was a few uncomfortable moments of silence before either one of them spoke. “Eetoo (um).....what do you like to play?” Tsukune asked.

“Well.....” Angela began. “I.....like to play with dolls, and sometimes my older brother’s action figures. I......like to....play hopscotch and-”

“That’s it, no more talk! Playtime, I’m it! GAAAA!” Lou yelled as he chased after Angela and Tsukune, pausing momentarily to ask himself. “Do I HAVE to do EVERYTHING around here?!” Receiving no answer, he continued to play Tag with his cousin and their new friend.

Nearly a week has past since the first encounter with Angela and Lou can see that his cousin Tsukune was opening up more and more, feeling more comfortable around another non-Japanese child. He was simply glad that his cousin was finally enjoying his visit to America at long last.

While sitting on some stone stools on the perimeter of the playground late in the afternoon, the trio conversed on topics of interests when suddenly Angela asked. “Tsukune, do you know how to show someone you really, REALLY like them?”

Tsukune shook his head, unsure as to what the girl was asking. “Buy them a very expensive gift?” Lou shrugged, remembering the exploits of his elder siblings.

“No,” Angela shook her head. “Mama said that if you really, REALLY, like someone, you give them a kiss.”

“‘Kissu’?” Tsukune asked.

“I don’t get it.” Lou scratched his head. “Why do you want to talk about kissing-” The American’s mouth hang from its joint as he saw Angela kiss Tsukune on the lips. Tsukune was equally surprised even after she pulled away.

“Angela!” The trio looked upwards and behind themselves to see a couple waving at them. The couple waited from a parked car and was but a brisk run away from the trio’s location. It can be assumed that they were Angela’s parents as she ran towards them, pausing in between the two destinations to turn around and wave at Tsukune.

“I’ll see you tomorrow Tsukune!” Angela smiled warmly. The cousins waved back.

The other girls swooned at such an adorable scene. Tsukune knew what was going to happen next and he could guess with a high probability as to how the other girls will react.

“And then she got run over by a freight truck.” Lou concluded, causing the other girls to gasp in shock and horror. The image of a young girl getting hit by a large truck flashed before their eyes.

“D-demo!” Moka began, her voice trembling. “Why was she standing in the middle of a street?!”

“Didn’t say she was.” Lou answered. “She didn’t even leave the park.”

“Iie....” Moka covered her mouth.

“H-how did it happen?” Kurumu asked.

“I’m not really sure, but the trucker behind the wheel was doing a little ‘drinky, drinky’,” Lou pretended to drink from a bottle to illustrate his meaning. “Before hand. Naturally, the guy was arrested for drunk driving and manslaughter I think. Still didn’t help Angela’s parents with their loss.”

“Yeah, well let’s listen to that sad, sob story later.” Gin walked up to the group from behind them. “Right now we-” Gin stopped in mid sentence, with good reason as the monster girls stared at him that suggested a rather painful encounter just by those words alone. “Eetoo....I’ll see you guys at the club!” And with those words, the werewolf seemingly dissapeared out of thin air.

“Chotto matte (wait)!” Tsukune called out, able to free himself from the grasp of both the succubus and the vampire as he rushed towards the school gates.

“Oy! Don’t leave me behind like this!” Lou exclaimed as he followed Tsukune with the other monster girls right behind him.

At the club meeting, Tsukune looked out the window at the weather outside, noting that it was neither too warm nor too cold or at least to the tastes of monsters. For all he knew, an overcast of clouds was considered a pleasant day.

“Tsukune, daijoobu (are you alright)?” Moka asked, breaking his concentration. “You’re spacing out.” Tsukune then turned towards the pink headed vampire. “Only two more days before the newspaper is to be printed. It’ll be a lot of work, but let’s do our best for our readers ookee?”

“Gomen ne (I’m sorry), my mind was just on something else at the moment.” Tsukune chuckled nervously.

“Sou ka (I see), it’s hard to have a deadline when we just celebrated your birthday yesterday!” Moka nodded, causing Tsukune to recall the encounter with the Art Teacher.

“Yeah, talk about your ‘buzz kill’.” Lou noted without looking away from the laptop screen as he typed.

