Ah, what a productive day this has been so far. She had acquired the swim club. She'd gotten a little closer to her two ultimate acquisitions, Moka and Tsukune, and in about ten minutes she was going to make steps towards her grandest play yet.
"Well, the swim club was a bust," Tsukune said. Obliviously munching on a sandwich that he was occasionally peeking inside of, as if the ham might have spontaneously turned into something else. How amusing, he was being paranoid about exactly the wrong things. "Ah, maybe not an athletics club? An arts club -"
"Run by a Medusa," Kurumu interrupted. "How sure are you those statues are 'statues'?"
"Chess club?" Moka offered. Though her Outer persona didn't strike Kurumu as the sort to excel there.
"Headed by a Slime who likes eating girls' hair," Kurumu said, flipping back her own ponytail. Moka cringed, and patted her own scalp, as if checking there wasn't a Slime on it. "Sorry, I was asking around to get opinions on the other clubs." And not enslaving the swim club, thank you very much. "As far as I can tell, the best club for us to join would be the Newspaper Club."
"Ah, that's our Kurumu!" Yukari clapped in approval. Oh, how kind, Kurumu could not help but bow. "The newspaper club sounds perfectly safe."
Yes, well, that would be true in a free society. Unfortunately in many countries - including many that purport to be free but actually aren't - the job of journalist was quite a dangerous occupation. By dint of the fact that you tend to step on the toes of one powerful person or another should you enjoy any success in your vocation. As it happened the Newspaper Club here at Yokai Academy had stepped on some dangerous toes, and were down to one solitary member due to this.
But since joining the Newspaper Club was a vital part of her plan, she wasn't going to bring that up. It was a trifling thing that she could handle later. Especially with Moka at her back. Her brains. Moka's strength. There was only one combo better and that was Kurumu's brains plus her sexy body.
Actually, there might be a better combination going... but it depended on what sort of monster Tsukune turned out to be. She still hadn't puzzled that out yet. An elusive answer, effervescent and immaterial. It was infuriating - yet also tantalising. At this point she almost wanted to Charm him, smooch him and demand the answer - but that felt like cheating at this point. She'd devoted too much energy to figuring it out.
So, alright. She would indulge in the sunk cost fallacy, just this one time. It would give her brain something to do. Then, if it became strategically essential for her to drop it, she would admit defeat and make the move then.
"The head of that club is a Werewolf, apparently," Kurumu said. She shrugged. "He has a weakness for pretty girls, but the worst he'll do is hit on us. Much better than being eaten, or turned to stone, or having our souls stuffed into sandwiches being served on the lunch menu."
"I suppose." Moka nervously said. "I mean, he can't be <i>that</i> bad, right?"
“You were joking about souls being on the lunch menu, right? I got a chicken sandwich there..” Tsukune asked, a very worried look on his face as he questioned whether he had committed some terrible deed without noticing.
"Hrmph! If this guy is a pervert, I'll teach him a lesson -"
"Assuming you can hit him," Kurumu said. "Werewolves are known for being as fast as vampires are strong. Relax. Let me take care of him - but if he gets really out of line, I'm sure Moka will put him in his place. Right?"
"Why do we have to join this club again?" Moka asked.
"Hehe, let's check it out for now and make our decision then," Kurumu said. She slipped behind the other three and started pushing them along, though she had the impression that if Moka wanted to she could stop this cold in an instant. "We don't have to commit just because we've gone along. If we don't like what we see, we can opt out and try something else."
"You sure seem excited about this," Tsukune said. "Ah, did you intend to be a journalist in your later career?"
"Possibly, possibly," Kurumu nodded. "Investigating. Writing up articles..." Then a sinister grin fell upon her face while the others couldn't see her - but only for a fleeting second before a picturesque mask fell back over her pretty features. "Taking pictures..."
Yep. Taking pictures. Funny how recent that invention is, huh? Only a hundred or so years old, and back then it could only take pictures in black and white. The quality of them has only improved over time, until now, when things like HD cameras exist. Shame they didn't exist way back when, in the days when the Succubus was a more commonly found monster than now. Rather than being on the edge of extinction. If they <i>had</i> existed back then... Well. It wouldn't have taken a genius like her to think of something so simple as this grand masterstroke.
