Rosario + Vampire: Starved

Chapter 9: The Newspaper Club

Having officially signed up for the crafts club in a rather unofficial manner, the rest of the day flew by with haste. The very next day however, is a different story. With class coming to an end, all of the students begin to make their way to the door. "Fumetsu." The boy in question turns to see their teacher, Miss Nekonome, looking at him as though she has something important to ask him. Escaping the stream of students, he finally reaches the teacher's desk where Miss Nekonome's serious expression turns into a large smile. "Is there something you wanted, Miss?" The Neko woman giggles giggles suspiciously as Fu notices the three students waiting behind him. "We were hoping you'd be the first story for the newspaper club." "Wait, we were?" The familiar voice of the brown-haired human boy interrupts Fu's thoughts for a moment.

"I'm not really that interesting." "Oh? Then what about the rumour going around?" Miss Nekonome's eyes seem to shine with a mischievous light. "What rumour?" The pink-haired vampiress raises her voice just enough to be heard. "That Fu singlehandedly destroyed the Karate Club, forced them to change their ways and give back the money they were scamming out of other students." The black haired boy's eye twitches as he hears the overblown rumour. "And that he beat up a group of bullies who stole from the crafts club, singlehandedly." Miss Nekonome ends her proud gloating of her students fighting prowess with a cat-like grin. "W-whoa...I didn't know you were such a fighter, Fu." Tsukune mutters, nervous and slightly terrified of the boy.

Fu turns his gaze to the boy with a lackadaisical, slightly annoyed expression. "Not really. I just always end up getting dragged into that sort of thing." "But, you didn't have to get involved with my situation." Kurumu pokes her head out from behind the group, walking towards the boy whilst fidgeting with her fingers. "Right. I guess I just kinda felt like it." "So what you're saying is, you weren't dragged into it. You wanted to help." Fu recoils a step when Moka makes the obvious statement. "That's not-" "So what do you say? Care to do an interview for the newspaper? I promise it will just be a column article if you don't want it to be big." Ms Nekonome pleads with the boy, making it difficult for him to refuse. He sighs, admitting defeat. "Fine."

Taking a seat, the three newest members of the club drag chairs of their own and sit across from him. "So, who's first?" Fu's question confuses the group who simultaneously tilt their heads to the side. "I mean, don't interviewers usually do it one on one?" Tsukune is the first to understand, letting out an "Ah!" of realisation. "He's right. They do it that way in the human world." "Okay...then, how about we use rock, paper, scissors to decide?" Kurumu suggests the schoolyard game to solve their quandary to which they all quickly agree. "The first is rock." They all speak together, glaring at each other with fiery intensity, though Tsukune gulps, unaware of the possible carnage he has started. "Ready, Rock Paper Scissors, POP!" The three open their hands, revealing what they had chosen. Tsukune had chosen paper, Moka had chosen rock and so had Kurumu. "Aww, guess I'm going last." "Sorry, Tsukune..." Moka and Kurumu apologise to the downtrodden boy who immediately panics. "N-no, it's fine! I'm sure there'll be something left for me to ask."

The girls nod happily before glaring at each other once more. "First comes rock." The area around them seems to gain the illusion of flames. "Ready, Rock Paper Scissors, POP!" "Haha! I win! I beat Moka!" Moka lets out a sigh of defeat as Kurumu dances in her seat, distracting Tsukune with her assets going haywire. She turns to Fu, excited for their one on one. As she's about to begin speaking, she notices that the other two are still sitting next to her. "What are you two doing!? It's one on one! One on one!" "R-right. I guess we should leave you two alone." Tsukune and Moka both leave the classroom, likely going to get a drink from the vending machine or accidentally create a love-comedy romance scene.

Meanwhile, Kurumu happily turns to face Fu, "ready?" "As I'll ever be, I suppose." Kurumu's smile continues to grow until she remembers to grab her notes. She flips through the pad for a moment before coming across the questions she wanted to ask. "So, Fumetsu Kotsuzuo..." Fu was honestly surprised that she decided to use his full name, impressed by her sudden professionalism. "I think we all want to know, do you have a girlfriend?" And there went the professionalism. "No, I'm not really the relationship kind of guy." "So you've never had feelings for others?" "I've had feelings, sure, not romantic." The words shocked the succubus. The idea of not feeling anything like that for his entire life until now had never crossed her mind. "Then...what kind of feelings have you had for others?" Fu thinks on the question for a moment. Not what to answer, that came almost immediately. It was whether he should answer at all that caused him such distress. "Hatred, mainly."