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.

32. Chapter 32: Bygone Standoff

Heart of the Infiltrators

(Senran Kagura x Male Reader)

Chapter 32: Bygone Standoff

Oda closed his eyes before he looked back down to his phone resting on the restaurant table, "You'd still have me butcher him? Even after everything I've told you about the boy?"

The deep voice of a woman on the other end of the call murmured something incoherent before she spat, "I'm saying that, if you show you're picking sides between infiltrators and dignitaries, the other side is going to come in force. If we want to come off as impartial to both, kill the boy and send a message."

"Daidōji," barked Rin as she stood from her tatami mat beside Oda and jabbed her finger down to the phone, "the dignitaries are already preparing to make a move. Kiriya's still keeping an eye on them but he's sure that they're gathering weapons in the factory district. Large ones."

"And the secret service has already gone on secondary alert," retorted Daidōji. "That matter will be dealt with before they even have a chance to launch a terrorist attack."

"The Russians had the same plan a few years back," mumbled Oda in a gruff voice, "but that didn't stop that attack at Sheremetyevo Airport. Plus, the church bombings across the United States last summer had plenty of warning… Yet, with a little switcheroo in attack locations, dignitaries were still able to get away with it." Before the woman on the other end of the line could argue, he continued, "Like it or don't, Daidōji, the dignitaries won't change their plans if we spare one infiltrator and I won't consider that argument to my decision valid."

There was a bit of silence before a reluctant, "Very well," came from the phone. After a few seconds of silence, Daidōji questioned, "Well, if you're going on the offensive against Tsao, you'll need me down there."

"Absolutely not," replied Oda as he impatiently thumped his hand against the table, "Continue your investigation through Kyoto and make sure there aren't any lingering threats going for the Prime Minister." Before he could receive a reply, the large shinobi pressed his head toward the phone as he quietly threatened, "You'll make sure that those Yōma stay put down. I'm clear?"

"Very much so," came Daidōji's level reply, "but who'll be hunting Tsao?"

Taking a breath to relax, Oda sat himself back onto the tatami mat and explained, "I've already spoken with a few division leaders. Ultimately, they're bringing Onoda's advanced team back from Taiwan."

"Haven't heard from her in a while," replied Daidōji, "at least, not since those Yōma started to spark up in Yunlin County."

The front door to the restaurant opened and Homura awkwardly peeked her head inside, silently mouthing to the adults as their heads peeked up, "Is it a bad time?"

Rin shook her head and gestured for the girl to lead everyone in before she took the opportunity to ask Oda, "Last I heard, there were still a few Yōma attacks in Yuanchang and Dongshi. Should Taiwan be without reinforcements?"

"The sightings and attacks are still underway," admitted Oda with a nod of his head to the woman beside him while ignoring the group of teenagers streaming into the restaurant, "but, fortunately, Hong Kong's division has agreed to send a sizeable mop up force. They're less experienced but Yōma sightings in the rest of southeast Asia have been negligible for a while now… About eighteen months? Either way, they have the forces to spare and they'll be sending them. As of now, Onoda's expected to arrive within forty-eight hours."

"Alright then," came Daidōji's voice, "I'll continue overwatch in Kyoto… Just be wary of that infiltrator."

Oda looked up and locked eyes onto the young man, who was standing toward the back end of the group, "Always."

With a click, the line dropped as the two adults moved their eyes between everyone present within the room before they settled onto one face. Staring right back at them without even a blink, the young man nodded and took a breath. Once he calmed his nerves and anxiety, he moved to the tatami mat opposite from Oda's side of the table. After falling to his knees and sitting on his feet, the young man asked, "Have you reached a decision on my offer?"

Letting a breath of air out his nose, Oda reached to a briefcase he had rested underneath the table, released both of its locks, and popped it open. Upon hearing the sound, some of the girls had to restrain their raging instincts to draw weapons and form a defensive formation. Yet, once Oda produced a piece of paper from his case and rested it on the table, they all took relieved breaths and relaxed their bodies. At the same time, the young man didn't break eye contact with the shinobi before him and willed himself to keep his eyes averted from the paper. After a few seconds of silence, Oda cleared his throat and asked, "This, if I understood you correctly yesterday, is what you are after? 'A signed document that I'd let you go,' is what you said?"

Once the words finished coming out of the shinobi's mouth, the young man's eyes darted to the document and skimmed it through. He came across words like "In accordance with the power vested" along with "for any crime committed from any prior date to 4/20" followed by "Exception, determined by one or a full board of senior officials, will be granted to certain activities which would normally be labeled as assault, criminal conspiracy, criminal trespass, and espionage" was capped off by "This document hereby pardons and prohibits prosecution to" and was marked with the young man's name with Oda's signature right beside it.

"The exception, in this case," the shinobi started in a quiet voice, "is in reference to your continued correction to all of the girls… I know you'll need to finish that before you can be free. While I made a mistake- no." Oda shook his head and took a heavy breath, "I made a choice in pursuing you for the wrong reasons. A bad choice since I never made myself aware of your circumstances and acted emotionally. But, after today, I hope you'll believe me when I say that I aspire to be a fair man."

Feeling his jaw slowly fall lower and lower in continued shock, the young man repeatedly read line after line in the letter, carefully observed the stamps of authority, and did his ultimate to decipher the legal language to see if there were any tricks. But, after taking nearly two minutes to rip the document's words apart, he determined that there were no hidden daggers that would come to stab him in the back. By all ways, means, and intentions, the document before him was an official government letter which pardoned all of his activities up to that point. Feeling as though he'd just scaled a mountain, the young man looked up and stammered, "I-, to speak frankly, I really don't-, I… This…?"

