CHAPTER 1: The Beautiful Anemic Vampire
Damn damn damn! How did it come to this? While I’d never consider myself someone who is smart and good at studies, my average grade in all my courses could speak for itself. But I went to school, starting from Kindergarten, and until my Junior High just like everyone else… So how did it come to this? For me to fail every high school exam…
Is that even remotely possible!?
Worse! Because of that, I’m now here, sitting alone in a strange bus, with no one else but the bizarre bus driver to accompany me.
Within the moving yellow Bus, a young boy with brown hair and eyes, wearing a green uniform with a white shirt and red bow tie, could be seen mulling over his current predicament with a bitter expression that borders on crying, if possible.
The boy who was bitter over his predicament had an appearance that was neither handsome or ugly in terms of look; giving off a very plain and ordinary presence. A typical example of a normal, average person with no redeeming qualities that stood out from the rest.
‘‘You’ve fidgeted a lot; feeling nervous about attending Yokai Academy?’’ While he was tearing up inwardly over the predicament he found himself in, the boy heard the voice of the driver sitting at the forefront of the bus, asking him a question. ‘‘U-um, no.’’ And having been asked, the boy reflexively lied.
‘‘Heh heh, you should be, sonny boy. Yokai Academy is a horrifying place, filled with danger all around, especially for one such as you.’’ The voice of the bus driver echoed back moments later, sending a creepy sensation running down the boy's spine with those ominous words.
‘‘What do you mean by ‘Danger’?’’ The boy quickly asked for clarification, as the ominous words of the driver were something he couldn’t ignore. ‘‘Heh heh! You’ll know soon enough.’’ However, instead of receiving a proper answer, the bus driver grinned back at him, laughing as he spoke in a cryptic tone before turning away.
Fuck! The only danger here is you! The boy couldn’t help but curse inwardly at the cryptic reply. Already nervous and stressed out about the so-called Yokai Academy he was supposed to attend, the bus driver's words weren’t helping his nerves. And also, was it just me, or was his eyes actually glowing bright like a nightlight?
‘‘Nah, how can that be possible? No way, my eyes were definitely playing tricks on me. Heh heh…’’ the boy rubbed the back of his head, laughing off the strange sight he saw from the bus driver. ‘‘Yokai Academy… a school that can’t be found anywhere on the map nor was ever heard of before. Gulp! Nope, I can’t let his words get to me!’’
Right after uttering that, the yellow Bus traveling on the road passed through a dark and eerie tunnel.
…
‘‘We’re here.’’
After going through the tunnel, the bus came to a stop. And hearing that they had reached their destination, the boy cautiously got off from his seat to make his way off the bus. The whole time, while doing so, he chooses to avoid looking at the driver who has a strange and creepy vibe to him.
‘‘Be-careful, sonny boy.’’ As he made his way off the bus down the tiny stairs, the bus driver's voice rang out behind him. ‘‘Why do you keep- Wait!’’ Fully stepping out of the bus, the boy quickly shifts around, wanting to ask him to properly clarify those cryptic words of his this time around since he was already here.
However, closing the exit, the bus driver took off without the boy getting a single reply from him.
‘‘Fuck! Really! How can anyone be so irresponsible? Uttering cryptic words that can send one's mind swirling with questions and leaving just like that without so much a word.’’ The boy continued to complain and voice out curses at the bus driver for a while. And only after finally taking notice of his surroundings did he stop. ‘‘This- What place is this? How can the surroundings change so much just by going through that tunnel?’’ The boy nervously gulped down after surveying the surroundings a little.
The clear and sunny blue sky was replaced with somewhat dark and gloomy clouds looming overhead, as the thunderous lightning could be seen flashing across the sky now and then. While the surrounding was filled with dead, withering trees with bones randomly found lying on the road.
Standing atop a cliff with the vast expense of the sea below. The sight caused the boy to shiver momentarily as the cryptic words of the bus driver rang back into him.
‘‘Who is the Genius that thinks setting up a school in such a hunting place is a good idea? If I ever saw such a person, I'd definitely give him/her a good smack to the head.’’ After slightly adjusting himself to the place, the boy said.