“Moh (oh)! I can’t take this!” Kurumu groaned as she stretched her arms. “It’s Saturday and we’re all cooped up in here!”

“Hai! We’re like a manga-ka rushing to meet a deadline ~Desu!” Yukari noted. “And we’re not being paid too ~Desu!”

“Stop being babies!” Gin scolded before returning to his newspaper. “The newspaper is the same with a manga! With just as strict advertences to deadlines! The incident with Ishigami-sensei is front page worthy, yet it happened two days ago on Thursday! No one will call us a ‘newspaper’ if there is no one to report on the news. Get the newspaper done on time and THEN I’ll listen to your complaints.” He added just before he took a sip of his coffee.

“Then help us instead of just sitting there relaxing!” Moka countered when at that exact moment both the vampire and the werewolf noticed that Lou was standing next to Gin with the confiscated cup of coffee.

“Nani, when did you- ITAI!!!” Gin yelped in pain as the American dumped the hot liquid contents of the cup onto a particularly sensitive portion of the werewolf lap. The same location that wasn’t fully healed from the last groin-centered attack.

“If you’re THAT worried about meeting the deadline, then how about you FUCKING contribute?” Lou nearly growled.

“D-demo, I’m the editor- ITAI!” The werewolf screeched as Lou twisted his ear.

“Yeah, well NOW I got yah ear, so there!” Lou stuck out his tongue in a rasph berry before he dragged Gin back to the group. “Now get movin’! The paper ain’t gonna write itself!”

“Even Lou-kun’s forcing people to work, just like a Manga editor ~Desu!” Yukari pointed out.

“Chotto! Why do we keep connecting this to manga?!” Tsukune asked in a flustered voice.

“I’m still waiting on the anime adaption myself.” Lou joked as he went back to his laptop to continue the work. “With Pamela here alone, we got enough fan service to qualify.”

“Well I don’t care what I’m doing as long as I’m with Tsukune-kun!” Kurumu pulled Tsukune into her embrace.

“Kurumu-chan!” Moka exclaimed as she tugged Tsukune away.

“Moka, it looked as if you tried to take my Destined One away on his birthday.” Kurumu held Tsukune close and tightly to prevent the vampire from taking him away. “I’m not going to let that happen, not on my watch! I’ll never let you have Tsukune!” The succubus stuck out her tongue at Moka.

“The quarrels continue ~Desu!” Yukari commented in a sing song voice.

“What are you so happy about?” Lou asked while he typed. “If this keeps up, neither of em will have my Couz’ heart due to him being a corpse. Which reminds me. Pamela! AIR!” Kurumu pulled away to see that Tsukune nearly died from asphyxiation. Again.

The door leading into the Homeroom of Class 1-3 slid open to reveal Shizuka Nekonome with a small shopping bag in hand. “Is everyone working hard? I brought snacks!”

“Konichi-wa (good afternoon) Kekonome-sensei!” Gin greeted before resuming his work upon his own laptop.

“Sore dewa (well), is the work progressing?” Nekonome turned to see the other members of the Newspaper Club working, though emanating with a rather depressed an negative aura. “Guess I don’t need to ask, seikaku (correct)?”

“There’s a lot of cuts and pages to work on.” Moka replied.

“Sore dewa, hurry up and eat the snacks!” Nekonome offered the bag to the group. “Genki de (be happy)!”

“S-sensei! This is raw!” Tsukune exclaimed just after he pulled out a whole salmon. “Raw fish!”

“Raw ~Desu!?” Yukari exclaimed.

“It’s delicious that way!” Nekonome explained.

“Only way that’ll taste delicious is if it’s wrapped up in sushi.” Lou commented before returning to his laptop, typing away.

Nekonome then approached Kurumu. “Ara (oh), Kurumu-chan, this letter was dropped off in front of the class room. It was addressed to you.” The teacher handed the envelope to the succubus.

“Letter?” Kurumu wondered as she looked at the envelope and headed towards a remote location of the classroom before opening it, wondering if it was a love letter from one of the other students. Hopefully male this time.

She pulled out from the envelope rather candid and perverse pictures of herself along with a letter that threatened the publication of the photos to the entire school if she did not meet the sender of the letter and the photos at the Monster Tree landmark. The letter was signed by a student identified as Nagare.

