By the time classes had finished, Masaya was both pleased and somewhat unnerved at the fact that there was nothing to report. He thought there would be some form of imminent threat. Then again, perhaps Ruriko's father was preemptively cautious, asking for assistance before the threat was on the brink of attacking.
This was a better outcome, though. It allowed him to get more acclimatized with his surroundings and, simultaneously, let him cement his cover story.
As the girls around him began to pack up and join up with their friends, Masaya continued to stare out the window, his sight unfocused until a soft voice brought him back to the present.
"Is everything alright, Masaya-san?" Ruriko asked, her hands clasped behind her back and her head tilted to the side, in what he had come to know as the 'adorably curious' expression and pose.
"Yeah, everything is fine. Just thinking..."
"What's on your mind?" Chiho asked as she approached them.
Putting a hand on his chin, Masaya glance out the window one more time, then turned back to them. "The way the situation was explained to me, I had expected there to be some kind of contact immediately." He kept his words deliberately vague, as there were more than a few, not-very-well-hidden eavesdroppers around them. The girls understood his meaning, though, and became serious. "Perhaps it's for the best, but I can't help but be a little on edge due to it."
Before the conversation could continue or be moved, the door to the room opened, immediately drawing Masaya's attention, and allowed in the form of Rousenin Rise. The whispers that had previously been propagating around the room became admiring as she entered, but when she walked in and made her way to his seat, they changed to scornful, with confusion mixed in.
"Salutations, Masaya-san, Chiho-san, Ruriko-san," the pinkette greeted them brightly. After the three responded in their own ways, she continued. "Masaya-san, I was hoping to ask if you'd accompany me to my grandmother's office."
"Whatever for?" Masaya asked.
Rise explained how she was part, and leader, of the White Lily Society, one of a pair of groups in the school that dealt more closely with the issues the students may have in the school. The leaders also served as the most popular, upcoming candidates for next year's holder of the student council president position, which Marika currently occupied. Actual student or not, Masaya was set to be the face of a movement in Vincennes, and as such, it would be prudent to have him present in the meeting that would decide such.
"I see… I suppose it's required," Masaya said, standing up and looking at Ruriko. "Since you're the one who 'found me', I believe you should come as well. Unless you had other plans?"
"No, not for today," Ruriko assured him. "My club activities do not begin until a week from now."
"Would you like to come along, Chiho-san?" Rise asked the remaining person of the trio.
"Oh, no, that's fine. I don't have anything to do with the student government anyways, being a Tourist and all," Chiho laughed nervously.
"Don't say that, Chiho-san," Rise rebuked her, with Ruriko giving her a stern look as well, Masaya noted. "You are as much part of this school as any of us, regardless of when you entered. This year, I plan to do my best to change such misconceptions, beginning with Masaya-san and the irrational fear of boys that is instilled into us, which should theoretically make it easier to change problems inside Vincennes as well. And in that endeavor, I would wholeheartedly appreciate your help."
Chiho (and most of the class) stared at Rise in dumbfounded silence, which was broken a moment later by Chiho laughing, a normal laugh this time. "I can see why you're known as the Soleil D'Ecole, Rise-san. But alright. If you'll have me, I'll help you out."
Rise smiled and turned to the other two. "Well, shall we head out?"
The pair nodded, and together, the foursome headed out. On the way, Rise explained a bit more about the Associations, including events they worked on and issues the tackled. Considering Masaya's presence in the school and Rise's plan to integrate the school, the Associations would likely be entirely split on the gender integration idea.
When they arrived at the Chairwoman's office, they greeted her properly. However, during that, an outraged voice spoke up. "Rise-san, why have you brought him here?"
Masaya couldn't help but think that voice was familiar. Looking up, he recognized the speaker as the same purple-haired girl that had been with Marika earlier, whose arm he had grabbed and threatened to dislocate. He could understand the wary look in her eyes.
"I notice you said nothing about Ruriko-san and Chiho-san's presence, Mitsuki-san," Rise responded dully. When Mitsuki didn't answer, she continued. "I brought him because, knowing what this meeting will be about, I thought it prudent for the person who is the main cornerstone of integration to be present."
