Chapter 7: The Battle Of Witch's Knoll

The air was cool, the streets were alive with lights from the street as people milled about at the hour. All of this was observed by a lone figure perched at the edge of the roof of a three storey building. Clad in a black and blue hoodie, faded ripped jeans and white sneakers the figure had a leg up resting his hand on his knee while the other leg dangled over the edge. His head bobbed lightly to the sound of music blared through the speakers of the headphones resting around his neck even as he took a bite of a half finished popsicle.

"Hmm" he hummed with his eyes closed while enjoying the flavor.

Soon his eyes snapped open, cold as the treat in his hand and just as blue yet revealing a curiosity that has been piqued. The song abruptly stopped as he regarded something too far to be seen, his ears wiggled a little and finally his eyes narrowed in concentration.

"What the…" he trailed then his eyes widened before settling normally.

His attention redirected to a smart phone to see the time, '8:57 PM' it said.

"Hm" he looked back before making a decision, stuffing the rest of the Popsicle in his mouth he stood dusting his pants back.

Putting away his phone he took out the blue stained wood from his mouth and blew out a literal wisp of cold air.

"Looks like it's going to be one of those days" he said looking the sky which showed a partially covered full moon.

\

What was he expecting when he fished the ghost from the girl? Well to be honest Tsukune wasn't thinking so much as he just…went with it though he would assume the fight to go a little smoother since obviously the ghost was in possession of Ruby because she was a witch right? There was no other reasonable explanation as to why she would possess the girl other than for her magic, right? So with that in mind getting her out of her source of power should have made the fight go in his favor, right?

Wrong.

*ZAP*

So very, horribly wrong.

"We need to do something" a disheveled glowing eyed Kyouko said.

"We should stick to the plan" Tsukune said absentmindedly while firing off more ectoblasts.

"What plan? We've done nothing but destroy these things to no effect."

"And we're still alive"

If he had a working respiratory system Tsukune is pretty sure he would be panting right now, as it stood he just felt tired while zipping through the night sky shooting away at the tangle of vines and vine-monsters gunning for him and his possessed cousin. A valiant effort, between his ecto-blasts and his sensei's skills they probably cut a swath through the entire field by now.

It made absolutely no difference and while they were getting weary, the number of plant warriors had increased with no sign of stopping. To make matters worse, the quality of the plants summoned took on a ghostly element as they glowed slightly. Tsukune didn't get the point at first but that was before he tried going intangible and got smacked around anyway.

It didn't help that the ghostly woman was practically encased in the stuff, creating an impenetrable barrier of vines.

'Wait, where is she!?'

She was gone but whe-

*Gasp*

In his bewilderment Tsukune made the mistake of stopping, he paid for it immediately. The ghost appeared before him, her staff extended and before Tsukune knew it, he had been hit by something.

His joints locked up in pain and a blood curdling scream tore from his throat. Through his hazy pained mind he recognized what was happening, already the urge to revert to his human state came over him.

"Your struggles are futile" she spoke.

"TSUKUNE!" He heard his cousin's voice scream.

His own voice became hoarse and with another exhale the white rings washed over him, returning him to normal.

The ghost woman grinned "now you are mine"

"No!" 'Kyouko rushed through the horde towards the boy hanging limply in a tangle of vines.

She didn't get far before being overwhelmed by the mere force of the plant creatures. The overshadowed teen ended up being tangled spread eagle by several vines that coiled around places that, if he were a girl would have made it an embarrassing experience. As it stood it was just uncomfortable and painful.

The woman turned to the girl "As for you, I have no need for a human" she spat and the tendrils began trying to pull her apart.

That is until a voice interrupted "m-master?"

Momentarily losing concentration the ghostly Witch turned to the source of the sound. Wide red eyes stared in disbelief at the figure floating.

"Ah, my apprentice"

Ruby Tojo stared wide eyed at the floating entity that was her master who looked exactly as she remembered except this...person had sickly looking green skin and seemed to be outlined in an ethereal glow reminiscent of...

'That boy' she saw the limp body of the boy being suspended by the vines.

"W-whats going on?" she held her head, recent memories were fuzzy.

