Chapter Three: Mermaids to Devilman

The moon sat high in the night sky as its white light shown down on the dead forest that sat within the barrier of Yokai Academy. A cool wind blew through the bare branches, creating a low howl that carried through the dense trees. In a small clearing stood a single young man bereft of his clothing save for a pair of shorts covering his lower body. The teen stood in the center of the clearing with his eyes closed, breathing in and out slowly as he kept himself calm and focused. After several seconds, his eyes opened as his vision focused on a single tree standing out away from the tree line. Narrowing his eyes, the teen raised his right hand towards the tree; his palm pointed towards the large trunk. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the air started to vibrate, and low hum started to fill the air. As the humming got louder, small balls of red light began to appear around the teen, bathing the center of the clearing in a pale red light. The orbs slowly floated around as if moved by the lightest of winds. The teen's eyes narrowed as he made a slight clinching motion with his outstretched hand. The orbs of light suddenly stopped their drifting and remained motionless for a moment before they started moving towards the teen. As the lights converged on the outstretched arm, the two closest to his arm drifter in within an inch of his hand before being suddenly pulled into his palm in a streak of light and immediately condensing into a smaller ball, fitting into the palm of his hand. More balls started doing the same as they neared him, the range in which the orbs are suddenly swept into his hand increasing by the second. Anyone watching would be mesmerized by the sight of these floating orbs suddenly turning into streaking comets as they flew and gathered into the teen's palm. When the last orb flew in and joined the combined ball of light, the teen grunted as he exerted his will on the energy in his hand. The ball condensed further and turned from a pale red to a bright crimson, illuminating the field in front of the boy. His narrow eyes remained locked on the tree as the ball started to crackle, small arcs of electricity dancing across the surface, the power straining against the force holding it back as it tries to unleash its contained fury. Feeling the power reach its peak, the teen finally relented and flared his fingers wide open. In that moment, the ball of light shot forward as if it was fired right out of a cannon and hurled itself towards its target. It only took a split second to reach it.

*KA-BOOOOOM!*

A defining 'boom' rocked the entire clearing as the ball exploded upon contact with the target, bathing the area in a bright light that completely consumed the dead tree. The concussion blast generated by the explosion ripped through the air, blowing back any living vegetation as well as throwing back the bare limbs of the trees near the epicenter of the blast. As the initial explosion faded away, the clearing darkened again until it returned to its original illumination by moon and star light. The spot that once held a dead tree now only contained a small plume of smoke that rose out of a large crater. Tsukune surveyed his handiwork before lowering his arm and nodding.

"That went rather well."

'Not bad. You were able to condense the negative energy into a usable form in under twelve seconds in your human form. That's about six seconds less than last time you tried. At this rate, you should be able to form the Devil Bomb and the Devil Beam in human form just as quickly as you can in devil form in no time."

Tsukune groaned when he heard what the presence called his two energy-based attacks.

"I still don't see why you insist on calling them by such names. Seriously, Devil Bomb and Devil Beam? It's like something out of an old retro manga."

'What? I think they're perfectly good names. The bomb attack explodes, the beam attack burns and cuts, and they are both attacks favored by Devils, ergo, that's their names. I don't see you coming up with any cool names for them.'

Tsukune deadpanned. "You seriously think those names are cool? Ugh, you need to get with the current times man. The twenty-first century is calling. It wishes you were here."

'Screw you.'

"Sorry, you're not my type."

Tsukune smirked as he felt the presence disappeared back into his sub consciousness. Looking up at the moon, he noticed that as it was getting closer and closer to the tree line and figured that it was about time head back to his dorm room. Giving one last glance at the large crater that now marred the landscape; he willed his wings out and took to the sky. As he flew across the treetops, his mind focused on the power he was trying to harness. Devils had the ability to manipulate the negative energies that resided both within and around them, energies created by the malevolent emotions of humans and other beings that lingered within the air and boosted by the own supernatural powers. They were then able to condense and control this combined energy to unleash devastating attacks. The attack he just used, the Devil Bomb *cringe!*, was one of the techniques he was able to learn and harness as a devil. By condensing the dark energy into a single point and holding it in the form of a ball while launching it at a target, he was able to generate a massive explosion when the ball would detonate upon impact. This usually resulted in the total destruction of whatever it hit. In his devil form, he was able to generate and launch this attack within two seconds. In his human form, which suppressed the majority of his power, it took a lot more willpower to gather and condense the negative energy in the air. Thus where would normally take him only two seconds to launch an attack, it took him over twenty-five when he first tried it in human form. The Devil Beam was still slightly out of his reach, since it required him to not only hold the energy in a single point, but also allowing that energy to flow in a linear direction without it dissipating. He could do it in devil form, five seconds being the time between charging and firing, but he just couldn't hold it very well while in his human form. His decision to wait until he mastered the Devil Bomb was made when he attempted to use the Devil Beam and it ended up nearly blowing his hand off.

A wise choice.

Tsukune eventually made it back to the male dorms and landed softly on the roof. Willing his wings back into his body, the boy headed back towards his room to get ready for the new day. As he opened the door and went back inside the building, he couldn't shake the feeling that today was going to be another one of those days.

- Morning -

Tsukune, now fully clothed in his school uniform, was walking down the path towards the school building amongst numerous other students. As he walked, he took note of all the smiling faces and cheerful conversations from the teens around him. It was almost enough to convince him that these young men and women were all just normal human beings.

Almost.

The knowledge that this was a school for monsters and that each and every one of them was a Yokai reminded him that this place is anything but normal, or human. But he did have to give props to the people running this place. If their goal was to teach Yokai to blend in with human beings, then they were doing a fine job of it, and a part of him hoped that Yokai could truly learn to coexist with humanity. Another part, however, felt that it was a vain effort, since something far more terrible and horrendous was just waiting to tear the world of man apart. What good was teaching Yokai coexistence when something else that had no desire to coexist with humans wanted to annihilate the world as it is?

Ah, well, you know what they say. Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

And Tsukune was definitely preparing.

"Tsukune!"

Hearing his name being called, Tsukune spun around just in time to catch a pink haired projectile by the name of Moka Akashiya as she wrapped her arms around one of his.

"Good morning, Tsukune~"

"Good morning to you Moka. How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm doing well, though I am feeling a bit hungry." Moka answered as she gave him a pleading look.

Tsukune rose an eyebrow. "Didn't you have your fill when school ended yesterday?"

Moka let out a cute little whine as she pouted. "I can't help it. Your blood is so delicious, and since you replenish it so quickly, you're not really missing it. Are you saying you are not going to let me suck your blood anymore?" Moka asked, giving Tsukune the dreaded puppy dog eyes of doom.

Tsukune cringed at the sight. No being, Human, Devil or Yokai, could possibly resist such a look. "Alright already, geez, enough with the eyes. You can have your fill again." Tsukune said as he pulled the collar of his shirt away from his neck.

"Ah, thank you very much! Capu-chu!" Moka immediately latched onto his neck and began drinking. Tsukune stood there for a minute as he felt his blood being leached from his body by the vampire girl. Eventually, Moka disengaged from him and let out a sigh of contentment.

"Thank you very much, Tsukune. As always, your blood is absolutely divine."

"And I reiterate; I'm glad to know that I'm your favorite flavor." Tsukune commented as he readjusted his collar.

"Tsukune~!"

"Hmm?-Whuommph!" Tsukune turned as he heard his name called out once more, only for his face to be engulfed in something soft and squishy. As he tried to pull back, he felt a pair of arms encircle his head, keeping him from freeing himself.

"Good morning, Tsukune. How's my destined one this morning?" A certain cyan-haired girl asked as she smothered the boy within her generous bosom.

"Mrrnin, kumumu." ("Morning, Kurumu.") Tsukune mumbled out from between the succubus's breasts, seemingly not all phased by the fact that his face was buried within her cleavage. He had accepted the fact that Kurumu was not going to leave him alone now that she had declared Tsukune to be her 'Mate of Fate', even after he had spent a day trying to convince her otherwise. So, he just let the girl do as she wished, which ended up with his face being shoved into the girl's cleavage more often than not.

Moka stood there gob smacked for a moment before she snapped out of it and with a huff, marched over and grabbed Tsukune's arm before giving it a good tug to pull Tsukune out the girl's grasp.

"Stop trying to seduce my friend, Kurumu. I told you before; Tsukune isn't your destined one."

Kurumu stood there blinking for a few seconds, not having expected Tsukune to be pulled from her grasp, before she registered what Moka had said to her. With a frown, she quickly grabbed onto Tsukune's other arm and started tugging.

"And I told you before as well. It's not for you to decide who my destined one is. That decision belongs to me and Tsukune."

"Tsukune is my friend, you can't have him."

"Who says I can't?"

"I do."

"Oh yeah?"

"Here we go again." Tsukune muttered as he was being used as the rope in a game of tug-of-war. "Alright, that's enough you two!" Tsukune declared as he yanked his arms free from the two girls. "Honestly, every time you two meet each other you end up fighting over me. Can't you girls get along for just one day? For my sake?"

The two looked a little ashamed of their childish behavior as they both lowered their eyes. It was true that every time they got together it seems like they did nothing but fight one another over Tsukune. For the two of them, it felt like the other was trying to take him away, and neither girl was willing to give him up without a fight. But seeing Tsukune's disappointed expression made them feel bad about it. They were just hoped that they wouldn't end up pushing him away like this.

Seeing their set downcast expressions, Tsukune sighed as he walked up and gently placed a hand on their shoulders.

