Chapter 10


It was still cold and dark as I made my way upstairs. Even though the shadows were dimming with the advance of the rising sunlight, 4:00 a.m still an ungodly hour for anyone to be awake.

I stifled a yawn and stead on; it's impolite to complain about the little inconveniences if the results only bring me benefits.

The low building of my apartment provided us with a nice, squared space in the form of its rooftop, with only the entrance base jutting out from the corner. Because the place was unlocked, and because the only other tenant remaining was the nice, near-deaf landlady, Rin and I claimed it as our training spot.

"G-Good morning Aruji-sama!" The kunoichi spoke, her voice cracking with a little stutter; she was kneeling in the middle of the roof, wearing a modest white blouse and a long skirt. I immediately noticed the reason for her stutter.

"Rin, the jacket," I informed her as I approached.

"Oh." She jerked a look to her shoulder, seemly surprised by the new addition. "Right, this one apologizes." She said while taking it off.

"All three of them, Rin." I insisted while I knelt before her.

"Ghk!... T-This hopeless one apologizes further."

It was surprisingly easy to keep Rin with a modicum of competence. Numerous testing showed that she functions just fine both in day to day life and in combat if she actually wore the usual amount of clothes a person was expected to wear, but the problem was that her quirk inexplicable let her find and put on clothes without her even realizing she's doing it, and it really did border on the supernatural given that she could pick up pieces of clothes in places where they shouldn't be any. In any case, we found that if there is someone watching out for her habit, she could function just fine, the problem arises if she stays alone for too long as it would undoubtedly lead to her gathering new clothes which would bring forth the adorable, but stammering and useless Rin.

There was a single exception to this, but she only wore that garb when it was absolutely necessary.

"So." She began after a calming breath, no longer carrying any stutter yet not possessing that almost unnatural grace and control she does when fully naked, a happy medium between the two. "Aruji-sama has managed to learn the basic of Kuji-in, and had memorized the neio script. Both feats that would normally require weeks of dedication."

I nodded, hearing her saying like that left me somewhat sheepish; all my progress can be attributed to the gamer system quantifying the skills and giving it to me in tangible form as level-ups. I still needed to practice, but the results of my efforts were more precise and evident than they would be for anyone else short of a once in a generation genius. As for the neio script— the weird ninja text she tasked me with memorizing— I simply absorbed the book, carving the knowledge in my mind forever.

This is to show that no matter how different it is from a 'normal' version, a gamer power is always a cheat.

"Given the speed of your progress, and your superb control over your internal energies is, this one wager we can start studying some basic jutsu."

I nodded again, feeling a buddle of anticipation flaring in my chest. Jutsu aren't the world-shaking spells that were shown in Naruto; in this reality, they are more like ninja cantrips, a combination of magic, rituals, and technique that can produce useful but minor effects on the world, effects that could be deadly if used correctly. They need much more than simply making a series of handseals and throw energy around… Well, they did need that, but they also needed ingredients, time, conditions, and even mantras to activate. When fighting or on a mission, every jutsu in a ninja arsenal has been prepared beforehand, kinda like a wizard spell from Dnd.

Justu are the closest thing a ninja have to magic, Rin told me, and Taimanin in particular use less justu than a normal ninja; their primary weapon is their bloodline power, and most of their training is skewed towards strengthening it or finding better application for it. She told me that for this reason, there won't be much she could do for me after a certain point, but it didn't matter, as I am now every bit and piece of advantage would help, especially if it was something I could add to my limited arsenal.

"P-Please watch closely, Aruji-sama. This one will demonstrate the correct application of neio as a foundation for justu." My Taimanin leaned closer and took a familiar purple scroll from the pocket of her bulky fur jacket, spreading it over the ground while she settles an old-school brush and inkstone on the side. The Japanese part of my brain was overjoyed for the eminent calligraphy display. The more practical side wondered if an ink pen would suffice.

Still. "Jacket, Rin."

"Gah!"

Chuckling at her blushing face, I settle forwards to watch her scribble in the magical ninja language, eager to actually see it work after days of just knowing about it… wait a second.

That scroll is really familiar. I wonder where did I see it… wait I think there is something—

It was still cold and dark as I made my way upstairs. Though the shadows were dimming with the advance of the rising sunlight, 4:00 a.m still an ungodly hour for anyone to be awake.

I stifled a yawn and stead on; it's impolite to complain about the little pain that only bring me benefits.

The low building of my apartment provided us with a nice, squared space in the form of its rooftop, usually, with only the entrance base jutting out from the course. As it was unlocked and the only other tenant of this place remaining being the nice, deaf landlady, Rin and I claimed it as our training ground.

"G-Good morning Aruji-sama!" The kunoichi spoke, her voice crackly with a little stutter; she was kneeling in the middle of the roof, wearing a yellow shirt and jeans. I immediately noticed the reason for her stutter.

"Rin, the jacket," I informed her as I approached.

"Oh." She jerked a look downwards, seemly surprised by the new addiction. "Right, this one apologizes." She said while taking it off.

"All three of them, Rin." I insisted while I knelt before her.

"Ah! T-This hopeless one apologizes further."

It was surprisingly easy to keep Rin with a modicum of competence, numerous testing showed that she function just fine both in day to day life and in combat if she actually wore the average amount of clothes a person was expected to wear…Wait, why did I say jacket? Rin was wearing several rows of additional scarfs rather than jackets. Had I become so used to this particular pair that I… No wait there is something—

It was still cold and dark as I made my way upstairs. Though the shadows were dimming with the advance of the rising sunlight, 4:00 a.m still an ungodly hour for anyone to be awake.

I stifled a yawn and stead on, and then I stopped in the middle of the stairs.

Panic made me choke on a breath that had risen over my throat, but I gulp it down, steeling myself, focusing on my determination instead—

"G-Good morning Aruji-sama!" The kunoichi spoke, her voice crackly with a little stutter; she was kneeling in the middle of the roof, wearing a modest white blouse and a long skirt. I immediately noticed the reason for her stutter.

"Rin, the skirts," I informed her as I approached. Popping my lips together.

Right, I have to concentrate.

With a deep breath, I brought my hands forwards—

"So." She began after a calming breath, no longer carrying any stutter yet not possessing that almost unnatural grace and control, a happy medium between the two. "Aruji-sama has managed to learn the basic of Kuji-in, and had memorized the neio script. Both feats that would normally require weeks of dedication."

Yes, Kuji-in, the art of handseals, they are nothing like what is shown in Naruto… ok, they are somewhat like what it was shown in Naruto, but only in the matter of energy manipulation. A proper Handseal is actually a type of advance meditation that borders on self impose hypnosis, when you master it you can condition your internal energies to flow in certain patterns by just by twitching your fingers a certain way, without needing to reach down and consciously manipulate it yourself, more advance techniques even allow a person to momentarily shatters their body's usual limits and allow for devastating blows.

But why was I thinking about it again?

Oh yeah—

"G-Good morning Aruji-sama!" The kunoichi spoke, her voice crackly with a little stutter; she was kneeling in the middle of the roof, wearing a modest blue sundress. "Hum? Ano, what's wrong?" She asked, seeming me raising a one-handed dragon seal.

"Jōka," I said loudly—

It was 4 am in the stairway leading up to the rooftop, but the world was simmering now, undulating like the air in a heated desert.

I still hold the dragon handseal mend to sharp the connection between the outer and inner self, this reality I'm being shown no longer has any hold on me.

I go back eventually, maybe in the next second, or the next minute, but why wait?

I raised my hand in the ram seal.

"Kai."

-0-0-0-

I snapped my eyes open with a gasp, pulling an uneven breath while my mind began to process reality around me.

I was sitting in the center of my building's rooftop. The sun gliding over my back. A chilly wind hushing past informed me that my clothes were wet with sweat, the overwhelming scent of incense told me that there was quite a lot of it lit around somewhere, or at least that there were many close to me given the intensity of the smell even in an open space, that might also explain the swirls of the air that I would've certainly given more focus to if my vision wasn't overtaken by blue notices.

Internal Mana Control leveled up!

Ninjutsu mastery leveled up!

Kuji-in mastery leveled up!

New Skill Created: Illusion Resistance.
Increases your natural resistance against Illusions and Illusionary phenomenon, takes less damage from Illusionary attacks.

Illusion Resistance leveled up!

Illusion Resistance leveled up!

Illusion Resistance leveled up!

Letting out another breath, I lean back and try to move away the stiffness of my muscles, my left leg bumped-Yep, there are incenses all right, a whole bunch of them scattered around me, along with several open strolls with neio scripts written in them.

"Impressive," Rin said from somewhere behind me. "This one didn't think you'd be able to get out on your own. Once again, Aruji-sama exceeds my expectations."

I placed an arm over my eyes, leaning back more while popping the bones along my spine. Fucking hell, I didn't even realize… no, wait, my recent memories are coming back; they're all mushy and hazy, but I can remember the lesson now.

"What was that?" I asked it came out partly in the form of a complaint even though I was the one who asked for a demonstration. Being locked in a groundhog day loop of your own mind's creation is not a very fun experience, plus, it was terrifying.

"Genjustu, an illusion. The smoke stimulates the brain, opening it up to suggestions while slowing its neural connection, the text directs the ambient magic to the target, where it gets inhaled along with the smoke, the handseals and the effort of the cast would already shape the energy in its initial activation, so the rest was a matter of setting up more incenses after Aruji-sama fell for it to strengthen the effect." I heard her walking past me. She's wearing high heels. She wasn't when we started this morning. "The illusion is one of the target's own making."

"Evidently." I gasped, massaging my temples. "But when the hell did you manage to trap me in!? I didn't see you make any handseal or do any preparations."

"It would go against the heart of the matter if Aruji-sama had noticed." Was her simple reply.

…True, this justu lesson, from learning how complex they are, how diligent one has to be on their preparation, then finishing by showing that even then they don't have to be obvious because ninjas are fucking sneak bastards. Truly a wonderful lesson.

Finally, I open my eyes to stare at the Taimanin who went back to kneeling in front of me-Ah.

"Aruji-sama is the first person I know off that broke the illusion on their own, as expected of Aruji-sama." She nods to herself, a tiny movement that fits the oddly serene air that hung around her, the sunlight glistering on her skin along with the songs of the morning birds making her appear almost transcendent.

She was wearing her Taimanin uniform; the strappy, leopard-like outfit that clung tightly to her impressive curves and somehow looked more erotic fully repaired than it did when it was damaged, it was the only outfit she could maintain without unconsciously searching for more clothes, ironically as it left her practically naked.

But more importantly, she wouldn't wear her uniform for no reason.