"Nothing you need to worry about Ruby" the woman answered "I was only getting rid of the trash" she glared at the pair.

Ruby looked at them as well, she knew the boy but had no idea about the girl 'how did I get here' she held her head trying to draw something from her memories but ultimately came up mostly blank with some vague recollection.

She shook her head to dispel those thoughts as she gazed upon her mentor. Another important question "what happened to you?"

This was not the woman she had known her entire life, it looks as if-

"She's a ghost!"

Red eyes looked into brown as Tsukune panted and continued "she was possessing your body until I pushed her ou-UURGH!" he wheezed as the vines tightened around him.

"Silence!"

"I-it can't be" Ruby stared wide eyed at her Mistress"

"It's true" Kyouko spoke then grunted "she's…a malevolent spirit… that has been feeding off of your life…force…" that was all she said as the vines wrapped around their mouth.

"Don't listen to them Ruby"

But the damage was already done 'a malevolent spirit' she repeated.

"Agh!" a flare of pain shot through her mind.

A younger Ruby stood before her frail mistress, her body looked withered and her breaths came in weezes until…nothing.

'I remember' she looked upon her mentor or rather the ghost of her mentor 'mistress is dead'

She remembered it, she remembered her frail mentor who had been confined to a chair for weeks on end due to illness. They couldn't find any magical solutions for her illness and without a cure she became weaker until finally succumbing to it.

The look of realization told the ghost witch all she needed to know "Ruby…"

A chill went down said girl's spine, no the temperature was somehow colder. Both girls looked around as a fog rolled around, slowly at first but it became thicker with time and the temperature dropped to the point where Ruby could see her breath.

"What is this?" the elder witch said looking around.

*Woosh*

*Splat*

Two heads spun around just in time to see a group of the plant warriors explode in a mess of gore, they did not regenerate. Before she could so much as say a word about all around them similar things began to occur and the fog got thick to the point where it was getting hard to see.

"Show yourself!" the Witch screamed.

*Woosh*

She saw something sail through the air in her direction, instinctively she covered her face and heard several thunks. When the vines receded she saw what hit her and she couldn't believe it, they were kunai knives…made of pure ice.

"No"

*Growl*

Her gaze snapped to the side and the last thing she saw was claws and she was knocked out of the sky like a comet.

To Tsukune and the possessed Kyouko she simply disappeared from sight 'what was that?'

"Master-ahh!" Ruby was the second one to vanish.

A moment later Tsukune felt his bonds become loose but before he could gain his bearings he was swept away so fast he didn't even realize he moved from the spot until he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground.

"Ow~"

Feeling disoriented and a little nauseous he didn't get up immediately, rather he rolled onto his back "what hit me?"

"Sorry about the rough treatment"

That…that was not Kyouko's voice nor his sensei's or even Ruby's for that matter. Not unless Sensei lost his dialect and the girls suddenly developed a man's voice. So looking around for the owner to which Tsukune guessed was a man but imagine his surprise when instead of a man he saw his possessed cousin being laid down by a giant anthropomorphic wolf.

The wolf gave him a nod "sup?"

…so it finally happened then? He didn't think it would be so soon and he thought being exposed to a pair of witches, one who just so happens to be a ghost it wouldn't happen but it did.

Yep no doubt about it.

'I have officially lost my mind'

Kyouko sat up looked at the wolf then Tsukune and then the fog covered garden "are you the one responsible for that?"

Unbelievably the wolfman spoke in a laid back tone "yeah, I spied a little of your fight before and from experience I know that plants don't work very well under too cold conditions"

"I see"

How could Sensei not be the least bit perturbed by a talking wolfman!?

'Because he's a 100 year old ghost in the body of a 17 year old girl?'

…oh.

Tsukune finally stood and regarded the wolfman warily. Crystal blue eyes regarded him with an aloofness that was different from what he saw when he was looking at Kyouko.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little tired" Tsukune couldn't help answer.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, why?"

"You're acting like you've never seen an Ice Wolf before?"

"Um…actually no I haven't" he said honestly with a helpless shrug.

"Oh?"

"What is an Ice Wolf?" Sensei couldn't help but ask.

"A Werewolf and Yuki Onna hybrid."

