Chapter 9: Himegami's Plead

[Tenbi Academy, Forest Grounds]

Landing back on the ground slowly, Nagi's body gently made contact with the surface of the floor. Following Minori's request, he let go of her rather heavy body that he had no plans on voicing out loud and looked around, taking in the remaining landscape. Aside from an entire section of trees either being burned to cinders or vaporized to ashes, it looked pretty much the same.

"Minori!"

That voice belonged to Aki as she scurried rather clumsily from behind a tree alongside Gen and Takeshi towards Minori and Nagi. Her face was wrought with panic and worry and if Minori hadn't known better, her eyes looked as if they were about to cry.

"Oh hey Aki, how are you feel-woah!"

Aki's sudden movement of hugging the day light out of Minori took the red haired woman by surprise as her eyes went wide and her face was filled with utter confusion. Had she done something wrong?

"You moron! I thought...hic... I thought you were...hic..."

"Oh..."

Minori got it now; Aki must have thought that her best friend was going to die just now. It made sense to her why she was now clinging to her with such a strong grip, as if to confirm to herself that she was still there.

"Sorry Aki, I must have worried you. Come now, please stop crying" Minori wasn't the best when dealing with Aki when she got like this as she awkwardly stroked her long blue hair.

As she was consoling her, Gen walked up behind Minori and proceeded to bonk her on the head.

"Ow! The hell was that for!?" Minori eagerly clutched her throbbing head and scowled at Gen but soon eased up when she saw he was also close to crying.

"The next time you scare us like that...!"

He looked ready to smack her again before he just turned in the opposite direction and folded his arms.

"... Sorry"

That was all she could say.

She must have really worried them as they rarely acted like this unless the situation was dire. Still, the asshole didn't have to hit her so hard! That seriously hurt!

Takeshi, who had been watching the exchange between his three former students, made his way over towards Nagi who was also watching the spectacle with mild interest.

"You have my thanks"

"Hm?"

Nagi didn't even seem to notice Takeshi's presence until he said something to him and inclined his head towards him.

"You saved her life just now, which is why I'm thanking you"

Takeshi bowed deeply before Nagi which took the magician slightly by surprise before he snorted.

"Don't know why you're thanking me, I was the one who put her in danger in the first place"

That was undeniably true. Minori's life wouldn't have been in danger hadn't she fought Nagi but could he really be held responsible for that?

"I'm aware of that but regardless, I'm grateful. I was supposed to be the referee but I was powerless to keep one of my former students from danger"

Takeshi frowned deeply, even clenching his fists in a manner that made it painfully obvious that he was frustrated. Nagi noticed this and also frowned, but for a much different reason.

"Do you trust me so little that you think I would have let her die?"

It was a fair but heavy question that made Takeshi momentarily freeze. Did he trust Nagi as much as he showed in the way he interacted with him? He hadn't known the man for very long but Takeshi's instincts led him to believe that Nagi was someone whom he could trust with his very own life if it came down to it. He just radiated a sense of reliability and charm that made you feel comfortable around him… though some would disagree, like Himegami and Minori.

"….I trust you"

"Then that's the end of that. Don't waste your time worrying about what you could have done; just make sure to get it done the next time it happens. Focus on the present, not the past"

Those were wise words for Takeshi that he never expected to hear from someone like Nagi. In fact, it seemed that for a brief moment, someone else entirely was speaking to him just now. Probably his imagination.

A light chuckle escaped the older man's lips as he stood beside Nagi. "I suppose you're right"

A comfortable silence befell the two of them before they were interrupted by the figure of Minori, Gen, and Aki heading towards them.

"What were you guys talking about?"

Takeshi waved his hand in response to Gen's question. "Don't worry about it. More importantly, hasn't this battle confirmed what I said earlier regarding Nagi's strength?"