"Look girls, I'm not angry with you. I'm just getting frustrated with seeing you two fight constantly over me. If you're going to hang out with me all the time, I want you two to get along. And who knows, you two might become good friends while you're at it."

Moka and Kurumu blinked before looking at each other, milling over the idea of becoming friends with one another. After a moment, the two sighed before looking back up at Tsukune, smiles on our faces.

"All right Tsukune, we'll try to get along." The two responded.

"It's all I ask for. Now come on or we will be late for class." Tsukune said, as he started moving forward once more. The girls quickly fell in step with him as they latched onto an arm each. As they move down the path, their situation didn't go unnoticed by the students around them as they stared at the trio in wide-eyed shock and in many cases jealousy.

"Dude, isn't that Tsukune Aono?"

"Yeah, that's him alright."

"What the hell, man. Not only does he have Moka constantly hanging around with him, now he's got the bombshell Kurumu hanging off of him as well?"

"This is so unfair, man. The guy is hogging all the babes."

"I really wanna kick his ass."

"Hey, you want to end up in the infirmary then go right ahead."

Tsukune scuffed slightly as he listened to the conversations going on around him. It amazed him just how jealous the boys got whenever he was spotted with the girls, but none of them had the guts to attack him since they were scared to death of him.

That was fine with him. Less troublesome.

"By the way." Kurumu suddenly spoke up, getting the attention of the group. "There was some loud rumbling that woke me up last night. It sounded almost like explosions going off. Did you two hear anything last night?"

Moka tilted her head in confusion while Tsukune tried to keep himself from flinching. He had thought that he had flown far enough away from the dorms to train in his energy manipulation.

Oops.

'Guess I need to find another training spot.' The boy lamented as the three teens walked towards the school building.

- Classroom 103 – Later –

"Alright, everyone. It's time to start the day." Mrs. Nekonome, the eternally cheerful freshman class instructor said as she stood behind the teachers' podium as she addressed the class. "As you all know, the goal of this school is to teach yokai how to coexist with humans, and today, you will be taking this to the next level. So for the remainder of the day, you will all be looking to join a club."

'Say what?' Tsukune thought, as he blinked a couple of times, not expecting this development.

"By participating in club activates, you will learn to appreciate the development of the arts and gain a deeper understanding of human culture. This will also be very good practice for your ability to stay in human form since you will have to maintain your forms while you are participating in your club activities." Mrs. Nekonome lectured as she pointed her stick towards the black board with a picture of her in human form and yokai form to show an example.

"Uh, Mrs. Nekonome?" One of the male students asked as he raised his hand.

"Yes?" She answered as the boy pointed behind her.

"Um, which club did you practice keeping your form at?"

The teacher looked behind her and noticed what the student was referring to. Sticking out from under her skirt was a long orange cattail that twitched slightly every second.

"…Mee-Yowr!" Mrs. Nekonome cried out as she suddenly appeared before the student and raked her claws across the boy's face for his slight, electing a cry of pain from the boy. After a few moments of torment, the teacher stopped her assault on the poor boy's face and turned back towards the class as if nothing had happened. "Now then, is there any other questions about club participation?"

The whole class sweatdropped at their teacher's personality swing. Since no one else said anything, the blonde cat yokai finished up.

"Excellent! Then look over the lists of clubs available and pick the one that suits you. Be sure to come check out my newspaper club as well."

Tsukune could only think of one word as the class stood up and started filing out into the hallway.

'Plug!'

- Hallway – Minutes Later –

The scene was absolute chaos as the hallway was filled with various booths, flags, flyers and posters of different clubs that the school hosted as all the students milled around either looking to join a club or recruiting for said club. This was the scene that Tsukune, Moka and Kurumu walked into upon leaving the classroom. It seemed that Mrs. Nekonome had taken a little extra time in her lecture, along with 'punishing' the student who called her out on her disguise malfunction, to where their class was the last one to get out and therefore the three were now fighting their way through a sea of students.

"Oh, wow. There are so many people here. It's almost like a festival." Moka said as she gazed at the students moving about.

"Well, it is the day to join the clubs, so I guess it makes sense that it would end up like this." Kurumu replied as she stayed close to Tsukune so that she wouldn't get separated from him. Hey, any reason to hold onto her destined one was a good enough reason for the succubus.

"Let's just focus on finding a club to join. The longer we stay in the crowd, the less comfortable I fell." Tsukune said as he tried to navigate his group though the crowd.

As they moved about, they heard the various club members advertising their clubs.

"Baseball Club! Come and take a swing in the Baseball Club!"

"Come and join the Ping Pong Club! Now recruiting members!"

"Fight along with us in the Karate Club!"

"Would anyone like to join the Reading Club? Huh? Anyone?"

The group continued to move through the hall, looking for something that they could do together. Moka glanced around at the various signs littering the hallway.

"There are so many clubs. I had no idea there would be so many."

"Well, hello there. You seem to still be looking around for a club to join, right?"

The three turned to find someone walking up to them. The person was a girl with dark blue hair that flowed just past her shoulders with a set of hair clips lining the side of her head. She had a beautiful heart-shaped face with a pair of yellow eyes and thin lips. The girl was a beauty just by these features alone, but what really got everyone's attention was her current attire.

The girl was wearing a blue string-tied bikini top that covered her impressive bust under a white dress shirt that was open up to reveal her bare midriff. Around her waist was a thin white skirt that hid everything above her knees and a pair of wrap around sandals on her feet. The whole ensemble made it look like she had just stepped off the beach.

The girl strolled up to the group and smiled, though her gaze seemed to be focused solely on Tsukune.

"I'm Tamao Ichinose, the president of the Swim Club. Would you like to go for a swim?"

The was a commotion behind the girl and the trio looked to find several young girls all wearing bikinis and swimsuits under open or tied single pieces of clothing, walking thorough the center of the hallway, gaining the attention of all the students, especially the boys.

"Right now, the swim club only has all girls, and we could certainly use some male company. I'm certain we can make you all feel really welcome." Tamao said as she sauntered up and ran a finger lightly up and down Tsukune's chest. Her words had the desired reaction to the boys standing around.

"I'll join!"

"Me too!"

"I'm in!"

"Paradise, here I come!"

"How about it…" Tamao whispered as she leaned in to the boy. "…won't you join?" She said as she batted her eyelashes.

Before Tsukune could even respond, he was suddenly jerked back by a pair of irritated girls who wrapped their arms around one of his respectively and glared daggers at the girl.

"Sorry, but Tsukune is with us." Moka said as she pulled Tsukune's arm deeper into her cleavage.

"Yeah, go find club members somewhere else." Kurumu agreed as she did the same. No way was she letting some floozy take her man away.

Tsukune looked to both the girls hanging off of him, then back to Tamao and shrugged. "Well, you heard the girls. Sorry, but we'll look somewhere else. Maybe next time." He said as he tried to ignore the feeling he was getting with his arms being where they were. Moka and Kurumu immediately pulled the boy away from the Swim Club president and lead him down the hall.

Tamao stood there watching the trio walk off as she narrowed her eyes a little. She wasn't done with Tsukune.

Not by a long shot.

- With Tsukune and Company –

"You know, girls, when I said for you two to get along earlier, I didn't think you would do so this quickly." Tsukune commented as he was being pulled down the hall.

"Why didn't you reject her immediately? It was obvious that she was just trying to get to you." Moka asked heatedly. It was obvious that she was upset that the girl was trying to take him away.

"You looked like you were enjoying the attention. Do you think she is better company than us?" Kurumu added in as she glared at him from the side.

'Where the hell did that come from!?" Tsukune thought as he frowned. "Okay, first off, I didn't even know what she was doing until she was upon us, and second, you didn't even give me time to respond before you yanked me away. I was going to ask you two if you wanted to join, but I guess you ended up answering that question before I even asked it. And not in the way I thought you would."

"You're still not denying that you enjoyed her attention." Kurumu responded, still holding her glare.

Tsukune sighed, recognizing the signs that the girls were jealous. "Kurumu, please stop doing this. There is absolutely no attraction between that girl and me. I know that she was just using her charm to attract attention to herself. And if I recall, a certain someone here is guilty of doing the same thing not too long ago." Tsukune stated as he looked pointedly at the bluenette.

Kurumu had the decency to look away blushing. She was indeed guilty of using her charm on the boys to attract them to her, and it was a literal case when she tried to use her power on him.

Tsukune offered the girl a smile though. "Look, Kurumu, I'm not condemning you for your actions before. You changed for the better and that is what matters. We are all friends now so what do you say we go and find a club we can all enjoy."

Kurumu turned back to him with a smile of her own as she nodded her head and gripped his arm tighter. Moka was also smiling, happy that everyone was getting along so well.

Sadly, there little moment came to a stop when someone walked up to the trio.

"Moka, Kurumu, would you two like to model?"

The three teens turned to the person and jumped when they saw the person's appearance. It was a pasty looking guy with long, messy black hair and creepy, bulging eyes wearing a camera from around his neck.

"Please model for us in the Ghost Photography Club! Let us take a lot of pictures!" The boy said as he reached out towards the group with a grasping hand while what appeared to be apparitions floated out from behind him.

The three, understandably, where a little freaked out with the boy's appearance.

"That's kind of creepy." Kurumu voiced the collective thoughts of the trio.

"Are nudes okay?" The boy asked as he pulled the camera up and started taking pictures of the two girls, his breaths coming out in pants while doing so.