Three heads turned to see Ruby sitting in a corner hugging herself not staring at anything in particular. Tsukune didn't have any particular experience with trauma but even he could see that the expression on her face was of someone whose world had just crumbled around them.

"Ruby…"

The girl jumped a little at the unexpected shout, she didn't expect that nor did she expect the concerned look but whatever he was about to say got caught and he could only mouth something before going tight lipped. Ruby stared for a while before she hugged her knees and stared at the ground with a far-off look.

Tsukune looked to his other compatriots with a helpless look that screamed 'what do I do?'

"We cannot defeat the ghost without her help" he advised through Kyouko.

Another look at the slightly rocking girl had him wince "I don't think that's a good idea" he mumbled.

'Besides he can keep the temperature low enough we might have a chance.'

"I don't think we have a choice" the cool response had them look to the Ice Wolf who looked off in the distance.

All around the sunflower patch scores of Hanabakes emerged from the soil and started converging to a point. There was a bright flash of light followed by the emergence of what they could only describe as a giant plant monster easily surpassing ten stories in height with four arms and multiple giant Hakabane heads sprouting from its shoulders and torso.

The collassal beast roared but it was the witch's voice that was heard "HAHAHAHA, WITH THIS POWER, I WILL WIPE OUT THE ENTIRE CITY. HUMANITY THE STAIN OF NATURE CAN ALL GO DIE!"

And to his horror she started making a b-line to the city at a slow pace.

Tsukune spread his arms out "…now what?"

"N-no…" the sound made them turn to see Ruby stagger towards the edge with tears brimming at the corner of her eyes "why…master why did you use that spell?"

"Ruby" Tsukune shook her "what just happened, how is she like…that?"

With tears trailing from her eyes she glanced at the woman formerly known as her master "i-it's a sacrificial spell the Youmagahshin. It allows the caster to fuse their body with other organisms and take on their properties."

Sweat pooled around Tsukune as he looked at monster gaining a ghostly quality "how do we stop it?"

At this point Tsukune was the only thing keeping her upright "i-it c-cant be undone once casted, the user is permanently combined with whatever they fused with."

"There has to be a way!" Tsukune pleaded looking directly into her eyes.

"I-no…unless" she looked to the side at her wand "the wand…our magic is disrupted if our wands are destroyed."

"Will that work?" Sensei asked but got a reply from the Ice-wolf.

He was answered by the Ice wolf "it's all we have to go on" he looked up "we'll have to hurry, we're losing moonlight."

Tsukune nodded "alright, stay here"

He didn't get the chance to fully turn as a hand clamped on his shoulder "you can't beat her, you'll die"

"Maybe" Tsukune swallowed "but there's no way I can just stand by and watch" he turned to Sensei "stay here Sensei, I don't want Kyouko to get hurt."

Sensei looked conflicted for a while before 'she' dropped to her knees in a Seiza position "very well"

"All we have to do is destroy her wand?" Tsukune asked to confirm.

"Master uses her tome as a conduit though" Ruby muttered.

"Good to know" he nodded and turned to the odd one out of the four "are you going to help me?"

The wolf looked at him blankly before shrugging "sure why not, I like humans"

Somehow those words filled Tsukune with hope 'at least monsters aren't like them'

Maybe, it could be species thing, witches hate humans but Ice wolves don't.

He shook his head and looked off into the distance, at their target and with a flash of white rings Tsukune transformed gaining a surprised look from the hybrid youkai 'huh, never seen that before'

"Let's go" with those words they were off, Tsukune flying off at the speed of a race car and the Ice wolf seemingly blitzing off in a burst of frost.

There was a moment of silence before the elderly ghost came out of Kyouko's body and caught her before she could fall.

"If they manage to destroy her tome what would happen?"

"T-the transformation will be reversed because the conduit allwing her magic would cease to exist but since she is part of the magic the backlash could be…fatal" she swallowed thickly.

Sensei held Kyouko bridal style as he regarded the girl "but she is already dead, so it wouldn't necessarily destroy" he reminded.

Ruby flinched "y-yes" she honestly didn't want to think about that right now.

"In the likely case that she is not destroyed you will have to deal with her"

"M-me?"

