Elizabeth's Perspective

"While it is quite nice to see two students get along so well, I'm afraid that I need to ask you to leave, Ms. Shirayuki. I need to administer a health examination, and you can't be here for that," I said with a disgruntled tone despite how heartwarming and entertaining it was to watch a confession.

Another shipment of blood bags was delayed from Fairy Tale. While one or two shipments wouldn't have been that bad, the frequency was quite alarming. How exactly was the business able to survive despite how shoddy their performance was? There had to have been other companies with which we could get our supplies from. The Headmaster must know this, but why does he continue to put his faith in Fairy Tale? Was it simply because he is acquainted with the Shuzen family?

In any case, I had to analyze young Tsukune here. While I had my suspicions that he was human, those were just passing thoughts. The fact that they were true was quite concerning. The way he moved his injured arm so early only made me more worried.

After Ms. Shirayuki left despite her hesitations, I began my examination.

"Okay, Tsukune, while I would like to ask you why you didn't find it prudent to inform me of your 'condition', we have more pressing issues. What have you exactly done to improve the condition of you arm? Considering that you are a human, that type of recovery should have been physically impossible for you," I pressed with a stern face to get my worry across.

To this, the boy just scratched his head as he tried to come up with a reasonable answer.

"Just say what you think you did. Tell me everything you think is relevant because it just might. Just don't try to lie. I need to know what you are doing so that I can assess whatever damage you have done."

This earned me a rather annoyed response.

"I wasn't going to lie. I just have no clue as to how my arm is getting better so quickly."

I could only sigh at this. This made my job a little bit harder since the person in question doesn't even know what he is doing to fix himself. I shouldn't have been surprised though. He was just a student and I highly doubted that he had too much skill or knowledge in the medical field. The lack of attempts to treat his fractured ribs was a clear indicator of that fact.

Even had he had a background in the medical field, it would have been limited to the standard procedures done by humans. He would have no real introduction to the application of yoki to increase healing or physical abilities. There was too little time for him to have learned how to make potions let alone brew any potions that could be used in treatment.

He would have no means to know how he was healing so rapidly.

With no other options, I had but one way to get to the bottom of this.

"Let's take it from the top then. Have you been experimenting with any other medicine than what I have given you? Also stop taking any, including the ones that I had initially prescribed to you. Those weren't meant for humans."

"Unless the cafeteria lady has been drugging my food, I have not been taking anything that you haven't prescribed to me. As for the medicine, do you think that it could have contributed to the healing?" the boy responded and ended with a somewhat hopeful response.

"Listen close and listen well, Tsukune. You need to stop taking the medicine. I can almost guarantee that the medicine isn't helping you in the least bit. I would even bet that it should have either slowed down your recovery and may possibly have other side effects."

The boy, despite the gravity of his situation, showed his curious side.

"Could you explain how?"

I could only give him a look that screamed, "Really? You're going to question advice that could and would save your life?"

"It might help me avoid doing something similarly stupid, and it might help us solve the mystery behind my recovery," he just said sheepishly.

I acquiesced to his curiosity because he had at least given a decent point. I didn't have a clue what he was doing. He might have other things synergize with the medicine for all I knew.

"Remember what I told you about D-rank monsters and S-rank monsters in regards to how they applied yoki?" I asked and paused so that he could confirm whether or not he had taken my lesson to heart. When he did, I continued with, "The concept of the painkillers I gave you involves a similar principle. We added yoki into the medicine. The increase in yoki when consumed would promote recovery. This is similar to how S-rank and D-rank monsters use yoki to improve their own physical abilities.

But the source of the benefits is also the source of the problems. The means of adding yoki into another via medicine is highly unrefined. This would simulate how a D-rank monster would use the energy to give themselves a bower boost. Overdosing on the medicine would cause an increase in aggression since the excess would affect your mind. This normally isn't too much of a problem for monsters for several reasons that I won't go into.

The one that is pertinent to you, however, is that you don't naturally have yoki in your body. As a result, your body doesn't have a really efficient means to process the energy. Thus, the energy provided doesn't give you any benefits because you can't use it. But, the youki is still present and can act somewhat... corrosive. It will influence your mind by eroding who you are. It will corrupt you by bringing out your more negative emotions. The more you take, the worse the symptoms become."

