Rosario and Joestar

At least Mizore has a plan, and knowing her as well as you do, you trust her to be able to take care of herself.

Although you can't help but be a little worried, hopefully there won't be more than one or two students at most who're dumb enough try something while she's alone -- you have a sneaking suspicion that she wouldn't have a problem turning her half of the school into frozen mulch if she felt the circumstances warranted it.

Still, this does present an opportunity to check up on Moka, whom you've been worried about for a while.

"We'll plan to meet back up here in an hour and a half -- sound good?"

The girls nod, and after hopping up to give you a kiss on the cheek -- "Later" -- Mizore departs for the moment, leaving you alone with a blushing, mildly embarrassed and visibly uncomfortable vampire.

Tch. It's one thing for Mizore to embarrass you with her public displays of affection -- after all, you're man enough to take it. But she could certainly bear to be a little more sympathetic to those around you.

"W-well, things certainly seem to be going well for you two," Moka says with cheer you have reason to suspect is at least partially fake. "It's good to see!"

Uh-huh. Riiiiiiiiiiight, and you're the Maharaja. Good grief... "And what about you?" you ask as you start walking.

Moka blinks in surprise at being addressed, before seeming to realize she'll have to walk and talk at the same time, and hurrying to catch up with you. "E-everything's good on my end, senpai, you know me!"

You rather doubt that; if everything were 'good on Moka's end', she wouldn't have that stutter from trying to bullshit you on the fly.

"Tsukune's seemed healthier since we school started back up again," you begin innocuously. You hold for a moment after that, as much to decide how you want to phrase your next point as to give Moka a chance to respond.

"Yeah," Moka agrees, "it's good to see him a bit livelier than he was in the first semester."

A split-second later, her expression falls. "Even though I'm the one to blame for that..."

...she's right to blame herself for sucking Tsukune's blood and negatively impacting his health, but at the same time she needs to for the sake of maintaining her own. Good grief, this is such a pain in the ass...

You can't do much about Moka's emotional or mental health right now other than stop her from beating herself up, and you guess one avenue of attack might be to ask after her physical health. "So have you been..."

Fuck, this is so awkward, but it needs to be dealt with and you don't know if you trust anyone outside of Mizore to be willing too bring it up. "...eating properly?"

Moka's response is both immediate, and kind of expected. In that she first stops in confusion, before flushing red in embarrassment and perhaps a little indignation as she realizes what you're really asking. "SENPAI! That's personal!"

Tch. It is, and you're not really comfortable asking, but all the same --

"...but I do appreciate your concern, senpai."

Even though Moka looks uncomfortable about the topic, she also seems happy. At least, if the way she's got a small smile on her face, while she's looking down and drawing circles on the floor with her foot.

"Anyway, um..."

She's still plenty embarrassed, though. After taking a moment to look around and check for possible eavesdroppers, Moka does eventually speak up. "After... things happened, Tsukune, Kurumu and I ended up having a long talk, and while our feelings haven't all completely been sorted yet, Kurumu offered to let me drink her blood in tandem with Tsukune's, so I don't hurt him as badly."
Thankfully, Yukari and Mizore were willing to let us out of their freezer then instead of keeping us in there for another hour...
...alternating between Tsukune's blood and Kurumu's? Well, that would seem to keep Moka healthy while explaining Tsukune's improved condition, but you were just talking with Kurumu a bit ago, so wouldn't you have seen the bite mar--
Completely without your knowledge, your eyes widen enough in shock that it catches Moka's attention.
Kurumu was wearing a silk-lace choker with the maid uniform.
"S-senpai?!"
You're not around the Newspaper gang most of the time... but come to think of it, if you consider some of Moka's behavior and the way she's acting right now, is she...?

"Good for you," you say with a shrug, and either way, you consider the matter settled at that.

"Senpai, are you thinking something weird? Hey, that was a question!"

You can sense that those three have a few more long talks ahead of them, but before they can be had you need to find and probably rescue Tsukune, first. Because as much as you hope it isn't the case, your instinct is screaming at you that the SPC have gotten their hands on him while all his friends were distracted, and that they've got an excruciating death planned out with his name on it.

You hear Moka muttering and mumbling in the background, even as you stride with purpose down the ground floor hallway with cultural clubrooms. It wouldn't do to cause a scene by bursting in to any given room for no reason, but it's no effort at all to flex your willpower and survey the room interiors with senses beyond your own.

Star Platinum, you rapidly realize, is quite convenient for its ability to project into a room and transmit what its superhuman senses tell it back to your brain.

Half or so of these rooms are deserted, no sign of him in the bathrooms either, better move on up to the next floor then--

"Kujo-senpai."

You blink at the pressure on your arm, and after a moment realize that Moka's holding you back and keeping you from taking another step.

Despite knowing full well that she's a vampire, there's still a moment of dissonance from observing the small, harmless-looking girl grab you by your arm and hold you still.

You start to snap, but then you see the concerned expression on her face. Not only that, but there's something in the way she looks at you as well, that's both familiar and seems out of place. It takes a second for you to realize that it's concern, which is normal.... aimed right at you, which is not. "You're acting weird today, senpai."

You instinctively want to call bullshit. You rein it in, instead. "How so?"

Moka bites her lip, seemingly hesitant now that you've confronted her, until she finds herself. "First, you asked about my... conditions. Which by itself is one thing, but you acted a lot more like a normal 'concerned senpai' might than you normally do whenever we interact, so it stands out. And even though you're usually this calm, unflappable guy who never gets heated or acts out except in a fight, right now you're super-tense and almost power-walking down the hall, barely even glancing in any of the rooms we're supposed to be checking out. And I've been trying to get your attention, but you were ignoring me until I grabbed you."

At that moment, Moka seems to realize that she's still got a grip on your arm... and then she goes so far as to tighten her grasp a little, as if to send a message that you won't escape.

"It isn't much by itself," she says with determination, "but on you it's a lot. Something's bothering you, and I want to try and help you if I can."

You stare down at her hand on your arm. "Let go of me."

After several tense seconds, Moka does release her hold on you and back off, but she's talking again. Looking dejectedly at the floor, she says, "It's just... whenever I or my friends really needed you, you've always been there for us. So... it bothers me that nobody ever really tries to be there for you, just to be there."

....even though Moka's the one who started this, somehow you feel like you've kicked a puppy.

[]Tell Moka that she's imagining things. She isn't, and you know it.

[]You're just worried about Tsukune. He's the only guy friend you've got, after all. If you throw her a bone, hopefully she'll leave you be.
[]You've had to deal with a lot of Newspaper drama and other crap, looking back. It doesn't make you less of a man to want to try and offload some of your own burden........ does it?