‘‘And that must be the school.’’ Seeing the design of the building a few dozen meters away, he said further. ‘‘It looks more like a creepy mansion than a school. Hah, they really went all out with the horror theme, huh.’’
‘‘Just how did I wind up attending such a strange school in the first place?’’ The boy grumbled in a bitter tone.
The young man was called Tsukune Aono. After ended up flunking all the high school exams for every school he apply for; his parents were worried that he would be the only kid that wasn't able to attend school this year like everyone else and would need to wait another year to take the exam again.
So Tsukune's parents were worried about this predicament because of how inadequate he was — enough to actually fail the exams for every high school he apply for. Tsukune’s dad, according to him, had found a strange paper falling off from a creepy Priest passing by and picked up the paper, which turned out to be a form for enrollment in a school called Yokai Academy without the need to take any exam beforehand to be accepted.
Tsukune's parents, joyful at the thought of him not having to be a dropout, happily filled the form-up despite the boy's protest of how suspicious it was. And because of that, the boy, currently in a strange location, ended up enrolled in a school that couldn’t be found anywhere on the map nor searched on the internet.
‘‘Is this what we call ‘divine punishment’ for those who are too inadequate?’’ Tsukune cracks a joke, to wash away his misery. ‘‘Hah, since I’m already here I can’t complain forever. I might as well head over. Who knows, maybe it’s not as bad as it looks on the inside.’’ The boy sighed when looking at the creepy mansion that was supposed to be a school.
Adjusting his mindset and convincing himself not to worry too much, Tsukune put on a confident front and stride forward. However, only after taking a few steps...
‘‘Ahhh! Coming through!!’’
‘‘Wha-’’
Hearing the sudden screaming, Tsukune reflexively turned his head to look back. But the moment he did, he directly came face to face with a fast-speeding two-wheel bicycle storming his way. And momentarily shocked by the sight, before he realized it the bicycle was already near him, and, unable to dodge in time the bike crashed right into him.
Bam!
‘‘Gah! Ugh, who the hell…’’ Tsukune groaned and reached for his aching nose bridge. When feeling a sticky substance flowing out from it, frustration and slight anger welled up from the boy immediately.
‘‘I’m sorry. I’m a- anemic…’’ As the boy's head was still tilted down because of the pain coursing through his bleeding nose, he heard a soft feminine voice saying. ‘‘I don’t want to sound rude or anything since this is clearly an accident, but you’re sorry isn’t very…’’ Still irritated at being run over, he said while gradually looking up to face the owner of the voice.
However, the instant his gaze landed on the owner of the voice, the remaining words he was going to utter ended up stuck in his throat.
Wow! So Beautiful, With their heads only a few inches apart from each other, Tsukune's mind froze when an astonishing-looking beauty appeared in his line of sight. Forcing him to be lost in her remarkable and astonished appearance, would force any young male heart to thump rapidly in their chest when in close contact with her.
The girl being stared at by him, was a tall fair-skinned girl with knee-length pink hair that had a bang swept to the right side, green eyes, and full pink lips with a cute and devastated beautiful appearance. The unknown girl attire consists of the same green uniform with a white shirt and bow tie, with the only difference lies in the skirt instead of pants like Tsukune.
As Tsukune was lost in the unknown girl's devastating beauty. The girl who claimed to be anemic, nose suddenly twitched, as if smelling something very enticing. And with an absentminded look in her eyes, as if drawn over by something, the unknown girl moves her face closer to the boy.
With the sudden extreme closeness, Tsukune, who was lost in the girl's appearance, directly snapped out of it. Um, I’m not complaining but why is she leaning over so close to me? He couldn't help but question when the girl's hot breath touched his skin.
‘‘You smell so good.’’ The girl softly said with an unfocused gaze.
‘‘Gulp. Is that so...’’ Having heard the girl say he smells good, Tsukune swallows deeply.