Minori, who had been the one to battle Nagi personally, could no longer deny her sensei's assessment of Nagi's strength as she immediately nodded, followed by Aki and Gen who shared similar thoughts. As they briefly turned their heads to see the damage that Nagi's technique had caused, the mere thought of how anyone could deny his overall power after witnessing this was ludicrous.

"Yes sensei, after today... I... no, we've all come to realize that the world is much bigger than we thought. Heh, and here I thought Ouken and Minori were considered monsters. Compared to them, just what does that make that guy?"

Gen pointed leisurely towards Nagi who merely shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Nagi-san, was that power you used back then what you call magic?"

To answer Aki's question, Nagi nodded his head and went on to explain.

"What I used was an advanced lightning spell known as [Odin's Spear] that I created myself. Lightning magic is my specialty after all so it's one of my favorites"

Aki was clearly intrigued as she whispered in amazement and wanted to learn more about the fundamentals of magic. The reason being, she was a nurse and if magic could be used on this scale for offensive purposes, just imagine how it could work when used for medical treatment! The idea of enhancing her already proficient nursing skills made her beyond elated.

"Oi, Nagi!"

That vibrant and passionate shout came from Minori as all sets of eyes in the area now focused on her as she had pointed her finger towards him.

"What?"

"I-I... W-What I mean I-Is... I..."

"...Huh?"

In what seemed to be some sort of inner struggle, Minroi was having problems voicing out her thoughts which seemed impossible to those who knew her well. In fact, if their eyes weren't playing tricks on them, they could have sworn that Minori was... flustered?

"What is it? Speak up"

"I-I... Damn it, what I mean to say is I won't lose to you again! I now recognize you as a member of Tenbi Academy so fight me again another time, got it!?" With a face completely dyed in red and eyes blood shot, Minori had somehow managed to blurt out those words.

"...Minori? Could she... no that's impossible. There's no way someone like Minori could have... but maybe..." Aki had taken note of her best friend's rather odd behavior and had come to some sort of conclusion but held her doubts.

"...Hahahaha!"

An eruption of laughter came from Nagi who wasn't expecting another challenge from the girl that he had just beaten so easily.

"W-What's so funny!?"

"Hahaha... ah, sorry. It was just funny that someone would challenge me again despite knowing they had no chance of beating me. Really, you're a funny girl"

"S-Shut up...!"

How many times had Nagi made Minori look like a fool in just a single day, she was beginning to seriously considering killing the man someday.

After Nagi had stopped laughing, a smile like the one that he had shown her before graced his face again that caused all the hostility coming from Minori to disappear as she felt her face redden again at that charming smile.

"I'll fight you again anytime you want, Minori"

"...!"

It wouldn't be strange for anyone to believe Minori currently had a fever with how red her face had gotten.

"W-Who said you could call me by my first name!?"

For those in this world, using someone's first name without an honorific was a symbol of closeness between the two individuals. For Nagi to use Minori's real name so suddenly, especially considering that he was younger than her and always referred to her as "tomato head", there was no greater sign of disrespect. However, calling someone by their first name was perfectly normal from where Nagi came from, so he could not understand her embarrassment.

"What's wrong with that? I call all the people I like by their names"

"L-L-Like!?"

Minori's heart felt as if it was just thrown in the furnace at Nagi's blunt choice of words. She immediately broke eye contact with him and began marching away from the group, unable to look back out of sheer embarrassment.

"Aki! Gen! W-We're leaving, now!"

"E-Eh, right now? Wait up, Minori!" Aki followed close behind as Minori headed back to Tenbi. She was having slight trouble catching up to the stomping principal that wouldn't slow down no matter what.

"What's up with her all of a sudden?" Gen was thoroughly confused on Minori's behavior just now as he said his farewells to both Nagi and Takeshi and followed the busty duo.

Takeshi didn't understand everything that had just happened but judging from Minori's reaction just now; he theorized only one answer that made sense to him. However, he would not voice it, yet.

"So, shall we be off now?"

Nagi shrugged at Takeshi question.

"I guess... but are you sure we can just leave the place like this though?"

