Sorry folks! Been raining like crazy lately and there's no way I'm getting out in that!

Within a span of the month, everyone immediately began to assume that the rather impressive dragon that had firmly attached itself to her side was her demon partner. Even more baffling was the fact that none of the teachers had told her off for summoning despite being a complete novice who had yet to have a single class on the subject.

Fon found the rumors highly amusing and the way they kept spawning around his little kitten.

He was less amused by the more...loose...summoners who seemed to think Honoka had slept with one of the older students (likely Kyouya) who had helped her to summon early. However Honoka was an old pro at the annoyances that came from petty, jealous children.

Some of her comebacks were three times as vicious as the petty insults they threw at her. So much so that Fon found it very entertaining to watch said females run bawling their eyes out as she ripped them to shreds with only her words.

"You are quite skilled."

"More like I have way too much experience with having people like them taking out their insecurities on me. I prefer to think of such people as annoying yapper dogs... all bark and next to no bite when things get tough," said Honoka easily. "Though I must admit it was particularly satisfying using their own attacks right back at them, even if my mother was very disappointed in me for sinking to their level when their parents came to complain about me ripping their pathetic egos to shreds."

Honoka had learned after the first few times she had ripped their fragile pride into pieces that the best defense was a stronger offense. Nana had been unhappy with the fact her daughter had learned to throw colder and crueler comments more painful than any knife, but then again she didn't have to deal with the petty insecurities of teenage girls who were particularly vicious.

Honoka couldn't hide behind an oblivious mask and pretend everything was okay like her mother. So she had learned to hone in on their weak points with terrifying accuracy just to be left alone.

"I wasn't saying it was a bad thing," said Fon, eyes glinting with dark amusement. "Just fascinating that such a small kitten such as yourself has such sharp and vicious claws that you know how to use."

Honoka rolled her eyes.

"You might want to warn Hibari that he's going to have some very unhappy harpies who take offense to the fact that the 'weakest' student in class is scarier than they are. It never fails after I've ripped someone's ego down to size...they whine to the teachers and when that fails whine to the next best person able to take action."

Fon looked dubious, but was mildly surprised when Honoka's warning turned prophetic as the same girls who attempted to make her cry appeared in the Disciplinary office a few days later. Since he had opted to bother Kyouya (partly to see if Honoka's prediction would come true), he had front row seats to the spectacle.

It was rather satisfying to see their disbelieving and horrified expressions upon learning that "Honoka's dragon partner" actually belonged to her roommate who wanted nothing to do with him. Only the original summoner could fuel a demon to the point they could take human form, after all.

"What was that about?" asked Kyouya, somewhat baffled.

"Lesser females that will spread their legs for any male that might have a sliver of power attempted to humiliate the kitten. Instead she turned her sharp claws on their fragile egos and sent them crying," Fon gleefully informed him.

Kyouya blinked.

"You're kidding."

"Her return attack was particularly impressive and hit several weak points that wouldn't be seen from an initial confrontation," said Fon pleased.

Kyouya looked openly interested now.

"Though I must admit, I found her reaction to the accusation she was sleeping with you in order to gain a demon in her very first term as a student rather surprising."

Kyouya made a face at that. Those stupid rumors always sprang up every time he got a female partner for a term. He might be 'nicer' to the females but that didn't mean he was interested in sleeping with them.

"Do I dare ask?"

"She said and I quote 'Whores get paid. Do I look like I'm earning any money on my back or my knees?'I have to admit the look on the teacher's face when he heard her make that particular comment with a perfectly straight face was rather entertaining. Especially when he found out why she made such a shocking counter attack in the first place," said Fon.

Kyouya snorted at that. Honoka spent most of her money on either grooming and school supplies, or on books. If she had any extra money she would have a much more impressive wardrobe. Instead all of her belongings could literally fit into her small inter-spacial bag that she carried with her everywhere. All of her clothes were second hand and well worn, if they didn't have obvious patch jobs on them. The nicest outfit he had seen in her closet was the mandatory school uniform which was at least new and fit properly. There wasn't even a dress for formal occasions like dances, for crying out loud.

So the accusation she was a 'whore' or spent any time on her back for money was beyond ridiculous.

Besides, if it were true he would have hunted down the student in question and bitten them to death, before dragging them to a counselor with the strict orders to find them a less demeaning job. It wasn't that he cared what they did with their own bodies, but the school had a reputation to maintain and having a student caught doing such illicit acts in order to pay school fees was not acceptable behavior.

