Heart of the Infiltrators

by MordinofSolus

Senran Kagura x Male Insert - Amidst the turn of the modern era, a young man is forcibly contracted to cure twenty shinobi of a mental ailment known as distortion, caused by the corrupted blood of Yōma. As time goes on, the long hidden societies of the world are forced to come out into the public spotlight when they are pitted against one another.

25. Chapter 25: Steep Straightforwardness

Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 25: Steep Straightforwardness

"I really don't see why you'd want to do this," mumbled the young man as he sat cross-legged on the floor beside his futon, trying to keep his eyes forward.

"It's really simple," came Asuka's gentle voice from just behind him before another wonderful sensation ran from the top of the young man's head to the back, "your hair's just really soft."

As the rest of the Hanzō elite continued to enjoy their makeshift dance party, sailing themselves around and about as a traditional Chinese playlist lulled in the background, Asuka had made the sudden and random request to play with the young man's hair. At first, he was very inclined to say no, being aware of both her feelings and his desire for personal space. But, between the cute look of begging that the brunette gave him and the memory of her soft touch in the infirmary, he eventually did capitulate after being asked a few times. Thus, as he sat with his legs crossed while struggling to maintain an unreactive face, Asuka glided a comb and her fingers through welcoming strands of hair as she hummed along to the song in the background. In particular, the boy noted that her voice harmonized beautifully with the zither, being gentle while carefully raising or lowering pitch and volume.

"Your hair probably softer," muttered the young man as his face began to heat up from a fingertip brushing against the back of his head. After a moment of enjoying himself for too long, he pointed to the girls on the makeshift dancefloor, "or you could ask one of them- ngh!"

Simultaneously, Asuka's comb had begun to pleasantly scratch against his scalp while her fingers rubbed down a tuft of hair. Upon hearing the young man's groan, the girl poked her head around and asked, "You're alright? I didn't pull any hair, did I?"

The young man had an opening out of the situation. After all, getting himself into such a scenario with a person whom he couldn't pursue romantically was completely inappropriate in the first place. He just had to lie and cut himself off from the addicting sensations before it went too far-

"No, I'm fine… keep going…"

The young man silently declared himself a coward.

Asuka closed her eyes with a reassured smile, "Okay," and continued her movements with a bit more oomph. Once the comb made a few more rounds across the young man's scalp and the girl began to twirl small strands of hair behind his ear, she eventually said, "As for what you were saying, it's no fun to do my own hair anymore. And… sure, everyone else is more than willing to let me play with theirs on select occasions. But there's something a bit more fun to your hair."

"Oh…?" grunted the young man once one of Asuka's knuckles accidentally brushed against the back of his ear, "If you don't mind me asking, could you be a bit more specific?" His breath was becoming heavy as his shoulders began to relax.

After blowing a puff of air out of her nose, which found itself grazing the back of the young man's neck, the brunette continued to twirl a bit of his hair before letting it spin free. As the boy sat back and enjoyed the multiple sensations, Asuka answered, "I'm not sure if this makes sense, but your hair has… more flexibility to it." She softly grazed her knuckles against the back of the young man's head before whispering, "Katsuragi's hair is wavy and messy in some places… but you have patches, like back here, that are much more straight," and then proceeded to pat a tuft of hair sticking out from the side before scratching the back of his ear, "Hibari's hair likes to bloom, making it hard to find out where it sprouts from. But, with you, I can easily just trace my fingers and find each stem."

"So," groaned the young man as he tried to ignore every appeasing feeling attacking him from wherever Asuka laid her fingers, "my hair is easy to work with, is what you're saying?" His eyes were becoming heavy despite how much he tried to adjust himself. The wonderful feeling that he got from the physical contact was incomparable to anything in recent memory.

"Not really," replied Asuka as she pinched a strand of hair on both sides of the young man's head, "After all, some of this is just so fixed into place that working with it would be a futile effort," before releasing and watching it go back to where it originally rested to prove her point.

"That's… a bad thing?"

"Sure, if I'm just trying to style it," chipped Asuka, "But sometimes I just want to play with hair. You know, just run my fingers through and enjoy how soft it is. With Yagyū and Ikaruga, you can't do that. Yagyū's hair will freeze in place once you brush it. Heck, you could brush it straight upward but each and every little bit of it will remain still and upright. So, if you play with her hair, you'll have to be ready to brush it back into place." After taking a moment to trace her finger along the side of the young man's head, much to his pleasure, the brunette continued, "As for Ikaruga, well, she prefers to keep her hair straight… so I can't do much beyond just a simple brushing…"

"In short," said the young man in a voice much hoarser than he would have preferred, "I'm kind of an all-in-one package… that is much easier to pick up after?"

"That's about the gist of it," mumbled Asuka as she quirked a brow at his reaction. In an experiment for herself, she carefully brought one of her nails forward to scratch the back of the young man's head, slowly ushering it toward his ear. As a result, the boy froze and straightened his back with an inaudible noise of euphoria. While the rest of the Hanzō elite continued to enjoy the gentler tune playing, doing their ultimate to ignore the situation and let Asuka do as she pleased, the brunette held in a giggle as she said, "Plus, it's easy to tell that you're not used to this. It's cute."

To the last remark she made, the young man mumbled a bit of gibberish before trying to place his focus on a brewing resistance from within. He had let the situation get too far out of hand and had to act before he fell into the deep end. If he could just defy the wonderful feeling that kept attacking his skull, he could have been out of there in under ten seconds. Amidst his thoughts of dissension, Asuka proceeded to set down the comb before she wrapped her arms around the young man's neck and nuzzled her nose against the back of his head. The alarm bells rang all around the boy, warning him to act as his inaction would drive everything that he'd worked for straight into the ground… but he just continued to sit there without a hint of movement or defiance. He'd lost to his urge to stay and enjoy the physical warmth.