*CRUNCH!*

The photo shoot came to a screeching halt when a fist slammed into the camera, shattering it into tiny pieces as it was forced into the kids face. The force of the impact sent the guy flying back into the wall where he slammed into the unyielding concrete barrier and slid down to the floor in a heap. The kid's eyes rolled up as he lost consciousness and a white soul with the guy's face floated out of his mouth.

"Go and join your ghost friends, you asshole!" Tsukune said as he pulled his fist back while Moka and Kurumu peaked out from behind him.

"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Kurumu commented as she stared at the unconscious, or dead, photography club member on the floor.

"I'm not so sure I'd want to join a club like that." Moka said innocently.

"Hey you guys, want to join the Mummy Club? How about getting all wrapped up with us?"

The trio suddenly turned to find a large group of mummies slowly walking towards them like zombies. The sight was a bit disturbing to say the least.

"Whaaah! They seriously have a club like that?!" Kurumu asked in shock.

"Hey, you. Join the Acupuncture Club." A young man said as he appeared out of nowhere. The group looked and saw that he was covered in needles from head to toe.

"Whoa, it's Pinhead!" Tsukune shouts at the guy's appearance, remembering a certain British horror movie character he had seen once before.

"And I thought the mummies were freaky." Kurumu said as she started to look around for ways out of the hallway and away from these loons.

"Would you like to join the Chemistry Club? We'll make lots of love potions you can try." The horror was completed as a group of questionable looking guys appeared in white lab coats carrying buckets, vials and vats of who-knows-what around with them that bubbled and boiled sickeningly.

At this point, the trio had backed up against a wall as the various club members slowly advanced on them. Moka and Kurumu were trying their best to disappear behind Tsukune as they used him as a human shield.

"Tsukune, I don't like this. Can we please leave?" Moka politely asked as she shivered behind the boy.

Tsukune's eyes darted around before they landed on a small table set up in the hall that was right beside them. Quickly grabbing the table, he flipped it over on its side and held it in front of him like a barrier. "Stay right behind me." He said to the girls before looking straight at the blockade of students.

"COMIN' THROUGH!" He shouted as he charged the group of freaky club members and proceeded to, literally, bulldoze his way through. Moka and Kurumu stayed one-step behind him as he sent the students flying in various directions. Once he got through the living barricade, he immediately discarded the table and bolted down the hall with the girls in tow. This didn't seem to detour the club members as they immediately picked themselves back up and gave chase. This resulted in Tsukune and company having to duck through various halls to escape the horde of club members that seemed to be growing with every hall they passed through. It seemed that the students were determined to add the most desirable girls in school to their clubs, where as Moka and Kurumu were determined to get as far away from them as possible, and Tsukune wanted to keep them out of the clutches of the eccentric students.

Eventually, the trio managed to make it outside the building and quickly dove behind a hedgerow growing alongside the walkway. Staying low, they waited as the stampeding horde passed them by in a large cloud of dust that eventually faded away into the distance. Taking a cautionary glance over the hedge, the three let out a sigh of relief to see the cost was clear.

"What is wrong with these people?!" Kurumu shouted as she threw her hands up in the air in frustration.

"I don't think I want to go back through there again." Moka said as she tried to catch her breathe.

Tsukune nodded his head in agreement. While he may be strong enough to fight every single monster that tried to 'kidnap' the girls, it would be too much trouble for him to fight that many all at once.

Hence the running.

"Unfortunately, we still haven't found a club to join, and if we don't hurry there won't be any spots left." Tsukune remarked as he tried to figure out what to do.

That was when a new, but familiar voice cut in.

"Oh my, you're still looking for a club to join?"

The three turned to see Tamao Ichinose walking up to them with a couple of her girls' right behind her. The longhaired bluenette put on her best smile as she sauntered up to Tsukune.

"If you're still looking then I'll happily tell you that we still have a few spots open in the Swimming Club. My girls and I will give you a very warm welcome."

Tsukune was immediately pulled away once more by his two friends who glared at the Swimming Club captain.

"I thought we told you that Tsukune is with us!" Kurumu growled out as she pulled his right arm into her cleavage, causing a small blush to appear on his checks.

Moka nodded her head in agreement.

The smile on Tamao's face never left as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"That's alright. I never said that we were only recruiting males into the club. You two are free to join as well. I'm sure the two of you would be very interested in seeing your friend here bereft of his clothing save for a pair of tight swim shorts that molds to his muscular form, especially as the pool water cascades down his body."

This lovely picture that Tamao painted for the girls had both of them heavily blushing as they imagined Tsukune pulling himself out of the water, sheets of clear liquid rolling down his bare torso and chest as he shakes his head side to side to clear the water from his eyes and hair before reaching up slowly to brush his hair back, showing off the firm, defined muscles that his arms in chest possessed.

Kurumu gained a nosebleed and a dopy grin.

Moka tried hard to control her blush since her face turned the color of her hair.

Tsukune looked between the two of them before giving the captain a deadpan stare.

"Did you really have to do that?"

Tamao giggled into her hand. "What's wrong with using a little incentive to get new members? You certainly don't hear them objecting to the idea. And what about you? Wouldn't you like to see these two in revealing swimsuits? There is no regulation in what kind of swimwear we can use, so they can pick whatever they want. I'm sure my girls can convince them to pick some…interesting swimwear."

This time, Tsukune had to fight to control his blush. Which he did with some effort. Shaking his head clear, he addressed the captain once more. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm sure we would like to see what all is available before we decide."

Tamao simply shrugged her shoulders. "If that is what you want, then who am I to argue? After all, it is your choice. You are free to look about. Maybe you'll find something more to your interests. It certainly seems that they are interested in you." The bluenette commented as she pointed towards the school building.

The three blinked in confusion before they turned to where the Swimming Club captain was pointing. When they did, they jumped in shock. The windows of the school were filled with members of various clubs that were simply staring at the three with hollow, soulless eyes that bore into them. The sight was very unnerving to say the least.

The three looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Tamao with deadpanned faces.

"Why don't we go check this club of yours out? Just for the time being."

Tamao clapped her hands together as her smile lit up. "Excellent, I'll have my girls here escort you. Oh, girls." Tamao snapped her fingers and her two companions ran forward giggling as they grabbed onto Tsukune and started pulling him in the direction of the school pool.

"Hey, wait a minute. Give Tsukune back, you hussies!" Kurumu shouted angrily as she proceeded to chase the retreating girls who had shanghaied her man.

"Wait for me!" Moka cried out as she also gave chase.

Tamao stood there as she watched the girls lead the three to the pool, her eyes fixed to Tsukune's back as a satisfied grin appeared on her face.

"You certainly have been successful this year, haven't you, Tamao."

Tamao turned in surprise to see an older teen male with dirty blonde hair, green eyes, angular face and tanned skin wearing the green school uniform with the upper part of his blazer and undershirt opened to reveal his tanned chest and a shark tooth hanging from a necklace.

Tamao immediately snarled as she glared at the newcomer. "What do you want, Higa?"

Higa Yurimato chuckled as he walked up to the bluenette. "Oh, I was just checking on my former co-captain of the Swimming Club. You know, the one they we created together? I just wanted to check up on you and see how you were fairing without me." The guy said smoothly as he draped his left arm over Tamao and flashed her a charming smile.

Tamao immediately threw the arm off of her as she growled and glared hatefully at the older teen.

"Don't you dare touch me, Higa! I haven't forgotten what you and your flunkies tried to do to some of my girls! They were forced to drop out because of it!"

"Hey, my boys were just trying to get to know them better." Higa said as he held his hands up defensively.

"THEY TRIED TO RAPE THEM!" Tamao yelled out with all her might, her eyes burning with fury.

"Oh, come now, Tamao. You and I both know that isn't what the PSC ruled when they investigated the incident." The boy said dismissively.

"That's because you paid them off to look the other way!" The captain of the Swimming Club was just a hair's width away from lashing out at the cocky bastard standing in front of her as she breathed heavily before calming her anger down to a simmer. "The only solace we have is that you and your friends got kicked out of the club."

"Ah, yes. You got the staff to sympathize with you." Higa said with a frown as he was reminded of the humiliation. His grin quickly returned as he tried to saddle up to the girl again. "But that's all in the past, now. We're new men, my boys and me. I'm certain you and the girls can look past all that and allow us back into the club. It can be like old times, the two of us."

His answer was a sharp pain from the side of his face from a set of claw marks appearing on his left cheek. Higa winced at the pain as he looked down at the girl before him, her hand held in front of her with sharpened nails bared threateningly.

"You disgust me, Higa. I can't believe I actually dated you. If you or your boys come within twenty fathoms of me or my girls again, I'll tear you to shreds and suck the very life from you!"

With her piece said, the Swimming Club captain spun on her heels and marched back towards the pool, leaving Higa to stare at her retreating form with narrow eyes. When the bluenette vanished from sight, two individuals approached the boy from behind him.

"So, I take it negotiations have failed?"

Higa turned to find two of his boys standing before him. One had short red hair and green eyes with fair skin while the other had buzz cut black hair and onyx eyes with a dark tan. Both had swimmers builds while wearing school uniforms.

"Can't say we didn't try, boys. Looks like we're going to just have to crash the party." Higa responded as he turned as started walking towards the school building with his boys quickly following.

"What about the PSC? Will they get involved?"