Takeshi turned his head to survey the surrounding area and understood what Nagi had meant. It wasn't everyday that a battle of this scale took place and surely, anyone would notice that a large part of the forest was vaporized and a chunk of the mountain was also gone. Still, it wasn't a matter of concern thanks to Yomatsuri.

"You don't need to worry, to conceal the existence of ability users; the government takes care of the damages done in specific areas. I'll contact someone later and let them know about this"

"Hoh..."

If it were up to Nagi, recreating the parts of the forest that were damaged wouldn't be too much trouble, if he knew the spell related to that specific magic. However, since his knowledge of spells by memory was pitiful, there wasn't much he could do. After hearing from the old man that the government would clean up his mess, he wouldn't deny that he was somewhat thankful.

"If that's the case, let's head back. Where are we sleeping?"

"I've already asked Minori to prepare a room for us back at Tenbi. Since we'll be touring the festival tomorrow, sleeping on campus would save us time"

Seeing no arguments with that, Nagi nodded his head and with Takeshi, began their journey back to Tenbi as they tried to catch up to Minori and the others.

[Tenbi Academy, Faculty Dorm]

Arriving back at Tenbi over an hour later, all of the students had already turned in for the night and the group of returning adults were led back inside by Minori. She escorted them to the faculty dorm where those who were part of the staff of the school resided. Just like the students, the dorm was divided into two sections based on gender and there were two doors lined up next to each other that indicated where one would pass.

"...There's your room guys"

Minori pointed at the door over on the right side as she and Aki were standing in front of the one on the left.

"Mannnn I'm beat, I need some shut eye"

Gen yawned as he sluggishly made his way over towards the door, with Takeshi and Nagi following close behind.

"Hey!"

As Gen and Takeshi had already entered the room, Nagi stopped momentarily as he turned to face Minori who was calling out to him, while still for some reason, avoiding eye contact.

"What is it now?"

"...G-Goodnight!"

Minori frantically spouted that as she quickly rushed inside of her room, ignoring the odd stares coming from Aki and Nagi. A moment of awkward silence occurred before Nagi turned his sights towards Aki.

"What's her problem?"

Aki could only giggle innocently at Nagi's utter confusion at not being able to see the change that had come over Minori,

"You'll have to forgive her, I'm sure she's just embarrassed"

"Embarrassed? Why would she be embarrassed?"

"...No reason in particular. Yes, let's just forget I said anything"

"...Alright...?"

Aki then bowed towards Nagi and smiled beautifully at him.

"Well then, good night. We'll see you tomorrow"

Nagi casually raised his arm as he gave her a small grin.

"Looking forward to it"

Aki walked into her allotted bedroom and closed the door gently while Nagi stood at his door for a good minute before his eyes wandered over towards one of the corners of the hallway. It was faint but he could definitely sense a presence nearby that had been following him.

"...Who is that? It's familiar but... Oh, it's her..."

"Hm? What's wrong Nagi? You coming in or what?"

"Gimme a second, I need to take care of a nosy rodent"

"Rodent? Sounds gross, I'll leave that to you. I'm hitting the hay"

"Sure"

After seeing Takeshi off into his bedroom, the red haired magician decided to have a little fun with the "nosy rodent" as he activated his magic to conceal his presence before jumping up towards the ceiling, waiting for his chance to catch his prey.

Around the corner, Kodama Himegami peaked out from her hiding spot with a frown on her face as she stared at the doors leading into the staff room. Once she was sure the coast was clear, she strolled forward and stopped right in front of the door leading into the male faculty dormitory.

"Shoot, they must have gone inside already..."

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and inwardly cursed her poor timing as she had attempted to keep a safe distance so as not to be noticed but as a result, she had fallen behind.

"Still to think that guy had that much strength... it's unbelievable..."