Katsuragi caught the scene in the middle of her dance and found herself smiling in response, silently offering up both her blessings and encouragement for Asuka to continue. She'd seen the young man throughout the day and was more than convinced that he wasn't some mysterious force with malevolent intentions. Once the blonde turned over to Ikaruga, she found that the other third-year looked a bit more conflicted. Her eyes kept trailing back to the romantic scene and she kept biting her lip as if to hold back from saying something. So, as she often did, Katsuragi offered a playful swat to the girl's rear and, once she had the raven-haired girl's attention, proceeded to wave her hand back and forth. At first, Ikaruga looked like she was going to protest but, after taking in a breath and letting out a sigh, she found herself giving a brief shake of her head before smiling too. At the end of the day, she fully believed the same thing as her best friend and it was only her protective instincts for Asuka that were trying to force an intervention.

As the two older girls went back and forth, Hibari slowly came to a stop in the middle of her dance to see what they kept eying. When she turned over to the duo by the futon, she couldn't help but let out a quiet, "Aw~…" before she grabbed Yagyū by the shoulder and began to quietly gush about the scene. After blinking her one eye, the other girl didn't offer any more reaction, though she was internally fantasizing about a similar scenario between Hibari and herself.

Seeing as they were beginning to become the center of attention in the room, the young man shook and shifted his shoulders uncomfortably. His already red face kept turning towards different things in the room in an effort to focus on anything else. For some reason, he felt that ignoring the stares and the fact that a girl was cuddling into the back of his head would provide some kind of solution. Of course, it didn't work.

In fact, while he was just trying to ignore everything that was happening around him, Asuka was considering her own place in the situation. The boy that she liked was wrapped up in her arms and, aside from the occasional shift of embarrassment, had offered no resistance to her. When reviewing his other reactions from earlier, especially how relaxed he seemed before he took notice of the other girls' attention on them, Asuka dared to think that he actually enjoyed her soft touches. No, she already knew that. Every noise that he made had been one of pleasure and he'd even encouraged her to keep going once she'd stopped at one point.

While her thoughts dwelled on the young man, Asuka took note of her confession from earlier. At the time, it seemed like a good opportunity but, after the boy apparently failed to recognize it, she could very clearly feel relief that it was over in that moment. Part of her wanted to save it for a different day, just as she implied to Ikaruga. But at a time like then, when the young man was both comfortable and vulnerable beside her, a voice from within Asuka cried out and begged for action. It wanted her to try again.

Nuzzling her nose back and forth a bit more while considering the idea, Asuka immediately came to a decision. She raised her eyes up to peer over the young man's head before quietly stating, "Hey… I need to say something…"

Not thinking clearly nor anticipating whatever she may have had in mind, the young man mumbled, "Go ahead…" while gazing at the floor, still trying the push the eyes that were watching them out of mind.

"I told you earlier that I liked you," whispered Asuka. In an effort to comfort herself, she carefully tightened her hold around the young man's neck and propped her chin atop his head. As the boy's eyes began to widen while they processed what she'd just said, the brunette continued, "But… I wasn't clear enough… I like you, as in like-like…"

By that point, the young man had fully caught on to what was happening. He quit breathing as every part of him tried to scan for a way out of the situation. His eyes darted back and forth, his hands went up to cautiously grip Asuka's tightly clung arms, and his legs had uncrossed themselves to lie flat on the floor. In an effort to keep Asuka from saying anything else and turning the situation into a concrete mess, he tried to say something, "Wai-, Asuka… Hold-" but was cut off when he felt her lips deliberately press against the back of his head.

Hibari and Katsuragi began to quietly gush at the scene while Ikaruga and Yagyū watched observantly. "Sorry if that was out of nowhere… it just felt right," Asuka spoke softly as the zither from the music in the background reached a crescendo, "It's just-, Not long ago, I… wasn't one for… you know, these kinds of things. I had the occasional day-long crush on someone cute but… My focus was always on being a shinobi… on becoming a Kagura. So, getting into a relationship was always more of a… fantasy sort of thing. Something to dream about but never to take seriously."

By that point, the young man had begun to accumulate enough of a will to lightly resist. He squirmed a bit in the brunette's hold, though she still held tight, and began to plan his words out to try and dispel what she was getting into. Once he had the strength, he tried to interrupt her, "Asuka, this isn't a sort of thing-" but was promptly cut off.

"I understand that this is sudden," mumbled Asuka as she used one of her wrapped around hands to stroke the young man's cheek, quickly killing any resistance within him, before she gave a plea, "But please let me speak… It's something I feel the need to do right now." With the boy having fallen silent, the girl stammered, "To get to the point of what I was saying… When I first saw you, I imagine I was the same way as everyone else. I regarded you as the enemy. But when I saw what you did for Homura and took a closer look at you declaring yourself to be our enemy… I realized pretty quickly that you weren't."

Not even slightly could the young man believe that he had let- no, that he was letting the girl speak when he should have been cutting her off. He should've been explaining to her why a relationship at the current moment was counter-productive for both of them. From the beginning, he began to realize, the young man should've directly confronted the her, Miyabi, and Yumi to turn them away. Certainly, the results of that would hurt all of them, himself included, in ways beyond just personal feelings. But an open and honest explanation about the damage that could be done was preferable when compared to the mess that they were getting into.