"I already paid them to ignore the commotion. We won't have any interruptions." Higa informed them with a grin. "Tell the others to get ready; we got a date with some fair ladies." The other two showed matching grins before running off to complete their tasks, leaving Higa who chuckled darkly at his plans to show those girls their place.

- Yokai Academy Main Pool – Moments Later –

The air was electric as the entire pool was abuzz of activity. Everyone present set about enjoying themselves as the young boys of Kuoh Academy flocked to the school pool to enjoy the cool waters and the attractive sights that the club offered. It seemed that the Swimming Club firmly believed in hands-on learning as there was one girl for every boy in the pool and each one was getting some personal instruction in the water.

You probably couldn't find a happier bunch of guys anywhere else.

"Whaaaa! The pool is so big!" Kurumu remarked as she stepped out of the changing area after she had switched out from her usual uniform into a yellow two-piece string bikini that covered very little of her well-proportioned body. Her outburst was due to her reaction upon seeing the Swimming Club's pool. It was massive, easily the size of three combined Olympic swimming pools and just as deep. Seriously, the bottom of the pool reached down to thirty feet!

Talk about the deep end.

"The pool was built recently after it was determined that the old one was outdated. With so many different species of Yokai, we needed something that was big enough for everyone." One of the Swimming Club members supplied as she had overheard the girls' comment.

"Amazing! I can't wait to take a dip." Kurumu bubbled with excitement. It wasn't well known but Kurumu really enjoyed swimming ever since she was a little girl. She was about to hop in when she noticed that a certain pink-haired girl was sitting up against the metal fence that surrounded the pools perimeter. Moka was still in her school uniform and was staring at the water nervously, not making any effort to go near it. Kurumu tilted her head in confusion as she walked over to her friend/rival.

"Moka, what are you doing? Aren't you going to try to swim?"

Moka looked up to find the bluenette succubus walking up to her and gawked at her friend's choice in swimwear.

'Is she wearing a thong?!'

"Ah, uhh, I…I don't feel like swimming much right now. Why don't you go ahead and enjoy the water." Moka put on a smile for the girl but it looked a bit strained.

"Moka, are you alright? You look a bit pale." The succubus asked in genuine concern. The two of them may be rivals in gaining Tsukune's affection, but that didn't mean they hated each other.

Moka's smile faltered when she realized that her act wasn't fooling the bluenette. "Ah, umm, well…you know about how my kind reacts to water…right?"

It took a moment for Kurumu to figure out what Moka was talking about, but when she did, she just wanted to kick herself right upside her own head for being so dumb. She really couldn't believe that she could be so inconsiderate.

"Oh my God, Moka! Why didn't you say anything before we got here?!"

Moka looked sheepish as she looked down while pressing her two index fingers together. "Well, we were kinda desperate to get away from those freaky clubs that kept harassing us, and I figured that since we're only going to be staying here for a short time, then I could endure it for just a little while." The pinkette looked back up with a smile. "As long as I don't make contact with the water then everything should be alright. You go ahead and enjoy yourself, Kurumu."

"…Are you sure about this, Moka?"

"Mm-hm. I'm sure. I'll just sit here for now."

…well, okay. But you let me know if it gets too uncomfortable for you, alright?"

Moka nodded her head in understanding but suddenly she froze solid when she spotted something. Kurumu was confused when her friend suddenly became as still as a statue, and even more confused when he cheeks started to turn red. The girl turned to look at what the pinkette was staring at, and when she did, she quickly mimicked the vampire as she too froze and blushed at the sight before her.

Their only male friend had emerged from the changing room and was giving everyone within sight a show of his physique. His well-toned and firm muscles were fully exposed, much to the hidden delight of all the females in the area. For his two female friends, it was an even more intense view of what they had seen before. While they had both seen his upper torso bare before, they had never really seen it in such detail because of the lack of light, either in the dorm room or in the dead of night. Now, in the midday sun, they could see just how developed the boy was. His skin was stretched taught against cords of solid muscle, and his every movement caused these cords to flex and bulge in just the right way to make them hot and bothered. It was even more intense because not only was his upper body and torso presented, but also his long, toned legs were exposed as well, and with his swimming trunks hugging his hips, They were getting a very good idea of his complete profile.

Moka looked like she was dunked in boiling water as her face turned completely red as she could only stare at the sight, while Kurumu had a large dopy grin on her face as she made grasping motions with her hands and giggled. She couldn't wait to get her hands on her destined one and just feel every inch of him.

And she meant every inch.

"Ah, I see you are ready to join us."

Their daze/fantasy was broken when they heard the sound of their club hostess as they watched the woman in question walk up to the young man with a charming smile, along with several members of the Swimming Club.

Tsukune turned to Tamao who came to a stop beside him and nodded his head. "I suppose so. But understand that just because we came to swim doesn't mean that we are going to join. If even one of us isn't completely in with the idea, we leave. Understand?"

The club captain nodded her head, apparently agreeing with his statement. On the inside, however, she was trying to figure out ways to get the boy to ditch the two little girls he was with and get him wrapped completely around her fingers.

"Tsukune~!" A singsong voice got everyone's attention as the boy turned to find his face pulled back into the cleavage of a very amorous succubus. With the girl clad only in a bikini, he was getting the experience of what her bare skin felt like on his face.

"Oh Tsukune. You look so handsome and hot in that swimsuit. I don't think I can keep my hands to myself if you walk around like that."

"I don't see how this situation is any different than any other time, since you can't seem to keep your hands to yourself regardless." Tsukune countered as pushed Kurumu off of him. When he finally got free, he took note of the succubus' choice of swimwear, and his eyes promptly widened. He knew that she would likely wear something sensual, but Damn!

Kurumu took notice of what Tsukune was looking at and smirked as she struck a sexy pose.

"See something you like, Tsu~ku~ne~?" She asked as she said his name sensually and winked at him.

'I've meet some really hot girls in the past, but Kurumu is really competing for the top spot on my list!'

"Well, I would be lying if I said no." Tsukune responded with a slight smirk. If he was going to play the flirting game, he was at least going to play it well enough.

The succubus grinned before rushing to his side and grabbing his left arm. "I'm so happy you like it. Now what do you say we go and enjoy ourselves, hmm?" Kurumu asked as she gave his arm a squeeze.

'I wonder if she means in the pool or behind the shed. From the way she's looking at me, I wouldn't put it past her to mean the latter.' Tsukune thought in his head before he suddenly felt his other arm get grabbed and turned to find Tamao saddling up to his right with a smile.

"I'm sorry my dear, but Tsukune needs to come with me. I need to access his swimming skills to see if he is cut out to join our club." The swim club captain said as she squeezed and tugged the boys arm.

Kurumu gained a tick mark as she saw the floozy trying to take away her man. "Excuse me, but Tsukune is my friend, and it's our choice when we want to have fun together."

"Oh really? Even while we're doing official club business?"

"He's not in you club yet."

"Yes…yet."

The boy swore he could see lightning appear between the two and can only sigh. How the hell does he keep finding his way into these situations?

Meanwhile, Moka was staring at the scene with an angry but cute pout on her face as well as puffed up cheeks. She was clearly annoyed by what she was seeing. She finally let out a sigh and continued to curse herself for her condition. Why did she have to be so weak to water?

- Twenty Minutes Later –

'How do I get myself into these situations?' Tsukune asked himself as he lamented on his current position. It had started with him and Kurumu taking to the water and just enjoying a swim. Well, he was just trying to enjoy it; Kurumu was doing her best to keep as much skin contact as possible with him. It's hard to swim when you are constantly experiencing the feeling of the Succubus' breasts on your back with drastically much less cloth between them than usual. Eventually, although it was more like miraculously, Tsukune managed to pry the amorous bluenette off of himself and started to get into the swing of things in the swimming department. He managed to go eight minutes of quality alone swim time before Tamao suddenly appeared and insisted that she help him with his swimming skills. Tsukune reluctantly allowed the swim captain to "aid" him and this is where he found himself. In four feet of water with Tamao pressed right up against his back while she held both his arms, guiding him through a proper breaststroke.

"That's it, Tsukune. A steady rhythm. One, Two. One, Two." The swim captain instructed as they went through the motions. Tsukune, meanwhile, just kept his eyes shut while trying to ignore the way the girls' breasts were rubbing up against his back with every motion.

'She's doing this on purpose, I know it.' The boy thought as he was getting a bit tired of the constant repetition. "Is this enough, Captain? I think I got it at this point."

"Not yet, just a bit more. Repetition is key." Tamao responded, hiding her delight at the feel of his muscles as he moved.

Meanwhile, a certain pinkette was losing patience fast at the way that the girl was rubbing up against her friend. She had been trying to tell herself that she wasn't jealous of the girl, that she was only worried that the girl was playing with her friends' emotions, but the little voice in the back of her head was steadily getting louder by the second.

And that voice was demanding that she rip the hussy's hair right out!

Finally, the girl had enough and stood, marched over to the edge of the pool and called out.

"Tsukune. I think we've been here long enough, we should look at some other clubs, don't you think?"

Tsukune blinked before turning to see Moka standing by the poolside with a clearly displeased look on her face. However, before he could answer, the girl behind him spoke up.

"Pardon me, dear, but this is a private lesson and as you can see, we are very busy at the moment. Kindly come back sometime later."

Moka glared at the woman. "I don't recall needing anyone's permission to talk to my friend here. I'd also like to remind you that we are merely visiting with no intent on joining, so if you would be so kind as to let him go so that we may go on our way." The pinkette tried to sound as civil as possible, but she could not keep the anger out of her voice.