"Yes, you are the only one here prepared to deal with a ghost" she bit her lip in indecision "I-I"

"That woman, whoever she was to you is dead" he interrupted bluntly "she has died a long time ago and the only thing that is left is her grudge against humanity. An obsession so deep that it prevented her from moving on into the afterlife and turned her into nothing more than a malignant spirit"

He looked out onto the ongoing battle where ectoblasts and ice shards were being thrown around "are you willing to leave her like this?"

The mist was especially thick around that area and he could see the creatures have slowed considerably. Ruby could see the madness in her former master's eyes and it brought tears to her eyes that the woman who had mentored her for most of her life had been reduced to this. With a solemn nod her eyes hardened despite the tears and six crow wings unfurled from her back.

\

Both men shot off with the ice wolf clearing the distance faster and get its attention first. With surprising speed the ghost witch smashed the ground with him seemingly under it. A green light alerted her to Tsukune charging two orbs of ecto-energy before tossing them directly at her. Two thick viney hands were raised to block the explosive power successfully but it distracted her long enough for the ice wolf to appear before her and strike at her.

Suddenly he slowed at the last minute and it threw off his trajectory and instead of hitting the tome he slashed half her face off. For a moment both the wolf and Tsukune's eyes widened in horror. Then several vines pierced under his skin, effectively ruining the moment as the ice wolf howled in pain.

"No!" Tsukune yelled but had to dodge a swat from the massive hand.

She licked her lips staring at the trapped wolf "I have you now. Give me your power"

"Gah!" he yelped but continued to struggle "ugh…be careful…argh…what you…nngh…wish for" his eyes flashed arctic blue as those words escaped his lips and the air chilled.

The vines in his skin flash froze solid and he flexed easily freeing himself. Immediately he launched several thick ice shards aimed it at the witch and her tome that fired from his claws like a semi-automatic rifle. Unfortunately the mouth she resided in abruptly closed shielding her but the areas they hit started icing over until it was shut.

Before the witch could properly mitigate the damage Tsukune phased through several vines holding a beach ball sized orb of ecto-energy that he drove through the closed mouth. There was a giant green blast followed by a bigger flash that engulfed the entire sunflower patch.

\

Ice blue eyes fluttered open to a clouded moon, his hands came to his head and he sat up with a groan 'I managed to keep my transformation going' he thought getting to his feet to survey his surroundings.

The magical backlash for all its worth didn't do that much damage. He sniffed the air getting a scent and followed it towards the mysterious youkai he allied himself with. The boy in question floated above the clearing observing the damage done, or was he looking for him? His question was answered when the boy spotted him and flew towards him.

"You're okay" he looked relieved.

"Are you?" he had to ask because the boy didn't look okay. His white hair was slightly dirtied, his jumpsuit a little scorched, not to mention he looked positively drained.

"Yeah, just a little tired" he unknowingly confirmed

The ice wolf nodded and looked around "do you think she's dead?"

The boy also looked around "I think-Gasp!"

The green mist hadn't even completely dissipated before the ice wolf shoved the boy out of the way, he was already out of the way by the time a thorny vine sprung from the earth.

'What now?' he thought as a moment later the witch appeared out of nowhere 'how?'

"You stupid brats" the witch snarled, an ethereal glow about her "you may have destroyed my tome but in my current state" she smiled "I don't need it"

As she said this more ethereal vines erupted from the earth 'how is she doing this? I can't sense any youki…it almost feels like' his eyes flickered to the white haired boy.

Tsukune met his eyes and nodded a bit before going into a fighting stance. He returned a nod and also went into a stance, crouching low. Whatever he thought of the situation was pushed back as the vines converged on them. While his ally took to the sky he disappeared from sight, circled around her flank and prepared to stab her heart.

As it was going at full speed during a full moon, time seemed to slow as he approached and drove his claws fort in a knife hand. Something happened to her body and before he comprehend what that something was he slipped through her body. He only had time to widen his eyes slightly in shock before reorienting himself midair to avoid being caught.

