Chapter 13, Black + A Vampire

"Ruby, don't run too far!"

Her long, dark hair danced around her heart-shaped face beautifully as she ran, heedless of her father's warning. This place was so beautiful! All the lights were twinkling around her in all different colours of the rainbow, just like the stars in the sky! How could she not be so enamoured with this radiant world?

"Seems like you love it already," her mother said sweetly as Ruby spun and twirled on the concrete path. The lights whirled around her hypnotically, all blending together in a spiralling blanket of otherworldly colour, and she never wanted it to stop! This was the human world? She wanted it to be her world!

Humans and witches, living together in perfect harmony... wouldn't it be wonderful if that could be, someday?

Her world came to a grinding halt with the horrible, inhuman screech sounded behind her. In her universe of spinning lights, two very bright and very round lights became central, glowing and growing in her vision. She heard her parents give a yell, but her ears were deaf to her words. All she could hear were the sounds of wind in her ears and the screeching of rubber scraping violently against the tarmac.

Her world turned sideways as a sudden force impacted her from the back, right between her shoulder blades. She slammed into the ground painfully, and the screeching stopped with a horrendous crash and the groan of broken, mangled steel.

Her arms burned and ached as she pushed herself over. The ground was hot to the touch and slick with oil. It coated her palms and made them all grimy and sticky. The lights were dizzying, and all around her she could hear screams, yells and sirens whistling. Her lungs burned as they filled with smoke, and no matter how violently she coughed onto the road, nothing could quell the growing pain in her chest, nor that in her back.

A pair of hands, rough and frantic, grabbed at her. They pulled at her arms and legs, roaming her chest, and tugging at her eyelids. She pushed them away, and though they tried to pull her back to the ground, she forced herself to stand. The lights continued to spin around her, mixing into a hazy cloud of colour.

Where were her parents?

They had been here but a moment ago, before the screeching, before the smoke and the screams. Their dark outfits, typical of witchfolk, had stood out boldly against the city lights, but now she couldn't see them anywhere. Only a mangled mess of blood, flesh and steel.

Ruby woke with a start.

The room was dark and silent, and through the parted curtains the harsh orange glare of streetlamps mingled with the moon's ghostly pallor as it filtered inside. She settled a hand against her chest to quell the erratic thumping of her heart and breathed a deep, laboured sigh. She was still alive, at least. The vampire's brutal assault hadn't ended her, like she'd feared.

That didn't mean she had escaped unscathed, however, as she was reminded when her ribs screamed in protest as she tried to move. They had to be cracked, if not shattered altogether. A flinch shot through her as the familiar electric pulse of her magic touched on her broken ribcage and began to repair the damage. It would take time, but something like this was easily within the limits of her ability.

Resigning herself to the long haul as her magic did its… well, its magic, Ruby took a second look at the room around her, diverting a single spark of mana away from her wounds to her eyes, and to her the room became bathed in the same regal purple shade.

What threw her initially was that this room was a washitsu – a traditional Japanese room, with tatami mats, futon, the whole shebang. It was a sudden and unexpected departure from the Western-style room she was used to on the Witch's Knoll. The unfamiliar sensation of stiff flooring underneath her was unnerving. It felt like a prison cell.

There was a shuffling sound as the shoji was pushed back and in her panic Ruby dropped to the futon, muffling behind her hand the indignant squeak as the pain in her ribs spiked spitefully. The burning in her chest made it incredibly difficult to properly feign sleep, but she had to try. She didn't know who had picked her up and now held her captive, but she doubted their intentions were chivalrous.

A presence settled beside her, and she felt her magic leap up in her defence, meeting with this newcomer in a small but violent burst of wiccan power. It was a natural method of protection; few youkai had finer control over their youki than witches, so the concept of a barrier that repelled any ne'er-do-well without discrimination, even while the subject was fast asleep, was almost entirely exclusive to them. Of course, Ruby was far from asleep, but her captor needn't be aware of that. Ruby was confident that with the amount of time and practice she'd put into learning and perfecting such a defence that it would be able to stand up to just about anything they could throw at her.

Imagine her surprise, then, when the outsider did more than simply break through this carefully crafted barrier.

They pushed past it.

The defensive magicks parted like the Red Sea at the slightest of touches, and Ruby was powerless to halt the intruder. To bolster her shield too much would not only alert them to the fact that she was awake, but also pull too much of her energy away from the vital task of healing her ribs. That was most important right now, she decided, steeling herself for whatever the stranger had in store for her.

A gentle touch brushed against her cheek, causing the skin to prickle as her own magic mingled with the visitor's own. The careful, frightened caress of her face was so surprising to Ruby that she found herself unable to respond. Her body was locked up beneath the blanket, and she was powerless to repel this intruder, nor did she particularly want to. This magic… it reminded her of her own, or at least, how her magic used to feel. Hesitant and frightened, but warm, inviting, hopeful. That same hope that she'd once harboured, about humans and witches living in harmony, was alive and well in this person.

"Ruby-san…" The voice was just as soft as its owner's hands, weak and trembling. They brushed a lock of dark hair behind her ear, and she had to keep her eyes screwed shut to ensure that she wasn't found out. It didn't look like she was in any immediate danger, but it couldn't hurt to be sure. "I'm sorry that I can't stay with you."

Yukari's hand retracted and wiped the salty tears from her hazel eyes.

"I understand that you hate humans… I thought I did too."

She heard a shuffle, and the slightest glimpse out of the corner of her eye told her that Yukari had looked away for a moment, staring off into the indomitable shadows beyond the shoji.

"Humans… humans are scary. But then, so are monsters, sometimes."

She stopped to sniff noisily.

"But I found some humans that are nice, and some youkai too. They've all become my friends… my best, and only, friends."

Yukari felt through the blanket, and when she'd found her target, grabbed hold of Ruby's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"I want us to be friends as well, Ruby-san. You're the only other witch I've ever known, besides my parents. I… I would very much like it if we could be the very, very best of friends."

She gave a sad, trembling laugh.

"I'm sure if you met with my friends, and talked with them, and spent time with them, then they could become your friends too! You'd grow to like them in no time, I'm sure of it! And I'm sure you'd fall in love with Naruto-kun as well!"

The joyous tone dropped all of a sudden, and Yukari's grip on Ruby's hand faltered, allowing it to slip from her grasp.

"But you truly do hate both humans and youkai, don't you, Ruby-san?"

"Yukari-chan."

The barked call was quiet, but no less forceful. Ruby felt Yukari flinch beside her and heard the slow, deliberate footsteps as that vampire entered from the same door, sliding it back a few inches more to accommodate for his larger frame. Yukari stood at his entrance, as if he were a prince making his presence known at court, and the wide brim of her hat dipped shamefully.

"What are you doing up so late?" he admonished, and Ruby saw his eyes flicker from Yukari to herself for a moment or two. He knew, didn't he?

"I'm sorry," Yukari murmured, feet shuffling awkwardly against the tatami. "I just… I was…"

"I get it. It's okay. But you should really be getting some sleep, we've a big day ahead of us." Yukari's head perked upwards a little and tilted to the side cutely.

"But what about you?"

Naruto laughed sheepishly. "Aha, well, you know me! Gotta do something with all this nervous energy!"

Yukari seemed to accept the answer, saying her goodnights and filing past Naruto into the hallway, but not before pulling the shoji door closed behind her.

The room was silent once more, and this time that silence was deadly. She could see Naruto, standing motionlessly in the centre of the room, out of the corner of her eye. And she was almost certain that he knew that she was faking it. Both were entirely aware of the other, and if it came down to it, she knew that she would most definitely lose this fight. It had probably only been by his mercy that she'd survived the last one.

"Are you seriously going to break a heart like that?"

