Hey guys, Naintarlow here. Been a while right?
I know it's been a long while since the last chapter, something I clearly regret. But things happen. A lot of things actually happened. Long story short, my work circumstances slightly changed recently, which will mean I might have more time to focus on writing, which means I can hopefully post chapters more regularly.
This is actually half of the original chapter, but when the original chapter didn't really seem to stop at over 16k, I decided to post this one by itself, and separate the rest of it. The good news is, that means I almost have the next chapter written, so this time, you guys don't have to wait as much. That's cool right?
Well jokes aside, I hope you guys will like this small chapter. I tried to play around with Kurumu's POV a little more, introducing a few bits here and there. By my estimation, there are only two chapters left of this mini arc before the thing I waited for all these years will start. The conflict with the Public Safety Commission will finally be ready to kick off. Can't wait for it, and hopefully you guys will feel the same.
Enjoy the chapter and take care. As usual, I welcome every comment, review, so keep them coming.
Chapter 22: Dreams, rats and a lot of trouble
Cover:An older, more mature looking Kurumu with a ballroom dress, dancing with an older Tsukune. Older versions of Lambo, Moka and Yukari are simply standing around a punch table in the background. Tsuna, in his Choice Arc outfit, is seemingly stepping out of frame, with only half of his frame being shown.
Kurumu felt like she was in heaven.
She was sitting on a luxurious sofa, various tacky and expensive-looking cushions surrounding her. She was wearing a beautiful dress, the kind she always saw in various magazines but never had the chance to try for herself. It had a low, almost too low cut at the chest area, yet somehow managed to hug and contort to her body in a way that felt too perfect and its silk-like material felt absolutely fascinating to run her hands through.
She was wearing various fine jewelry, some worth more than entire cities or even countries, all of them nothing but an addition to her beauty, something to amplify it rather than take attention away from it. Her hair fell around her in waves, with hair clips and ornaments decorating it. She honestly looked nothing like herself at the moment.
If she wanted to find a good comparison, she would have said she looked more like her mother at the moment. Mature, gorgeous, and completely aware of her sexual beauty and not even a bit embarrassed flaunting it around. The grace and experience of an older woman with the body of a young succubus was a deadly combination after all.
She was elegantly drinking a cup of wine, the beverage cool and sweet on her tongue, while occasionally picking up a small sweet from the tray next to her, causing her to smile to herself.
It was a bit of a secret, but she had a rather large sweet tooth. Unfortunately, succubus or not, she was still a woman with a killer figure she wanted to keep so those indulgences were small and rare.
'That doesn't mean I don't deserve a self-appreciation day or two.' she mused to herself with a coy smile as she savored the taste, unable to hold back the small moan bubbling from her throat. Truly she deserved the best of the best.
And speaking of the best.
"Do you require anything else, love of my life?" the deep, seductive baritone of her love asked, as he gently caught her hand, raising it and giving it a slow, meaningful kiss as she felt a giggle burst through her closed lips, cheeks darkening instantly.
Tsukune stood before her, adoration and love all but sparkling out of his eyes, but at the same time, he was not the Tsukune she knew. No, he was so much more and as she carefully watched him, she felt her insides heat up with something primal, her cheeks going for straight crimson in an instant and it took everything to clamp down on her instincts. She managed it, if barely.
He wasn't a cute boy, who fumbled around with his charming humility and awkwardness anymore. No, he was clearly a man now. He was taller, his shoulders wide and strong, his very presence somehow becoming more defined, more physical. The awkward smile he wore was replaced by a suave, if not sexy smirk as he only had eyes for her. There was confidence in his movements, a confidence born out of hard work and training.
Where the Tsukune she knew tended to draw into himself, trying to hide from view, and generally not to make waves, this Tsukune was confident in his skin, his stance all but screaming to the world that they were welcome to throw anything they wanted at him. He was a fighter, a leader, someone who would face the whole world, yet still had his adoring eyes for her alone.
This was the man she knew laid inside her Destined One without a doubt in her heart. And seeing it show was a dream come true.
A most beautiful and alluring dream indeed.
It was a battle she was destined to lose. Her Destined One, who became the epitome of sexy and alluring overnight, looking at her with such love, waiting for but a command from her, was enough to override the self-control of someone like Kurumu.
"You." the word slipped out without her meaning, as she lost herself adoring Tsukune's eyes. As soon as she realized what she said. her cheeks reddened even further if possible and she tried to quickly correct herself but was stopped in her tracks as he reached up and brushed an errant lock behind her ear.
