5 Blackmail

"Hey everyone I brought snacks!" Ms.Nekonome exclaimed as she walked into the club room and everyone except Eli, who was too focused on his part of the newspaper, turned their attention to her. His attention was broken by the smell of raw fish and he looked up to see Ms.Nekonome handing them out like candy before she handed Kurumu a letter. Her face turned to worry when she opened it and hid the contents as Eli walked over to see what had her so upset.

"I forgot I had something to do so I'll be leaving for a bit!" Kurumu told everyone as she quickly left the room and Eli looked confused but just shrugged and sat back in his seat to continue working.

"She isn't coming back." Tsukune said after a couple of hours and Eli had a hint of worry on his face but didn't stop to say anything.

"I wonder what Kurumu thinks of the newspaper club?" Moka asked in a serious voice and they all looked at her with confusion, "The truth is she may not think of us as friends."

"What are you talking about?!" Tsukune asked as he stood up and Eli nearly crushed his pencil in irritation, "I'm sure she just had something important to do today!"

'Something's off about this.' Eli thought to himself as they all went back to working and they decided that it would be better to finish up to tomorrow before Kurumj suddenly walked in.

"Welcome back Kurumu. We decided to finish everything tomorrow so you can go." Tsukune said as they began to put everything away and Eli watched as they all walked past her with little to no care.

"Are you ok?" Eli asked her after the room was empty but she remained silent and Eli put his hand on her shoulder as he left as well. When they returned to the club the next day they realized that the drafts had been stolen and Eli saw the worried look Kurumu had but decided not to say anything in case he was wrong.

"I'm sorry but I'm going to be skipping today as well." Kurumu told them in a timid voice and Eli felt the room's mood become worse than before, "I'm going..."

"I thought you were different but in the end you don't care about us at all do you?!" Moka yelled as Kurumu walked away and everyone else grew silent, "If that's how you feel then just leave the newspaper club!"

"Kurumu wait!" Eli yelled when she ran out of the room but when he reached the door there was no sign of her and Gin opened his mouth to say something before Eli hit the wall, causing a large crack to form, "Why would you say something like that Moka? We all know that this deadline is taking a toll on us but do you really think she doesn't care?"

"Everyone I found something terrible!" Yukari yelled as she carried a box over and they saw what Kurumu had tried to hide from them the day before, "I was looking around for the drafts and I found these pictures!"

"Let's find her quickly!" Tsukune said as he sprinted out the door and both Eli and Moka followed close behind him. When they got outside Eli slid to a stop and they saw the color drain from his face before he ran towards a small building on the edge of the campus.

"Kurumj are you in there?!" Tsukune asked as he banged on the door and a smug monster opened it with a wicked smile. Eli looked past him to see Kurumu laying on the ground watching them with fear in her eyes and he kicked the slug monster in the head without hesitation but his foot seemed to slide off of him.

"Nice try!" The monster told him in a distorted voice before slapping him across the jaw with one of its tendrils and he hit the side of the small building, "You won't get in my way!"

"Eli!" Moka yelled as she tried to run over to him but the slug monster knocked her to the ground with a wicked laugh but he didn't get to capitalize on it as the trees around them suddenly came to life and it's roots wrapped around him.

"Don't you dare hurt my precious friends!" Kurumu screamed as she stepped out of the building and Eli's black cross shot off of its rosary on its own, causing a massive amount of demonic energy to suddenly wash over them.

"What?!" The slug monster asked as he witnessed the couple dash towards him with hatred in their eyes and blood splattered as they attacked him together.

"You made one hell of a mistake." Eli told the slug monster in a cold voice as he gripped its face with enough force to prevent the slime from protecting it before Tsukune out a hand on his shoulder and he dropped the unconscious monster with a sigh. Their surroundings seemed to return to normal as Kurumu held up the newspaper drafts and Eli picked his cross up as the other three apologized to each other. He took a deep breath as he sealed his inner vampire away and quickly apologized to Moka as well.