Note: This chapter has been edited for quality assurance purposes. 11/20/2015 – Cuddly Cat
Chapter II
Lasting Farewells
~x~
At the Infirmary
Currently Tooru was in the infirmary, he already having been patched up and told to take it easy for the next few days. The sleeves of his black school jacket had been cut off as they had been deemed damaged beyond repair by the nurse, while the sleeves of his white undershirt were simply rolled up to the elbow. The nurse had then applied salve, antiseptic, and rubbing alcohol on his wounds amongst other things and then wrapped his wounds carefully in specialized bandages up to his elbows – which was where the burns and injuries stopped for the most part.
The nurse having commented on how he needed to be more careful from now on. To which he had retorted that he looked nearly twice as cool as before with the bandages and torn sleeves – before adding of how chicks digged scars, causing her to slap him on the back of the head at that comment. He in turn shouting out doctor abuse and how she was a quack in retaliation making her hit him again causing him to shut up this time. She then simply put a Band-Aid on the back of his hand afterwards saying "There all better" with a smile, making him sweatdrop at that.
Soon after Tsuko arrived in carrying the boy that had been stabbed earlier underarm which he promptly handed to the nurse, he glancing at Tooru for a second and giving him a respectful nod before sitting down at one of the waiting chairs. The action making Tooru smile at the fact there were no hard feelings between the two.
Now however he was currently in his own hospital bed with the curtain drawn, crying at how his entire image had been destroyed earlier and how Sakuya-chan and the rest of the girls in the academy must surely think of him as a weirdo at this point. Curse his over-excitement!
"Tooru" he heard someone call out from the other side of the curtain, making him stiffen as Imari opened the curtain slightly and walked in only to find Tooru rubbing the tears away from his eyes.
"Yeah what is it?" he asked sadly, surprising her as she thought he would be ecstatic at how well he did and how he was now officially a part of the academy.
"What's wrong?" she asked worriedly as she sat down at the edge of the bed
"What? Besides the fact I made a fool of myself in front of everyone, and that every girl in the academy is probably disgusted at me? Not much, you?" he asked, his voice simply dripping with sarcasm as he looked away.
"Don't be like that, I don't think that about you and I doubt many of those girls out there do either. Why I talked to most of them and they seemed almost flattered by your comments rather than disgusted. Frankly most of the girls viewed it as more cute than perverse since the actions you described, while weird, were pretty innocent in nature." she said with a teasing smile at that
"Really?" he said hopefully as he looked at her with big puppy dog eyes
'So cute' she raged in her mind as she looked at him "Really, I mean I for one have heard of way more disturbing things than using the voice of your principal as you ringtone" she said with a teasing smirk making him blush at that
"You heard that too?" he asked almost fearfully
"Every word" she said back to him cheerfully, making him groan at that as he buried his head into his pillow.
"What's wrong?" she asked "I already told you most of the girls are cool with it, and the guy's either thought of it as a practical joke or are simply too afraid of you to do anything" she said honestly
"It's not that, it's Sakuya-chan, she probably thinks of me as some obsessed weirdo at this point" he said dejectedly as he hugged his pillow closer to his chest for comfort.
"I can see why she might think that" Imari replied as she took up a thinking expression, this making him nearly start crying in despair once more at that. If there was something he could not live with it was the idea of someone he liked thinking lowly of him.
"But I actually saw her blushing at most of your comments, and from what I saw she did not look all that against it. In fact from what I heard her talk to the other professors about you, it was all positive and she seemed really interested in you. She even granted you Exception status as she deemed your magical affinity and skill was worthy of it since it simply was not natural, even amongst most Elcidae." She explained making him look at her happily at that
"Whew, that was a close call, I would not know how to take it if the entire school hated me from day one and thought me a pervert" he said in relief
"Yeah, they're only scared to death of you for crushing half the class in an instant - that is so much better" she said sarcastically, making him roll his eyes at that
"I explained my reasons for that already" he replied coolly as he calmed down from his mini-depression.
"Tooru?" she said softly to him
"Yeah?" he replied as he pulled on his bandages
"Did you mean what you said?" she asked quietly
"About what?" he asked distractedly
"About me being cute?" she asked him, immediately making Tooru's fight or flight sensors kick into overdrive – he ultimately deciding a quick and honest response was for the best.