At this, a light seemed to click with young Tsukune. He must have already noticed some of those feelings popping up already, which royally pissed me off since I now knew that he was taking quite a bit of the painkillers/medicine to have already felt the effects. Why did no one every follow the prescription on the bottle. I figured that Tsukune would have been smart enough not to take more especially since he had to assume that I had believed that he was human when I gave it to him. Guess I figured wrong.

Allowing my annoyance to come forth in the discussion, I asked, "Is there anything you would like to confess, Tsukune?"

"Such as?" the boy asked with a curious expression on his face.

"Such as ignoring the prescription on the side of the bottle?" I asked with a huff.

My assumption was apparently wrong. His expression just revealed that he hadn't even considered such an idea would work. He basically thought that my idea was idiotic, which it was, but I had thought he was the one who had been going through with it.

"Liz-sensei, I may not know much about how medicine works, but it would be pretty stupid trying to overdose on anything that a doctor or nurse would give me The idea is even more suicidal since I was under the assumption that the medicine you gave me was designed for monsters rather than humans. The fact that I even took the medicine in the first place was a stupid gamble that just happened to pay off. I haven't even been taking the full dose out of fear that it would kill me due to whatever biological difference there is between humans and monsters."

"Then why do you have an expression that screams that you knew what I was talking about. It gave me the impression that you had been experiencing the symptoms first hand," I questioned with a rather confused expression for I was curious as to what his light bulb meant. I was also curious as to whether or not Tsukune had figured out the reason behind his recovery. He was quite clever and could at least make educated guesses.

"I have noticed that recently that I have been thinking more negatively. For some reason, I had been experiencing more doubts and fear than I would usually feel. I probably have been more angry as well, but I had initially just swept those moments away as... a simple build up of stress from my daily life. After you had mentioned that yoki could be the source of these issues as well as my rapid healing_"

"Tsukune, it can't help you because your body can't process yoki into something useful. It should have retarded your grow as well given that yoki can damage your body if unprocessed," I responded irritably since whatever solution he had come up clearly ignored what I had told him.

But my irritation did not sway him as he simply continued on his train of thought.

"You forget that you told me that the process of using yoki is unrefined, thus giving patients such as myself these symptoms. I was wondering if there was someway to artificially inject me with something to potentially refine the process. Would it be possible for another monster to give me the ability to refine the yoki and actually use it?" Tsukune said with a somewhat worrying glint in his eyes.

Was Tsukune ingesting someone's flesh and/or bodily fluids? That cannot be. He's a human. The idea of barbarically eating one of his peers wouldn't exactly be something normal. It should sound extremely vile to him given how human society would cringe at the very thought. Hell, monsters would even bat an eye at the very scene. It wasn't something that was normal.

But since when was Tsukune ever normal? He had even threatened to consume one of the members of the PSC for trying to detain him. While somewhat justified, it's not exactly something someone sane would come up with. Yet he had come up with the idea when he was pressured. It was something he had come up with and used to help him out of a pickle. Was he actually capable of doing such a thing?

If he were not affected by the yoki, then there would be no chance. Tsukune was a good boy, but he had mentioned that

While a doubtful outcome, Tsukune was a survivor.

If it could help him survive, he might just take it.

"Why do you ask that, Tsukune?" I asked hesitantly to confirm whether or not my suspicions were true.

"I noticed that many of my doubts, fears, and angers were removed from my mind when Moka-san drank some of my blood."

So Tsukune is not a cannibal... yet.

"She's the vampire, correct?"

"That she is."

"I can see why the yoki would not interfere with your mind as much then. If she were sucking your blood, then she would be consuming the yoki. But I don't see how this is relevant to your recovery."

"Is it possible that during the process that some of her saliva would remain in my blood? Just long enough that it would be able to use up any of the leftover yoki and fix my arm?"

That was an interesting theory. Ms. Akashiya was a vampire, so her entire body would naturally be inclined to refine yoki. It could conceivably do what Tsukune proposed. Vampires are also known for their vitality aside from their simple strength. The enzymes in her saliva could potentially do the job, but would it have no side effects? Vampires also fed on the life force found in the blood.