Tamao narrowed her eyes for a second before a grin appeared on her face. "Oh, dearie, I have not forgotten that you don't have any intention to join, especially since you have made no effort to change into swimming attire or even approach the water. So, if you have nothing that you can do to contribute to this club, then I suggest you leave immediately and allow us to continue our club activities in peace."

"I will as soon as you let Tsukune go. He obviously does not look very comfortable in your grasp."

Tamao giggled at the remark. "Oh, I assure you, he is quite comfortable in my tender care. I also assure you that he will learn much from me in swimming, much more then what he would learn from a little girl that is too afraid of water. Now be good and leave us be."

And with that said, the swim club captain reared her right hand back and slapped the surfaced of the water in Moka's direction. The pinkette gasped as a spray of water flew through the air and came down around her, some of the droplets hitting her body. The girl's face took on a pained expression as she turned her body away from the pool then went into full flight as she ran towards the exit to the pool area.

"Moka!" Tsukune called out as he watched the girl run off. He wasn't sure, but he swore he saw what looked like electricity arc off her body as she left. A melodious giggle and a pair of slim arms wrapping around his neck from behind brought him back from his thoughts.

"Well, now that the extra baggage is gone, perhaps we can now focus on more important things, like how much fun you are going to have swimming with me, Tsukune." Tamao whispered gently into his ear before giving it a little blow. The boy in her arms didn't seem to respond for a moment but then slowly turned his head to look over his shoulder at the girl.

Tamao fully expected to see an expression of some sort. Shyness. Giddiness. Maybe even Lust. What she got, though, made it feel like her blood had suddenly turned to ice. For Tsukune was giving her one of the coldest stares she had ever seen before. His piercing gaze made it feel like he was staring at her own soul and was ready to rend it from her still living body. It was paralyzing, but the words that came from his lips truly terrified her.

"Let. Go."

Her mind froze as she swore she saw his features change. For a moment, it wasn't Tsukune in her arms, but a monster. A True monster. Glowing yellow eyes. Pale, faint purple skin. Jagged teeth. Black hardened tissue over the forehead and cranium.

Slowly, almost automatically, she released Tsukune and moved away, her eyes never leaving his as she wordlessly complied.

Now free from the girl's grasp, Tsukune quickly moved over to the poolside and climbed out before headed straight towards where Moka had run off to, ignoring the changing station as he made to follow the pinkette.

Kurumu had been enjoying the water until she caught sight of Moka running out of the pool area as if she was fleeing from the hounds of Hell. A glance at the object of her affection showed him to be in pursuit of the fleeing girl. With a sigh, she too began to make her way out of the pool.

"Guess swim time is over." She muttered to herself as she grabbed a towel and started making her way to the change station, figuring that she might as well get changed now since her two friends were more than likely voting to move on in the club search. As she was nearing the changing stalls, she bumped into a guy who had suddenly stepped out of the stalls.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't mean to bump into you like that." Kurumu stated as she tried to walk around the guy, but as she tried, the guy just stepped back into her way.

"What's the rush, babe? You can't leave just yet." The guy said as several more guys came out of the stalls while even more came in through the main gate. Kurumu took a step back as Higa Yurimato showed a sinister smirk.

"The fun is just about to begin."

- With Moka –

Moka slowed her running as she made it to an alleyway between a couple of the schools buildings. She slid down the side of the wall as she hugged her knees to her chest, twinges of pain danced across her body where she was wet. The vampire cursed herself for her inherent weakness to water; it's purifying qualities detrimental to her vampiric aura, so much so that it inflicted physical injuries to her kind. It had been a source of sadness for her, not being able to enjoy swimming like others could, and now it was agonizing for her.

"Damn this weakness! Why couldn't I have been born something besides a vampire? Why do I have to endure this?" Moka cursed silently as she drew into herself. Vary rarely did the bubbly, good-natured girl ever swear in her life, but she wanted to scream profanities right now. It was because of her weakness that she could not enjoy spending time with her friends in the pool, and now, she was forced to flee just because she got sprayed with a little pool water.

"You fool! What were you thinking getting that close to water? You should know better than that!" The voice of her alternative persona echoed out from her rosario as the jewel in the center gained a black slit and started glowing.

"I…I just wanted…to be with Tsukune." Moka answered back as the pain started fading away.

"You endangered us! Water in large quantities is deadly to us! Even being that close was flirting with disaster! Is your friendship with him important enough to risk your life?"

"Tsukune is my best friend! I don't care if being with him means throwing myself in danger. I just…I just want to remain by his side." Moka cried, depression setting in as she silently wept in the shadow of the school building.

"Moka!"

The young girl jumped slightly as she turned to see the boy she was thinking about running up to her, still bereft of clothing aside from his swim trunks. The vampire blushed a little as Tsukune stopped in front of her and knelt down.

"Moka, are you alright? You looked like you were terrified back there."

Moka looked down again as her eyes shimmered slightly. "I'm so sorry, Tsukune. I'm just…no good with water."

"Why? What's wrong with water?"

"It's because I'm a vampire. We are naturally weak to water, so much it hurts us if we come into contact with it in pure form."

Tsukune's eyes widened and he felt like hitting himself for forgetting something so important. He had read the book on monsters and he made sure to cover the section on vampires so he would know about them inside and out. How in the name of Hell could he have forgotten about something so important?

'I blame the tits, ass and the miles of flesh all those girls were flaunting around. No male can keep his faculties in order with so much skin being on display, especially with that succubus added into the mix.'

'That is no excuse and you know it! I should have been thinking about this before I even agreed to go to the pool…and where the hell have you been all this time?'

'Sleeping.'

Tsukune shook his head in exasperation before turning back to the pinkette. "Moka, why didn't you say anything earlier about it? We could have avoided this whole incident."

Moka shook her head. "I…I just wanted us to be together…it didn't matter to me what club we joined." The girl then gave Tsukune a beautiful smile. "As long as I can be with you, I'll endure any kind of hardship, because you're my best friend, Tsukune."

Tsukune stared at the girl, unable to find any words to say to in response. Never before had he seen someone who valued another's friendship so much. After a few moments, he finally chuckled as he shook his head.

"Moka. Dear sweet Moka. I really am undeserving of knowing someone like you. I don't think there is anyone in the world that can be a caring as you." The boy remarked as he stood up. "Can you stand?"

Moka nodded as she slowly got up from the ground as she smiled up at the boy before her. "Do you want to go back?"

"Yes, but only to get Kurumu. Then, we go find a club, and you get to decide which one."

"Really? You mean it?" Moka asked with eyes a-sparkle.

"Sure. Since Kurumu and I were the only ones who got any swimming in, you get to pick. It's only fair."

Moka nodded her head, happy that Tsukune was giving her the choice in where they would go.

"AHHHHHHH!"

"WHAAAAAHHHHH!"

"SCREEEEEEEEE!"

The atmosphere around the teens was broken as the screams and yells of people filled the air.

"The hell was that?" Tsukune asked as he turned in the direction of the noise.

"It came from the pool!" Moka responded as she realized where the screams were coming from before she gasped. "Kurumu is still there!"

"Shit!" Tsukune swore as he turned to the pinkette. "Moka, I'm going to go and help. I want you to stay here."

Moka shook her head. "No! I won't just stay behind. She may be my rival, but I still consider Kurumu a friend of sorts. I won't abandon her."

"But your weakness-"

"I'm going Tsukune! I'm not going to stay here like a helpless child!"

"Your strength is sealed, Moka! As you are now you would be a liability!"

Moka flinched, the look of pain on her face from Tsukune's words. Tsukune himself felt terrible for saying that, but she needed to realize the situation. If she went back and there was trouble, she might get caught up in the middle of it without the means to fight.

Moka looked down at the rosary attached to her neck in thought before giving the boy a determined look. "Then unseal me."

"What?"

"You did it before with Saizo. You can unseal my inner self. Then, I won't be a liability."

"Moka…"

"Please, Tsukune!" Moka begged as she gave him a pleading look.

Tsukune stared at the girl for a moment before sighing. He stepped up to the girl and grabbed the rosary with his right hand while holding her shoulder with his left.

"Promise me you will not let yourself get into trouble."

Moka nodded with a smile. "Promise, Tsukune. She won't let it happen."

With a nod and a sigh, Tsukune took a firm grip on the rosary and yanked.

*Ping!*

*Fooom!*

Moka's vampiric power exploded out of her as the seal holding it back was undone. Tsukune watched as her features once more changed from the bubbly pinkette to the mature silver haired vampire he had seen before. The woman before him slowly opened her eyes, showing the red slitted pupils that radiated power and authority.

"Tsukune." 'Moka' said as she looked into his eyes.

"Moka." Tsukune acknowledge the other persona of his friend.

*Slap!*

Tsukune's head whipped to the side as 'Moka's hand slapped him across the face quicker than he could see.

"…..ow." The boy said as he turned back to see a rather irritated vampire looking at him.

"That was for being an insensitive jerk today!" 'Moka' stated as she lowered her arm.

Tsukune stared at her for a moment before exhaling loudly. "I suppose I deserved that one."

"As long as you understand." 'Moka' remarked as she stretched her limbs. "Now then, I believe we we're about to go and see what all the trouble was about?"

"Right. Remember the deal, though. Stay away from the water."

"Who do you take me for, Tsukune? I know full well how to avoid my own…shortcomings." 'Moka' responded as she tried to find the right word to label her inherent weakness. Her pride would not allow her to use the word outright.