Regardless, he still couldn't bring himself to talk. Ergo, Asuka only continued with a soft smile, "So, a few hours after you evaded us… I kept thinking to myself, 'oh, despite everything, he was cute,' and did my whole day-long crush routine in-between our other stuff. But then something else came to mind… as an infiltrator, you also do your work in secret. It's even centered around us shinobi… perhaps to hunt us and our distortions, but I know you wouldn't hurt anyone." After pausing for a few seconds, the girl placed another affectionate kiss against the back of the young man's head, "That meant, in my imagination, there never had to be a scene where I suddenly revealed my identity as a shinobi before tragically saying a relationship would never work… Instead, you would already know and we could just continue with daily life…"

No longer looking for potential escape routes, the young man was actively fighting to keep himself from hyperventilating. He'd seen girls confess to guys and anticipated that, inevitably, someone might gain an interest in him one day. But never, not even in his most romantic dreams, would he have ever considered that a confession like the one being laid out from behind him would take place outside of a book or movie. Yet, Asuka kept on talking, rambling and ranting about her feelings for him. Meanwhile, the boy in her arms was struggling with how to react. How was he supposed to react, exactly? There was no preparing for a situation like the one he was in and there was no rehearsal that could cover what he needed to know. He could only act… but what was he supposed to do? And what would he have to do after the fact? So many questions wracked his mind that he almost forgot about how he was supposed to be getting her to stop.

"Shortly after I realized all of that," Asuka said as she continued to rest her head atop the young man's, "we cornered you in that alleyway by the train station… you were hit by a car and, however unintentional it was, we wound up hitting you in the throat… By that time, you were drenched and freezing… Then, even after all of that brutal punishment, you still resisted and showed me that strength you still had. But, from the two encounters I had with you at that point, you'd yet to even raise a fist or… in some way or another, use that strength against us. Never once did you hurt us." Taking a few seconds to collect her rapidly rambling thoughts, Asuka murmured, "Around then, before we settled you into the school infirmary, I think I began to develop a crush on you…"

The young man had to put a stop to what was happening. He had to focus and act, "Asuka-"

But the girl would have none of it, "But only recently, seeing your more… unpredictable reactions… seeing how… 'into it' you got at karaoke and how angry you became at Grandpa's… Seeing how frustrated you could get or how eager you were to join in on the dancing… Hearing you talk on different things… It painted a picture for me that you're not a hero in glimmering armor. Instead, you were just someone who happened to be in a situation with unfortunate circumstances… You were someone else behind that cool exterior you gave off… And you have no idea how much better it felt to realize that."

The young man looked up and threw out a helpless look to the four girls observing the situation unfold. But Hibari was clasping her hands together while gushing under her breath, Katsuragi had crossed her arms and was nodding approvingly with a smirk, Yagyū wasn't reacting at all, and Ikaruga was biting the inside of her cheeks to keep from offering whatever maternal advice that she had in store. Ultimately, there would be no help from them.

"In short…" Asuka took a breath before tilting her head sideways to rub her cheek against the young man's hair, "You've gone from someone that I thought I'd be… just interested in dating because you were cute and it was convenient…" She laughed a bit at herself before saying, "Sorry… I know I'm rambling. At this point, I'm just saying whatever comes to mind…" and proceeded to plant another kiss on the back of the young man's head, "But, you've gone from someone like that to someone I'd be… seriously interested in dating because you're… you. I like you… I, if I'm recognizing it right… I might even love you a bit… So, would you consider going out with me?"

Needing to take a moment to process all that was said and done, the young man just motionlessly sat in Asuka's arms. She'd confessed to him. She'd explained her feelings for him. She'd even kissed the back of his head three times all while rubbing his cheek affectionately. Then everything from within his head hit the young man like a train.

His first instinct was to stand up and hug the girl, relishing in the physical contact she gave him while getting uncharacteristically excited about also wanting to become an official couple. In a half second, he acted on those feelings by standing himself up out of Asuka's loosening grip and turned around to face her. Had his more logical mindset not kicked in, he would have bowed his head and accepted her confession then and there. A civil war broke out inside his head while he stared blankly at Asuka, his face heating up and his breath inconsistently rising and falling. Then, as if a bulb popped in his head, his hand sprung up and began to urgently scratch at his shoulder while trying to think of what to say.

Eventually, the winning course of action was determined in his mind: for the sake of the corrections that he would have to do in the future, the young man had to decline Asuka. The risk to the developing trust that he wanted other people to place in him was just too high for him to consider her proposition. Even then, he'd only been talking with the girl for under a week. Who knew if his initial desire to accept Asuka as his girlfriend stemmed from genuine affection or if he had just come to like how physically intimate they'd been through the night? For once, the young man didn't know what was going on inside of himself. As someone who'd been trained in the art of self-awareness and transparency… that was a frightening fact. If it wasn't the other girls' interest in him and the risk to everyone else's correction, the thing that scared the young man was the fact that he didn't understand why he wanted something.

So, while Asuka had eagerly awaited his answer, he just stood motionlessly like a braindead buffoon. The only sign that the young man was still alive was the fact that he was still breathing and occasionally shook. Then, just as Asuka's shy smile was beginning to waver, it was Katsuragi who saved them both from the silence, "Alright, alright… I think enough's been said for now."

The blonde decisively inserted herself in-between the two and gently pushed the young man away, giving him a knowing look before turning to Asuka to pat the girl on the head. As the brunette began to stammer and question what her upperclasswoman was doing, Ikaruga also stepped forward and said, "We've intruded enough for today… let's head home…"

At the suggestion, Asuka spoke defiantly, "What? No, I'd-, I want to…" all while trying to raise up her head to get a peek at the young man, who was still standing silent and unmoving. Fortunately for him, Katsuragi remained steadfast and continued to block out her friend.

Off to the side, Hibari was questioning Yagyū with a mix of confusion and sadness, "Why're we leaving? Did she do something wrong? What's happening?" to which, her friend could only shrug.

Then, just as Asuka's struggles to see the young man were gaining momentum, Ikaruga reached forward and gripped a stern hand onto the girl's shoulder. After a few pulls, the brunette turned and blinked her large eyes at her senior with multiple silent questions. Though the raven-haired girl's expression was as stern and disciplinary as usual, the softer look in the corners of her eyes along with a small frown conveyed all of the sympathy that she was feeling for the girl. After observing her friend's look, Asuka could only mumble while as her eyes fell to the floor, "I'd… want to… I would like-, I just…" before Katsuragi also rested a gentle hand on her other shoulder.