"Even if our deal today falls through, it's yours. I don't want to let circumstances beyond control weigh in on you legally," stated Oda before he quickly held up a hand, "Though, if you decline to share the information on Tsao, I won't be willing to make any exceptions for your future corrections." He turned his head away for a moment, "I'm sorry to hold your arm against your back," before he met the boy's eyes, "but Tsao is a demon that I must bring an end to."

Nodding his head, still not expecting such a gift, the young man slid the document back to the middle of the table before he looked down to his shaky hands. After a few seconds of focus, he calmed himself down and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone while murmuring under his breath, "There won't be any need to worry about that… What I have here should satisfy you." With his stoic persona quickly slipping away, Oda leaned his head forward in anticipation and had to restrain himself from clasping his hands together like an eager child about to receive a birthday present. After a few seconds, the young man began to explain, "I spent most of last night compiling all of the information I could remember about Tsao. It's all there. Every residence… every bar he's ever become a patron of… the fake names he's been using online… information on some of the people he frequently takes with him on missions…"

"And his family? His wife and daughter?" asked Oda, raising a brow while supposing the young man got cold feet.

"It's there," replied the young man in a low voice while Yozakura's gaze burned into the back of his head. After a moment, he raised a finger, "Ah… While I'm in no position to make further requests after I give you said information… I hope you can at least do me one favor?"

"Speak freely," answered Oda, "I'll tell you upfront if I can or can't do it."

Feeling his fingers get shaky again, the young man's jaw quivered while he asked as politely as he possibly could, "My sister-in-law, while aware of the fact that her husband's an infiltrator, is…" He tried to think up something quick, anything that would fend off Oda, "She's not one herself… And my niece is only an eight-year-old…" Keeping his eyes laser focused on Oda, the boy murmured, "I beg that you don't hurt them."

A few red flags went up in the girls' heads as they turned to one another, remembering when the young man specifically addressed his sister-in-law as an infiltrator. Pushing her mind past the lie he just told Oda, Murakumo couldn't help but notice that Yozakura was slowly turning her head to the side while her eyes fell to the ground. On the other hand, between the girls' startled reactions and a memory from the other day, the large shinobi could only take a breath and ask, "Did you happen to forget that you called your sister-in-law an infiltrator yesterday? Were you lying then or just now?"

Immediately, the young man made a frustrated sound while his lips were pulled down. Hating himself for the fact that he dared to say something without thinking it through, he began to murmur, "I… lied just now, I did… But-, hold on-, You don't need to hurt them." His eyes locked onto Oda, "Nian is only eight and her mother-, Don't-, she's never gone on a mission. Never. Please, believe me when I say that…"

"Don't lie to me ever again," threatened Oda in a low voice while pointing his finger at the young man. After a few seconds, he rubbed at his chin and took a long breath into his nostrils. Beside him, Rin watched anxiously to see what he would do or say before she turned back to the girls. Then Oda let out a grunt before tiredly saying, "If your sister-in-law offers no violent resistance… then she won't be hurt." Then he patted his large fingers against the table and retorted, "And, seeing as I'm a father, myself… That little girl… You called her Nian? She won't have a finger laid on her. You have my word on that."

Letting out a breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding, the young man felt a small wave of relief run through him. Without further delay, he brought up his phone and sifted through a few icons before his eyes narrowed onto his target. Thinking he had composed himself, the young man tried to ask Oda something in a level voice. Yet, when he opened his mouth, the only thing that came out was a quiet, "…email…?"

Oda extended his unwavering hand, "I can type it out for you," before gesturing to the young man's.

Looking down to his fidgety fingers, the boy quickly realized that he wouldn't have been able to type anything onto his phone until he calmed down. Without any resistance, he gave his phone to Oda while pondering why he was so panicked. At first, the young man began to question if he was really so concerned for his sister-in-law and niece. For a moment, he believed that his bond with them was stronger than he initially thought. But, when he remembered the fact that he was willingly handing them over to Oda, the young man solidly denied such a feeling. He was thoroughly convinced that, because of what he was willing to do, there was no way he could have such affection for them. Once he scratched off that option, he struggled to think of whatever else could be causing his anxiety to spike.

Amidst his pondering, a gentle hand rested itself onto his shoulder and began to soothingly caress its thumb against him. Keeping himself from jumping in surprise, the young man looked up and found Miyabi staring right back at him without much visible emotion. While her lips were unreadable nor did many of her facial features leave much to be implied, her eyes were soft and sympathetic to his plight. At that moment, with his own face falling tiredly, the young man decided that he must have been so nervous because he was worried about what the girls were thinking. After all, if they didn't trust him, he wouldn't have been able to correct them and he wouldn't be able to earn his freedom. That made much more sense. By the time Asuka clasped onto his other shoulder and began to rub his head, the young man had already settled on the fact that he was still just a selfish piece of shit, like he'd always been saying. Once the back of his head was pulled into an embrace against the brunette's chest, the young man wasn't dwelling much on the subject anymore and his hand had quit its shaking.

Seeing that the boy had finally calmed down, Oda offered back his phone to him while asking, "Are you emailing me this information?"

"It's all typed out on a cloud document," replied the young man as he pulled away from the two girls behind him and took the device back, "one of those weird ones where a bunch of people can look at and edit it all at once." He tapped a few icons and showed Oda his phone, "As of now, you own all rights to it. I can edit it or try to delete everything but you'll receive of notification of whatever has been changed. Then, with the push of a button, you'd be able to read or undo it in seconds."

Oda tilted his head to the side and asked, "Why would you still want to be able to edit it?"