Luckily his ally kept her attention away for him to recover with a well placed swoop attack. Again he didn't let the distraction go to waste tried a sliding kick that swept her off her feet. His ally swooped down again driving her body into the ground with a double fisted meteor strike. He moved out the way the wolf took to the sky and let it rain ice shards, unfortunately she flew away before they hit.

A flick of her wrist had a thick plant smack the boy away before he could strike with another swoop attack but it left her momentarily open for him to slash across her back. She screamed in outrage before sending more vines after him on all sides. They froze mid strike and he effortlessly smashed them apart and rushed the witch only to be yanked back by a vine attached to his leg.

The wolf was smashed into the ground and tossed away with his body skipping across the ground.

"Ow~"

His white fur dirtied now he got in all fours in time to see his ally blindside the witch with a green blast until she flew away. He stood up again to go assist but paused when the witch began contorting in pain, Ruby along with a…flying old man.

"…huh"

Anyway he watched as Ruby did something, most likely a spell, which caused the elder witch scream in agony. Once she saw Ruby her agonized scream turned to one of betrayal until in a fascinated twist her body began to get sucked into a small container. Afterwards the girl seemed to have some kind of emotional breakdown right before his eyes.

If he were to be honest he felt a little bad for her, obviously they were close. Enough for the older witch to spare her from what he saw when he first came onto the scene. Speaking of which-

'How long have I been here?'

He looked at his watch, durable and made from an elastic material so as not to break if he were to transform.

The time read 10:14

That's an hour and fourteen minutes past the time he was supposed to return home.

'Crap'

His parents were going to kill him.

\

The adrenaline had only just begun to leave his system which unfortunately meant that the fatigue was setting in. He didn't know if his transformation worked like in the anime and took up stamina or maybe the events of the night has finally caught up to him. Even counting the training for this day it was the most physically demanding day of his life.

'How am I still awake?' a yawn escaped his lips.

"You should go home"

He wanted to agree with those words but one look at the weary, tear stained cheeks of the one who spoke had him hold his tongue.

"Are you going to be alright?"

She gave him a tired smile and held up the bottle with her master sealed inside "I need to find somewhere to put this and rebuild "

The last words had Tsukune gaze around before wincing "I'm sorry"

"It is not your fault Tsukune, this…this was a losing battle in the first place" she scoffed "my master thought she would be able to fight it like death but it's inevitable."

"What are you saying?" Tsukune was a little loss about what the 'it' was in this conversation.

She took a shuddering breath "I'm saying I can't continue what my master started, fighting a one woman war against humanity. It will only lead to what you see around us, destruction."

Even Tsukune understood the implications and while he was glad he wouldn't have to worry about her he remembered that they were only trying to protect their home, as misguided as they were.

"What's going to happen to this place?"

"There are a number of spells I know of that could be used to influence the mind and deter others from this place. It is what witches did and still do to remain hidden from the public. I don't have to literally fight off every human that comes across this place. Master knew of such spells but she chose to fight, she let the anger consume her and even after she died, she never stopped" she shook her head "I can't do that Tsukune I won't let it consume me like it did her"

"Ruby-"

"I'm tired" she said warily "it's late and I want to sleep."

He bit his lip and nodded "alright um, I have to pick up Kyouko" he trailed off a little, Ruby's expression made him uncomfortable, it was like looking into the eyes of a middle aged person whose overworked themselves.

The two teens flew towards the gothic house, both were exhausted physically and emotionally. They didn't expect to hear a scream coming from said house.

"Kyouko!" Tsukune blasted off with Ruby not far behind.

He flew through the door ready to defend his cousin only to duck as book came sailing overhead and hit the spot where Ruby appeared a second later.

"What is going on?"

"Uh…" Tsukune could only stare dumbfounded at the site. Sensei was standing-well floating in the room with a patient expression as Kyouko continued to scream and throw whatever was available at him, not seeming to notice that every object thrown passed harmlessly through him.

"Kyouko stop!"

The teen froze with a wooden chair above her head and stared, along with the old ghost there was another one with white hair, emerald eyes, pale skin.

"W-who are you?"

Tsukune took a deep breath "Sensei could you"

The old man looked between the cousins before nodding "I will trust you to handle this" then the old ghost disappeared leaving the three teens by themselves.

