Pairings: Kurumu/Tsukune | Mizore/Tsukune (M)| Inner Moka/Tsukune (M)

HIRED GUNS

CHAPTER 1

FLOATING GARDEN - FAIRY TALE

"There's no other way…"

Tsukune didn't know when it started, but he hated that phrase with every fiber of his existence. There was always a way. Every solution had a problem. But he was already at the end of the rope trying to find one of those 'solutions' as he chased after Moka through all of the carnage and debris. She was already hell-bent on finishing Alucard herself. There was little time left before the Hanging Garden would reach civilization. They had to crash this place in the ocean, even if it cost them their lives.

The bus driver was giving it his all in bypassing the security system of the entire fortress to commandeer it while Ginei and Haiji fought off the rest the "Black Parade". Toho Fuhai, along with Mikogami and San were busy trying to neutralize Alucard's tentacles and his sentient half, but the fucking thing just won't die.

"MOKA!" he shouted. But she didn't slow down, not even for him. Tsukune could barely catch up to her with the injuries he sustained from his fight with Gyokuro Shuzen. Things were already getting desperate as they were. But her plan of action really pushed it.

"MOKA! STOP!" he pleaded. He finally grabbed hold of her hand but she spun around and caught him in a kiss. It was the first time that their lips met. After years and years of not making any moves, it finally culminated in a kiss. He always dreamt about how soft her lips were, how she tasted. He imagined what sort of event would lead them to finally give in. Would it be on a date? Their usual mornings on the academy's roof? He never expected a battlefield of all places. Now that they finally did it, he felt…nothing. He didn't experience euphoria or any of that shit- because he knew that the nature behind her kiss didn't give any reason for him to be happy.

The pink-haired vampire pulled back, smiling tearfully before saying "I love you."

She kicked him in the face. It sent him flying to a pile of debris where his back would slam against hard concrete and rebar. The impact from his collision didn't knock him out, but it weakened him to the point that he couldn't get back up again.

She looked at him with tears streaming down her delicate face, silently begging him for forgiveness at what she was about to do.

"No…" Tsukune shook his head after realizing that she had made a firm decision.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered and ran off towards Alucard.

"MOKAAA!"

That Rosario was created by a mother to protect her daughter, a girl who would be striking out on her own one day… No matter how far apart they might be, the Rosario would always maintain that connection with her mother.

Moka got closer to Alucard's sentient part, Miyabi, dodging incoming tentacles with enough skill that could match her inner self. She kept telling herself that she was an artificial being created to protect the real her, that none of her memories of joy, laughter, and sadness actually mattered. It made it easier to let go that way. She didn't want to look at her friends… at him… for fear of hesitating to do the one thing she was created for.

Akasha has fully merged with Alucard, so there shouldn't be a speck of her consciousness left inside him. But Akasha continues to fulfill the wishes of the Rosario through the body of that monster.

Alucard was able to sense her presence- after all, they shared the same blood. A tentacle wrapped her in a death coil and lifted her up in the air. Moka struggled as the tentacles grip squeezed the air out of her lungs. Her left hand was free so she gripped the cross around her neck. And suddenly her regrets of not being able to live a life of her own made one last-ditch attempt to halt her sacrifice. 'Please don't do this' she thought. It was like the Rosario itself was trying to stop her.

Damn it! The Inner me deserves to be happy. I'm not real! I'm a damn A.I! My emotions are just a bunch of algorithms created to simulate them! So why? Why was it so hard to pull the pin?

Moka took one last look at Tsukune who was limping toward her. A bitter smile formed on her lips as she saw the man he had become. So that's why…

Inner Moka asked her one last time. Are you ready to give it all up?

"If it's to protect all of you…then… yes."

Moka removed the cross.

8 years after the Fairy Tale incident

"Have you heard?"

"What?" Mizore asked in a somewhat annoyed tone. She was lounging around her apartment wearing nothing but an over-sized shirt and her panties. As expected of a Snow Woman, the AC was at its coldest. She flopped on to the couch and propped up her voluptuous porcelain-like legs.