"In case I come upon more information about Tsao," answered the young man. "Once the hunt for him begins, he may catch wind of it and will begin to maneuver to evade your pursuit or, more likely, try to take you by surprise. If I catch word about anything he does, I can add it onto the document, you'll get the notification, and your plan can be changed according to the circumstances."

The only sound that came out of Oda's throat was a grunt of quiet shock. Without much more to say, he offered, "Thank you…"

"Promise me one thing though," ordered the young man, his voice turning very suddenly with an edge of complete command.

Oda leaned himself forward with evident curiosity, "If it's about before, your sister-in-law and niece won't be hurt-"

"This is about your own people," stated the young man, locking his serious eyes onto the shinobi before him. After a moment, he continued, "If you're really and truly going after Tsao, bring an army of your best. Do not underestimate him under any circumstance. Be paranoid, study the locations you anticipate meeting him at, assume he always knows what you're doing… Otherwise, you and everyone who comes along for the ride will be walking straight into a slaughterhouse." The young man took a breath and blinked before thumping his hand against the table, "Pardon me for speaking frankly… but if you and Tsao went up against each other, one on one with no surprises…" He clenched his eyes closed for a moment, "I've heard about your abilities and knack for fight… I've never seen it, myself, but I've got the gist…" before opening them again, "But I've also heard stories about Tsao… I've seen him in action and have even sparred with him a few times… Between the two of you, there'd be no contest. He would win, even if you did give it your all."

Nodding his head to everything that was said, Oda remained silent for a bit. For a moment, the everyone else in the room thought that he had taken offense to the young man's assertion. But, once he compiled his thoughts, the man's eyes turned soft as he replied, "I'll take your advice… Thank you. For the information and your warnings… Thank you."

Offering a nod right back at the him, both the shinobi and infiltrator extended their hands to one another before giving equally firm shakes. Even if Oda's hand was five times the size of the young man's, there was a solid respect formed between both individuals. Without any signs of dishonesty or any intentions to deceive, the two men parted their hands from one another and gave resolved smiles.

The moment would have gone on longer, but Homura approached from behind the young man and patted his shoulder with a murmur, "Sorry to interrupt," and waited until he faced her before she asked, "Should we head on home? We still need to talk about what happened yesterday."

The young man gave an affirmative nod and was about to say something before Oda jumped in, "If you don't mind me being a part of this, I'd also like to know… Just to make sure, you're referring to when he was attacked, yes?"

Homura reeled her head back nervously before she held a hand up, "Yes-, Yes, sir… Though, you'll be busy with hunting Tsao. The rest of us can handle it."

As if her suggestion was the most unbelievable thing he'd ever heard, Oda snorted sarcastically out of his nose before stating, "Don't be absurd. As a senior member of the government," and pulled out his badge, "a senior member of the government's law enforcement," before placing it back into his pocket, "the matter of someone almost being killed with me present is one that I'm obligated to attend." Just as a few more girls moved their mouths to protest, Oda turned to the young man and said in an authoritative voice, "Speak honestly. Do you know who attacked you and why?"

Reeling his head back in surprise while Katsuragi was still trying to stammer an argument behind him, the young man made a quiet sound of acknowledgement before folding his hands in thought. He'd been doing his ultimate to keep the attack towards the back of his mind while trying to focus on putting off Oda's pursuit. With that matter having finally been settled, he had to confront his near-death experience and the consequences of telling it. Questions began to swarm his mind, wondering what the girls or Oda would do if they knew that Sato was his attacker. He wondered if, after telling them and waiting a night, a report would come out that his classmate had been pulled into an alley and butchered beyond recognition? Maybe the shinobi would just knab and torture her for more information before finally offing her? In truth, the young man didn't care much for Sato, seeing as she tried to kill him… But he did care about how her allies would react to any harm against her. Were they aware of him? Would they go on the offensive against the shinobi?

Amidst all of his thinking, Yumi stepped in-between Asuka and Miyabi to slowly and gently rub one of her knuckles against the back of the young man's neck. Jumping from the sudden feeling of pleasure, he turned around again to face her as she said, "It'd be best if we're honest, yes?" while closing her eyes with a soft smile.

When a beauty made such a suggestion in that cute manner of hers and grazed a hand against him in such way while he was still debating with his own thoughts, the young man had no argument to offer. Instead, as the girl continued to rub his neck while Asuka and Miyabi stared daggers at her, the young man simply turned himself back to Oda and stated, "I was attacked by a dignitary. A girl by the name of Sato Hazuki."

Immediately, the gentle hand on his neck retreated as many of the girls' eyes proceeded to go red with recognition. Much to Oda and Rin's bewildered eyes, Ikaruga grabbed the tatami matt under the young man and spun it around for him to face everyone. At the same time, Miyabi and Homura had gotten into his face and began to yap, "That girl you mentioned a while back!? The one who noticed us!?" while Asuka and Yumi were spouting lines like, "You should have told us! We would have taken care of it!" In the background, Ikaruga was sternly crossing her arms as Imu began to rub her forehead. Not far behind her, Ryōna mumbled about potentially doing something equally as frustrating as the young man so that she could receive equally vicious attention, to which Ryōbi just shook her head and harshly gripped the blonde's hair.

After nearly thirty seconds of the theatrical display, Imu asked the crowning question in a low voice, "Why didn't you take the opportunity to tell us yesterday?"

Eager to hear the young man's answer, everyone but Homura had fallen silent. Not even hearing the question, the tanned girl was too focused on pulling at the boy's cheeks while muttering, "After all I spouted to you earlier, there was more? You were still hiding things from us?"

"I inten'ed 'o 'ell 'ou 'ce 'e 'ere 'one wit' O'a," replied the young man through his opened lips as Homura continued to pull.

