The nekomata smiled brightly. "Ordinarily by now we'd take a break to do a Meet the Teachers segment, but the only remaining teacher that isn't canon is Richard, and I'd rather take a bath in scalding acid than have to interview him again! Thus, we're going to once again Guess Ranma's Species!"

Shizuka slipped a card out of her pocket and checked the front. "Today our guest is... the lanky, knife-wielding former Enforcer that turns into a Netherworld lantern... Wait..."

Shizuka turned toward her guest, who was waiting patiently in a chair. "You seriously don't have a name yet? You've been in more chapters than Kuyo, a major arc villain!"

The lanky, knife-wielding former Enforcer that turns into a Netherworld lantern glared at Shizuka. "Hey, that's not my fault! I wasn't supposed to show up again after Evil Moka smoked us! And now that me and the other Netherworlders been around for so long, it'd be weird to suddenly give us names, so the author didn't bother!"

"Besides," the lantern continued, crossing his arms over his chest, "don't go comparing me to Kuyo! He lost in one hit! At least I managed to immobilize the witch once and went toe-to-toe with the busty chick! I did way better than him!"

"That's true, I guess," Shizuka admitted reluctantly. "I'd rather have to deal with a nameless loser than a huge disappointment."

"And where do you get off lecturing me for one of the writer's decisions?" The lanky Netherworlder continued angrily. "You think it's fun being constantly demeaned and smacked around for comedy relief?"

"Professor Richard seems to enjoy it," Shizuka mumbled.

"Warlocks are undead wizards!" The lantern shouted shrilly. "They don't feel pain! I had to have gourd surgery after that winged slut slashed me across the face! GOURD surgery! I'm pretty sure that wasn't even a real procedure until Miss Madaraki figured out how to fill up the gouges in my face!"

Shizuka's tail swished irritably from side to side as the tufts of hair on her head twitched. "Are you going to guess Saotome Ranma's species, or what?"

The lantern started to calm down, and once again crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, my first thought is majin, beca-"

"Majin. Got it. Great," Shizuka said as she turned away. "Is he a majin? Nope! Now let's get on with it!"


Black Dragon Productions proudly presents
a Ranma and Rosario Plus Vampire crossover

Disclaimer: Apparently if you read this story from beginning to end all night without sleep, given for a certain level of delusional, exhausted stupor, it'll play in your head as an anime! Try it!

Key: Writing/Emphasis, Sounds, 'Thoughts', "Speech", (Comments that you can freely ignore), 'Inner Moka' Big Human on Campus
Chapter 12
With Great Power Comes the Luxury Suite

"Me? Captain of the Enforcers? There's no way!" Tsukune said, shaking his head emphatically.

"Oh? Why not?" Hokuto asked from where he lounged in a throne high above Tsukune's head. "Didn't you want to reform the campus? Didn't you want to make the school safe?"

"I wanted to help, sure, but-" Tsukune's protest was cut off as a feminine snort came from behind him.

Keito was seated behind a table behind where the human was standing, and Tsukune noticed that the layout of the room resembled a court of law, with Hokuto in the judge's chair. Tsukune noted with considerable annoyance that Keito was seated in what would usually be the prosecutor's table.

"So you think you can upend our school's institutions, destroy our leadership and then just walk away while someone else cleans up the mess? Disgusting!"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Tsukune protested. "I'd be happy to help! I'd even join the Protection Committee! But lead it? That's ridiculous!"

At the defendant's desk, Ranma was lounging around in girl form while wearing a daring mini-skirted suit. "Don't worry so much about it, man! I've got your back!"

Tsukune turned around toward Ranma, looking even more distressed. "Ranma, you don't understand! Keeping Youkai Academy in order isn't as simple as just beating up bad guys! And even if it was, how can we police the whole school with you as the only one strong enough to stop an offender?"

Ranma blinked owlishly. "Oh. I guess I hadn't thought of all that."

"But you did, Aono!" Hokuto said brightly, clapping his hands together. "See? You do have what it takes to be a leader!"

"Objection!" Keito suddenly snarled, standing up, "why am I here as the representative of the old Enforcers anyway? Shouldn't it be Kuyo?"

"Overruled!" Hokuto shouted. "After being beaten by Saotome before he was even formally introduced, this court rules that Kuyo can't expect to be taken seriously anymore!"

As Keito cursed, Tsukune tried to organize his thoughts. "There has to be someone better! I can't lead a police squad! I have no power, no talent-"

"And yet this powerless and talentless young man organized a resistance movement that overthrew the Enforcers," Hokuto said, steepling his fingers. "Sure, others did the heavy lifting, but Saotome didn't know or care about the state of justice in the school. You are the cause of all this. You must take responsibility!"

"Take responsibility!" "Take responsibility!" Shouted the spectators that had so far managed to go completely unnoticed until now.

"Hey, Prez," Ranma said suddenly as she straightened up, "I've got an objection, too. Why am I a girl right now?"

Hokuto shrugged as he pointed the gavel at Tsukune. "Overruled! It's his dream sequence, after all."

The redhead narrowed her eyes at Tsukune. "What the hell, man?"

"Hey, don't judge me!" Tsukune snapped back. "I'm under a lot of stress right now!"

Bang! Bang! "Order! Order!" Hokuto demanded as he slammed his gavel down repeatedly. "It's time to wake up!"

"Guh..." Tsukune groaned weakly as his eyes fluttered open, feeling a weariness in his body and mind as the contents of his dream lingered fresh in his mind.

Such was his exhaustion that the fact that he was once again staring into the eye-riddled, poison-fanged face of a spider as big as his head didn't even register immediately, and when it did he felt only disappointment rather than shock.

"Ranma, I thought you got all the spiders to keep to the corner of the room," Tsukune mumbled, hoping that the older boy was up already.

Ranma, who was getting dressed next to his own bed, spared his roommate a glance. "He's just bringing you your shoes. Relax."

Tsukune shifted slightly - even if he was used to the spiders, he didn't want to risk startling them - and was quite surprised to see that his shoes had been tangled up by webbing and were being dragged behind the housebroken arachnid by a thread.

"You trained them to FETCH things? Where do you find the time?" Tsukune asked in honest amazement.

"It really isn't that difficult. The little guys are really smart," Ranma explained as he patted down his shirt. "Also, I don't do homework. Anyway, ready for your first day in the Protection Committee, Captain?"

Tsukune groaned again as the giant spider, apparently deeming its task complete, severed the line of webbing to the shoes and promptly crawled off to the side of Tsukune's bed.

"Don't remind me. How on Earth did this happen?" The younger boy grumbled as he checked his shoes over and started to untangle them. "I wasn't expecting anything like this."

Ranma picked up a slip of cloth from his dresser; it was white, and boasted the kanji for "Enforcement" followed by the symbols marking him as a vice captain. "Well, if you really don't want to do it, why don't you refuse? I mean, can the prez really MAKE you take up as captain if you don't want to?"

"Believe me, I thought of that," Tsukune admitted with a sigh. "But I don't really think I could do that. After going as far as I did, and putting you and the girls and the entire FIGHT CLUB in danger, I couldn't just refuse to take responsibility for the upheaval. I just wish I could do so in a less... visible way."

Ranma smirked. "Well, that's a good attitude, at least! Here!"

Tsukune cupped his hands in front of him and caught the slip of cloth Ranma had thrown, noting that it was just like Ranma's save for the red print and the absence of the "vice" symbol.

"So how do we start?" Ranma asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Oh, and how do I get one of those neat black jackets?"

Tsukune finally got out of bed and started dressing. "Well... first we need to fill out the Committee so we can dismiss all the current Enforcers and take over their jobs as soon as possible."

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "But isn't one of your main complaints that they never do their jobs?"

"Well, at least that'll make it easier," Tsukune grumbled. "But we still need as many recruits as soon as possible."

"On it," Ranma said, flashing his roommate a thumbs-up as he headed toward the door. "See you later."

"Wait, really?" Tsukune asked as he finished dressing himself. "Are you sure you can do it?" It seemed to Tsukune that appealing to people to help out the school while at the same time explicitly denying themselves the privileges and perks that used to be associated with such authority would be precisely the task that Ranma was LEAST suited for.

"No problem, man! Leave it to me!" the pigtailed boy said as he opened the door.

Ranma was reasonably surprised to see Hokuto Kaneshiro standing in the hall outside, himself looking ready to knock on their door.

"Ah! Saotome! Aono! Good morning!" Hokuto said, bowing deeply while holding a thick folder close to his chest. "You're wearing the appropriate armbands, I see. It's so good to see you jumping right into your duties in the Protection Committee!"

"Yeah, about that," Ranma said as he scratched his chin. "I've actually got a question for you, Prez. Got a minute?"

"You two go ahead," mumbled Tsukune as he walked into the bathroom, "I'm going to wash up first."


Tsukune brooded silently as he washed his face, thinking about the sudden appearance of the student council president in his dorm room.

'Isn't he being a little too enthusiastic about all this, dumping these responsibilities in my lap and now showing up at my room to make sure I get right to it? We've barely had time for the dust to settle! And he just met me yesterday, but appointed me without a second thought! What's with this guy?'

Tsukune glowered at his reflection for several seconds before he suddenly slapped his cheeks repeatedly.

'Stupid! What am I thinking? Why the heck did you do all this in the first place?'

He sighed as he started to dry his face. 'Of course he'd be excited. The student council has probably always been under the thumb of the Protection Committee, so he's probably desperate to have anyone else in power, even if he can't trust them yet. Who knows how long he's been waiting for a chance like this?'

His gaze hardened as he kept staring into the mirror, and Tsukune held up a fist.

"Maybe I've been taking this the wrong way. Isn't this a great opportunity?" he asked himself. "If someone other than me or Ranma were appointed, there's every chance that they wouldn't change a thing. Maybe I could use this chance to really turn the school around." Honestly, he wasn't sure that Ranma would be a good choice for Captain either, but would never voice such an opinion even to himself. He owed the older human far too much to judge him so hastily.

Then he glanced around at the bathroom counter. "Now, where's my toothbrush?"

A gentle creak came from the medicine cabinet as it opened up slightly, and Tsukune blinked as his toothbrush tumbled out, only to stop short in the air and dangle from a single, almost invisible thread that led back into the cabinet.

"You know, I never gave it much thought before, but these spiders could be pretty useful," Tsukune admitted as he plucked his toothbrush out of the air and carefully closed the cabinet door, "besides, this way I don't have to actually see what's in there," he said quietly to himself as he washed off his brush.


Several minutes later, Tsukune emerged from the bathroom fully refreshed to find Hokuto sitting on Ranma's bed while leafing through the papers he had brought.

"Ah, Captain Aono, have a seat," Hokuto said with a courteous smile.

"Just call me Tsukune, please," Tsukune said humbly as he moved a chair opposite the redhead and sat down, "it's a little early to have people calling me Captain."

"Ah, noble and humble. Truly a role model for the rest of the student body, to say nothing of the individuals you're actually replacing," Hokuto said, placing a hand against his chest. "I must say, Tsukune, that your actions thus far have revealed a uniquely just and bold spirit within you. I have spoken to others regarding your reputation around the school, and was quite surprised to hear that many consider you to be a tag-along to Saotome or Akashiya. You've surprised and impressed a great many people in standing up to the Protection Committee on behalf of the students that are routinely victimized, rather than for your own benefit. It is for this reason that I feel I can trust the future of the school's security to you."

Tsukune blushed badly at the student council president's approving smile. "It wasn't anything that big, really! It was my friends who did most of the work!"

"So you say. And yet, were it not for you, they never would have taken action as they did. Don't sell short your accomplishments."

As Tsukune stood in place, flushing in embarrassment, Hokuto suddenly cleared his throat. "Now, as you may have guessed, I did not come here solely to help your confidence. There is much to discuss."

Tsukune's happy blush faded as he adopted a serious expression. "I understand. What's first?"

"Well, the student council has been quite busy since the disbanding of the old Protection Committee, and has convened for an early session to pass a number of reforms to the Protection Committee's mandate and powers. We had to borrow a classroom, since we lost our old hall to a tornado, but it still went well."

"Yeah, again, I'm really sorry about that," Tsukune apologized, bowing his head. "I can't promise that he won't get into fights, but I'll try to keep Ranma from spontaneously creating natural disasters on the spot."

Hokuto smiled and nodded. "I'll leave it to you, then. As for the reforms..."

The redhead coughed into a fist as he started leafing through the folder he had brought. "I must apologize, as these are in no particular order, but gathered up as they were presented and voted on. First, the Protection Committee will no longer be allowed to finance it's official budget through any means other than through their normal administrative funding. This means that-"

"You can skip the explanations," Tsukune interrupted, massaging his forehead, "I know why you're doing this."

"Excellent!" Hokuto beamed. "Next, we'll be ending the Committee's exemptions from the class credit and attendance requirements. The office space and personnel costs allotted will henceforth be determined according to an independent review of the Committee's activities. Members of the Protection Committee will no longer enjoy free lunches. Club activities are no longer subject to review by the Protection Committee unless a formal complaint has been lodged by a student or administrator. Criticism of the Protection Committee or any other school association is no longer to be considered a capital offense..."

Tsukune waited patiently as Hokuto continued rattling off decrees that ranged from the cheap and petty to those that would have stunned Tsukune were he any less jaded to the old Enforcers' corruption and abuse.

"Excuse me, President-" Tsukune began.

"Please, call me Hokuto," Hokuto insisted. "What is it? If you really want the posters with your disapproving image looming over the students at school rallies, I suppose we could give some leeway..."

"No, no, please, get rid of them," Tsukune said quickly.

"Just as well. You don't cut nearly as intimidating a figure as Kuyo did," Hokuto admitted.

"Well, you have something more... critical in there, I assume?" Tsukune hinted. "Such as new regulations against MURDER?"

Hokuto blinked. "Ah, I see. I suppose it makes sense that you'd want to first discuss those matters that will most affect your operations directly."

Tsukune nodded eagerly as Hokuto leafed through the papers.

"Here we are. Henceforth, whenever a member of the Protection Committee executes another sentient creature - or non-sentient if that life form should be either part of our faculty or student body - they must fill out an Explanation of Termination form and submit it for the student council's official records."

Tsukune held his peace for several seconds before letting his shock show through. "What? That's IT? All we have to do is fill out some paperwork? That's outrageous!" Then he let that expression drop. "Also, we have students who aren't even sentient?"

"They mostly make up the golf club," Hokuto said, shrugging. "As for your more dramatic concern, I assure you that the paperwork is quite onerous and inconvenient. And past experiments have proven that having to fill out forms is a considerable deterrent for most monsters. Especially for those that are illiterate."

"There are illiterate students, too?" Tsukune asked in disbelief.

"Well, in the previous Protection Committee there were a few," Hokuto admitted, "they were allowed to skip classes, after all. Besides that, the number of executions carried out by the Protection Committee depends primarily on the direction and mandates of its leader. We in the council can demand accountability, but it is up to YOU to enforce order."

Tsukune straightened immediately as he once again felt the weight of responsibility settling on his shoulders. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but it was invigorating as well as frightening.

"That said, it's of paramount importance that you keep Saotome from destroying the school with tornadoes," Hokuto said suddenly. "We understand that the pursuit of justice is rarely without conflict or difficulty, but seriously, he needs to tone it down."