"Of course I did, from the moment I first saw you I thought you were cute, heck I thought what you said about that silver haired girl was the most ironic thing ever as what you said technically fit you perfectly as well, 'A cute young thing' as you called her." He said as he chuckled at that
What happened next however surprised him greatly. Imari suddenly leaned over and pecked him on the cheek softly, the action making him blush at that.
"That was really sweet of you" she said as she smiled at him softly, Tooru simply stammering unintelligibly in surprise at the action.
"You know you're quite cute yourself, and while you're strong you still care about others – as evidenced by you bringing those two here. You may be a little weird around the edges…" she said with a smirk as he pouted at that "but you have a good heart, and I can respect that." she finished with a sincere smile
"I did not mean to hurt them so badly you know, it's just combat for me is a whole different ballgame. I'm a different person whilst in combat. Just like I'm a different person while amongst friends, like how I act around you" he said sadly at first before a kind smile found its way onto his face at the end, she smiling back at the fact he regarded her as a friend.
"Well we better get going, classes start in half an hour" he said as he looked at his wrist watch and jumped out of bed.
"Are you really fit to be out of bed?" she asked worriedly as she watched him stretch a bit
"Sure, there is nothing wrong with my legs now is there, and I doubt we'll be writing notes or anything of the sort in this school – and even if we do, it probably won't be on the first day." He said confidently, the logic behind his statement being too strong for her to refute.
"Plus I want to say goodbye as well as apologize to a few people that I fought that will probably be leaving soon. In fact all three of them are in this infirmary I do believe"
"If they're here why didn't you just talk with them earlier?" she asked him curiously
"I was too busy mourning what I thought was my destroyed future to care" he said honestly as he walked out making her sweatdrop at that before she followed after him.
Tooru quickly noticed that Tsuko had already left making him curse mentally at that. He then went on to see that the guy whose arm he had broken was still in his bed, while the girl was lying down in her own bed, but awake. He decided to walk towards the girl first.
"Hey" he called out awkwardly as he walked in
"Oh the valiant prince arrives to gloat, or does the term merciless monster apply better to you I wonder?" she asked with a bloodthirsty smirk from the bed, the statement earning a wince from Tooru at the way she said it.
"Yeah sorry about that, I may have gone a little overboard back there" he said guiltily as he observed the remarkably cute girl laying injured in a hospital bed thanks to him.
She had short spiky ebony black hair with red tips, a hair pin set into her hair helping to tame her bangs. She possessed a lithe figure and wine-red eyes, she being average height for her age at around 5'7. She had fair skin and soft features which only helped to draw attention to her intense red eyes, a smirk currently set on her face as she regarded at him with a look he simply could not identify. Overall she definitely had a cute bad girl thing going for her.
She was currently wearing medical gown that had likely been given to her by the nurse and had her head propped up slightly by a pair of pillows.
"You think?" she said sarcastically "If I had not blocked you're not so little attack with my katana, I would have likely been cut in half by that move. I mean first you take out my "Partner" in the most humiliating way possible, in the process taking away the opportunity for me to do so and complete the rite. Then you go and take me out of the fight in an instant with a single move. It wasn't even a fight, you just tripped me and while I was in mid-air attempted to cut me in half with that pseudo karate chop of yours. Do you even know how that feels, to be treated as nothing by another while you're giving it your all?" she asked making Tooru lower his head in shame at that.
"It was wonderful!" she shouted happily from her resting position, surprising both Tooru and Imari at the declaration.
"Huh?" Tooru voiced dumbly at that
"The way you treated me like nothing, like an easily disposable nuisance, a simple obstacle in your path. I have never in all my life felt such a sense of inferiority to another – it was as if an ant were attempting to challenge God! That is how powerless I felt at that moment before you. It was without a doubt one of the most eye-opening, impactful moments of my entire life. If it weren't for this back pain I have right now I would kiss you." she said honestly, she having hearts in her eyes as he looked at him - this making Tooru blush in surprise at it all. She was happy to have lost in an instant against him and was actually grateful for it, well that was new.
"Who says you can't?" Imari cut in making his eyes widen at that as he looked at her in disbelief.