"He'll need time to think," spoke the blonde, mustering up some forced cheer, "Considering how… heavy some of that stuff is, he'll have to take time to consider and… eh… process everything..."

A look of realization came over Asuka, who didn't catch on to the fact that Katsuragi just needed an excuse, before she nodded her head. Once the two seniors stepped out of the way, she lightly bowed her head and stammered to the young man, "I'm sorry! I'm not good at confessing or… well, talking in general when it comes to this kind of thing. If what I said was too much, I hope you'll forgive me…" before peeking her head up.

He continued to look completely lost. As his wide eyes looked at the girl kneeling on his futon, his quivering lips and mind were fighting a raging battle to try and figure out what to say. Making sure to keep control on the more instinctive part of him that was calling for an acceptance of Asuka's feelings, he eventually raised a shaky hand and muttered weakly, "…'s nothing to apologize for…"

Realizing fully just how lost he was probably feeling in the heat of that moment, Asuka eventually offered as her eyes were darting back and forth, "Ah… I… If it would make you more comfortable, you can… tell me what you think a different time… Maybe, we could meet up tomorr- no, the day after tomorrow?" The girl decided off the top of her head that, if she were to wait for an answer, she'd need some time to prepare herself for whatever was to come. Even then, she thought about coming up with an excuse to get out of it that on that day too.

In response, the young man could only nod his head in silent agreement, unsure of what else he could say. He knew it would be better if he just rejected the girl, maybe after asking everyone else to leave them alone… but then he saw the cute look on her face, remembered her overall endearingly naïve words and antics… he just couldn't bring himself to. In the heat of everything that'd happened, he'd gained a crush on Asuka without knowing it… or did he? Was his mind just reacting to the emotional and physical intimacy within the situation? Did Asuka's chipper and sometimes annoying way with words really invoke those feelings? Could the young man really say that he had a crush? Despite asking himself those rounds of questions again, he didn't really know… No matter how hard he tried to look into himself to see, the young man couldn't tell… So, he just stood there silent.

After seeing his nod and taking a heavy breath of air, Asuka lifted one of her legs out from under her and scurried off the futon to stand on wobbly knees. She took a moment to wave a hand over her hair to check herself before stuttering, "Well… we'll leave you be for tonight… Sorry for the sudden intrusion that brought us here… I-, and I hope to hear from you about that… thing…" While rubbing her head and wondering what else she could say, she eventually clapped her hands together before stating, "Oh! I'll talk to Grandma for you…! You know… about the door… She-, I'll tell her to call you…" she gestured to the broken entranceway before turning on her heels, "Well…! We'll see you!" and hastened her way out.

Ikaruga turned her head around and waved her hand for everyone else to follow after the brunette. Hibari mumbled a few things, "I don't understand… shouldn't this be a cute moment?" while Yagyū offered a few curt reassurances.

After casting an uneasy smile and nod to the young man, Katsuragi awkwardly scratched the back of her head before saying, "You know, I was initially going to give your behind a grab before leaving- it's got some nice squishiness to it from what I felt yesterday- but I think I'll go easy on you today and head for the door," and took a few steps away before turning around with a grin, "But don't get me wrong. This is just me going easy today because of the circumstances. Next time… ah… never mind…" Ultimately, despite gaining some initial momentum with her tease, the tension in the room's atmosphere was far too much for even her to break. Resigned to silence, Katsuragi walked out the door right after Hibari and Yagyū.

Being left alone with the young man, Ikaruga looked down to the boy with a serious look in her eye. Once she was positive that Asuka was out of earshot, she stated, "You wanted to refuse her, didn't you?"

The boy sighed before looking up to meet her eyes. Despite all of the fun that they were all having about fifteen minutes before, the only thing he could rightly process was how uncomfortable he felt. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath before murmuring, "That question is more loaded than either of us know…"

"We'll break it down then," came the immediate reply from Ikaruga, "Do you like Asuka?"

Initially, the young man was extremely put off by how antagonizing the woman. But just as he was about to tell her to back off, he reminded himself about her position. Ikaruga was Asuka's senior classmate and a close friend. Without a doubt, there was going to be a protective instinct that she felt toward the prospect of the brunette getting into a relationship. So, after taking a breath to calm his frustration, the young man answered honestly, "I certainly like her as a person but… while we were certainly intimate earlier… I really have no idea…"

The taller girl let out a critical, "Oh?" which displayed all of her disapproval over his answer, "So you were content to just sit there silently while she floundered over herself?"

At that bit of rebuttal, the young man had to pinch the bridge of his nose to keep his patience. Despite his assurances a moment before that Ikaruga was just looking out for her friend, he still wasn't all that willing to resign himself as a verbal punching bag. Thus, his eyebrows fell and he grumbled, "I admit, I should have been the one to say something but I was too busy trying to both collect myself and bear in mind the consequences if I did accept."

To his retort, Ikaruga was about to strike back at him before something clicked in her head. For a moment, she pinched her chin before asking warily, "What consequences?"

"What is my overall goal right now?" asked the young man before he pointed up to his head, "To build up trust with the lot of you so I can correct everyone's distortions." As much as he wanted to try and hammer the point of what he was saying to the girl, he knew it would be best to keep his cool. Thus, he instead asked, "That alone should tell you why I shouldn't get into a relationship with anyone involved."

One of Ikaruga's brows quirked with confusion before she asked, "I… don't get it. That doesn't answer-, Explain to me… What consequences would there be if you got into a relationship?"

Needing to take a moment to come up with the best analogy that he could think of, the young man looked right at Ikaruga and gestured his hands, "Not to sound demeaning, but take a look for yourself. The mere thought of a relationship between Asuka and I has already put you on edge."