Tsukune saluted firmly. "I understand, Hokuto! I'll do my best to keep the tornadoes at a minimum!"

"Excellent. I'm counting on you, Tsukune," Hokuto said with a smile, patting the younger boy's shoulder. "Shall we continue?"

"I have one other question, first," Tsukune said, "how many people are still part of the Protection Committee?"

Hokuto blinked. "Two."

"All right, that should do. Who are they?" Tsukune asked.

This time Hokuto raised an eyebrow. "You and Saotome."

A sweatdrop slowly crawled down the side of Tsukune's head. "Say what, now? Wh-What about the others?"

"They were all dismissed," Hokuto explained, his tone clearly conveying that this shouldn't be a surprise. "You and Saotome are currently the only acting members of the Protection Committee."

"But... Wait! You didn't have to fire ALL of them! I only meant that all the leaders should be removed!" Tsukune protested. "A few low-ranking guys are no threat to the new Committee! And how are we supposed to take over the Committee's duties without anybody left over to tell us about the organization?"

Hokuto shrugged. "Well, insofar as the organization primarily existed to enrich the Committee, we at the council figured it would be better to simply start from scratch."

"Seriously?" Tsukune groaned as he scrubbed his head with his hand. "This is going to be hard enough as it is!"

"Well, it's not like most of them are in any condition to help. Most of the dismissal notices are being distributed in the nurse's office," the redhead reasoned.

Tsukune paused mid-groan. "Wait. Most of them? Ranma and the girls only beat Volos, Kuyo, Jin, and that white flying dog thing. And maybe Keito might need some medical attention, but that can't amount to even half the old Enforcers. Even Haruo should be okay by now."

"Yes, well, the fight club has been very enthusiastic in picking up the slack," Hokuto said.

Tsukune was completely silent for several seconds, staring straight forward as if he wasn't even looking at Hokuto any more. "Oh. I... uh... I forgot about them."

Hokuto nodded as he started shuffling through his papers again. "Yes, well, you'll probably need to address their activities soon. This level of violence is unacceptable; even the old Committee wouldn't have tolerated this chaos. They've even been harassing the members of the student council, loitering around our offices and telling us to call for help if we want to get rid of them." Hokuto sighed as he flipped through his papers, not noticing how sweat started to drip down Tsukune's disturbingly pale face. "But anyway, there will be time for that later. Let's talk about which buildings and vehicles you can and cannot commandeer..."

"... So now we're going to build a new Protection Committee to take on the duties of protecting the school," Ranma said as he stood behind a teacher's podium, gesturing grandly with one arm like he had seen in a movie once, "and to do that we need new people! Together we'll hammer this place into shape, and protect the students from the different dangers they face at Youkai Academy, from bullies to psychotic murderers to giant spiders!"

Yukari promptly raised her hand. "Does that include the giant spider on your shoulder?"

"No!" Ranma replied immediately, idly petting the aforementioned arachnid with his non-gesturing hand. "I'm talking about the giant-er spiders that might eat something bigger than a house cat!"

As Yukari resigned herself to the continuing presence of Ranma's large, hairy pets, Moka raised her hand.

"Yes? You have a question too?" Ranma asked as he pointed to the vampiress.

"I do," Moka said, sporting an unusual expression of annoyance, "you said 'new people,' didn't you? So what is this?"

It was quite obvious what she meant; the only occupants in the classroom that Ranma was using for his recruitment, besides the martial artist himself, were Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari.

"Even if we wanted to join the Enforcers, do you really think the three of us could help you protect the school?" The vampiress asked.

"It's not just three of you," Ranma pointed out, "Mizore's spying on us from inside the broom locker."

The three girls glanced toward said locker, watching mutely as a sweatdrop rolled down the side of it.

Kurumu was the first to dismiss the stalker and voice a new question. "I've got lots of questions and concerns about all this, but I suppose first I have to ask: if you only gathered us here, why are you giving this big speech rather than just asking us?"

"Mostly for practice," Ranma admitted bluntly. "I'm not much of a speech person, so I thought I'd try it out on you guys first before I have to try and convince someone for real."

"Okay, well, then that brings us to my next concern," Kurumu grumbled, "Enforcers? Us? Are you serious?"

Ranma blinked, not having expected any resistance from the succubus. "Why not? Tsukune's the chief."

"Yeah, that's... great," Kurumu hedged, "but joining the Enforcers isn't like joining a club! Being on the Protection Committee is dangerous!"

"Especially as a certain club has been targeting the Enforcers with gusto," Moka mumbled, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"What, the fight club? Don't worry, I'm sure Tsukune can clear that up!" Ranma said, waving a hand. "And if not, I can clear it up," he added before punching a fist into his palm.

"You see? Right there. That's the kind of thing I'm worried about," Moka said with a sigh. "Ranma, we all want to support Tsukune, and we're all proud that he managed to bring everyone together to overthrow the Enforcers, but I don't think he should make himself a target by becoming captain of the new Committee. And I believe the same concern goes for the rest of us as well. Hasn't he thought about how much danger he might be in?"

"Yeah, but it's a responsibility thing," Ranma said negligently as he shrugged, "he said he's gonna do it if he has to, and that president guy is a pretty smooth talker."

"Well, I don't care about supporting Tsukune at all, but since Senpai is vice-captain, I'll join if Moka joins!" Yukari said.

"Good!" Ranma said, slamming a fist onto the podium. "You hear that Moka? I'm counting on you!"

'You know, this wouldn't be a problem if you would just let me out so I could throttle him,' grumbled Moka's inner self through the Rosario.

'Quiet, you,' Moka snapped back, in no mood to argue with herself, 'you had your chance, so settle down already.'

'ONE FIGHT! And your little boy toy ruined it! Come on! Please? All that I'm saying is give violence a chance!'

Kurumu scratched the back of her head uncomfortably. "Well, if Tsukune's dead-set on this then I'll join for him... but this still seems way too dangerous. Aren't we going to have to deal with violent thugs and psychos like Professor Richard and Jadeite? We have enough trouble with those two already."

"Actually, if you join up you'll probably have to deal with Professor Jadeite less than you do now," Ranma said, prompting raised eyebrows. "I asked the student president, and he says that being in the Protection Committee replaces your club membership; Committee members aren't allowed to be in clubs anymore because it interferes with their duties and stuff. Plus something called 'graft'. Not sure what that is, but the short of it is that if you join us, you'll get pulled out of the Exploration Club, and if Professor Jerk-ite doesn't like it, he can take it up with the council."

"So when do I get one of those cool long coats?" Kurumu said suddenly, her eyes gleaming as she rubbed her hands together.

"You'll be glad to know that I've already looked into this question!" Ranma said with unusual seriousness. "Unfortunately, the prez said there aren't any decent ones right now because they were all either damaged or soiled when the fight club beat the living daylights out of the current owners, but we'll definitely be ordering more!"

"Don't forget one in extra small!" Yukari said excitedly, waving a hand in the air.

"Now that I think about it, protecting the innocent students of this school is definitely worth more risk than helping Professor Jadeite capture magic weapons," Moka said suddenly, only looking slightly embarrassed about the quick change in attitude, "and I'd hate for Tsukune to have to bear so much of the burden on his own."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Ranma mumbled as he made for the classroom door, "or during the day, I guess. Vampires sleep during the day, don't they?"

Moka blinked. "I don't."

Kurumu snorted as she leaned over toward the broom locker. "Worst vampire EVER."

The locker wiggled slightly in response, doing its best approximation of a nod.

"Together we'll hammer this place into shape, and protect the students from the different dangers they face at Youkai Academy, from bullies to psychotic murderers to giant spiders!" Ranma said, pumping a fist into the air. "But not the spider on my shoulder!"

Kana sweatdropped from where she was listening patiently to Ranma's appeal, and then glanced left and right at the empty hallway they occupied.

"Did you... practice that speech... ahead of time?" Kana mumbled, her hands clasped demurely in front of her. It was fairly obvious, since Ranma rarely spoke with so much drama and purpose.

"Was it no good? I already pitched it to the others and they didn't seem to like it, but I'm not good at this sort thing. I still got them to sign up though, so I thought I'd keep trying it."

Kana glanced off to the side, clearly trying to avoid eye contact.

"Ah, that bad, huh?" Ranma asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"No... Not really..." Kana hedged. "But... I don't really want to... join the Protection Committee..." She whispered as Ranma leaned in to hear her.

"Are you sure?" Ranma asked, clearly disappointed. "I mean, are you that fond of your current club? You'll have to leave it, you know."

Kana shrugged.

Ranma sighed as he recognized that he wasn't making any progress against Kana's reservations. "All right, I just thought I'd ask. Never mind."

Then he turned around and knocked on the door to a utility closet. "Hey, Mizore, what about you? You didn't say before whether you wanted to join or not."

A vein popped up on Kana's head as the closet door cracked open slightly.

"I'm okay with it..." the snow woman said quietly, peeking out not at Ranma, but instead at Kana nearby.

"Then you'll join? Thanks! That's a huge help!" Ranma said happily, reaching into the closet and rubbing Mizore's head affectionately. "We really need to fill out a roster quick, or this whole Protection Committee thing could be a real mess."

As a blush and slight smile grew on Mizore's face, Kana's twisted into a scowl.

"You owe me a favor, right?" the siren said suddenly, startling Ranma with her perfectly audible, melodic voice.

"R-Right, I do, don't I?" Ranma asked, looking surprised at the sudden change in tone. "Did you want something?"

"Not yet, no," Kana said thoughtfully as she ran a hand through her long, dark purple hair, "but if I join, then you'll owe me two, okay?"

Ranma was once again surprised by the sudden shift in attitude, although he supposed he shouldn't have been; Kana was definitely more aggressive and hot-tempered whenever Mizore was around.

"Okay, sure! Whatever you want!" Ranma said happily, giving the siren a thumbs-up. "Thanks a lot, Kana! I've gotta go find more people to join up!"


Mizore poked her head further into the hall as Ranma dashed off, watching him leave before she turned toward Kana, who was glaring at her silently.

"You know... I help him out WITHOUT extorting favors from him..." the snow woman said with a disapproving frown.

Kana snorted as she turned on her heel. "And that's why you'll lose, Frosty," she said simply as she stalked away. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to write a resignation letter to the music club."

Mizore said nothing as she watched her rival stalk away, and then slowly pulled herself back into the closet.

"Together we'll hammer this place into shape, and protect the students from the different dangers they face at Youkai Academy, from bullies to psychotic murderers to giant spiders!" Ranma said, pumping a fist into the air.

Chopper Rikishi raised an eyebrow as he pointed to Ranma's shoulder.

"No, not this one. The kind that eats people," Ranma added with far less enthusiasm. "Why does everybody think my spiders need to be stopped?"

"Well, they are kinda all over the place. And I heard that some people have lost pets and familiars n' such," the wrestler reasoned, shrugging. "But you mean that huge spider that jumped the Enforcer dude a while back, right? I've kinda been wondering where it got off to. Might be interesting to take it down."

"Exactly! We need to stop the Boss Spider before it goes and hurts someone who doesn't deserve it!" Ranma said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "So join up with the Protection Committee, and you'll get to fight it!"

Chopper rubbed his massive chin for a few seconds. "So, what's stopping me from just finding Boss Spider and squashing it on my own!"

"Absolutely nothing!" Ranma said with largely unnecessary energy and passion.

Chopper frowned. "So why should I join up with a group and follow your orders?"

Ranma was silent for a few seconds. "Well... you'll get to fight a lot of enemies, not just Boss Spider!"

"And what'll stop me from doing that on my own?" Chopper asked, crossing his thickly muscled arms over his chest.

"The Protection Committee, of course!" Ranma said, his eyes narrowing.

"So if I don't join, I can still fight spiders and random enemies, plus the Committee?" Chopper asked, smiling.

Ranma once again fell silent for several seconds. "You know, they told me that trolls weren't supposed to be this smart."

Chopper shrugged. "I managed to get into high school, didn't I?"

Ranma clicked his tongue as he turned away. "Well, that's the third failure in a row. I guess it's time to improvise again."

He turned backed toward Chopper, who was checking a sports watch and generally looking bored.

"All right, so you don't want to join the Protection Committee, huh?"

"Not really, no," the troll admitted.

Ranma put up his fists. "Then let's fight over it!"

Chopper's expression brightened instantly. "Okay!"

"All right, you clowns! Get it together!" Riza Wildman shouted to the sparse gathering of students in the gym as they exercised and sparred with each other. "Don't get so full of yourselves just because you managed to beat down those stuffy losers that disgrace our campus as its defenders! I wants to see you in top shape to hold that territory, you hear?"

"Yes, Miss Wildman!" several of the students shouted. Many of them sported obvious injuries, such as bandaged arms and gauze pads, but they still pounded away at punching bags and training dummies without complaint.

"Hey, Miss Wildman!" a girl who Riza had nicknamed "Sting" said as she saw someone entering the gym. "Saotome's back!"


"What in the sixth circle happened to you?" Kouma asked as Ranma approached him with an obvious limp and a large bruise on his cheek.

"Just doing a little recruiting for the new Protection Committee," Ranma said, brushing at his cheek as if it was nothing, "I just became its vice captain, and now Tsukune's the captain."

This took Kouma by surprise, and he wasn't the only one.

"Whoa, Human, you serious? You're one of the stuffy losers that disgrace our campus as its defenders?" Riza asked as she approached the pair, causing Kouma to straighten ever so slightly.

As Ranma was working out an appropriately sarcastic response to that, the redhead suddenly laughed and smacked him on the back. "Ha! That's a riot! Looks like you're moving up in the world, huh?"

Ranma staggered a bit from the friendly gesture, silently marveling at Riza's fantastic strength and the way it seemed to rattle all the spinal damage Chopper had managed to inflict before the troll had been sent to the nurse's office with his arms swinging limply from his shoulders again.

"Yeah, so, I need to tell you that I won't be in the fight club any longer," Ranma mumbled, cracking his back as he winced, "this counts as my club activity from now on. It's been fun and all, but Tsukune needs me to back him up."

Riza nodded, still smirking. "I gotcha. It's too bad; with you around this lot didn't seem quite so shoddy. But, you gotta do watcha gotta do."

Ranma nodded, thankful that Riza was taking his resignation so well. "Also, I was hoping that since me and Tsukune are running the Enforcers now, that you'd stop the campaign of terror against the school in general and the Protection Committee in particular," he added.

"Not gonna happen," Riza deadpanned, "we'll destroy your pitiful little band of peacekeepers, and hang your sissy of a leader on the flagpole as a warning to others."

Ranma shrugged. "Well, I thought I might as well ask. I'll see you again when I arrive to defeat you all for peace and justice and stuff."

"Okay. Thanks for all your hard work," Riza said seriously as the two fighters shared a curiously professional handshake.


Kouma was silent through the entire exchange, his mind racing the whole while.

Honestly, he wasn't sure how to feel about this turn of events. Him and Ranma were partners, or at least they were supposed to be. He held a deep though grudging respect for the pigtailed boy, had shared some of his more melodramatic secrets with him, and had even asked to learn from him. The idea that they would suddenly be enemies weighed far heavier on his shoulders than it apparently did on Riza's, and the thought that he would never get to fight alongside Ranma again made him wonder about all the opportunities he would miss due to this whimsical twist of fate.