His first question threw her for a loop. That was what he was most worried about? Not that she had tried to steal his friend away from him, nor that she had tried to kill him when the first plan had failed, but that if she were to return to the Witch's Knoll and continue her and her mistress' revenge against humankind it would make Yukari sad?

He really wasn't like other vampires. In fact, if she hadn't known better, she'd almost think he was human.

"Don't talk to me like you know me, or like you know witches at all, vampire," Ruby spat spitefully. "You don't know the kind of scorn we endure. We are too monstrous, so we are shunned by humans. We are too human, so we are shunned by monsters. There is nowhere for us to go, nowhere to turn."

The words weren't hers. They were the same words that Oyakata-sama had preached to her, day after day, as they planned for the day they would march on the human settlement and take back their soil. Her mistress had preached them with such feeling, such charisma, such knowledge. She had been the one to know that hell, not Ruby. How could she have done anything but believe?

"You're under the misconception that you're the only one who's ever had to feel any kind of pain, I see."

The vampire's tone retained a small hint of joviality, but for the most part it became cold and stern. His eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, but rather than the furious crimson that was characteristic of a vampire's deadly stare, they were twin slivers of harsh, unyielding ice. This Naruto was not joking around, not by a long shot.

"I suppose I can't be too surprised. Too many people are like that these days."

He shrugged nonchalantly. Ruby felt her ire ignite and she pushed herself up into a sitting position, ignoring the pain in her ribs for a moment.

"You act like you know anything about it! What could you possibly know about pain? You've a vampire! The top of the food chain, for God's sake! What circumstance could possibly leave you feeling slighted in any way!?"

"For the record, I'm human!"

Ruby faltered for a moment in her tirade. It couldn't possibly be true, could it? He'd most certainly shown the power of a vampire earlier, and Oyakata-sama herself had told her that it had been a vampire, this vampire, to destroy the garigarious. Her mistress' senses had never failed her before. But then, the boy's behaviour had been frightfully reminiscent of a ghoul's after she had slashed him. That couldn't be it, could it? He'd retained his sanity after all, and that level of power was far beyond any normal ghoul.

"That's impossible! Humans, youkai and witches… they can never get along!" She felt her magic rise up with her simmering rage and erupt from her every pore in a wantonly destructive wave of pure power. The air visibly distorted as the shockwave rippled through space, pummelling the walls and furniture relentlessly. Only Naruto stood firm, a pained grimace on his boyish features as he clutched at his shoulder, the blossoming red stain on his shirt – a new, intact one, she noticed – plain to see.

There was no way that her Pulse had been enough to wound him so severely, not even if he was a human only borrowing the powers of a youkai. Besides, the Pulse was based on bludgeoning force only – it was intended to clear the air around a witch so that she could fight effectively at medium to long range, not to truly harm someone. It was practically impossible to cause so much damage with such a simple spell.

"That wound… is where I cut you, isn't it?"

"Didn't think it'd open up so easily…" he groaned, avoiding answering her directly. "Guess I should've known it'd still be tender."

Ruby's fists clenched, and her long, painted nails dug harshly into her palms.

"You're the one who helped me, aren't you? I tried to kill you! Why did you help me!?"

"As if I needed a reason!"

Ruby bit back a gasp as the wound sealed shut, and as the last of his flesh knitted together he shook his neck to the side with a loud click and rolled his shoulder experimentally. It was already completely healed! Within minutes, no, seconds! He couldn't really be a human, could he? Even a human borrowing a youkai's strength shouldn't have that kind of power!

"I went overboard and attacked you as well, didn't I?" he growled, his head lowered as if in shame. As if he regretted what he'd done. What a foolish notion: vampires didn't feel remorse for the pain they caused. They were scions of wanton destruction. "I'm sure that if it'd been me seriously injured by your hand…" He looked up, and his eyes were sad and dark. Ruby forced down the small blush that struggled to reach the surface. The sight of a penitent vampire was a strange sight, but not one she was overly adverse to seeing; to see such a strong, proud being with filled with such humility and emotion was a powerful image she didn't think she'd forget any time soon. "Then you'd be the one taking care of me, wouldn't you?"

Ruby swallowed hard, her chest suddenly uncomfortably tight. Her mind raced at the thought of just how she would 'take care' of him, despite her efforts to rein in that particular train. It ran rampant, and this time she couldn't stop the brilliant red blush that rose up across the bridge of her nose. She hugged herself tightly in an attempt to assuage the not-entirely-uncomfortable churning sensation in her stomach and forced herself to look away, focusing upon an elegant painting of a koi fish hung on the wall.

"D-Don't! Don't be ridiculous!" she stammered, focusing on the careful, sweeping brush strokes upon the aged parchment. "A witch, helping a youkai like yourself? Preposterous! I won't allow such foolishness from the likes of you! I would likely leave you there to die, if I did not finish the job myself! The world would be a brighter place without you!"

Her words were perhaps more hurtful than she had intended. Deep down – very, very deep down – she was grateful that the boy she had labelled as her enemy had gone out of his way to help and protect her. Without his intervention, she might have died there on that rooftop, or worse, some human might have found her. But the fact still stood that he and his friends were youkai: the enemy. If Oyakata-sama ever learned that she actually felt some level of gratitude that this vampire, or ghoul, or whatever he was took her under his wing and kept her safe from harm, she'd be done for. As it was, she'd likely be severely punished for failing both to kill the vampire and snare Yukari, not to mention for fraternising with this youkai and his motley crew for as long as she had.

And yet, despite her spiteful barbs, Naruto appeared to smile, the light from the parted curtains catching on the corners of his lips as they rose.

"Yeah, I expected as much," he drawled smoothly, turning his back on her and putting a hand on the edge of the shoji. "It's been a long day, an d I'm going to bed. If I were you, I'd do the same. Don't wanna hurt yourself any more, y'know?"

With that, he slid open the door, stepped out into the hall, and closed the door behind him. The room was silent, save for the rhythmic chirping of cicadas in the relatively warm summer evening outside. Ruby's fists clenched as she tried and failed to contain her mounting frustration. Loathe as she was to admit it, she couldn't leave. Her ribs were still far from healed, and if she tried to strain herself too much then she might end up causing even more damage, damage that might never be repaired. Not only that, but with all her power focused solely on healing, she didn't even have enough left over power to summon Satoru or her wand.

Her only choice was to remain here, and suffer another day of the vampire's hospitality.

Naruto walked right past them, and didn't even feel a thing.

The bus driver's moustache twitched as he donned a wide smirk, breathing a thick, dark smoke through his teeth before taking a second long draught from his cigar and leaning his back against the wall. In the darkness, his black uniform lent him a certain amount of cover, and it helped that he was a naturally quiet individual. Really, the only way anyone would detect him would be to either smell the pungent cloud of cigar smoke or physically walk into him.

"Mm… num… am…"

Or, that is, to hear the unnecessarily loud munching noises emanating from his companion.

Honestly, it had been the woman's idea to hurry away after he had delivered the children to the Witch's Knoll, saying something about it being an excellent test of their journalist skills – the bus driver didn't believe that for a second – and yet she was being so damned noisy it was almost as if she wanted the students to find them.

"Sensei," he rasped, breathing another dense plume of black smoke. "Is this really okay?"

"Nam… nyaa?" Nekonome squeaked cutely, bringing her attention away from her precious tuna for a mere moment.

"The 'case' those kids are getting themselves into is more dangerous than it first appeared," the bus driver elaborated, tapping the smouldering ash from the end of his cigar, the silvery grains collecting into a small mound before they were whisked away in an unnatural breeze. "If this newspaper club's research gets out of hand, we will be requesting backup from the Academy, do you understand?"