"You have a new mission."

She didn't answer, just calmly stare into my eyes; her silence was enough.

This was not unexpected; even though she swore herself to be didn't mean her responsibilities with the Taimanin corp has ended. Rin was still part of the active taimanin roister, so receiving more missions was just a matter of time.

But now… things are different, and Rin isn't just a random taimanin anymore, she certainly isn't a character behind a screen.

I know very well what happens to a taimanin if she fails her mission.

"… I don't want you to go." I admitted.

"If that is Aruji-sama's wish, then I won't." She replied immediately.

I let out a breath. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." She closes her eyes. It's hard to read her when she is like this, she moves like a geisha experience enough to make it look natural, and those women are masters in controlling body language. "Aruji-sama words are absolute… However, there is something Aruji-sama must know."

I shifted forwards, setter my legs under me again. Even I could sense the gravity of her words.

"What?" I asked.

"A taimanin is loyal to her master and the corp, but for her to have a master, she must have the corp's approval. Aruji-sama has not been approved by the corp." She explains. "This one has yet to break any rules, thus have not gathered attention to herself. Meaning that Aruji-sama's existence is yet to be discovered." Her eyes open again; they were gleaming with serene determination. "If this one refuses a mission, she would be investigated, which could put Aruji-sama in danger."

I was wondering how this whole pledge thing worked. It made me frown.

"So what? You plan to continue on as always, but this time as an excuse to protect me? If it's like that, what was the point of the pledge then?"

Rin shook her head curtly, her shoulder stiffening a little bit. "Aruji-sama is my Aruji-sama, this one will follow your decision in the end, and will give her life to protect you if it comes to it, this one is merely informing Aruji-sama about the situation."

…Goddamn it.

Rin is right to tell me this. She wanted to make clear that if I keep her from going, we would be pissing off the taimanin corp. Can't I afford that?... No, between Rin and myself, we are not strong enough to take on an entire ninja organization, especially if there are more taimanin with the level similar to Rin running around. Even if we add Ranma to the mix, I don't think we have a chance.

I tapped my fingers on my knee.

"What is the nature of this mission?" I asked.

"Escort, with secondary objective of target elimination." She answered immediately.

I blinked at the speed and ease of her reply. She just gonna give me the presumably classified information if I ask, isn't she? My mind immediately when on a possible spying tangent before focusing back.

"Give me details."

"This Taimanin must escort and protect the politician Toranosuke Yoshida during a Cabinet party that is scheduled to happen four days from now. While there this Taimanin must eliminate the cabinet members Tengan Noriyori, Takagaki Senichi, Yokoi Kosami, and Ebisawa Kosho and make it so their murder wouldn't be discovered until the 7th of July. This Taimanin will be accompanied by a veteran taimanin and a new recruit. Together they will prepare the stage beforehand and plan the finer details of the operation accordingly. The probability of demon involvement is zero or close to, and the reason for the high number of operatives dedicated to this mission is for the importance of the client, and the amount paid," She definitely added the last part for my benefit.

This isn't like the missions I saw Taimanin get captured, she won't be fighting any demons, and she won't be alone. 'Course there is always the possibility that everything blows up on her face and there are demons galore there. But at this point, I'm just searching for a reason.

There are not really a lot of options there, plus there isn't any 'bad end' quest popping up at the prospect, so… I decided to trust her.

"Very well. You may go." I conceded.

Rin's shoulder relaxed a little bit, then she leans her upper body forward, brushing the tip of her finger on the ground while giving me an elegant bow and a show of cleavage.

"Thank you very much. Waga Aruji-sama—"

Uehara Rin while in this state is a very charming creature. Not only her mannerisms and the way she carries herself because almost ethereal, but the display of elegance is usually accompanied by arousing show of nudity or near-nudity. I can see many people being thrown off by that, many being paralyzed by the sight.

So she's not used to people being able to move freely while she's like this. That's why when I silently approached her and interrupted her bow with a brush on her cheek she let out a quiet hiccup of surprise.

I didn't even need to force it; she dutifully followed as I moved my hand up, pulling her back to a straight position where she regarded me calmly.

Then I kissed her.

The small squeak made me smile against her lips just before I deepened the contact. Pushing my body closer while I hungrily breathe her scent and taste her lips, my arms reach out possessively around her waist.

Rin moaned, her body relaxing against mine while her hands unconsciously gripped the fabric of my shirt, she opened her mouth to dutifully receive my tongue, and greet it with her own.

For a while, we just… make out, right then and there, I sat back at some point, but I brought her with me, making the beautiful latex-covered ninja sprawl her body over mine.

To tell the truth, I don't really know what that makes us. I call her my ninja because she calls me her master, I touch her, kiss her and, grope her because I want to, sometimes because my teenage hormones overwhelm my senses, and she is so damn receptive that we never really stop to talk about the precise nuances of our relationship, we just kinda get it.

A went trail clung between us as we separated, Rin looked at me with eyes swirling in passion, hair slightly disheveled, lips partly open letting out little buffs that turned to mist in the cold morning air. Just enchanting.

"You come back to me," I commanded.

"Hai, Aruji-sama." She whispers in response.

And just like that, she was gone, slipping out of my arms in a disappearing blur that I could barely make out while it speeds through the rooftops.

I was alone on the roof again, looking at the place she had gone. At some point, I realize how late it was.

"I'm going to be late for school," I stated to nobody in particular.

Of course, I didn't care about that. I had more important things to worry about.

That's why when I stepped out to the streets with a new layer of gel in my hair and the immaculate furinkan uniform over my refreshed body, I turn to the opposite direction of my usual route.

As it became clear today, the Taimanin Corp still hangs over Rin's head; even if she doesn't want to, she has to follow their command otherwise she risks them discovering her illegal and still very vulnerable master. I can understand that logic, but the problem is, I don't want my taimanin anywhere close to rape demons if I can help it, at least without me there by her side making sure silly hentai tropes don't fuck her over.

But as I'm now, I don't have options. I'm just one man. I can't go against an entire ninja organization by myself. Sure, with the gamer, I will eventually be able to, but this won't happen for at least a few many months.

So I don't have any options… but maybe Ōe Hiroshi have… at least enough for me to make a gamble.

A gamble I was willing to make, for Rin.

I stop by a public payphone and slide a 500-yen coin in, quickly pushing the numbers I had memorized on the very first day of my new life.

The call was taken on the second ring, but no one spoke a word.

I could feel the temperature dropping a little bit, producing a chill that ran deeply across my spine, I have no idea if that actually happened, or if it was just a psychological response.

Ōe Hiroshi knew the man on the other line his entire life. And he always creep him the fuck up.

But I'm not that whiny boy he used to be.

"It's me, Hayate," I said.

"… Young master?" I could practically hear the sharp, light-blue colored eyebrow raising; this must be the first time he heard my voice without me stuttering like a schoolgirl in a horror flick. "My my, what a wonderful surprise. We were expecting your call days ago."

"I didn't call to complain." I had to take a calming breath. Fuck! The voice of the Ōe family's head butler, leader of the financial team, leader of the legal team, commander of private army, and thousands other scary titles this hyper-competent fuck has under his name was creepier than what I remember. "I'm going straight to the point; do you know about the Taimanin?"

"Oh dear! It appears young master finally started living in interesting times, as expected of one from the Ōe bloodline, ku ku ku ku."

He didn't need to chuckle. The chuckle made it all worst. And what was that suffering whine in the background? It sounds like someone dying—and now it abruptly ended.

Was…Was this a good idea?

-0-0-0-

"Good morning, Ōe-san!" A trio of girls greeted me as we cross paths. They giggled at my confused reply as they left.

Oi…

"Ossu!" Some guy saluted me from his place leaning over one of the corridor's windows. Another random dude gave me a silent nod minutes later.

Wait a minute…

"Hey! Hey man, here's your notes back, really saved my ass." Another guy from my class handed me the notebook that I vaguely remember lending to him early this morning.

Something's wrong here…

"Not with Saotome today, Ōe-san?" A guy laughed.

Isn't everybody being a little too friendly!?

The first thought the crossed my mind was mind-controlling drugs, then I considered some kind of mass hypnotic event, then some manner of parallel world shenanigans; all valid possibilities when dealing with the craziness that was Ranma ½. Luckily, my common sense pointed out that this was not a singular event; throughout the week, the Furinkan's student body has been slowly warming up to me for some weird reason.

I've been too focused on secretly protecting the girls of the Rhythmic Gymnastics club to notice— Secretly, because of an incident on the first day involving the girls' locker room, a bored cowgirl monster, a plate of chocolate pancakes, and an angry Tendo Akane that almost got us killed by a crowd of half-naked girls with plot-armor— but today my focus was divided between the girls and the butler-shaped doom I may have unleashed upon Nerima, so in my confusion, I managed to see it; for some reason, I wasn't the scary, unapproachable delinquent anymore.

Honestly, I can't tell what changed.

"My, my, thank you, young man. My back isn't what it used to be." Said the old-ass janitor as I handed the mop back to him and collected the Exp of this little side-quest. This guy really needs to retire if he's gonna keep getting cramps this bad.

A few steps later, I stumbled into another side-quest in the form of the class prez struggling to carry a pile of documents. Having a bit of time, and not caring about making who I agreed to meet wait; I moved to help her out.

This was an awful time to make that phone call. I'm already on edge because of Rin's mission and the fact that the Rhythmic Gymnastics club will be without ninja protection for a while, so adding a bunch of childhood traumas to the mix was making me positively jittering.

Ranma's right, I am obsessing over this a little too much.

I let out the excess tension through puff of air and tried to concentrate on other things— like everybody's sudden friendless.

"Thank you very much, Ōe-san." Class prez said formally but with a smile on her face, an actual freaking smile. Shit, a few days ago this girl was whispering around her group of friends while casting worried glances in my direction.

Weird.

After that, I stumbled my way from brief side quest to brief side quest until I was out of the building and the First Years' dominated areas. With fewer people recognizing me, I managed to make my way to the sport field in the back of the school, right in the middle of an intense soccer game.

A few students watched from the grassy slope around the fields, including the one I was to meet.

"You're late." Complained the pretty girl with chocolate brown hair as I approached. Though the sarcastic look told me she was expecting it. "I almost left, you know."

"You're the one who called me here. It'd be your loss." I countered.

Now, I know that the reality I'm living in is different from the Ranma ½ anime; there are too many inconsistences, tiny differences, and small nuances to be the same. So while everyone I've met does act remarkably like their anime counterparts, they are not exactly the same. Because of that, I decided not to judge people too heavily by my metaknowledge, and instead form my opinion as I get to know them better.