While already shocked by the girl's action so far, what she did next caused his blood to boil in excitement. ‘‘So good.’’ The girl's dreamy voice enters his ears once again as she leans closer to his neck, while her fair and smooth hands grasp hold of his body.
Is this really happening, is this really happening! After having almost no intimate contact with any girls in my previous old school from kindergarten all the way up to the end of Junior high. Have I finally struck gold with such beauty on the first day of school!?
Feeling the pink-haired girl's hot breath on his neck, Tsukune's heart raced rapidly as excitement coursed through him.
However, unknown to him as the excitement of finally getting lucky with a girl for the first time consumes his reasoning, the girl with pink lips close to his neck opens her mouth and suddenly sprouts out two long sharp fangs. And instantly at the fangs protruding out, she directly bites down.
Splash.
Huh? As the protruding fangs from the pink-haired girl dug deep into Tsukune's neck, the boy's expression changed rapidly as he felt a sharp stabbing pain course through the area of his neck.
The pain was so vivid and so real that the boy instantly rolled his eyes over to the girl.
‘‘Did you bite me?’’ Tsukune unconsciously asks as his confused and wary gaze focuses on the girl.
As soon as the question was asked, pure red liquid dripped down from the girl's mouth, rolling down her delicate and fair chin before dropping down on Tsukune’s brown pants. Noticing the red liquid as blood and seeing the blood smeared on the girl's pink moist lips, Tsukune's facial face changed rapidly from confusion, shock, panic, and horror.
‘‘Ahhh! What the fuck are you doing!!’’ Completely terrified by the sight, Tsukune's body jolted, pushing the most pretty-looking girl he ever laid eyes on away. He stood up and screamed loudly while backing away from her.
‘‘Shit! It’s actually squirted!’’ After putting some distance away from the girl, Tsukune noticed blood squirting from the area of his neck the girl had bitten, gushing out like steam from a broken pipe. ‘‘It’s staining my face, just how deep is the bite for it to gush out like this?’’ When some of the blood smears on his face, Tsukune places his palm on the area of the neck with sharp pain, and with more panic, he paces around while trying to desperately stop the bleeding.
‘‘I-I’m really sorry! You smell so good that I’ve unconsciously sunk my fangs in to drink your blood! I’m so sorry, I haven’t been drinking much blood lately so it’s hard to control myself!’’
While Tsukune was pacing about in panic, the girl with an unfocused gaze and claimed to be anemic, as if just now realizing what she did, immediately began to apologize, looking extremely guilty by what she had done.
With how beautiful of a lady she was, her apologizing and looking flustered like that because of guilt, would cause any man's heart to immediately soften, and had the desire to forgive her right away.
While that would have been the case for Tsukune as well. But because of the strangeness of the event and terrifying at being bitten by an unknown girl who he thought had taken a liking to him at first, and then bleeding out. His heart wasn’t in a forgiving mood as he pointed his shaken fingers at her, and uttered in a tone that demanded an answer.
‘‘Wha- Wha- What the hell are you!?’’
‘‘I’m Moka Akashiya,’’ the girl said, ‘‘And I’m a Vampire.’’
‘‘Wha-?’’
Tsukune’s mind directly shut down for a period, as the news of this strange and unknown girl who had crashed into him and drunk his blood, being a vampire was too shocking for him to process.
‘‘And don’t worry much about the bite. Vampire bites heal fast and won’t leave any mark.’’ Seeing him grow silent suddenly, Moka, the vampire, thought he must have still been worried about the bite, and tried her best to form a slight smile in this situation to comfort him.
...
‘‘I’m so happy to meet someone like you on the first day, if it was back in my old school in the human world and something like this happened, I wouldn’t be forgiving easily or at all.’’ Walking side by side toward the school, Mako softly said, smiling in a mix of happiness and embarrassment at her early action. ‘‘But to think you’ll forgive me even after I drink your blood without asking. How kind.’’
‘‘Heh heh, o-of course. Everything was just an accident and since you clearly didn’t mean it, it would be an ass of me to be mad at you.’’ Tsukune awkwardly smiled, hiding his fear behind it. ‘‘So, um, you’re really a vampire, huh.’’