Lou then whistled for Kurumu’s attention. “Pamela! Get yah juicy ass back here and back to work!” Shocked and surprised, the succubus shoved the letter and photos into a nearby box to hide them. The box was labeled ‘Newspaper Club Toolbox’.

“‘Juicy’?” Both Moka and Yukari asked.

“Well it was either that or ‘fat ass’ and... well... let’s just say that the end results would not have been pretty.” Lou explained.

“Kurumu-chan? Daijoobu (are you alright)?” Tsukune asked, noting the look of distress upon the succubus’ face.

Kurumu flustered before she struggled with an alibi. “I just remembered something that I HAVE to take care of!” She chuckled rather poorly to cover her nervousness and worry. “I’ll be right back!”

“Chotto! The deadline!” Moka called out too late as Kurumu left the classroom in a rush. “Kurumu-chan....”

“And where do you think YOU’RE going?! Get back over here!” Lou pulled Gin away from the podium and back to the grouped desks. “One less member slavin’ and workin’ means more for you!”

“Itai!” Gin yelped.

Nearly an hour had past and the Newspaper Club continued with the latest edition of the school newspaper, sans one member.

“Kurumu-chan hasn’t come back yet....” Tsukune noted.

“We have no use for people who run away like that ~Desu!” Yukari scorned with an unusually cheerful smile as she continued her own share of the work for the newspaper.

“Don’t be too quick to judge Sabrina,” Lou countered. “Not everything is as it seems, and this rule applies in SPADES at this school. She’s probably got a good reason to suddenly leave, considering that Couz’ is still here.”

“Iimasu (say),” Moka solemnly began. “Sometimes I wonder what Kurumu-chan really thinks of the Newspaper Club?”

“Besides another reason to try and suffocate Tsukune with her milk shakes?” Lou half chuckled as he continued to type away.

“I mean, she’s only here because of Tsukune, tadashii (right)?”

“That’s pretty much obvious.” Lou noted. “This is Pamela we’re talking about. She’s got a one-track mind. Admiral, but misplaced.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?” Tsukune asked.

“Long story short, she wouldn’t be failing academically.”

“Demo....maybe she doesn’t think of the rest of us as friends.” Moka theorized solemnly. “She simply ran off like that even though we have a deadline. It’s very weird.”

“Maybe it’s a family emergency. Like a death in the family or something.” Lou suggested while typing away. It was only after a few minutes had past in silence did Lou look up from the screen to notice that all of the other remaining Newspaper Club members stared at him. “What? It’s possible!”

Kurumu dragged herself towards the classroom long after the sun had set and the moon has risen. She wondered if there was anything left for her to work for the newspaper after the marathon cosplay session with her own perverse and black mailing fan, Nagare Kanou. What she found after sliding the door open was a collective aura of frustration and hatred that was aimed at the succubus specifically. She could feel a chill, as if someone had walked over her grave.

Only Lou spoke to the succubus. “Let me guess: Grannie was stuck in bed with the stomach flu, right?”

“Eetoo......” Kurumu tried to follow through on the American’s question. “Something like that.” Even though the possibility of her club mates understanding her situation was present, it was too small to be a guarantee.

“You’re late, Kurumu-chan.” Moka scolded, causing the succubus to cringe. The other members of the Newspaper Club rose from their seats and began to leave. “Well, we’re just about halfway done with the work for the newspaper for today. Sore dewa (anyway), we’ll work on the rest of the work tomorrow to meet the deadline.”

Moka then stated coldly over her shoulder. “So you can leave too, Kurumu-chan!” The succubus could only stand there in shock and distress. Kurumu had hoped to work on the newspaper with her beloved Tsukune, but she was too late. She then felt a hand upon her shoulder. She turned to see that the hand belonged to Lou.

“I’m pretty sure it’s all a misunderstanding, ultimately.” Lou stated. “I mean you didn’t have much of a choice at the time, whatever that emergency of yours is, right?” The American was the last of the club to exit the classroom and head towards the Student Dormitory with his belongings, leaving Kurumu to stand there and absorb the words given to her. She didn’t have a choice, it was blackmail, she reasoned.

Then Kurumu heard the classroom door slide open behind her. She turned to see who it was, hoping that it was something positive.

