Chapter Twenty-Eight

The rest of the year passed by relatively easily. Moka and Edward had reached a kind of agreement- they would respect each other and would stop trying to undermine what the other one did. Edward and Jacob never really did get over their rivalry with each other, but at least they had the good sense to keep it where it belonged: outside. As for Mizore and Kurumu, well, it was unlikely that they would ever get along very well.

The days went by slowly, with schoolwork and socialization taking up most of the time. The students had all taken an excursion to a human shopping district as practice for how to fit into human society, and for the beginning of it, everything seemed to be going smoothly. And then some stupid teenaged human boy decided it would be a good idea to try to hit on Kurumu. Of course, she retaliated, seeing as he wasn't her type, and everything got shot to shit.

"What in the world were you thinking, Kurumu?" Jacob asked later that day, once everyone had been safely hustled back to the academy.

"He was creepy," came the succubus' reply.

"And you're not?" Mizore shot back sarcastically. "Thanks to you, I wasn't able to buy what I needed. And now I have to go around for the rest of the year in socks full of holes, since you managed to get any and all future shopping trips for the year canceled. Thanks a lot, boob-woman."

"Oh, shut up!"

After the disastrous "Let's Blend Into Human Society" field trip, it was time to start preparing for the exams. Jacob managed to mail-order several cases of Red Bull to help him study, and of course, everyone was very interested in it.

"I've never seen anything like it," Mizore marveled. "What do the words say? I can't read the English."

"It says 'Red Bull'," Yukari read. "And this stuff seems to be health facts, like what's in it and how much you can drink."

"I can't believe you actually drink that crap," Edward sniffed.

"Watch it, leech," Jacob had growled. "This stuff is the best when you want to pull an all-nighter studying. Back when I was still going to school in America, the week before we took final exams I would live on this stuff. It's great for keeping you awake."

"Wouldn't a pot of coffee work just as well?" Tsukune asked.

"Coffee has caffeine in it, but it's nothing compared to this," Jacob proclaimed. "Here, try it!" And he proffered the cans of highly caffeinated energy drink to the others.

"Is it OK for Yukari to be drinking this?" Moka asked, worry in her voice. "I thought caffeine was supposed to be bad for children..."

"I'm not a child! And I can drink it if I want to!" Yukari had retorted. Before anyone could do anything to stop her, she popped the top on her can and chugged the whole thing in a matter of seconds. While everyone was still standing there, stunned, she grabbed another one and gave it the same treatment. "Huh. Nothing's happening."

"Uh..." Jacob was at a loss for words. Edward, of course, was not.

"If she gets sick it's your fault," he warned. "Moka is right, children shouldn't drink Red Bull!"

"Well, she seems pretty normal," Tsukune said dubiously. "I don't think either of you were right. Yukari seems fine, but she also doesn't seem very energized."

"Give it time," Jacob replied, although he was more worried than he let on. He knew how crazy kids around Yukari's age could get if you just gave them some candy or Coca-Cola, and he wasn't so sure that he wanted to see what would happen if you gave one energy drinks.

It started out slowly, but soon enough, Yukari was happily bouncing around off the walls, singing "The Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves," and generally frolicking. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem, but when a little witch frolics, things tend to start flying around the room.

"You dumbass!" Kurumu shouted at Jacob as she dodged a storm of floating erasers. "What did you have to go and give her something like that for!?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" cried Jacob as he tried to run away from a living trash can. "I didn't know she was going to gulp it like that! You're not supposed to do that!"

"Well, at least we'll know how to get more studying in," Tsukune said pragmatically and calmly, seeing as he had resigned himself to being trapped in a chair that was currently galloping around the room. "It seems like it works pretty well."

Time went by. Yukari got down from her caffeine high, and then the studying began. With exams in a few weeks, no one was taking the chance that they might miss out on their summer break, least of all Edward and Jacob. The deal was that they would get to go back to Forks if they passed their exams. If they didn't? They would stay there for the summer, and depending on whether or not they passed their exams at the end of the summer, for the next school year. It was not the preferred plan for either of them, not that there was anything wrong with Yokai Academy. But Edward missed Bella terribly, and was worried about her. He couldn't stay away from her forever, or there would be consequences, for both of them. Jacob missed the pack, and although he wouldn't admit it out loud for fear of invoking the wrath of Edward, he did miss Bella.

Everyone was understanding of this, since none of them wanted to fail either. The times that would have formerly been spent hanging out or fighting amongst themselves were spent studying. Gin had been nice enough to loan Jacob his notes from the previous year, so that he could have another study aid. And as long as no one pissed him off, Jacob would share the notes with the others.

"I'm never going to understand this!" Kurumu cried in despair, flinging her Human History textbook across the room, narrowly missing clocking Moka upside the head.

"What don't you get?" Tsukune asked curiously. Having grown up in the human world, the human studies were his best subjects.

"I don't get this whole 'revolution' thing!" the succubus complained. "Was it American or French?"

"There was both an American Revolution and French Revolution," Jacob interrupted. "Although they happened relatively close to each other in time, they happened for different reasons. The Americans wanted to be their own country, but the French peasents wanted to have a more fair government for them."

"Then what was the cake thing?"

"What cake thing?" Jacob was confused now.

"You know, the lady that told everyone to go eat cake and they got angry and killed her," Kurumu explained. "I don't get it. I like cake. Why would people attack someone who said they could have cake? Humans are damn weird."

"Oh! I know what she's talking about now," Mizore said. "Kurumu. She wasn't killed because of the whole cake thing. When the starving people told her they had no bread to eat, she told them to just go eat some cake. Which they didn't have any of that either."

"Marie Antoinette, right?" Tsukune asked. "I think I got that."