‘‘Uh-hum, I am. Here are my fangs.’’ Moka nodded, spreading open her mouth and showing Tsukune her two sharp fangs. ‘‘Do you… dislike vampires?’’ She then concernedly inquired of him after noticing him tense up again.
‘‘Um, no, no, I was just s-surprise to see a vampire for the first time, that’s all.’’ Tsukune waved off her concern with a smile. ‘‘Yeah, that’s surprising, our kind are quite rare among monsters so it’ll be hard to see one. Thankfully, Tsukune doesn't seem to dislike us. I was worried because you look tense when I mention vampires.’’ With her worries away, the vampire girl smiles cheerfully at him.
How can I dislike you guys when I never freaking believe you were real in the first place! Wait, did she just mention other monsters? Do you mean there’s more of them? Inwardly, Tsukune didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her concern.
As someone who always thought monsters weren’t real, why would he be worried about whether he likes them or not? In fact, at first, he didn’t even believe it when Moka said she was a vampire, only when seeing her fangs and noticing the bite mark on his neck healing rapidly did he believe her.
‘‘Oh, yeah. What kind of monster are you, Tsukune?’’ Moka tilted her head to him and inquired.
‘‘T-that, um, I’m…’’ At her sudden inquiry of his monster species, Tsukune stammers as he struggles to reply back. How would I know when I’m not a monster?
‘‘Oh, sorry. I almost forgot we’re not supposed to tell our race to others.’’ Notice his discomfort over her question, Moka thought he was uncomfortable about telling her his true nature because of the school rule.
‘‘Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly it. I can’t tell you about my species because it’s against the school rules.’’ Hearing about the school rule, knowing it could be used as a shield to deflect the question, Tsukune instantly agreed with her.
‘‘Anyhow, I’m sure you're a cool monster Tsukune.’’ Moka uttered brightly.
‘‘Yeah.’’ Tsukune passively nodded.
‘‘So… o-our we friend.’’ Moka played with her finger while asking. Forcing a smile, he nodded. ‘‘Y-yeah, we are.’’
‘‘Yahoo, I’m so glad I finally made a friend.’’ Directly as he acknowledged their sudden friendship, Moka exclaimed excitedly and pressed her body up to him.
Too close! Squishy and soft! Smells great! Tsukune's blood surged in excitement as Moka’s body pressed onto him.
...
‘‘Hello, class, and welcome to Yokai Academy~ I’m Shizuka Nekonome, I’m your homeroom teacher. I think you already know about this, but this academy is built for monsters to learn to coexist with humans.
‘‘As you can see, the world has already fallen into the rule of humans, so to learn to coexist with them you must learn to blend into their Society. And the first step is to always assume a human disguise when you’re here in the academy~’’
With students sitting within the rows of seats, a female sandy blond teacher with hair shaped like a cat; donning a white blouse, orange skirt, low heel sandals with eyes seemingly always closed, explained with a cheerful tone while pointing at the whiteboard.
‘‘Hey teacher, wouldn’t it be better to eat those puny humans instead of going through the trouble of coexisting with them.’’ While the homeroom teacher, Shizuka Nekonome, was explaining the school rules, a tall blond student with a muscular appearance raised his hand and interrupted in an arrogant manner.
At the arrogant student's interruption, the teacher lost her smile for a second before began to explain in the same cheerful manner. ‘‘Unfortunately, every student here in Yokai Academy is a monster so there are no humans here. If we were to find any human sneaking into the school, we'd have to get rid of him or her.’’
‘‘Tsk. That’s a shame.’’
While the teacher went on to explain more about Yokai Academy to the students afterward.
In the corner to the left side of the rows of seats near the window, a brown-haired boy could be seen trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible, placing both hands on top of his head while keeping his head down. Sweating profusely at the conversation between the student and the teacher.
Eeek! Did she just say every student here is a monster in disguise!? Wouldn’t that mean I’m the only human in this goddamn place! Also, did that fucker just talk about eating human!? But I’m human, so wouldn’t that be referring to me!’’