It was a male student wearing a simple, white tee-shirt over his oily, almost slimy looking skin and a camera held in his hand. It was Nagare Kanou. “Today was really fun, wasn’t it? Let’s take some more photos tomorrow, Kurumu-chan.” The succubus could only stare at him with such contempt, how the hoarding of her precious time had caused Kurumu to miss working on the newspaper.

Moka’s shriek of shock and horror echoed the halls of Monster Academy early Sunday Morning. “They’re gone!! The drafts are all gone!!!”

“N-NANI?!” Gin and Tsukune exclaimed in terror.

“Wait, rewind, what just happened?!” Lou interrogated the vampire.

“They were right here! I swear!” Moka pointed at the spot where the desks met, indicating that whatever documents that occupied the space were no longer present.

“Were they stolen?” Tsukune was on the verge of panicking.

“What are we going to do?!” Moka exclaimed. “We won’t be able to make the deadline if we start from scratch!”

“IIIEEE!” Yukari shrieked at the screen of her personal laptop, the keys covered in a slime-like substance. “All my data! It’s all gone!! Even my backup disk!! And they even read my diary ~Desu!”

“It’s the same here!” Gin exclaimed as he found that his own data was loss. “And all the key’s are covered in this weird slime!”

“Mine too!”

“Slimy....?” Kurumu whispered to herself, instantly knowing who was responsible. A quick, accidental glance from Lou has allowed him to catch the worried face the succubus held. He wondered just what she was thinking

“Lou?” Tsukune turned to his cousin, causing Lou to break his train of thought.

“I only have the stuff that I did.” The American apologized. “Not exactly much to work with for a newspaper.”

“Yubai (crap)!” Gin cursed as he slammed his palms onto the podium surface. “Of all the times we had to be robbed! There’s nothing we can do! We’ll have to make do with what we got and fill in the blank spots! It won’t be much, but it’s better than nothing!”

“Gomen nasai (I’m so sorry)!” Kurumu apologized as she rushed out of the class room.

“Nani?! Again ~Desu?!” Yukari groaned.

“Kurumu-chan!” Moka called out.

“As if we don’t have enough to worry- Daijoubu?” Gin turned to see Lou typing up something before pressing the Enter Key and headed out of the room.

“Lou-kun?!” Tsukune gasped. “Nani?!”

“I gotta check up on something real quick! It just might help us with our little problem.” Lou explained as he exited the classroom. He popped back his head into the classroom. “I’ll be riiiight back!”

Kurumu arrived at the Monster Tree as her head hung solemnly. “Chotto! So you did come!” The succubus looked up to find Nagare sitting atop of a branch in the Monster Tree. “I had a feeling that you would come, Kurumu-chan.”

Nagare then revealed drafts of the newspaper and a data disk. “Is this what you were looking for?”

“Give those back!” Kurumu demanded.

“Naze (why)? This such a boring, poorly made newspaper.” Nagare taunted. “I’ve seen better journalism and pictures!” He then pulled out a lighter. “It would barely qualify as kindling.”

“Damare (don’t)!”

“So what will it be, Kurumu-chan? Submit to my wills or sacrifice this poorly written piece of trash?”

“Those....those are very important to the people I care about!” Kurumu declared fiercely, tears building at the corner of her eyes. “I will never forgive you if you do anything to them!”

“So then you submit?” Nagare smirked, only to see Kurumu transform to her true self and fly towards him with the intention of liberating the drafts. His shock lasted long enough for Kurumu to take hold of the documents and data from Nagare’s own grasp, but not long enough to quickly devise a counter as strange tubes emerged from his neck and emitted a strange gas and slowly transform into his own monster form as a slimy appendage slammed itself into Kurumu’s body and forcing her to crash.

“Did you think that such a weak attack- Nani?” Kurumu attempted to fly back into the air, only to feel her limbs and even her wings feel unnaturally heavy. She had a highly noticeable strain to lift her own hand. Then she looked at the strange pipes that emerged from Nagare’s neck that emitted a strange smoke as his face appeared to melt and deform. She then knew that he was responsible.

“Ara, you finally realize my true power!” Nagare taunted. “Now you’re a good girl, like a doll.” Kurumu could do nothing but struggle to rush towards the nearest barrier to the still transforming Nagare, the Gym Storage Shed.