"Nya… Backup?" The word sounded perhaps more ominous than the danger it was supposed to counteract. But he supposed there was a reason for that: whatever backup Youkai Gakuen decided to send, it would most likely either be the coldest of deadly assassins, sweeping away the witches like dirt under the rug and caring not one bit for the safety and wellbeing of her students, or the most boisterous, hot-headed of monsters that would likely end up destroying half of the hill along with the witches and kicking up a big stink in the human world as well as their own. Either way, it couldn't be pretty. He stubbed out his cigar and watched as the burnt edges knitted together and regrew what he had already smoke, until he was left with a whole, unused cigar once more.

"And if the Headmaster's pet project loses control," he warned, a hand delving into his jacket pocket and retrieving a thin silver chain, wrapped around his wrist and entwined about his strong, thick fingers. His fingers opened dramatically, and the chain dropped until it hung loosely, wrapped a couple of times around his wrist. From it hung an ornate silver cross, decorated with thin, curling lines of ivory and obsidian and studded with garnet.

A rosary, much like the one the Headmaster had forged for the Akashiya girl so long ago.

"Then steps will have to be taken. You understand?"

"Good morning, Ruby-san!"

It was the buxom girl with the bubblegum pink hair and sunny disposition that woke her, wrenching apart the half-open curtains. The summer sun threw golden bars through the glass and illuminated the room with its brilliant light. Ruby winced as the sunshine poked at her tired eyes, shielding them behind a gloved hand as she rose from the futon just in time for Moka to place a plate of food in her lap.

"I thought you might be hungry, so I made you some breakfast! I hope there's nothing there that you don't like…"

"No, no, this is fine. Thank you."

The plate was warm against her thighs, and the smell of bacon, eggs and buttered toast permeated through the room. She raised her knife and fork – thankfully that was what she had been given, as she'd never really gotten the hang of chopsticks – and politely cut through the egg white in a clean, neat line before bringing it to her mouth. As she chewed in a small, civil manner, Ruby watched Moka step back a few paces and take a seat nearer to the wall, her legs folded beside her as she lounged.

For some reason, she didn't quite feel the same animosity from this one as she did Naruto. This one felt more like a human than the supposed 'human' of the group. Maybe it was her bright and cheerful personality, or the fact that she really didn't appear to be all that threatening. To put it nicely, she was far from warrior material. Whatever it was, Ruby just couldn't bring herself to hate this girl as easily as she did Naruto, and she began to wonder if this girl was even a youkai at all.

"Naruto-kun prefers to eat breakfast by himself," Moka explained. It was obvious that the girl had mistaken her confused expression to be for the blonde's sake. Honestly, Ruby wanted to be as far away from that person as possible. He made her doubt herself, and that was frightening in and of itself. "He says that he'll join us shortly."

"Don't you hate me?" Ruby interrupted, setting down her cutlery and levelling a stony stare on Moka. The rosette's heart-shaped face tilted cutely and her lips puffed out in a confused pout. Ruby gave a pause, breathing heavily, as she formulated her argument. "I almost killed your… boyfriend."

"O-Oh, N-Naruto-kun isn't my b-boyfriend!" Moka stuttered abashedly, waving her hands about in defence. "W-We're just f-friends, that's all!"

Had there been a shade of red redder than red, then Moka would be that red.

Still, Ruby frowned. She was usually so adept at these sorts of things; reading people and the like. Naruto seemed like the kind of person who'd have a girl or two hanging off his arm at all times, and Moka, if anything she'd seen of the girl had been correct, longed to be one of those girls.

She gave a harsh mental reprimand to the part of her that sang hallelujah at Moka's demure denial.

Ayashi were never the kind to bury their feelings. It was what likened them to animals. They were creatures of instinct and impulse; if they wanted something, they would try and take it. Nine times out of ten they got it, too, unless their opponent was another, stronger ayashi. Law of the jungle prevailed in this world. So did that mean that Moka really didn't think of Naruto that way, and that they were nothing but friends? Or was this ragtag bunch of idiots really more human than youkai?

Either way, it didn't really matter, she realised. Human and youkai were both scum in her and her mistress' eyes. What did she care if these foolish ayashi wanted to pretend they were human? If they decided to stay here, in this city, then they would be massacred like all the rest when her mistress' army – the one that she had given her blood, sweat, tears and magic to raise – marched upon the human settlement and razed it to the ground.

"B-But to answer your question," Moka continued, pressing a palm flat against her bosom to steady her heart. "No, I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you."

If she were honest, she had expected about as much. If Naruto, who out of the two seemed much quicker to judge people for their outward appearances, couldn't bring himself to hate her, what on earth would make this sweet, bashful little airhead have such strong animosity?

"You wanted Yukari to help you save your home, didn't you? Your home is in danger, and you need the power of other witches to help you protect it. That's why what happened, happened, right?"

Ruby could only nod dumbly. Moka had gotten to the heart of the matter so very quickly. She didn't get lost in the ayashi's ideals of fighting for the sake of fighting. No, that wasn't why she did what she did. She hated that concept, in fact. Instead, the girl with the bubblegum pink hair had seen her plight from a very rational, very heartfelt, and very human point of view.

"I think that's an admirable cause," Moka lauded, smiling warmly and clapping her hands together. "If I had a place I cared about more than anything else in the world, then I would want to protect it with all that I am, without a doubt."

"Then… you don't have a place like that?" Ruby asked, suddenly curious. She felt like there was a sense of camaraderie growing between them that she hadn't ever felt before. Someone who understood her reason for fighting and praised her for it, agreed with it. Even Oyakata-sama had never given her that kind of connection. She had firmly stated her own ideals and principles and expected Ruby to regurgitate them as and when she was told. It was a master-slave relationship, and while it was one she was entirely willing to fulfil, it was nice to have something closer to a comrade now and again. Perhaps even a friend.

"Well, I wouldn't say that I have a place I care about…" she mumbled, her cheeks burnished crimson once more as she fanned her face rapidly with her splayed fingers. "It's more… it's more like a group of people that I care very much for, and would do anything to protect and make happy."

"Like Naruto," Ruby said flatly. If she was going to test the waters with this girl, she might as well go in foot first.

"Ah!" Moka squeaked, shrinking into herself. "W-Well, I suppose N-Naruto-kun would qualify…"

Ruby giggled into her hand. This girl was a walking contradiction! In one breath she denied having feelings for him, and in the next she all but stated that she cared for him enough to give everything she had to ensure his safety and happiness.

That action surprised her. It wasn't often that Ruby laughed – Oyakata-sama hadn't much in the way of humour, after all. She was happiest of all in her garden, toiling away as she tended to her beloved sunflowers. But she realised now that this, joking and laughing and talking with another person her age, was far more enjoyable than that could ever be by itself. Gardening was a hobby, but not a life.

The pair's lively chatter came to a grinding halt as the shoji slid back, and an awkward silence prevailed.

That silence continued, intensified even, when a foot passed the threshold, followed by a leg, then a torso, arms and another leg, and finally a head.

"Hey, you're up," Naruto remarked, stepping into the room and moving to the window to take a glance at the street outside, before taking up a space against the wall. "Witch and youkai healing abilities never cease to amaze me," he continued when neither of the girls offered up any words of their own. "Your face is looking a lot brighter today, and you look a lot healthier."

He must have been aware of the painfully hard glare that was fixated on him. How could he not have been? Were it any stronger, it surely would've seared holes straight through his flesh. And yet his casual demeanour persevered, as if there wasn't a person in this room who would like nothing better than to tear him limb from limb.