Ikaruga stared at him perplexedly for a moment before giving herself a little shrug and looking down to her body. Just then, something clicked with her. One of her legs were slightly ahead of the other, as though she were about to advance or strike a combat pose, she could feel the stiffness in her back that was making her loom and tower over the young man… then she reached up to her face and felt grimace that had settled onto her features. All at once, she softened herself. She stepped back and adopted a completely neutral look. The problem and consequences that the young man was afraid of had struck her hard. After a moment, she bowed her head, "I understand now… I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for," said the young man instinctively, "It's a natural reaction of protectiveness…"

"But, with Asuka's confession out in the air," Ikaruga started, "what about the others? The rest of my team and some other shinobi? I'm- not to insult them, but they're a bit more… romantic when it comes to dating and other such things. Each of them will support any member of their team through whatever endeavors they find themselves in… and with Shiki's words about Yumi liking you and… Miyabi's rather blatant display… And now Asuka's all-out confession… What're you going to do?"

Needing to sit himself down, the young man leaned back into his futon before murmuring, "I'll need to be more direct… but I don't know how to do that without potentially making the situation worse…" He scratched the back of his head before letting out a sigh of defeat, "I'll think of something… at the end of it all, I'll think of something…" and gestured to the woman in front of him, "It'd probably be best if you head out. Make sure Katsuragi doesn't attack the others or something…"

Ikaruga nodded, "Understood…" and began to stride away before stopping in her tracks to turn around, "Also… I'm sorry… For how standoffish I've been even after you came clean to us and explained the situation."

"Don't be," mumbled the young man as he remained on the futon, "that's just what I get for being so new to this whole thing…" before snorting quietly and adding, "I'm sorry too… for being a general wise guy and for dropping that F-bomb earlier. I didn't realize it'd affect you so much."

Ikaruga also let out a puff of air from her nose before answering, "Well, it was that and all of the other antics that were going on throughout the day… Either way, apology accepted… and… in all seriousness, I am sorry." Just as the young man was about to dismiss her actions as natural, the raven-haired girl cut him off, "And don't tell me not to be… I was hostile with you, who had explained your actions to all of us in as open a way as possible… I'm sorry."

The boy raised his head up a bit and mumbled a noise of thought. Then, after nodding to himself and closing his eyes, he simply replied, "Apology accepted…"

Ikaruga also gave him a nod before giving him a knowing smile. With nothing more to say, Ikaruga bid him a good night and made her way out of the apartment. Even as she tried to blow off everyone else's questions as to what she was doing, she was considering the young man's position with everything that was happening. Perhaps he liked Asuka and perhaps he didn't, but he wouldn't be able to act either way. Just like the circumstances that had brought him to face off against the shinobi in the first place, the young man was once again trapped in a lose-lose scenario. He could accept Asuka, or any of the other girls for that matter, and challenge the trust of all the shinobi he was meant to save or he could deny her and still challenge that same trust. Ikaruga didn't envy him… nor did she feel any abrasiveness against him. For the consideration and thought that he had to show in his actions, she felt she could give him a break… if only because she'd just feel guilty for not doing so.

As the Hanzō elite began to make their way home for the day, the young man cuddled into his futon and determined that he would save all of his chores and homework for the following morning before school. He needed to give his mind some time to not think at all. Plans for dealing with Asuka, Miyabi, and Yumi would have to wait. In that moment, he just wanted to sleep… and he'd be damned if he had to deny himself anymore than he had to.

Meanwhile, within the Gessen Academy dorms, Murakumo had just finished reaching a milestone for her comics. After nearly eleven hours of tiring work, she'd managed to ink and shade roughly a quarter of her next chapter and scanned it onto her computer for editing. Filled with a small sense of accomplishment and emboldened by her feat, she dared to trek toward the bathroom. Of course, it wouldn't a normal trip since she'd be leaving her mask behind.

After years of seeing their oldest sister hiding behind a mask, nearly everyone else considered it to be a part of Murakumo's body. They knew that, despite how much they tried to reassure the girl about how cute and beautiful she was, there was absolutely no chance even in the coldest parts of Hell that she'd willingly go a day without it. The only person to show dissent against that general consensus was Shiki, who'd time and again offered the same compliments to the girl's beauty. In turn, Murakumo would always refuse those compliments. It wasn't until she'd lost the mask some time back that she truly took her youngest sister's words into account. Thus, when she found the mask again, she made sure to sneak a genuine smile to Shiki to show appreciation for her kind words.

Since that day, Shiki's continued compliments to Murakumo never subsided and, after some egging on, the taller girl was eventually made to promise to try and leave her room without the mask a few times a month. Unfortunately, Murakumo had fallen extremely short on that promise since the beginning of the year but, on that April night, she was determined to try and live up to her word and surpass her fears. She would do what any comic hero would do: face her invisible oppoent and dive straight into danger.

Thus, after peeking out into the hallway with her mask on, Murakumo gently took it off and left it right inside her door before making a quick dash to the bathroom. The whole way, she didn't run into any company and was able to do her business without her newfound pride taking a nosedive.

Then, just as she was about to hoof it back to her room, she heard the sound of machinery coming from further down the hallway. Part of her wanted to take the time to head back and get her mask before investigating but the fact that the sound seemed to be coming from Yumi's room drove her to mindlessly trek forward. Before she could realize just how far she'd come without her mask, Murakumo was already standing outside the other third-year's door. Thankfully, she caught herself before she recklessly knocked on the door and began to make her way back.

Then, like something out of a horror movie, the door slammed open and a single hand reached out to grab hold of Murakumo's arm to yank her inside. The girl initially resisted with a frightened yell but was powerless against the ungodly force that pulled her into the lair. For a moment, she thought it would all end right there. Murakumo thought she was going to die and leave behind her loving sisters, her prized comic and figurine collections, and her lifesaving mask.

Then she realized that it was just Yumi and a wave of relief washed over her. But, just as the relief was let out in a single breath, Murakumo also realized that she was still without her mask and proceeded to claw at the door to get out before even a single word was exchanged.