"You don't have the right to make that call," Mitsuki countered heatedly.
"Now, now, girls," the chairwoman spoke up in a calming tone. "Not to show favoritism, but Rise is correct. I would have called Masaya-kun and Ruriko here regardless, so this saves us time. But, Chiho, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, I asked her to come," Rise spoke up. "I hope it's not too much trouble."
"Not at all. Masaya-kun, Ruriko, Chiho, as you are not part of the Associations, you may stand by the wall. Shall we begin?"
The trio followed the order as the meeting began. The Red Rose Society took the stage first, explaining their goals for the upcoming year. Their explanation went off without a hitch. However, when it came to the White Lily Society, things went south fast. In essence, no one in the society but Rise fully supported gender integration, and when she announced that would be the plan the White Lily Society would work for, the members began 'quitting' one by one, which mainly meant handing in the ribbons that marked them as members.
In the end, Rise was left despondent at the center of the room, one hand filled with blue ribbons.
"Well, Rise-san, it seems all of your support has left you," Mitsuki spoke up smugly. "Now do you see how ridiculous your idea is? Vincennes was never meant to integrate, and the students all know it. It is mainly a women's school-."
"And yet, all you're doing is acting like a little girl," a male voice suddenly interrupted her, drawing all attention to the speaker as he stepped up to the no-man's-land between the Associations. "Stop crowing as if you've already won, Mitsuki-san. The only achievement you have earned is making yourself look like a child." Mitsuki jerked back as if she had been slapped, giving Masaya enough time to turn to the chairwoman. "Madame Chairwoman, a question. It isn't unlawful in any way for a student to support their favored association on their own free will, correct?"
"That is correct, Masaya-kun."
Masaya placed a hand to his chin and hummed in thought. "But it is too late to allow anyone to join as actual members, right?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Masaya nodded to himself, then turned back to Mitsuki, who was glaring at him. "You're entirely incorrect, Mitsuki-san. Those that refuse to stand with their leader without even trying to understand the reasons for his or her campaign are cowards, and those that start claiming victory long before the battle is over are fools that soon find themselves face first in the dust. Ruriko-san, Chiho-san, and I are still in the room, and we all fully support Rise-san. Isn't that right?"
Breaking from the stupor they had fallen into, Ruriko and Chiho broke out with a powerful, united 'yes!'
Turning to the still-flabbergasted Rise, he smirked and said, "So, Rise-san… have you ever heard of 'political affiliates'?"
"Alright, Masaya, what was that all about?" Chiho asked a few minutes later as they were exiting the chairwoman's office, staring at Masaya shrewdly. If they were honest, Rise and Ruriko had the same question on the tip of their tongues.
"Hmm… I'm sorry, what?" Masaya said, breaking out of the deep thought he had fallen into.
"You are usually so cold and distant, and yet, you suddenly jumped forward and tore Mitsuki-san down when she spoke up against me," Rise explained what they were all thinking. "Not that I'm not grateful, but what was with the sudden cut-in?"
To their chagrin, Masaya only shrugged and said, "Just a whim."
Her voice filled with exasperation, Chiho asked, "Honestly… are you ever straightforward?"
"I thought I was pretty straightforward with the threat to your safety and the reason I'm actually here," Masaya responded, raising an eyebrow.
"Which is ironic, because I believe most people would prefer not being straightforward about such topics," Ruriko mused. "At least, whenever I asked Father, he would refuse to tell me, claiming I was too young for something like that."
"I've never had that mentality," Masaya said, shaking his head as they exited the classroom building. "In every protection mission I undertake, I make sure to tell my charge directly of the threat to their safety. It's helped prevent them from running around like complete idiots if and when said threat actually showed up."
The annoyance in Masaya's tone made the trio of girls stare at him bemusedly, filling their heads with the image of an exasperated Masaya being shot at while a nondescript person ran all around screaming his head off.
Later that afternoon, there was a knock at Masaya's door. Looking over at it from his prone position on the bed, he called out, "Come in."