After taking shelter from the collision between Nagi and Minori, Himegami had eventually went back to the area where they had fought and was absolutely flabbergasted when she saw half of the forest burned to a crisp and a huge chunk of the mountain vaporized. There was no way in hell she could believe Minori had that kind of power so the only logical conclusion was to believe it was the handy work of Nagi.

"I just don't understand it, where'd a guy like that come from? You'd think someone of his strength and looks would be well known but aside from today, I've never even heard of him"

There were all sorts of ability users that existed outside the reaches of Tenbi Academy and Kamigari, that much was obvious. However, any ability user that was worth training was either enrolled into an academy or working under Yomatsuri or Kamigari. For someone of Nagi's skill and strength that even surpassed that of Minori's, it was absurd to believe he hadn't been discovered ages ago. It just wasn't making sense to Himegami and she tilted her head trying to think of numerous possibilities.

She sighed before shaking her head and realizing that she wasn't going to get her answers here.

"Guess I should come back tomorrow, I'll see him at the festival anyway"

Just as she turned around to leave, she stopped abruptly when the face of a red haired young man, that was only inches apart from hers, was seen smiling while squatting.

"Hi"

"Bwah!"

The frightened Himegami nearly had a heart attack as she jumped back and fell to the ground, rubbing her aching butt as Nagi stood up and chuckled.

"Man, that never stops being funny"

"N-Nagi!? How did you... Where did you..."

She was certain that Nagi had entered the room with the other guys not too long ago, so where had he come from? Ah, she was getting a headache just trying to figure out the complex existence that Nagi was and decided to disregard it from her mind. It wasn't worth the stress.

Himegami tossed a soft glare towards the still grinning Nagi as she slowly stood up and dusted the dirt off her clothes. Even though she was definitely still ticked off about being embarrassed for the umpteenth time, an unexpected golden opportunity had just presented itself in the form of the cocky pervert standing in front of her.

"So" Nagi began as he shoved his hands into his pockets, his face dropping from an amused smile to a questioning glance. "You mind telling me why you were hiding over there?"

Ignoring the insulting nickname, Himegami huffed as she placed both of her hands onto her hips. "Why do you even care?"

An eyebrow was raised on Nagi's forehead. "I don't, but I'm pretty sure a student isn't allowed to be here at this hour"

"Well I have my... reasons" She quickly darted her eyes away from Nagi's, an act which did not go unnoticed by him as he squinted his eyes suspiciously.

"...Is that so"

She was definitely hiding something by the way she was avoiding eye contact and fidgeting. It was actually kind of pitiful how bad she was at body language.

Not caring much for her reasons, Nagi stopped eyeing the girl and turned back to face his bedroom. "Well, whatever it is your up too, try not to make a big fuss about it. I'm tired as hell so I'm getting some rest"

"Eh?"

Himegami was startled by his sudden disinterest in her visit as she watched him open the door.

"W-Wait!"

She couldn't let this chance slip by as she stepped forward and grabbed his sleeve. She was then met with Nagi's eyes staring at her curiously, pondering what she wanted from him.

"What is it?"

"U-Uhm... a-actually, the reason why I came here was because... I wanted to speak with you"

"Oh really? I could have never imagined that you were here to talk with little old me" Nagi said sarcastically, earning an annoyed grunt from Himegami as she let go of his sleeve and crossed her arms again.

"A-Anyway! I'll forgive what you did to me earlier if you answer my questions about you"

"Hah? What did I do to you?"

She growled at him. "Have you already forgotten that you saw my panties!? Not to mention, your hurt my shikigami spirits!"

Nagi scrunched his face, clearly not amused by the girl's accusations of his "crimes".

"That was your own fault, dummy. What kind of girl hangs upside down from a tree like that while wearing a skirt? Are you some sort of monkey?"

"Excuse me!?"

Himegami was about to ready to burst and readied to attack Nagi again, but recalled what happened the last time her sprites tried to attack him. What made it worse was that after seeing the damage he had done earlier, she was even beginning to doubt she could win against him even at full strength.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm down, getting her emotions back in control and directing a focused glance towards him.