"Huang Fang Fang of the Huang Family apparently bought a hotel in the Roppongi District. We don't know yet if he's moving in." The voice was slightly distorted. A layman wouldn't be able to know if it was a man or a woman.

"And so…?" her voice was dripping with snark.

The person on the other side caught on to Mizore's apparent lack of interest. The voice sighed "Boss says he wants you on the team."

"What?" she was rather surprised "You know what?" there was a slight pause "I am not going to talk about work today!"

Too damn right.

"W-wait, Mizore!…"

"Oh, come on! It's my day off! I'm hanging up, bye!"

"W-wait!..."

She threw the phone on a basket of unfolded clothes and covered her eyes with her forearm. "Damn it…"

The Huang Family was connected to numerous assassinations- with victims mostly consisting of members and leaders of rival organizations. Aside from that, the family was also suspected of being involved in various weapons and artifact smuggling, as well as gambling and money laundering cases.

Yet there was no conclusive evidence to warrant action against them. Not when they have a hold of the multinational hotel conglomerate. Circumstantial evidence got them nowhere; they needed concrete proof of the acts.

Recently it was reported that the Huang Family bought a chain of hotels in Las Vegas, causing the FBI to direct its attention to the family. It gave intelligence agencies a shot at having jurisdiction if the Huang Family reveals its colors.

"And now they're making their way here."

She felt the pressure already, even though it hadn't even started.

Mizore found an unlikely calling. After graduating from Yokai Academy, she enrolled at Tokyo University and obtained a bachelor's degree. After that, she went straight to the Police Academy. She found out that her penchant for stalking had its use in a real-world setting. Though it proved difficult in the initial years, she managed to push through and become a diligent and respected agent in the National Police Agency.

She briefly tried doing undercover jobs but found that it was too difficult. Mizore didn't actually have a wide range of emotions and her life was almost put to an end after a botched entrapment operation. After that, she swore off undercover duty and went back to her specialty: surveillance. Her skill and patience proved vital to the agency and soon she was doing jobs 24/7 and even had the chance to work with the FBI in a joint operation once.

Yet she was mortal and could only take so much abuse. She requested a three-day leave of absence to gather her thoughts and to refresh her body and soul. When she was at work, she was at work. If she wasn't, may God help anyone that tried to take away her sweet time alone; except for emergencies. There's an exception to everything, right?

Her thoughts hark back to the conversation she just had.

She knew who the head of the organization was. She fought with him in battle and could even consider him a friend. But that was a long time ago. She told herself that the likelihood of a 'conflict of interest' was close to maybe five or ten percent. She just knew the guy for like a year and a half before he disappeared.

Then her thoughts ventured into topics that she hardly ever thought about.

"Is Tsukune with him?" she said aloud, not expecting a reply. She knew full well that Fang Fang had been aggressive in trying to recruit Tsukune Aono in the ranks of the Chinese Mafia. She never considered it, and plainly refused to acknowledge that there was a possibility that he would join.

Or maybe she was just in denial.

But who knows? It's been a long time since she saw him. Not since the St. Luke's Hospital Massacre in Tokyo a few years ago.

She'd heard of his exploits in the Yokai Civil War as a war hero fighting for the sake of humanity and as a sergeant of the doomed squad called "2F". He was later declared MIA after a thorough search. Mizore tried to dig up any clues to his whereabouts but soon gave up as it seemed that there was no new record of the man after his disappearance. That and her work also got in the way.

He wasn't dead. She knew that much. There was no logical explanation as to how she knew, but she just sensed that he was out there somewhere, maybe doing some good in this world.

She had a brief flashback of the nights they shared so many years ago. The snow woman's cheeks were flushed with a deep shade of red at the lewd thought.

But then it quickly turned into regret. They didn't exactly end on good terms. Adding more strain to her conscience was the fact that Tsukune himself wasn't the most 'okay' person at the time. It took her quite a while to accept the fact that she took advantage of him.

In a sense, he also used her.

She didn't know how he felt when they parted. Was he going to forget that it happened and go back to Moka? Was he going to stop her?

She still remembered the day she said goodbye and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She didn't stand a chance against Moka, and frankly, she didn't mind covering up the wounds on Tsukune's heart. She knew that it was her only chance to be with him and that it would be a once in a lifetime thing to make love to the man that was never destined to be hers.