"There was no reason why you couldn't tell us before, dickhead-"

"Yu', I'm a dick'ead."

"-especially since you were pulled from the gates of death after that attack!"

From his side of the table, Oda asked, "It sounds like you've already had an encounter with this girl? Hazuki's her name?"

With his cheeks still being pulled, the young man turned his eyes over to the shinobi and made an affirmative noise. Stepping up to explain, Hibari stood next to Ikaruga and began to explain as Yagyū followed behind her, "When we were initially… Ah…" but trailed off once she remembered their initial circumstances with the young man, "…Mmhmm…"

"Hun'ing 'e," inserted the boy, whose cheeks were released by a still irritated Homura afterward.

Hibari reluctantly nodded, "We were initially hunting him with the use of our shinobi barriers but, while at his school, Sato reacted to our presence."

"If she's a dignitary," mumbled Oda as he leaned his mouth into his hands, "then seeing through a barrier would be no issue for her. Why didn't you pursue her back then?"

The pink-haired girl paused for a moment before sighing, "We weren't aware of it taking place," and gestured to the young man, "and he wasn't certain she was a dignitary."

The boy glanced up at her, "Throwing me under the bus?"

While Hibari froze up and gave an awkward smile, Rin gave a click of her tongue as she mumbled under her breath, "Speak of the devils… To think we were just talking about dignitaries some odd minutes ago," to which, Oda gave a sardonic smirk. After a moment of thinking, the woman turned to Miyabi and her comrades, "When I explained to you what an infiltrator was, did I tell you about the dignitaries?"

"No," replied the yellow-eyed girl, "I don't recall if they've even been mentioned to us."

"Well, then we can fill you in today," stated the young man, who began to rub his head. After a few seconds of thought, he ruffled his hair and grumbled, "Where do we even begin…?"

Oda, on the other hand, seemed to know how he wanted to approach the matter, "You may want to open up your minds." Once all of the girls looked to him, he stated, "There's a bit of history with this, the kind with unfilled gaps in-between." With that one sentence, everyone's attention fell to him with looks of curiosity and, in Katsuragi and Imu's cases, a bit of eagerness. Oda folded and unfolded his hands over his mouth for a moment, watching as a few girls sat themselves on tatami mats in preparation of a long story. The only ones who seemed unreactive to the news were, of course, the young man and Rin. Having the undivided attention of the room, Oda raised up his head and stated, "There's only one decent way to shortly summarize a dignitary: they're the antithesis to infiltrators."

Seeing a few of the girls' quirked brows, Rin took the opportunity to offer a few words to the larger shinobi, "I don't believe they know much of the history behind either group… nor their general principles."

Making a noise of acknowledgement and taking in a few confused shrugs, Oda ran a hand across the top of his head before grumbling, "Well, to put it simply," and proceeded by speaking in a clear voice, "Infiltrators are more-, are supposed to be more about liberty, freethinking, and the rights of an individual…" As if to make sure he'd gotten it right, Oda turned to the young man, who gave an awkward shrug before nodding his head. Shortly after, the shinobi continued, "On the other hand, dignitaries have been more about establishing unity, strict adherence to law, and putting groups or states before common individuals."

After rubbing at her chin for a bit, Ikaruga noted, "It sounds a bit like the cold war, in regards to the principles of the United States and the Soviet Union."

"And you're right to make that observation," replied Rin, who took a breath while attempting to tackle the subject before explaining, "Infiltrators were almost exclusively based out of Japan, with some supposed sightings during World War One in the Pacific. The first legally accepted report of them was during World War Two in the Battle of Okinawa… early April, if I recall correctly. While the accounts vary from each shinobi who took part, there were confirmed reports of infiltrators assisting the invading forces, clearing the way for the Americans with lethal and nonlethal guerilla tactics, and attempting to coerce their targeted shinobi into defecting during corrections… Anything to silently bring a win to the Allies." Rin scratched her head a few times before raising a finger, "As for dignitaries… their first sighting as a group was confirmed way earlier in Russia. Specifically, they made their private debut as an extreme political party on Bloody Sunday, assisting Tsar Nicholas' Imperial Guard by shooting down protesters. Ultimately, they were hunted and smoked out of the country by the next regime and immigrated to Japan. From there…" After some recollective thoughts, Rin clicked her tongue before shaking her head in resignation, "They must have learned about the infiltrators and their methods at some point, started establishing themselves in private sectors… and, I suppose, started recruiting. Their next confirmed sighting, during the bombing of Tokyo, was when a correction took place on a few defending shinobi-"

With narrowed eyes, Ryōbi exclaimed, "Dignitaries can perform corrections too!?" while everyone else around her straightened their backs in alarm.

"In a way," murmured the young man before he sighed and interjected, "Their manner of correcting people is far different than any infiltrator though. Hell, I'd consider Tsao's methods to be more… humane… than what the dignitaries do."

Everyone was shocked when Oda nodded his head in sure agreement, even if he let out a groan while doing so. As the rest of the girls were still recovering from that stupefying sight, Yagyū turned to the young man and dared to ask, "Could you elaborate? What do they do?"

The young man dragged out a breath before turning himself to the four girls he'd corrected, "You guys remember how it was with your corrections right? We sat down, talked, and worked our way through it?" Once they nodded their heads, with Miyabi and Yumi's cheeks heating up ever so lightly, he continued, "Imagine the opposite with dignitaries. Where infiltrator's need time, maybe days, to prepare, a dignitary can be done in seconds. No need to even plan. It can be as spontaneous as they'd like it to be. The need for complete trust or distrust with infiltrators? Dignitaries don't require either. If someone is only concerned about quickly severing a shinobi from distortion, dignitaries would be there go-to."