"Human History isn't my problem," Mizore said darkly. "I'm going to fail this stupid mathematics exam."

"I can help with that!" Yukari said cheerfully. "What are you having trouble with?"

"I don't understand algorithms," the yuki-onna complained. "What do they even have to do with anything?"

"Oh, that's right, your class got into computing math," Edward said in sympathy. "You use algorithms in computer programming, but I'm sure that they have use in other forms of mathematics."

"What's a computer?" Mizore asked plaintively. "Why do I need to know how to do them?"

While Edward set out to explain algorithms to Mizore, Moka and Tsukune were busily reviewing their notes on all of the books they had read for Japanese literature, using Gin's notes to help them along.

This continued until the day of the exams. "Good luck, everyone," Moka said quietly before they all retreated to their respective exam rooms.

"Thanks."

"You too."

"Don't let Hata-san borrow a pencil, you'll never get it back. Oh, and good luck to you too."

Everyone diligently worked on their exams, doing their best to pass. Mizore still wasn't completely sure she understood algorithms, and the English exam nearly gave Kurumu a brain aneurysm. Yukari of course had no trouble, while Tsukune and Moka thought that they did passably well. As for Edward and Jacob? Some things were easy for the both of them (Human History, English, and mathematics) while some things were more difficult (Human-Monster Interactions, Japanese Literature). But overall, they thought that they did alright.

Several days later, the results were posted in the hallway, and every single student in the school was crowded around the bulletin board, trying to figure out if they passed or not. Occasionally there would either be joyous shouts of "I PASSED! HOLY SHIT, I PASSED!" or gloomy responses like, "Have fun at the beach without me; it looks like I'm going to be stuck in Nekonome's class all summer."

"Look! We all passed!" Yukari cried out. "We all passed!"

"I knew I could do it," Kurumu said smugly. Mizore just rolled her eyes.

"That's not what you said yesterday. I distinctly remember you complaining 'Oh, I'll never pass that test! I'll fail them all! I won't get to have my summer!'"

"Do you ever shut up?" Kurumu replied, irate. "Do you have a pathological need to be obnoxious?"

"Yes," came the sarcastic response.

"I'm so glad we all did well," Moka said quickly, trying to defuse the situation before it got out of hand. Everyone's nerves were frazzled and she didn't think an all-out brawl between a succubus and a yuki-onna in the middle of a crowded hallway full of exhausted exam students was a smart plan. "Now that exams are done, summer starts tomorrow. When are you two leaving?"

"I leave tonight," Jacob replied. "I was going to stay a few more days, but then the airfair jumps quite a bit- I'm not really sure why. I basically have to get my stuff out of the dorm and get ready to go back into the human world." Moka surprised everyone by hugging him tightly.

"Make sure you write to us," she said quietly. Jacob laughed.

"I will, but you guys should really see about getting email."

"What's an email?" Yukari asked curiously.

"...never mind."

"Edward? When are you leaving?" Tsukune asked. Edward shrugged.

"Tomrrow morning, I guess. I'll be out of here by noon, I know that. I can't wait to see Bella again." As soon as he finished his sentence, he got a dreamy, detached look on his face. Kurumu rolled her eyes.

"Your pure love is making me itch!" she complained and dramatically grabbed at her arms, as though trying to prevent from touching poison ivy. Edward laughed.

"You should try to have a pure love sometime. It might help you out a lot," he said. Kurumu gave an over-the-top shudder.

"Never! Are you trying to kill me?"

And so, the school year came to an end. That night, the group of friends all went to the end of the tunnel to see Jacob off. "Don't let the humans bite!" Yukari said cheerily.

"Remember, no stealing mail," Moka reprimanded jokingly.

"I won't," Jacob promised. "You all need to try to come to America next time, alright?"

"We'll look into it," Kurumu promised. Mizore nodded.

"I'm going to try to find this computer thing," she said. "And then I'm going to email you, whatever that is." Jacob smiled.

"I'll look forward to it," he promised before getting on the bus and heading down the tunnel. "Goodbye!" he called back one last time, before he disappeared from sight.

The next morning, they all repeated the same process with Edward. "As soon as I find a computer or whatever you need to email me," Mizore said warningly. "I have your address, and if you don't reply to me I'm going to track you down and freeze you."

"I'll keep that in mind," Edward replied.

This time, the goodbyes were shorter, more likely because everyone was asleep. However, Moka did make the effort to say something before they parted ways. "You and I never got along very well," she said, almost stiffly. "But I apologize for how I acted toward you."

"I as well," Edward replied, equally formally before he got on the bus. "But let's let bygone be bygones, OK?"

"OK."

The motely group of Yokai Academy students watched as the bus disappeared down the tunnel once again, all feeling strangely wistful. It had been an eventful year, to say the least, but in the end, everything had turned out alright. Any and all feuds that had erupted had been resolved. And they had all learned something about how to interact with others who were different from them.

Well, at least that's what would have happened if this was a morality tale.

END

Author's Comments:

We're finally finished. Every time I finish a story I say this, but damn. There were times that I thought I would never reach the end of this, there were times I thought about giving up, and there were other times that I couldn't write anything because I had "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash stuck in my head and I couldn't think of anything else other than that. Over the time that I was writing this story, I ended up dealing with a family emergency and the resulting existential crisis that came about because of that incident. I am very grateful that the readers put up with me going on hiatus during that time period while I was dealing with life.

I had a lot of fun writing this, to be honest, and to think that this whole thing started from a stupid conversation I had with a friend at 2:00 AM about who would win in a fight- Moka or Edward? That little idea grew into this story, and I'm glad it did.

Once again, thank you all very much for your support, and I hope to see you again in the future.

-GoesKaboom 2.25.2010