It was quite simple, she theorised. There was no possibility that Naruto was telling the truth – there was simply no way that he could be human. If anything, Moka was the human and he was the youkai. That at least would make more sense to her. Moka was sweet, kind and gentle, while Naruto was cold, dark and monstrously powerful, not to mention a liar – he said that he felt remorse for what he did to her, but that couldn't possibly be true. Then there was the fact that while she could barely feel the faintest wisp of power from Moka, as if she were a mere mortal, power was all she could feel from Naruto. It fell upon her in droves, like a torrential waterfall, and flooded her senses with the acrid coppery tang of blood and the hot, blistering spiciness of fire. It was as if he wasn't doing a thing to hide it, or was perhaps flaunting his strength.

"Have I done something wrong?" he asked hesitantly, scratching at his cheek. "I feel like I'm being punished."

Ruby turned her face away from him. She downright refused to acknowledge him at all. She saw the confused look that Moka shot at her and then Naruto, but remained silent as the rosette cleared her throat.

"Ruby-san was just telling me about her ranch on the Witch's Knoll," Moka ventured tentatively, then proceeded to shrink into herself when Naruto tilted his head curiously and shared a look of barely concealed distrust with Ruby. The witch's mouth twitched at the corners; She applauded the girl for her valiant efforts toward breaking the ice between the two of them, but she had picked perhaps the one topic she did not feel comfortable talking with Naruto about. Or at least one of several.

"I don't want to talk about it with you," she hissed maliciously, not bothering to veil the contempt in her gaze. "You don't really think me foolish enough to tell an enemy where our headquarters is, do you?"

"I'm only an enemy as long as you see me as one," Naruto countered, frowning. He was sitting cross-legged now, staring not at Ruby, but at a small area of flooring a few inches away from his shins. His breath was slow and deep, as if asleep, but his eyes were as wide open as ever. His hands cupped his kneecaps steadily and held firm, his fingers tensing powerfully as his stare intensified. As this went on, Ruby slowly felt the blood and fire recede until it was little more than a crimson puddle and a small, flickering candle flame. His power siphoned away like rainwater down an open drain as he reined his youki until there was little more than a pitiful trickle left seeping through his gates – closed far enough to ensure that not everyone he met felt the hatred inherent in his vampire power, but ajar enough to let them know that they could be thrown open wide at a moment's notice should the need arise.

The stifling atmosphere receded, at least partially. It surprised her just how much of this ominous feeling of oppression was the fault of his rampant energies. She noticed Moka visibly relax, where before her smile had been almost strained, and the rosette edged a few inches closer to the blonde, her bare thighs brushing gently against his own affectionately.

Of course she would have been affected just as much, if not more, by the flood of malice that Naruto had been allowing to flow freely. As a border being, her sensory capabilities were not at the peak of what they could be, and yet she could only barely combat the nausea his power had induced. Moka, if Naruto was to be believed, was a full-blooded youkai and was sitting far closer to him that Ruby was. If Ruby was feeling ill, Moka would have been spitting blood by now. It was testament to the girl's strength, and how much she cared for the boy, that she had stayed exactly where she was.

A bit of colour had returned to Naruto's cheeks and his hair took on a slightly darker shade of blonde, which made him look a bit more human than before, where he had appeared the epitome of vampire. It was nice he was making an effort to make her more comfortable in his presence, but it did little good in Ruby's eyes.

"I can see you as nothing else," she answered flatly, crossing her arms over her chest and wincing as she accidentally pressed against her still-mending ribs. "Youkai like yourselves have no business being in the human world in the first place. Why would you come here, where humans live, if not to eradicate us and our ranch?"

"Oh no!" said Moka, horrified. "We don't want to hurt anyone! We don't want anything like that at all!" Moka appeared scandalised by the very thought that they had come here to do harm to anyone or anything. Her hands waved about frantically in an attempt to dispel that thought, and she placed her palm flat against her chest to calm herself again. "We're all members of our school's Newspaper Club," she elaborated with a hint of embarrassment. "Our advisor brought us to this city to investigate the human disappearances and write an article on it."

Ruby blinked owlishly, but didn't say a word. How could she? The explanation was so ludicrous that she couldn't think of a single word she could use to respond to it! Her jaw rose and fell several times in complete silence, as each time the string of words vanished upon her lips as if they were never there.

"You're students!?"

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Naruto inquired, eyebrow quirking curiously as he watched Ruby practically tremble in sheer disbelief. "We're all freshmen students at Youkai Academy, y'know. We're only out here because Neko-sensei abandoned us."

Freshmen?

First year students!?

The realisation set in like the crushing blow of an axe. She had been defeated by a child! He was likely only sixteen years old at best, which meant she had at least two or three years on him, and yet she had been tossed aside like a ragdoll without a second thought! Ruby had no time to wallow in her despair, for the shoji door slid back for the third time that morning, and this time it bore two new arrivals, one of which she recognised all too well.

"Good afternoon, I'm Morioka Ginei. I'll be joining the newspaper club from today forward, so I hope we can all become friends."

Makise Noa needn't have been a mentalist to know that the polite greeting was also a forced one. She didn't even need to know who Morioka Ginei was; just one look at him spoke volumes. He was far from the sort of person who'd willingly turn up at the newspaper club's door seeking a position.

In his freshman year, Morioka Ginei had been the epitome of troublemaker. The kind of person who felt that a day where a fellow student hadn't been cruelly tricked or pranked in some way was a day wasted. The supernatural speed and agility afforded him by his werewolf abilities were the perfect match for this attitude: not only did he feel it his purpose to cause mayhem and mischief at every turn, but he was damned good at it too. Everyone in the school knew that he did the things he did, but no one could ever catch him, so he went unpunished for the most part. But nobody could hide from the Headmaster.

The rumours had flown for a few days, a week or two at most. One suggested that the Headmaster, using the dark arts that the three Dark Lords were famous for, had brainwashed him into changing his ways. Another said that he had been threatened with imprisonment or death. But the real truth was that Morioka Ginei had been given an ultimatum: if he didn't amend his behaviour and make up for his misdeeds, then his family would become involved, and that was one thing that Morioka Ginei did not want, not at all. Obviously, since that eventuality was so unattractive that he'd choose to join 'the nerds in the newspaper club' rather than allow it to happen.

Despite the choice he had made to clean up his act, however, it didn't change his character. Morioka Ginei was a cruel, sadistic person who enjoyed seeing other people discomfited or worse by his tricks, and even if he didn't do so overtly anymore, that didn't stop him from being generally mean-spirited. As a member of the newspaper club, he was lazy, abrupt, and insubordinate, among other things: he outright refused to work when asked or told, shot down any attempt at conversation except to insult someone, and actively endeavoured to send the delicate machine that was the Newspaper Club into a state of disarray. Truly, he was a most despicable human being, and at that time, Noa hadn't wanted anything to do with him. That is, until one day.

The twilight period between summer and autumn was beginning to wane. The warm air had taken on an unwelcome chill, and were there any leaves on any tree on campus they would have been coloured a deep, rusty brown by now. In the small, draughty room on the second floor of the school building that the newspaper club called its home, a girl sat hunched over the square table with a look of frantic concentration etched deeply into her pretty face. A curl of vivid cerise tickled her nose as she scrawled hastily over pages upon pages of notes, and the thick black scarf wrapped twice around her shoulders trailed lazily over the table's edge.

This girl is Makise Noa, approximately nine months ago.

Wildly, her eyes searched the pages, making little notes and marks here and there in an untidy scrawl, her red biro held tightly between her slight fingers. Before her lay every scrap of information she had gathered on her assignment – an Olympic-style sports event held the week prior – but she had no idea how she was supposed to piece all this together! This was her first solo assignment (just thinking that made her feel like some kind of secret agent), and while she had been given example articles to use for reference, she could think of no way to join up these disjointed interviews, statements and commentaries into a single, coherent piece of literature. And the article was due to be handed in tomorrow!