"You... just what are you?"

Nagi raised his eyebrow in surprise.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Even you can't be stupid enough to believe that what you've done today is anything but abnormal, right?"

"..."

Silence enveloped the hallway as Nagi stood across from Himegami, a blank expression on his face. Himegami was having trouble reading what he was thinking as the man's poker face was top notch.

"Everything about you is weird, your strength, your attitude, you're...looks" She lightly blushed at that last mention. "Just... just who are you Nagi?"

"...Are you sure you want to know?"

"Huh?"

Himegami felt the tension in the air become thicker as she studied Nagi's face and saw his serious expression glaring at her. She inwardly gulped and readied herself for the worst to come if his secret meant he would have to take her out.

"Yes... please tell me"

"...I guess it can't be helped, the secret was bound to get out sooner or later ..."

Nagi closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if struggling to reveal what he was trying to say. Suddenly, he swiftly opened them again and pointed at himself with a straight face.

"I'm Nagi Springfield"

"..."

An angry vein popped onto Himegami's forehead at the answer she was just given and she looked just about ready to sock him straight in the jaw.

"This bastard..."

"What? Why are you looking at me like that? I thought you wanted to know my full name, so I told you"

"Who the hell cares about your name!? Stop playing around and tell me what you really are, or else I'm gonna get mad!"

Himegami was practically stomping her feet as her voice had unintentionally grown louder. She quickly realized her mistake and covered her mouth, hoping that her outburst hadn't alerted the teachers residing inside.

An amused chuckle escaped Nagi's mouth. "You really shouldn't yell like that, you don't want to get caught here now do you?"

"Obviously, but you keep playing around with me so I couldn't help it! Why can't you just answer my question seriously?"

"I thought I di-

"Not your name you buffoon, I mean who you are, where you came from, and how did you acquire your powers!"

"Oh, was that what you really meant? Why didn't you just say so?"

"This guy...!" Himegami was beginning to believe Nagi was either a complete idiot or the ultimate troll.

"Why does that matter to you anyway? Why are you so interested in me?"

"Huh? Oh well...I was just...curious is all"

"..."

It didn't take a genius to figure out that Himegami was obviously lying as Nagi glared at her with an annoyed expression. Under that gaze, Himegami folded like wet tissue paper as she darted her eyes downward in embarrassment.

"W-Well it's just... with your strength, having you help us in the fight against Yamato Takeru would be helpful is all..."

"Ah... so that's what this is about..."

It began to make sense to Nagi now that Himegami had come right out and said it. From what he gathered facing Minori, the strength he displayed earlier was far greater than anything anyone in this world could do, so the idea of recruiting him to their side was a favorable decision. The opposite could have also been a nightmare for them as well, if Nagi decided to join forces with Kamigari against Tenbi Academy.

Now wouldn't that be a funny plot twist?

"I see, so you're saying you were so engrossed with my untouchable skills that you couldn't stand the thought of not having me on your team. I understand now"

"Wha!? Hell no! How arrogant are you!?"

"But you do need me, do you not?"

"That..."

She couldn't completely refute that claim and ducked her face away. His personality aside, Nagi was strong. Far stronger than anyone she had seen in her entire life. If he were to help fight with them, she was certain they could defeat Yamato Takeru once and for all.

"...We do need your power, I won't deny that. I... I don't want my other friends to get hurt in this upcoming battle and so, I really want you to help us! If I were to lose anyone... I just..."

Nagi was a bit startled when he saw a few tears beginning to drop from Himegami's eyes and he scratched his head awkwardly. To an outside party, it would have seemed like he was the one who had made her cry.

"Jeez, why do girls have to cry like that and put this pressure on us? It's not my business to interfere but I did give my word I'd join after I beat Minori..."

A promise was a promise and he did intend to keep it, even if it was uncomfortable. Besides, since they would be fighting Kamigari together anyway, there wouldn't be anything wrong with accepting her request.