"Tooru the girl is offering to kiss you after you hurt her, the least you owe her is a kiss" she said seriously, he lowering his head in shame at that as he caved in and nodded making both Imari and the girl smirk at that.
"Fine" he said making the girl light up at that "But only on the cheek, and you have to tell me your name first" he added making the girl look a little disappointed at that, before she lit up at the prospect of kissing him and nodded happily in response. Leaning forward with his cheeks aflame as he gazed at her blushing face Tooru soon enough found himself mere inches from her.
"My name is Kurumi" she said shyly as she took in his flushed face, his sharp golden eyes cutting into her as they grazed over her face and trailed over her body.
"T-Tooru" he said as he looked at her cute expression and slowly leaned forwards to kiss her, he being so nervous the act felt a bit more difficult that it should have.
She finally got tired of his slow descent and wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him towards her, almost making him stumble onto the bed, he barely managing to hold himself upright by using his arms. He then noticed that she was kissing him on the cheek with her eyes closed as she did so, this being precariously close to his lips – causing him to blush and making him move back slightly in surprise.
She licked her lips at the kiss, before she placed an index finger on top of her lips "That was sweet, can I have another?" she asked cutely as she tilted her head towards him, a seductive undertone prevalent in her voice as she spoke. Her eyes looking at him pleadingly as she awaited his response.
'Such moe!' he thought passionately 'Well two can play at that game!' he thought with a mad twinkle in his eye.
"Oh, but that would not be fair now would it. I have yet to kiss you myself, it would be unfair to you if I were the only one to be kissed. Besides, I want to kiss you too." he said with a small pout at that, using the same seductive undertone she had used earlier and catching her off-guard.
'Ha, take that! Reverse moe!' he exclaimed in his mind excitedly at that
"Uh, I-I guess you are right. I think," she said in slight confusion "Does that mean that I can kiss you again after you kiss me?" she asked after regaining her composure slightly
'Its super effective!' he thought as he observed her flushed expression
"If you want to." He said as he shrugged "It's not like I hate kissing a cute girl like you, you know. Quite the contrary in fact." he said with a smile, unaware at what his words were doing to the poor girl as she blushed scarlet at his comment.
"Okay, can I have my get well kiss now" she said embarrassedly as she looked away with a blush, he simply nodding at that as he leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek – she then repeating the action of kissing him on the cheek from earlier. However things escalated a bit when Tooru decided that he wanted the final say in this after all and kissed her near the side of her neck, he going progressively lower each peck he gave her. This quickly reducing her to a moaning mess as he smirked at his success.
It was at this point that Imari decided to intervene before things got any more heated between the two, Tooru having started licking the girl's neck sensually at this point as she was panting with her eyes closed. Imari simply pulling on his collar and dragging him away from the girl, looking at him with equal parts amusement and annoyance.
"So what happened to 'a simple kiss on the cheek', huh?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow
"He-he, sorry, sorry" he said apologetically making her sigh at that
'Maybe friends are too big a pain in the butt to have after all' she thought tiredly, it really seemed like Tooru would be huge emotional baggage in the long run.
"Oh, taking advantage of a cute defenseless girl like me who can't even move, how could you?" Kurumi said dramatically as she pressed the back of her hand against her forehead as if she was faint from the very thought.
"You better be prepared to take responsibility for your actions Tooru-sama" she said seductively, this making him take on a fake offended expression at that.
"Of course my lady, what type of man do you take me for?" he said dramatically as he pulled out the notebook he had been using earlier with a flourish.
"Can I have your contact information?" he said seriously as he flipped a couple of pages on his notebook and pulled out a pen.
This making Kurumi smile at that as she responded "Oh well for starters my phone number is-"
"Okay, that's it! You're out of here mister!" Imari interrupted as she literally dragged the wide-eyed Tooru away from the equally surprised Kurumi.
"But-" Tooru started before she cut him off once more
"No buts! Go apologize to the other people you brutally crushed, hopefully if they're a girl you can get a head start on making out with her before I get there!" she exclaimed angrily before drawing the curtain to Kurumi's bed close in his face, leaving him standing there in shock.