But then, on the other hand, he would never have to put up with Ranma again, which was FANTASTIC.

"Hey, Kouma," Ranma said hesitantly, startling the hellhound out of his thoughts from the shock that Ranma was using his actual name.

"What? You have something to say before you leave?" Kouma asked, his tone wavering agonizingly between bitter and gleeful.

"Well, uh..." Ranma trailed off as he rubbed the back of his head. "I had this whole speech planned out for the recruitment thing, but it hasn't helped so far so I'll just ask you normally: would you consider-"

"Joining the Protection Committee?" Kouma asked, unable to hide the snarl of contempt at the end of his question. "Not gonna happen Saotome, and you didn't have to ask to know that." He crossed his arms over his chest as his eyes narrowed at the other fighter. "My place is here. Go ahead and leave on your own."

Ranma sighed and was about to do just that when he sensed a sudden rise in tension around him.

"You know, Eyebrows, I was actually coming close to respecting you a little bit,," Riza said suddenly, her voice hot and condescending.

Kouma's cold-and-serious facade crumbled like a sandcastle under a steamroller. "Wh-What?"

Riza's clenched teeth revealed thick, pointed canines as she glared harder at the hellhound, and Ranma was acutely aware of Kouma's tail appearing just so it could hang between his legs embarrassingly.

"Are you seriously abandoning him just like that? Is that all your partnership meant to you?" Riza demanded, leaning forward into Kouma's face as he started leaning backward.

"But he's the one abandoni-"

"Shut it! No more excuses!" Riza growled as Kouma flinched back. "I was willing to overlook the fact that the Human apparently had to take down the Enforcer's leadership by himself because you were busy dilly-dallying, but this is just too disappointing! He's your partner! You two have fought and bled together! I thought you damned dogs were supposed to be loyal!"

Kouma trembled at Riza's verbal barrage, feeling himself shrinking before her accusations of weakness and failure. Of course, putting aside the fact that it was Ranma who was leaving him rather than the other way around, Kouma simply had someone in the fight club to whom he felt much greater loyalty than to the cursed human.

But explaining that would be SO embarrassing!

"But it wasn't like that! I was busy fighting off a high-level Enforcer too! He was really tough to beat!" Kouma tried desperately, trying to at least throw off any accusation of being ineffectual.

"That's true," Ranma confirmed, raising his hand, "if not for him, Kurumu and the others would be crushed ice now."

Kouma saw Riza's expression waver as she considered this, and at once felt considerable gratitude that Ranma was willing to stand up for him, mixed with hot envy that Riza clearly valued Ranma's opinion so much more than his.

"Yeah, I crushed that damned yheti!" Kouma said, standing up straight as he gripped his hand into a fist. "And damn near opened up a new volcano in the forest doing it!"

Sting suddenly raised her hand. "I heard that Saotome beat the old Enforcer captain by throwing a tornado at him."

"That is also true," Ranma said, nodding sagely, "and, as implied, way cooler than what Kouma did."

"Cheh!" Riza clicked her tongue as she shook her head sadly. "Human, take care of the idiot, will you? I know he may not be worth much in a scrap, but you'll need all the help you can get when we arrive at your doorstep to beat you down! And maybe under your wing he'll actually improve a little!"

Kouma started to whimper pitifully.

"Well, I was kinda hoping he'd actually join us of his own free will and everything, but since you're pretty much handing him to me..." Ranma clapped a hand on the hellhound's shoulder. "Welcome to the Protection Committee, buddy!"

"How did things turn out like this?" Kouma asked, his voice a choked whisper as Ranma started to drag him away.

"Apparently it's because I'm awesome," Ranma said, shrugging his shoulders as if it were meaningless. "Come on, let's go meet up with Tsukune!"

"Tsukune! I'm back!" Ranma called as he entered their shared dorm room, still dragging along Kouma by the back of his shirt. "I got those recruits you wanted!"

Tsukune looked up from where he was looking over some papers, being flanked by Kurumu, who was trying to feed him cookies, and Moka, who looked like she was trying, against great temptation, not to bite into Tsukune's neck.

Yukari was in the room as well, lying on Ranma's bed while flipping through a large book titled "How to Summon Friends and Dominate People".

"Senpai! Did you find... Uh..." Yukari trailed off as she quickly rearranged her immediate questions by order of urgency. "Why is Gamaroshi crying?"

"I think one of his dreams just died," Ranma said without actually explaining anything as he propped the hellhound up in a chair.

"You mean the dream of beating you and becoming champion of the fight club?" Kurumu asked as she tried to push Moka away from Tsukune's neck.

"That too," the pigtailed boy mumbled. "He'll get over it. The important thing is that he's now a member of the Protection Committee!"

Yukari smirked. "That'll teach the dumb pup to have a life that doesn't revolve around Senpai," she said under her breath.

"Well, every member helps," Tsukune said as he wearily pushed away the stack of papers he had been given by Hokuto. "We should draw up some posters to advertise for more recruits too." He seemed largely oblivious to the scuffle going on behind him as Kurumu practically wrestled Moka to the floor to keep the vampiress from touching him.

"Good idea. Where do we get paper and stuff?" Ranma asked.

"They probably have everything we need in the Protection Committee's main offices," Yukari volunteered, "and we should head over there to check them out and make sure they're secure anyway. Plus I want to claim my room early."

"Yukari..." Tsukune muttered with a sweatdrop on his head, "we're not in this for the power and the perks, remember? If we're going to form a new Protection Committee, we're going to do it right and make this school a safe and productive establishment!"

"From the comfort of our lavishly furnished offices!" Yukari cheered, shutting her book in front of her as she thrust a fist into the air.

"Seconded!" Ranma said, high-fiving the young witch.

Tsukune sighed, but inwardly he was relieved that his friends were so enthusiastic. None of them had expected this turn of events and, with the possible exception of Ranma, none of them were keen on shouldering the responsibility that the Enforcers had so callously neglected. Keeping his friends on-task and under control would be a burden, but he'd rather have to rein them in than try and prod them to action.

"Well, I suppose we should have a look. Let's go and-" Tsukune was cut off as Moka suddenly leapt up from the floor and sunk her fangs into his neck.

"Damn it, Moka! Let him go!" Kurumu shouted angrily, grabbing her around her forehead and trying to pry her off. "There has got to be a rule against this!" the succubus growled.

"Well, oddly enough, there are rules specifically forbidding cannibalism," Yukari noted, "but seeing how it's only cannibalism if both victim and perpetrator are the same species..."

Tsukune gasped as Moka finally released him, his face pale. "M-Moka, don't do that so suddenly," he stammered.

"You shouldn't do that at all! What if you hurt him permanently?" Kurumu demanded.

Moka flushed as Kurumu glared at her. "Sorry! But it's been a while, you know..."

"Oi! If you lovebirds are done necking, can we go now?" Ranma asked, looking annoyed as Moka and Tsukune looked embarrassed.

"Do they really do that all the time?" Kouma asked Ranma suddenly, apparently snapping out of his depression far enough to make snide remarks. "That's disgusting. It's like watching someone make out, eat, and kill at the same time."

"I know, right?" Ranma muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "At least save it for when you're alone."

"All right, all right, that's enough," Tsukune said in what he hoped was an authoritative tone, despite his face being a bright red (which, when combined with the recent blood loss, was making him feel a bit dizzy), "if Kouma has recovered enough psychologically to come with us, we should get going."

"Yeah, I've pretty much resigned myself," the hellhound admitted wearily as he stood up. "Let's go."

"So Ranma, did you recruit anyone besides Kouma and the girls?" Tsukune asked as the newly formed Protection Committee walked toward their new offices.

"Yeah. I got Mizore and Kana and Chopper Rikishi, too. That gives us a hefty nine people!" Ranma said proudly.

Tsukune blinked as he went through those names. "Wait... Ranma, except for Rikishi, those are all friends of ours!"

"No, it's not like that," Ranma insisted, "me and Chopper are pretty good friends, too."

Tsukune rolled his eyes. "Ranma, we can't just fill positions of authority with our friends. That's favoritism."

"Actually, it's more accurate to call it cronyism," Yukari piped up. "It better describes the internal power network that keeps itself in charge while denying outsiders, and implies that loyalty is more important than competence."

Ranma mulled that over for a moment. "So what's your point?"

"No point. Just reminding everyone that I'm a genius!" Yukari said brightly, making a "V" with her fingers.

"We WOULD forget pretty quickly if she weren't so annoying," Kurumu mumbled.

"Well, be that as it may, it's still a bad thing," Tsukune insisted, "we need to have people that we don't have a personal connection with."

"Well, aside from the poster idea, how are we gonna do that?" Ranma asked as he moved ahead to open the door to the main lobby of the Protection Committee. "It's not like people are clamo-mo-mo-moaaaaaaAAAARGH!"


Everyone present was shocked to hear such a wail of terror come from Ranma's mouth, and each one of them froze in place behind the gibbering martial artist as they tried to imagine what kind of deadly horror had infiltrated their new office ahead of them.

Tsukune was the first to remember that Ranma only seemed scared or wary of people and things that didn't frighten anybody else, and bravely ducked under the older boy's arm to see what was in the room.

"GYAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAH! HYAAAAAAAAH!" Ranma continued screaming as he remained rooted in place, blocking everyone else's view of the lobby. It didn't escape their attention, though, that Tsukune hadn't joined him.

"Ranma, calm down, please," the younger boy said suddenly.

Ranma promptly did so, gasping painfully for breath as his eyes remained locked on something in the lobby.

As Tsukune had expected, it was nothing that would have frightened anybody else, though he recognized that this didn't necessarily make it safe.

But still, why all the fuss about some cute elven girl?

She was short, only about half a head taller than Yukari, with chocolate brown skin and long, sharply pointed ears. Despite her height she had a good bust and hip line, though Kurumu certainly wasn't impressed once she and the others finally shouldered their way past Ranma to see what all the fuss was about.

The elf, for her part, simply remained silent throughout the debacle with a bemused expression on her face, obviously waiting for the moment of panic and confusion to pass so that they could start with the obvious questions.

Tsukune didn't disappoint. "I'm really sorry about that; he usually doesn't react like that to... Well, anyone except our homeroom teacher, I guess. My name is Aono Tsukune. And you are...?" She looked vaguely familiar, but he certainly didn't remember ever speaking to her or being introduced.

The girl's lip twitched into something approaching a smile, though she was obviously still put off by Ranma's reaction. "Well, my real name-"

"TOBAKI!" Ranma suddenly yelled, panicking once again as he tried to keep the dark elf from mentally scarring his friends. "Her name is Tobaki! We've... met before."

"You've 'met'? What happened at this 'meeting' to make you scream like that?" Kurumu asked, observing Tobaki closely for any clues.

Ranma simply shuddered as Tobaki coughed into her fist.

"I would prefer that be left between us, actually," Tobaki grumbled bitterly. "As for why I'm here-"

"Whoa, wait, no," Kouma said suddenly as he stepped forward, eyebrows climbing, "you're not sweeping that reaction under the rug. Just what kind of monster could cause Saotome to..." He stopped speaking as he sniffed the air suddenly, and his brow furrowed as he took several more sniffs. "Hey, what's that smell?"

Tobaki quirked an eyebrow. "Does it smell like blood and raw meat?"

"Half the damn school always smells like that," Kouma mumbled as he continued to sniff at the air, stepping closer to Tobaki, "no, this smells more... wrong. Like, maybe-"

He stopped speaking once he realized that he was now standing right over Tobaki, who was staring up at him blankly.

Sniff! Sniff! Sniff!

Then he cringed, and slowly crept backwards toward Ranma (who was still standing stock-still in the doorway and sweating).

"Ah. I see," the hellhound said, clearly nervous as he stood rigidly next to Ranma and tried not to make eye contact with their new acquaintance. "Well, carry on. I'll just be over here out of tentacle range."

'Out of what?' Tsukune thought briefly before he decided to just move on with finding out why the girl was here. "I'm sorry, you were going to explain why you were here?"

Tobaki sighed. "Right. You're the new Captain of the Protection Committee, right? I'm the committee treasurer. As Vice-Captain Saotome said, you can call me Tobaki."

"Ah, I see," Tsukune mumbled as he nodded, "then I guess you haven't heard. The old Protection Committee has been completely disbanded."

"No, I heard," Tobaki said. "A member of the student council stopped by earlier to hand me a formal dismissal notice. Which means there's an opening now, I suppose."

"Right. Yukari, would you like to be treasurer?" Tsukune asked, turning to the young witch. "I figure since-"

"No, I'm treasurer," Tobaki said, her tone now more insistent.

Moka shared Tsukune's look of confusion and exasperation. "But you just said there was an opening," she replied.

"There is. On the student council board," Tobaki explained.

As Tsukune's suspicion slowly turned to horror, the dark-skinned elf took out some papers from her book bag and handed them to Tsukune. "I also heard that we have to fill these out now whenever we kill someone, so here's a completed termination explanation form, or T-2 form, for your approval."

"I'm not going to approve this!" Tsukune shouted, his patience breaking as he snatched away the papers and then flung them over his shoulder. "You're telling me you actually killed a member of the student council just for doing his job?"

Tobaki jumped back in surprise, apparently not expecting a reprimand. "Yes. So? I filled out all the necessary paperwork..."

"That's not the point!" Tsukune growled. "Forget it! I'm dismissing you myself, then! That's within my authority, right?"

Ranma flinched at this, and more sweat started beading on his forehead.

Tobaki, meanwhile, did not look amused at the suggestion. "I refuse your dismissal. I like my job."

"You can't just... I mean, my authority has..." As he floundered for several seconds, Kurumu silently came up behind him and rubbed his back encouragingly, helping soothe his frustration.

"Fine then. Ranma? Can you-" Tsukune started to say before the pigtailed boy suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder, pulling him away from Kurumu.

When the two roommates made eye contact, Tsukune was shocked to see real desperation in Ranma's eyes as the older boy spoke.

"Look, Tsukune, I don't do this often, but can I call in a favor? Or, like, ALL the favors from the stuff I've done for you?" Ranma whispered, despite the fact that they were right next to everyone and everyone could hear them. "I know that you're really mad at her, and you're right! Totally right! But PLEASE don't make me fight her."

"Putting aside whether we can or should remove her by force," Yukari added, "wouldn't keeping her on solve your earlier complaints about all the current members being our friends and there being no one from the old committee to help us start off?"

"How are we going to explain this to the student council?" Tsukune asked, clearly frustrated by the idea.

"I believe the box on the T-2 form asking for 'justification of execution order' should take care of everything," Tobaki said, crossing her arms under her breasts. "I really don't see what the problem is, here."

Tsukune spent considerable effort in holding back a scathing rebuke, and felt queasy as he considered Yukari's proposition. From what he could tell, the only thing that made him a desirable leader was his grasp of right and wrong and concern for others, and the very last thing he wanted was to start off his tenure as captain by letting someone who was supposed to be his subordinate get away with murder.

Swallowing his guilt, and a fair amount of bile, the young human narrowed his eyes at the confused elven girl. "Okay... Tobaki... If - and this is a BIG 'if' - you stay on the Protection Committee, you're going to follow my and Ranma's orders, got it? And you won't be getting away with this scot-free either. I won't let you run around doing as you please."