Mizore still remembered Jack Frost's words "you will never be with Tsukune." The words were like blades lodged into her heart. Even after all those years, they still stung.

She sat back up and brushed her hair back with a hand, still flustered.

"Where the hell is that asshole?"

The thought of him had her double-check on what day it was. She went over to her little calendar on the wall. It was already April. She'd been so busy with her job that she didn't even realize that a month had already passed. She turned the page back to March where the number '8' had been encircled with a red marker. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to celebrate with you...I've just been really busy..." she traced a finger on the number, apologetic for reasons she kept to herself. Since she had three days off, she'd make time to make up for it and celebrate. It was that time of the year again, where she got all melancholic- a holdover from her successful battle with depression.

She was going to need a hard drink later.

The snow woman grabbed the remote the TV remote and flipped through a couple of channels before landing on an entertainment section of a news program.

"Critics are calling it the most 'expensive cinematic disaster ever made'. Made with a budget of 4,500,000,000 Yen, the movie titled 'Requiem: A Tale of Love and Bullets'- directed by Watanabe Kishou- premiered three months ago and has even barely recuperated half of its budget. With renowned American film critic Roger Roberts calling the film as "lackluster and overhyped" and saying that 'Not even the superb acting and total devotion of newcomer Kurumu Kurono could save this bombastic and convoluted mess'."

Mizore gulped once she heard Kurumu's name. She looked at the clock. "Heh…" she was still in her undies. Her apartment was a mess and she hasn't even taken a bath yet.

"Shit! I'm gonna be late!"

The years had been good to Kurumu. She was absolutely stunning. The instant that members of both sexes laid their eyes on her, hormones raged so badly that they were practically back to being horny teenagers.

She filled out more, with her curves bumping up to 11. Her blue hair was shorter, almost like a pixie cut with 3 months' worth of growth time. She carried an air of elegance yet there was an underlying sense of melancholy when you looked at her. The cheerful grin she always sported was reduced to nothing more than a wan smile. But in the front of her friends, she reverted back to the ditzy and emotional young lass that they were so accustomed to- albeit slightly toned down.

"Sorry Cow Tits. Looks like I'll be running late… You go on ahead! I'll catch up."

"Ugghh! That girl!" Kurumu gripped her phone tight enough to almost break it. Well, who wouldn't be angry at waiting for over 20 minutes and then receiving a text like that?

Her phone vibrated again and took a look at the text.

"Again, sorry…" was Mizore's follow up.

The succubus furiously typed on the keypad "Just hurry up!" with that she pocketed the phone and let out a huff. People were staring at her; it was something she had gotten used to in the line of her work. Yet, despite being a critical darling and a rising star, none of the people that recognized her seemed to want to have a picture or an autograph with her. It may have something to do with the smoke blowing out of her nose and ears.

Kurumu had been planning the reunion for about a month now and to see it all go sideways was vexing. She told them about the date and time a month earlier. 'Set your calendars!' she once said in a group call. She even rented a venue for their sleepover/all night booze-fest and all the necessary things that a diligent host should do.

She understood that some of them were too busy for a little get-together. Like Moka and Kokoa who were too busy handling the family affairs and maybe even the entire Japanese society of Vampires; or their teacher, Shizuka, who was currently attending a convention abroad.

But she just missed them so badly. It might seem unimportant to other people, but it meant everything to her.

"What did she say, Kurumu?" San asked. She looked more mature nowadays and less like a loli after finally getting rid of her ridiculous polka-dotted attire and opted for more casual clothes.

Kurumu sighed. "She said that she'll catch up."

"Typical Mizore." Yukari snickered. Ruby could chuckle. The older Witch was able to ask the beloved chairman for leave for maybe 2 or 3 days. She was no longer the personal assistant of Tenmei Mikogami but was the Headmaster of Yokai Academy Branch 2.

She never got out of her BDSM fetish though.