He was so close, the succubus thought as her face made an amazing impression of a tomato. Despite her usual forward nature, and the philosophy of using her body to enthrall possible partners, as taught to succubi by their mothers, Kurumu was still a maiden at heart. Much to her chagrin, she found herself completely paralyzed the moment the object of her affection returned it.
It was a rush of excitement, embarrassment, and most importantly, lust and desire.
"As you wish, my love," he said with a soft smile, and if it was possible the rather base feelings deep inside Kurumu only grew. One of his hands came up to her face, caressing it, slowly trailing to the back of her head as with his other he pulled her hand up and gave it a loving kiss, drawing her close as he stepped closer.
Kurumu instinctively licked her lips, feeling a bit helpless and somehow loving every minute of it. It filled her with a new sort of excitement, to be held by Tsukune, to know that he had power over her, power unlike anyone else. Her free hand rested on his chest, her hyperaware senses telling her just how chiseled and muscled the chest and abdomen of her Destined One had become.
Heat pooled beneath her stomach and her instincts as a succubus screamed for her to take control, to take what is hers but she managed to keep it in check. Would she have loved nothing more than to jump on him, to ravish him and make him hers in every way, and surface, possible? Definitely.
But Kurumu was a romantic at heart. Ever since she was little, she swooned at the idea of a knight in shining armor swooping in and saving the princess, of little gestures and candle-lit dinners. She wanted her first time, all of her times, really, to be as much about love and passion as lust and desire. That's why she was able to keep herself in check, allowing Tsukune to grow into himself, where he was ready for a proper relationship with her.
She wanted Tsukune for herself, body, mind, and soul. She wanted him to see her for who she was, to fall in love with her, something that she already saw small signs of. She didn't want to be his consolation prize, but his one and only.
Hence why she only pushed him so far, kept herself to simply teasing and small touches, to slowly steer him towards her. And apparently, all of that effort came to fruition.
"Shall I?" he asked gently, his hot breath on her lips sending shivers through her, taking away the rest of her restraints.
She wanted this, wanted more than anything, and from the resolve in her darling's eyes, there was no reason to wait any longer.
"Then I shall," Tsukune responded a moment later with a sly smile, taking her silence as permission, rather rightly, and leaned closer. Kurumu, finding herself on the other side for once, could only shyly look at him as she waited for his lips to descend on hers.
Only much to her surprise, frustration, and yearning, it didn't happen.
Instead of her lips, his own settled next to her ear, his breath causing another shudder, this one more impatient, more demanding. Her face momentarily turned into a frown, yet before she could let her thoughts be voiced, Tsukune spoke up.
"Don't let the sky crumble around you." his voice was different, as if something ancient, something more spoke through him, flat yet strangely intimidating.
There was something in that voice, something alien that scared her.
Kurumu opened her mouth, either to question the strange turn of events, demand an explanation, or simply scream from the fear surging within her. But before she could decide on a course of action, the heat and light of the fire in front of her eyes blinded her, forcing her to close her eyes.
A few moments later she reopened her eyes, confused when instead of the comforting feeling of Tsukune's presence, all she could feel was a searing heat around her and the rough, barren ground beneath her. She immediately wished she didn't.
The world around her erupted in flames, broken down into ashes to its smallest details.
Gone were the luxurious surroundings, her extravagant clothes as well as the peace and tranquility that permeated the air. She found herself lying on the ground unceremoniously, back in her school clothes. Worse, Tsukune disappeared without a trace.
"What's going on?" She fearfully asked the empty space around her, her arms coming up to hug her, in a vain attempt to reassure herself.
All around her, the fire raged on without stopping for a moment. There seemed to be silhouettes of people moving in the fire, though none answered when she tried calling out to them, and they disappeared as soon as she took her eyes off of them but Kurumu was convinced she was not alone in this strange place. Which meant she simply had to find the others.
The fires around her were rather strange though.
Instead of a single color of red or orange, it appeared to be made of a myriad of shifting colors. From yellow to green, to blue, red and finally fading into purple, it looked more like a rainbow than a fire, if not for the obvious heat and destruction it caused.
The fires started closing on her, surrounding her, and cutting off her escape. Kurumu tried to use her wings to fly away but to her growing horror, they haven't appeared for some reason. Fear started to override reason, and she was forced to slowly back away as the flames in front of her closed in. Soon, the untouched ground she had was less than her room, her helplessness never more clear.
"Someone, anyone, please. Help." the words came out unbidden, as tears gathered in her eyes, feeling completely overwhelmed. Some part of her wanted this nothing but a dream, yet as a succubus, a dream shouldn't be able to capture her like that, making her powerless.