More than that however, there was a more nostalgic reason why he wanted to help Himegami. It was because she reminded him of Evangeline. Not just her appearance, but her personality was dead on, so much so that it wouldn't surprise him if the two were related. The way she reacted towards being teased, and the way she huffed and crossed her arms, it was a nostalgic feeling for Nagi to meet someone who reminded him of a close friend from the past.

With that in mind, Nagi began to walk forward towards the sniffling girl that noticed his approach and stumbled backwards a bit.

"W-What's wrong?"

Nagi didn't answer her and just kept going until he stopped right in front of her and reached his hand out. His hand was faster than what she expected and she instinctively shut her eyes but opened them soon enough when she felt a warm sensation on her head.

He was patting her head gently and gave the blonde haired girl a soft smile.

"I'll help you, shrimp"

"...E-Eh? J-Just like that? Really?"

Himegami wasn't buying it; there needed to at least be a catch.

He grinned further and ruffled her hair a bit more. "Yea, I've already agreed to fight those Kamigari guys so helping you shouldn't be a problem"

"Did it have something to do with why you were fighting against the Principal?"

Nagi nodded, removing his hand from Himegami's head. "Bingo"

"I see... Well, since you're so intent on helping us, I guess we'll consider accepting you"

"Haha, whatever you say shrimp"

"Will you stop calling me that? I do have a name you know, try using it some time"

Nagi cocked his head. "That's news to me, you've never told me your name before"

"Eh? I never did? W-Well, I guess I'll tell you now. Listen carefully as I'll only say it once, I'm Kodama Himegami"

"Hmm, what a weird name"

"What's weird about it!?"

Nagi looked amused at seeing such a reaction out of her again and chuckled, rubbing her head gently once again and smiling at her.

"Alright then. I'll be working with you from now on, Kodama"

"...!?"

The blonde felt her cheeks become flushed at being called by her first name and she swatted Nagi's arm away that was rubbing the top of her head.

"D-Don't treat me like a kid!"

Though she said that, in her heart she was extremely delighted that Nagi was going to be on their side. Someone as powerful as him lending them his strength would reduce the chances of her friends getting involved. Still, she didn't want to feel as if she was just using him and worried about the possibility of Nagi being hurt. Only a little.

"Will you be okay? I know that you're strong but the agents of Kamigari aren't pushovers. I'm worried that-Gwah!"

She was stopped mid sentence as her forehead was flicked, causing the startled blonde to grab her throbbing head and gaze d at Nagi dumbfounded. "W-What was that for!?"

Nagi snorted. "Don't start worrying about me after you asked for my help, it's annoying"

"B-But I was just concerned about..." She blushed a little, realizing that she seemed a little too worried about the guy she was trying to attack not that long ago.

"If you have the time to be worrying about me, then use it to start figuring out how you'll win tomorrow's battle"

"Huh?"

Nagi then walked back to the door leading into the male faculty room and grabbed the handle, shooting the puzzled blonde an amused smirk. "What? You thought I was going to take part in that little skirmish tomorrow? I said I'd help you against them but that doesn't mean I'll fight your battles for you. You guys agreed to the duel so you handle it. Good luck, shrimp"

The door closed behind him as Himegami was left standing there with an exasperated expression before her anger exploded in a fit of rage.

He had tricked her! He said he going to help but he didn't mean fighting in the festival against Otohime!

"Why that son of a...! Kagezuch! Igazuchi! Prepare for-"

"Hey! Who's making all that damn noise out there!?"

Himegami's heart froze as the voice of the principal came from the female faculty room. Knowing better than to be caught here and punished, she darted away from the hallway and planned to take her revenge against Nagi tomorrow.

[The Following Day]

Finally, the day had arrived.

The Himekagura Festival!

A joyous school hosted event that would carry out all throughout the week. Numerous booths had already been opened to the students to take part in, such as the haunted house special, basketball tournament, and especially one of the more popular events; the maid café service. It wasn't a stretch to say that more than half of the male student body had come to experience the feeling of being waited on by a bunch of beautiful female maids.