Tendo Nabiki, however, is a special case. I vaguely remember an interview where the authoress straight off said that Nabiki is the one Ranma1/2 character she considers truly evil, and years and years of fanfics portraying her as literally the devil had me a bit apprehensive when it came to dealing with the girl.

As things stand… I've not interacted with her enough to form a concrete image. Going by first impressions alone, I'd said she's a laid back girl who's very aware of her way-above-average looks and is not afraid to use it. She has yet to show any of her worst qualities. I mean, she did come off as a little greedy in our first meeting, but considering the subject discussed it was only natural.

This is our third meeting, the first one she called me for. I admit I couldn't keep the thoughts of debts and blackmail from popping up in my head even though she held literally zero sway over me.

"Come on don't be like that, Ōe-kun." Nabiki smiled, climbing to her feet and patting the back of her skirt. "Ah, you're not with Ranma today."

"I'm not his babysitter; the guy can function without me."

She giggled, "You wouldn't think that, the way he talks about you."

Yeaaah, I'mma call bullshit on that. Despite seeing like the boisterous, open type, at Ranma is actually a pretty private guy. There is a possibility that he talked about me, but I doubt it is how Nabiki implied.

Fishing for information, hum? That… surprisingly made me relax a bit. Tendo Nabiki is acting like Tendo Nabiki would; I guess the expectation was freaking me out more than reality.

"You want to talk to me, Tendou-senpai?"

She cocked her head to the side in a cute display. Her casual smile started to turn into a smirk.

"Senpai?" She chuckled, "You're a lot more formal than you appear, Ōe-kun."

Japanese formality can be used as a distraction and a weapon, especially if you don't particularly care about it. It's an excellent way to surprise and control a conversation. I was about to comment on this when I decided on a "Does that have anything to do to what you wanted to talk to me about, senpai?" Instead.

Got to work a hell of a lot more if you want to get me talking, sweetie.

"You're no fun." She said, almost pouting. I think she'd realized I could just leave if she presses too much.

And just like that, she straightened her back and dropped her smile, her expression still casual and in control, but the air she gave was a lot more professional.

"Remember our deal? I have some new information that might interest you." She said.

"Let me guess, Kuno Kodachi's gonna hunt down and attack the gym girls tonight, isn't she," I commented with a shrug. "Feels like something she would do."

My plan to protect the Rhythmic Gymnastics club was simple; get Nabiki to tell me all she knew about Kodachi, her methods, and the teams she'd previously attacked, then give this information to Rin and have her protect them. Ranma and I would be patrolling the sidelines in case something else happened. It turned out like this after the first day when I realized doing everything on my own and almost getting killed and branded a pervert for it wasn't going to cut it. It worked, and Rin spent the time she wasn't with me disarming various traps and making sure the girls got home safely.

I can't imagine all these failed attempts were good to Kodachi's inflated ego, so taking matters into her own hands was only a matter of time.

Nabiki grinned, "Oh yeah, this is certainly something she would have done..." She spoke slowly, not even being subtle.

I considered the girl for a long moment before clicking my tongue.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah." She intoned, deliberately showing her open hand.

Of course.

At this point it's impossible to stay under Nabiki's radar. I sincerely doubt she won't look up who I am, if she wasn't already, and knowing what she's like, she wouldn't simply let me be after figuring out my family was the very definition of filthy rich. So I pulled up one of my spare wallets and made no attempt to hide the multiple notes of 10k yen as I pulled one of them.

Oh yeah, that's what I call a hungry look.

"Thank you~." She sing-songed, picking the 10k between her fingers, her current grin realer than any of the smiles she showed to me before.

In a second, she was on my side, leaning close as if to tell me a particularly juicy gossip, she even did the whole hand-to-mouth thingy.

I didn't miss the way her soft curves brushed against me, and I doubt she did.

"Ne, ne Ōe-kun. You know about Kodachi's teammates of the St. Hebereke's School's Rhythmic Gymnastics club, right? Aonuma Katsu, Naegi Mayumi, Nishioka Azusa, and Ose Sachi." She paused a second for dramatic flare. "All of them have been admitted to the hospital over these last couple of days."

Hold on.

What?

"What?" I put my surprise into words.

"That's what I heard. Naegi Mayumi, Kodachi's second, was admitted just yesterday. All of them showed sights of extreme exhaustion, but there weren't any injuries or even signs of overexertion." I was only half hearing Nabiki's report at this point.

There is something wrong here: Furinkan's team should have been the one hospitalized; that was the whole point of me protecting them. They would've been incapacitated, and then called Akane for help, kicking off the entire arc, I didn't even consider Kodachi's team…

Has this happened in canon? Akane and Kodachi's fight was a 1-v-1 after all, maybe— wait no, Kodachi's team was there, right beneath the ring, if I remember correctly, helping her cheat. But how can that be when they are…

This goes against canon.

"What about Kodachi? Is she in the hospital too? Is she going to participate?"

Nabiki had a smile like a cat that cornered a particularly large canary.

"Hmm, I wonder…" She said, wiggling her now empty fingers.

Of fucking course.

I frowned, but before I could reply, the city of Nerima decided this was a jolly good time to pull a fast one on me.

"RANMA!"

And sent me an eternally lost annoyance dramatically shouting to the skies in the middle of the soccer field.

"Ah, it's that guy!" Nabiki blinked.

And that was just the time a soccer ball cut Ryoga's lamentation short. I sighed as I watched him going down.

"He's earlier than I was expecting," I mumbled under my breath before turning to Nabiki. "You should probably get Ranma. He is here for him, after all."

She raises an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

"Girl, didn't you hear him screaming. Anyway, I'mma make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." I said and began making my way towards the fallen boy.

I was pleased to see that the soccer team had more foresight than the crowd of students from when Ryoga first showed up; they were already evacuating the premises. Perhaps they heard a rumor or something, Ryoga's first appearance caused quite the stir.

"Hey, Hibiki Ryoga, right? You still alive down there?"

The martial artist stirred with the sound of my voice. He did look quite ragged now that I'm seeing him up close, maybe it was an –heh!— long trip.

His eyes blazed when he noticed me.

"You!"

Wait what?

New quest: Dealing with the lost boi.
Hibiki Ryoga has a bone to pick with you and will literally never stop until he does so. Deal with him now and spare yourself the stress!
Rewards:

1.000 exp.

Decrease closeness with Hibiki Ryoga.

Failure:

Injury or Critical Injury.

Decrease closeness with Hibiki Ryoga.

Accept/Refuse.

Wait What!?

This was definitely not the time to have a gamer screen blocking my vision, as a rampaging Ryoga came barging through the screen in a full-body tackle that had all his weight and power behind it.

A little more than a week ago, about the time Ryoga first showed up, that would have fucked me up, I would've suffered the full brunt force of Hibiki Ryoga directly on my torso, and if that didn't outright kill me, it would definitely have put me out of commission.

But now it was a week later, a week of grinding, of no stop questing, of tireless martial art training and, more importantly, a week of level-ups.

You do not face The Gamer and expect him to be the same as a week ago.

My hands snapped forwards, and I gripped the lost boy's wrists in a vice grip, the only move I could make at such short distance. Sure, the guy's monstrous strength still meant I was pushed backward in a terrifyingly fast speed, but a little trick I got from pushing my Endurance above 50 ensured I kept my balance rather than being flattened by the guy.

Perk: Stable posturing.
+ 15% resistance against staggering.

Simple, wonderful, disgustingly effective.

Before Ryoga could change tactics, I took advantage of another wonderful little perk I've gotten from pushing past 50 Agility, and used my position and solid stance to smash my forehead directly against his, only to feint at the last second. Now, Ryoga was skilled enough to notice the trick, but he definitely didn't expect the honest-to-god after-image to continue forwards.

Perk: Fake velocity.
+ 10% chance of producing after-images.

Ryoga, like Ranma, wasn't used to dealing with after images that were created not by speed but by sheer gamer bullshitery, so he flinched. Exactly like Ranma had the first few times I used this tactic against him (Before he got used to it, the damn genius.)

I used that stumble to push into his guard, shifting my hold to one of his arms, and flipping him over my shoulder in a textbook perfect Judo-throw. The insane momentum that carried over only made the move more effective.

Ryoga hit the ground, hard, like, cracking concrete and blowing up dust hard. Of course, I immediately felt him moving, so I let go of my hold to prompt his body to back away rather than push for a grabbling match that I had no illusion of winning.

He just started clambering to his feet, when I rocketed forwards again, capitalizing on his confusion to demonstrate my last, and by far, the most straightforward perk gained from passing 50 of Strength.

Perk: Athlete Body.
+ 5 Str, +1 Cha

My fist cracked against Ryoga's jaw and made his whole head snap to the side with a meaty sound. After allowing myself a moment to revel in the fact I managed to punch Hibiki Ryoga in the face, I immediately leap back, flipping my body in the precise, fast circles the Saotome's style uses to gain distance. There is no way he's going down with a single punch.

And sure enough, while he did stumble backward in two uneven steps and, to my immense satisfaction, his eyes went numb for a second as his brain rattled inside his skull, he soon regains his composure. He was now standing more alarm and more dangerous than ever.

I could see his anger building up again, and this time it wasn't the kind of anger that would make him blindly leap on an attack, but it was just as intense.

Yeah, nope.

"STOP!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Trying to make him double take with my sudden outburst. Thankfully, that was precisely what happened. "Alright then, would you please be so kind as to tell me why in the motherfuckering fuck are you attacking me!?"

My tangle of Japanese sentences and English cursing gave him pause, but he soon set back into his furious glare.

"Silence, thief! I've got nothing to say to you!" He growled.

"Thief!? I stole nothing from you, cunt!"

"As if!" He snarled, throwing his arms from his stance in anger, before pointing an accusatory finger at me. "You stole my umbrella!"

… Realization clicked in my mind so hard it nearly made me stumble.

But it didn't make me any less angry.

Summoning my inventory screen, I flicked my wrist in a now familiar sleight of hand to make it seem like Ryoga's umbrella simply slid from my sleeves, hoping that the cheap trick would hold back his attack a few more seconds. With quick movements, I rolled Ryoga's ultra-heavy umbrella over my arms and torso in a display of skill, maneuvering it with a single hand most of the time.

I won't say I took advantage of every ounce of training I could from my time with the umbrella, but the results of what I did manage to train spoke for themselves. I certainly wasn't at the point where the thing weighted like a feather to me, but I could bear its full weight in a single arm and not only move around but also battle with it. Frankly, this fact still scares me sometimes, as back in my old world, this kind of weight was literally impossible for a normal human to bear.