With a defeated groan, Noa's head dropped sharply to the table's surface and her arms spread out over her notes with a rustle. It was impossible, simply impossible. There wasn't a way all this could be done in a single afternoon – not to mention she still had homework from her first year classes to complete! She wasn't cut out for this!

A knock sounded at the door – a quick, juddering triple beat – and without waiting for an answer it swung open powerfully, buffeting her with a breeze just marginally colder than the room itself.

"Tch," Morioka Ginei spat irritably, eyeing the room with no small measure of disdain. His shirt was undone three buttons down, showing off the wolf's head pendant he hung around his neck along with a tiny bit of the muscle he had developed, and his hand swept through the messy mop of dusky brown tiredly, fiddling with the knot of his crimson headband. "Nobody's home?"

Noa didn't answer. In fact, since the werewolf had barged his way inside, she'd barely moved except to tilt her head so that she could see him without lifting it from the table. She made it no uncertain fact that she was not fond of Morioka Ginei. He was a despicable louse in her honest opinion; a beast that found pleasure in others' misfortune had no right to act so proudly. And the way he berated the entire newspaper club for actually choosing to be here, where he had been forced, ground on her last nerve. Was it so hard to believe that some people really enjoyed these club activities? That not everyone was like Morioka Ginei?

"Just you, eh, Red?"

A soft growl rumbled in her throat. 'Red' appeared to be Morioka's idea of an affectionate nickname, it seemed, and that was just another thing she despised about him. When he had first arrived, she had been little more than furniture to him: she was simply there, and he made no effort to even acknowledge her existence. He must have found it to be hilarious, ignoring the poor girl completely just because she was a little quieter than he was used to. Of course, Otonashi San, the club's president, had soon sorted him out. Apparently, she was one of the few people whose authority he actually respected, and when she'd all but demanded that he treat Noa with courtesy, she'd been elevated from furniture to an unimaginative comment about the colour of her hair. Part of her preferred being ignored.

"Well, if there's no one here, then I don't need to be either. See ya, Red."

Yes, she hissed inwardly, her crimson eyes narrowed to slits behind the curtain of her fringe. Leave. If she had to be here for hours on end working on this article, then she sure as hell wasn't going to do it with him in the room. Not if she could help it. And, for a moment, it looked as though she might've been granted her wish, as Morioka Ginei had turned and started back out the door again, but his foot stopped in the doorway, and he looked back over his shoulder curiously.

"Whatcha doin' there, anyway?"

Her hands splayed over her sheets defensively, as if to shield their contents from his prying eyes. If anything happened to her work while he was in the room, it wouldn't have been the first time. There had been several instances where newspaper club members' assignments had been defaced, destroyed or simply gone missing since Morioka Ginei had joined the crew, and while no one could ever pin it on him explicitly, it was painfully obvious. So it was the look a lioness gave to a predator threatening her cubs that she levelled upon Morioka Ginei, her scarlet eyes gleaming dangerously.

"My assignment," she replied curtly, her fingers curling inward toward her palm and dragging her notes closer in the process. A smirk twitched at the corner of her mouth as her voice filled with venom, readying for her next remark. "Some of us actually work around here, Morioka Ginei."

His lip curled in disgust, as if he'd tasted something foul, and his brow furrowed. Success! She'd hit a sore spot, it seemed, though why she couldn't fathom. It wasn't a secret that Morioka Ginei was a lousy good-for-nothing who refused to participate even the slightest bit, just as it was no secret that the rest of the club despised him for it.

"Mind if I take a look?" he sneered, and sidled over before she had a chance to refuse. He roughly pushed her aside and leaned over the desk, peering across her notes intently. A grin twisted his lips roguishly and he gave a loud barking laugh. "Oh, Haiji," he murmured, pressing his finger into a particular sheet of paper and looking back to Noa with a lopsided grin. "You want my advice? Put this one last. Always best to leave 'em laughing."

What?

Noa blinked owlishly.

No, seriously, what?

She can't have heard him right, could she? There was simply no way it could ever be possible! Morioka Ginei, helping her with her assignment? The very notion was absolutely preposterous! And yet… and yet, here he stood, looking over her notes with an intense stare, keeping his fingers touched upon the corners of certain sheets as he muttered under his breath and shifting them about awkwardly.

"Start off with a little bit about the story," he said, loud enough for her to actually understand him. It took Noa a moment to realise that this was because he was actually speaking to her for once. "Not everyone pays attention to that crap, y'know? I know I sure as hell don't. Then jump into the commentaries, and finish off with the interviews from the athletes. Write it as it happened."

Her mouth opened and closed noiselessly. Now, she didn't know what to be more surprised by: the fact that he was giving her advice on her article, or the fact that his advice actually sounded sensible. Still, not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, she took out a fresh sheet of paper and began scribbling untidily on it as she formed a list of topics, before sliding it in front of him.

"Like this?" she asked hopefully. He looked over it with a raised eyebrow that made him look uncharacteristically studious and nodded in approval.

"Yeah, that looks pretty good to me. Once that's down, the real hard part is just bridgin' those pieces together. Try not to make it too long, or people'll get bored and stop reading, but too short and they'll get lost. Y'need to find a balance in there."

After that, their work continued into the late afternoon. The golden sunlight of day became amber as the sun began to set, and a yawn spilled from Noa's lips as she stretched out her arms languidly. With a tap, Morioka Ginei set down the pen upon the table and looked over the sheets of paper that, between the two of them, they had churned out over the last few hours. If she were any judge, she'd say it was pretty good. That in itself was surprising, considering that she was not exactly experienced when it came to writing newspaper articles, and he was the poster boy for procrastination. Satisfied, she stacked the finished assignment and straightened the pages professionally, before standing and stretching out her sore legs. A creak and a groan signalled the pushing back of Morioka Ginei's chair, and he grabbed up his bag on his way to the door.

"Um, Morioka-san!" she called out suddenly. The werewolf stopped mid-step and looked back at her over his shoulder. His gaze was a little softer and warmer than it used to be, and the smile he wore wasn't cruel or mocking in any way. It looked genuine, if anything. "I wanted to thank you. You know, for helping me."

"Don't mention it," he replied nonchalantly, gripping the doorhandle as he gestured absently with his free hand. "We're both fellow journalists, right?"

The term sounded ridiculous coming from him. Apart from what had just happened – and Noa was still convincing herself that it had actually happened – he had done nothing to earn the title of journalist. But maybe that meant he was going to take more of an interest in the club's activities? Did she dare to hope? By the time she turned to ask, however, he was gone, and the door was swinging shut with an aged creak.

The assignment? It had gotten her no end of praise from Otonashi-senpai. No one would believe her when she insisted that it had been with Morioka Ginei's help that it came about, but she knew that the knowing gleam in Otonashi-senpai's eye meant something.

It might've seemed like such a small event, but it was enough to change their entire relationship. Every week or so for the next few months, the pair of them would meet in the clubroom after everyone else had already left and help each other with their individual assignments. Morioka would bring the talent for embellishment and creative flair he had honed from years of trying to weasel his way out of trouble, and Noa brought her innate talent for remembering even the smallest of details at a single glance. Their friendship flourished in these clandestine meetings, and soon they were each one of the other's closest companions; someone they could talk to, joke with, ask for help from, and generally be comfortable around.

Until that day.

But Noa hated thinking about that day, so when the unwelcome thought sprung to the forefront of her mind, she quickly crushed it and tossed it aside, focusing on the real reason for her reminiscence. That being the fact that the Ginei she remembered from back then, or even the one she had become fast friends with, was far different from the one standing before her. Whoever this Naruto individual was, she felt compelled to meet him; any person who could leave such a profound impression on Ginei was obviously something special.