Haruko Amaya, the vice president of the student council and a proud member of the Maken-Ki was seen monitoring the classroom brimming with satisfied customers and nodded. She had been put in charge of management of the maid cafe and things were definitely going smoothly.

"Haruko-senpai!"

An energetic young girl with light pink hair wearing the normal school uniform came running up to Haruko and saluted her.

"I've taken care of all of the reservations!"

"Is that so? Good work Uruchi-san, you've done an excellent job"

"Yes!"

The girl replied much more energetically than Haruko had expected as the latter smiled awkwardly. Her name was Uruchi Minaya, a first year student and also a junior member of the Maken-Ki. It was already a well known fact that she harboured an enormous crush on Haruko and wouldn't hide the fact that she was only interested in women. To her, men just weren't worth chasing after as they were too idiotic and lacked any form of grace.

Haruko reached into her buxom and pulled out a small notepad. She flipped the book open and used the pen in her hand to cross out some words written on it.

"Great, now that we've already finished recording the reservations, all that's left is too serve the customers and then we can proceed with heading to the Himekagura battle grounds"

By decree of the student council and faculty, the showdown between Team Yamato Takeru and Team Tenbi would take place at 12:30 pm behind the gymnasium. The nature and rules of the first event would be declared at the scheduled time so as not to give either team an advantage over the other.

"We'll win for sure, Haruko-senpai!"

Haruko couldn't have agreed more as she nodded towards her excited junior "Definitely."

"Hehe~❤ , it seems you two are ready for anything"

Haruko and Uruchi turned their heads to the source of that bubbly yet oddly charming voice and were greeted by Celia Ootsuka. Instead of wearing the usual maid outfit the girls were wearing, she was suited in a tuxedo and acted as one of the butlers of the cafe.

Haruko was the first to question the Venus officer's odd choice in attire. "Celia-san, why are you wearing that?"

"Hm? Oh this?" She glanced downwards to her outfit and smiled sweetly. "It's more fun to attract girls dressed as a man then like a girl~❤ "

"...I see"

Only Celia could have come up with that sort of logic.

"Anyway, how long do we have to be here for?" Celia slightly pouted. "I really want to go out and tour the festival with Takeru-kun"

An annoyed twitch came from Haruko at seeing Celia mentioning Takeru's name again while Uruchi looked at Celia as if she was crazy.

"What's so great about that loser?"

Haruko looked even more annoyed at Uruchi's negative opinion of Takeru but before she could saying anything, Celia beat her to it.

"He has his own charm, though I wouldn't expect a little kid like you to understand"

"Take that back! I'm not a kid!"

Uruchi growled at the now smiling Celia while Haruko ignored the two bickering girls and remembered something.

"I heard that Takeshi-ojisan had come here and already spoke with Take-chan. I wanted to go say my respects but I've been so busy with student council work"

"Your uncle came here?"

Uruchi had somehow honed in on what Haruko was saying and beamed up at her.

"Yea, Yuuka-san informed me yesterday that Takeshi-ojisan had come to visit the school with a guest of his"

Celia joined in as well. "Oh! I've heard about that too! There's been all kind of rumours going around about a hot new visitor that your uncle brought"

Uruchi looked rather displeased at that news and frowned while crossing her arms. "I bet he's just another annoying pervert. Either that or some narcissist like that Akaya guy from Venus"

Celia laughed wholeheartedly when Uruchi said that and was of the same opinion about her commander. "The captain is definitely like that, but that's what makes him so funny"

"Still, it would be nice to greet a guest of Oji-san's. Uncle isn't one to visit often so whoever it is must be someone worthy of such respect"

Uruchi huffed. "We'll see, if he's an acquaintance of your uncle, who's the father of that worthless pervert, then I wouldn't hold my breath"

"I'm not interested in any other guys aside from Takeru-kin, but I wouldn't mind seeing another hottie around here~ "

"Who's a hottie? You can't be talking about that monkey faced pervert?"