It seemed the kitten was becoming even more interesting than he could have hoped. Not only was she a tolerable roommate, perfectly content to mind her own business, but she handled the annoying dragon without getting on his nerves about caring for the pest and was respectful of his habits.

With any luck she would stay interesting and not end up scared off like all the other herbivores.

Honoka was rather baffled as to how this particular problem was created.

She had been more or less dragged into a class she wasn't supposed to be in for another two terms by a less than amused teacher who had apparently heard she already had a demon partner but no familiar. The fact Fon was still around her neck at the time did not help her case. Obviously she was a new summoner, and as he hadn't had her in his class previously that meant she was fair game to taking the familiar summoning workshop that happened every weekend.

Fon had been openly amused, especially as Honoka had finally managed to earn her first 'jewel' that would allow her to start making her own set to summon and fight with. It was a basic spell, mostly used to clean dishes with a jet of hot or cold water.

Honoka had another purpose for it. The first and only time Hibari attempted to make her do his paperwork so he could get some extra nap time she had given him an unimpressed look before using that spell to blast him with a light jet of icy cold water right in his face.

The show of spine had been so shocking (and amusing for him) that the subject was never brought up again after a second attempt.

So now here she was with Fon in the beginning lessons on how to summon and handle the finer aspects of demon familiars.

Since she really, really didn't want to get yelled at by her roommate for violating the rules, she decided to borrow one of the already summoned familiars who had for some reason or another never meshed with their summoner and had decided to stick around to hopefully find a better match.

She skimmed over most of them until her eyes landed on one canine who looked like it was of the hellhound variety. For some reason all the other familiars and summoners were giving that canine a very wide berth.

He had a surly look on his human face, with short almost neck length silver hair and jade green eyes. He wore punk-style clothing and an expression that said he couldn't give a damn what people thought of him, but would happily set anyone on fire if they pissed him off.

However upon closer inspection she realized he wasn't a full hellhound, but rather a hybrid of something she had never come across before.

Which really begged the question why no one was even remotely trying to work with him. From what she knew, hell hounds, even hybrids, were ridiculously magic resistant, fast, lethal, and completely loyal once you had their respect.

She walked up to the hellhound, unaware of the odd look Fon was giving the 'teen', before he dismissed him as unimportant when he realized who she was heading for.

The teen glared at her.

"What do you want?"

"I got dragged here by accident and I really don't want to piss off my roommate by summoning before I've even spent an entire term here. Mind working with me until the teacher gets his head out of his ass and realizes his mistake?" she told him, bluntly and to the point.

He blinked, twice.

"How do you end up in this class by accident?" he asked finally.

"Blame the lizard around my neck. Teacher took one look at him and immediately assumed I was a second year who had been skipping since he was 'obviously' my demon partner and dragged me here. Apparently he didn't hear the fact that I've been taking care of my roommate's demon partner for him since he has no intention of doing it himself."

Jade green eyes stared into her amber colored ones.

"Hayato Gokudera," he said after a moment with a tired sigh.

"Honoka and this is my roommate's demon partner Fon."

Hayato choked at the name.

"Fon, as in the Eye of the Storm Fon?" he said in disbelief.

"Do you really want me to call Bianchi and tell her exactly where you've been hiding for the past two years, Smoking Bomb Hayato?" sniped Fon. He liked being a lazy dragon, as opposed to having to defend that ridiculous title from idiots all damn day. There was more than a few reason why he hadn't returned to his home set and it wasn't just because he wanted to spend time with Kyouya.

Hayato flinched at that.

"Fon, take a nap. If you're this cranky then you clearly need one," said Honoka. Fon settled even more securely around her neck and a light rumbling purr was heard as he began to snore. "So do you mind working with me until the teacher gets a clue or what?"

Hayato stared at her.

"Fine. Not like I have anything better to do and the fuckers here never want to work with me anyway. Especially when they find out the truth," grumbled Hayato after a moment.

He deftly took out one of the special cigarettes that were made specifically for hellhounds to maintain their infernal fires with a set amount of sulfur...among other deadly toxins. The fact they smelled horrible and generally gave people another reason to leave him the hell alone so they didn't have to suffer the stink was just bonus.

The class was rather boring. As she was using an already summoned demon to act as her familiar, she missed the lecture on how to summon one and instead spent the class simply talking with Hayato.

"Wait, because I selected a summoned familiar without a master, you have to stay with me until the class is over with?" said Honoka.

"It's supposed to foster a potential match between familiar and summoner, but it's complete bullshit," said Hayato.