"You're certainly enthusiastic today, Ginei-kun," she drawled, eyeing him with a sidelong glance. He faltered in the act of handing a newspaper to a freshman and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Without that Hisakawa girl around, I don't really know what to do with myself right now, so…" he laughed and reached for another cardboard box filled to the brim with fresh, folded copies of the school newspaper. The same newspaper that she and several other students that Ginei roped together had helped to make. Honestly, they must have looked quite the sight. Ginei, president of the newspaper club; herself, newly-reintroduced member; Shirayuki Mizore, another newspaper club member; Ichinose Tamao, the president of the swimming club; Miyamoto Haiji, president of the karate club; and Chopper Rikiishi, a member of the wrestling team. If ever there was a motley crew…

The slight tension in Ginei's posture as he mentioned Hisakawa did not go unnoticed, and it brought a smile to Noa's face. The girl was sweet, if a little headstrong from what she'd seen the first time they'd met. Once she'd gotten over her initial surprise at the Crusnik's true form, they'd had a few pleasant conversations, as Ginei seemed insistent on bringing her around to meet with Noa frequently. Still, why Hisakawa was so surprised by her eyes, and why Ginei had been so interested in them in the first place, had yet to be explained. Apparently, neither Ginei nor Hisakawa were all that knowledgeable about the person with those same eyes, so they wanted to wait for the one person at Youkai Academy who was: Uzumaki Naruto. All roads led back to him, it seemed.

"She's fine, Ginei-kun," Noa said sweetly with a serene smile. "She's with Uzumaki-san, isn't she? From what you've told me, she's even safer with him. There's nothing to worry about." Gin grinned, hefting the cardboard box up onto the wooden counter they'd set up outside the school's main building and ripping it open, laying its contents out onto the table. Her smile spread and took on a mischievous quality. "Looks like trouble's coming."

"Gin! Y'got any more of these newspapers? We're fresh out over here."

Noa had admitted to herself long ago that she would never have the same kind of friendship with Miyamoto Haiji as she did with Ginei. It just wasn't possible. They had completely different personalities, and whereas Ginei had surprised her with an earnest, hardworking side to him, Miyamoto simply wasn't like that. That didn't mean that they didn't get along, it was simply that they were far from the closest of friends. He was a simple person with nothing to hide: what you saw was what you got. And what she saw was the epitome of the man's man; a tall, powerfully built second year with a shock of scarlet hair, a strong, angular face and thick dark eyebrows, his muscular frame wrapped in a white karate gi. He was holding an empty cardboard box over his head like a trophy.

"Sure, there're more boxes back up in the clubroom. You mind grabbin' 'em for me?" A grin spread across Miyamoto's face and with a sharp nod he turned on his heels and took off in a sprint for the main building's doors. But that was as far as he got.

For anyone else, it would have happened too fast for their eyes to follow. But in the case of Makise Noa, there was little that could escape her eyes at any speed. Her crimson eyes flashed as they followed the sudden strike that crashed into Miyamoto's broad chest with all the force of a raging bull. Miyamoto dropped like a ton of bricks, his heavy frame impacting the earth with a dull thud, and within a fraction of a second the end of a long steel pole had taken up a vigil at his throat. Its wielder, a small girl with dark hair tied into a number of braids and tails, wore an impish grin as she held down the much larger student with her silent threat, but it was the group that this little waif had broken off from that held the majority of her attention.

They were the epitome of dangerous: a dozen students, each brimming with their own unique brand of monstrous power and flashing sadistic smirks, standing tall and proud in long double-breasted black coats and high-collared black uniforms. They were as varied as they were frightening, with individuals of all different shapes and sizes falling in behind their leader – a tall, broad-chested man with a sheet of silvery blonde hair and piercing amber eyes each as narrow as a blade. Their mere appearance wasn't what frightened Noa most, however; it was the fact that this was not the first time she'd seen them.

"You should know better than to block our path, Miyamoto Haiji." The leader's voice was as cold and sharp as his eyes, chilling her to the core even though it wasn't directed at her. She wanted to be angry –furious – at the way the man treated Miyamoto, but she couldn't. Her power refused to come when beckoned, and it left her a frightened little girl who wanted to do something but was too afraid to even move. It knew when a fight wasn't worth the risk, it seemed.

"Kuyou…!" Miyamoto growled gutturally, his fingers clawing deep trenches into the earth in barely suppressed rage, but the staff at his throat kept his temper well and truly in check. The girl was small, but in no way weak. As one of the youngest members of this, the Academy's Public Safety Commission, Deshiko Deshi had already made a name for herself.

"Keito?" the blonde man, Kuyou, called, tilting his head to the side with an expression of boredom across his elegant, aristocratic features. "Call for an investigation into the Karate Club's activities. I feel it is time Miyamoto Haiji and his cohorts understood what it means to interfere with Public Safety Commission operations."

"Yes, sir." The girl at his side nodded as she spoke, her long fringe fluttering and revealing dark, venomous eyes. She puffed out her chest proudly and stood with her hands on her hips, teeth bared in a wolfish grin. "All of you, clear a path for Chief Kuyou immediately!" At the sound of her harsh bark, the students that had surrounded the newspaper club's booth – especially at Ichinose Tamao's counter, she noticed idly – dispersed with a few pitiful whimpers, paving a wide path between the Public Safety Commission and the newspaper club. A shiver ran down Noa's spine as Kuyou's eyes drifted lazily over their members, lingering for a moment in recognition on the faces of herself and Ginei. A wide, sinister smirk spread across his thin lips, and he stepped forward with a slow, deliberate pace.

"Salutations," he drawled, bowing in mock respect. His eyes glinted with derision, and a hand reached out to grab one of Ginei's newspapers and snatch it away, unfolding it before him. "I am Kuyou, the manager-in-chief of the school's Public Safety Commission. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"We're well aware of who you are, Kuyou-san," Ginei growled defiantly, placing himself between Noa and Kuyou. "What we don't understand is why you are here." Noa shivered at the deep, throaty tone to Ginei's voice. It was animal, primal, and it frightened her, because no matter how many times she had seen Ginei transform into a werewolf it had always been his rational mind that had been firmly in control. If he was on the verge of losing himself, then she was doubly afraid. One, of seeing Ginei lose control of his body to the beast that lived inside his soul, and two, of the fact that Kuyou's very presence had enough of an effect to prompt this response.

"Yes, well…" Kuyou turned his nose up at Ginei and peered down at the newspaper clutched between his long, thin fingers. "Your work is quite good. Very… what is the word? 'Hard-hitting'?" He laughed and swept his hair back, fixing an arctic glare on Ginei. "However, I do not remember having inspected this! And I am certain that none of my subordinates have filed a report saying that they have inspected it either!"

"What's your point?"

Kuyou's gaze flickered to the side, blazing with anger, and in the same instant Ginei was following him with a look of horror. Shirayuki was staring Kuyou down blankly, the shaft of her lollipop lolling lazily upon her lip. To the untrained eye, she might have looked rather blasé about the entire exchange, but the crystallising air around her and the frost forming on the ground and the counter said otherwise. Kuyou's thin lips twisted and contorted into a cruel smile, and he slammed a palm down onto the table with enough force to rend its surface with deep, debilitating cracks.

"You obviously don't see how much of a bother it is for us, Youkai Academy's appointed guardians!" Under the table, his knee came up with pulverising strength as it split the desk in a rough, jagged line down its middle. The two pieces tipped to the side with a tired groan and the newspapers spilled out onto the floor, only for Kuyou to raise his foot once more and stamp the offending article into the dirt with a look of twisted glee plastered across his elegant features. "When a gang of misfits like you does whatever it is they want so selfishly, it disturbs the peace and order we have worked so tirelessly to foster in this academy!"