"Alright, then. Let's go!" Tsukune shouted as he sprinted straight towards the pool, with 'Moka' just step behind him.

- Yokai Academy Main Pool – Moments Later –

Male students were running around in panic as the pool was filled with turbulent water. This was the chaotic scene that Tsukune and 'Moka' came upon as they entered through the gate. Tsukune took a moment to gather his bearings amongst the frenzy of activity and took stock of the situation. Within the water, several figures could be seen moving about under the surface; several large, bulky figures were pursuing smaller, more streamlined figures as they jetted under the water. A moment later, one of the figures broke the surface.

Tsukune and 'Moka' recognized it as one of the swimming clubs female members, only instead of legs, the girl had a fishtail growing from her hips.

'A mermaid! Of course, they would really be mermaids in the swimming club. It's a monster school for crying out loud!' Tsukune thought as he watched the female monster fly through the air in a parabolic arc before hitting the surface again, though he did note the look of panic on her face.

A few seconds later, he found out why.

The mermaid once again breached, but this time she was not alone. As the girl came up, another monster made his appearance.

The monster was definitely aquatic, more so then the mermaids. The monster in question had the full appearance of a fish, but had humanoid limbs, like arms and legs. Green scales covered the skin completely while its hand and feet had webbed fingers and toes. Its head was more fishlike as it had a massive under bite filled with sharp teeth and large unlidded fish eyes on its head and three large slits in his skin just under the jaw. A large, spiny dorsal fin extended from its skull to his tailbone like a mohawk. There was no doubt that this creature was a cross between a fish and a human.

"What the hell?! Fishmen?! Since when did we cross into the realm of Cthulhu?" Tsukune asked as he saw more fishmen breach the water's surface as they chased after the mermaids. He was wondering what these monsters intentions were when he witnessed a mermaid get caught by a trio of fishmen. The intentions became perfectly clear when one of the fishmen grabbed the girl's bikini top and ripped it right off her chest before roughly grabbing one of her exposed breasts in his webby hand.

"Kyaaaa! No! Stop!"

"What the- Oi! You bastards!" Tsukune shouted as his eyes narrowed at the scene. Before he could make a move to save the girl, another, more familiar scream reached his ears.

"Ahhhhh! Get away from me, you freaks!"

Tsukune turned and found his cyan haired friend surrounded by a group of fishmen and another kind of monster.

This new one had the general shape of a human, but the anatomy of a crab. A large hard red shell covered its head and torso while the rest of its body was covered in smaller segments of hard shell. Two large pincers were attached to its arms while the head contained two elongated eyeballs and a hard split mandible for its mouth.

Kurumu's wings were covered in a sticky substance, showing the reason for her inability to fly out of her predicament, so she was forced to defend herself by swiping at anything that tried to get close to her with her long claws. In her panic, she failed to notice a crabman move up behind her and grab her arms with its pincers.

"Ahhh! No! Let me go!" Kurumu tried in vain to free herself as the rest of the group advanced on her. One of the fishmen took the opportunity to grab her bikini top and rip it off, exposing her large bust to the world.

"Noooo! Stop It!"

"Hehehehe! You got a nice pair, babe. Hope you don't mind if we have a taste of that luscious body of yours." One of the fishman said as he stepped forward. "Just relax and enjoy, you'll never get fucked like this again!"

"NOOOOOOO! Only My Destined One Can Do That! Tsukune!"

"Ooooh, I'm digging in! Idatakima-GAK!" Whatever the fishman had planned came to an abrupt stop as a fist was slammed into the side of his head, the force of the blow sent him sailing straight through the nearby metal fence with a trail of blood flowing from his mouth.

Tsukune's eyes were alight as he turned his attention to the crabman that held his friend in its filthy claws. "LET HER GO!" The boy shouted as he slammed his fist straight into the armored face of the overgrown crustacean, breaking the hard shell and sending the unconscious monster flying. Kurumu was released from the crabman's grip when Tsukune threw his punch and she quickly found herself in the arms of her proclaimed destined one, who deployed his own wings and took to the air out of the reach of the other monsters, who were too stunned by the sudden turn of events to react in time.

Tsukune flew back over to where 'Moka' stood and landed, letting Kurumu down gently on her feet.

"You alright?" Tsukune asked his friend….

*GLOMP!*

…and found his face once more planted in the cleavage of the sexy succubus, only this time, without a single stitch of cloth separating his face from her breasts.

"Ooooh, Tsukune~! You saved me again~! I love you~ !"

"Kurumu! Time and place! Time and place!" Tsukune cried out as he pulled the cyan haired girl off him. Taking a very brief moment to admire the succubus without anything obstructing his view, Tsukune quickly found a nearby hand towel draped over a lounge chair and presented it to her.

"Here. You should use this to cover yourself."

Kurumu blinked as she eyed the towel then looked back up to him with a smirk. "Oh, but Tsukune, I don't mind you looking~ ." To emphasize her point, she wrapped her arms around her body just under her breasts and raised them up; pushing her breasts up and making them appear larger, all the while grinning seductively.

Tsukune, to his credit, only allowed a light dusting of pink to appear on his cheeks.

Though he couldn't stop himself from staring at the bouncy, jiggly display.

Damn, that woman knew how to do 'sexy'!

"You might not mind me looking, but what about them?" Tsukune asked as he pointed his thumb to his left.

Kurumu followed the gesture and turned to see over a dozen fishmen in the pool staring at her with intense gazes with their large fisheyes right at her chest.

It only took a second for Kurumu to make up her mind as she swiftly grabbed the offered towel and used tied it around her chest like a strapless tie top.

A collective groan came from the lechers as their free show ended.

"Perverts." Kurumu muttered in disgust. Only her destined one was allowed to see her like that.

"You're just now noticing that?" Tsukune asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahem." A cough brought their attention to 'Moka', whom had been standing there all but forgotten by the two. "If you two are done fooling around, I believe we have some mongrels to deal with."

"My, what a motley crew we have here."

The three turned to the source of the voice. There. In the center of the pool, was a male with dirty blonde hair and tanned skin who was currently holding the swimming club captain in his grip.

"Those are some pretty hot babes you got there, man. I don't blame you for wanting to keep them to yourself."

"Who the hell are you?" Tsukune asked as he glared at the punk.

"The name's Higa Yurimato, and the leader of this group of fine gentlemen."

"So, you're the one who brought them here. Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Oh, well, you see, Tamao here and I were the ones who created the swimming club. The two of us were rather close back then, and there were plenty of boys in the club. But, Tamao didn't like how some of my friends were cozying up to the girls, and had gotten us kicked out, making it all girls and taking the reins for herself." Higa explained as he roughly pulled the scowling Tamao in closer. "So, my boys and I decided it was high time that these bitches pay us back for what we went through." Higa smirked as he roughly grabbed Tamao's left breast with his hand, smirking as he blatantly groped the girl. "Say, I'm a generous kind of guy. How about it? You can have any girl you want here. Even those two you brought with you. My boys won't touch them. Just make sure you don't say a word about what went down here, deal?"

Tsukune narrowed his eyes as he clichéd his fists. Did this guy seriously imply what he think he did? Well, he knew what kind of answer he was going to give.

*POW!*

Higa only had a brief moment to see the foot that was coming towards him before his face exploded in pain. The impact sent him out of the water a good three feet and sailing back ten before landing back in the pool. It took him a few seconds to come back up with a swollen cheek.

"Oi! You bastard!"

Tsukune had already flown back to the poolside, with Tamao in his arms. He absently noted the large fishtail that had replaced her legs, but figured he should not be surprised that she was a mermaid. He sat her down on the ground where she was quickly tended to by a few of the other swimming club members while he turned back to Higa.

"There's my answer, Higa. The very thought of what you are doing disgusts me. I've had more than my fill of that back in the human world. No woman deserves that fate."

"Che! You say that now, but do you honestly think these girls are as innocent as they lead you to believe?"

"What are you talking about?"

Higa chuckled. "I mean the whole reason they are recruiting guys into the club is to feed on their life forces."

Tsukune's eyes widened a bit before he glanced down at Tamao, who looked away from his gaze.

"Ichinose?"

"….Do you blame us for doing what comes natural for us? We'd never kill them, though. We only take enough to sustain ourselves, and the boys would recover in a day or two."

"You see? They're not the angelic beauties they portray themselves to be! They're just using their good looks and alluring bodies to lure men into their little trap." Higa declared with a smirk. "Still think they are worth protecting?"

"…" Tsukune was silent for a moment, his hair overshadowing his eyes, as he appeared to be contemplating. Then, his aura flared as he took on his more feral appearance. Muscles bulged, eyes hardened, teeth sharpened, hair became wild. Soon, he looked just like he did when he fought Saizo those few days ago.

Insert music: Violence Fetish - Disturbed

"I would pick them over pieces of shits like you anytime!"

Higa looked disappointed at the boy. He let out a sigh. "Such a shame. Oh well, more for us. Boys, deal with the trash and get the girls." Lifting his hand out of the water, he snapped his finger.

*SNAP!*

"RRRAAAAAOOOOOOOHHHH!" The monsters that were Higa's men roared as they lunged at the boy, who was all too ready for a fight.

"COME ON, THEN!" Tsukune yelled as he reared his fist back and slammed it into the nearest fishman's face. He sent a left cross into another that came up on his right and kicked one to his left. Stepping back to dodge a lung from one trying to flank him and brought his elbow down on his head and back fisted a second coming up from behind. Seeing one swipe at him with its hand, he ducked before introducing his knee to the fishman's gut. The monster coughed out its spit just as Tsukune's fist slammed into the side of its face, sending it careening back into the pool.