"But you were the one that told me to kiss her in the first place!" He shouted back in confusion only to get no response. This causing him to scratch the back of his head awkwardly at that as he looked at his notebook. He actually wanted to get Kurumi's contact info so they could stay in touch even after she left the academy. He shook the hand holding the notebook for a few seconds before nodding to himself before squatting down and quietly sliding the notebook under the curtain. Hopefully Imari would notice it, and even if she didn't Kurumi was sure to.
He then looked towards the bed with the guy whose arm he broke and couldn't sighing at the confrontation that was sure to follow.
With Imari
She was blushing up a storm at this point, damn him for flustering her like this, how inconsiderate of him to kiss Kurumi so passionately while she was right here. However he was right, she had in fact been the one that had encouraged him to do so. She simply had not thought it would go that far, that quickly.
She had to be careful of him, the guy was quick that was for sure. It was then that Imari noticed the small pocketbook that was next to her foot before bending down to pick it up. She quickly taking note of the page having a heart drawn on it that said Kurumi inside of it which had a blank space under it for the contact info making her eye twitch at that.
She looked up at Kurumi giving her the evil eye as she did so "You so owe me for this" she said as she sighed and handed her the notebook, making Kurumi smile at that.
"Hai, hai" she said as she took the notebook and filled out the blank with her contact info before handing it back to her. Imari quickly making to catch up with Tooru.
"Umm, could you please do me a favor before you go?" Kurumi said with a grin, her face hidden by her bangs.
"Yeah, sure. What is it?" Imari said distractedly, her mind on Tooru
"Nothing much, just a little favor" she said softly, her smile widening at the thought
'Yes, just one small favor…'
With Tooru
Tooru was currently standing outside the curtained-off section where his apparent victim currently was incapacitated.
Steeling his resolve he walked in
Only to find the teen holding his arm in a cast as he looked at it thoughtfully, he looking up as soon as he walked in, his eyes widening as he saw who it was.
"Look I just wanted to -" Tooru started before he was cut off as the teen lifted up his other hand to silence him.
The teen simply looked on at him for a few seconds silently in contemplation before he finally spoke.
"Thank you" the teen said as he smiled at Tooru
10 minutes later...
Tooru was currently walking out of the room with a neutral expression on his face, not sure exactly how to take all that he talked about with the young man. He vaguely noticing as Imari walked up to him.
"What? The person I talked to was a guy so you have nothing to worry about you know" he said offhandedly making her flinch at that
"Ah-ha-ha, sorry about that. That was a bit uncalled for on my part" she said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly at that, a nervous smile on her face.
"Its fine don't worry about it" he said dismissively with a smile making her relax at that "So what was it you wanted then?" he asked
"Oh" she said in realization "I talked with Kurumi and amongst other things she asked if you would be willing to take a commemorative pic with her, and if you would visit her before she is supposed to leave tomorrow." she explained with a smile
"Oh, of course I would" he said as he started walking towards Kurumi's bed once more "I still need to meet up with Tsuko before he leaves today though, so it will have to be a quick one, maybe we can take some more tomorrow or something though to make up for it." he said happily getting a thoughtful nod from her at that.
"Imari" Tooru said as he stopped outside of Kurumi's section
"Yeah?" Imari asked as she looked at him
"People are weird" he said confusing her as she tilted her head at that
"I mean the guy whose arm I broke thanked me for it, and the girl who I slammed into the ground and almost cut in half kissed me and wants a commemorative picture with me" he said in clear disbelief at what he himself was saying.
"I don't know what to say to that," Imari said with a sweatdrop at that "except for that to some extent I agree with you. Heck you're pretty weird yourself." she said with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk, making him blush at that – he not able to refute that after his previous display in the Opening Ceremony.
Without another word he walked into Kurumi's section which was next to the window of the infirmary and pulled the curtain.
He momentarily stopped in his tracks as he saw her sitting up slightly propped by a couple of pillows, something likely done with the help of Imari, as he was once more struck speechless at how cute she was. She was currently looking out the window, but the moment he walked in her head snapped towards him and her face lit up.
He lifted his hand in greeting "I'm back, Imari said something about you wanting to take a picture?" he asked her
"Oh yes indeed, I just want to take one with you real quickly if it would not be any trouble" she said bashfully
"Sure, I still have 15 minutes to get to class, from what Imari says it's quite close by so we're in no hurry" he stated as he walked up next to her, she beaming at his response.