Noa heard the grinding of Gin's teeth, loud enough to pass the few inches between them as even now he sheltered her from Kuyou's wrath. His body twitched violently with each crushing blow the Public Safety Commission's manager-in-chief dealt to their little newsstand and each frightened whimper it earned from Shirayuki. That was another thing that frightened her about this man: Shirayuki Mizore, who, in the short time they'd known each other, had never shown herself to be easily scared, was all but cowering in fear before him. Though, that was probably to be expected, as she could see that each time he lashed out his youki lashed out with him, blazing around him like a roaring fire that shot up far into the sky. It burned at her skin and made her eyes sting and water even from such a distance, so she daren't think what Shirayuki, an ice youkai who was bearing the full brunt of this fiery energy, was feeling.

"Need I spell it out for you!?" Kuyou snarled, gesturing to his underlings who moved to each booth and overturned the newspapers onto the dusty ground. He grabbed at one of the two pieces of Shirayuki's counter and felt it crumble between his powerful fingers before tossing it to the side and taking another step closer to her, flaring his power once more and delighting in the shrill cry it forced out of her. "We are the ones who have been chosen as the protectors of peace! If anything is to be done within these school grounds, permission will need to be sought from us without fail!" Kuyou's hand grabbed at Shirayuki's shoulder, where the lip of her shirt hung upon the curve of the joint, and slammed her backwards into the booth's back wall. "We will not allow such unapproved frivolity to continue! Any and all unsanctioned activities will be severely reprimanded!"

"That's enough, Kuyou!"

The yell was punctuated with the sound of flesh smacking flesh. Noa gasped at the sight: in a fit of pure, unbridled fury, Ginei had leapt at the elder youkai and thrown his fist forward to strike him, and thanks to his speed had been moving far too fast for any of the Public Safety Commission members to have halted him. But they didn't need to. Because the fist that had collided with Kuyou's pale cheek with a sickening crunch had not moved, and neither had Kuyou.

"Hm." The soft hum resonated through Ginei's stationary fist, still pressed against Kuyou's cheek like a magnet, and Ginei's features contorted in agony. "You look familiar, have we met before?" The deep, thrumming vibrations of Kuyou's voice shocked Ginei's hand once more, and it became obvious that the loud, painful crunching sound had been the bones of Ginei's fist crumbling into dust against the solid stone wall that was Kuyou's skin.

"M-Morioka Ginei…!" the lycan hissed through the pain, pulling back his fist to cradle it within his empty left hand. "I-I was there… when you ruined the newspaper club last year!" The spark of recognition was not present in Kuyou's eyes. That either meant that he truly didn't remember, or… that bastard! He hadn't forgotten at all! He was baiting them this entire time, waiting for Ginei to lash out as he was wont to do!

"Ah, yes. I remember now." His lips twisted in a vile, cruel smile. "You were just as much an unruly upstart then as you are now. I had hoped that last year's tragedy might have matured you a little, but I see that was a fruitless dream. And what's more, you rebuilt your shattered newspaper club with the same rowdy, rebellious elements as before. Do you people never learn from your mistakes?"

Noa felt Ginei's power burst free again as he shot forward faster than most could follow, this time throwing forward his unbroken left hand at Kuyou's gut. However, it stopped a few inches short as a thick band of sticky white fluid wrapped itself around his wrist and fastened it against the back wall, hardening almost instantly into a grey-white shackle around his arm that, try as he might, he could not remove.

"Are you alright, Commander Kuyou?"

It was the same girl as earlier, the darkly gorgeous second-year with the flawless sheet of violet-black hair and piercing amethyst eyes. She licked her lips alluringly and sneered at the trapped Ginei.

"I'm perfectly alright, Keito. Thank you for your assistance." Kuyou dusted off his coat, despite not sustaining a single hit, and eyed Ginei down the length of his nose. His amber eyes were gleaming dangerously, and his power was at such a level that the tips of his perfectly manicured nails were alight with little bluebell flames. "Assaulting a member of the Public Safety Commission is a heinous misdemeanour, Morioka-san. I could have you expelled if I so wished. But let it never be known that I was not a benevolent overseer; I will allow this to pass. However, if any illegal actions such as this are taken without expressed permission from the Public Safety Commission, I will personally make sure that every single member of this club understands what it means to bring our wrath down upon them!"

Kuyou turned, his coat billowing in the dust, and began to stride away through the parted crowds with a victorious smirk slashed across his cheeks.

"Keito, Deshi," he called, and the two girls snapped to his side. "The newspaper club will have to be kept under tight surveillance under the circumstances. See that they do as we command, or there will be hell to pay."

"N-Naruto-kun…"

Kuyou's knife-like ears pricked like a cat's, and he turned on the balls of his feet. The thin blades that his eyes had narrowed into slid to the side as they focused solely and entirely on the trembling form of one Shirayuki Mizore, her sapphire eyes blazing defiantly. Her breath was heavy and ragged, coming in short, quick, crystallising pants. Claws of ice had formed over her slight fingers, and she appeared as if she had just left a battlefield.

"What was that, girl?" Kuyou snarled viciously, his anger ignited once more.

"Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun won't let you do this…" she growled. "He'll stop you…!"

Kuyou sighed and touched a hand to his forehead in mock irritation. The other hand jerked absently in Keito's direction. The raven-haired sophomore's smile widened, baring blindingly white fangs that pushed against her bottom lip. Her legs blurred as she raced forward, faster than any of them could react save Ginei, and her pale, slender fingers slammed into Shirayuki's throat with enough force to send her hurtling back into the wall with a strangled scream, only to catch her by the neck once more as she rebounded. And there she held her, the yuki-onna's feet dangling helplessly just inches from the floor, her hands having lost their icy armour and scratching desperately at her captor's vice-like grip.

"You people simply do not listen, do you!?" Kuyou barked, sweeping his baleful glare across the gathered students. "Do you think I enjoy torturing you? Do you think it brings me happiness?" His fingertips touched against the broad expanse of his chest in a gesture of deep, painful sorrow. "My duty is to ensure that this academy stays safe and secure for the benefit of every single student here! However, I cannot do so if I do not have the support and cooperation of the student body itself! If the Public Safety Commission allows the continuation of such dangerous and subversive behaviour, the order and stability that this school holds dear will be put at risk! I would ask that we join hands in making certain that our precious way of life here at Youkai Academy remains as it always has been, but each of you seems determined to undermine our authority and see the harmony that we have strived to nurture is left to ruin! That being the case, I can no longer trust my fellow students to make the right decision on their behaviour, so I will have to do so for them. This establishment will hereby enter a state of martial law. Any and all unsanctioned activity that is not brought to the attention of the Public Safety Commission prior to its execution will be severely reprimanded. As it stands, the newspaper club has already become one of the first to come up against this new ruling. See that it does not happen to the rest of you."

"Commander, what about the girl?"

Kuyou's gaze snapped to Keito, and the struggling yuki-onna she was holding down with minimal effort.

"Hm?" he hummed curiously, as the anger washed from his face and left it a blank slate. "Why, we'll be taking her with us. As I said, the newspaper club will have to be made an example of."

So sorry this took so long (but then, it's about twice as long as normal to make up for it)! I hit a stumbling block somewhere around the middle, which is why I decided to change tack for a while and go back to the Academy to show what was going on with Gin, Noa and Mizore while the others were on assignment, as well as giving a little flesh to Noa and Gin's history. I enjoyed writing Kuyou this chapter, I must admit. I'm not sure whether or not I like him as a character, but he's definitely fun to write dialogue for. It's like writing for Clovis from Code Geass, who is just as assholishly magnificent. Though, to be honest, I wasn't fully aware of what was going on. It just kinda happened, and before I knew it I had 11k words worth of text over five scenes. Oh well, I can't really complain about that, can I?

