"Moka!" You remember, from back at the start of the school!
You turn to plead with the vampire in question, unafraid to show your desperation. Your face only shows the barest crack in its otherwise immortal stoicism, but by now your friends know you well enough to see past it, somewhat. And what they see, worries them.
"Vampire blood can heal people, right? Can you help them?"
...you're not sure you like that look of indecision on Moka's face. "Technically it can," she admits with a wince, "but it's not quite as simple as that. There are risks involved, and --"
"The short version," Yukari cuts in, "is that if she uses too much blood on accident, there's a chance of turning the recipient into a mindless, berserk Ghoul that attacks everything in sight indiscriminately. A big, beefy guy like Jotaro who gets in fights all the time as it is would have better control over it than a cute herbivore like Tsukune. But then if we use too little blood, then you might not be healed completely."
Well, shit. And Inner Moka was the one who healed you back then, not Outer. You expect that has a considerable difference too, if just because Inner has a stronger understanding over her own blood or something like that.
"And on a more practical note," Kurumu adds with a concerned glance, "it's not like Moka has a whole lot of extra blood to be handing out."
Mizore's the next one to speak up. "Then heal Tsukune. My injuries don't hurt as bad as they loo-"
"They don't hurt because your nerve endings are gone, idiot!"
You're startled by how much anger was in that shout, and it takes a few seconds of looking around at your friends before you finally realize it came out of your mouth.
You... you didn't mean to yell at Mizore like that, but she's a Snow Woman. It's not like being almost covered in third degree burns can be good for her; she needs to show more consideration for herself! It reminds you of your mother, and in a way that pisses you off.
In the end, it's Tsukune who makes a decision. And even though his face is contorted with pain and he's gritting his teeth, as he gets back to his feet with help from a hovering Kurumu, you can see something in his eyes. "Mizore's injuries are way worse than mine, so if anyone needs Moka's blood, it's her. I know I can live through my injuries," he says with a pointed grimace when Mizore tries to argue with him. "And since I'm a human, that means Jotaro-senpai can heal me a little with his ripple energy later and save Moka some of her blood, right?"
....tch! In your panic over the situation, you'd forgotten that you could do that. Still, it's a good plan, which naturally means --
"As if I'd grant enemies of order like yourselves the chance to recover!"
You can hear the air split with ears greater than your own! As your eyes widen, muscles all over your body tense up, and in a reflex action born of panic you breathe.
ORAAA!!
There's a fierce, high-energy impact as you hit something with your fist! Burning winds buffet you and your companions as you step into the cloud of steam, only for the pressure to abruptly vanish!
And there, just some slight distance away from you, Kuyo lands on his feet.
He looks none the worse for wear, for all that you're sure you hit him with a fully-powered punch! ...no, that's not quite correct. He is visibly sweating himself now, and the bastard is considering you warily, surrounded by that ever-present heat haze.
"...oh my God," you hear Moka whisper from beside you in disbelief -- no, is that horror?
"What the hell was that?" Kurumu seems equally freaked out, but it's Yukari who finally sheds some light on the situation.
"He... he saw senpai's punch and blocked it," she explains. "And not only that, he was able to use his pyrokinesis to make a thin barrier of superheated air that insulated him from senpai's Ripple energy!"
...you can't even remember the last time someone was both quick enough and smart enough to react to your attacks, even before coming to Youkai Academy.
And that heat barrier explains why your fist is covered in burns, even if your Hamon breathing is already healing it.
This guy, you think in a rare moment of dread, actually knows how to fight.
"To think you could react to my attack so quickly, and with such force at that," the blonde son of a bitch across the yard from you muses. His gaze hyper-focuses on you, as he takes a martial arts stance you don't recognize. "If I take my attention off of you for even a moment, I'm sure you'll make me pay for it."
The rest of Youkai Academy, for their part, have backed off and more-or-less formed a circle around yours and Kuyo's respective groups, gaze flickering from one to the other with expressions ranging from awe to terror.
You still aren't that experienced in using Star Platinum yet; your fight with Terada is still really the only time you've used it seriously. But from what you can remember of that time.... you're reasonably confident that if you break out your Stand, you can overwhelm Kuyo with its blistering speed and power. Break through his defense and utterly crush him.
But if you're doing that, then you won't be able to use the Ripple to recover any injuries you might sustain during the fight until it's over.
....no, your gut's telling you that you're much better off sticking to what you're familiar with for the moment. Keep your defenses up and get a better gauge of his ability, so that when and if you need switch over to Star Platinum you're positive you can tear him apart before he gets the chance to adapt. After all, you still don't even know if he happens to have a Stand himself...
(pick ONE)
[]You've gotten this far on them; believe in your instincts.
[]For all that you're still in the earliest stages of learning to control it, you do know at least that your Stand is incredibly powerful. Even if it means giving up your defense regeneration, you should try to leverage that as much as you can.
Kuyo raises one hand above his head, thumb pressed against his middle finger.
"I see now that no matter how noble an individual may be," he booms out across the courtyard, "humanity is more than the way genes are formatted -- it's a plague, a sinister infection that spreads to and corrupts everything around it."
With the disgusted, almost despairing expression of someone who's found an infestation of rodents in their home and is dreading the nuisance of cleaning them out, he snaps his fingers.
"Members of the Student Protection Committee! Exterminate with prejudice anyone who stands against you!"
His eyes light up with the fire of hate, as much metaphorically as literally! "Let us make an example of those who would dare impede our justice!"
Emboldened and restored to unity by their leader's command, the black-uniformed students snarl and begin to step forward, and good grief there's no way you can keep them all off of your friends and deal with Kuyo at the same time.
This is gonna su-
"Ya talk about 'order' this an' 'justice' that, but ya don' even know the first thang about chivalry!"
A female student with brown hair so light it almost looks blonde, and whose voice sounds incredibly like if Moka were a redneck, rushes out of the crowd to stand with you. "As th' new Captain of the Swimming Club, I won't let ya dishonor our school any more than ya already have!"
On the opposite side of the crowd from her, you can see out of your peripheral vision as the students begin to part and let someone else through, before Atsuno - the Revenant wrestler - emerges and shambles her way toward you. "We have our own score to settle," she growls while staring a hole right through you.
....not that you'd forgotten about it, but is she seriously nursing that big of a grudge over you not taking her seriously in that match?
Just as she reaches your group and Mizore starts to try and step in front of you, Atsuno pivots to face Kuyo, twisting in such a way you're convinced she'd have broken her neck if she weren't already undead. "Interfere in the Hive's grudge, and We shall rot even your flames to nothing."
Behind her, you can see some members of the Wrestling Club gathering opposite the SPC, clearly either remembering how the student government wanted to disband them... or just bored and looking for something to do. Either way, it looks like your manpower issue is solving itself.
Kuyo, for his part, looks... more dismayed at this turn of events, than truly surprised by it.
Even as some of the crowd are going to stand with the SPC, more and more students start emerging to join your side as well, fueled by angry cries of one abuse after another that the so-called Protection Committee have heaped upon the campus.
Some small part of you can't help but laugh.
It seems you're far from the only one they've pissed off.