It took a few minutes, between chasing the girl around the room and trying to quiet her down, but Yumi eventually managed to take some fabric and tightly wrapped it around Murakumo's face. The troubles didn't end there due to the fact that the fabric was extremely hard to talk through since it was tied so stiffly.

"Whm dn ou brgh ee n er? Nn wha ht?" came the muffled voice of the poor girl before she pointed her finger at the sewing machine sitting on Yumi's desk.

It took some effort on Yumi's part but, just like in similar scenarios from the past, she managed to make out her words. She glanced back at the machinery before explaining, "That there is the key to winning my rivalry with Miyabi… and, if it applies, Asuka. As for why I brought you in here…" the girl poked her fingers together before shyly stating, "I need your opinion on something…"

Murakumo tilted her head to the side, "Mm?" before shrugging and giving an approving wave with her hand, "Ll rgh, es ee what oo gu… uh mmai e uik. I wnn o ela ngha n on ai."

"I'm sorry to take your time… I'll be as quick as possible for you," stammered Yumi before she reached toward a bag where a neatly folded fabric rested, "I was just hoping you might give me your thoughts on this…"

With a single elegant pull, the girl unveiled her couple hours of work and Murakumo was beyond impressed. The fabric within the bag was actually a kimono folded beautifully so that the creases would only be at the elbows, belly, and knees. The overall design of it was absolutely stupendous too. Complimented by the lack of even a slight wrinkle, a thin but plushy material lined the cuffs and sash while the fabric was a smooth sky blue on the kimono's bottom half. On the top half was a beautiful design of flowers sprouting from snowflakes over a slightly brighter shade of blue. Then, to top it all off, a beautiful white kanzashi was clipped to the collar. Murakumo was sure that, if clipped into Yumi's hair, the ornament would be the cherry on one of the cutest, and even a bit sexy, kimonos that she'd ever seen. Considering the fact that the sewing machine certainly wasn't there the day before, it was likely made under intense pressure and with complete concentration

"E eey ik ee. Heh looa rin oud ree ou rr ez… Eh anzaai oo! Ou ll e eele ut…! U… whm e ou mme es?"

Yumi averted her eyes as a bit of pink tinged her cheeks, "Well… you're aware of my… feelings, right?"

Murakumo scratched at the fabric tied around her face, "Mm… ou eele ik he-"

"Call him by his name," ordered Yumi once she realized her sister was about to address the young man as just an infiltrator.

Thus, the boy's muffled name came out before Murakumo further questioned elaborately, "Ut whm? Whm o es rr? E igh ae ssaed ou u e on' eele et whm- o. E on' et nn ou ee n em… oud ou eas… ll mm?" Yumi's eyes fell a bit, fearing the questions were of a disapproving nature. Fortunately, Murakumo caught on to how her own words must have sounded. To make sure there was no confusion between either of them, she further explained, "On' ree… ees ot d. E oe t… Es us… ou em o tro bou es… em orree bou ou…"

Calmed by her sister's unusually warm words, Yumi closed her eyes and smiled, "I suppose I've come off a bit… strong ever since I've realized how I felt about him. Even in making this kimono," she neatly folded the garment and rested it back into her bag, "I'm sure I've come off as a bit… obsessive." Needing to take a moment to compose herself, Yumi smiled after letting out a breath, "And, to speak honestly, he's certainly been on my mind enough that… anyone who accused me of it wouldn't be wrong… But I like him. I truly like him. But… knowing that Miyabi and, for all I know, Asuka have made their moves on him…? I don't want to lose. I hate losing in general but…" Yumi briefly clenched her fist before feeling it come loose in a moment of weakness, "I really don't want to lose this battle… but I don't really know what I should do to win…"

To see Yumi falter a bit in the way she did ripped a bit at Murakumo's heart. Despite the fact that the girl wasn't the oldest of the bunch, Yumi still took on the responsibilities of what was expected of the oldest sister. She gave advice, helped with the chores, made time to speak with her siblings whenever they were troubled. Murakumo was more than content with such an arrangement but, whenever she saw a moment of weakness, she couldn't help but feel like she was dodging a responsibility that she should've been taking on. Thus, while seeing Yumi faltering due to a lack of confidence, a feeling that Murakumo was more than familiar with, it was time for the oldest to step up to the plate.

"Umi…" she uttered under her breath before gripping the girl's shoulders to give as much encouragement that she could pass on, "ou on' ose… ou'l en… ou'l en n he st o u il e erin ou n! Ou n o e!"

Though it took the powerful words a moment to register with the girl, Yumi's jaw dropped before her face brightened. She pumped a fist and nodded her head, "You're right… Thank you." After a moment of trying to build herself up, Yumi turned around to the kimono she sewed before her eyes fell to the other shopping bags she bought. Getting passed the fact that she felt a sincere love for the man who saved her, she couldn't give up after all the investment that had gone into her plan. She couldn't give up on the effort that Yozakura and Minori had already put in… She couldn't give up on the planning that Shiki had given… and with her last sister joining in to encourage her toward the finish, Yumi knew that she also couldn't give up.

She would win. She silently marked her words that, by the end of her love story, she would be kissing the young man's lips to convey all of her appreciation for both him being the rescuer she needed and for him simply being him.

April 18 – "Being straightforward is a challenging thing. The weight of honesty is a double-edged sword that will cut both the sender and recipient… but people are often respected for it and are given a bit more closure once everything is said and done… and closure is gold, for those of you who don't know…"

"The target is in sight. He's heading down Wakariyasui's stairs as we speak."

"Who's the dude next to him?"

"Miki."

"…Could you elaborate on that? Who's Miki?"

"A guy we sang with. He's pretty good. Harmonized well with the target."

"…Alright."

"He won't be of any concern, will he?"

"Get off! Get-, Ngh-, Why aren't you in position!? Get back to-, AH! Yomi! I need help!"