Ruby chose to remain on the sidelines while Tsukune floated to his fearful cousin and in a flash of twin rings reverted to his human form. If he was tired in his ghost form then right now he was a few breaths away from collapsing.

"Tsuki?"

"Yeah" he breathed out "hey Kyo-chaAGH!"

"You're okay!"

Tsukune frankly didn't have the energy to push her off of him, as a matter of fact he could sleep nuzzled up to her developing chest pillows like this.

"I thought that girl did something to you"

Okay now he was awake again "how did you get here?"

"I saw when you were getting kidnapped by" she paused as her gaze lingered behind him.

Uh-oh

"YOU!" she twisted their bodies so that her younger sibling was behind her.

Ruby shuffled nervously under the intense protective glare the human sent her.

"Kyo-chan"

"Stay back Tsukune!"

"I don't mean you any harm" Ruby said holding up her hand which also happened to have her staff.

"Like I'm going to believe that!" she snarled "you beat up and kidnapped my cousin!"

Ruby winced at that, she could say she was possessed but in all honesty the lines blurred for that particular decision.

"I can explain-"

"I don't want to hear it" Kyouko snapped "just leave alone you freak"

"Kyouko!"

"What!?" she spun on her cousin but froze when neon green eyes glared back at her.

"Hear her out."

That wasn't a suggestion and Kyouko swallowed then turned back to the witch "okay I want an explanation from both of you" she gave her cousin a meaningful look and he nodded.

Ruby led them to a living room of sorts and for the next hour they started explaining. Tsukune spilled everything from when he and Danny entered the portal to practicing his ghost powers, accidentally discovering Witch's Knoll, blasting Ruby, discovering Sensei up until when he discovered Ruby in his room and attacking her.

The silence was deafening as they all sat in the room. The silence finally broke when Tsukune cough gaining the older girls' attention.

"…so, why were you going through my underwear drawer?"

"WHAT!?"

"It's not what you think"

"You were going through Tsuki's underwear drawer?" she protectively hugged said boy who blushed.

"NO, well yes but"

"Pervert!"

Ruby's expression turned red "I am not a pervert that was…ugh. Can I explain myself please?"

"Go on"

And she did, Ruby explained about her past, how her parents were killed by a drunk driver in a hit and run. How she was taken in by her master and grown to despise humans. She spoke of how her master recently took ill and died though her spirit somehow possessed her body to carry on her will. She told them what happened after Tsukune blasted her away and escaped, how she (and by extension her master) became interested in him.

Which brings them to why she was in Tsukune's room "I tracked you back to your home by following the strange energy trail you leave behind during your transformation."

Tsukune leaned forward "energy trail?"

"Yes, yours is unique, different from what any monster I've known or researched."

"Oh"

"I tracked you to your house, actually your room and was searching the place for information on what you might be. I got your underwear drawer just as you opened the door and well…here we are."

A misunderstanding, of course it was Ruby doesn't seem like that type of girl 'maybe I should have worded that question better'

"Is there anything else?" the young witch asked.

"So the crazy ghost witch is trapped inside this thing then?"

Two sets of eyes snapped to the raven haired girl who held up the bottle in her hands 'how did she get that!?'

The bottle flew out of Kyouko's hand and rested in Ruby's outstretched one "please don't touch it. Master may still be able to influence those who do"

"And what makes you so different?"

Tsukune gave his cousin an unbelieving look even as Ruby flatly answered "I'm a witch."

"Oh"

And just like that it got awkward.

Tsukune coughed "we should head back now"

'Before you do anything else to embarrass us'

He loved his cousin he really did and most of the time she means well but sometimes she could be so…

"Wait what time is it?" she suddenly asked and his eyes widened.

He completely forgot about that.

"It's 11:17pm" Ruby supplied eyeing the clock.

Both teens shared a look, it just dawned on them that they had literally run away from home for hours on end without so much as a call to their respective parents. Both of them looked like they were in a warzone (which they were) and Tsukune hasn't gotten around to eating or showering.

Kyouko managed to sum up their situation in two words "we're dead" Kyouko said pacing "we are so dead! How are we supposed to explain this to our parents?"