Lou observed the entire affair from a nearby building, close enough to hear the exchange between this strange black mailer and Kurumu yet far enough away not to be noticed. He knew that something was wrong with the succubus the moment he saw Kurumu’s face earlier, but he could do absolutely nothing. How could he even save her from a giant, humanoid slug that was teasing her upon the closed and locked shed door-

A thought just occurred to him. An evil thought as Lou cackled. However, the idea would only be brilliant if he hurried.

“Iie!” Moka blocked Tsukune’s path from the classroom door. “If you leave now, the newspaper will never meet the deadline!”

“Demo (but)-” Tsukune began, but Moka interrupted.

“Onegai....let’s just concentrate on what we have now. Why can’t we focus on what we can with what Lou saved?” Moka gained her anser when Tsukune, though solemnly, pushed the vampire out of his path. ‘Naze? Didn’t we deepen our relationship on his birthday? Why is this happening...?’

“Nani? The newspaper that we all created doesn’t matter anymore?” Gin teased.

“Iie, it was the paper we all worked together, even Kurumu-chan and Lou-kun.” Tsukune explained. “It would be sad if even one of us isn’t there to see it completed. Empty. You all should know that by now-”

“WAAAAH!” Yukari’s cries nearly gave the other remaining club members a heart attack. “Minna (guys)! I found something ~Desu!” Carrying the tool box and showing an envelope, the little witch shared her discovery with the others.

Kurumu sat at the furthest corner from the door, protecting the precious drafts and data of her club mates while fighting to stay conscious. She would have been flying in the air and heading back to the club by now, however the gas that Nagare emitted has affected her muscles to such a degree that it’s affecting her flight ability and even basic locomotion. Still, she must protect the documents from Nagare’s grasp.

“Kawaii!” Nagare taunted. “Hiding in a Gym Storage shed, are you inviting me in?” A strange, flatten body covered in slime slowly slid under the gap of the door enough for eye stalks to emerge and a sinister grin.

“Na-nani?! What’s with that body!?” Kurumu exclaimed as her fingernails lengthen to sharp, melee-capable claws.

“It’s very useful for my needs, Kurumu-chan.” Nagare’s now slug-like body began to slowly reveal itself. “As a slug monster, I can slip through the smallest of cracks. Allowing me to sneak into rooms to discover the secrets and weaknesses of other girls and take very good photos.”

“H-how many-”

“I don’t really recall. I’ve done it so many times that I actually lost count!” Nagare confessed as his body expanded and mutated into a form that was terrifying and intimidating. “But you are the best out of all of them Kurumu-chan!”

“Iiee.....” Kurumu pleaded, clutching the documents even tighter to her being.

“We’ll take lots of pretty, dirty pictures! Oh what joyous fun we’ll have!”

“DAMARE!!!” Kurumu screamed.

And then a knock was heard at the door, causing both monsters to turn their attention towards it with confused looks. “Candy gram!” Lou’s voice announced.

“Oro (huh)? What a bother!” Nagare groaned as he slipped back under the door and appeared before Lou with his hands behind his back. “NANI?!” The slug monster roared in its demand.

“Special delivery.” Lou stated as he revealed a small handful of salt in his left hand and blew them into Nagare’s face. He roared in pain as the salt caused the slime and his skin to bubble. Taking the chance, Lou grasped the door knob as leverage to push Nagare away and quickly rushed inside. “It won’t last long, on your feet Pamela!”

“Demo-” Kurumu started to explain as she began to get to her feet, only to collapse to her knees.

“Mary, mother of god! Of all the times!” Lou groaned as he dashed to Kurumu and dragged her to her feet and outside. “Move that ass!”

“Nagare-”

“Less talkin’, more runnin’ fool!” Lou interrupted and they were just a few yards away from Nagare when the American spotted Moka and Tsukune.

“Lou!” The vampire and his cousin exclaimed.

“Problem!” Lou thumbed backwards, only to have both he and Kurumu’s legs entangled by the slug monster’s limbs. “New problem!” Lou exclaimed as he tossed a handful of salt from the dispenser at Nagare’s arms. The slug monster simply sucked in the pain as his grasp held firm.