Tsukune's fighting prowess didn't seem to detour his attackers, in fact, it seemed to spur them on as many of Higa's men who were busy either watching or were busy trying to subdue and hold the swim club members abandoned their quarry started to charge. It would not be long 'till the sheer number of foes started to become an issue, especially with the girls near him. Deploying his wings, Tsukune took to the air to give himself some room and to lure most of the molesting sea creatures away from his friends. Several fishmen used their enhanced strength to jump towards the airborne teen, but they were literally fish out of water and their element and were now in Tsukune's'. Using his wings to his advantage, Tsukune dodged the lunges of his opponents while delivering crushing blows that sent the fishmen down to the unforgiving ground or into the dark depths of the deep pool.

"GOHYEEHAAAAAAA-*POW!*-OOF!"

A fishman roared out a battle cry as he launched himself from the water and attacked the black-winged teenager, only to get backfisted by said teen, sending him soaring through the air and bouncing painfully on the concrete surrounding the pool. Dazed by the impact, he only had a second to comprehend the sight of a silvered haired girl with red eyes who was swinging her leg around before the side of his face exploded in pain. The force of the kick sent him rocketing into the side of the changing rooms where he finally slipped into blissful unconciousness.

'Moka' scuffed at the sight of the fishman's legs dangling from the hole in the side of the changing room before turining back to the group of aquatic yokai she was fighting along with her succubus ally. The two of them had been fighting off their attackers ever since Tsukune took to the skys to draw the majority away from them, though it seemed a number of them decided to try their luck in capturing the two beauties as per the orders of their boss. The vampire scowled as another crabman rushed her, snapping her right legg up and catching him square in the face.

"You dare to try and touch me, filthy vermin? Know your place!" 'Moka' shouted as she kicked another fishman who lunged at her.

Kurumu, meanwhile, was getting a little payback for her earlier treatment as she slashed at the fishmen and crabmen with her long, sharp nails.

"Get away from me you creeps, or I'll turn you into sushi!" The succubus yelled as her claws racked across the face of a fishman who had gotten to close. "Damn it all! All I wanted to do here was try and seduce my destined one. Is that so much to ask?"

"Do I really need to answer that? Whoa!" 'Moka' asked before she dodged a stream of yellowish goop that was being shot from the mouth of a crabman. The liquid hit the nearby fence where it caked up and hardened into a solid mass.

"The hell is that? 'Moka' asked as she glanced at the now solid substance.

"I don't know, but that was what they used to keep me from flying." Kurumu responded as she flexed her still immobile wings. "Don't let that stuff get on you."

"Duly noted."

Meanwhile, Tsukune was also having to dodge a flurry of long-range spit shots as both crabmen and fishmen had resorted to shooting streams of liquid at him. As the crabs fired their goop, the fish were firing high pleasure streams of water. The combined assault was starting to make the battle more difficult for the teen.

"Damn it. Their getting more coordinated with their attacks." Tsukune noted as he was being forced closer to the surface of the water. He was now having to watch for both shooting and luging strikes from his foes. All the while, a certain individual was keeping a close eye on him.

"This guy is proving to be more trouble than he's worth." Higa remarked as he watched his boys being beaten so easily. The boy sighed as he shook his head. "I guess I'll have to step in, myself." Higa remarked before diving under the surface of the water.

Higa started to swim as his darkened outline in the water moved at a moderate pace. But after a second, his form began to change. His body bulked up and become more streamlined while his head, neck and shoulders seam to merge and become more pointed. His hands and feet became webbed while a large tail grew from his back. The more he transformed, the faster his swimming became until he was speeding through the water like a torpedo. As he got closer to his target, a large grey fin rose from the surface.

Kurumu had just sliced the face of another fishman who had tried to grab her when she caught sight of the fin slicing through the water and noticed that the owner of the appendage was heading straight towards her destined one; who happened to have his back turned to the approaching threat.

"Tsukune! Look out!"

"Wha?" Tsukune turned his head to the shouting succubus, who was pointing at something behind him. However, he was too late to react as the water exploded behind him and he spun around to see a large gaping mouth filled with rose of serrated teeth bearing down on him.

"Shit!" The boy swore as he tried to evade the attack, but he was unable to fully dodge as his left arm was caught in the jaws of the yokai who was attacking him. A split second later, and he felt the pain of several dozen teeth tearing into his flesh.

"GUAAAAAAAAAH!" Tsukune screamed in pain as his arm was instantly mangled and torn. The worst was yet to come, though, as the yokai gave a quick twitch of his head and his left arm was quickly severed just below the bicep.

"TSUKUNE!" 'Moka' and Kurumu cried out in horror as they watched the yokai dive back into the pool with the severed limb while Tsukune grabbed the bleeding stump where his arm used to be.

"Grrr! God Damn It!" Tsukune bit out a curse as he looked at what remained of his left arm as blood poured form the open wound. Another splash alerted him as his attacker resurfaced and he was able to see him.

It looked like a great white shark in appearance, only with the additions of a pair of arms and of course, his legs that remained underwater. His grey sharkskin shined in the sunlight while his two round eyes glared at the airborne teen while a several trails of red liquid poured from his mouth into the pool. The sharkman turned his head left before throwing it to the right, opening his mouth to allow the shredded arm he had bitten off fly out of the pool and land at the vampire and succubus' feet. The two girls stared in alarm at the appendage while the yokai grinned up at the boy.

"Not so tough now, are you? If you had listened to me earlier, you might not have lost a limb."

"Higa….Damn you!" Tsukune muttered as he glared at the sharkman. This was definitely going to impede his ability to fight.

"So, tell me, what are you going to do now, huh? You can't fight us all with only one arm, and your two friends can only last for so long before we take them. Are you going to try to fight us while we have the advantage and die, or are you going to turn tail and run, and leave your two friends for us to play with? Either way, we win!"

Higa's boys cheered in response to the declaration. Tsukune, meanwhile, glared down at the group of yokai in anger. He knew that he was at a disadvantage in a straight up fight, but he wasn't about to give this fucker the satisfaction of victory. No, it was time to pull out his newest trump card.

"Moka! Kurumu! Get clear! I'm ending this now!" Tsukune shouted as he flapped his wings to get more altitude.

'Moka' and Kurumu looked at one another for a moment then headed straight towards the fence separating the grounds from the pool area. If Tsukune was telling them to move, then he was up to something big. 'Moka' used her enhanced strength to jump over the fence while Kurumu used her claws to slice open a hole in the chain link to slip through. She was able to slip through the hole in time to avoid the grasping claws of the aquatic yokai chasing her.

They were not the only ones as Tamao, and her girls decided it was a good time to make themselves scarce while everyone was distracted.

Meanwhile, Tsukune rose fifty feet above the pool before settling into a hover. He breathed in deeply as he pointed the palm of his hand towards the pool below.

Higa cooked his head to the side as he watched the kid's strange actions, puzzled by what he was planning to do.

"What's he doing, Higa?" One of his boys asked as he swam up beside the sharkman.

"The hell if I know? The dumbass id just floating up there." Higa responded as he continued to watch. His eyes suddenly went wide when he saw something strange happening. "Wh-Wha?"

The air around Tsukune began to glow a pale red as motes of red light started to gather into his palm. Soon, the sound of electrical arcs filled the air as he finished condensing the dark energy into a ball in his hand. A vindictive grin appeared on his face as he took dead aim at the center of the pool.

"Choke on this, you overgrown minnow. DEVIL BOMB!" Tsukune roared as he fired the ball of energy in his hand with the velocity of a canon round. It streaked through the air and headed straight down towards the water below, where Higa and his boys were left gapping at the incoming attack.

"Uwha-Wha-WHAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Higa's scream was drowned out as the ball came roaring down and splashed into the pool. There was a split second of calm, before the entire pool area was bathed in a red light and-

*KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!*

-The entire pool exploded in a massive plum of water while the surrounding concrete shattered from the force. Within the plum of water, many crabmen and fishmen were sent flying, many rendered unconscious by the explosion. Higa, was not one of the lucky ones as he remained conscious and aware of the pain his body was in even though the explosion occurred directly underneath him. As such, he became increasingly aware of the flying teen now closing in on him from above with his fist reared back.

"Game Over!" Tsukune shouted as he threw his punch straight into the side of Higa's jaw. Higa's face warped as the fist made contact, cartilage cracking under the force and a few teeth came loose in his mouth. Physics finally came into effect as the sharkman was sent rocketing towards the ground, and straight towards a certain vampire.

"Moka, batter up!"

The silver haired girl smirked before jumping up and sending a spin kick straight into the other side of Higa's jaw.

"Know your place!"

Higa was sent tumbling through the air into what remained of the chain link fence, the metal couplings giving way from the force as the fence wrapped around his body like a net. The fence had slowed him down enough were his body landed in the shallow water of what remained of the pool. Finally, after everything he had been subjected to, the bruised Higa slipped into unconsciousness as he laid trapped inside the metal net while many of his boys were left as groaning heaps scattered around him.

"WOW-WEE! THIS FIGHT WAS A BLAST! CHU!~"

It's that bat, again….

Tsukune slowly drifted down from the sky until he landed on the soft grass where the remains of his severed arm landed. Kneeling, he carefully picked up and looked at the limb with a grimace.