Out of all them, the most surprising development was Yukari. Puberty hit her hard. It was like she never inherited any sort of plainness from her mother. Her mother wasn't unattractive, to say the least, but she was rather unnoticeable. Yukari on the other was a bombshell. The attention she craved was finally granted to her after years of patiently enduring hardships. After noticing significant growth, she immediately sold her books on "asset development" –which occupied half of her bookshelf.

The witch's occupation was that of the engineering field. It took her a long time to figure out what she wanted out in life. One day, living life as a NEET, she had a vision. She couldn't remember what was in that vision of hers that revived her love in inventing things, but it was a godsend. Yukari Sendo was now the owner of her own engineering firm.

Haiji Miyamoto rolled down the window of his black Toyota Fortuner "What's the hold-up?"

Kurumu coolly walked towards the car and opened the door to the back seats "Mizore said she'll catch up. We should go." The succubus motioned for the others to get in. Once they were inside, Haiji pushed the parking brake down and put the SUV into first gear.

The ride to their destination was filled with noise as what you would expect from a bunch of friends who haven't seen each other in a while. They laughed and shared their stories (mainly gossip). They also reminisced about their life at the Academy and how fun it was going through the ups and downs together.

Haiji was mostly silent due as he was kind of left out since there was not much that he could share with the ladies and vice versa.

San, riding shotgun and being the loving senpai that she was, didn't fail to notice this and gave his arm a warm and reassuring squeeze. He was taken aback at this, so he briefly turned his gaze towards her. He realized what the Siren had done and diverted his attention back to the road.

A smile crept up his lips. It was like the good old days.

If only Gin was there...

"Check out those two," Ruby whispered to Kurumu's ears.

The other girls were as scandalous as ever. They noticed the affectionate gesture that San gave to Haiji and then teased the two relentlessly. San covered her blushing face and Haiji let out an undignified grunt.

"It's not what you think!" a blushing Haiji denied.

He knew that it was all in good fun. Eventually, their contagious laughs got to him and soon he was laughing as well.

Aoyama Cemetery, Minato, Tokyo

It was already a peak bloom for the cherry blossoms. Haiji parked the car and the others got off. They could've have driven closer to the sight but they wouldn't want to miss the beautiful cherry blossoms. The road was covered in a light layer of pink, and even more of the petals started falling after a strong gust of wind.

The blossoms danced in the air as the wind kept them afloat. Kurumu looked up and smiled. The cherry blossom trees formed an arc that covered the sky, with small rays of the sun slipping through. A feeling of warmth spread across her body at seeing nature's wonderful display.

Kurumu noticed that her friends were already gone. The cherry blossoms made her lose track of where she was going. "This is just great." The succubus' shoulders dropped and she scratched her head. She had been off quite lately. it was that time of the year again, where should have dreams of a man she had never met. After that, she'd wake up crying and clutching her aching chest. It was frustrating; like there was a part of her that was missing or something buried that was trying to claw its way back up again.

There she was losing focus again. "Get your shit straight Kurumu!"

The area she was lost in was rather unfamiliar to her. Whenever they went to the cemetery, she'd always stick to one path and not bother on exploring the place. Granted, she didn't have time to explore since she could only make short visits. Such was the life of a working gal.

After a few minutes of being completely lost in the maze of graves, she finally found a familiar path that directed her to their original destination. She planned on using the trees as a guide since the grave they were visiting was under one, but due to a confusing amount of cherry blossom trees, the idea was kind of moot and was thrown out the window.

In the distance, she saw a man kneeling on the ground and bowing in front of the gravestone. There was a wisp of smoke floating up in the air as he must have already lit a couple of incense.

As she got closer, she realized that the man was definitely in front of Ginei Morioka's grave.

It was strange though. She looked around and didn't see her friends yet. Maybe they were out looking for? Well, whatever. The man noticed her presence and looked at her direction. He stood up and straightened his leather jacket to look presentable.

Damn, he's hot. The succubus bit her lip.

He was tall and well built. Kurumu made a rough estimate somewhere between 6'1 and 6'4. He was also handsome and somewhat rough looking. He had light brown hair and equally brown eyes. The young man had a look of surprise plastered on his face. It was the look you get when seeing someone for the first time after having been separated; or when you bump into a long lost friend in the grocery store.

Kurumu raised an eyebrow.