"There's a catch," replied Imu in a voice etched with caution. "There must be a cost for their speediness."

"You're right to assume so," retorted the young man. Keeping his head turned to the four whom he corrected, the young man iterated in the clearest voice he could muster, "The reason an infiltrator takes days for a correction is to ensure that the shinobi's personality, the bit of it which was distorted to be specific, can be preserved." He took a breath before stating, "Dignitaries bypass all those barriers. They'll jump into someone's head, sever the distortion, and leave before anything else can be done. Never mind any damage to someone's mental state caused by being so blunt, the personality which was cut away with the distortion won't be accepted back into the shinobi's consciousness… and they'll be left as they are. Unless someone with the same training as an infiltrator or dignitary is nearby to undue the damage, that person will never be who they once were ever again." Tapping at his forehead, the young man said through a grimace, "In short, dignitaries deliberately inflict near-irreversible brain damage onto an individual to spare themselves the effort of repairing them."

There was an unbending silence throughout the room. Oda, Rin, and the young man remained silent so that the girls had time to process their newfound information. Then, speaking out from the back of the crowd, Hikage made her presence known by suddenly saying, "I'm going to head out."

Everyone turned around in confusion. After a few quiet and awkward seconds, Asuka tilted her head and asked, "Ah… do you have to use the bathroom?"

"No, I'm going to go kill Sato," came the simple reply.

"Don't!" called both Oda and the young man upon hearing her. The latter stood up and pushed through the crowd to rest his hand on her shoulder.

From behind him, he could hear Miyabi call to him, "Why stop her? It would save us a lot of trouble in the future. Plus, with her being a part of the dignitaries and the one who attacked you, I don't see why there should be any sympathy for her."

Hikage gave a shrug to the young man and stated through her blank stare, "I'll be quick."

"That's not my concern."

"I won't get spotted."

"That's also not my concern."

Hikage blinked, "Should I off her family too?"

Covering his face with his free hand, the young man exclaimed, "No!"

"It'd be best," yelled Oda as he shot up from his mat, "if you stood down!" and proceeded to point a finger to the girl before curling it back as a gesture to summon Hikage back.

Giving into the two men's objections, the girl shrugged, said, "Alright," and stepped back to the crowd of girls, who were all confused by the objections their friend had gotten.

Even Asuka, who was more than inclined to let go most of the people she came into conflict with, proclaimed, "I… I really don't want to say it but that girl is dangerous. While I don't think killing her is the… best option we have, should we really be letting her go?"

"We won't be letting her go," proclaimed Oda before sticking up two fingers into the air, "but you're neglecting a couple of things." Once the room was quieted again, with the confusion being replaced by a disconcerted interest, the large man continued, "One: we don't know how many dignitaries are in on that girl's plot. Perhaps she had a team providing overwatch during her attack or maybe she's just been keeping her parents in the know. Either way, it's thoroughly unlikely that she'll be alone at this point, presuming that Sato's aware of the fact she hasn't killed her target."

"She is," replied the young man. "As I said before, we're classmates. All today, she'd been keeping an eye on me, giving me looks like I was some two-headed bird." After a moment, he looked back up to Oda and asked, "If you don't mind me pressing, what's the second thing? My concern extends as far as the fact that other dignitaries may be involved."

"Due process," replied the large shinobi with unblinking eyes.

The young man blinked and gestured for Oda to continue, "No, seriously, what is it?"

"Due process."

"Oh."

Sighing as he read into the feelings that had to have been bouncing around in the young man's head, Oda quickly elaborated, "Look, I know that you've positively identified her and that I fully believe you on that matter. There is no doubt in my mind that Sato Hazuki is a dignitary. However, if I were to go after her with the full extent of the law, I'd need something to justify it to everyone who'd be involved: fellow shinobi's, clerks, other people who hold positions equal to mine, courts…" The man shook his head while clenching his eyes, as though he were in pain, "If I only use your words and my intuition, that won't be enough to solidly convince any judge."

Immediately, Katsuragi slammed her forehead down onto a table and mumbled a few curses while Imu whispered, "And~ this is why it's easier to be an evil shinobi. Straight past this kind of crap and into solving the issue while its young."

As the discontent was echoed throughout the room, save for Ikaruga and Yozakura as they reluctantly nodded their heads, Oda held up a defensive hand to the young man's dissatisfied looks, "This is how I do things. I'll keep an eye on the girl, gather concrete facts that point to her being a dignitary, and will move in if things turn violent."

"You're forgetting something," retorted the young man as his eyebrows hung angrily. "It only takes a few seconds for her to force a correction. If she weaponizes it against the girls-"

"I've already told you that I'll be watching!" growled Oda. He kept his eyes locked on the young man before forcing himself to relax. It took a few reminders that the young man had already faced off against the girl and nearly died from it but, despite how aggressive he was a moment before, Oda steadied his breathing and managed to say, "If nothing else, I'm giving her the same chance I gave you." He waved a hand into the air before thumping it down into the table, "I knew you weren't a civilian since that time we sat in this restaurant roughly a week ago." After a few seconds, Oda shook his head, "Yet, I took the time to gather concrete evidence of your status as an infiltrator. I recorded audio of you talking about it, videoed you repairing your… gadget-glasses thing through the window, and took the time to level my head after I realized you were Tsao's brother." Straightening his back away from the table, Oda quietly said, "I gave you those chances. I didn't attack or bring you harm until yesterday… Even then, letting you get harmed was a mistake." He shook his head and stood up from his mat, "I don't know about you, but everyone else deserves that same chance… Even if their name is Sato Hazuki."