The door opened slowly, allowing in the form of Ruriko, with Panterbell on her shoulder. Now that classes had ended, she had changed into casual clothing, which for her consisted of a string dress of a light pink color and sandals. As the inside of the dorm was kept at room temperature (which felt a little hot to Masaya, probably due to the physical differences between the sexes), she didn't bother with a jacket.
The girl looked around the plain room, which Masaya hadn't gone to the bother of personalizing, before zeroing in on the young mercenary, who was laying on his back on the bed, one arm behind his head and the other arm's hand holding a book. He was still in his black uniform slacks, but he had changed into a simple black shirt.
"Salutations, Masaya-san," Ruriko greeted him with a little bow, Panterbell letting out a 'kuu' of greetings.
"Hello. Something I can help you with?"
"You said earlier today that would explain to me how you are familiar with Rise-san," Ruriko reminded him.
Masaya slowly closed his book and placed it on his chest, closing his eyes. "I did, didn't I?" Sitting up and moving to stand up, he said, "Alright then. Go ahead and make yourself comfortable; this might take a while. Do you want some tea?"
"It would be appreciated," Ruriko nodded, closing the door.
Masaya nodded in return and headed to the kitchenette, setting up a tea kettle on the electrical stove there. Next to it, he put a coffee pot he had brought with him next to the stove and set it to make a batch of coffee alongside the tea. As he waited for both beverages to be done, he stiffened when he felt a touch around his shin. A 'kuu' around that area told him that Panterbell had followed him to the kitchen. Looking down, he gazed at the little white stoat as it trotted around his ankles like a cat.
A small smile came to his face at the gesture, and he reached down, holding his hand out to it. Panterbell looked at it for a moment, sniffed it experimentally, and finally jumped onto his outstretched arm, climbing up it to his shoulders, where he settled comfortably. Smile still in place, Masaya reached up and rubbed Panterbell's back a little awkwardly, making it let out a satisfied, elongated 'kuu' as it settled further onto his shoulder.
"You truly are an interesting person, Masaya-san," Ruriko's voice came from the doorway to the kitchenette. When her little friend had hopped off her shoulder and trailed after her bodyguard, she had followed it, coming up to the heartwarming scene. "I have never seen Panterbell become comfortable with someone so quickly before."
Perplexingly, her words made Masaya's smile slowly disappear. Fearing she had offended him somehow, she kept quiet, but his next words dispelled that thought.
"Maybe he can sense experience…"
He went quiet, and out of pure curiosity (along with hope that she wasn't overstepping her boundaries), Ruriko asked, "What do you mean?"
Masaya stayed quiet for a little while, scratching Panterbell almost automatically, then let out a small sigh and leaned against the counter. "I… I used to have a dog. A husky, actually. I had found him on one of my missions overseas, bleeding out in an alley." The way he began the story sounded interesting to her, but noticing the way he was tightly gripping the countertop, Ruriko couldn't help the cold feeling in her gut. "I nursed him back to health and kept him around after I returned. Got him checked, got a license for him, the whole shebang…"
He went quiet again, and with a faint voice, Ruriko asked, "What… what happened?"
"He died," Masaya responded emotionlessly, his eyes narrowing. "He died protecting me, actually… I had screwed up in one of my missions, where I'd brought him along. I almost died in a gunfight… but then he jumped in, trying his best to help me… and all it got him was a bullet to the head for his trouble." Ruriko gasped, her eyes becoming wet with unshed tears. "I got so angry that I just… snapped. I don't remember what happened, and I don't think I want to, but when I was able to focus, I had killed everyone, including the guy that had put a bullet in his head, but… no amount of death or satisfaction would bring my partner back."