"That's great! Let me just grab my phone" she said as she reached to the left where the side table was only to cry out it pain at her sudden movement, she almost stumbling out of the bed at that if it weren't for Tooru quickly grabbing hold of her.
"Whoa there, no need to force yourself. I'll get it for you." He said worriedly as he positioned her upright once more with her back against the pillows stacked behind her
"It's this one right?" he asked as he grabbed a quarter-thin rectangular device
"That's the one" she said happily to him as he pulled up a chair and sat next to her
"I really am sorry for hurting you so much Kurumi, it really wasn't my intention, I thought the blade would block most of the blow." he said guiltily
"It's fine don't worry about it" she said as she waved her hands in front of her dismissively "Plus, if it weren't for this pain I wouldn't have met you" she whispered under her breath, it being too low for him to make out what she said.
"What was that?" he asked her, he not having caught what she said, but knowing she said something.
"Nothing" she responded quickly as she smiled again at him "How about that picture then?" she asked him cutely
"Oh, right" he said weakly as he stared at the phone confusedly
"Um, how do you turn it on?" he asked after a while of simply looking at it intently, this making both of the girls in the room sweatdrop at that.
"You mean you don't know your way around a cellphone?" Imari asked in disbelief
"Not the newer models no, I still use my older model cellphone as I am more efficient with it, these new one's are a bit confusing for me" he admitted as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly making both of them sigh at that.
"I knew he was too perfect" Imari muttered under her breath as she sighed, it was actually quite nice to know he wasn't proficient at everything.
"Okay look do you see that little indentation there" Kurumi said as she pointed at the phone as she leaned closer to him, he doing the same so they were nearly shoulder to shoulder.
"Here?" he asked as he pointed to somewhere on the screen making her roll her eyes at that
"That's the camera" she said with a small smile
"To the middle right, there should be a portion of the screen that almost makes your finger stick to it. Simply tap that twice and it should turn on." She explained
He quickly did as instructed and was rewarded as the thin metal bar came to life as the display turned on. The sound of a bell ringing and an anime cat head appearing for a second as the logo of the phone appeared as it started up.
"Did you see that Kurumi, I did it!" he said excitedly with a grin as he showed her his apparent success.
Both girls could not help but smile warmly at his excitement at simply turning on a phone, he was just too cute sometimes.
"I most definitely did see that, good job" she said to him, amusement clear in her voice as she patted him on the shoulder comfortingly, making him blush.
"Now give it here so I can insert my password, I feel that if I let you do this it will take a lot longer than the time we have, and I actually want to take a picture today you know." she said jokingly to him as she extended her hand to him, making him blush at her comment as he handed it over to her.
She quickly tapping the screen several times "There!" she said happily as she opened the camera application on the phone
"Well come on, I can't exactly jump out of bed and sit on your lap. Lean over so I can get you in the shot" she said to him
"Oh, uh, right" he said as he sat on the edge of the bed and leaned over so he was almost cheek to cheek with her.
They both smiled at the camera but after a few seconds he started to get confused as there was no flash or anything, wasn't she going to take a picture?
Meanwhile Imari was laughing softly as she held a hand over her mouth. She knew what Kurumi was doing, she had the camera set on shutter. For each second that passed 3-5 pictures depending on the phone was being taken.
Just when Tooru was about to inquire as to when she would take the picture, he suddenly felt a kiss on his cheek making his eyes widen at that.
"Ku-Kurumi, what is-?" he was suddenly cut off as she pressed a finger to his lips
"Shh, just let me have this. Just a few minutes, please" she begged as she looked up at him pleadingly, he immediately crumbling under her request as he simply nodded
She quickly redacted her finger away from his lips and handed the camera to Imari who was looking at all of this softly. They already having talked beforehand and come to terms with one another.
Kurumi taking advantage of the moment to rest her head against his chest as she nuzzled into him.
They remained that way in silence for a while, Tooru simply looking at her as she rested against him with her eyes closed.
'This girl, she acts tough but she really wears her heart on her sleeve doesn't she?' he thought as he looked at her sadly, she almost looked like she was a child when he saw her like this
As the minutes ticked by however he could not help but think of what reason she had for coming to a school such as this. This quickly reminding him that she would in fact not be attending as she had not defeated her partner during the initiation and had lost to him no less.