At the end of it all, the young man's eyes fell. While a few of the girls were still grumbling about the matter in the background, he couldn't deny Oda's logic. Even if the circumstances that led to his confrontation the other day weren't the result of him violently attacking anyone, the same doubt that was offered to the young man had to be applied to Sato. That was the way it was for any average person, which was what he aspired to be. After all of his thoughts, the only thing the young man could say was, "Keep an eye on her then…"

"You'll be protected," stated Oda, who walked around the table and lightly patted the boy's shoulder, "and, if all goes according to plan, we'll have her by the time my team gathers to move on Tsao." After a moment, he turned around to look back to the boy

The shinobi's eyes weren't met. "We can only hope…"

Throughout their journey back home, the young man and the girls were mostly silent. On their way to the train station, Murakumo quietly expressed her desire to think up a contingency plan in case Sato decided to go on the offensive again. However, once a few others began to echo the sentiment, the young man frustratedly pushed off the idea and replied, "A different time."

Even when Hibari and Minori started chime, "Come on~," and other like words, the boy remained stalwart in his desire to do nothing else for the evening.

On the train ride, just when quiet and peace seemed to hang in the air, Yozakura suddenly appeared beside the young man and commented, "This isn't really something we can put off for long."

In response, the boy held up a finger to his mouth and grumbled, "I just want some time to think everything over, that's all. Once I'm calmed down, then we can talk about it later. Maybe tonight, more likely tomorrow. Just…" After a moment, his hand slipped back to his side as he leaned back into his seat, "I just need a bit of time to mull everything over."

"Aren't you free now?" Yozakura mumbled as she turned her head away, spitefully retorting, "Didn't Oda give you a pardon for everything? Shouldn't that be a huge weight off your back? All that's left is correcting us and getting Sato off your back."

The young man responded only by turning his head away from her, his grimace embedding itself further and further into his features. At that point, Yozakura felt as though she'd gone too far. Her eyes turned soft and she opened her mouth to apologize before the words got choked in her throat. Despite her wishes, nothing would come out of her mouth. Thus, feeling both ashamed and indignant, the girl just went back to her seat while everyone watched the scene from afar.

Fortunately, the walk back to the young man's apartment was much quieter than the rest of the journey. Perhaps it was uncomfortable, with stares turning back and forth between him and Yozakura, but the former was pleased to just have the time to think over everything that had happened. On the downside, his thinking was extremely looped. All he really did was replay everything that had happened up to that point. From his initial excursion into Hebijo Academy to the moment when Sato delivered what should have been her killing blow. There was so much stress and weight pressing on his shoulders, so many right and wrong decisions the young man made, and so much he wished had gone differently…

After thinking it over, he wanted nothing more than to be left alone so that he could do absolutely nothing and cease all thinking. Even if it wasn't sunset, the only thing he desired was to push away any disturbance for a while longer and sleep.

By the time everyone came back to the apartment's parking lot, which was laden with sleeping bags and makeshift tents made from sheets, the young man was about to make for his bed in the building. Yet, as fate would have it, Jasmine and Hanzō needed it to recover from the injuries they took on for him. So, instead, the young man settled for heading straight to his sleeping area away from the girls'. A few of the shinobi who stayed to care for the injured pair were awaiting at the lot's entrance, offering awkward waves as memory and anticipation ate away at them.

In particular, Shiki broke off her conversation with Yomi, approached the young man, and began to say, "So, the handoff-," only for the boy to continue past her and press on toward his sleeping bag. The blonde stuttered a few times before turning around after him, "Ah… Actually, I had a few questions-"

"Asuka- no, Yumi," called the young man in a tired voice as he came to a stop.

From where she was walking toward the head of the pack, the girl began to quicken her pace to approach the young man, "I'm coming."

Before she could make it, the young man requested, "Could you please fill everyone else in? On everything? I'd like to take some time yet," before continuing on his way.

Not willing to let his moodiness go, Miyabi let out a humph, nodded to Yumi, and gave chase. Within a few seconds, she was already right behind the young man and matching his quickening pace, "What's wrong?"

"A bit of time, Miyabi," he grumbled, "Just a bit of time."

"Not until you tell me what's wrong," she said, gripping for his arm while the young man repeatedly swatted her away. After a few more failed attempts to gently stop him, Miyabi harshly grabbed ahold of his elbow and demanded, "After everything today, I began to think you'd be a bit more open with us."

"I just need time to sort myself out," stated the young man, frustratedly turning himself around to meet her with harsh eyes. "Just one night and I can talk to you guys in the morning… For now," he rose his hand up to his forehead and stammered, "even-, right now, even I don't know what's got me so heated and tired… No, I do. It's just…" He began to spin around the fingers of his free hand before stating, "It's like a messy mailroom in my head right now. There are so many thoughts and I know what they're all about… I just-," and waved his hand through the air, "I need time… to sort it all through… Give me time."

Seeing the exasperation in his eyes while taking his tired words in, Miyabi stood silently before giving the boy a resolute nod. After a moment more, she released him and asked, "Can I just… say one thing?"

Dragging a long breath into his nose, the young man moved his mouth to decline before catching the needy look in the woman's eye. Without blinking, she was looking down to him with her lip slowly curling downward. How such a mature woman could come off as so cute, he would never know. Dropping the rejective words that he was going to say, the young man instead replied, "Of course… Whenever you need to…"

Having passed her first obstacle, Miyabi was about to let out a sigh of relief until she realized that she came upon the greater challenge. She reminded herself that she'd been practicing for the moment she'd just walked into, working on controlling her emotions and reactions to sudden things. When everything had begun to unfold on the night before the last, she maintained her composure and braced for the worst from Oda. Yet, when facing down the boy before her, and trying to talk about her feelings, Miyabi was suddenly reduced to goop. All of the times she faced shinobi and Yōma no longer mattered to her, since it only took the narrowed eyes of a single person to crumble her entire persona of complete confidence and strength.