They can't, not unless "we can tell them the truth"

Kyouko shared a look with him "no, just no" she shook her head and waved him off.

Tsukune winced, yeah ghosts and monsters were bad enough but if they found out he got kidnapped by a witch and had a big showdown against man eating planting and a psychotic ghost witch…it would be a little too much for her introduction into the supernatural. And that's just for his mom, he wasn't an idiot Tsukune knew full well how his father felt about his half brother's ghost obsession, he didn't want him to have a falling out with the Fentons.

Then there's the fact that it would oust Danny and who knows what his parents will do if they find out about him. No it was way too early and inconvenient for him to spring this on them.

"Excuse me" Ruby interrupted "if you want I know a few memory spells that may be able to alter perception. I can make it so that your family thinks you have been home this entire time."

Tsukune's brows furrowed, he wasn't too keen on the idea of messing with his parents' head.

"It is perfectly safe I assure you"

"You're sure?" Kyouko questioned.

"Absolutely"

She still looked hesitant but acquiesced nonetheless "alright"

\

Luckily the actual spell to influence memories wasn't something difficult, no chanting, or drawing pentagrams or complex preparations. She simply pointed her staff and shoot a spell that upon contact had his parents freeze while she relayed what she wanted them to remember. Then they shambled up the stairs to bed, she had first done it for Kyouko and lastly with Tsukune.

Now they were standing alone in the living room "thank you" he said after hearing his parents' door close.

Ruby shook her head "you don't need to thank me, it's the least I could do since its' my fault you missed dinner."

Tsukune found that he couldn't really argue with that but as she began to leave he couldn't help but say "I'll see you later Ruby-san"

The girl froze and looked over her shoulder but said nothing as she transformed into a crow and flew off. Tsukune sighed at her lack of response and closed the door.

"What a mess" he said tiredly.

He was too tired to even think of food so he shambled towards the bathroom for a late shower then dropped himself onto the bed. Idly he wondered what happened to the Ice-Wolf, like Sensei the guy seemed to have disappeared after the fighting finished.

'Oh well' he must have his reasons and Tsukune is too tired to think about it.

Still he would have at least like to thank him.

\

He flopped down onto his bed with a grunt, tonight had been the most hectic night of his life since…family reunions at his mother's village. He cringed just thinking about it, about them. At the same time he didn't particularly mind, sometimes its good to 'sharpen his claws' as his father would put it 'lest they become dull.'

He could appreciate that but what he didn't appreciate was missing his curfew and facing the ice cold wrath of his mother. At least his father managed to do damage control (as he always did) by vouching for him. It's not like he could have just let her kill those people

'Come to think of it I don't even know there names'

His mind flashed to the unconscious face of the girl. Crap now he really wished he'd introduce himself, so he could at least put a name to the face. He sighed, he really shouldn't be dwelling on it, it's not like he would meet her again. Still it's not every day you get to team up with a living ghost to fight a ghost witch and her horde of plant monsters.

'Still wished I got a name though' in the end he shrugged off the thought and closed his eyes drifting to sleep.

Even if they wouldn't meet again soon, they'll end up having to go to Youkai High anyway, so there's that.

To Be Continued…

Author's Notes: ugh, this chapter was insufferable to finish. Soak it in people this is what forced work looks like but in good taste. I may not have enjoyed writing it as much as I would like but I made sure that it's at least up to par in terms of quality. Just so we're clear I'm talking about after the fighting is done.

And now for another rant…

Another thing the author glossed over in favor of adding another girl to Tsukune's harem is the fate of Witch's Knoll. I mean technically Ruby has been fighting for it for most of her life. I just don't believe she would just abandon it to go gallivanting at Youkai High. So I'm sure she put up some contingencies before she left

Okay so I'm gonna put this out there, I don't like OC's, especially the unrealistic 'perfect' ones who are made as part of an author's wish fulfillment. Self inserting in particular is the worst of the worst and I don't read those stories on principle.

With that said Irishkatana gave me the specs for an OC and I felt like doing a fan a solid and see what happens. Plus in all honesty I think there is a severe shortage of reliable males (and males in general) in this series and I'm talking about Tsukune too don't think I'm bias.