Review Corner

Melkor44: I hadn't considered that possibly, mainly because I don't know how it would work. Fear not, Ruby will most definitely not be overlooked here. She's one of my favourite characters, hence why her arc is going to be at least four chapters long. She's also going to be considerably stronger than her canon form – unlike the manga and anime, I understand that she was trained from an early age by a master witch like Oyakata. In other words, she won't be able to keep up with Moka and Naruto's vampire powers, but she's easily stronger than both Kurumu and Yukari, possibly Mizore as well.

kurokamiDG: Traditionally, vampires are very beautiful and charming creatures who rarely have any difficulty in finding a willing meal. Bram Stoker's Dracula had three astonishingly beautiful female vampires with him and had a certain ability to charm and sway the opinions of other people. Anne Rice's vampires were all inhumanly beautiful, and only grew more so as they grew stronger. I've been researching various vampire traits, and there seems to be an almost even split between hideous vampires who are more bat than human, and vampires so beautiful it hurts not to look at them. But since I've mostly been exposed to Anne Rice and R+V, I'm gonna stick with the idea that they are beautiful and have a 'charm' sort of like succubae. Besides, it isn't that difficult to outcharm a succubus, considering Naruto already knows how to do it from earlier on. He just needs enough power to overthrow the mental suggestion, which he now has in spades. As for the scene between Moka and Naruto, as I said, Naruto isn't fully turned yet. He's still stuck in a strange transition period between human, ghoul and vampire. Because of that ghoul influence, he's influenced somewhat by his primal emotions, and as a healthy teenage male, the sight of Moka can cause several specific ones. Also, I mentioned this in a response on the last chapter: as the one who turned him, Moka has a certain sway over him as well, similar to the kind of master-slave relationship between Alucard and Seras. I made it perfectly clear that Moka was not displeased by the attention Naruto gave her in that scene; in fact, she relished it and wanted more. Naruto, as her subordinate vampire, felt it and responded. The regeneration factor is partially due to the fact that it is generally accepted that vampires have a greater healing factor, and some are simply impervious to damage. Most media that feature vampires have them as these beasts that recover from wounds almost instantly, or in at least one instance simply revert to a state in time where they were not injured (which, in my opinion, sounds absolutely badass). The other part is that yes, his healing factor is still in effect to a certain degree. Both of these have been working in tandem ever since Moka turned him.

shadowbroker13: All I can say is yes. Kyuubi won't be left behind. What kind of asshole would Naruto have to be to just leave her to die/be assimilated like that after she told him she loved him?

McCabeRz: Look, the matter isn't that Naruto is swinging back and forth between strong and weak. That's not what I'm doing. I'm simply making him strong in a different way. Before Tobi and Sasuke showed up, he was only using his Kyuubi abilities and jutsu. But this is a crossover, so I wanted him to experience a sort of 'crossing over'. This one person is the bridge between the two worlds of Naruto and R+V, so I want him to act like it. To do that, I gave him the principle ability of R+V: vampirism. I didn't think it was possible to turn him while Kyuubi was still there, so I took her away. Now that he is finally at the level of vampire, she can come back, and then he'll be that bridge I want him to be. I'm sorry if that symbolism is lost on you, but then, I'm not writing this specifically for you, am I? I will write it how I want to write it, because it is my story. I'm in no way adverse to advice or suggestions, but saying that you're 'fucking pissed' is not the way to go about that! You're not offering ways that I could better the story, you're just berating it because you don't like a few certain aspects of it! If you want the story to go in a certain direction, suggest ways to make it go in that direction. If I don't like them, I'll say no, and you'll either have to live with it or write your own goddamn story, fuckmuffin. Don't turn into a whiny little shit just because something hasn't gone your way.

dregus: No, that isn't the case. The Rin'negan is a dormant bloodline, so while Naruto does have it, he can't use it unless he has the Kyuubi's Nine Tails Chakra Mode to go with it. The vampire transformation has nothing to do with it. He won't get those eyes back until Kyuubi returns.

Noctus of the Thousand Blades: To be entirely honest with you, I haven't fully decided. I know I want it to be at some point before the showdown with Sasuke and Tobi, which in turn is before the showdown with Kuyou. I only ask that you be patient and bear with me and my inability to plan out a plot beforehand.

And finally, to everyone who so far has complained about the fact that I have made Naruto weaker, or that I used the same idiot Naruto from canon, or anything like that.

In the beginning of this story, yes, Naruto was most probably weaker than I had hoped he would be. I had not been writing for a great deal of time, and even now I fall into a few of the pitfalls that I was highly prone to at that time. I was following along with canon far too much, which is why I wanted to change so many things in the more recent chapters. I don't want this to be a parallel to canon. You would not believe how many times I have considered going back and rewriting each of those earlier chapters, but I don't want to do that until this story has reached a point where I can safely do that without disrupting anything. Besides that, Naruto isn't fighting ninja anymore. Ninja are cold, battle-hardened warriors who would not hesitate to kill their enemy if they got the chance. In this story, he is fighting children. Children who, arguably, are far weaker than himself. He doesn't want to kill anyone, so yes, he's toned himself down. He's not going to bust out Rasenshuriken or something like that every chance he gets, so if that's what you're looking for then frankly you are reading the wrong story. Secondly, yes, I am using canon Naruto. Why? Because Naruto isn't mine. I don't want a massively OOC Naruto, because doing so would defeat the point of making a crossover! Every character has their flaws, but to rewrite them is to make them so goddamn perfect that they might as well be OCs and Mary Sues! Mary Sues by themselves are horrid, but making them out of actual canon characters? That's just fucking bullshit. I'll be sticking with the Naruto I have. He's become one of the most popular anime/manga characters of all time, warts and all, so he can't possibly be that bad. Another thing that people are complaining about is the fact that I had him lose so easily against Sasuke and Tobi. Well, for starters, he is still hoping to bring Sasuke back to Konoha. He still thinks of him as a friend. That's why he didn't sudden blow up and go all out against him when they fought. That alone led to him almost losing, if Kyuubi hadn't intervened. But while Kyuubi was solely focused on beating Sasuke, Tobi hit her with a sneak attack. YOU CAN'T BLOCK AGAINST SOMETHING WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW IT'S THERE. Well, unless you're Accelerator. But not everyone's that awesome. Finally, this one person complained about the fact that they removed Kyuubi too quickly. Of all the inane things to bitch about. Which bijuu was this that they removed from a jinchuuriki with little to no chakra? Because as I see it, there hasn't been a single jinchuuriki that wasn't a highly powerful ninja with large chakra reserves. Sure, a couple of them have been nuke-nin, not affiliated with a village anymore, but that should mean they're more powerful than the average shinobi. Besides, that was the point of having him fight Sasuke first, so he exhausted his average chakra and there was nothing left in him but the Kyuubi to remove.

I do so sincerely apologise if I'm coming across as aggressive. I don't mean to be, and really I accept constructive criticism. I just don't enjoy being criticised without a basis for it. People complain about the most stupid things, and I just can't help but get pissed off by it. Please, if you're going to say something negative about this story, suggest a way to fix it! Otherwise, I'd probably prefer you kept it to yourselves. Oh, and don't be a massive dick by reviewing just to say that you're going to stop reading or some shit like that. Nobody wants to see that crap, man, it's just disrespectful. I try to pour everything I have into these stories, and I get people just randomly telling me that they're fed up with me, they hate my writing and they're not going to read anymore. I really don't need to read that shit! My mental and emotional state is fucked up enough as it is without it! So please, for Jenova's sake, have a heart.