She was sure that she had never met the man, but he was awfully familiar.

"Hi." Kurumu opened the conversation. "Were you Gin's friend?"

She noticed the look on his face shift from surprise to confusion and then finally to resignation.

"Yes". He smiled warmly and held out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

There was a weird rosary-like thing wrapped around his wrist. Is he the religious type? She thought. Then she noticed all of the little details, like the numerous healed scars on the man's hand. Kurumu looked back up at his face. His eyes betrayed the smile that he wore.

In all her life, Kurumu never met someone so sad, yet so beautiful.

She accepted the gesture and felt a thick layer of calloused skin. She'd be forgiven at thinking that this man was some sort of army veteran or someone who went through some tough shit in his life. It only fueled her interest in the mysterious young man.

As the hand enveloped hers, gentle warmth ran up her arm. Her heart rate increased and she blushed furiously.

'Who is this person?' she thought. As she stood there staring at the man, Kurumu unintentionally let loose a few words.

"Have we met before?" the succubus asked absentmindedly. She didn't notice that a single tear had already streamed down her flushed cheeks.

He hesitated a bit before gulping, something the caught Kurumu's attention. It was like he was trying to think of an answer.

"I'm afraid not." He replied. Kurumu couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew more than he was letting on.

The man gently pried his hand away from hers. The loss of contact was sort of a disappointment and it left Kurumu wanting more. He stuck his hand into the inner pocket of his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to her after seeing her tears.

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

Kurumu averted her gaze in embarrassment after realizing that she had been crying in front of a total stranger "I-I'm…" she uncharacteristically stammered "I'm okay. S-sorry…"

She took the handkerchief and used it to wipe her tears, promptly giving it back to him after she had finished. Then he tilted his head to the side after noticing that another person was about to join them.

It was Mizore. "Hey, Kurumu! I'm sorry I was late, but where are-"

Then the snow woman saw the man standing before them. "the others?" she continued. Kurumu's keen eyes noticed the subtle look of surprise on Mizore's face. And then the succubus looked back at the mysterious man and then back to her friend.

The two traded awkward and somewhat wistful stares. It already gave a vibe that they knew each other. Like ex-lovers meeting at a reunion. Kurumu was already feeling a tinge of jealousy, but she didn't know why. It felt like she was an extra in her own movie after seeing the two look at each other.

Mizore remembered something that made her wipe away any sort of emotion from her face.

"Hey." He said plainly said.

Mizore bowed her head formally "It's nice to meet you. My name is Mizore Shirayuki. Were you an acquaintance of Ginei Morioka?"

He returned the bow "Yes, I was." He pulled back his left sleeve slightly and took a glance at his watch.

"I got to go." He once again offered them a smile "It was nice meeting both of you." He bowed curtly and quickly made a graceful exit.

It took a moment for Kurumu to regain her bearings. She realized that the man was already gone. The succubus looked back at her friend who was also stuck in a longing and regretful gaze while clutching her chest as if to catch her heart in case it jumps out of her rib cage.

"Mizore" she paused, trying to push out the words "Do you know him?"

The question brought the snow maiden back to reality and blinked a couple of times. "Can you repeat that?" she asked in confusion.

"I asked if you know him." there was a pause that almost felt like an eternity. "Do you?" Kurumu's tone was raised slightly.

"No." Mizore plainly denied it.

At that point, Kurumu knew that Mizore was hiding something from her. She would just try to pry it out of her later.

Kurumu looked back to where the man was previously standing.

"Tsukune?" she said aloud.

Mizore's eyes widened and she almost cracked the lollipop in her mouth.

"Wait… who's Tsukune?" the succubus mumbled.

A/N: Hello everyone! This is a remake of my story called After A Fairy Tale.

There was a confusing history behind this story. The previous story was already acquired by someone else and then he eventually dropped it altogether and left me hanging in the air. So I used some of his drafts and added my own ideas and voila. This will play out very differently from the previous story and I hope you tune in for more! Review it, please! Love you all

*Update: well I made a little addition to Mizore's part of the story. I just found a little black notebook of mine containing some notes and it was too hard to pass up. What I added was an integral part of her character.