"That's right! You tell her, Tsukune!" Kurumu shouted, playing cheerleader as usual.

"That's right! Everyone has to be accountable for their crimes!" Moka chimed in.

Tobaki, for her part, looked completely lost. "Of course I'd follow your orders. You're the captain, aren't you?" Then her own gaze hardened. "Of course, if I were dismissed, then I wouldn't be part of the Protection Committee, and then everything I did after that would be in the capacity of a rogue student, not a subordinate. You understand that much, right CAPTAIN?"

Tsukune felt a bit of his recently discovered backbone melt away at the cold stare he was getting from the elven girl, but he stood firm as he continued. "Good. So here's my first order: from now on, NO KILLING."

Although Ranma and the girls more familiar with Tsukune's personality weren't surprised by the ruling, Tobaki was stunned and Kouma looked taken aback.

"What? Do you mean no killing for personal gain, or-" the hellhound started to ask before Tsukune cut him off.

"I mean no killing at all," Tsukune clarified firmly. "There might come a time, MAYBE, when you find yourself in a situation where you have absolutely no choice but to kill someone in order to save yourself or someone else, and when and if that happens I'll give you a chance to explain yourself. But until that happens, nobody takes a life, understand?"

Tobaki was still obviously shocked by the demand, and the sincerity of her surprise left Tsukune unsure whether he should be more horrified by the circumstances or less.

After a few seconds though, she held up her hands. "All right, fine. So you have a problem with murder. Sorry. I didn't know. I can't read your mind."

She seemed to stop and think about that last statement. "At least, I can't read your mind without tearing your soul out and stripping your thoughts one by one. Which is a rather gruesome and permanent measure to take just to be able to predict your edicts."

As the others were busy trying to think of something to say to that, Ranma snapped his fingers. "Ah. That reminds me. I should remove that body right away. In Professor Richard's class they can start to stink pretty quickly. And sometimes their souls escape and start bugging the psychics. Eyebrows, can you gimme a hand?"

"Yeah, yeah," Kouma grumbled as he withdrew a bandanna from his pocket and wrapped it around his face to cover his nose.

"Oh, that's very considerate of you!" Tobaki said brightly, pointing behind her. "It's in the second room on the left."


As Ranma and Kouma quickly scurried away to their unwholesome task, eager to leave the presence of the sprightly abomination, said abomination turned back to Tsukune.

"Well, I can already see that I'm going to like this new committee," she said with curious satisfaction. "I swear, the old guys were so lazy, they'd just leave the corpses of their hapless victims just sitting out in the open. And then I would have to budget a janitor to clean them up. It's like they have no idea how much union labor costs!"

Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari all stared in morbid fascination as they witnessed the unusual sight of Tsukune slowly boiling over with barely contained disgust and fury.

"And sometimes the morons didn't even loot the bodies first! Once Haruo actually ordered ME to do it and bring his cut to him! What does he think a treasurer's job is?"

"Tsukune, it's okay," Kurumu said with deep concern as she started giving her quaking beloved a shoulder rub, "everything's going to be fine from here on, all right? You can fix this! We all believe in you!"

"BY SATAN'S CURSED GOATEE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO THIS MAN?" Kouma suddenly screamed from down the hall.

"Aw, are you serious? It's everywhere! At least Professor Richard keeps the mess small!" Ranma complained.

Tobaki flushed as the other girls took a wary step back from her. "What? I was going to clean up! That paperwork is time-consuming, you know!"

"Excuse me," Tsukune said sharply, pulling away from Kurumu and stepping past their new (or old, depending on how you look at it) member without a backward glance, "I have something to discuss with the Vice-Captain."


"Well, I hope it has to do with ordering more of the Committee's trademark long coats," Tobaki said as her superior stalked off, "I need a new one. I don't know what kind of blood that guy had, but it does NOT wash out."

"You know, you should really stop talking like that if you want to keep your position," Kurumu said, planting her hands on her shapely hips.

"Talking like what?" The dark-skinned girl asked, perplexed. "Does he have some other pet peeve I should know about?"

"No, actually, it's the same one, but you keep aggravating it," Moka explained, herself looking more than a little disturbed. "Tsukune is a kind and sensitive person, and doesn't like to see or hear about people getting hurt. Nor do the rest of us, for that matter."

'Internal company excluded, of course,' Moka thought with some bitterness.

'Was that sarcasm? That was sarcasm, wasn't it? That's rude, you know,' her inner self responded indignantly.

"Seriously? I'm sorry, I had no idea," Tobaki said, flushing and looking honestly embarrassed. "I'm really sorry, I'm a bit helpless when it comes to reading the mood..."

"No, no, this isn't about the mood, it's about murder," Kurumu started to protest before Yukari cut her off.

"Whatever, I want to hear what happened between you and Senpai!" The young witch demanded. "What did you do to make him so frightened of you?"

Tobaki flushed even darker, which the girls would have considered irresistibly cute if they weren't all horrified and/or repulsed by the demon posing as an awkward elven girl.

"Do I... have to say it?" Tobaki asked timidly, a tear welling in the corner of her eye. "It's really embarrassing... and painful."

Moka's first thought was to ask if Ranma had done something horrible to her, but she quashed it before it had a chance to escape her mouth; Tobaki had already confessed to casual murder and theft, and had assisted massive quantities of both that were committed by others. Ranma could definitely be offered the benefit of the doubt in this case.

"Well now I REALLY wanna hear," Kurumu said, her expression trying to show concern while failing to disguise anticipation. "Come on! Tell us!"

Tobaki sniffled as she wiped away a few stray tears. "Well, the first time we met... I... tried to take him." She sniffled again, her emotions threatening to flood out like a burst dam.

The other three girls were stunned.

"Tried to... take him?" Moka squeaked. "You mean, like-"

"Yes," Tobaki interrupted, her sniffles building up in light sobs. "And he... Hic! He... He got away!" she finally admitted, tears pouring freely down her chocolate-colored cheeks.

Moka staggered backward, her face pale. "I... I think I need to sit down. In a different room. Far away," the vampiress said, quickly walking out the front door.

"I'll join you," Kurumu mumbled as she scurried after her friend and rival, casting only the barest of a glance over her shoulder at their horrific new acquaintance.


Tobaki continued sniffling as Yukari watched the others leave silently.

"What? It was really painful!" Tobaki insisted, wondering why the taller girls were leaving so quickly. "He can punch at the speed of sound, you know?"

This didn't seem to warrant a response from Moka and Kurumu, who if anything sped their flight from Tobaki's presence.

Yukari, however, seemed entirely undisturbed by the revelation, and merely waited until she was sure that nobody else was in earshot before she crept up to the sniffling dark elf. "So... how far did you get?"

Fwoof! Kouma blasted a thin stream of flames from his mouth and swept them over the piles of torn flesh and oozing ichor on the floor, each clump lighting aflame instantly and quickly burning down into a drier, more sanitary form.

After several seconds, waiting until the flames threatened to spread across the carpet, Kouma then unleashed another blast, this one from the fire extinguisher he was carrying, dousing the sparse fires instantly.

"Yeesh, this guy is EVERYWHERE. Whatever he was, what he lacked in power he made up for in mass," grumbled the hellhound as he sucked up air to purify another pile of corpse.

Ranma was behind him, gingerly sweeping up the ash and burnt flesh with a broom and dustpan. "Actually, I think a fair bit of this is Tobaki. A lot of that yellow sludge comes off when she's on the attack."

Both fighters shuddered briefly at the imagery (or in Ranma's case, the memory) at about the same time that Tsukune entered the room and calmly shut the door behind him.

"Ranma, can we tal-WHOA! What is that smell?" The younger human gasped, clamping his hands over his nose.

"It's mostly raw, undiluted hate," Kouma explained as he blasted another small blaze with the extinguisher, "the rest is just burning flesh. You'll be fine if you don't breathe too deeply."

"Hey Eyebrows, didn't you say you used to live in Hell? Is this sort of thing normal to you?" Ranma asked while Tsukune got his breath back.

"No way. Hell has devils, not demons. Psychotic freaks like her are on a whole other level of violent," the hellhound explained before he moved to the next mess.

"Ranma, we need to talk about this," Tsukune managed to mumble once he felt like his lungs weren't trying to suddenly breathe needles rather than air, "you can't be serious about wanting that Tobaki girl on the team."

Ranma immediately whirled around. "Whoa, hold it, I didn't say nothing about wanting her around! I don't want anything to do with her! But I NEVER want to fight her again!"

"But Ranma, if-" Tsukune suddenly trailed off, "wait, fight her 'again'? You two have fought?"

Ranma, surprisingly, fell silent briefly as he looked away uncomfortably. "Well... Uh... I was fighting, anyway. Not sure about her."

"Please, don't," Kouma grumbled. "Normally I really enjoy Saotome's embarrassing stories, but let's leave this one alone, okay? There are things even a denizen of Hell doesn't want to hear about."

Seeing Ranma nod rapidly, Tsukune finally forced himself to abandon his curiosity. "All right, fine. We'll leave that part alone. But as for her joining, or rather, remaining on, the Committee..." The younger human bit his lip as he considered how to make his next point. "Well, to be perfectly honest, I'd rather have the old Captain, Kuyo with us than this girl. At least we know that you can keep him in line if you need to."

"I totally agree," Ranma said as he started sweeping again, "but I wouldn't say that to Tobaki's face, much less try to replace her."

As Tsukune stewed silently, Kouma spoke up again. "Can't YOU do something about it?"

Tsukune gave him an annoyed glance. "Like what?"

Kouma gazed up at the ceiling as he leaned back against a wall, deep in thought. "Well... You seem pretty well-versed in acting like a human, so-"

"No, he is a human," Ranma said suddenly.

"GAAAH! I told you to stop telling people that!" Tsukune shouted.

Kouma looked confused, but was apparently unbothered by the fact. "Really? Weird. Anyway, you might have a good grasp of morals because you grew up with them, and I know right from wrong because I grew up constantly viewing the endless torment that people suffer because of their sins. But people like Tobaki and Saotome don't, because they grew up in a pit of abyssal ooze containing nothing but rage and malice manifest. More than not knowing right from wrong, they don't even realize there IS a right or wrong."

Ranma nodded eagerly. "Yeah, I mean, it's not like-HEY!" He suddenly turned on the hellhound, slapping Kouma over the head with the broom handle. "Don't box me in with that freak! I'm a human! And a heroic one at that!"

"Pft. Whatever," Kouma mumbled as he swatted the broom away. "I must have missed the class where we learn all about how humans can make tornadoes."

"It's not like I do it all the time..." Ranma protested bitterly.

"Putting aside spontaneous tornado-making," Tsukune said, trying to interject and hopefully stop the brewing argument, "do you really think I can teach her not to be evil?"

Kouma shrugged his shoulders. "I don't really know, but so long as she says she'll listen to you, you may as well try. Frankly it's surprising that she even recognizes things like rules and hierarchy, so she's probably a lot more reasonable than most demons."

Tsukune mulled that over briefly. "So... she's a demon? Not an elf?"

Ranma and Kouma both shuddered. "DEFINITELY not an elf," they said in unison.

"Well, all right!" Tsukune said, his earlier frustration now replaced by hope and determination. "If the new Protection Committee is going to maintain actual law and order around here, actually defining law and order isn't a bad place to start! We'll teach Tobaki and anyone else who needs it exactly where the line between right and wrong lies!"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Kouma said before he turned around and spat a jet of flame onto the last filth pile.

"I need to go write up a plan," Tsukune said as he walked out, "Ranma, I'll leave the posters to you! See you tonight!"


Kouma glanced behind him as Tsukune walked out, and then shook his head as soon as the new captain was out of earshot. "Only a human would try to reform a walking pile of malevolent sludge. Poor sap's gonna get himself eaten."

Ranma frowned as he swept up the last ash pile. "It was your idea."

"I just wanted him to stop whining," Kouma admitted. "Besides, my definition of reform involves pits of hot coals, rusted barbs and whatnot."

Then the hellhound looked more concerned. "But putting our treasurer aside, it kind of worries me that the captain's a real human."

"So am I," Ranma pointed out fruitlessly.

"I said a REAL human," Kouma reiterated. "I mean, it's great to have the real thing around for reference, but how does he think he's going to be able to act as an authority figure?"

"That's where you and I come in," Ranma said, thumping his chest, "Tsukune's good for dealing with rules and keeping order and all that touchy-feely stuff, but we're the ones who have to crack heads."

"Granted," Kouma mumbled, "but have you really considered what it means to have a human in charge here? Humans don't really belong here to begin with, but having one in power is a whole different issue. It doesn't really bother me so much, since I'm used to dealing with them, but it's hard to imagine this turning out well, what with the completely different moral values and the possibility that he could be gutted at a moment's notice."

Kouma glanced at Ranma for a reaction, but saw that the martial artist was just glaring at him.

"I'm a human too! Stop talking about us like there isn't one standing right in front of you!" Ranma demanded.

Kouma rolled his eyes. "You know, I'm starting to think you're serious about that."

"I am serious!" Ranma insisted, hoping that his insistence was finally getting through to the hellhound.

"So you have some kind of brain damage or memory alteration that makes you think you're a human?" Kouma asked, "do you really not know your true form? Or is that 'curse' actually-"

"GRAAAAAAAH!" Ranma immediately broke the broom over his knee as Kouma flinched back.

"All right, fine, I won't bring it up again," Kouma grumbled as he walked briskly toward the exit, "just tryin' to help, geez. Let's drop it and do those posters."

'Must not throttle Kouma. Must not throttle Kouma. Must not throttle Kouma,' Ranma chanted in his head as he followed the hellhound out the door.

As the school's new protectors were sorting themselves out, there were, of course, many significant forces still at work within the school, going about their business either unaware or uncaring of the sudden power shift.

In the forest on the far edge of the school, a student that had possessed the gumption to mock a monstrel for its mixed heritage and twisted form was torn apart by a dozen similar individuals, dying amongst the still-melting snow that blanketed that region before he had even realized what was happening.

One of the would-be participants of that ambush never arrived, having triggered a net trap built of spider webbing and meeting his end before a pair of saber-like fangs.

In one of the many rooms in the academy abandoned and given over to loose storage and random magical experimentation, a young-looking Phoenix king underwent harsh and largely pointless training at the hands of an insane sorcerer, all the while suspecting that nobody cared at all that he was gone.

And finally, and much more importantly, a group of aggrieved former defenders of the peace - who were keenly aware and disturbed by the recent personnel change in the Protection Committee - met in secret to discuss the injustices that had been heaped upon them, and what could be done about them.

Or at least, they tried to keep it secret. It was rather difficult, as the meeting had to be held at Kuyo's bedside in the nurse's office.


"Is this mandate true?" Kuyo asked, his voice almost a whisper as his hands trembled in rage.

The lanky Enforcer, sporting a ring of bandages over one eye and a gauze patch over his cheek, played with a butterfly knife nervously as he nodded. "Looks like it. I asked everyone who would know who wasn't on the council itself... or, you know, on the new Committee. Keito's right after all. Aono is in and we're out."

FWOOM! The paper notice of Kuyo's dismissal vanished into a wisp of white ash as he turned his furious gaze on his former underling. "There must be some mistake. The student council cannot replace me," he rasped.