He had taken this sweet girl's chances of attending this school away due to his own selfishness and impulsive behavior. She could have made friends here, built bonds, maybe even found someone she liked here. Maybe even the two of them could have shared something special, but because of his own actions such a thing was no longer within the spectrum of possibility.
Each second that passed with her lying against him like that, she not blaming him for anything, instead having thanked him, and then having asked him to spend time with her. It tore his heart apart.
He would have rather have her screaming at him in anger, crying in frustration, blaming him, cursing him, he didn't care!
'But why?' he thought as he looked down at her smiling face as she rested against him with her eyes closed 'Why was she smiling? What reason had she to do such a thing when faced with the one who took her dreams away?'
Without his consent he soon felt tears start to fall from his cheeks, just how many dreams of people like Kurumi had he crushed today? How many people will have to return home and do the same as he used to do and waste away in self-pity and anger?
What Kurumi had jokingly called him earlier started echoing in his head "merciless monster", as he remembered exactly what he done to the other students he found himself agreeing with such a label. There was meant to be no intent to cause harm to others during that exhibition match, it was a match between future classmates after all, comrades in arms.
It was as if he had brought a real gun to a paintball fight and turned what should have been a friendly event into a much more life-threatening one. He had let his bloodlust get the best of him, and even though he had justified himself to others through him having still followed the rules, could he truly justify his actions with feeble words? Could he truly convince himself using the dry logic he had displayed? No he could not, for he knew the truth.
He had done what he did because he enjoyed it, losing himself to bloodlust and to the thrill of battle, it was the ultimate release of his inhibitions. It was when he became exactly that, a monster.
Like back then…
"Ah" he said as he felt a hand rest upon his cheek and wipe away his tears, this making him gather his bearings once more to notice both Kurumi and Imari looking at him worriedly.
"Are you okay?" Kurumi asked worriedly, confused as to what had brought this on. She expected many things from him at her actions, embarrassment, shyness, anger, or even acceptance. Crying however was not one of them.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me" he said as he wiped away his tears with the back of his arm "Never been better, see?" he said as he gave them all a strained smile, but even they who had met him just today could tell that his heart wasn't fully in it.
"Tooru" Imari said softly as she looked at him worriedly
"Even if that's the case there is something that is troubling you, one simply does not cry without reason. Whatever it is you can trust us, we're your friends, – aren't we?" Kurumi asked a bit hesitant in the end at what he might say in response to her calling herself his friend.
He sighed at that as he wrapped his arms around Kurumi surprising her greatly at that. However as she made to comment on this she noticed he wasn't even looking at her at this point and had a far off look in his eyes as he gazed out of the window.
"If you must know, it's just some old memories suddenly came rushing back all of a sudden" he said seriously to the both of them, shocking them greatly at how the seemingly playful personality he possessed was shed away just like that.
"Kurumi?" he said to her as he gazed straight into her eyes, the action causing a blush to form itself across her face, she not knowing how to react to such a sudden shift in personality.
"Yes?" she squeaked out as she had turned slightly and was now looking up at him. He then leaned down slightly to the point their faces were mere inches away from one another.
'This is a lot different from how he was acting before' she thought with a blush, there was no hesitation in his actions.
"I'm sorry" he said as he looked her in the eye, she staring back wide-eyed as she lost herself in his golden eyes that at the moment held such a rich spectrum of emotion she was temporarily struck speechless.
For the first time in a long time Kurumi did not know what to say…
Outside the clinic
Tooru had just walked out of the clinic with a very thoughtful Imari trailing behind him as she cast curious glances to him every now and again.
She had just decided that Tooru was a lot more complicated than she thought, and all that about memories, it had really made her curious about his past that was for sure.
"Yo" said a guy that was leaning against a far off wall when Tooru walked out, this being none other than Tsuko.
Tooru simply lifted his hand in greeting to the teen
"Tsuko, hey I just wanted to-" he started to say before the big teen raised a hand up to stop him
"Now let me stop you right there Tooru. Now I know you aren't going to apologize for beating me in that fight." He said with a knowing look "You won against me fair and square, it was a fight against two men giving it their all and the better man won. That's all there is to it, if anything it just goes to show that I have to train harder and get stronger." Tsuko said with a good natured smile making Tooru smile as well at that.