<hr>
Look at her. So brazenly pushing her unknowing minions on towards her next wicked scheme. Mizore fumed from behind a bush, watching as her arch-rival made blatant moves on her man.
Tsukune Aono. Oh, the mere sight of him filled her heart with... mostly lust, if she was honest. That boy was tripping her reproductive urges with the same mathematical elegance as Euler's formula.
In any event, now she had a puzzle to solve. It was strange how eager she had been to go after the Newspaper Club. Mizore had originally assumed that Kurumu was going to go after every club one at a time and take it over, adding them to her harem incrementally... but that sort of attitude indicated a grander scheme.
It had to be something clever. They had matched wits before, and Kurumu was never the sort to dumb things down. Not when she could show off how 'utterly brilliant' she was. A worthy rival. Such a thing was rare to find...
But as appreciated at that gem in the rough might be, she must crush it. Like a gem, it would be difficult to do without the right amounts of pressure. She could hardly abide that succubus ensnaring the man that Mizore had chosen to be her husband. The rest of the school - fine. Not him though. The big question was how she intended to go about it. If this was so important a part of her plan, then why the Newspaper -
"I see," Mizore whispered, slinking back into the bush. "Not quite as brilliant as your usual cunning plans. But it would work. Now, I must weigh my own options. Should I hijack your plan and turn the academy into my own harem, or merely put a stop to it?"
<hr>
Last year was, by all metrics, the worst year of Ginei Morioka's life. His closest friends, his colleagues, his club compatriots here in the newspaper club had been picked apart by the vultures circling over the school. They had been sure of their victory, having reported on the corruption of the protection committee.. but in the world of monsters only one thing mattered, more than anything, more than the truth. Power.
Oh, their club had been strong, they had protected each other, even fought off an attack or two during the school year.. but when holidays came.. they had gone back home. And that was when these heartless bastards struck, cutting them down one by one when they thought they were safe and sound. He had been the only survivor.. and he was pretty sure it was done as a show of force, an example of what would happen if you got in the way of the school’s secret rulers. Either death.. or being left behind to drown in survivor’s guilt and despair.
"Hello ,is this the newspaper club?" a bright young girl asked.
"Yes, madame! Welcome!" Ginei smoothly said, pulling a bouquet of flowers out of nowhere and presenting them to the quite busty blue haired girl... and then another bouquet for the slender pretty young thing next to her. He completely ignored the average looking boy standing in between the two beauties, as well as the short witch fuming off to the side (pretty, but too young for his tastes) for he was a man on a mission. "And to you as well. It is a pleasure to have such pretty faces alight our office. Are you here to join our merry club?"
Before you ask, yes, that was quite the mood switch from the werewolf, right there. Old habits die hard, and the prospect of having these two join his club was a little too good for him to pass up on.
"Ah... well, we were thinking of it, but..." the slender girl began. The busty blue haired girl slipped in right in between them, and used her boobs to bounce Ginei back a few steps.
"Sorry about her, she's a bit nervous around new boys," the girl said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Then, once a little distance was put in between them, she whispered in his ear "Besides which, she's spoken for already. Don't they make a cute couple?"
Huh? That guy? With that girl? Ginei rubbed his chin thoughtfully. There was something about their body language that indicated a mutual attraction, now that it was brought up to him. Still, what a waste.
On the other hand, the girl in front of him was quite the catch as well.
"What about you?" Ginei quietly asked. The other three had decided to stroll around the clubroom, reading the articles pinned to the wall. Trophies taken during better times. "Are you spoken for as well?"
"Not yet," the girl said. "Kurumu Kurono. That's Moka Akashiya, that's Yukari Sendo, and that's Tsukune Aono. You would be?"
"Ginei Morioka," he smiled. In his wolf form, he would have looked like a ravenous beast hell bent on tearing your head off with his jaws. In human form, he was hungry for something else entirely. Alright. Now that the heart pounding reaction to such pretty faces had died down a little. "Am I to take it that you are scouting out clubs? If not, I would still be quite content to give you information on the other clubs. It would be the least I could do."
"That would be very kind of you," said the boy. Instantly, Ginei could tell that he was prey. Not a predator. It was a wonder he hadn't been eaten alive yet. "Can you tell us a little more about what the newspaper club does?"