"Well, ya see," the boy with rings under his eyes mumbled from behind his fellow Netherworld minion, "they kinda can. I mean, it's their job to do things like this."

WHAM! Kuyo slammed a fist on the table next to his cot, rattling a few blood-spattered medical tools that were left on top. "And what of my esteemed record of service?" Kuyo demanded imperiously, though his voice was soft and weak. "What of my contribution to this school? Has that been forgotten completely?"

One of the curtains that blocked off an adjacent cot was swept out of the way, revealing the shaggy-haired youth with a neck brace and cast over one arm.

"No, LORD Kuyo," the holy dragon murmured, speaking the honorific with slow sarcasm, "I don't think the council has forgotten the extent of the corruption that you presided over, nor the chaos that regularly took place on your watch."

"Watch your tone, you little fool," Keito snapped, causing the nameless minions to flinch back. The spider woman was the only one present who didn't bear any visible injuries, and was currently slicing an apple next to Jin's beside, where the bearded man lay completely wrapped in bandages like a mummy.

"Keito, something must be done about this," Kuyo whispered harshly as he turned his head on the pillow, "we cannot allow this travesty of justice to continue."

"Of course not, my lord," Keito cooed, crossing her legs as she put the sliced apple down next to Jin's head, "we still have many tools yet that we can use to leverage reve... Erm! Leverage JUSTICE against the usurpers."

"Speaking of tools, where's Tobaki and Haruo?" The gloomy-looking netherworlder asked. "Neither of them were targeted, right? They should be perfectly healthy."

Keito glared harshly at the bone dragon, but considering the boy was already on crutches with both his feet in casts, she didn't feel like making any threats. "Haruo should be coming soon. He has been... exceptionally careful in traveling around the school with the fight club still active. And unlike me, he's not very good at it, either." Then her expression soured further. "Treasurer Tobaki... does not intend to give up her position on the Committee."

"Whoa, wait, so she just says she doesn't want to quit, and she doesn't have to?" The lanky boy asked incredulously, "why don't we just do that?"

Kuyo snorted, and then coughed several times before speaking again. "Aono has made it clear that he intends to remove all of us from power so that he can seize it for himself. I'm sure our treasurer will be here with us soon enough when she learns that she has no recourse."

"Eventually, yes..." Keito mumbled. "Anyway, we still know that Aono is human. That information is extremely valuable; we could use it to discredit the new Committee, try to turn its new recruits against him, or simply keep the knowledge to ourselves."

The knife-wielding boy raised an eyebrow. "Why would we do that last one?"

Keito smirked. "If it is not common rumor that Aono is a weak, fragile human, then his subordinates have no reason to be careful protecting him, as most would assume he's the strongest of them all. If we wait for them to grow complacent, we can behead the serpent in one fell swoop!"

The large minion near the back, who had been silent until now, scratched his head. "But, wouldn't that make Saotome, as vice-captain, the new captain?"

The Enforcers' faces darkened as they each digested that prospect, each one coming to the conclusion that it would be far, far worse than the present scenario.

"Since when is there a vice-captain position, anyway?" Asked the skeletal dragon. "I don't remember any of us holding a position like that."

"It was unnecessary," Kuyo rasped. "As the post is only of real value in the case of me, the captain, being removed or unable to perform his duties, it is thus useless, as there is obviously no chance of that occurring."

As most of the others sweatdropped, the shaggy-haired boy sighed. "Lord Kuyo, do you know what 'irony' is?"

"Unfortunately, my dictionary was among my many belongings that were unduly confiscated along with my position," Kuyo hissed. "Why? Is it like 'investigate'? I remember what that means."

"Let's put that aside for now," Keito said, "if it's true that Saotome would simply take Aono's place, then it would be wiser to have them all removed at once, if possible. I recommend-"

Keito halted as she felt heavy footsteps approaching, and her eyebrow quirked in askance as Volos - who had been guarding the entrance to the nurse's office despite the brace around his neck and each wrist - approached with two others in tow.

None of them could see who was in the back with the two bulky men in the way, but the man immediately behind Volos was definitely Haruo.

"Ah, Haruo. I'm glad you made it," Kuyo whispered.

"Yeah, hi," the gargoyle said nervously, "uh, also-"

"Guess who else showed uuuuup!" Volos suddenly sang with a broad smile on his face as he suddenly pulled Hokuto out of the way.

Keito brightened immediately as she saw who had entered behind the two thugs. "Tobaki! You showed up after all!"

"Big Sis Keito!" The yochlol squealed as she launched herself forward at the spider woman, prompting everyone anywhere near her trajectory to jump out of the way.

As the dark-skinned demon hugged the devious arachnid, the others fell silent and tried to avoid looking at the overt display of cuddly affection. None of them had really been comfortable with the friendship between the two, especially given that the pair of girls were more or less the most dangerous members of the old Committee. Something about the bond of trust and adoration between a pile of clueless malevolent sludge and a treacherous man-eater just tended to chill the heart rather than warm it.

"Awwwww! That is SO CUUUUTE!"

At least, it did to anyone with more than three brain cells, and everyone was well aware of which of Volos' brains got shorted when his biology was sorting out how to divide neural resources.

Kuyo coughed gently to get everyone's attention, and then he coughed much harder before he managed to get his respiratory system in order. "Treasurer Tobaki. I'm glad you could make it," he rasped.

Tobaki raised an eyebrow as she settled in next to Keito, who gently stroked her hair. "What's wrong with Kuyo?"

Many people were surprised by the lack of an appropriate honorific, but Volos' apathetic mind wasn't one of them. "Eh, he's got pneumonia from being unconscious out in the snow for too long."

Tobaki blinked. "Eh? But he's a yoko. What kind of a fire elemental gets sick from the cold?"

"Actually, yoko are not elemental beasts so much as magical beasts that happen to use a particular element. Although Mister Kuyo uses fire magic exclusively, his biology is not such that he is rendered immune to disease or conditions brought about by extreme cold," said Fran Madaraki.

The assembled former Enforcers stared silently at the nurse as she checked on Jin's condition, taking the yheti's pulse.

"Ah... Miss Madaraki, we-" Kuyo started to say before the school nurse interrupted him.

"I just need to check Mister Kaishuu's vitals to ensure that his body temperature is receding properly," Fran said, not turning to face the disgraced leader, "don't mind me. You can go back to making your dastardly and ultimately futile plans."

"Well then," Kuyo said, apparently reassured, "Treasurer Tobaki, since you have made it here, our hand is strengthened considerably in our bid to reclaim control of the Protection Committee."

"Oh, is that what you're doing?" Tobaki asked. "Then I suppose none of you would be willing to join the new Protection Committee, would you?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Keito asked.

Haruo timidly held up a scrap of paper. "It's this. The new Protection Committee is... recruiting."

"Yes, we figured as much," Keito said, "but Tobaki, don't tell me that you..."

"Yup!" The elven girl made a "V" with her fingers. "Captain Aono has officially endorsed me as treasurer, so I get to stay! I was just stopping by to make sure you guys knew about the recruitment so you could try out too!"

As everyone else stood stunned at the revelation, Kuyo shook his head. "How foolish. As if there are any among us proud and noble souls that would take orders from a human."

Silence greeted his remark, and the injured yoko glanced around suspiciously. "Isn't that right?"

"Oh! Right!" The lantern said, jumping to attention as the others rushed to grant their own reassurances.

"Of course!"

"Totally!"

"Human! Yeah! Screw those guys!"

"Not that I'm in any way considering joining the new Committee," Keito said as she leaned forward, "but can I get a better look at the poster? I need to, ah... adjust my evil plot to account for this new information. Yes. Let's go with that."

"Speaking of plans," mumbled Jin as he started to push himself up, "my new one involves being mobile by the time the recruitment meeting occurs. When and where?"

"It's tomorrow at four PM," Keito noted as she looked over the poster, "at Kraken's Bluff out behind dorm unit E."

"Are you planning an ambush?" Kuyo asked hoarsely, sitting up.

"In the sense that someone will probably be very surprised to see us all there, yeah, sure, it's an ambush," Haruo said as he strode out of the room, followed by Jin, Keito, Volos, and the three of the Netherworld monsters that were still mobile enough to leave right away.

"Miss Madaraki, can I get some crutches or something?" The shaggy-haired boy asked, "I have somewhere to go tomorrow."

"I don't need crutches, as I can render the floor frictionless and slide to a given location," Jin boasted, "so if you have any unused, oversized bedpans... Oh, and maybe a pole to help push myself?"

"This is absurd," Kuyo rasped as his eyes narrowed, glancing back and forth before finally settling on Tobaki. "Treasurer Tobaki, you cannot seriously mean to join with those usurpers."

Tobaki blinked, as if confused at Kuyo's bemusement. "Why wouldn't I? I like being treasurer."

"You would turn your back on me, the one who GAVE you that position? You would betray my trust and work under a lowly HUMAN simply because it is the most expedient route to stay in power?" Kuyo hissed, straining his voice as his throat ached.

"Yes," Tobaki said without hesitation. Then she flushed slightly, looking uncertain. "Is that strange? Big sis Keito always taught me that only people strong enough to stay on top deserve loyalty."

"Well, she-" Kuyo gasped out, only to be interrupted.

"This is also consistent with your own thoughts on the nature of authority and power, that neither is worthy of respect without the other," Tobaki continued, "as your current lack of official title would effectively make you no more worthy of loyalty than Vice-Captain Saotome when he challenged us... Even less, perhaps, since his power at least exceeds yours."

"Tobaki!" Kuyo managed to shout before suddenly descending into a coughing fit. After clearing his throat sufficiently, he wheezed, "this isn't just about power and authority! It is about JUSTICE!"

Tobaki nodded slowly as she considered this, and then scratched her head as she thought hard about the topic.

After several seconds, she turned back to Kuyo apologetically. "Sorry, but I don't think you ever taught me anything about justice. If it's important though, I'll ask Captain Aono about it later."

Kuyo tried to give a response to that, but found that after his last outburst his lungs didn't seem to have the strength to manage words anymore.

"Well, I'll see you around Kuyo! Get better soon!" Tobaki chirped as she walked out, waving to the bedridden malcontents.

"This does not bode well," Kuyo grumbled weakly.

"You should be more careful, Mister Kuyo," Fran chided as she stepped up to the injured yoko, "you're in no condition to exert yourself."

Kuyo wilted slightly under Fran's curiously ambivalent gaze. "My apologies," he croaked out as he glanced over the side of his bed, having heard a strange scraping noise.

Next to his bed, Jin huffed mightily as he blew frost over another stretch of floor before slowly pushing himself - seated semi-comfortably in a metal wash bin - over the ice with a steel pole.

"I'll get your next dose of antibiotics," Fran said as she walked off, writing notes down on her clipboard as she went, "after that I'll see if we have any more wing-splints left."

"Thank you!" The shaggy-haired ex-Enforcer called out.

"All right!" Tsukune said excitedly as he headed toward the Protection Committee offices to start their first day of official campus safety work. "Now we can finally start to turn this place around! This just might work out!"

Walking behind him were Moka and Ranma, and while the pink-haired vampire looked quite pleased and seemed to share some of Tsukune's energy - perhaps literally, as Tsukune had a fairly recent pair of puncture wounds on his neck - Ranma seemed despondent and subdued as he trudged along behind the younger boy.

"TSUKUNE!" A bright and happy shout was all the warning the new captain got before he was tackled from the side, his head locked behind a pair of deceptively strong arms and his face smothered between two warm, dangerously soft mounds of flesh.

Moka's mood dipped instantly as Tsukune started flailing his arms, utterly failing to extract himself from Kurumu's erotic ambush. "Kurumu, stop that! I think you're hurting him!"

"Oh, really?" The succubus drawled, immediately pinching the side of Tsukune's collar and tugging it down to more clearly expose a pair of holes in his skin. "Yeah, I'm just terrible, aren't I?"

As Moka descended into embarrassed silence, Kurumu finally let a gasping and red-faced Tsukune go before noticing Ranma.

"Hey, did something happen?" Kurumu asked in concern.

Moka forced herself to keep a somber face as she explained. "It seems that Ranma skipped too many homerooms, so Miss Nekonome spent some extra time chewing him out."

Kurumu noticed with great interest that Ranma flinched visibly at the term "chewed".

"It seems she also heard about what happened to the student council hall, because she also lectured him about the dangers of summoning tornadoes and how it affects his attempt to pass as a human," Moka continued, doing an admirable job of not seeming smug or at all pleased about Ranma's misfortune.

"One little tornado and people act like I'm some kind of maniac," Ranma grumbled, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Nobody made a big deal about it at my OLD school."

"That's horrifying," Tsukune deadpanned.

"What kind of freaks did you you go to school with?" Kurumu asked, clearly amazed.

Ranma was actually caught off-guard by the question, suddenly wondering about whether the humans at Furinkan were really just as bad, or maybe even worse, than the murderous psychos he currently went to school with.

"... I don't want to talk about it," Ranma said quietly, turning his head away.

Sad that Ranma had decided not to divulge more of his disturbing and always entertaining past, Kurumu latched onto Tsukune arm while running a finger up and down the flushing boy's chest. "So Captain, what's first for today?" The succubus purred.

"P-Please don't call me Captain," Tsukune stuttered, trying to project an air of dignity as best he could while his arm was wedged in Kurumu's cleavage, "I haven't done anything so great that any of you should have to defer to me. Please, keep calling me by my name."

"Gotcha," Ranma said easily, severely undermining the dramatic humility of Tsukune's request, "so Tsukune, what're we doing now?"

"Well, we should head back to the offices and try and get a grip on what our specific duties are going to be day-to-day," Tsukune reasoned. "Also, I want to talk to you about the recruitment rally later today."

"Leave it all to me, buddy!" Ranma said, perking up immediately. "You want people who are going to put the school first, right?"

Tsukune blinked. "Uh... Yes. Well, that's not the only qualification, but that should be the most important thing. From here on out the Protection Committee is putting integrity before authority, and I need our new people to recognize that," he said firmly.

"Gotcha covered," Ranma said, smirking casually as he flashed the younger human a thumbs-up.


Tsukune had his doubts, just as he had when Ranma first elected to manage the recruitment efforts, but like before he put them aside. After all, Ranma had done a passable job in building their numbers high enough to at least start their basic duties, and Tsukune was always reluctant to assume he knew better than Ranma, especially when it came to dealing with their monstrous classmates.

"Well, if you're sure you can handle it," Tsukune said, trying and failing to sound confident, "but if you need help don't hesitate to ask."

"It's no problem," Ranma said, brushing off the younger boy's concerns as he reached the front door and opened it, "I've got everything woooAAAAUGH!"

"STOP doing that," Tobaki demanded sharply as she crossed her arms under her breasts. She was standing in the middle of the lobby again, holding a manilla folder and, for some reason, wearing a pair of thin rectangle-lens glasses that none of them remembered seeing before.

Ranma immediately cut short his screech of terror, flushing in embarrassment. "Sorry. I still need a little time to hold down that reflex."

"No, it's all right, we don't blame you," Moka said, surprising the pigtailed boy and Tsukune (not so much Kurumu, who knew exactly what particular trauma was triggering the outbursts).

Tobaki strode up to Tsukune and locked eyes with him, her expression possessing a level of cold, determined professionalism that he wouldn't have expected from his (admittedly limited) previous experience with the girl.