"So no hard feelings?" Tooru asked as he extended his hand to the teen making said teen's smile widen.
"Not at all, what do you take me for, a sore loser?" Tsuko said jokingly as he shook Tooru's hand.
"Heck, next time we meet I hope to kick your ass, that's now officially one of my goals in life" he said seriously making Tooru sweatdrop at that, not knowing how to react to such a declaration.
"Oh, and who's this?" he asked as he noticed Imari for the first time who was watching the conversation awkwardly, she not knowing how to contribute to it at all.
"Oh this is Imari, a friend of mine. Imari this is Tsuko." He said as he gestured to each person respectively
"It's nice to meet you Tsuko-san" Imari said cordially
"Likewise" Tsuko responded simply with an acknowledging nod "But wow Tooru you sure work quick huh?" he said with a smirk confusing said teen at the comment
"I mean it's not even been a day and you already got yourself a girl, damn I wish I was that good with the ladies" Tsuko said whimsically at the end
"It's not like that, you see we're just friends." Tooru said embarrassedly, making Tsuko nod understandingly at that.
"Uh-huh, I've heard that one before" Tsuko said with a smirk before he noticed that Tooru actually wasn't following along and likely meant what he said "I see, Imari was it?" he asked the girl making her nod.
"I have some advice for you – stake your claim" he said with all the bluntness of a sledgehammer
"I now know the type of man that my rival here is, he is what I call a subconscious womanizer. He subconsciously does everything to make a woman fall in love with him without the intention of doing so." He explained to her who was now sporting a blush at this point.
'R-rival' Tooru thought in confusion, the rest of what the guy said going right over his head as he registered it as total B.S.
"Now the reason that I'm telling you to stake your claim, is that guy's like him will end up attracting a lot of female attention whether intentional or unintentional. So far has he done anything that could have enticed anyone to possibly like him in a romantic manner?" he questioned her seriously
Immediately her thoughts drifted to his interactions with Kurumi and his declarations in the study hall, so in the end she nodded at that.
"Wait you're actually going along with this!?" Tooru asked in clear disbelief as he was promptly ignored.
Tsuko simply nodded back at that already having expected such a thing "Okay what you need to do is that while you have a head start on the competition you have to, like I said, stake your claim. People like him usually end up with a large group of female friends, but there is a wall between being a friend and something more that is quite large. Now what I recommend is that you blow right through his defenses with an initial assertive approach and then go for cute at every opportunity you can afterwards" he lectured as Imari nodded at this his advice making Tooru look on in disbelief
"I'm right here you know!?" he exclaimed in growing frustration
"You need to do this because the longer you are in the friend category the higher the risk of being friend-zoned by someone like him. This however doesn't mean you have to tie him to a bed and have your way with him, a mere recognition of romantic interest and affirmation of it should do fine, then stake your position. Men like him tend to have girls inevitably end up in close proximity, usually in a circle of friends. This circle of friends usually ends up in a race against one another to claim their man." He explained, she nodding at most of this seeing it as a definite possibility with his earlier behavior.
"Now here is what makes this different for you and him. According to law, the Exceed, us, are a different race than humans, as such there are different sets of laws put in place by the admiralty concerning us – predominately the one that concerns you however is that such things as polygamy are legal." He said dropping the bomb on her, this surprising even Tooru at that as he had not known such a thing.
"That means that potentially Tooru over there has a high probability of "accidentally" forming a Harem just from being here!" he said as he pointed at Tooru dramatically, this making Imari's eyes widen at that, while Tooru just rolled his own.
"Now you may wonder why such a law is in place, it's actually quite simple, female Exceed outnumber males 2 to 1 on average. This is due to something in their genetic structure that allows females of being twice as likely to have a Blaze, something about having two X-chromosomes or something. Now due to the genetic manipulation on your person a female Exceed is unable of reproducing with a normal human, this was detailed in your consent form before the procedure to activate your Blaze" at this point even Tooru was listening as this sounded like actually pertinent information.