"Don't worry, Hikage and I can complete the mission. It shouldn't be too difficult."

"ABANDON THE MISSION! HELP ME-"

There was a click as the phone call dropped before Haruka called into her end of the line, "Don't worry. We'll be where you need us if the situation gets out of hand- OUCH!"

Sighing a bit as she ended the call, Yomi pocketed her phone and peered out from the alleyway that she was hiding in before looking straight up to Hikage. Said girl was curled up and resting with heavy eyes atop an air conditioning unit, apparently ready to pounce when their target was in range. After taking a moment to brace herself, Yomi couldn't help but give Haruka silent commendation. In the ten minutes after Homura admitted to having feelings for both Asuka and the young man, she managed to put an entire plan together… it was just a shame that Yomi knew for fact that something was going to go wrong. Something always went wrong whenever Homura wasn't around to keep everyone else in line.

Meanwhile, the target of the makeshift operation was simply listening to Miki chatter away, tiredly mumbling things along the lines of, "Go on, go on. What happened next?" while he considered what to do for the rest of his Saturday.

And Miki would continue to chatter, "Well, at that point, it just turned into a bizarre dream. Like, one of those dreams that you have after you binge on donuts, sugar cookies, and other sweets. I don't know what it's technically called but I just call it a sugar-high dream. Anyways, in this dream in particular, I was sitting in the bathtub and scrubbing clean. All of sudden, I notice there's a toaster sitting next to the tub and then realize how dangerous that is and begin to flip shit. But in the middle of my panic, I also realize that my old game console was sitting next to it. An old school Fami just sitting next to my toaster in the bathroom. I thought the thing had been stolen years ago so I pick it up and smile. While I'm reminiscing about Kangy-Roo and Super Boom Brawl, I kind of realize 'Man, this thing is pretty damn dusty' and just drop it into the tub to soak… I woke up at that point… Not because I died in the dream but because I realized the system wouldn't work after that… Also, I never owned a Fami. My uncle, who isn't my uncle, did…"

After having finished the retelling of his dream from the night before, Miki turned his head to see if the young man was still following after him. Not terribly much to his surprise, since his old junior high friends always did the same, the young man was gone. However, after looking around a bit to see where boy disappeared off to, Miki realized that someone had taped a stick to his uniform's collar. On the end of that stick was a note that read, "Sorry, we had to borrow him. Urgent. Your hair looks nice so please don't be to mad. Tootles."

Needing to reread the note a few times, Miki tilted his head side to side before pinching a few strands of hair, "Uh… thanks… Where did…" and looked back and forth before blowing out a breath of air. He had no real issue with the fact that the young man was gone, aside from suddenly not having someone to talk to, but he wished he had a bit of forewarning. While Miki certainly wasn't as interested in the guy as a few of the girls from karaoke a few nights before, he did wish for a bit more time to hang out with him. In the end, he could only just shrug and mumble, "Freaky shadow ladies comin' out of nowhere and snatchin' the dude up…" before going about the rest of his day, wondering whether or not if his friend was about to take another beating.

It was around a minute later that the young man came to in the middle of an alleyway. He remembered a strong smell and a sudden blow to the back of his head. Standing above his laying form was Yomi and Mirai, discussing something about a note being given to Miki before they realized that the young man was waking up. At first, the smaller girl sputtered a bit and yelled, "Hey, you're supposed to be unconscious!"

Blowing off her frustration, the young man grumbled as he pulled himself into a seated position, "I have… so many questions… but there's one above the others that I need to ask…"

While Mirai was digging into her pocket to get something, Yomi kneeled down and asked with an innocent smile, "Certainly, if there's something that you're confused about, I'd be happy to answer."

Staring at the blonde like he'd just scene a buffalo on a unicycle, the young man blinked before clearing his throat and asking clearly, "Is there no such thing as a normal way of asking for someone to come hang out? Specifically, among shinobi?"

Yomi tilted her head, "Oh… um… do you mean like saying hi?"

"So that is a familiar word then," snarked the young man, "because I've just now been kidnapped after having been forced to join along on a jog and, the day after, have had my apartment broken into… And it hasn't even been a week yet… In all seriousness… Why don't you guys just say 'hi, could we have your attention for a few minutes or hours' or just do something along the lines of normal people…? I mean… come on…"

While Yomi didn't know much about the jog nor about his apartment getting broken into, she also didn't disbelieve that any of the other shinobi were capable of that. After a moment of pondering, she simply answered, "Well… I'm not sure if you want me to answer seriously or not-"

"I do."

"-but I can honestly say that you've been a bit of a unique-"

"Here!" cried Mirai as she pulled a small bottle out of her pocket and read it, "Chloroform! You're supposed to be unconscious! Go to sleep!"

The young man stared at her in the same way he would with a grown adult who couldn't spell the word 'gravy' or anything else that simple. Though he tried to maintain his silence, the boy couldn't help but ask, "What the hell is that supposed to do?"

Mirai shook the bottle as she emphasized every grumpy syllable, "Knock you out."

Once again, the young man just blinked before turning to Yomi, "Do they not teach you guys about this crap?"

Mirai balled her fists and screeched, "Don't blow me off!" but it was already too late as the boy had completely blocked her voice out.

Meanwhile, Yomi was busy answering timidly, "Well… to be honest, I think Homura and Haruka were the only ones who paid attention to lectures on chemicals… Back at Hebijo, I was often busy hiding toward the back of the class to study recipes, Hikage would fall asleep, and Mirai-"

"Wrote novels," shouted the girl, not regarding any of the passersby outside the alley, "because I already knew basic facts. For example: CHLOROFORM IS SUPPOSED TO KNOCK YOU OUT!" before reeling back her fist to try and punch the young man in the gut.