Haruko sighed as she clapped her hands and tried to get things back on track.

"Girls please, you can freely talk about the guys when we have the time. Let's finish our shifts and then get ready for the battle later, alright?"

"Of course! You can leave it to me Haruko-senpai!"

"Mkay~"

The three of them went back to work and were focused on finishing their assigned tasks as the clock drew ever so closer the eventual showdown against Otohime and her squad.

While the festival was still going on at Tenbi Academy, the area near the Oyama Dojo that had been damaged from yesterday's bout between Nagi and Minori was undergoing repair from agents sent by Yomatsuri. Any and all incidents that would throw off the secrecy of ability users needed to be dealt with and once they had seen that half of a freaking mountain had gone missing, they had mobilized immediately.

Among those sent was a duo who had been assigned to managing the reconstruction and they were seen observing the destroyed forest area near the entrance of Takeshi's dojo.

"Just what kind of monster could do such damage?"

The first to speak was the acting commander of the Venus Academy Special Forces, Akaya Kyoudai as he dramatically brushed a strand of his brown hair out of his eyes. When he had heard the report from his old sensei that he needed to help rebuild something, he wasn't expecting this level of damage at all.

"Captain, I've looked around the dojo and everything seems to be in one piece"

Akaya turned his head towards his approaching subordinate and a member of Venus, Yan-Min who was wearing a crimson uniform and had her hair done in a Chinese bun style.

"That's a relief, even though sensei told me the dojo was fine, it wouldn't hurt just to check"

Focusing back at the task at hand, Akaya and Yan-Min were both extremely curious to know about the person who could not only defeat Minori but also do so in such an overwhelming way.

"What do you think, Yan-Min?"

"This man must be quite powerful, to an extent that is far greater than even S-Class ability users"

"That's quite the assessment; do you think he'd be a worthy adversary to fight?"

Akaya knew Yan-Min's personality very well; she couldn't resist a good fight no matter what. If the rumors of a strong person ever made it to her ears, she would stop at nothing to track them down and challenge them.

"I'm... not too sure. If this was the result of him using a Maken, then defeating him shouldn't be much of a problem if I can stop him from activating it"

"That's true, but don't you think there's a possibility that he could keep up with you, even without his Maken?"

Yan-Min's fists trembled as a menacing grin appeared on her face. "That's what I'm intending to find out. I'll have to check him out for myself to see if he's good enough to be another one of my rivals"

Akaya shook his head, clearly disappointed at seeing such an attitude from one of his subordinates. Why did all of the girls under his employ have to be so focused on fighting or being soldiers? Weren't girls around her age supposed to care more about getting boyfriends and shopping?

"Wait, isn't that kind of sexist? I probably shouldn't mention that..."

A ringing sound could then be felt coming from Akaya's left pocket and he reached inside there and pulled out his cell phone. He raised it to his ear and spoke.

"Talk to me"

"Captain? Ah, where have you been? The main event is almost about to start, are you trying to miss it?"

"Oh, sorry about that Minerva. We've been a bit busy with the reconstruction. After we're finished here, we'll head over there so tell sensei and Celia not to worry"

"Alright then, I'll keep monitoring Koshii and Hai for any strange activities. See ya soon~"

The connection cut off and Akaya stuck his phone back in his pocket and proceeded to walk forward.

"Captain, where are you going?"

He turned and smiled softly. "Seems Otohime and her girls are about to start the show, I'm interested to see if the guy who fought Minori will be there"

A glint of excitement could be seen coming from Yan-Min's eyes and she rushed after him. "You can count me in as well"

As the two of them made their way towards the academy, Akaya sneezed unexpectedly and rubbed his nose.

Weird, someone must have bee talking about him.

A/N: Been awhile since I've updated. Life's been getting quite busy so the chapter speed has slowed down. Thanks for all the support and I hope you guys enjoyed it.