"Tsukune!"

The boy looked up to see Kurumu running towards him, her breasts bouncing around in the loss confines of the towel she was using. She looked like she was preparing to jump on him again when she stopped short as her eyes fell on the limb he held in his hand. Her hands went up to cover her mouth as her eyes began to tear up.

"Oh, Tsukune…your…. your arm…." The succubus spoke remorsefully as she finally saw the full extent of the injury.

Amazingly, Tsukune let out a small chuckle. "Don't worry, Kurumu. It's not as bad as it looks."

"Not As Bad As It Looks?! You Lost Your Arm, Tsukune!" Kurumu yelled at the boy, angered at how easily he dismissed the injury. "How can you take this so lightly!?"

"I agree, this isn't like a simple wound. You might have completely lost the use of that arm." 'Moka' said as she joined them, her gaze still firm, but with a strong hint of worry as she starred at the injured boy.

Tsukune shook his head. "Believe it or not, this isn't the first time I lost an arm. All I need is for someone to help set it back in place and my regeneration will take over. By tomorrow morning, I'll be as good as new."

The two looked unconvinced, Kurumu more than 'Moka' as she had seen his regeneration first hand with the 'Saizo Incident.' Tsukune sighed as he started headed towards the school building. "If you two are so worried, then you can keep an eye on me tonight so you can see for yourself." He figured they would do so anyways, so why try to fight it.

While 'Moka' and Kurumu followed behind, Tamao and her girls watched as the trio left the pool area. The captain of the swimming club grimaced at the destruction of the new pool and a part of her wanted to blame the boy, but after seeing him lose his arm, she could not feel anger towards him. This ultimately was Higa's fault and she was going to make sure he paid for everything he had done.

"I guess we are back to using the old pool, then" She sighed as she began ordering her girls to start recovering what they could and get help in rounding up Higa and his boys.

Yokai Academy Nurse's Office – Later –

Tsukune sat in a bed dressed in a patient gown with his left arm wrapped completely in bandages as he waited for it to fully heal. Moka and Kurumu sat in nearby chairs as they tended to him. When they had first arrived, the nurse had all but fainted at the sight of the severed limb. After gathering her wits, she started ordering him to go straight to the hospital built on site for those yokai with grievous injuries or illnesses so that they could perform surgery to save the arm. Tsukune, however, was able to talk her out of it by explaining that he had a highly advanced healing ability and simply reattaching the limb was enough to save it. In fact, he even showed that, even though the limb was severed, it was still healing itself from the numerous lacerations caused by Higa's shark teeth. True to his word, the arm was slowly healing from the wounds. This amazed the girls and nurse and, with a little more convincing, was able to have the nurse agree to using some simple stitches to reattach the arm. Afterwards, Tsukune was placed in a bed and left to recover while the nurse went to properly document the boy's medical records and preserving a blood sample, which she insisted on taking from Tsukune.

"Are you sure you are alright, Tsukune?" The pink-haired Moka asked as she fretted over him. 'Moka' had recovered her rosary from Tsukune after they had arrived but waited until after Tsukune had his arm reattached before returning to her sealed state. It was agreed upon that if Moka had woken up while he was still dismembered, the poor girl would have gone straight into hysterics and made the situation worse.

"Yes, Moka. I'm fine. See? I can even move it now." Tsukune assured the girl as he brought his left hand up and wiggled the fingers a little.

Moka smiled in relief. After waking up and finding herself in the nurse's office with an injured Tsukune, she was beside herself with worry, especially after whole incident was revealed to her.

"Don't worry. If Tsukune needs any special healing, I'll be more than happy to provide such service." Kurumu said as she grabbed the bandaged arm and brought it to her chest, which had a lot of cleavage exposed from her button-downed sexy nurses' outfit she had managed to put on some point after the real nurse left. She was giving him her most sultriest look as she pressed his hand further into the valley of her breasts.

Moka pouted at the cyan-haired girl and quickly grabbed and pulled the limb from the succubus' grasp.

"Tsukune doesn't need that kind of healing, he needs to rest."

Kurumu blinked before growling and grabbed the arm again and pulled it away from the pinkette.

"Hey, I'm trying to take care of my destined one here."

"He doesn't need you doing that to him. Let him be."

"No!"

The situation quickly dissolved into Moka and Kurumu fighting over the arm, all the while Tsukune was starting to panic.

"Hey-hey-hey! I just had that reattached! Stop! Your going to tear it off again!"

"Hello~! A singsong voice came from the door as Mrs. Nekonome poked her head through the door.

"Ah, Mrs. Nekonome. What are you doing here?" Moka asked as the two stopped fighting and let Tsukune pull his hand free.

"Good evening. I just came here to let you all know what he chairman decided on the incident with the pool. Now, despite what you did, Tsukune, The chairman will not hold you responsible for the destruction of the new swimming pool."

Tsukune let out a sigh of relief. There had been a chance he would have to answer for that, considering he did blow the pool up.

"As for the instigators, Higa Yurimato and his friends are being expelled for multiple violations of the school regulations, so they will no longer be a worry for anyone here."

"Hmph, good riddance!" Kurumu remarked as she folded her arms across and scowled at the memory of what those disgusting creeps tried to do to her.

"And finally, it has come to my attention that you three have yet to join a club. Now, since the day is over, the club drive has ended. Fortunately, we have several positions still open in the Newspaper Club if you wish, otherwise we will have to divide you three into any available spots in the clubs that are still open. So, what do you say?" Mrs. Nekonome asked the trio.

The three friends looked at each other before shrugging. "Might as well. It would be better if we stayed together." Tsukune spoke up for the group.

The teacher clapped cheerfully. "Excellent! In that case, then welcome to the Newspaper Club!" Mrs. Nekonome declared as she pulled out a rolled up paper and opened it to reveal a banner saying 'Welcome, New Members!'

Tsukune sighed as he leaned back. That took care of the club issue at least. Hopefully, things might calm down a little so he can relax.

…..

Yeah.

Right!

To Be Continued –

{Monster Encyclopedia}

Name: Mermaid

Classification: Aquatic Yokai

Rank: C

Nicknamed 'Siren of the Sea', Mermaids are known to have the upper body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of a fish. In ancient times, Mermaids would use their voices and beauty to lure men into shipwrecking their vessels out at sea and then either feed off the sailors lifeforce or, if they truly fancied the man, mate with them to breed their young. Swift in the water, they have moderate strength in which they use to hold their prey. They are not evil in nature, though, as it has been known that Mermaids are romantic by nature and can be wooed by a man who has her fancy. In this case, they can become wonderful and loving wives to their human counterpart.

Name: Fishman

Classification: Aquatic Yokai

Rank: D

Earning the moniker of 'Devils of the Deep.' Fishmen have been a plague to sea farers since the dawn of sailing. Known to plunder ships, Fishmen will swarm the ships in numbers and take anything they deem as valuable, including humans to eat, or, in the case of women, for breeding. They have moderate strength and don't swim as fast as their female counterparts (Mermaids), they can, however, fire high pressure jets of water from their mouth similar in nature to the archer fish. This jet is strong enough to cut steel.

Name: Crabman

Classification: Crustacean Yokai

Rank: D

Similar in hunting methods to the Fishman, Crabman are known to scavenge the beaches of the world in the dark of night. Their hard shells provide excellent protection while their pincers can sheer through steel. They can produce a resin-like substance from their mouths which they use to build lairs underwater. Like other half-man aquatic yokai, they have a fondness for kidnapping woman for breeding as well as a taste for man-flesh. They are dangerous in large numbers.

Name: Sharkman

Classification: Apex Aquatic Yokai

Rank: A

Known as 'Sons of Kamohoalii', Sharkman are the apex predators of aquatic yokai. As swift and strong as a Great White Shark, these yokai attack swiftly and tear their victims apart with a single bite of their large jaws. Known to live in more tropical waters, Sharkman are not picky eaters, attacking human and yokai alike when given the chance. Ruthless and cunning, Sharkman have been known to take control over stretches of ocean not unlike a crime lord, recruiting and coercing Fishman and Crabman to work for them in pirating, selling their plunder at yokai established settlements near the ocean. They often take the most beautiful of women for breeding when their subordinates are successful in a raid of ships like cruise liners or passenger ships. They are a menace of the seas, and only the strongest hunters can fight them in their domain.

[Author's Notes]

This one was a long time overdue. I was having trouble trying to script this chapter, but I think I came up with a pretty good chapter. As you have seen, this chapter has a major deviation from canon event, with Higa and his boys acting as the chapter antagonist. The reason? Mermaids just did not seem dangerous enough to warrant them as the bad girls. Sure, they drain the life from their victims, but that was it. To a human, this would warrant a fight like in cannon, but not for a Devilman. The fight would have been overkill and boring. So, I made Higa the sharkman and his cohorts. Making them scum is added incentive for a beatdown. Tsukune is also once more shown to be tough to fight, but not indestructible. There have been several times where Akira has had a limb severed in the Devilman manga and anime. Most notably his fight with Sirene. I decided to throw that in this chapter as well. Hope it was enjoyable.

Next Chapter – Tsukune, Moka and Kurumu get settled into the Newspaper Club and are introduced to their upperclassman who leads the club. However, rumors of a peeper began to circulate and an innocent and confused Tsukune suddenly has fingers being pointed at him. Can he clear his name and keep Moka safe from an amorous senior? Find out in Chapter Four: Werewolf to Devilman.

Peace.