"Captain Aono, it is my understanding that you wished someone with experience as to the Protection Committee's roles and dealings to brief you so that you can more quickly take command and manage our activities, is this correct?"

Tsukune blinked, taken off guard once again. "Er... Yes. That's right."

Tobaki bowed deeply. "Then allow me to brief you appropriately," standing up straight again, she handed him the folder. "Here are the most pressing details in hard copy for your personal retention and perusal. First and foremost, I suggest you appoint your primary officers."

Tsukune looked slightly overwhelmed as he took the folder, though it was certainly due more to Tobaki's mannerisms than information overload. "What do you mean, exactly?"

Tobaki's glasses gleamed as she briefly pushed them up the bridge of her nose. "You yourself are captain. Mister Saotome is vice-captain. I am treasurer. This is not the extent of the Protection Committee's posts, however. You'll need someone to lead the Compliance Squad - assuming we have enough members to put one together - someone to manage information and contacts, and someone to attend student council meetings to represent our interests."

Moka frowned. "Isn't that last post the one that the Committee used to keep themselves in power even as they abused it relentlessly?"

"Yes. As you might imagine, abusing power is very difficult without a proper campaign of intimidation and a constant presence among those who might defy us," Tobaki explained as her glasses gleamed again, "thus it's important that the appointee be adequately fierce and too dim to get embroiled in actual council business. I would recommend that Gamaroshi fellow for the role."

Tsukune rolled his eyes as he took a seat, while Kurumu, loth to leave his side, sat on the armrest next to him to maintain as much physical contact as possible without actually sitting on him.

"Rather than doing something like that, why don't we, I don't know, not abuse our power in the first place?" He asked.

Tobaki raised an eyebrow. "I've never heard of such a strategy... That would eliminate most of the risks and associated safeguards necessary to manage them when trying to maintain our current levels of corruption. As expected of the captain."

As Tobaki mused with a comical level of seriousness on the idea of clean, lawful governance, Kurumu suddenly fell victim to her curiosity and snatched off Tobaki's glasses.

"Okay, well, if you insist, then you're the boss," Tobaki said, shrugging as her mannerisms instantly became more relaxed and her speech less formal. "Oh! But sometimes you might have something to tell the student council, and they sometimes have complaints about things that probably don't matter to you, so..."

Kurumu wordlessly leaned forward again to put Tobaki's glasses back on.

"... So it would be prudent for you to appoint someone to the post, either to handle information and requests from the council or, should you wish it, to prevent those matters from reaching you," Tobaki continued as she promptly pushed her glasses into a more comfortable position on her nose.

Then she glared sharply at Kurumu. "Also, stop that."

"Impossible," the succubus replied seriously, trying and failing to contain her amusement at this new discovery.

"All right, given that," Tsukune mumbled, deliberately ignoring Kurumu's action, "Moka, could you take that post?"

Moka blinked in surprise. "Me?"

Tsukune nodded, smiling. "We need someone level-headed and smart to deal with the council, so I think you'd be perfect. What do you say?"

"S-Sure!" Moka stuttered, flushing slightly as Kurumu pouted.

"Kurumu, I'd like you to handle compliance," Tsukune continued.

She seemed far more startled than Moka had been. "Wh-What? But isn't that for someone stronger?"

"Well, I imagine that Ranma will be doing plenty of enforcement work, but if he can't be in charge all the time then I'd like it to be you. Kouma might be stronger, but he's also really reckless and temperamental, while you're..." Tsukune paused for a moment, trying to think of a good euphemism and then quickly giving up, "you're less reckless and temperamental. And I know that you always put everything you've got into a battle when you have to fight. I know I can trust you to make the right choices if things get bad."

"Sure! Anything for you, Tsukune!" Kurumu beamed as she snuggled him again.

"R-Right," Tsukune mumbled as he tried to think of anything except how Kurumu's pillowy breasts felt against his cheek. "As for information and management, I think that should be Yukari's area."

"Accepted!" Yukari said as slid into the room from between Ranma's legs, making a "V" with her fingers as she skidded to a stop. "Leave it to me!"

Tsukune stared at the young witch awkwardly. "Uh... Where did you come from?"

"I've been here all morning, via an official waiver to skip homeroom!" Yukari explained cheerfully. "I've been setting up my office! Wanna see?"

As she gestured to the room behind her, Tobaki's glasses gleamed again.

"That's the captain's office, not yours," Tobaki said firmly.

"Correction: that WAS Kuyo's office, and was then free space, and is now mine," Yukari said smugly.

"That's fine," Tsukune said, holding up his hands. "It's not like I need-"

"Unacceptable!" Tobaki shouted suddenly, turning toward the young witch and glaring down at her. "Hierarchy must be respected! For the captain to cede the master office to a simple underling would undermine the authority of the Committee head and corrode the-"

"Yukari, did you call dibs?" Ranma suddenly asked, tiring of the argument.

Yukari nodded solemnly. "Of course! I even have it in writing!"

Before Tobaki could respond, Ranma snatched her glasses away in half the blink of an eye. "Okay, show her."

Yukari promptly shoved a single paper into Tobaki's blinking face.

"Oh, wow, it's notarized and everything," Tobaki mumbled. "Well, I guess since you have dibs, it's yours."

"You seem to be adjusting very well to bureaucratic life," Kurumu deadpanned.

"Genius," Yukari quipped smugly.

"So, wait, I feel like there's one more job that needs to be filled," Tsukune said as he disentangled himself fully from Kurumu, "shouldn't someone be in charge of receiving complaints directly from the students and opening up investigations?"

Tobaki frowned. "Why would you want to do that?"

Tsukune sighed. "So that we can respond efficiently to the students' concerns and make the school safer for everyone."

"That sounds like so much WORK," Tobaki complained.

"Hold on," Ranma grumbled as he put Tobaki's glasses back on. "There. Try now."

Tsukune stared awkwardly for several seconds. "Uh... Should I ask again, or-"

"To answer your question," Tobaki said in a distinctly irritated tone, "there was no post previously to process complaints or initiate investigations. Such things were considered an annoyance and so left to the discretion of individuals. Deployment authority, meanwhile, rested solely with Kuyo, rather than being a matter of procedure. If you want there to be such a position and thus a formalized procedure to deal with such things rather than a screen to prevent such matters from affecting you, that is of course up to you."

"New question," Yukari said suddenly, raising her hand. "Are you nearsighted, farsighted, or what?"

"I have perfect vision," Tobaki said blandly, pushing up her glasses, "but an accountant has to wear glasses, after all."

"Aren't you just a treasurer?" Kurumu asked.

"It's the same thing," the yochlol insisted, "you can't keep records without glasses. It's just common sense."

"Putting aside how uncommon your sense is," Tsukune mumbled, "who's going to take the post? All of us already have main duties."

"Kouma?" Kurumu asked, simply naming the first person that came to mind.

"I'd rather not put him in charge of anything, ever," Tsukune mumbled.

"Chopper?" Yukari guessed, shrugging.

"He doesn't care about anything but fighting," Ranma said, shaking his head. "No way."

"I don't suppose Kana could do a job where she'd have to speak to strangers constantly," Moka mused.

Ranma nodded solemnly as he walked across the width of the lobby to one of the comfortable plush chairs. "Well, I guess that means it's up to you, Mizore," he said as he picked up the chair cushion, revealing a head of mussy purple hair.

Everyone else seemed quite surprised to see her, despite Mizore's antics having become commonplace among them.

"Who is that? What are you doing here?" Tobaki demanded, pushing up her glasses.

"Relax, she's with us," Ranma said. "So Mizore, you think you can handle a help desk?"

Mizore looked apprehensive as she slowly stood up (leading most of those present to wonder how she had fit herself in the chair in the first place), but nodded as she gazed lovingly at Ranma. "If you want me to do it... I'll try."

"Well, we might have more people this afternoon, so there might be someone else better suited to taking the role eventually," Tsukune offered, holding out his hand for Mizore to shake, "in the meantime though, we'd all appreciate your help, Mizore."

"Okay, sure," she mumbled, still staring at Ranma and making no move to take Tsukune's hand, "whatever."

Tsukune cleared his throat as he finally withdrew his hand, "Okay, well, I guess that means we all have duties and responsibilities to take care of, which I assume are all listed in this folder-"

"Of course," Tobaki interjected as she adjusted her glasses again.

"Thanks a lot for that, by the way, it's very helpful," Tsukune offered.

"Well, it was necessary to make amends for my earlier actions in disposing of the student councilman," Tobaki explained, "I hope that with this I have proven my worth and cleared any misgivings you may have about me."

There were about five seconds of awkward silence before Tsukune finally managed to come up with a proper response. "No, not really. I mean, this is great, but you KILLED someone."

Tobaki frowned as she lowered her glasses slightly to stare over them. "Then exactly how much good favor must I earn to compensate for one little killing? I didn't even break school rules."

Tsukune worked hard to keep his tone even as he replied. "A lot of favor. Killing an innocent person isn't anything to take lightly. It's not the sort of thing that you make up for by typing up some helpful documents."

Tobaki pushed her glasses back up. "Well, what if I told you that the student councilman who was sent here to inquire about the first one is safely restrained in my office right now awaiting your decision on his disposal rather than dismembered and scattered all over the floor? Does that help?"

This prompted another awkward silence as everyone else tried to avoid eye contact with the bemused elven girl.

"Well... Yes. I suppose it does, ultimately," Tsukune said with as much delicacy as he could muster at the moment. "Can I see him now?"

"Right this way, Captain," Tobaki said respectfully as she bowed and gestured to her office.


Ranma kept silent as Tsukune and Tobaki left, trying to keep his nervousness from showing.

"Hey, shouldn't you go with him?" Kurumu asked, "you know, in case she tries to kill him? Or... do 'something else' to him?"

"If you're that worried, why don't you go?" Ranma grumbled, "besides, Tsukune'll be fine. He's pretty good at handling anyone who's willing to actually listen to him."

"Resistance to Rhetoric is a very rare trait," Yukari agreed, "and Tobaki has already established that she's a subordinate. That's probably like another -5 to her saving throw."

Moka blinked. "What? Saving throw? What are you talking about?"

"Magic stuff. Don't worry about it," the young witch said dismissively.

Moka reluctantly did so, instead focusing her attention back toward Ranma. "So, what exactly are your plans for the recruitment session?"

Ranma snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I've got it all worked out, don't worry!"

"I AM worried," Moka deadpanned. "The last speech you gave didn't exactly impress."

Ranma recoiled slightly from the blunt criticism of his efforts. "What was wrong with my last speech? You all joined, didn't you?"

"We joined because we're your friends, Kouma joined because he was humiliated into it, Shirayuki joined because she'd follow you anywhere, and I'm guessing that Kanade joined once she found out that Shirayuki was joining," Kurumu said as she sat down in one of the lobby chairs and crossed her legs, "so the only one you actually impressed enough with the speech to convince is Chopper."

Ranma twitched as his eyes drifted away from everyone else. "Actually, well... I kind of forced Chopper to join. He didn't really want to."

As Kurumu chuckled and Moka shook her head, Yukari's hand darted up. "All right, Senpai! I'll help you out!"

"Oh, wow, that just FILLS me with confidence," Kurumu drawled, "why don't you let Tsukune handle it?"

"Tsukune has his talents, but I agree that picking out talented officers and kicking a bunch of unruly power-hungry monsters into line is a job most suited for senpai," Yukari said, not responding to the sarcasm. "I can help him mix in an appropriate amount of Tsukune's namby-pamby truth and justice nonsense to make it sound inspirational while at the same time laying down the law so that we don't have anyone else murdering someone just because they didn't know that it's frowned upon."

As Yukari made her best "confident genius" face and tried to stare down Kurumu's doubtful gaze, she suddenly felt her hat shift as Ranma rubbed her head affectionately.

"You know Runt, you've come a long way," Ranma said fondly, "it wasn't that long ago you called Tsukune by his surname and was calling him 'dull' and 'useless' all the time."

Yukari flushed as Kurumu and Moka both smiled at her (although Kurumu's was certainly more akin to an amused smirk). "W-Well, it isn't as if he hasn't worked for it! And it'd be weird if I was the only one calling him 'Aono,' what with you guys calling him by name and everyone else calling him 'Captain'!"

Ranma chuckled. "Heh! Well, that's certainly... Eh?" He glanced to the side as he felt something brush him, and he saw that Mizore was leaning her head against his arm, staring up at him imploringly.

"Me too," she said suddenly.

Ranma hesitantly patted Mizore's head, prompting the snow woman to sigh blissfully. "Right... Like I was saying, if you wanna help out, that's fine. I need to hurry to class, though. Prof Richard said that if I'm late again he'd track down and disintegrate everyone I've ever really loved."

Kurumu sweatdropped. "That seems like an awful lot of trouble. Why doesn't he just kill you?"

"Everyone I've loved is much slower than I am," Ranma mumbled irritably as he stopped rubbing Mizore's head. "I'll see the rest of you guys after school. Since you're new recruits too, you should all be at the recruitment meeting this afternoon. Mizore, I'll see you in class. Unless you choose a really good hiding spot. The ice chest is kind of obvious."

"But it's so comfortable in there," Mizore grumbled as she followed him out the door with Yukari trailing behind them.


After Ranma, Mizore, and Yukari were gone and well out of earshot, Moka started to massage her forehead. "I'm still worried."

"Yeah, actually, having Yukari help out kind makes things more volatile, not less," Kurumu agreed as she let herself sink into her chair, "but hey, if Tsukune's willing to leave it to them, we might as well wait and see."

Before Moka could respond, the door to Tobaki's office suddenly opened, and an unfamiliar boy stepped out while scrubbing his hair with a towel.

"Like I said, there aren't words to express how sorry I am that things ended up like this," Tsukune said as he followed the man into the lobby, followed by a mildly bemused Tobaki. "I know there's no way you can forgive us, but I swear that I'll put a stop to things like this."

"I still don't see why this is a problem," Tobaki grumbled as she fussed with her glasses, "I didn't kill anyone this time, just as you asked."

Tsukune put considerable effort into ignoring the girl behind him as he continued pleading to the student councilman. "I have a long ways to go, obviously, but I won't give up! In the meantime, if there's anything I can do-"

"So let me get this straight," the stranger said suddenly as he tossed away the towel that was filthy with yellow gunk, "not only is my colleague dead and disposed of, but you've decided to take it upon yourself to 'handle' his murderer, who is one of the old guard supposedly to be removed from power. Who you are apparently keeping on in the new Protection Committee."

Tsukune winced at that painfully accurate description of his situation. "Well, uh... Yes. That's... all true," he admitted glumly.

The council member nodded. "Meaning that not ONLY do I not have to bother dealing with the body of my predecessor, but I don't have to try to complete his assigned task or mete out punishment for the murder, which was not, as the Treasurer has made abundantly clear, actually in violation of any school rules."

"Really, it's like I filled out those forms for nothing," Tobaki grumbled quietly to herself.

Tsukune seemed a bit surprised and disturbed by how hopeful the councilman sounded. "Uh... Yes, I suppose all of that is true, too."

"Oh, thank Dagoth!" the man said, clearly relieved. "That's great! You're the best, Lord Aono!"

