Rosario and Joestar

Looking Keito right in the eyes, you do the one thing that she would almost certainly never expect -- you nod. "Good to know," you calmly reply.

Keito's expression turns completely blank, miming the proverbial deer in the headlights, and even her trio of thugs trip over themselves in confusion. "Bwuh?"

God damn it, your hat's crooked again. "If we ever run into your Super Newspaper Club," you say while tugging it straight, "we'll be sure to leave them alone."

The room is completely and utterly silent, before Keito slowly points a finger at the girls Mizore was just intimidating. "They are the Super Newspaper Club."

Shaking your head, you carefully keep your face completely neutral. "No, they're a Tabloid Club."

Conveniently, the SNC have a few of their publications rolled up and bound with rubber bands. "Unless you're telling us..."

Grabbing one, you casually toss it over in Keito's direction, startling her and forcing a reflexive attempt to catch it. And after much fumbling, she does! Good for her. "...that Youkai Academy's standards are so low that this counts as a 'newspaper'."

Utterly confused, Keito unfurls the paper and starts to read it. As her eyes scan the front page of Youkai Square, her expression gradually turns from confusion to rage, and you can barely catch bits of irritated mumbling.

"Maid vs Nurse vs Rollerskate-Waitress Triple Threat Fetish Deathbattle...?"

That... actually sounds like it could be mildly intriguing -- if only to the extent that you could use that word for a bus crash. Probably the kind of event you'd prefer to hear about than actually witness, however.

"Top 5 Sexy Yet Tasteful Swimsuit Poses To Accentuate Your Figure And Make Even Rocks Drool Over You...?!"

You desperately pretend not to notice Mizore stuffing another copy of that page into her pocket. The less you think about it, the better off you probably are.
Kurumu appears to be scowling down at the list herself. "I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day..."
You have an ominous feeling, somehow, and unrelated to anything the Student Disciplinary Committee have a hand in.

"Headmaster Caught Shirtless, Steamy Photos On Page 12?"

Several of the Super Newspaper Girls are shoving papers into their pockets, shirts, or other holding areas of convenience. Apparently it isn't only the male student body that's full of perverts.

Several veins popping in her forehead, Keito makes it to the 'Educational' Section. "English ABC's For Sophomores: Word Search Edition?!"

With an unholy screech, Keito slams the tabloid down on a table and screams right in one of the Super Newspaper Girls' face. "YOU AIRHEADED SLUTS TOLD ME YOU COULD MAKE A NEWSPAPER! THIS IS WORTHLESS GARBAGE!"

The SNC Girl, apparently their de facto spokeswoman, is astoundingly calm in the face of Keito's rage. "I told you we could sell a newspaper," she explains seriously, even as she waves a hand to indicate stacks of photos of herself and her friends in swimsuits and/or the occasional uniform. "And you told us that as long as we could poach enough of the Newspaper Club's subscribers to run them out of business, quality wouldn't matter."

Meaning that if Keito paid off these girls and greenlit such a publication without even having inspected it herself beforehand, then she got completely and totally scammed.

Should that prove to be true -- and the total humiliation on Keito's face seems to imply as much -- then you're almost proud of the Super Newspaper Club for getting one over on her in such a way.

Keito looks like she's about to explode in a violent fit of some kind, but abruptly remembers how many students are watching her -- not only yourself, Mizore, and the Newspaper Club, but a good few dozen other students that the two newspapers were fighting over.

With a hateful snarl and a declaration that she needs to file a report, the self-important thug of a girl stomps off without further incident, her black-suited goons in tow.

Once several seconds had passed with no sign of the Student Disciplinary Committee returning, the tension in the room evaporated, and the girls of the Super Newspaper Club turned to face the True Newspaper Club. "Sorry about all that," said their auburn-haired spokeswoman, "but since none of our own clubs had the budget to pay for off the SDC to actually let us function, when this job offer came up we kind of had to take it."

Another one, with sandy-brown hair and glasses, nods vigorously. "But once I realized a bunch of weirdos like you guys would probably only be friends if you were Main Character-types, we figured that sooner or later you'd end up fighting them anyway, so --"

The third of the SNC girls, with long straight black hair, punches the air with enthusiasm! "So we seized our chance to put those gangsters on the other side of the con game for once, knowing that soon enough you guys would kick their asses and save us from their otherwise inevitable retribution!"

Before any of you can even begin to respond to that, the auburn-haired one walks up to Mizore. "Selling the pinups by themselves is a genius idea though, can't believe I didn't think of it myself."

Leaning forward, she goes and....

...kisses Mizore on the cheek...

Usually you don't have to stop and convince yourself that maiming a stranger is bad, but all of a sudden right now it seems like a fine enough idea.

"I won't be young and sexy forever," she adds with a wave, "so I'm going to milk it for all the attention it's worth while I still can!"

With her compatriots cheering in agreement, the girls gather up their crap and walk away, chatting animatedly amongst themselves.

Who the hell does that chick think she is, kissing your girl right in front of you like that and then walking off like it didn't even matter?!

You feel someone poking your arm, and you're distracted from your vengeful thoughts by a concerned-looking Yukari.

"Are you... okay, senpai?"

You shake off your thoughts, and turn to face your underclassmen. Watching you from over the Witchling's shoulder, Kurumu nods in agreement. "Yeah senpai, you seem way more intense than usual, all of a sudden."
Even for you, she privately thinks but does not say.
Tch. Good grief, you need a break from all the estrogen in the air... "I don't see Tsukune around," you say instead of answering the question. "Figured he'd have been trying to sell papers with you."

Kurumu appears to notice the way you dodged their concern, and as she glances between you, Mizore, and the parting ex-SNC girls, she grins. You can't help but follow her gaze back to Mizore yourself, and even though she's embarrassed by that other girl's casual forwardness, she's clearly smirking at you.

So that's what it looks like when you're jealous...

Shut. Up.

Yukari doesn't seem to catch the nonverbal communication between her assorted elders, and accepts your change of topic with neither comment nor complaint. "Yeah, he and Moka were trying to figure out why the Student Protection Committee have such a hate-on for the Newspaper Club, and last I knew they wanted to pry the truth out of that pervy werewolf."

Seemingly the moment Yukari closes her mouth, a desperate-looking Moka runs in from the hallway.... and comes skidding to a stop, barely able to keep her footing and remain upright. "Guys, have any of you seen Tsukune?! We split up a little while ago but I haven't been able to -- ....please tell me there was more to your 'Big Plan' than just putting on maid costumes."

"I was also going to hand out homemade cookies to new subscribers, which reminds me! Here you go, senpai, Mizore."

Even as Mizore accepts not one, but two bags of cookies on your behalf, each tied with a lovely bow, Moka gets aggravated and forcibly returns to her previous conversational track. "Anyway, Tsukune wasn't where we agreed to meet up and I haven't been able to find him! Have any of you seen him?!"

Having been reminded of your vampire mutual friend's distress, Kurumu's eyes harden. "We haven't seen him either. What about you two?" she asks turning to you and Mizore.

"Not since we came straight here from senpai's room," Mizore answers on your behalf.

[]It's probably nothing.
[]There's no reason to start freaking out, yet. There are any number of logical reasons why he wasn't waiting for her and that don't include his being kidnapped or otherwise malevolently acted upon.
[]Something seems a little fishy about the timing of this little revelation... but what?