All she was left with was the face of absolute uncertainty, to cry out for help, hoping her weak voice would be heard by someone. Just like always, she needed to be saved.
Then, when it seemed as if all the air was burned through and her knees wobbled as she threatened to fall over, something changed. It was subtle at first, the fire seemingly stopping its advance, the division of colors seemingly becoming more solid, easier to see and even the figures started taking a more concrete shape, some becoming tall and seemingly muscular, another with shapes clearly referring to a female and even what seemed like a little kid.
Taking an uncertain step forward, Kurumu suddenly found herself feeling slightly better, even the heat barely bothering her anymore. As if some part of her had gotten accumulated to this place, the fire, and the heat as if she simply accepted it and was accepted in return.
As if spurred by some command, a moment later the flames in front of her briefly parted and a figure stepped through it. A very familiar figure.
"Moka?" Kurumu called out, equal parts bewildered, shocked, and hopeful.
As much as the appearance of her former rival took her off-guard, she instantly felt safer at the sight of the familiar face. Only, she was taken aback as she gave her 'friend' a closer look.
At first, she assumed it was the 'innocent' Moka who was approaching her, due to her pink hair. But as she stepped closer, she noticed that the pink only existed in a couple of vibrant highlights, the rest was the otherworldly silver that the 'vampire' called her own. Her green and usually kind eyes had vertical pupils, just like her other half, giving her a more menacing glare, her fanged smile promising nothing good.
Similarly, she took the color of the fire surrounding her to be a calm orange, similar to the flames he saw Tsuna show on occasion, a light, inviting color. But just like how she mistook Moka initially, the flames also were deceptive in appearance.
The orange of the flames turned out to be much darker, its shade closer to 'burnt orange' if she had to put a name to it. Unlike the calmer shade, which seemed controlled and tame, it was wild, licks of flame lashing out, intent on devouring anything and everything it could get close to.
Curiously, it seemed fighting against itself, its violent throes contained around itself and never spreading too far as a similar flame, its shade a majestic, yet similar dangerous feeling purple, bled into it, the orange of the original flame darkening and growing bigger and more violent. Yet even as the heat intensified to a completely inhuman level, those flames never harmed Moka who looked unconcerned, even content as she stood among the flames.
She looked as if it was completely natural as if the flames were just as much parts of her as her limbs.
"Moka?" she fearfully called out to her once more, even as the other girl wordlessly stared at her."What's going on?"
Unfortunately for her already shaken hopes, Moka didn't answer. Instead, she grinned, the act lacking even a shadow of kindness, all teeth and completely predatory as she took a step towards the shaking succubus. As if it was a signal, the flames around them fanned forward, consuming what little untouched ground was left.
Less than a moment later, Kurumu found herself standing in front of Moka, who seemed to enjoy her helplessness, the fires surrounding her on all sides with no breathing room left. The errant licks of flames threatened to catch her and her clothes on fire, the heat and the lack of air threatened to make her pass out and much to her horror, there didn't seem to be a way out. Everything around her was in a sea of flames, there was no escape for her.
Kurumu opened her mouth, to do what she didn't know. She wasn't sure if she wanted to demand what was going on, plead for help or even just beg forgiveness for whatever she did that landed her here. A small, vindictive part just wanted to curse at the world, for the unfairness and everything, and for once she considered letting that little voice out.
In the end though, regardless of what she wanted to do, she got the chance for none of them.
Something, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the raging flames before she could utter even a single sound of surprise. Yet, the feeling of burning didn't hit her as she expected. Sure, it was hot, hotter than any sauna she ever visited but there was a gentleness in that flame.
It did not burn her, because it simply wasn't her enemy, something told her, though, for the life of her, she couldn't tell where the conviction came from.
The last thing she saw was the glowing orange eyes of someone familiar, yet so different at the same time before she woke up.
-0-
Surprisingly Kurumu awoke not with a shocked start but a forlorn, calm sigh.
Despite the memory of her strange dream still fresh in her mind, the succubus found herself unusually calm, her body relaxed. As she awoke, she noted absentmindedly that she was not in her room, a moment later remembering her previous wake-up and conversation with Tsuna, accepting the situation without any complaint.
There didn't seem to be any danger around, Tsuna was a paranoid bastard like that. Considering that she woke up by herself, there was no need to hurry either, which suited her fine. It allowed her the private time to slow down and try to process things. Both the dream and what happened before.
She had no idea what was going on. As a succubus, she was more attuned to dreams and manipulating said dreams than any other youkai, and even if she was still mostly a novice in the eyes of her species, she shouldn't have been caught off-guard like that.