"Er, no, not really," Tsukune said, feeling even worse at the unexpected praise. "And please, don't call me 'Lord'. I don't really deserve that kind of respect."

"Whatever you say, Captain Aono! I know you're very busy, so I'll just be on my way and never come back! Thanks!"


Tsukune's face darkened as the councilman bolted for the lobby door with a speed borne either of continuing fear for his life or enthusiasm for his lack of further responsibilities within the territory of the new Protection Committee.

The door was flung open and then slammed shut, and Tobaki sighed wearily as she took off her glasses and smiled at Tsukune.

"Well, I think that went great! It's always nice when everyone leaves these encounters happy, right Captain?" the elven girl beamed.

Tsukune staggered over to Moka and Kurumu, not wanting to keep discussing this matter with Tobaki any more. "I feel sick," he complained.

"That effect is only temporary," Tobaki explained cheerfully, completely misunderstanding Tsukune's discomfort as was fast becoming a habit, "the smell of the ichor usually dissipates after ten minutes. Five, if we open up all the windows!"

Moka and Kurumu couldn't think of anything sufficiently strong to say that wouldn't also risk them being messily dismembered, so they quietly took hold of either side of Tsukune and quickly helped him out the door without a backward glance.


Tobaki was confused by why she was still getting the cold shoulder from the other Committee members, but quickly shrugged it off.

"They're a lot less cheerful than the last bunch, but I guess it's good that they take their duties seriously," she said to herself as she shrugged and put her glasses back on. "Well then. Back to work!"

That afternoon saw quite an unusual collection of students gathered together at the top of the cliff that hung over an inlet of the sea that sat at the edge of the barrier that surrounded Youkai Academy. The majority of the individuals were from the old Protection Committee, and although that would have been awkward enough for most, the people currently waiting alongside them had increased the tension in the air very near the breaking point.

Jin Kaishuu, still sitting in the metal washtub he had borrowed from the nurse's office, glanced nervously at Chopper Rikishi who, was himself shifting his gaze from person to person while cracking his knuckles. Kishia tried desperately not to look at Kouma while the hellhound puffed on a cigarette several feet away from the others, keeping an aloof expression as his eyes occasionally darted toward Kana to make sure the abnormally shy girl was still still huddled behind Moka and Kurumu and nowhere near him. Moka and Kurumu stayed together, both of them glaring at Keito as the spider woman glared back... from behind Haruo, who was practically trembling from all the familiar and unwelcoming stares he was getting.


The disquiet was obvious enough that Ranma picked it up with barely a glance at the uncomfortable meeting, before he was even in earshot.

"Whoa. Looks like this could get ugly," the pigtailed boy mumbled.

"Hmph. Looks like most of them are from the old Committee," Yukari said as she came up behind him. "Do they really think they can just sign up now and their past record will be abolished?"

The young witch stopped to think about that. "Wait, that IS exactly what we did with Tobaki, isn't it?"

"Well, unless they're as scary as her, that isn't gonna fly," Ranma said as he straightened his clothes, "and even if they were, I already used up all my favors that Tsukune might owe me, so it probably wouldn't work even then."

Yukari nodded grimly. "Well, this is it, then. I'll join the rabble, so do it just like we worked out."

"Got it. Go get in line, Squirt. I'll be right behind you."


Yukari's entrance didn't merit much attention from the crowd beyond a few dirty looks, but once Ranma trudged into view through the drywood forest with his hands in his pockets, most of the tension gave way to steely discipline largely borne of fear. All of the students that had previously been Enforcers immediately lined up and straightened, staring forward with their hands gripped tightly behind their backs (except of course for Jin, who did the best he could from his wash bin). A few seconds later the others reluctantly lined up as well, if more loosely, and without any pretense of practiced drilling.

"Well, this is a decent turnout," Ranma said as he approached, looking over the students, "although I see a lot of familiar faces, I... Hang on."

Ranma stopped suddenly and walked over to a thick cluster of bushes. There was a brief gasping noise as he reached both arms in, and those gathered were reasonably surprised to see him pull Mizore out from her hiding place.

Ranma silently carried the blushing snow woman over to the others, and then put her down on one end of the line, next to Yukari.

"There. Now where was I?" Ranma asked. "Right. Some of you are familiar, and some of you are... what's the word? Like familiar, but you want to punch them?"

"Notorious?" Kouma guessed.

"Yeah! That! Good dog!" Ranma said brightly, eliciting an irritated growl from the hellhound. "Anyway, let me be honest with you all: many of you are only here as a formality, because you've already been accepted, and most of the rest of you aren't going to make the cut. Any questions so far?"

The netherworld minion with dark rings under his eyes raised his hand. "Why are we holding this meeting on the edge of a cliff?"

Ranma promptly kicked him in the chest, sending the monster flailing over the edge and into the sea.

"AAAAAAAAAAAA-" Sploosh!

"Any more questions?" Ranma asked as many members of the previous Protection Committee started to sweat nervously.

When no one else volunteered, Ranma nodded.

"Good! Now listen up, because I'm about to teach you freaks the pecking order around here!" The pigtailed boy yelled. "First, there's you! Then there's the dirt! Then there's the worms inside the dirt! Then there's my pet spiders! Then me! And then Aono Tsukune, your captain!"

"We have to take orders from worms and spiders? What a pain," Volos complained as his lethargic personality asserted itself. "This is such a booooAAAAAAAAAA-" Sploosh!

Ranma dusted off his pants briefly, then went back to his speech. "Finally, do you know who's at the top of the pecking order? Even higher than Tsukune?"

There was considerable confusion regarding this, as most of the students had no idea who Tsukune would answer to.

Jin cocked his head to the side. "Is it... the headmaster?"

Ranma promptly stepped up to him, and Jin held his hands up. "Wait! I'm injured already! You can't kick me off a cliff!"

Ranma stopped short as he stood right in front of the yheti. "Yeah, actually, I guess that is a bit cruel."

Ranma then grabbed one side of Jin's wash bin and tilted it upward, spilling Jin out into the sea.

"HWAAAAAAAAAA-" Sploosh!

"Like I was saying," Ranma said as he put the bin down, "there's someone higher on the pecking order than Tsukune. And that's the students."

This prompted a great deal of confusion from everyone except Yukari, even amongst those that had more developed and humane moral codes. Nobody said anything, however, and they patiently awaited an explanation.

"In human civilization, by which I mean ACTUAL civilization, people are only given power and authority in order to use it to serve others," Ranma explained, delving further and further into a topic that many of those gathered suspected was quite out of his depth. "If the school gives you the authority to beat someone up, it's so you can protect someone who needs it, not so you can do what you want and get away with it!"

Seeing that most of the students only looked more doubtful and confused the more he explained, Ranma cleared his throat. "So here's the recap! The students are your boss! You work for them! When some random geek asks for help, you don't wait for orders from me or Tsukune! And if you do, you'll be handed a punishment instead! That's the kind of Protection Committee that we're building now, and if you don't like it, then you'd best turn around and leave while you're still dry!" Yukari quickly flashed him a thumbs-up.

Many of the former Enforcers, briefly mulling over this curious new mandate, did precisely that, quickly leaving the lineup and walking away grumbling.

Ranma snorted as he watched Haruo lead a couple others away from the bluff, all of them looking annoyed and disappointed. He was quickly joined by a few other former Enforcers whom Ranma didn't recognize plus Volos, who had only just managed to climb up from the sea.

"All right then," Ranma said, his expression grim as he looked at the remaining candidates, "it looks like everybody left except for the people that were already selected to join us... and two other chicks. Huh."

Kishia, one of the two to remain, timidly raised her hand. "Uh... Is asking questions still going to get us kicked oooOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA-" Sploosh!

Ranma backed away from where he had booted the elemental over the edge, and then turned toward the only remaining person who wasn't merely attending the recruitment meeting for the sake of spectacle.

Keito stared back evenly, expertly masking her fear at being now surrounded by unfriendly peers and facing down the man who had more-or-less dismantled the Enforcers single-handedly.

"Aren't you that nasty spider chick? The one who jumped us from Volos' office?" Ranma asked as his eyes narrowed.

Keito considered the question carefully before she answered, "If I said no, would that help my recruitment chances or hurt them?"

Ranma answered her by planting his shoe in her face and surrendering her to the cold, merciless waves.

"Okay. It looks like that's all taken care of," Ranma muttered as he dusted off his hands.

"So what was the point of us gathering here?" Kouma groused. "You drove or kicked off everyone who you didn't recruit already."

"Well, there were a FEW people I didn't know who weren't with the old Enforcers," Yukari said, "but I guess they didn't like the part about serving the students."

"Well, there's not too much we can do about that," Moka admitted, "and it's better that we don't, anyway. We need people who aren't going to try to subvert Tsukune's rules."

Kurumu nodded. "And really, there's no point in overthrowing the old Committee if we just let them sign up again in the new one."

"Surely it doesn't make that big a difference," Keito said as she crossed her arms over her chest, "if you can keep on Tobaki, why not me?"

Ranma immediately turned on the spider woman. "Hey, Tobaki's a special case! But there isn't anything stopping me from taking YOU out!" Then the martial artist frowned. "Speaking of which, didn't I already knock you off the cliff?"

"Spider," Keito said simply.

"We're not keeping on another one of you corrupt goons!" Kurumu said, planting her hands on her hips. "Especially not after what you personally put us through!"

If Keito seemed intimidated by the glares she was getting from Moka and Kurumu, she didn't show it. "At the time you were miscreants acting against the official authority, and I was under orders to detain you. Everything I did, whether you think it was ethical or not, was completely within school rules and allowable according to the operational procedures that Kuyo put in place."

Chopper started cracking his knuckles. "Y'know, if I broke her arms before we threw her over the edge, she probably couldn't climb back up." Keito, having heard all of the rumors of Chopper Rikishi's activities and knowing his reputation didn't include idle threats, started to break out in a cold sweat.

"Wait, don't you think she has a point, though?" Yukari asked. "She was doing what would have only seemed fair and reasonable to her at the time. If that sense of fairness and reason was a bit warped, yeah, that's her fault, but if she wants to join us she must be willing to follow orders."

"Why are you always rushing to the defense of these creeps, Runt?" Kurumu asked suspiciously. "This isn't like Tobaki. We don't have to let her hold on to power because Ranma's terrified to fight her."

'Saotome's afraid of Tobaki? Fascinating,' Keito thought while appearing to take no particular notice of the tidbit. "I don't know why you decided to allow Tobaki to stay with the Committee, but I'll match whatever effort she made to earn your... 'approval'."

Kurumu blinked. "Really? You'd be willing to force yourself on-"

The succubus was suddenly silenced as Ranma clamped a hand down over her mouth, sweat beading over her forehead. "All right! That's enough!" He declared, giving Kurumu a very deliberate glare before releasing her. "Okay, look, what was your name again, spider lady?"

"You can call me Keito. My surname is Aramara, but that's a clan name that extends to thousands of individuals, so it typically isn't used," she explained as she bowed, "I am at your service, Vice-Captain."

"Keito. Right," Ranma grumbled as he scratched the side of his head, "well, I wasn't planning on recruiting any more of the old Enforcers, but you stuck around even after the 'you're lower than dirt' speech and even climbed back up the cliff to get another chance. I can see you want the job way more than the others did."

"Or at least you're way better at climbing crags than they are," Kouma quipped as he rolled his eyes.

Ranma continued as if the hellhound hadn't said anything. "So I suppose the very least I can do for you is give Tsukune the final word rather than letting Chopper break all your limbs."

Keito sweatdropped as her nervousness crept up another notch. "I... I thought it was just my arms..."

"Sorry, Ranma's higher on the pecking order," Chopper apologized as he crossed his arms over his chest, "if he says your legs have to go too, then I'm gonna have to break your legs as well." The amount of sincere regret in his voice did nothing to make Keito feel better about the prospect.

"Well... I suppose we can leave it to Tsukune," Moka said. She was still reluctant at ceding any ground to the vicious woman, but seeing her surrounded by powerful, hostile men threatening to break her had aroused her conscience somewhat. Ostensibly she was opposed to violence against girls, although she gladly relaxed such standards when the girl in question had attacked and tried to kill her closest friend.

"Finally! I made it!"

Everyone turned to look at the shaggy-haired youth staggering toward the bluff, his torso wrapped in bandages and his right leg encased in a thick cast. He only managed to walk with the aid of a crutch, and even the relatively short walk from the school had left the boy gasping for breath.

"I'm here to try out for the-"

Kouma snorted and cut the boy off. "Eh, just another one of the Enforcer goons," he grunted, recognizing the holy dragon immediately from the time that the Netherworld monsters had approached him and the others in the cafeteria.

"And he's late," Yukari scoffed, "definitely not New Committee material."

"B-But, wait, I-"

Ranma cut off the boy's protest this time as he handed Jin's borrowed wash bin to Chopper. "Here, use this. He is injured, after all."

"Gotcha, Boss," Chopper said as he grabbed the hapless and confused boy by the shoulder and dropped him in the bin.

"Wait! Stop! I'm UWAAAAAAAAAAA-" Sploosh!

"There, I even tossed the bin along with 'im. That way he'll float easier," Chopper said, sounding proud of himself.

"Very humane. Good job," Ranma agreed, prompting a sigh from Moka and another thumbs-up from Yukari, "now let's go see Tsukune."

The New Protection Committee that Ranma led back to the committee's offices was quite tense and awkward long before they had entered the main lobby.

The principal reason for this was probably that Keito was being led in the middle of the group in manner quite similar to that of a dangerous criminal being escorted to their place of final judgment. Kouma and Chopper, two of the strongest monsters there and by far the biggest, flanked the spider woman on each side, both of them occasionally casting her disdainful looks like people sometimes did right before squashing a (normal) spider. Kurumu and Moka, weaker perhaps than the two boys but both bearing a personal grudge against Keito, followed behind the group, and Keito didn't need to open up any of the eyes on the back of her head to tell that they were practically glaring holes in her.

Leading the way, Ranma wasn't adding to this tension personally, but the way that Mizore and Kana followed right behind him, their eyes locked in a furious electric glare, was uncomfortable all on its own.

Still, despite the tension and bad feelings that permeated the group on their way to the offices, everyone could agree that it was far less unsettling than what happened once they arrived.

"Big Sis Keito!" Tobaki squealed as she flung her glasses off and raced across the lobby.

"Tobaki!" Keito shouted happily, her stoic, icy expression breaking as she intercepted a flying hug from the dark elf.

Everyone backed away as the two snuggled each other, feeling chills down their spines.

"It's like watching Mao and Stalin hug each other," Kouma said with a certain amount of awe in his voice.

"That bad, hm?" Kurumu drawled.

"No, I mean I've seen that before, down in Hell," Kouma clarified, wringing his hands, "this is literally the EXACT same feeling."

"Ranma, hi! What's everyYEEEE!" Tsukune, who had walked into the lobby from one of the peripheral offices, flinched back once he saw Keito swinging a giggling Tobaki around in the air like a woman might do to her young daughter. "What's going on here?"

"Try not to look directly at it," Ranma suggested as he stepped past the younger boy, following his own advice, "you might go blind or something."

"You made it! I'm so happy!" Tobaki cheered.

"It's so good to see you!" Keito cried. "I really thought we might not get to work together again!"