"They make a newspaper, dummy," Yukari said. "Though I suppose you want to hear it from the horse's mouth?"
"Ahaha, that's quite okay," Ginei laughed it off. The more he saw of this quartet, the less he wanted them to join the club. Oh, sure. Having Moka and Kurumu on hand would be... quite delicious. On the other hand, subjecting them to the same hell that he had been just last year... no, that would be too much. That boy, too. And the witch. They were too nice, too innocent, he could not willingly allow them to share in this fate.
For that reason he was going to head to the desk at the back. He would show them his collection of 'pictures'. He would scare them off by playing into his perverted personality, leaning hard into it... Though if he was being honest it wouldn't require too much of a lean, actually. More of a gentle prod. The girls would politely decline, or the boy would insist on leaving for their protection, and then - that would be the end of it.
What he didn't expect was for a trio of nasty looking thugs to kick down the door, slink inside and make threatening noises at them.
"Hey, that story you printed last year," one of the thugs grunted, pounding his fist into his open palm. "Got my cousin expelled. You know the one, right?"
"I'm sorry, you're going to have to be more specific," Ginei said. "Did he eat a teacher? We do have attempted murders in this school walking freely with nothing more than a detention."
He'd been circling around the room, trying to lead them away from the four visitors. No reason to draw them into this mess. Besides, he was an S-Class monster. A werewolf! Granted it was hardly a full moon, but he should be able to handle himself against these three. They didn't seem especially intelligent. A little fleet of foot, and he should have them packed away in no time at -
"Know your place."
A leg crossed into his vision, as well as gleaming silver hair. All three of the thugs were sent flying across the room, where they rolled and bounced up against the back wall, slouched in place. Ginei turned slowly to stare. A vampire had entered his vision. Not just a vampire either, but a genuine beauty. The cold and noble sort, that seemed untouched like freshly fallen snow. Her face and body were the same as Moka, but the body language was even more different than her hair colour. It made her seem like a completely different person.
"Why you!" one of the thugs growled. He climbed up to his feet - then Kurumu slipped in front of the side and sliced his belt with long razor thin claws. His trousers fell down. He went to pick them up. Then Kurumu kneed him in the face while elbowing him in the back of the neck. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
"Honestly, boy. Pulling off the rosary for such weaklings?" Moka huffed. "Even the Succubus can defeat them with ease."
“I.. am sorry? It was kind of a reflex..” Tsukune answered, looking back and forth between the two girls and the thugs that they had decimated in seconds. He actually felt a bit bad for them now.
"I'll take out the trash," the witch said. She waved her wand, and elevated the guys out of the room, tossing them out like yesterday's news."And stay out!"
Huh... On second thoughts, maybe they were tough enough to hang after all? So long as they played it smart, didn't cross the wrong people... they should be strong enough.
"Ah, let me show you some of our back issues," Ginei said, smiling brightly at the prospective new club members. "That should get you a better idea of what you're getting involved with."
<hr>
Mizore watched with interest as Yukari tossed out the brutes who had forced their way into the club room and considered the timing. Not long after the group had gone in. How suspicious. Too suspicious. Then, when the brutes dusted themselves off, stood up - and the thug with the cut belt took a replacement out of his pocket and put it on, some things started to click for her.
A setup. A ploy of some kind. Thinking about it, Mizore had heard that something unfortunate had happened to the previous year's newspaper club... Meaning that this was almost certainly planned by Kurumu in advance. A trick to convince the current club president that their little group could handle themselves.
Which might be a massive understatement, if she was being blunt. Her reports had indicated the current president was a werewolf. Two S-Class monsters, and a genius like Kurumu at the helm? They wouldn't be the strongest club in the school with that membership... but they'd be in the top five for certain.
"Brilliant as ever..." Mizore said, narrowing her eyes. "This leaves me with very few options of attack. Should I tip my hand now...? Or hold fast for a little longer to let you play out your game?"
- The Newspaper club is established, and Kurumu makes her next big move.
- Mizore decides to join the club as well, to throw Kurumu off her game.
- Mizore decides to continue her own recruitment drive for now.
- Something else
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