“Salt?” Kurumu raised an eyebrow.

“Well it worked before, didn’t it?!” Lou defended.

“I won’t let you take Kurumu-chan! She’s mine!” Nagare roared before he noticed Moka. “I’ll take Moka-san as well!” He declared as the tubes pointed at both Tsukune and Moka and launched their gas attack.

“Son of a bitch, that fuckin’ stinks!” Lou cursed as he wafted the smell away. “Smell’s like one of Gramp’s farts after downing Scotch and Tequila!”

“N-nani?! I can barely move!” Tsukune gasped.

“It’s Nagare’s gas!” Kurumu shouted.

“Oh, NOW you tell me!” Lou exclaimed.

“I tried!” Kurumu defended just before she noticed that Nagare bypassed both she and Lou, heading towards Moka.

“I’ll have lots of fun with you!” Nagare smirked as his arms reached for Moka’s weakened form.

“Tsukune! Get Xena out now!” Lou exclaimed as he threw another handful of salt at Nagare, causing him to jump away.

Tsukune struggled to reach for the Rosario, but he could not reach. “I can’t! It’s the gas!”

“Stop compainin’ and start workin’!” Lou exclaimed just as he received a rather slimy back slap from Nagare that had him fly a few yards away.

“Kisama! You and that cousin of yours are first!” Nagare roared as he grasped Tsukune by his neck, ready to slam the poor human boy to the ground with such force as to snap his neck. He paused as he felt a strange rumbling from the ground. “Nani?” He turned towards the source of the rumbling: Kurumu.

“Thaaaaat can’t be goood....” Lou commented just as he saw Kurumu stand upon her own two feet and the roots of the Monster Tree starting to rip themselves out of the ground.

“How DARE you harm my precious friends!” Kurumu snarled. “For all those things you put me through, for even thinking of destroying their hard work, of destroying them! I’ll never forgive you!”

The roots then emerged from the ground and entangled themselves to Nagare’s body as the Monster Tree began to move, as if alive. “Why is this happening?! Why are the roots attacking me!” Kurumu then took to the air as the Monster Tree crawled menacingly towards the slug monster. “Iie! It’s attacking me! The tree is attacking!”

“HOLY SHIT ON A STICK!!” Lou cried out.

“Take this!” Kurumu exclaimed, taking the opening presented to her as she performed a downward slash at Nagare’s body with gravity as a force multiplier for her claws. The gash the claws made into the slug monster’s neck spurted blood horribly. It wasn’t a mortal wound, considering the monster, but it was painful enough to effectively take him out of the fight.

“YEOUCH! Maybe I should start calling her Laura Croft!” Lou stated in a surprised voice as the succubus landed elegantly before them, the drafts and data disk in hand.

“Kurumu-chan.....”

“Yatta (alright)! They’re safe....” Kurumu sighed in relief.

“Kurumu-chan.” Moka began. “Gomen nasai, I didn’t understand what was going on and-”

“Forget it.” Lou interrupted. “It’s not like any of us could have done anything differently.”

“Lou-kun.” Tsukune turned towards his cousin.

“Anyway, onto more important subjects.” Lou began. “Anyone got an idea as to how long the effects of the Foo Gas lasts?”

Just after dawn, Monday Morning, and Shizuka Nekonome entered the classroom where the Newspaper Club was hard at work with the latest edition of the Monster Academy School Newspaper. “Today’s the day!” She proclaimed as she slid open the door. “Is the newspaper finished?”

Her only answer were the soft snores and other such noise of deep slumber as the Newspaper Club slept upon the desks and in the chairs of exhaustion in getting the newspaper completed on time. At the exact center of the group was an envelope that contained the completed newspaper. Nekonome carefully took the envelope and inspected the pages before smirking at the group, noting how close they have all gotten.

The Homeroom teacher then left the classroom as she found it, with the Newspaper Club enjoying a well earned and well deserved rest. She failed to notice that the pink headed vampire had subconsciously took hold of the exposed hands of both Lou and Tsukune, Yukari simply snuggling up next to Lou’s arm. The same could be said of the slumbering Kurumu as she held fast to Tsukunes own, though the fingers of her right hand grazed against Lou’s own.