The umbrella flipped on my side, opening with a low boom that shook some dust away, then, with a war cry, I launched the thing spinning towards Ryoga, just like he did when he first appeared.

Unlike then, it was none of its deadly precision, anyone could see that it would veer up midway, and pass harmlessly above the target before flipping to a stop, but precision was not the point. Ryoga caught the umbrella in a movement that mirrored my own when he put me in the exact circumstance.

"My move!" He barked. "You tried to copy my—"

"It was a killing move!" I snapped, the strength of my tone shutting the boy up. "Do you remember where you were when you used it, Hibiki Ryoga!? Let remind you: A school courtyard." My teeth grind together. "Ranma would've been fine, me, I could've managed it, but the people behind us,how the fuck do you think they would've fared!?"

Ryoga paused as enough common sense finally pushed past his anger to have him consider my word. Then, to his immense credit, a flicker of honest shame flashed in his eyes.

I swear to god if it had been apathy, I would have attacked him and damn the consequences.

"I did not steal from you," I said, finally lowering my volume but keeping my tone firm. "After I stopped your attack, the umbrella simply stayed in my hand while you fought Ranma, got too much into it, and disappeared. I did not steal the umbrella, Hibiki. You left it behind with me." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, and then gestured towards his hand. "And now, I'm giving it back to you, so you're welcome."

A silent stretched between us as Ryoga processed what I said. I could see he was still angry… but I couldn't feel any aggression towards me anymore.

"So what you're saying is…" He chewed his words, working his ideas. "It was because of Ranma that I lost my umbrella!"

…What.

"What the- No, no, it wasn't Ranma's fault. You left it behind if anything that's your—."

"Damn you, Ranma! Do you have any idea how much harder my journey was without my umbrella?!" The lost boy growled apparently to himself. A trembling fist raised close to his face as his emotions started to flare again. "It was hell, I said, absolute hell!"

"Oi, are you listening!? I'm trying to tell you this time it wasn't Ranma's fau—

"I'm gonna make you pay!" Ryoga angrily snapped his arms upward, screaming dramatically to the sky. "YOU HEAR ME SAOTOME RANMA, I, HIBIKI RYOGA, WILL MAKE YOU PAY!"

"I hear' ya."

It seems that during my brief altercation with Ryoga, most of Furinkan High's student population had decided to gather on the grassy slopes around the field and were watching the confrontation with avid interest. And of course, perching over the tall fence that separated the audience was none other than Saotome Ranma, fully armed with his Chinese shirt and cocky grin.

"Saotome Ranma!" Ryoga growled in a seething tone. And right then and there, I gave up trying to make him see reason.

"Yo, Ryoga. You're late." Ranma commented.

"Come here and fight! You coward!"

The taunt and the use of the C-word closed Ranma's expression right away. But he relaxed when he caught my aggressive eye-roll. Seriously, Ryoga is so one-note that it reaches the point of parody.

Ranma leaped forward, gliding through the air like gravity was his submissive little bitch. He landed close to me and approached, his eyes trailing on Ryoga.

"Normally, I'd say you got this Hiro, but he did kinda, send me a challenge letter, so I gotta respect that… Even if he's late by a week." He muttered the last part, raising his hand in my direction. "Switch?"

"Yeah, fuck it. He's all yours if you wanna." I conceded with a sigh, leaving Ranma was a high-five before making my way to the audience. Frankly, fighting Ryoga is a tiring endeavor in more ways than one.

Quest completed!

Oh yeah, there was this thing.

1.000 exp.

Your closeness with Hibiki Ryoga has decreased.

Bonus objective fulfilled: You used logic and reason! It was super effective! Ryoga is confused!

500 exp.

Your closeness with Hibiki Ryoga has increased.

Your closeness with Saotome Ranma has increased.

Oh well, I suppose what I did could be considered a way to 'deal' with him. At least I got the sense I got rid of the grudge he had against me before it could properly settle.

Or used it to add fuel the massive one he has against Ranma. That guy's complicated.

-0-0-0-

The amount of cheers I received when I got to the audience weirded me out a little bit. I wasn't swarmed by squealing fangirls or anything like that, but a considerable number of First Years congratulated me, and/or patted me on the back, while people from other grades just looked impressed. To my amazement, I found myself recognizing most who come to talk, and I had a sudden realization of the number of acquaintances I ended up making over these last couple of days.

I mean, I was a lot more sociable now in my second life, but damn, where did all these people come from?

After snarking a bit with a much colder Nabiki— Apparently, I ruined her betting pool with an inconclusive result— I made my way to the top of the slope and the very back of the growing audience. Not the best place to see any details of the duel, but I didn't need to, I already knew who's gonna win.

And this wasn't even because of canon certainty, just looking at the two I could tell; Ranma had recently broken past level 30, but Ryoga still on level 24, the same level he was when he first showed up. Now, I am the last person who's going to preach about level gaps, but the implication was clear: only one of these warriors improved since the last time they've met.

So I just hang back, slid my hands inside my pocket, and turn to face my stalker, who has decided to approach me today for some reason.

Himiko Kenji
Vegan Werewolf
Level: 11

"Hello there, Kenji-san, nice day we're having!" I greeted him with a smile. "It's great to see you decided to actually talk to me today!"

He gave me a weird look, and I could see an elongated canine poking out from his lips. A grunt was apparently enough of a response for my greeting.

Well, he's less hostile than before, that's something at least. "So, what can I do for you today."

His expression furrowed, but it was less out of irritation and more out of effort, like he was working to form the right words… Or any words at all, really.

Isn't he a bit taller? More muscular? His hair definitively looks wilder than before, and this says a lot. Maybe its something to do about his condition… no, I bet it's something to do about his condition.

Finally, he opened his mouth.

"There are… bombs in the school."

"What?"

-0-0-0-

Well, this afternoon certainly took a wide ride straight to a left turn, wasn't it?

I was standing in the school's infirmary, feeling the orange light of the setting sun warming my face as I smiled at the giant-ass hole where a wall was supposed to be.

Man… someone will have to pay for this…

"In summary!" Declared class prez, no, Isayama Suzue— It feels like a disservice not using her name after I drag her in my little afternoon adventure. "You and the rest of the members of the chemistry club have purloined from the budget of the oncoming Cultural Festival to purchase materials and parts that aren't allowed by the school and use them to built these explosive devices!" She triumphantly held up one of the, now deactivated, homemade mines we'd found. "All so you could eliminate one Saotome Ranma and free the way to Tendo Akane heart!

"Scandalous!" Exclaimed Fujimori Yuka with a delicate hand over her mouth, she's the other girl that ended up being dragged into this silliness. Fujimori-san was the only girl in my class that matched Akane in term of looks— And actually surpasses her in terms of bust, being close to the size of Ranma's girl form— the only reason she wasn't pursued just as much as the Tendo girl is because her admirers tend to mysteriously disappear rather than stick around to bother her. I think her title of 'Yakuza Princess' has something to do with this.

"Frankly, I'm just glad this is all over." Kuroba Daisuke commented from the corner where he had dropped on his ass. Kuroba-san wasn't exactly dragged along into this, as he was already involved, being the only student who discovered the chemistry club's plan and tried to stop it. I found him tied up in a chair in an empty classroom, and was surprised that he's still wanted to keep going. I guess his title of 'Aspiring Superhero' wasn't just for show. "But I'm glad I was able to help." He finished with a broad smile.

Honestly, I think they are enjoying this a bit too much.

'This' being rubbing the failure of his plans in the face of one Koba Satoru, the chemistry club's president who now lies on the infirmary bed recuperating from his baseball bat beat down of justice.

His purple, swollen face twisted into a snarl. "And I would have succeeded too if it wasn't for your meddling punks!"

The rest of the chemistry club groaned apologetically from their own infirmary beds. Most looked genuinely remorseful after I painstakingly put their little plan into perspective, and laid out all the things that could have happened and the real consequences they would be facing if they did, all excerpt a ratty guy named Sato Igoru, which had the title of 'High Minion' and seems to look up to Koba Satoru for guidance for every little thing.

Isayama-taichou flicked her glasses; it flashed with a bright light of pure malice. "So, you plead guilty, kukukuku."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go now." On the corner of my eyes, I saw that Kenji had the same idea but didn't bother voicing it. The werewolf was already at the door.

"Indeed. Ōe-san, your services were invaluable today, but they aren't necessary anymore. I'll take it from here." Isayama-taichou nodded at me and immediately went back to threatening the wounded nerds with her flashing glasses of menace.

With some last goodbyes from the rest of the improvised party, I made my way into the corridors, walking fast to catch up with the retreating werewolf.

Turn out he was faster than I'd imagined, it wasn't even a few steps before I saw his form through the window, exiting the building.

No biggy, it's only two floors down.

"Hello, Kenji-san," I said as I landed into a crouch beside him. My sudden appearance made him tense, and for a moment, my instincts screamed for me not to approach. "A moment of your time, please." I continued, ignoring the spike of aggression.

"Do not do that!" He growled, taking a few breaths to regain his composure. "I got nothing to say to you."

An underline growl made him stumble in his delivery, but it was still mostly understandable.

"Why did you call me for this? I glad that you did, don't get me wrong, but I know you could have dealt with this on your own."

His teeth clicked together. They were definitely more pointy and elongated than they were when we first met. He shifted his weight from side to side as he once again worked on his sentences.

"I couldn't… If it was just me… I'd have killed them." He rasped out.

"The chemistry club?"

He grunted another response and started walking out. I followed.

"You don't have to keep watching me from the corners, you know, that's kinda creepy. If you just walk up to me and Ranma we'll let you hang."

He gave me another one of his grunts; this one sounded more like a groan and a growl mixed together in a bowl of irritation.

"Why the hell are you so insistent in following me anyway?"

"Grrn… Aneue told me… to keep an eye on you." He made a grunting confession.

Aneue? Another piece of information related to the stalker werewolf. That and the fact I've gathered the interest of another possible werewolf, one of higher ranking given how Kenji refers to her.

"Really now. You know, I wouldn't mind meeting this—"

"Too many… words." This last growl scraped the limit of what is possible for a human throat. He craned his neck to the east, seemly snarling at a particular part of the orange sky. "Shut up. Stop following me."

I took a moment to decide and stopped in my tracks, watching him disappear inside the growing shadows between the trees of the patch of vegetation behind the school. It wasn't a forest proper, so I have no doubt he will jump over the wall on the other side and get lost in the spiderweb of low alleyway formed by Nerima's buildings.