So, rather than say what she just wanted to say, Miyabi began to stammer, "W-, we-," then cleared her throat while closing her eyes, "You see… I know that you… already know…" before her eyes shot open and her body broke out into shivers.

The young man quirked a brow, "Are… are you good?" before he realized what she was trying to do, "Ah, you don't-"

Ignoring his question and what he was about to say, the girl sucked in her lips before stating, "I am not girly!" and pointed her finger at the young man, "B-, bu-, even so…! It should be noted that, as a person I find cute and attractive, you are…!" Trying to save herself, the girl through her fists into the air and began to wave them around, as though she were throwing a fit, and proceeded to exclaim in a cracked voice, "You are cute! I like that!" After a moment, she gripped her hair and pulled it over her eyes while spouting, "This isn't going the way I wanted it to but- I DON'T JUST LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU'RE CUTE!" Still trembling, she pulled her bangs apart and said as her tomato-red face shyly peered through to quietly murmur, "I… also accept those things about-, those things we talked about earlier… I accept them… You may be selfish but-," before pulling her head back to shriek loudly into the air. After a few seconds, she turned to face the young man with a quivering lip before stating, "I-, I-. I like you… that's all…" She shamefully held up one hand to the young man while the other covered her face, "I know that you know… I just… wanted to tell you for myself…"

With her hand still outstretched to him, the young man just stared silently with wide eyes. After a few seconds, he made an affirmative sound with his throat but couldn't bring himself to say much else for the immediate moment. With her tail between her legs, Miyabi hung her head, let her arms fall to her sides, and turned around to walk away until a minute sound caught her ears. After a few seconds, she heard it come again more clearly, "I acknowledge your feelings…"

She turned around to the young man, who was already walking back to his sleeping area while spouting, "We can talk about it tomorrow with the others… after school…" When Miyabi looked closely, she could see the tomato-red shade of his ears. For some reason, the sight of it brought a soft smile to her face. Even if it took the complete destruction of her self-esteem and caused a scene in front of everyone, Miyabi considered it a victory when she saw the effect she had on the young man.

Catching sight of her smile as it slowly grew more confident, Yumi grumbled in a low voice from behind her, "Certainly, with how you speak, you were born to be a great leader…"

Upon hearing her rival's sharp words, Miyabi's face was sharply drained of emotion before she turned back around and proceeded to reach for her katana.

Just as a loud scuffle began to take place between the two, with many people trying to pull the them apart, the young man approached his sleeping bag and zipped it open. He slipped off his shoes, unbuttoned his school overshirt to toss it aside, and quickly buried himself into the bag. With a long and satisfying zip until it was completely closed, the young man had officially secluded himself and could take the time to not think about anything. He already knew what he was going to do the next day. Like always, he would fight and press on. But, in a rare moment when he had time to spare, the young man just wanted to unwind and do nothing at all. Aside from all the background noise, with the sound of Yumi and Miyabi's clash intensifying, there hadn't been a more relaxing moment for the young man since his time in the Hanzō Academy infirmary.

At one point, he began to nod off. The day and its predecessors had finally caught up to the young man and drained all of the energy he had to spare. His eyes got heavy, despite the fact that he could still see sunlight through his sleeping bag, and he was about to take a long-awaited nap. Then, just as his luck would have it, he heard a loud but exhausted call, "Oi! Aren't you going to come up and check on us!?" After blinking a few times and thinking, the young man recognized the voice as Jasmine's. His immediate instinct was to bury his face into a pillow in hopes that she thought he'd fallen asleep. There was no such luck. "I know you can hear me! There's good news!"

The young man had no more patience as he loudly yelled, "I can't hear you as I am too busy being dead! I died! I blew up! A plane crashed into me after I was run over by train! I've been killed until I was dead…! Try again tomorrow!"

There was a moment of silence before Jasmine called back down, "Get up here!"

"Tomorrow!" cried the young man before he rolled the entire sleeping bag over and smothered the pillow into his face.

After that, there was a bit of silence and the young man thought his ordeal was over. Then Jasmine's voice rang back down to him, "Would you quit being a stubborn ass and, please, just get up here!"

Unzipping his bag while he did his utmost to hold back the words he desperately wanted to say, the young man stuck his head out and bellowed out in an animalistically vicious voice, "TOMORROW!" before retreating back into his bag.

No one else bothered him for the rest of the night. Even the neighborhood, which definitely heard his scream, was quieter than it usually was. The only thing he heard was a few comments from the girls, referring to him as a very, "charming," individual to the four girls who'd confessed to him. Their gossiping made the young man wonder if he was too much of an asshole for wanting to be alone amidst all the turmoil that was his life. Then, after a few seconds of considering, he decided that he really didn't care. He was a selfish individual who was only out to save himself. Nothing more and nothing less… though, he did feel regretful at times.

But what could be done? He could only move forward and that was what he fully intended to do.

April 21 – "Surprises are generated by two things: an action and the person performing it. For one to be perfect, both of those things cannot be expected."

The young man woke up to someone poking at his cheek. He groaned and mumbled a few things incoherently before a gentle hand unintentionally grazed itself into his eye. After letting out a quiet yelp, the young man shuffled around his bag before he unzipped and opened it up with clear irritation. He quietly barked, "What!" to the unknown intruder. There was a quiet squeal of fear, with the figure positioned next to the young man falling backward in alarm. After a moment and adjusting his eyes to the lack of light, as it was still a bit before dawn, the boy quickly recognized the figure, "Murasaki?" Once her scared purple eyes came into view, the young man let out a yawn as he asked, "Sorry, about that. What is it? You're alright?"