Silence reigned in the kitchenette after the story. Ruriko was dumbfounded at this little titbit of Masaya's life, but not enough that she had spaced out. She could, just barely, see the way Masaya's shoulders had tensed under his shirt, and how his breathing seemed a little ragged. With the tears from earlier now trailing down her face, Ruriko walked up to Masaya and placed a hand on his left shoulder, hoping to make the gesture supportive, and said in a shaky voice, "I… I'm so sorry, Masaya-san…"
Masaya didn't respond. In fact, he didn't even react to her touch. That he hadn't immediately brushed her off pleased her slightly, but just as she thought that, the tea kettle made a shrill sound as it finished boiling the tea inside, and at the same time, the coffee pot stopped moving. As if reacting to the distraction, Masaya returned to his usual, distant self, the shudders in his breathing and body disappearing. He shook his shoulders, pushing off her hand. "It's in the past," he muttered stoically, turning off the stove. "It doesn't matter anymore."
As she watched him busy himself with the kettle and coffee pot, Ruriko couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt shoot through her emotions. To see just a small glimpse of this young man's suffering, and knowing that there was likely so much more that he had gone through and was keeping bottled up inside, was breaking her heart. She had noticed his actions throughout the day: the way he constantly looked around them when walking; how he had looked out the classroom window critically before and after lunch, double and triple checking everything; how he had moved just in front of her when they had returned to the classroom in case there was a threat. She had seen it all.
Ruriko had gotten to know a few of the guards at her family's estate, but so far as she could remember, none of them had seemed as broken as Masaya had looked at that moment of weakness.
And yet, he braved on, sacrificing his own time to protect her. She knew that he had been hired for it, and was probably only doing his job, but seeing someone her age, who had clearly had an incredibly rough life, have to suffer more under an employment like that was heartbreaking for her.
But his rebuke of her comfort did not offend her. Instead, it only lit a fire inside her that made her want to help him… to repay him in some way, and to give him some kind of happiness.
When she thought back on it later, it amazed her that this young man had ingrained himself so much into her psyche in the day and a half he had been in Vincennes.
Masaya, meanwhile, was cursing himself in his head for being so careless. He had no explanation as to why he had told Ruriko that story. He kept telling himself that this was just another job, that he needed to remain impartial, but he couldn't deny that there was just something about Ruriko that made him drop his guard. He wasn't sure what it was, and the only idea he had was not one he wanted to dwell on.
But he couldn't be so careless again.
He poured Ruriko a cup of tea and pointed her towards where the sugar was, then made himself a cup of coffee and walked out of the kitchenette, sitting on his bed again. Ruriko followed after him, kneeling at the coffee table and staring at Masaya. The young man was confused when he saw her determined stare, but decided not to comment on it.
"You wanted to know about my connection to Rise-san, then?" Masaya asked after taking a sip of his bitter drink. Ruriko nodded. "Very well. Tell me, Ruriko-san, what do you know about the Tsurugigaoka Shrine Attempted Murder-Arson?"
Ruriko blinked, stupefied for a moment, then looked down for a moment. "Not much, really," she admitted. "I remember hearing about it, but I never really delved deep into the story."
"I see. Well, that's where it all began, some days before it happened. You see, sometime before I left Tsurugigaoka, at ten years old, I had been walking around the lower part of the hill that leads up to Vincennes, near the shrine itself. If I remember correctly, I had been sulking because a barber had shaved more hair off my head than I had asked for." Ruriko let out an unwilling giggle at that information. "So, because of that incident, I had put on a Keihan Bulldogs cap and went out, looking to find something to do. While I was exploring the woods around there, I heard crying nearby and went to investigate, whereupon I found a girl in a clearing, wearing a yellow sundress and with odd, to me, pink hair that had two small ponytails on top of her head. Sound familiar?" Ruriko nodded. "I came out and asked if she needed help, and she told me that she had gotten lost trying to get to her family's estate. Thinking she was one of the rich kids around, I asked her for her name, and she told me her name was Lis Branche. I asked her where she wanted to go, as I had memorized the basic routes to the area in my exploring, and she said she had to go to the Rousenin estate. So I took her there. I had never told her my name, but I remember her nicknaming me Chien due to the Keihan Bulldogs cap I had."
"That's quite fitting, I think," Ruriko commented with a small smile.