Himiko Kenji, the vegan werewolf, I admit he fascinates me a little bit, not because of who he is, but because of what he is; he is the first friendly supernatural creature that I've met, one that is almost certainly involved with some kind of non-human, supernatural side of the world. I'm hoping to use Kenji to peek into this world by my own terms before someone inevitably drags me into it. Also, I'm very curious about the werewolves as a race; they were always my favorite of the famous monsters after all.

But alas, he will have to wait; there are other matters I will have to look into tonight.

I made my way over to the front of the school, dodging the damage caused by Ranma and Ryoga's duel and the literal minefield that was prepared against them. I wonder how exactly that duel ended up; I know that Ranma won, but they took the fight somewhere away from the school while I was running around keeping any bystanders from stepping on explosives, so I don't know how it went.

… I feel like I'm forgetting something about this particular duel, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember what.

"Hey, master!" Minon was leaning against a tree, her leg having just regenerated enough to let her stand. Luckily, there weren't any students around to question the presence of an injured Minotaur in skimpy bikini armor. "Did you see how wild I was back there!? I was like, 'Take that!' Pow, Pow, Punch!" She punctuated her enthusiasm by punching the air with her bulky gauntlets. "Totally showed that explosion who was the boss, minon!"

"Only you could be so happy after being blow up." I shook my head with a smile. "Anyway, Minon, I need you to stand guard for the Rhythmic Gymnastics club tonight, and accompany them home after they finish training."

"Ah man, guard duty." She grumbled dejectedly.

"I remind you that the girls train in very tight leotards."

"Ah man, guard duty!" She threw her arms up in glee.

Minon's protection was a 'just-in-case' kinda deal, as I don't think anything will actively threaten them anymore. Plus, having them protected frees me to address the chip on my shoulder I've been feeling since this morning.

Alright then, let's see what's going on with Kodachi and her team.

-0-0-0-

Rain fell like a translucent screen over Nerima's night, droplets like pebbles hitting the ground with loud, distinctive splashes. It was a heavy, dark rain, but even then, the clouds weren't able to entirely hide the luminescence of the unusually bright full moon.

The tallish young man circled the street with patient steps, uncaring to how the water darkened the bottom of his kendogi. A traditional umbrella spun softly on his palm as he took a deep, closed-eyed breath and opened a small yet noble smile

"So, it has come to this. I should have expected."

The young man chuckled, the levity of his tone contrasting with the rightful tension growing across his form.

His eyes snapped open, his glare piercing like a soldier's spear on a fierce battlefield bathed by moonlight.

"You have finally shown your true colors, eh? Attacking me at my own home!" He threw the umbrella to the side, letting the rain fall over his warrior form while he theatrically draws his bokken. "Saotome's dark wizard! Prepare to die!"

In retrospect, this might not have been the best idea.

"Ok, Kuno-senpai, first; I didn't come here to attack you, nor have I, technically, come to your house; we're still by the front door. Second, you're the one who attacked me first, remember? Without warning or provocation, might I add… And from the rooftop too…"

"Silence, scum! Why else would you come if not to perpetuate your master's dark designs! I, Kuno Tatewaki, Furikan's Indigo Falcon, will put a stop to that! En guard!"

My logic was sound. I swear it was. It was pretty late when I left Furikan to check on Kodachi, so I thought there was a possibility that she'd already gone back home, and with her home being closer than her school, I decided to go there first. Plus, I only wanted to see if she was all right and not planning something silly; if she was there, then I could just finish up for the night and go home myself.

Kuno continued to attack, each of his swings cutting the air with violent sounds, leaving deadly trails of air behind, I continued to dance and wave between his attacks. Ranma had commented something about Kuno being the most dangerous when he tries for ambushes or uses unconventional moves born from his rage, but being no problem to deal with in a straight fight. According to him, when Kuno is fighting directly, he tends to fall back to the principles of kendo and nothing but that; anybody who was familiar with the basics of the style and could match him physically would be able to see his every move.

This was not the first time I fought Kuno, but this was the first time I fought him directly and alone, and… I could see where Ranma's coming from. After a week of unconventional Anything Goes training, and an even longer period of time fighting multiple yokai with their own set of strange movements, Kuno felt… almost robotic in his execution.

"Kuno-senpai, can you please stop?" I said to him while I dodged. "I'm not here to fight. I just came to see how Kodachi's doing."

"NANI!"

He cuts the rain in a horizontal slash that carried so much strength the aftershock was almost physical. I leaped over the attack and flipped as I passed over his head, landing behind him in basically the same position that I was when I jumped, only facing the opposite direction.

A bokken was pointed at my face within moments.

"So your aim is my own sister, and to refer to her with such familiarity!" Kuno was trembling in anger. Crap, I was thinking about her as her anime character, so I slipped. "You cretin!"

"Hold on— Hold on, damn it!" I leaped back from his crazy swings. "I just wanna know if she's alright! Her whole team is in the hospital, aren't they!?"

"Silence, demon! You'll regret the day you provoked the wrath of Furikan's Indigo Falcon! Kuno style, Eighth forbidden Technique: HEAVENLY RETRIBUTION!"

Kuno's special technique… was just another of his normal swings; he just added a useless flare to it.

What a waste of time.

Rather than dodging, I stepped into his reach, my hand trailing with an aquamarine smoke of condensed mana as I strike my open palm against his oncoming swing. At the exact moment of impact, I released the Mana Bolt carrying a load of concussive force.

To Kuno's credit, he didn't let go of his bokken, but because of that, both his arms were violently blown upwards, and his whole body almost left the ground, leaving the entire front of his torso open and unprotected. Capitalizing on that, I twisted on my heels, quickly raising a curled leg before unleashing a brutal kick directly at his solar plexus.

Kuno flew backward, his body already practically airborne before I even applied the impact, his flailing foot brushed against the ground, tipping his trajectory and making him crash land on the wet pavement, where he rolled to a stop.

I opened my hand to catch his falling bokken before making my way to the fallen, now coughing boy.

"I win," I said out loud to make things clear; I've noticed that martial artists tend to listen to you more after defeating them. According to Ranma, this is actually a thing; something about some pre-school logic about doing what the winner says. "Now tell me where Kodachi is."

Kuno let out some wheezing sounds, gasping for air as he recovered from the impact. His body turned to the side in a subconscious attempt to get out of direct rain. I kept his own bokken trailed over him the entire time.

"You… Foul…Ku…kuku…" He finally breathed out, curling over in pain as he tried to laugh. "Your plans for Kodachi has been foiled… My twisted sister is still in practice at her school."

"Practicing? At night!? With her whole team in the hospital?" I asked incredulously. Sure, there was a tournament coming, but would she even be able to participate missing her whole team.

"Kukuku, you underestimate… A Kuno's tenacity!"

He timed his triumphant declaration to what would have been his table-turner, that said, I could see it coming a mile away, having used the same tactic against Ranma in more than a few occasions. It was easy to sidestep is rising lunge just as it was easy to dodge the following combo of punches and kicks he used in the attempt to get his weapon back.

"Didn't know you could fight unarmed," I commented, stepping back while keeping the bokken on my shoulder and away from his reach. "You really should stop now."

"Fool! I will not rest until you receive your due punishment! Now die!"

Ah man, I don't want to fight Kuno anymore. It feels like bullying at this point.

With a sigh, I took the bokken and held it as if it was my baseball bat. I'm just gonna knock Kuno's lights out and end this.

"Tatewaki-sama!" A voice interjected before I could advance.

A bit to the side of where Kuno and I were facing each other, a small, crouching figure wearing a dark outfit that made him blend to the darkness surprisingly well, appeared out of nowhere. I couldn't help it but blink when I saw his face; wide, expressive eyes, very bushy eyebrows, a pair of naruto-like whiskers in each cheek… Frankly, it was the goofiest face I ever saw.

It took me a second to recognize him as Kuno's little ninja from the show, Sasuke or something. I remember Rin commenting about his presence when she was dealing with the traps Kodachi left for the Furikan's Rhythmic Gymnastics team. She'd described him as 'remarkably slippery'.

"Sasuke! How dare you interrupt my duel!" Kuno shouts him down immediately.

It was then I realized how agitated the little guy looked; twitching impatiently, ragged breathing, eyes wide and alarmed.

"A thousand pardons Tatewaki-sama! But I bring grave new and—"

"Where is Kodachi?" I asked suddenly, giving voice to the bad feeling growing inside my chest.

"Gah! Who are you!?" The ninja gasped as if noticing me for the first time.

"Bastard! How dare you address my retainer!"

"Never mind that!" Snapped Sasuke, "Tatewaki-sama, please listen! I…I was feeling unease with how long Kodachi-sama was taking in her practice, so I decided to check and—Oh Tatewaki-sama, Kodachi-sama is… Kodachi-sama is…"

"What is it, Sasuke?" Kuno leaned in.

"Kodachi-sama is—"

"Oh, quit the dramatic anime pause and just tell us already!" This time I was the one who snapped.

-0-0-0-

Nerima blurred around me as I rushed forwards with all my speed, my steps splashing over the deep puddles created by the now fading rain.

I frowned at the next intersection, which would force me out of the direct route until the next turn unless I started breaking my way through buildings like Hibiki Ryoga would do. Taking a split-second decision, I accelerated instead, leaping over the wall when I was just about to crash on it, and landing on the rooftop of the following house.

Rooftop travel is something I'm still struggling to master. Well, the martial artist version of it anyway. I can do it, and it was just as exhilarating as I'd imagined it being the first few times, but I can't figure out the little nuances that allow for fluid movements and no collateral damage. If I limited myself to a civilian level, I could do it without a problem, aided by no small amount by my Parkour skill, but when I try to roof hop like a martial artist would, that is: with way longer jumps, practically bouncing where they land to the point of spending only one step per roof, all I leave behind are wanton destruction.

Case in point, everywhere I landed, cracks appeared and tiles exploded. I honestly feel for the people living there, but this is an emergency.

'Ranma', I considered for a moment, but quickly discarded the thought. Tendo's household was way out of the way, and by what Sasuke had described, every second counts.

Another passing thought questioned why I was going all this length for Kodachi of all people and without a quest reward to back me up too. I easily crush that thought because it was very silly.

Anyone visiting Nerima would easily see this was a city of low buildings. The best we have are some governmental offices with six to seven floors and the city hall, which has around eight; the rest rarely went beyond two or three. This meant that, on the rooftops, the vista stretches practically unobstructed for a far distance, and it also meant that any buildings with four or more floors seemed like towering landmarks.

St. Hebereke's School for Girls quickly entered my vision… And I had to pause in my steps to gasp my shock.