Clutching Bebeby close to her chest, who quickly ordered, "Shut up. She has to do something first."

Looking to the stuffed animal tiredly, the young man retorted, "Shut your face, bear."

Amidst the two's banter, Murasaki closed her eyes and craned her head toward the boy. Confused and put off by the inexplicable behavior on her part, he just pulled his head backward while his face fell into nervousness. Then, without further warning, the girl sniffed a few times. While the young man tilted his head to the side with narrowed eyes, Murasaki simply smiled and commented, "It's the same smell as always."

"I'm not sure if I find that creepy or… relieving?" mumbled the young man before he blinked. Then, after taking a moment to consider the girl's words, he crunched his neck over to sniff at his armpits, "You're not saying I smell… Are you?" A bit embarrassed and flustered, the young man started to stand up, "The bathroom should be open. I'll go shower."

"No, you're fine, you're fine!" stammered Murasaki as she frantically raised her arms to block the boy's movement while her face shook with panic. Once he was seated back onto his sleeping bag, she shyly scratched at her cheek before a small smile replaced her jittery frown. Before the young man could do anything else, she quickly stammered, "You smell like Imu… a bit like Ikaruga… but mostly Imu."

Staring up at her and blinking again, the young man first pinched himself to see if he was in a weird dream that he had no business taking part in. Then, after confirming his presence in reality, he quickly iterated, "I haven't slept with your sister… nor Ikaruga."

Again, Murasaki began to shake her hands, "No, no, no, no, no! Not like that, not like that!" It took a few seconds for her to calm down, mostly consisting of the young man giving an unsure thumbs up while she shook her head and caught her breath. Then, once she was no longer shaking, Murasaki held Bebeby closer as she stated, "When I smell people, I can tell who or what they're like." She extended a finger toward him, "In your case, you're like Imu. Serious-,"

"Oh, I think I see what you mean."

"-a bit imposing-,"

"Sorry for that."

"-fairly selfish-,"

"I can confirm this."

"-filled with a fair amount of lust and perversion-,"

"That sounds neat-, What?"

"-kind of a poser-,"

"Hold on, go back to that last one."

"-lonely, though you switch between regarding it positively and negatively-,"

"Hush. Roll it back a bit."

"Let her finish, pervert."

"You aren't involved in this, bear!"

"-determined to see yourself through whatever situation you're in, but you really don't like to be troubled by unplanned circumstances."

"Cool. Can we go back to the part that I can't ignore? I feel an urgent need to protect my reputation… even if there's none left to protect."

As the young man's face turned more and more frustrated by the second, Murasaki's small smile steadily spread out across her cheeks. Then, after his last comment, the girl quickly shook her head and said, "Don't be too fretful about what everyone else thinks of you."

Letting his eyelids droop, the young man retorted, "I'm afraid it's currently my business to be concerned about everyone's feelings about me." He raised up a hand and stated humorously, "Corrections require trust. No trust, no freedom for me. Leaves me a bit fretful."

Bebeby snidely bounced, "You mean to say you want to have an orgy with your harem, pervert?"

The young man jabbed his finger down to the bear, "You're asking for it, you little shit."

Murasaki patted her stuffed animal's head, "Hush, Bebeby," before looking back to the boy in front of her. Her smile dipped a bit as she said, "I think you misunderstood. You shouldn't be fretful because everyone… already likes you in some way or another." Before the young man could say anything, Murasaki puffed her cheeks and murmured, "Aside from Miyabi and the other three who confessed to you… Ryōbi and Ryōna are fairly fond of you…" She began to grimace, "Hikage is attracted to you…" The arms she had wrapped around Bebeby's neck began to squeeze, producing an airless sound from the bear, "Minori thinks your cool, Yozakura wants to… 'help' you," before her pale cheeks began to redden in frustration, "Katsuragi has a desire to jump you, though her own confusion hinders her on this," and finally narrowed her eyes so that she could look straight into the young man's soul, "and Haruka's lust would know no bounds with you…"

Staring back at her with his lips tightly pressed together as his body quaked in terror, the young man could only stammer, "I see…"

Murasaki's grip around Bebeby's neck loosened, to which the bear let out a few desperate gasps for air, as she slowly turned her eyes away and stated, "Though, I've gotten way off subject from what I wanted to talk to you about."

Still unsure about what to say, the young man nodded his head while his voice cracked, "Go ahead…"

"I'd like to meet you after school tomorrow," stated Murasaki as she turned back to him. Before he could ask why, she iterated, "I know you'll be talking with Miyabi and the others about their feelings…" before her voice quickly died. After a moment, she set down Bebeby and pushed the tips of her fingers together, "I'd like to be a part of that discussion. If you'd like, I could tell you…" and seemed as though she were about to say something before she squeaked, "Later! I can tell you later."

Not at all thinking clearly, the young man slowly nodded his head with wide eyes, "Sure… tell them to bring you along…"

Immediately wrenching her body up before picking up Bebeby, Murasaki turned on her heel and sputtered, "To-, t-, tomorrow-, today… then! Later then!" and immediately made for her sleeping bag in the girls' camp area.

Narrowing his eyes after her, the young man reflected on everything that was just said before hanging his head in hopes that he was wrong about the potential implications. In resignation of the fact that he had another long day ahead of him, he stood up and murmured, "Taking a shower…" and set out for the start of his next trial.

At best, he misunderstood everything that had just transpired. At worst, it was just another problem that he'd already acquainted himself with.