"Oh gods, Hibari is going to kill me. He barely tolerates others in his space as it is. I'm still surprised he hasn't tried to chase me off like all the other people they've attempted to saddle him with."

"Actually it's his reputation and the fact no one is willing to call him out on his behavior that causes them to run. Though if you decide to stay another term with him as your roommate you'll have earned his respect. Everyone else was simply too scared of him from the start," Fon spoke up. "As for the issue of a familiar staying with you, once you properly explain the mistake odds are that he'll ignore it so long as the puppy doesn't do anything to piss him off. Which includes smoking away from the dorm rooms."

"Wait, you're the latest roommate sacrifice?" said Hayato incredulous.

"Why does everyone call it that? I still keep getting weird looks because I'm not jumping at shadows," grumbled Honoka.

"Because every time a new person is assigned to be his roommate and partner, they end up running for the hills and even go so far as to change dorms just to get away from him," said Hayato dryly.

"He's not that scary, just really, really grumpy and prefers to keep to himself. Never mind stubborn as a mule," said Honoka in a flat tone. Fon openly snorted at that. She was quite likely the only human who would dare say that about Kyouya.

As the class wound down, Honoka observed her temporary familiar.

She couldn't really see why people avoided him so much. Even in the hallways everyone was giving him a wide berth, it was beyond strange.

He bore it without a word, though she could see the loneliness and pain in his green eyes clear as day. He desperately wanted a friend, or even a place to belong, but no one was willing to be there.

Hibari took one look at the hellhound hybrid before he leveled a Look at her. He was not pleased.

"Some teacher took one look at Fon and immediately assumed I was a new summoner who was skipping out on the familiar class. Hayato has agreed to act as my familiar until the teacher either figures out his mistake or someone corrects him," she informed him.

Hibari leveled a single Look at Hayato, who stiffened.

"If I catch you smoking in this room or trying to set anything on fire, I will bite you to death. Keep him off my side of the room," said Hibari flatly.

"Fair enough. Now will someone explain why everyone was giving you such a wide berth in the hallway? I haven't seen looks like that since I was living with my mother," said Honoka, her hands on her hips.

Hayato winced, before he shifted into his canine form.

For a moment, she saw nothing out of the ordinary. He wasn't a very big specimen, still firmly in his puppy years and very trainable from what she could tell.

Then she shifted her view and saw something she never expected.

Hayato had no neck.

She gaped in disbelief.

"What...how is that even possible? I mean wouldn't that make spitting fireballs difficult?" she asked baffled.

Hayato blinked, before he stared at her in disbelief.

"You... you're not scared of me?" he asked, not daring to hope.

"Why would I be scared of you? You're still a puppy and you're clearly not a trained attack dog," she asked confused. "If anything it makes me even more confused why everyone is avoiding you."

"He's half Inugami," supplied Fon. "Inugami are notoriously unstable, both in magic and temperament. Most people avoid them for very good reason, because even if they're created correctly, they still have a nasty habit of turning on their allies. As such they're somewhat tolerated, but certainly not welcomed by humans or demons."

"What do you mean created?" asked Honoka, not likely the sound of that.

"It's an old barbaric ritual humans created, before demon summoning was common place and made safe. A human who wished for a demon they could send after another in revenge would take a dog and bury it up to the neck and place food and water out of reach of the creature. As the canine strained to reach for the bowls, their neck would lengthen and grow, until it came off entirely. If done correctly they would become a demon that could be sent after another. However more often than not the 'ritual' if it could even be called that failed and the animals quite rightly turned on the fools who had mistreated them so if they survived to that stage," clarified Fon.

"That is absolutely horrible! But why would demons dislike them?" asked Honoka.

"As I said, Inugami are notoriously unstable and known to attack both their allies and their enemies. It doesn't help that demons have a general disdain for human-made monstrosities. They acknowledge the strength of the Inugami sect, but they certainly don't want them in their bloodlines," supplied Fon. "The more stable ones are usually smart enough to hide what they are, since if they're found out there's a high risk they'll be killed off."

Rather than look at Hayato with fear, Honoka had something more akin to sympathy. He flinched when he felt her hand on his head...at least until he realized she wasn't freaking out. In fact her hand was giving his ear a good rubbing before stroking the fur in a way that felt really good.

More to the point he didn't smell the undercurrent of fear or disgust that usually came out whenever he showed this form to potential masters.

It took him a few moments to realize he was panting happily and even wagging his tail a little.

Was it too much for him to hope that maybe for once things would turn out alright for him?