I know that if Tsukune was given blood, the transfusion had an extremely high percent of killing him or turning him into a ghoul due to the high levels of digestive enzymes and yoki. If the blood did that, what could the saliva possibly do? The enzymes for consuming the blood and the yoki are definitely lower in levels in the saliva, but it would be introduced to an area where it would thrive. Would the concentrations in the saliva breach the threshold?

That is doubtful since Tsukune was exhibiting the therapeutic effects. Maybe the efficacious dose was much lower than the_

My thoughts were interrupted when Tsukune asked, "I'm not going to turn into a vampire for this am I?"

Without too much thought, I responded with, "Almost impossible, but you are treading in water with this. I don't have too much information pertaining to such a ludicrous theory given how your situation should never have shown up, but I think your idea was plausible. The saliva could... No. It is the most likely cause for your recovery. Without it, your arm would never recover. It's just a testament of how hardy a vampire is since even there spit can instill life into another. It's just that... I don't know what to recommend in this situation."

Tsukune just raised his brow over my dilemma. He probably just thought that there couldn't have been a downside to the healing factor. He was just told that he wasn't going to turn into a vampire, and he had very little else to feel worried about. The question was how to break it to him.

As the wait time for the response got longer, Tsukune eventually came to his own conclusion.

"What will the saliva do to me?"

"I'm not sure. I'm just going off on a limb here... So just take that into consideration. Vampires, in the past, have given their blood to others that they had deemed worthy so as to invite them into their clan. It was a honor and test of sorts. If the non-vampire successfully transformed into a vampire, they were deemed worthy. This is the basis of your more modern legends. Your more archaic one though... They are based on what usually occurred whenever a vampire gave blood."

It was at this point that my patient appeared nervous as the implications started to sink in.

I continued onwards.

"Most of them turned into ghouls. The sheer amount of yoki injected into them turned them into mindless beasts. It overwhelmed them to the point that not even a D-rank monster would ever reach. It completely shattered their mind and only left them their desire to feed and fight. And this is where my concerns starts kicking in.

I have no idea of your tolerance to yoki is, and I have no idea as to what makes up the vampire's saliva. For all I know, the saliva could prove to have similar results on you as the blood has on monsters. I believe that some of your legends also make indications that just a simple bite was enough to convert humans into vampires or ghouls. It's honestly a very huge risk, but with no indication of the chances.

You clearly have not shown any such symptoms, and have even shown to have benefitted from such a treatment. So I have no idea as to what to recommend for you."

"So I could be driven insane and go on a bloodthirsty rampage should Moka-san's saliva prove too much for me to handle," The boy asked with a somewhat calm face plastered on his head.

Not sure with what he was getting at, I simply answered yes.

"And I will go insane with negative emotions should I not have someway to dispose of the excess yoki entering my body," he continued.

"Not quite. If you keep ingesting yoki without a way to release it, you will go mad."

"I see... If I were to somehow control the amount of saliva entering my body during the feeding?"

"Well there is always a therapeutic dose and a toxic dose in medicine. If you could pinpoint the amount of saliva needed to fix you up based on the amount of damage your body sustained, then you could conceivably figure out a means to avoid a terrible fate," I said with a rather sarcastic tone.

"I wasn't asking if it was stupid, Liz-sensei. I was asking if it were possible," I continued with a rather stern expression.

It was this expression that scared me. It told me that he wasn't playing games and was serious. He was willing to sacrifice quite a bit to ensure that he had a way to heal himself. He wanted something and wasn't going to take no for an answer. Tsukune was showing the trait that had allowed humans to expand so much in such a short time.

"Tsukune, we don't have any data that could help you figure out what would be safe. Using yourself as a guinea pig is just_" I tried to say to snap him out of his suicidal path, but to no avail.

Tsukune had just interjected, "And if I don't try something as stupid as this, I leave myself at risk of being attacked. Just recently, a troll tried to kill me so that he would have the honor of beating the 'strongest'. He tried to take the title unfairly because he knew that people were going to gun after me when I am most vulnerable. There is someone in the shadows watching me to see if they can bring me down. That doesn't even bring into account that people will start noticing when my arm doesn't heal. After a certain point, not doing anything to try to heal my arm would be a guaranteed way to end my life.