Part of the building shone against the dark of the night.

Sasuke landed beside me, huffing and puffing by the effort of matching my pace. He'd done a better job than Kuno, who, giving the distant cries of outrage, was ground-bound.

"Ahh! I-It's on fire!" He cried in distress.

I took a moment to consider the situation; the school wasn't entirely on fire, just some parts on the back and side, but the flames were clear to see even at a distance. The lights and sounds of a fire truck were quickly approaching from a street in the back. They would be there within moments.
My first instinct was to hurry the fuck up. Fire, people might be in danger, sounded simple, right?

… It would be if it weren't for the familiar, blaring feeling twitching over my shoulders and back of my head, a chill so unnaturally precise I could even see the direction of the cause.

And it was creeping away from the building.

"N-No good! We have to— Ōe-sama? Ōe-samaaa!?"

I wasted no time adjusting my direction. I wanted to have a look on whoever or whatever was triggering my supernatural senses; this feeling reminds me too much of the one I felt back at Shiori's temple.

The change in direction did not take me completely away from the burning school, as whatever was causing it still fairly close. Just a few more leaps and turns and the urban cover gave away to a roaring flash of bright pink and white.

I saw red.

"WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING!?"

I fell over the thing leg first in a meteoric dynamic entry that would've made me worthy of a green spandex if this were a hidden village. I felt a crack beneath my feet before it was blown away in an animalistic cry of pain.

Pain flared in my leg from the backlash of the maneuver, but I easily ignored that, focusing instead on the thing standing up from the rubble of a half-collapsed wall.

A mostly humanoid body covered with toned muscles and pink fur, a pair of digitigrade legs ending in large animal paws, an enormous mane of alabaster white that puffed around its head and shoulders, a beastly face with just enough humanity in it to look uncanny. It was a cross between a woman and a large feline, clearly tending to a more bestial side.

Slitted green eyes regarded me with pure hatred before it roared a challenge.

Falion
Cardian of The Chariot.
Level 29.

"FALION!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that, you pokemon-sounding motherfucker." I muttered under my breath.

A Cardian, the same creature as Minon— no, the same creature as that monstrous version that Minon used to be.

Another monster of the same type, a pattern…

It doesn't matter.

"I have your name and face now, bitch." I stated while the growling thing sized me up. I could see the wound I left on her left shoulder and the difficulties she's having moving her arm. Ideally, I would press on this advantage.

But Kodachi's life was more important, the burning building is more important.

"I'll fucking come for you," I promised, preparing to leave and continue my way to the school.

A small voice stopped me in my tracks.

"Ah… Ah… Senpai?... You certainly… You certainly know how to make an entrance."

… Turning away from an enemy is always a bad idea, especially one so bestial-looking as this creature. Even so, after hearing this voice, I could not ignore it, so I look back for the briefest of seconds.

Haruka looked back from where she was standing in the middle of the street. Her whole body shaking as she loudly pulled gasping breaths, her middle school uniform clung so tightly to her sweaty form that it was almost a second skin, the nearly see-through parts contrasting heavily with the blood red from the torn gashes in the shape of claw marks. Her legs trembled under her, both for exhaustion and from the strain of the weight she was carrying.

And that weight was none other than Kuno Kodachi, who was slumped over Haruka's body piggyback style. The gymnastics champion blinked dumbly at my direction with a heavily clouded stare.

… I see… —I get the picture now: they were attacked, they ran, and the thing chased.

"Did that little guy find you?" Haruka wheezed out the question.

"Something like that." I looked back to the pink furry monster and watched as she suddenly froze on her imminent lunge. "Nice work, Haruka. I'll take it from here."

"Falion!" The monster roared as she overcame her trepidations and leaped forwards in a direct attack.

New quest—

I snapped the accept button with one hand while pulling my baseball bat out of the inventory with the other. I can imagine what the thing was expecting when she threw all her musclebound form full of claws and fangs at me, and I'm proud to say that I promptly dashed those expectations by bashing her out of the sky with a brutal hit right on her injured side.

She bounced meaty against the pavement, letting out a pained yowl. I was immediately onto her.

I'm really glad for all those days I spent fighting Yokai, because let me tell you, a supernatural creature, especially one that is less humanoid than most, does not move as a martial artist does. This might sound obvious, but Ranma had talked my ears off with tales of talented martial artists who lost their lives fighting a bear, or a platypus. Apparently, they are the equivalent of cautionary tales to the community. Point is; feral creatures move differently, and you have to keep that in mind when fighting an animal.

This principle also works when fighting Yokai as not all of them know martial arts. This monster in particular was like a mix between a humanoid Yokai and a tiger, nothing I haven't seen before.

"FAGHHH!" She screamed as I managed to dodge all her attacks and lay a hit on her injury. There was a loud crunch in the area and her left arm when limp.

Her next move was to try to leap back, to which I responded by catching her tail and pulling her back, my bat raising and descending in three vicious strikes across her back, each driving her to the ground and producing pained gasps.

She rolled to her back, entering a belly-showing stance of feline aggression, but before she could use all her four sets of claws I kicked her entire body out the ground and struck her back down with my bat. She gurgled her catchword and tried to run again, but I stomped over her kneecap and kicked her face to disorient her. All throughout this process, my bat flew up and down as I single-handily broke her bones and crushed her body with an almost mechanical efficiency.

I was so focused on hurting her; on making her pay for every injury she left on Haruka… That I almost didn't hear the loud 'ping' echoing above me. I definitely heard Haruka, though.

"WATCH OUT!"

Her shout made me freeze for a moment, just enough for the Cardian to twist her bloody muzzle and open her maw unnaturally wide.

"FALION!"

This roar was accompanied by a jet stream of a purple, almost ghostly energy. I had just enough time to shield my face before I was hit in the front and pushed back by its sheer intensity.

Agony flared across my arm and whatever part of my body it touched. My Jacket and shirt started to burn away, my exposed skin began to blister. I ground my teeth together and push the pain to the back of my mind, frantically trying to work out a solution from this predicament that didn't involve rolling out of the way and letting the attack wash over to the girls behind my back.

Following my instincts, I immediately emitted a large quantity of Mana from my torso; trying to give it shape and intention at the same time like I did the first time I used it, this time to create a shield rather than an exploding sphere. Within moments it became clear that the pain of being slowly burned alive was making it hard to concentrate, so I discarded the plan for another, cruder but more immediate solution.

New Skill Created: Elemental Resistance: Fire lvl 01.
Increases your natural resistance against fire, decrease the harmful effects of fire and heat, take less damage from fire attacks.

And once again, the beautiful, beautiful Gamer system made my life infinitely easier. I smiled as the decrease in pain and damage let me concentrate my mana more easily, making it rise through my defending arm until it focused in my hand, then I quickly pointed it to the heart of the fiery beam releasing my own stream of concentrated mana to counteract the Cardian's.

What followed was one minute of a locked energy beam battle that you would see in Dragon Ball or Harry Potter. It wasn't really as fun being a participant of it as it was to witness from the side, it was mostly just keeping your arm raised, keeping the energy going, and trying to hold back the pressure from the opposing power. At least I wasn't on fire anymore.

I felt the pressure of the enemy's beam lessen as her energy started to run out, so I raised my other hand and formed a fully shaped Mana bolt in my palm, all while making a show of also losing steam. When both beams run out and all that was left was the bright, residual energy over the street, I responded to the Cardian's death glare with a Mana bolt to the face.

"FGAH!" The thing cried out. I doubt she was expecting me to use magic right after I finished counteracting her beam. Well, tough shit, there is more where that comes from.

So I picked up my bat and restarted the brutalization of the Cardian, this time magically and from a distance, just to show I fucking could.

The things cried and moaned in agony as explosions wrecked her body and the area surrounding her. Booms echoed, pavement cracked, blood poured, all that good shit.

By the end, I paused, letting the dust settle to show the broken, burned form of the now unmoving Cardian. I placed my bat over my shoulders and walked over to bash its head open just to make sure it was really dead because I sure as hell wasn't about to assume and turn my back to it.

It was only then that I noticed the creaking sound.

A couple of meters above where the battle took place, there was a… ghostly wheel thingy? It was hovering in place, slowly spinning. It reminded me a lot of a piece of a ghostly pirate ship I'd seen in every cartoon show.

The thing was so out of the left field that I had to stop and assault it with an incredulous look— What the fuck?

"Senpai! That thing's—" I heard Haruka cry out before the wheel snapped into place with a loud 'ping'. My eyes widened when I recognized the sound.

"FALION!" The broken monster surged to her feet, golden energy flaming over her form, seemly reinvigorating her. She moved with a speed she wasn't displayed before and tacked me to the ground. Her claws digging deep into my biceps as she pinned me in place.

I watched as the wounds on her snarling face knit themselves close, and the growing swelling noticeably diminished.

Self-healing, Fuck!

She lunged for my neck, and I threw my head to the side to let her plant her face in the ground. Using my strength, I surged upwards and drew her into a grappling match. At this distance, there was no way to prevent her claws from gashing my skin a few times, but despite the pain, I quickly managed to lock the inexperienced monster into a submission hold, my superior strength more than enough to hold her down while she thrashed like an animal.

Two instances of fucking up my imminent victory had me playing attention on the hovering wheel, which had begun spinning again. This time I nearly cursed when I heard the next ping.

Fuck. No.

I threw my body to the side, putting my back to the ground and dragging the snarling monster with me. With a direct view of the wheel above, I triggered the skill I'd gotten from the Slime Queen's loot. In the same instant, my Mana surged up, following the Gamer System's automatic control, and twisted inside itself in a way I couldn't even begin to describe to shape a particular effect/element.

Acid Spit lvl 03
One of nineteen steps needed to become a Space Marine.

It was one of those skills that sounded lame and simple until you took a moment to think of all the way how it could be useful in real life, plus it came with a bonus of enhancing my spit distance.

The effects of the wheel were just starting to activate when the acid hit it. To my surprise, it broke apart by the impact alone, the corrosive effect not needed.

The Cardian screamed in my hold, her body arching and coiling like it was struck by lightning or was suffering the effect of an extremely high voltage, I could feel her strength practically disappearing as mine revitalized. Almost without thinking, I took advantage of that to get a better hold, ready for her to—

"C-Cleansing!" She suddenly gurgled out from my sleeper hold. It was surprising to hear her talking after all those animal noises, that and the fact I was putting a hell of a lot of pressure on her throat.

Her body bust out in black flames, and I flinched, throwing her remains to the side and getting to my feet in one smooth movement, but I couldn't feel any heat from this particular fire.