While the blow certainly wasn't painless, the boy showed no reaction as Mirai continued to throw her tiny fists into his stomach. After nearly ten seconds of her tantrum, she eventually gave up and crossed her arms like a denied child. Staring down at her critically, the young man frankly stated, "Chloroform knocks you out after about five minutes of application… and only for a few minutes unless the intake is consistent… so… You're not wrong but you're pretty wrong at the same time. Personally, I think it was the punch to the back of my head that got you this far."

Just as Mirai was about to offer a rebuttal, Haruka peered around the corner and cheerfully said, "My, sorry I'm late-" while waving around a hand with a bitemark, which brought a surprised scream of terror out of the smaller girl.

Somewhere from above him, the young man could hear Hikage's voice call from above, "Sorry, did I sleep through the mission?" and turned up his head to see her dangling by her leg, which was caught in a few wires from an air conditioning unit.

While Yomi sheltered Mirai from Haruka, who was eagerly vengeful for some reason, the young man could only raise up his hands before sputtering, "Wait-, what the hell is going on here!?" and proceeded to point his finger around, "Mirai's got chloroform, Haruka's out to kill her or something, Hikage's is on the verge of falling down and breaking her neck-"

"I'm actually doing pretty okay…" said Hikage as she began to swing herself back and forth.

"-Yomi's treating this situation casually, and Homura is MIA! What puzzle pieces am I missing here!"

While Mirai was trying pull herself away from Haruka's teasing grasp, Yomi and the latter girl exchanged looks before blinking. Eventually, it was the blonde who spoke, "Well… you see…"

Later that day, Homura was holding her head in her hands, "You guys not only tied me up and left me to launch this stupid operation of yours… but you also executed it in the worst way possible… and I mean that without even a tinge of humor…" before she peeked up to those sitting at the table within the cave that they all called home, "It sounds like it was literally the worst thing you've ever tried to do…"

"If it'd gone according to plan," Haruka murmured without any sign of guilt, "there wouldn't have been any witnesses nor would there have been such embarrassing displays," before shrugging nonchalantly, "Actually, subtract our poor execution and take into account that there actually wasn't any witnesses, it wasn't all that bad."

"Well, considering the fact that I was the target for this operation of yours," called the young man, who was sitting on the renegades' couch, "I veto any statements that would offer commendation to what you guys… tried to do."

Before anyone could object, Homura sighed and muttered, "Veto upheld."

Breaking her silence, Mirai loudly declared, "Just as a note, it was all Haruka's fault to begin with! She randomly decided to cancel her and I's place in the plan so that she could assault me!"

"And then you bit me," Haruka chimed, "so I feel that it is fair that you also share some of the blame to the plan's near-failure."

"That logic doesn't even make sense," came the young man's voice.

"I've got it handled," Homura called back as she turned to face the couch, "please just relax and keep that ice pack on your head."

"Alright…"

"Speaking honestly," said Yomi, who was shifting her shoulders back and forth, "The fault also kind of lies with Hikage on this one…" Once the mentioned girl murmured a noise of acknowledgement, the blonde stated, "You… got distracted by something and then, you know, our objective-"

"The objective has a name you know," growled the young man.

"I've got it handled, please shut up!" snapped Homura.

"Right… sorry…"

"-walked past the ambush point. If it weren't for… Miki, the other boy? If it weren't for his talking, it all would have been unsalvageable."

A few pairs of eyes fell on Hikage, who simply stated, "I thought I saw a gorilla spying on us… There was something large a few buildings down and it had a pair of binoculars… While trying to get a closer look, my foot slipped and I got caught in some loose wiring."

Everyone's eyes fell on the girl, doublechecking their memories to make sure that they heard everything right. "Have you got heatstroke again?" asked Mirai, legitimately a bit worried, "If so… you may want to lie down for a while."

"Maybe," muttered the emotionless girl.

The five renegades sat around the table in silence, unsure of how to continue after Hikage's comment before Yomi turned to Mirai, "You never told me where you got that chloroform from. The initial plan was just for Hikage to pounce and pull him into the alley when he walked by. At most, you would have been providing support if he tried to get away."

Mirai froze for a moment before stammering, "Well, if we're being honest, who cares why I had it? It worked didn't it?"

But Haruka shook her head, "It's like you've been told. Chloroform doesn't work that way."

Homura nodded before she further added, "Didn't you pay attention to the lectures on usable chemicals when we were still in Hebijo?"

"Yeah, well," grumbled Mirai before she pointed to Haruka, "maybe I wanted to keep something on hand so that creep with the fat sacks over there would keep away. Chloroform just so happened to be the first thing I came into contact with."

Upon receiving the insult, the older girl smiled before giving her chest a bit of a bounce, "Oh? Mirai, please, you needn't be afraid of them," and proceeded to spread out her arms, "Let me wrap you up so that you can give them as much of a feel as you'd like."

The little girl immediately looked to Homura, "Oh dear God, please don't let her touch me…"

The tanned girl shrugged before stating, "Well, I'm not God but…" before patting her hand against the table, "I'll declare this place a neutral zone until we sort everything out."

"What else is there to sort out?" asked Yomi.

Slightly throwing her hands into the air, Homura grumbled, "Maybe the fact that you tried to kidnap a guy who's probably already on edge from all our dealings with him. What the hell were you thinking!?"

Eager to hear the explanation for his assault, the young man perked up one of his ears to listen in. Despite how quietly Yomi tried to whisper, the boy could hear her as clear as day… but he definitely wished that he hadn't. Not after his hearing about Yumi's feelings, not after the chaos with Miyabi, not after Asuka's confession… He wished he had fallen off the face of the Earth then and there.

"We were hoping to interview him since you said you liked him. Something simple to make sure he was as honest as he makes himself out to be and a fair match for you…"

The young man's eyes widened and his skin paled to complete white as he continued to sit on the couch. He stopped breathing and he was fairly sure that his heart had stopped for a bit. After a moment of replaying what was said, he couldn't help but mutely growl under his breath, "You have got to be fucking kidding me…"

Fortunately, he wasn't heard.