Masaya nodded. "I thought so too. Before I left her, however, she asked me if I wanted to play with her the next day, and since I had nothing planned, I agreed. We spent the next few days leading up to the festival playing together and hanging out, and on the day before, she asked me if I wanted to accompany her to it. I agreed, knowingly breaking a promise that I had made to Chiho-san the day before about going with her. I called her to cancel, telling her I had other things to do, and to this day, I don't know why. I hardly knew Rise-san, but back then, I remember having the feeling that I may not see her again for some time. So in the end, I traded a day with my childhood friend for a day with a new one." Despite the fact that he had said this as emotionlessly as usual, Ruriko could see his pose slacken a little and his eyes fall, showing what she believed to be remorse. He shook his head and returned to himself a moment later. "So, the day of the festival, I was with Rise-san, or Lis as I knew her, playing around like two kids would. But then, the fire began, and the two of us were caught in the middle of the festival, not finding any way out." Ruriko could only imagine it, a younger Masaya and Rise stuck in the middle of a roaring inferno, and the image was a terrifying one to her. "And to make matters worse, I could hear screams of a psychopath with a knife running around, yelling incoherently. I did my best to help Rise-san out of there, but… on the path we had been able to find, she was there, as if waiting for us. The murderer stared at us with a maniacal look. Even then, I could tell she had gone off the deep end, and for some reason, she was focusing more on Rise-san than me. I urged Rise-san to run, but the woman was faster, catching up to us quickly. So, with no other recourse, I grabbed the only weapon I had, which was a slingshot I had won at one of the booths, and hit her with a rock, luckily right on the face. That got her attention, but it also only drove her madder, and just when we were almost out of the area, after I kept telling Rise-san to run, I felt a massive amount of pain on my back and fell to the ground. I remember yelling at Rise-san to run one last time before I passed out, and when I next woke up… let's just say I wasn't in Tsurugigaoka anymore."
Ruriko was left flabbergasted at the story, and she spent some time trying to get her thoughts in order. "So then…" Ruriko finally voiced aloud, her tone faint. "The festival arson… you were both…"
Masaya nodded. "We were both there, targeted by the culprit directly." He placed his cup on the table and stood, taking off his shirt and catching Ruriko by surprise. Her eyes widened and a blush suffused her face as she beheld his toned, topless body, but the lust that she temporarily felt was quickly overshadowed by worry when she processed the fact that his torso had many, many scars. Then he turned around, and her hands flew to her mouth in shock as she beheld the scar of a large, diagonal slice wound on his back, stretching from his left shoulder all the way down to his right hip, where it disappeared into the line of his underwear. Around it were several more scars, ranging all about the scales of depth and length. "See the long, diagonal one? That's where she slashed me," Masaya said before putting his shirt back on and allowing Ruriko to get her bearings in order, meanwhile taking a sip of his coffee.
"Oh my… Masaya-san, your body is…" Ruriko began to say, but was unable to finish.
"I know. It comes with the job," Masaya responded, draining the rest of his cup of coffee. He went to the kitchenette to refill, and when he returned, Ruriko looked a bit more composed. "So, two days before I came to Vincennes, I was just returning to the city when I came to witness a very one-sided fight. Five of the Gardiane had cornered and captured a certain pink-haired girl. One that I recognized. But I knew that just walking up to them and asking to talk to her likely wouldn't have worked… so I knocked them all out."
"Pardon?" Ruriko gasped, not sure if she had heard him right.
"To be specific, I fought them and knocked them out two by two, with the exception of the captain, who I beat mano-e-mano. But by the time I'd done so, Rise-san had already run off."
"I don't doubt she would have," Ruriko mused. "Did you really have to go to such an extreme?"
"That was an extreme?" Masaya asked, making Ruriko giggle. "Regardless, I apologized once they woke up, then went home, whereupon I received the call about my contract with your father. And that's the end of it."
Ruriko remained quiet, sipping at what was left of her tea. When she had finished it, she sighed and said, "That's quite a tale." Masaya didn't answer. "But, if you are truly the same person that was with her back then, why do you hold back from telling her?"