"Which means that females have a very limited pool of males to choose from. Now what this means for you is that from the get-go there is already on average one girl that might chase after your man." He explained to her
"Now the Exceed as a whole are slightly more animalistic in nature due to both their physiology and mentality. This is the reason all of them, even the weakest and most inexperienced, are proficient in combat. Now if you introduce a powerful alpha male into this scenario or even one that differs from the general male populace it will create an interest in the female population. If my info is right he has already established himself as the strongest and also is unique due to his Blaze. Now it's only a matter of time before girls start to show an interest in him and then… move in for the kill" he said in a serious tone with narrowed eyes
"This is not an animal documentary!" Tooru shouted in frustration "People are not that narrow minded!"
"Now while you cannot technically stop him from getting any female friends or partners you can filter out people that you consider as undesirable or that you see will be over-possessive of him. Basically you can establish yourself as an alpha female, a role that will likely only be shared with his duo partner if they are also a female and it is not you." He explained
"I think I finally get it" Tooru said in a thoughtful pose making both of them actually look at him for a second surprised at his tone, he then looking up at Tsuko seriously "You're a pervert"
Tsuko took slight offense at that but continued with his speech "Now of course the path such a romantic relationship could take is actually unknown, but this is just the basic route I am telling you. Here's the phone number of my big sis, she had an encounter with one such male in middle school, so she probably knows more about it than me and can explain it from a girl's point of view." He said as he quickly wrote down his sister's number and handed it to Imari
"Overall however it all depends on the actions of the guy and how dense they truly are" he said before from out of nowhere a golden shimmering fist crashed into the side of his head, it sending him blasting down the hall leaving a shell-shocked Imari holding onto the note.
"You play too many damn Dating-sim's! Stop corrupting Imari-chan with your stupid! Come on Imari let's get out of here!" he said as he grabbed her wrist and started to walk away
"Harem ending for life!" Tsuko shouted from down the hall making Tooru's eye twitch at the fact he did not pack enough power into the punch to knock him unconscious.
"Just ignore him" Tooru said tiredly as they continued towards their classroom
"Good luck Imari!" Tsuko shouted before they finally got out of sight
"Hehehehe, I give them two weeks tops before they get together" he said as he picked himself off the ground and dusted off his clothes before he made to go home, a large grin on his face.
-X-
Author's Note
This chapter establishes the reason for the harem he shall later have, such things without a reason or justification just ruffles my feathers.
A lot of fluff and comedy this chapter. Some emotional scenes and allusions to his past. As is stated in the summary however instead of him being held back by his past he will be empowered by it and as such while it did impact him it won't hold him back.
Some inner turmoil this chapter due to his acts during the entrance ceremony, this mostly due to the fact he believes he took things a bit too far as it was in his mind just a combat exercise. He will however have no problem performing acts such as killing and will not hold back at all in combat against those that are a threat to him or those he cares about. Blaze and energy manipulation are all about intent, they can ultimately be as deadly or as harmless as the user intends them to be.
Next chapter shall bring to close the intro to Koryo Academy or to those that watch the anime episode 1. It will also introduce the majority of the main cast and give everyone their respective duo, duos are the same as canon minus Imari who will likely have to have a female OC as her partner.
Understand that this is slightly A.U. and will at times differ from canon either because of Tooru's behavior and/or decisions. Because of this certain scenes, backgrounds, and or rules/laws may be different than canon.
This chapter ties together chapter 1 & 3 and gives a little bit of insight on Tooru's quite altered emotional spectrum, his behavior will remain close to his own while interacting with people he does not know. With friends and in combat however expect a different Tooru.
Note: I have added a harem list to chapter 1 if you want to see it, apparently it turns out people tend to be curious as to what girls are in harem's or not. Weird.
The relationships will form in a fairly realistic progressive manner, in other words they won't be shagging the night away after initially exchanging pleasantries. They will however be swift to establish romantic relationships with Tooru which means that fluff will come long before lemons as is normally seen in relationships. The fan-service in cannon I frankly felt was a bit of overkill, there will be numerous sexy scenes in my story however without the utilization of such a blatant insult to the fairly well developed plot.
P.S. Story is rated T until later chapters where more graphic content might be explored (violence/gore/suggestive themes/lemons) and it might get bumped up to M, it's originally an ecchi story and it did have quite violent points at times throughout.
Edited: 11/20/2015