And that's something I cannot afford to do. If I can't use this way to heal my arm, could you please point me in another direction? Any possible way other than asking Mikogami-san for help."

"Why not the Headmaster?" I asked rather quickly.

Wouldn't the boy have sought help from him first? He was the reason why Tsukune was here, and the Dark Lord had invested so much interest in him. It would make sense that Tsukune should have been able to seek help or advice from him. What was exactly going on?

"I signed a contract with the devil," he said with a rather discomforted look.

That was quite the accurate statement given both his situation and who the Headmaster was. But would the Dark Lord really have revealed his monster identity to Tsukune? Sure Tsukune was his guinea pig, but that was probably all he was to him. Tsukune would have no means to pull that bit of information from him. And I highly doubted that too many others knew the truth and would be willing to reveal such information. It just wasn't something too many people could find out.

Hold those thoughts. Tsukune may have been smart, but he's still only a high school student. I'm just too caught up with the idea that he was some all knowing or all powerful being. I had to be overthinking things. It likely was just a human phrase.

Taking my silence as some form of acceptance, Tsukune continued.

"Is there anything that could potentially fix my arm?" Tsukune somewhat pleaded.

Despite how the next few sentences went against my creed as a nurse, I had to confirm something.

"Why do you so desperately wish for this cure?"

"Isn't that obvious? I don't exactly have the luxury of dying," Tsukune responded with an indignant expression.

"Luxury? So you have something left to do? I need to know this, Tsukune. Depending on you answer... Well your smart enough to figure it out," I said while biting my cheek.

"Because I have people that I care for and they care for me. Dying now would be something unforgiveable," he stated with an honest and pure look.

"You make it sound like it didn't matter before."

"Because it didn't."

"Explain!" I commanded as something didn't sit well with me.

Tsukune just laughed and laughed.

"I told you not. I signed a deal with the devil. I got what I wanted. I got to see this new world. In exchange, I could disappear completely. I could be wiped from existence."

I see. So it's like that. Tsukune was already a dead man from the start. He just found a reason to live, and that's why he so desperate now.

Fortunately for him, his reason to live was for others rather than himself.

"From where I am from, there is a large lake capable of washing away all impurities that afflict the body. It is the home of my master, and she has the ability to fix your body. But, she is not exactly the most friendly of spirits. She harbors a rather extreme hatred to those who wish to take for themselves. Even with my recommendation, it would be difficult to acquire even a single drop of the water to heal anyone. I'm not quite sure how you stand in comparison to her standards, but I will try my best to convince her to give you some medicine. Just don't get your hopes up," I stated rather sadly.

"That's better than any other options that we have. I'm really sorry for imposing you on this. While I would be extremely grateful should you succeed, just don't push it. I would hate to see you fall out of favor with your master for trying to help me."

"Your a good kid you know that?"

But would that be enough to convince her.

Author's Note(s)

1: If you enjoy how this story has been going so far and want to see more, favorite and follow. Please leave a review on things that you liked or things that you think that I could improve on. I do read the reviews to see how I could improve the story.

2: This chapter didn't have too much going on in it. It was more of a character developmet of both the OC and Mikogami with a little discussion on Tsukune's healing, but I hoped it wasn't too boring compared to the others. Mainly trying to build on a couple ideas so that Tsukune would have a bit more information to make his decisions on as well as reveal more on how Tsukune views the Dark Lord himself.

3: A main focus on this chapter was to impart information to Tsukune that he could in fact heal himself by receiving a transfusion of blood from Moka if he were willing to risk both his sanity and life in the process.

4: I will very likely rewrite this chapter after posting several more in the future. Hopefully I will net a fair amount of reviews that will aid me in the process of editing. If the initial reviews are negative, I'll try to fix the chapter to make it better. If the reviews just say that it was another info dump... it was needed so that it wouldn't interrupt any future scenes.

5: For those that are curious, I would classify a ghoul as a G-rank monster despite how dangerous it would be due to how it almost has no mind of its own other than to kill.

6: Won't be back for a while since I still need to finish school. Home stretch!

7: Changed the story title to The Human's Mind because I decided that should I ever be able to finish the fic, it would become a trilogy.