Shizune turned to Maru with a wicked grin on her face between classes.

...Oh shit, Maru thought. Danger sense tinging like a motherfucker.

"Macchan~, where did you go Saturday~?" Misha grinned wide.

"Uh," Maru replied intelligently before he nodded sage-like. "...Obviously, I went insane." He closed his eyes and held up his hand, as if making a prayer.

Shizune grinned wider as she signed.

"But~! Didn't you know people saw you in the library?" Misha smirked.

His right eye popped open. "...Yeeees? Aaaaaaand?"

"Wahahaha~, they say you weren't alone~!" Misha grinned again.

"Of course not!" Maru stabbed his finger in the air. "The spirits were with me, frien'! Dey be all aroun'! Sometimes talk."

Shizune's eye twitched.

Misha looked at him, confused. "Wahaha~... What?"

"Hey look, teacher," Maru said, and pointed toward the front of the class.

Shizune frowned, and then grinned again.

"We'll talk later~!" Misha flashed him the peace sign before focusing on the teacher.

"Nyeh..." Maru shook his head and focused on the paper in front of him. Well, this just bodes poorly. As he started to take notes, something bounced off his head and landed in front of him. "Huh." He picked it up. I've gained note-riety. He unfolded the note and began to read.

"Looks like you've incurred the inquisition," it read. He glanced up at Miki, who had her head turned slightly toward him. He nodded. Movement from his left made him duck right slightly, just narrowly keeping the note out of Shizune's grasp.

He deftly scrunched the note up and stuffed it in his mouth.

Shizune stared at him disgusted while Miki giggled quietly.

Hisao sighed.

Maru chewed, in as much as he could. ...Bluh. How do spies do this? This tastes like ... well, notebook paper. He grimaced and pulled out his coffee thermos and took a big swig. That's only a slight improvement!

Shizune facepalmed.

The class resumed more or less as normal from that point forth. But it only lasted so long.

"Macchan~!" Misha grinned as the class ended. "So what were you doing skipping class?"

"Reading mostly," Maru said. "Why, what's it matter?"

"Skipping class is a serious offense," Misha said with a frown on her face.

"It's coo', I already talked to Mutou about it," Maru replied with a shrug.

Shizune smirked.

"Regardless~," Misha said. "Why did you think it was alright to skip class in the first place~?"

He shrugged. "I didn't. Does it matter?"

"Mister Kobayashi~," Misha began with a frown, "you can't just go skipping class whenever you feel like it. It sets a bad precedent~!"

"Speaking of bad precedents," Maru said, "teacher." He pointed forward.

Shizune frowned.

"Later~!"

Maru sighed. Persistent, she is. Not even sure what she's getting at. ... Well, besides the obvious. Maybe she's collecting rumors? Not much to talk about, really. So I hung out with Hanako. It's no big deal. Sheesh, people get worked up over nothing. Though maybe she's just sore about losing at Risk? Like I can be blamed for bad dice rolls...

The class continued silently after that, up until lunch.

Shizune grabbed Maru's arm.

"Wahaha~, Macchan~, let's have lunch together~!" Misha grinned.

Maru looked at the two sullenly. "You're very persistent."

"Yup yup~" Misha grinned and went to Maru's other side.

"Well, fine, if it'll get you two off my back, I'll go with," Maru said with a frown. "But, hands off the merchandise, huh?"

"No can do~!" Misha grinned as she tugged at him.

"Well, this desk sure is comfy," Maru said, and braced himself against Misha and Shizune.

The two girls looked at each other, and then sat down at the newly emptied desks beside him.

"That's fine~," Misha said with a grin. "Here works too~!"

Maru sighed. "What do you want?"

Shizune smirked.

"So~, did you and Hanako skip class together~?" Misha grinned.

He tapped his desk with a frown. "Yes, and...?"

"Hmm~, well then it's fine!" Misha gave a thumbs up.

Maru blinked at her, and then massaged his temples. "All that, to ask that? Are you daft?"

Shizune frowned and began to sign.

"Mister Kobayashi~, part of the Student Council's job is to help ensure the welfare of other students," Misha said with a serious expression. "While Hanako and Shicchan might not get along because of her choice in friends, we're both concerned about the fact that she seems to spend all of her time alone. Shicchan's still not happy that you skipped class, but if it was because you were with Hanako, and Mister Mutou has no issue with it, then neither does Shicchan~! Just don't make it a habit~!"

"...Hm." Maru scratched his chin. "How... magnanimous."

Shizune smiled.

"Shicchan respects a worthy opponent," Misha said. "Even if she lost mostly because of bad dice rolls, she still acknowledges that you showed not inconsiderable skill~ in your play style!"

"Well," he said. "Thanks."

Shizune frowned.

"Sorry," Maru said, "this is just coming a bit out of left field for me. Not, er, sure how to deal with..." On second thought, telling Shizune that her being nice is weirding me out is probably a bad idea.

"Deal with what~?" Misha's serious expression came back out to play.

Maru scratched his head. "...Actually, I'm not sure where I was going with that, honestly."

Shizune silently sighed, signed.

"Regardless~, would you really like to eat lunch with us~?" Misha grinned.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass," he said as he leaned back. "Nothing personal, it's just that I've about reached my limit for interpersonal interaction. Need to sit back, have some silent time."

Shizune frowned.

Maru waved his hands. "Seriously! I know I come off as extrovert, but I'm an introvert! I can't... I gotta just sit back after too much! Can't keep it up for long!"

Shizune looked at him, eyebrows raised incredulously for a moment before she smirked and began signing.

"WAHAHAHAH~, Shicchan, that's meeeaan~!" Misha grabbed her stomach as she began to laugh in earnest.

Maru blinked and then frowned. "What? What's she saying?"

"S-Shicchan says sorry~ to hear that you're having that sort of problem~" Misha said, trying and failing to stifle her laughter.

He blinked again, and then snorted as it dawned on him what she was saying. "Oh, ha ha. You know what I meant. Sheesh." He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry~ about your problem too~," Misha said, laughing again. "You should go see the nurse!"

Maru glared at her. "Oh, go away, you."

Shizune signed with a wicked grin.

"I noticed you didn't deny it~," Misha said, still giggling some.

Maru smirked. "Heh. What, do you want me to... prove it? That I'm still... good to go?"

Shizune balked, and then frowned.

"Wahahahaha~, I think I'll pass," Misha said with a smirk. "Besides, what about Hanako~?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Don't you think it'd be like cheating~?" Misha winked.

Maru blinked. "I..." He frowned. "Jeez. It's not like that." He grimaced and rubbed his eyes. "Can't you two just like... go away, or something?"

Misha frowned. "Aww~, we're just teasing Macchan, don't be so cold~!"

He sighed. "I really can't keep up, yo. Can't you like, I dunno... do something else? Seriously, you're killin' me, here."

"Wahaha~, we'll have to talk about this later~," Misha said with a wink.

"Nyeh," Maru replied.

Misha grinned. "We'll leave you alone, then~!"

"Gee, thanks," he said tiredly as he sagged into his seat.

The rest of the day passed without further incident.


Their chief weapon is surprise! ...Surprise and fear... fear and surprise. ...Their two weapons are fear and surprise... and ruthless efficiency... er...

HailToTheMadKing, I still say that sounds like an awesome hat. XD TheMagicManWithThePlan, more backstory will come! Eventually! :P Praegressus, should have asked this earlier but I was sick and not thinking clearly (not much better tonight honestly), but in what way could I have done better? :O TrueFoxSpear, lol! No, just ditched the jacket. ;)