Masaya raised an eyebrow. "Ruriko-san, if you saw a guy take down five of your school's guards, then see the same guy, who you know nothing about, in your school two days later enrolling, would you believe him if he told you that he was the same boy that had taken a knife to the back to save you about eight or so years back?"
Ruriko closed her eyes and shook her head, a smile on her face. "I would likely consider them mad."
"Exactly. I wanted to speak to her when I fought the Gardiane, but it wasn't to tell her that directly. My thought was more that I'd get to know who was the girl I'd saved before outright telling her, and let her do what she would with that information."
"But that did not work out, did it?"
Masaya shook his head, then checked the time and stood. "Well, it's time for me to head out."
"Huh? Where are you headed?" Ruriko asked in confusion, standing up alongside him.
As he was pulling on his coat, he looked at her. "Didn't I tell you yesterday? I'm doing rounds."
"Well, yes, but I thought you merely needed to set up a perimeter."
Masaya sighed as he walked to the door. "It's not that easy, Ruriko-san. I need to be on guard duty overnight most of the week. It's the time where the amount of Gardiane are at their lowest, meaning it's also the perfect chance to sneak into the school. So, until the early morning shift comes in, I'm stationed at the bell tower on watch."
"Wait, do you mean you're losing sleep to keep watch over us, even while studying in the daytime?!" Ruriko asked, shocked.
"Don't be so surprised, and also, don't worry about it," Masaya shook his head, putting on his boots and grabbing his night bag. "It's nowhere near the first time, and I don't need that much sleep anyways. From what I've seen, I've already studied most of what we're learning in class." He looked back at her over his shoulder. "So head back to your room if you want, but don't worry yourself over me. I was hired to protect you, and that's exactly what I'm doing."
And without another glance, he stepped out of the room, leaving the girl inside with tumultuous thoughts, all once again over what this young man was doing alone to protect her.
The next day, after classes, Rise once again returned to classroom 2-C.
"Salutations," she greeted Ruriko. Chiho, and a somewhat distracted Masaya. "You three, I was hoping we could head Maria Hall together. The vote for the Association leader shall be taking place today, but since I'm the only one officially in the White Lily Society, we could perhaps have our first meeting right away."
The two girls nodded in agreement, but when they heard no sound from Masaya, they turned to him.
"Masaya-san?" Ruriko asked the young man, who was looking out the window, seemingly lost in thought.
When he turned back, the girls could see that his eyes were a little vacant, but that disappeared almost immediately as his normal, emotionless look returned. "Yeah, sure."
The girls nodded, though their minds were still on the oddity that had just happened, and together, the four headed to Maria Hall.
Once they arrived at the room where the White Lily was designated to meet, the girls immediately took seats at and around one of the ends of the table. However, to their confusion, Masaya didn't take a seat but instead moved to stand at one of the windows, arms crossed and eyes staring outside.
"Masaya-san?" Rise asked.
"Hmm?"
"Are you not planning to sit?"
Masaya shook his head. "I'll just stay here. You can discuss whatever you want, I'll be listening."
The girls looked at each other and shrugged, deciding to talk as they waited for the voting time to finish. Rise constantly glanced at the door, a hopeful look in her eyes, but no one else came.
After about half an hour, Rise sighed and stood up. "The waiting time is over. I suppose I am the leader of the association then."
The other two girls nodded, with Chiho asking, "So what does us being affiliates entail?"
"For now, we'll just have daily meetings after classes," Rise explained. "With the exception of Sundays, we'll meet here and discuss how the idea of gender integration seems to be going. It won't get truly difficult until the third term, where the actual campaigning starts, but we will have to participate in most events, such as the May Festival and Chant De Noel. We shall keep the meetings up to about thirty minutes once clubs start up. And… that's about it."
The two other girls nodded, and simultaneously, the trio turned to look at the only male, who had yet to move from his spot by the window. The three of them had tried bringing him into the conversation at different times during the half-hour wait, but he either responded with short, perhaps one-word replies, or didn't answer at all. They knew, however, that he was well aware of his surroundings, as he had glanced all around the room at different intervals. He may not have been much of a talker, but the girls could admit to feeling safer knowing that he was there.
…
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