Oh right, when I killed Minon's previous incarnation, what was her name again? She also burned away in black fire; maybe it's a common trait among Cardians.

Quest completed.

2000 exp

Your relationship with Tenou Haruka has increased.

Your relationship with Kuno Kodachi has vastly increased.

Closing the quest screen, I retrieved my bat and finally turned to address the audience.

Haruka had placed a still unresponsive Kodachi on the sidewalk, leaning against one of the walls of one of the residential buildings. And Haruka herself was standing close, her… wide eyes looking over my form.

"Ah." I breathed out, suddenly embarrassed as I remember my own lingering injuries. I had become surprisingly good at blocking off pain to the point I almost didn't notice after a while, something about the certainty that I'd be fine no matter what if I was alive by the end helped with that fact.

To be fair, it wasn't that bad, just ruined clothes, some burns, and a few claw marks here and here. Haruka's own claw marks looked much deeper.

"This is nothi—"

"Don't… say that." Haruka's voice hiccupped before her tone lowered almost to a whisper. She was avoiding my gaze. "… It's not nothing."

I…

Ah…

The distant sounds of the fire-trunks' sirens reminded me of the burning school. I cast a brief look at that direction to see red light beaming over the buildings, but no signs of the brightness of the fire. I turned back to the girls; Kodachi was looking fixedly at us, Haruka looked about to collapse.

… The professionals can deal with the fire.

-0-0-0-

You have found a special magitech artifact of Alien Origin.
Do you wish to assimilate it into the gamer system?
Yes/No

I let the Card lazily drift between finger to finger as I sat there in a clean corner of Doc Tofu's clinic.

Another monster that could only say its name and leaves a card that my game system identifies as 'Alien Origin' when killed. It was the exact same situation as Minon's.

But what does this mean? My game calls them Alien, or at least, say they are of Alien origin. Frankly after all I've seen Aliens aren't much of a stretch, but regardless of their origins I can't see the reason to why attack people like that, I mean, first they attack in a highly defensive temple and no doubt produced the ire and attention of the local supernatural community, and next they attack a school!? Do they want attention? Maybe make a statement?

Both attacks were targeting someone; at the temple it was Ena, and now… considering that it attacked the school at night and that it chased them afterward…

I look up to the bed were Kodachi was lying; she fell fully unconscious on our way here, forcing me to carry her the rest of the way, now she wasn't waking up, but Doc said there wasn't anything physically wrong with her, just exhaustion.

Was Kodachi the target this time? Or…

I let out a sigh and looked over to where Doc was treating Haruka's injuries.

There are still too many pieces missing on this puzzle.

"There, Tenou-san." The Doc spoke, finishing tying the bandages around her arm. "They aren't as bad as they seem, but I'm still surprised you'd get attacked by a tiger of all things!"

I couldn't help but cringe a little at the excuse we came up with, I was hoping the nature of the injuries would give some credit to it… and that Doc wouldn't notice the difference. But apparently, something happened to the zoo today and some animals escaped, so 'being attacked by a tiger' is a lot more believable tonight then it would have been at any other time.

I wonder if Ranma had anything to do with it.

"Yes, Ono-sensei," Haruka replied, testing her hand's grip to see how the bandages flexed on her arm. "Thank you for your treatment."

"It will be enough for the wounds." Doc nodded. "But you still have to go to a hospital to get proper treatment. I'll call your parent and get you trans—"

"Eh!" She cried out, and I also looked up from my weird magical card. "Hum, can't I just go home?"

Doc Tofu frowned the frown of a responsible adult who's trying to be reasonable. I hated when the genuinely good people did that; they give it a validity like you wouldn't believe.

"Tenou-san, you've been attacked by a wild animal. It'd be irresponsible of me to let you walk away after a few patches."

"I'm fine, really. Look!" She pulled herself off her bed, wincing slightly but noticeably as the full weight of her wounds made themseves know without adrenaline to bear the brunt. "I'm fine." She argued again.

Doc Tofu's righteous frown was now accompanied by a sad look that said he could see through all her lies and just want to help, now stop being a stubborn young lady you must receive all the care in the— Goddamn he's good.

"Ono-sensei, if I may." I stood from where I sat. "Haruka had a stressful night. She just wants to get to her home and rest for a bit. I'll escort her there and make sure she gets to a hospital tomorrow, I promise. Just please, let her leave."

"Please," Haruka added.

That argument did not persuade him; I knew that I could see that. But he must have realized that there was more to it than we were saying. In the end, his shoulders dropped in acceptance.

"Alright, just this time. I'll leave her to you Ōe-san." I could feel the trust he placed on me for that, I appreciate it.

As we were leaving, I stopped by Kuno Tatewaki's prone form at the clinic's front entrance. He, of course, stirred at my presence and used his bokken to try to rise to his feet.

"Damn you, wizard! I will make you pay for what you did to—"

"I did nothing to Kodachi," I said for the hundredth time and knew he wasn't going to listen. "Anyway, I'll be going now, but I'm going to be really pissed if you try to start shit in Ono-sensei's place in my absence, so you better make like Sasuke and behave yourself, understand?"

"The great eagle of Furikan always flies high, and it always strikes down his foes! En guard, monster!" Without listening, he got to his feet and tried to fight like he's been doing for the past hour or so.

At this point, I'm just trying to trash him while being mindful of the noise to not bother the neighbors. This time was no different. I hope that with me gone he would actually visit his recuperating sister rather than, in his words, 'Getting rightful revenge!'

The nights in Nerima are far from being dark; the lack of intense urban centers and the people's tendency to go to bed early kept light pollution to a minimum, so, if not covered by clouds, the nights here are usually bright and full of stars, tonight this was particularly true with the towering brightness of the full-moon adding to the vision.

Haruka and I made our way through the street slowly and quietly. I'd offered the girl my shoulder to lean on, and even carry her, but she just waved it off and continued fighting through the pain.

The long stretches of silence were… uncomfortable, and the worst thing was this wasn't even solely the result of tonight.

All throughout this week the girl's been distancing herself from me. Before, I frequently met her during my morning jogs, and we could easily talk and joke all the way to her school, but then our conversations started to lose steam, silence became more frequent, and I sometimes caught theselooks from her… yesterday was the first time she didn't show up since I've met her.

What happened at the illusion barrier shook her more than I'd initially thought, and I don't blame her; even if she didn't get hurt, getting introduced to the supernatural that way would have shaken anybody, and to discover right after that the friends she's been making were deeply involved in it mustn't have helped.

Now there was this thing with the Cardian.

"So, hum, what... How did you end up in that situation?" I asked hesitantly, trying to break the silence. I don't know if it was the right thing to ask, and it probably wasn't, but I had to say something.

The girl didn't answer at first, just kept looking ahead. I was about to beat myself by the choice of subject when she spoke.

"I was keeping an eye on Kodachi; I told you I would. She's just as unhinged as the rumors said, but then her team started to disappear…" She trails off.

… I don't know what it was worse, the fact she spoke so mechanically, or the fact she got involved in all of that because of me.

A pathetical, "Oh." Was all I managed to say when I wanted to hit myself. Fuck, this was a girl trying to come to terms that demons and monsters and magical gender flipping martial artists existed, and I threw her right at the jaws of a lion-woman-monster thing. If only I wasn't so insistent on this Kodachi business.

I shifted uncomfortably. She was already distancing herself by the mere existence of these things, and now she's been hurt and terrorized by one, I can already see her reaction.

So deep I was in my musings that I didn't notice that Haruka suddenly wasn't beside me anymore. A surge of panic burst inside my chest, but a quick look around showed me that she'd just stopped in her tracks and I kept walking like an idiot.

"… Senpai is amazing."

H-Hm? She was almost whispering, so it took a second for me to process the words. I open my mouth to respond but she continued.

"That… thing…. It was so… Terrifying, strong, Kuno Kodachi fought against it, but she couldn't even… I didn't know what to do, so I just grabbed her and… ran."

She choked, and I felt my chest tightening at the highs her voice was getting; it was not easy seeing Haruka, seeing anymore like this. Before I could swallow the lump on my throat, she pressed on.

"But then you." She finally looked at me, eyes glistening. "You just… dealt with it, you stood against it and refused to budge and was so damn brave and heroic, and so like you that I…" A rueful smile opens on her face, and she shook her head. "I just ran, like I always, always do, running away from everything, even before tonight I was… Compared to you I…" She hiccupped wetly at the last word.

I had enough.

"Shut up," I said firmly, she flinched at the word and tone, but I press on.

"Look at me, Haruka." She didn't react. "Look at me." I insisted.

She did, moist blue eyes with complicated emotions rose from the shadows of her bangs to look at me.

"Do you see any injury, any sign of that fight at all?" I pointed at my shoulder where there should have been a second-degree burn, but instead, there was perfectly immaculate skin under my new shirt. "I am a freak, Haruka. I can punch through concrete, I can run faster than a car, I can heal from just about any injury with a short rest. But, you… you are nothing like me. You're just a normal girl."

She smiled that self-deprecating smile again; more tears gathered in her eyes.

I step in, enough to be inappropriate for a Japanese person, but I didn't give a damn.

"You have nothing I have. And yet you still faced that monster, you still got in, got Kodachi, and freaking carried her city blocks away from the school all while a monster chased you. How the hell do you think anybody else would have acted in this situation, how the hell do you think I would if I didn't have what I have. They would run, Haruka. They would run immediately and just forget about anymore else in favor of saving their skin. I would run."

She shook her head sharply, "You wouldn't run."

"I would!" It's true. If I didn't have the gamer, if I didn't have concrete proof that I would get stronger, or that I wouldn't get permanent injuries… I would act much differently than I do now. But her… "But you, you just… risked your life to save someone, someone you didn't know, didn't even like for goodness sake. You faced down a genuine monster that could have killed you just to get someone to safety. You call me brave and heroic? Then how the hell can we even begin to describe you?"

And I mean it too, I was surprised how much I mean it. There is no way to understate what Haruka did tonight; she found herself in an actual horror movie situation, and instead of saving herself like the average person, she risked it all for Kodachi. This is just…

"Extraordinary. You're just extraordinary." I decided and said it to her face.

Then I realize I literally said to her face, seeing as I was close enough to do so, and had my hands on her shoulders.

"Hum." To my credit I didn't sputter dumbly like an anime protagonist with a pretty girl would, I just straightened my back and released my grip on her shoulders. "Sorry about… that." I trailed off.

Haruka was meeting my eyes for the first time in a while, and I was struck speechless by the weight her teary gaze held. Shock, doubt, happiness, hope, all mixed into a confused bundle. They glistened in the night's light before disappearing as she bumped her forehead on my chest, hands clinging to my shirt.