Tsukune watched the two loathsome abominations rub their cheeks together before turning his rather pale expression toward Ranma. "Ranma, tell me that's Keito's surprisingly nice twin sister you brought here and not who I think it is."

"Yeah, sooo... The recruitment didn't go all that well," Ranma admitted sheepishly. "Your whole 'justice before personal gain' thing wasn't very popular. Keito's the only person that stuck around who we didn't already plan on recruiting."

"I don't like it," Moka immediately chimed in as she stepped in next to Tsukune, "even if we put aside the fact that she attacked us before, she gives me the creeps."

"Seconded," Kurumu agreed as she sauntered up and latched onto Tsukune's arm, "I don't trust her one bit."

"Oh, come on now," Keito said suddenly, separating partially from Tobaki and revealing that she had overheard them, "isn't that just your own prejudice? I already said that I'd be willing to follow whatever new rules you put in place, so my previous... 'record' shouldn't be a problem."

"Things aren't quite that convenient," Tsukune deadpanned, "you can't just claim you're willing to play nice from now on and have your old job back."

"Oh? But isn't that exactly what others have done?" Keito asked, only barely managing to hide her smirk. "Rikishi is a well-known brute who is responsible for brutalizing dozens of other students for no other reason than because he enjoys it."

Chopper scratched the back of his head. "Is that not a good reason?"

"Gamaroshi has a litany of smoking allowance and fire safety violations behind him as well," Keito continued, pointing toward the accused hellhound.

"I beat up people too!" Kouma protested, "why does everybody seem to find my smoking more offensive than the violence?"

Keito didn't bother to answer him as she moved on. "Both of the girls clinging to Vice-Captain Saotome were witnessed tearing apart one side of a dorm in a fight that displayed a total disregard for property damage and bystanders."

"By the way, just so you know?" Kana said, her eyes still locked on Mizore. "The truce is over now."

"Yeah, I figured," Mizore responded coolly.

"Our little genius Sendo actually cast a lethal curse on Saotome, of all people, and from what I heard came far closer to killing him than any of the Enforcers did," Keito continued, gesturing to Yukari.

"Hey, that was an accident, kind of!" Yukari protested, "and Senpai probably wasn't in mortal danger anyway, maybe!"

Keito then opened her arms wide toward Tsukune and the two girls crowding him. "And even you all, if nothing else, are guilty of resisting arrest, assaulting members of the Protection Committee and ultimately attempting a violent revolt in order to usurp authority," the spider woman said with a hint of bitterness in her voice, "although those crimes are, ultimately, disregarded since you were successful."

She crossed her arms back over her chest. "I see nothing but miscreants and thugs all gathered and given a chance to serve our school properly under your moral guidance, Captain. Are you really going to refuse my participation simply because my wrongdoings endangered you personally?"

Tsukune's eyebrow twitched as he stared evenly at the dark-eyed woman, feeling the hairs rise on the back of his neck. He could instantly tell that he was dealing with a different kind of monster now, one who was both willing and capable of challenging him with words rather than muscle. By attacking Tsukune's moral superiority, she threatened to undermine the very thing that supposedly made him a better choice of leader than Kuyo. It was also something that the others would have a hard time helping him with, as most if not all of them - he thought the world of Moka, but feeding on your friends was hardly an act of higher morals - had dubious ethical records at best.

"That's... a lot of information," Tsukune admitted, nodding thoughtfully, "it almost makes me wonder how you found all that out. But instead I'm wondering why you knew all this and never did anything about it."

Keito shrugged her shoulders. "It was a different time, with different leadership and different priorities," she said as if it were of no consequence, though she could feel the focus of everyone's attention centered firmly on her again, "I was Kuyo's right hand, and gathered intelligence for his use. Without his orders, why would I act?"

"So you're claiming you were some hapless minion on a tight leash? I don't really buy that," Tsukune said as his eyes narrowed. "You see, what bothers me isn't so much that you tried to kill me - I get that a lot, unfortunately - but that you're obviously smart enough to know right from wrong and see exactly how corrupt your peers were and what a mess the campus was. Tobaki, as uncomfortable as I am with her being treasurer, doesn't even seem to understand that other creatures don't want to die. If you really want me to believe that you were just following orders rather than actively plotting and furthering the Enforcers' racket, you'll have to try harder."

Keito tried hard to keep from chewing her lip or showing any outside sign of nervousness as her mind raced. She had really expected her accusatory tirade to get her the job, and was fast running out of cards to play. 'As expected of a human. No fangs, claws or stingers, but they make awful good use of that mouth.'

"Maybe I was and maybe I wasn't," Keito said, running a hand through her hair, "but it isn't as if you have a case in which to arrest or punish me currently, so I'm taking the opportunity to turn over a new web."

"And you expect us to believe you?" Kurumu asked, eyebrows quirked.

"Of course, I have considerable knowledge that this new Committee would find... harmful," Keito said haltingly, "but threats would do me little good in this situation, and using that information may eventually lead to me being dismembered and fed to the troll. Currently I see complete and honest cooperation under your leadership as the best option available to me. I imagine that means reform and repentance, and so be it."

Keito almost broke into a smile as he saw Tsukune's annoyed expression change into a more doubtful one, but restrained herself. All she needed was one more push, but how to deliver it?

As it happened, her one and only remaining ally came to her rescue. Tsukune almost leapt back as Tobaki appeared before him, her hands clasped tightly together and her eyes large and dewy.

"PLEASE, Captain? Can't you PLEASE let Keito join? She said she'd follow the rules!" The yochlol begged.

"B-But, what about all the things she's done?" Tsukune asked.

Tobaki frowned. "Like what?"

Tsukune opened his mouth to speak, and then quickly closed it again as he realized something important: he didn't actually have anything on Keito. While the spider woman was suspicious, devious and callous enough that he could imagine her committing dozens of horrific crimes, the only thing he knew she had done was assault, and with a halfway-decent reason. And as she had already pointed out, that sort of charge wasn't exactly uncommon amongst his current team.

"...... All right. We'll give it a shot," Tsukune said, pinching the bridge of his nose as Tobaki's eyes lit up.

"YES! Thank you!" The demon disguised as an elf cheered as she raced back and hugged a very relieved Keito.

Kurumu clicked her tongue as Moka looked doubtful, but both of them trusted Tsukune's judgment enough not to protest.

Tsukune, well aware that he had merely made a decision but feeling like he had just lost a battle of wills, coughed in his fist to regain everyone's attention. "Your membership in the new Protection Committee begins now. I'm not going to try and explain our position on murder to you, as I imagine you can figure it out yourself." Taking a deep breath, and generally sounding quite annoyed, Tsukune turned around and headed back toward his new office. "We'll be watching you, Keito. Step lightly."

"Stepping lightly is a spider's specialty," Keito said, fiercely holding down a smug expression as her new captain left with his women in tow. 'This is what happens when you put your ideals above your own judgment. You'll live to regret such weakness, Aono.'


"All right people, show's over!" Ranma suddenly called out. "Tobaki put together some spreadsheets that show your new duties and a few patrol routes, so we'll be taking shifts on those routes until things start to fall into place!"

As Chopper, Kouma, Kana, Yukari and Mizore all moved to check on the papers, Ranma turned toward Keito.

"As for you, since you seem to be pretty good at the whole sneaking and information dealing thing, you can be Yukari's assistant from now on."

Keito smiled wickedly. "Whatever you say, Vice-Captain."

"Call me Ranma. Or at least use a disrespectful nickname or an insult or something," Ranma demanded, "having you call me by a title just makes my skin crawl."

The spider woman snorted. "As you wish, you human-coddling brute."

"Better," Ranma said with approval. Then he leaned in a bit closer. "By the way, why didn't you mention me at all? When you were running through the list of crimes and stuff? You really couldn't think of anything?"

"Please," Keito scoffed, "you blasted the roof off of the student council hall with a TORNADO. Do I really need to bother pointing that out?"

"Always the tornado," Ranma grumbled. "All right Fangs, fine. But even though you may have talked your way around Tsukune, smooth talk isn't going to get you very far with me."

"I know," Keito admitted, "I have a different strategy for getting my way with you."

She then turned slightly so that Tobaki was between her and Ranma, and then turned the shorter girl around to face the martial artist.

Tobaki blinked innocently as Ranma recoiled. "Hm? What's wrong?"

"So that's how it's gonna be, is it?" Ranma grumbled as he backed away. "Fine. But I suggest you take Tsukune seriously. Underestimate humans and you'll regret it," the martial artist warned before walking off.

Keito refrained from making any threats or taunts of her own, not willing to push her luck after she had come so far.

"I'm really glad Captain Aono let you join us!" Tobaki gushed as she leaned back into the spider woman. "It would have been so boring otherwise! Plus all my new teammates seem to hate me just because I messed up at first and killed someone I wasn't supposed to."

"Yes, those humans get worked up over silly things like that," Keito confided as she rubbed the yochlol's head. "You did know he was a human, right?"

Tobaki blinked. "I kind of remember Kuyo going on about something like that in the infirmary. Which ones are they, again? Sometimes I get confused about which bipeds are which."

"The ones that we're being taught to act like," Keito deadpanned, "you know, weak, slow, reasonably intelligent, own the entire planet give or take some hidden portions tucked away in the wild and under the seas?"

Tobaki frowned. "But Ranma's a human, and he's not weak or slow."

Keito laughed heartily as she led Tobaki away, hugging the shorter girl tightly the whole way. "Saotome isn't a human, dear. Humans don't throw tornadoes or wrestle trolls into submission."

"Oh. Well, if you say so," Tobaki said doubtfully. "By the way, is that thing about other people not wanting to die true? It would explain why they always put up such a fuss while I'm killing them."

"That's a complicated question," Keito said somberly, "so you should let me decide whether or not a particular target minds being killed."

"Okay!" Tobaki beamed. "Thanks, Bis Sis! You're the best!"

"I know, Tobaki. I know," the arachnid said with a cruel smile.

Big Human on Campus: Extra!


(Several hours previous)

Ranma burst through the door of his physical science class with barely seconds to spare, tucking into a roll as he hit the floor and then bouncing up to land roughly in his seat.

"Made it!" the pigtailed boy cheered as he shifted about into a normal sitting position right as the bell for classes rang out.

Ranma was about to start taking out his books when he finally noticed that everyone around him was chuckling, and that Professor Richard's deep, generally malevolent voice was curiously absent.

As was the warlock himself, Ranma soon realized, and the martial artist flushed in embarrassment as he saw that the blackboard had "self-study" scrawled across it in blue chalk.

"Jumping the gun a little, aren't you, Saotome?" one of his neighbors chuckled.

"Dude! Careful!" the student next to that one hissed. "Saotome's an Enforcer now! You have to be careful what you say!"

Ranma snorted. "Relax, would ya? I'm not gonna do anything to you just for poking fun at me," he reassured the surrounding students, "and even if I was, I could just crack your skull across the wall whether I was part of the Committee or not, so that shouldn't make a difference."

"Oh. Uh... That's true, huh," the offending student said nervously, obviously cowed despite Ranma's assurance that he wasn't about to be punished.

"Hey, Saotome, there's something on the teacher's desk for you," another student pointed out.

Ranma stood up and looked over to the top of Richard's podium, frowning as he saw there was an envelope with his name on it.

"Hey, there any magic-users here?" Ranma asked as he approached the podium carefully. "This isn't some sort of magic trap, is it?"

A pudgy boy with round glasses leaned forward critically. "It doesn't look like it. But if you see anything about magical runes, don't read it."

Ranma tore open the envelope and read the fairly short letter inside.

"Hmph. Professor Psycho says I'm supposed to take attendance myself and tell everyone what pages to read for homework," Ranma grumbled.

He turned around and quickly scanned the classroom. "Wait... isn't everyone here?" he asked, surprised. He wouldn't have shown up if he'd known that Richard wasn't going to be there, and he was surprised that his monster classmates were more diligent. "Nobody left after seeing that class was pretty much canceled?"

"We can't be sure he wasn't scrying on us to check who was actually here," mumbled a girl from the front.

The pudgy student raised his hand. "Speaking of which, what IS the penalty for being late?"

Ranma glanced down at the note he was left. "A slow, painful death, same as everything else. Apparently he expects me to do that while he's busy wasting time on his own."

"Are... Are you going to?" Ranma's neighbor asked cautiously.

Ranma tossed the note over his shoulder, and it slowly fluttered through the air before landing in the trash bin. "It's a moot point if everyone showed up on time, right?"

"What about that guy that sits next to you?" The student pointed out, gesturing to the empty desk.

"Who?" Ranma asked.

"You know, the little kid? Pink hair? Resurrects from death?" The student continued.

Ranma was silent for several seconds. "I got nothing."

"You tossed him in a dumpster once after he was killed, before he finished resurrecting," a different student deadpanned.

"Like I can keep track of all the dead bodies I've lugged out of here," Ranma murmured, slouching against the podium. "Whatever. If he's not here I can't exactly punish him anyway, even if I wanted to. Let me write down the homework, and then I'm outta here."

Saffron's breath came unsteadily as he lay in the middle of a vast ring of intertwining magical runes, his shirt shredded to almost nothing while his arms were stretched to either side by ebony chains crackling with black lightning that sparked from the links as they writhed like living things.

Saffron was covered in small wounds, cuts and abrasions that flared and trembled with magical power straining to repair the damage even as malign forces from beyond the physical realm continued to hold them open.

The Phoenix king glared hatefully at his tormentor through the pain, minor as it was compared to the suffering he had endured in the past.

Richard stood above the battered immortal, seemingly oblivious to Saffron's unwavering gaze as he flipped through an old, yellowed tome.

"Ah, this IS a tricky one. I haven't seen a seal like this since the 80's," the warlock mumbled to himself as he perused the text.

Then he looked up. "That's the third century 80's, mind you. Oh, where does the time go?"

"Shut. Up." Saffron rasped painfully.

Richard seemed to be in no mood to listen, and continued flipping through the ancient book. "All right, I think I'm going to try to interact with the spell directly," he said, still looking at the book as he moved one hand toward Saffron's chest, "this won't hurt at all."

Saffron gasped in agony as Richard's claws plunged into his chest, causing the phoenix's skin to evaporate into a caustic black cloud as the hard, bone fingers dug deeper into his flesh.

"Oh, look at that. I guess I was wrong," Richard said pleasantly as Saffron grit his teeth against the pain, "oops!"

Then the warlock leaned over to speak directly into Saffron's ear. "By the way, don't tell anyone that I chained down a young boy, stripped him, and then forcibly entered him. People might think I'm a pervert or something."

"You're a twisted, sadistic psychopath!" Saffron snapped, his eyes flaring white.

"Exactly! I wouldn't want anyone to get the wrong idea," the warlock said as he backed away. "All right, let's see if that did it."

Saffron howled in pain and fury as the chains over his arms started to rattle and crack, and Richard's eyebrow rose as the phoenix king's body started to swell amidst a pyre of white flame.

"Ha ha ha! Success!" Richard said as he raised his fists in the air. "Now I... I... uh..." he lowered his fists. "I forget exactly why I was doing this. It really doesn't seem like the next several minutes are going to turn out ideally for me."

"No," said Saffron as he staggered to his feet, his voice rich and deep as he finally stretched the arms of his fully matured adult form, "no they won't."