I said nothing as the quiet sobs started, just brought my arms around her, and tried to hold her in a manner that wouldn't let my awkwardness show. I was not prepared to be consoling a crying girl tonight, much less Haruka, but I would do the best I could.

We stood there in that deserted street for a while. I said nothing, just kept rubbing my hands on her back and let her let all she was holding. She occasionally mumbled something against my shirt, but it was too muffled for me to make sense, and she went back to sobbing soon after.

Eventually, we separated.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I just…" Haruka spoke, rubbing her sleeves to her face to clear her remaining tears. "Nobody ever said something like that to me."

It was hard to keep the surprise from showing on my face. Sure, what I called her, and the way I did it was a bit chuuni— scratch that, it was a lot chuuni — so I can see how she can say that, but something about the way she said it… I knew, I just knew there was a lot more meaning than it first seemed.

I looked at Tenou Haruka again, taking her in like it was the first time: tall for a girl of her age, long-limbed, shoulders tending towards the broad side, dirty blonde hair that was more curled than straight, feature that while certainly attractive were longer and sharper than the average girl…

"Well… That sounds like it's entirely their fault." I decided with a nod; it was a very easy decision.

She rasped out a tiny laught despite herself. Then, out of nowhere, she gave me a deep bow.

"I'm sorry!" She declared before I could say anything. "Senpai, I treated you terribly this week, I'm so, so sorry about that."

"Ah." Jesus, if acting a bit distant is being treated terribly to Haruka, then she definitely can't go to the west; she's just too nice for those barbarians. "I figured you just needed some time."

She shook her head… while still bowing, so it was a bit weird. "No, I was… I was trying to run away again. I apologize for that!"

"It's—" It's ok; I almost said it, but gestures mean different things for different people, so while I might not have been to bothered about it, I could see now that it weighted on Haruka. So I change to a formal but sincere. "I accept your apology, please stand."

She did, passing her sleeve over her eyes one last time to get the last tears.

"Hiroshi-senpai… I'm not what you describe." I frowned, but then she looked at me with a —Radiant, joyful smile, bloody yet victorious, short blonde hair blowing in fury of the cosmic storm, dark blue eyes like continental colossus cresting over a bed of starlight, holding within undying, never-ending— determination I've never seen on her before.

Hum!?

What the hell?

D-Did her title and level just glitch?

"But I want to be like that! I want to be someone I can be proud of. So." I blinked at her as she bowed again, a formal bow rather than the one for a humbling apology from before. "Please, Hiroshi-senpai, I humbly request your guidance."

Her question helped center my thought. I blinked down to her and realized what she asked. "Sure, I'm wasn't planning to leave you hanging when it was me that dragged you into this mess, but, hum, guidance is a bit much."

Haruka smiled; it was one of her usual ones this time, the ones that make her look damn cool. "Not at all, I had a distinct feeling that it would come to that on the first time we met, it's a bit weird to be honest, but…" She shrugged. "I guess you come with the weird."

…There is a lot to unpack there; in fact, her statement had my common sense tingling like a motherfucker, so I don't want to just dismiss that, even when I hoped that it's just an in of the moment thing.

Still, Haruka was back, and things didn't feel awkward between us anymore, process!

"I probably have to get stronger, though." She commented as she walked past me in an unspoken prompt.

"Definitely, sorry about that, but hanging out with me and Ranma makes that necessary." It was easy to fall into step beside her. My eyes widened when an interesting idea surfaced. "In fact, I think I have a good dojo to recommend."

We talked the entire way back to her house, the heavy silence of our last few conversations all but a memory.

I couldn't believe how glad I was for that.

-0-0-0-

Yesterday was a good day overall.

I got a few levels in ninjutsu, which was always nice, Rin left for her mission, which sucks, Ryoga appeared again, so I think he will be a semi-permanent presence from now on, I got a new Cardian summon, and patched things up with Haruka.

Yeah, good day.

Not really sure what to think about the summon though, I mean, it is nice to have, and if it's half as useful as Minon it'll be a great boon. Plus, I certainly hope to finally break past lvl 02 of the Summon Cardian skill now that I have more than Minon.

What frustrated me yesterday was the fact I couldn't summon it at all, I tried for hours with increasingly frustrating results, that is, the summoning circle appeared, the timer started, but at the end there was no Cardian, and it was all just a waste of MP. At some point, I just gave up and went to sleep. (Minon complained a lot for being used as a live dakimakura, but I got used to having someone sleeping next to me damn it! I think she liked it a lot in the end, though.)

It wasn't until this morning, just as I was leaving for my morning jog that I realize my fit of retardation: Minon, she was the reason I couldn't summon the new Cardian. I only had one 'summon slot' and Minon was occupying it.

I grumbled a bit while I ran; I'm really curious about the new Cardian, but I'm not curious enough to dismiss Minon from the Illusion Barrier I left her grinding in early. I'd have to go back all that way there to deal with it as leaving it alone and having it evolve or do another unknown thing wasn't an option. So I guess it's waiting until after school to meet the new guy… Girl, why do I feel it's going to be a girl?

Anyway, it wasn't like I didn't have other things to look forwards to: I was meeting Haruka today, not to escort her to school like always (I think her school's going to be close for a while for obvious reasons.), but to join her for her own morning jog.

I never thought I could be excited to introduce someone to the joys of exercise, but I've long since stopped wondering how my life has come to this.

Haruka's house was close to my apartment, and by this point I knew the route like the back of my hand, so it was easy to get to the intersection and cross the street to enter the neighborhood where—

The second-floor window of Haruka's house exploded outwards in a shower glass, flower petals, maniacal laughter.

The fuck!?

"Ohohohohohohoho!"

The figure bounced around Haruka's neighbors' houses, nothing by a greenish blur to the untrained eye. To me, however, it was easy to see they had training; they weren't like Ranma, who could practically fly, but they are clearly comfortable in the air, and it shows. Where they passed, they left a trail of… black petals…

Hold on.

I saw her pausing on top of the house next to me, and the next leap had her landing directly in front of me.

And there she was, in all her athletic curves in a tight bluish green leotard glory. Kuno Kodachi, Kuno-senpai's twisted little sister and the runner contender for Ranma's craziest fiancé… well, wanna-be-fiancé.

"I remember you!" Was the first thing she said to me, throwing her silky side ponytail over her shoulder. "You saved me yesterday."

I swallowed a lump of saliva because hot damn that leotard is tight. "I helped, yes." Frankly, I'm kinda surprised Kuno hadn't ranted to her about me and how I was clearly responsible for her state yesterday. Maybe she does remember what happened. "I'm glad to see you're already on your feet."

"Ohohohohoho! A little encounter like that is nothing for Kodachi, the black rose!" She pointed the handle of her ribbon thingy in my direction. "Still, I'm here to formally thank you for helping the jewel of the Kuno's family in her hour of need!"

Well, that's… nice of her. Maybe she's more reasonable than her brother— Oh god, I shouldn't have thought that— Hum?

Kodachi had, leaned forward, like, getting way inside my personal space to the point that I had to bend backward to keep the distance. She just kept looking at me with her admittedly pretty eyes.

"Um, can I help you?"

"Oh!" She gasped, immediately retreating a couple of steps before turning her back to me. She then started to mumble and fidget in place.

Ah, shit, I have a bad feeling about this; I have a horrible feeling about this. In fact, I got chills. "A-Are you ok?" No, don't show compassion, you fool! Run away!

"… Oh, how life is cruel and unfair!" Her mumbling suddenly became very audible. I didn't know if she noticed or not. "After my conundrum with Haruka-sama, now this. Oh, why does my heart act so—."

She spun towards me so fast that her hair snapped in the air. I would have found her blushing face very charming if it didn't give me so much dread.

"I-I must solve the tangles of my heart, farewell!"

A gust of black rose petals somehow accompanied her as she leaped. I had to wave a hand over my face to clear my vision and was left standing alone in a now petal covered street.

W-Well… That wasn't so bad?

"NO!" It was a fiery declaration of righteous determination, one that washes away any the doubt and uncertainty one could possibly have.

Goddamn it.

I look up and to the side, and there was Kodachi again, a storm of black rose petals swirling around her in conjunction with her ribbon.

"I, Kuno Kodachi, the Black Rose, never do things half measures, nor do I let little things get in the way of my desire!" She declared to victoriously to the sky. "Morals? Constraints? Rules? Out of my way! I have something to say!"

Her ribbon, breaking all conventional rules of physics, snapped a bouquet of black roses into existence, and she launched it toward me.

"Bat-wielding Prince." The fuck did she call me!? "I love you."

Fuck.

"Goodbye for now, my love! For I must calm this confusing heart for our next encounter. But be assured we will meet again!" She very lovingly blew me a kiss and then Ohohoho'ed her way across the rooftops, leaving the trail of black petals behind her, of course.

I looked at the bouquet in my hand, and cursed again, loudly this time.

There are so many butterflies flying right now it's not even funny.

"Se-Senpai."

I turned around to see Haruka shyly exiting her house, she looked shocked, alarmed, confused, mortified, covered in petals, and there was a bouquet of black rose in her hands.

"S-she said I had tempted her with the forbidden fruit, and that I must take responsibility." She spoke breathlessly, looking at me with wide, helpless eyes. "W-W-What do I do senpai!? I don't like girls!" So said the closet lesbian, yet her giant blush said otherwise.

Fucking Kunos man, they are more trouble than they're worth.


A/n: And that's it for chapter 10! It felt like it would never end...

Anyway I feel like I should explain myself for Kodachi situation, mostly to give an excuse because ah well *shrug

Spoilers! Do not read this if you have not yet read the chapter.

Now, Kodachi is straight in cannon, and the plan was for her to fall for Hiroshi in this chapter, predicable, but it was for chaos sake. However, there more I started writing Haruka's part, the more I though how brave she must have looked to Kodachi I couldn't get out of my head the idea to make her fall for Haruka instead.

Thing is I hate changing cannon characters for no reason, and have Kodochi suddenly go lesbian felt like a jarring thing to do.

In the end I asked myself... what would Kuno do?

Kidding, I asked myself what would be funnier, and then realize what Kuno would do.

So yeah, just like Tatewaki is in love with Tendo Akane and the Pigtail girl, Kodachi is in love with Tenou Haruka and the Bat-wielding prince, and no, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

I still don't like the idea of a randomly change an canon character's sexuality, but I have the iron clad excuse that Kodachi is fucking insane and I will hold on to this to my dying breath

So in summary; I did it for the lols