Yet, she couldn't help but admit that she didn't realize she was dreaming until the very last moment. Everything felt so real, that she found herself caught and swayed under the flow of the dream. Worse, she couldn't even make sense of it, little details of the dream fading into nothingness the longer she was awake. By the time she sat up, throwing her arms to stretch her still slightly numb limbs, she felt like everything slipped away to save for a few pieces.
Was it really that hard to get a single day of peace, without someone attacking her, or something dangerous, mysterious, or simply frustrating happening to her? She was a young girl but even she had limits on how much 'excitement' she got in her life.
Before she could further get into complaining about all her 'hardships', a more awake Kurumu noted the lack of a brown-haired teenage boy anywhere in the room. Judging by the sun coming from the windows, it was already morning but she doubted it was already time for classes or that Tsuna would have left her behind without even waking her up.
Yet, she saw no sign of him or anything like a note to explain his abstinence. She was about to let out an annoyed huff when voices nearby caught her ears, one of them rather familiar.
"So what do you think? Am I good or what?" A peppy, unfamiliar but more importantly female voice piped up from the outside.
"It seems to be more than the initially agreed information." Tsuna's voice drawled lazily in response but there was an undercurrent of anger in it, one that caused an instinctual shiver on Kurumu's back.
An angry Tsuna usually meant even more ridiculous and dangerous training sessions, all the while he would act all chipper as if there was no greater joy than to be training. Kurumu had to hold back the frightened squawk that wanted to come out. There was a reason why neither she nor Tsukune ever entertained the thought of trying to ditch Tsuna's training.
There was one time when Lambo, who accompanied them and was forced to train most of the time too, acted like his age and tried to squirm out of said training. The aftermath of that was something that haunted Kurumu to this day. Worse, that bastard never stopped smiling even as Lambo pleaded for mercy.
She certainly pitied the poor kid but it wasn't enough for her to push through the sheer fear Tsuna put into her and stand up to him.
The voices seemed to come from outside Tsuna's room, she noted as she pushed away the traumatic memories with frightening ease, she didn't want to dwell upon them. The door was slightly ajar, allowing in some of the faint sunlight from outside and making it easier for her to eavesdrop.
Not like she would necessarily call it eavesdropping, she reasoned with herself as she stealthily crawled out of Tsuna's futon, carefully inching closer to the door. Her heart hammered anxiously inside her chest, more than aware that Tsuna wouldn't appreciate being spied upon, should he discover her spying.
But she couldn't help it. Part of it was her natural curiosity, a need to know what was going on. Added to this, that in recent times all she had been was a liability to her friends, kept in the dark, or simply lost to what was happening around her, and she wanted none of it now. Tsuna would understand, she reasoned to herself, rather easily justifying it to herself.
Some of the conversation was lost to her, as she slowly sneaked forward, holding her breath back but it was worth it as she finally caught sight of the outside, able to see past the slightly opened door.
The first one she caught sight of Tsuna, or at least his shoulder and right arm and a very small part of his profile. He seemed to have turned toward the door, casually leaning against the railing set up on the other side of the hallway. While it was slightly hard to tell if it was really Tsuna at first glance due to his generally unassuming appearance, Kurumu was fairly positive that very few first-year boys would be up and ready early like this.
"That's some pretty damning information," Tsuna commented, his hand absentmindedly raising the stack of files in his hand. Kurumu had no idea what it was about but ír was clear to hear he was not happy. At all.
"Not really. All of this is known by the staff." The mysterious female replied rather enthusiastically. Now that she paid attention, there was a pretty distinct naval inflection to it.
Edging closer to the door, Kurumu's view shifted slightly as she caught the form of someone she wasn't familiar with.
She was short, that was the first thing she noticed. She was barely taller than Yukari, the shortest of their group, save for Lambo. The school uniform on the lithe frame was unmistakable, though, like their little witch, she also seemed to add a few personal touches to the uniform, mainly in the form of a brown, nondescript cloak that hung around her frame, hiding it from view.
Coincidentally this also left her face hidden behind her hood, causing Kurumu to grumble a little bit. She was a bit of a gossip, so the appearance of a female unknown to their little group, speaking to Tsuna as if they were old friends, naturally spurred her on. Going along with her stubbornness, she knew she wouldn't be satisfied until she learned about this 'new variable' of what she wanted.
She sounded young, she thought with a slight frown. The voice might have been simply naturally that high, but something told her, the cloaked girl couldn't be much older than Yukari. Which should have been a surprise to some, but Yukari couldn't be the only exception to the norm. Maybe they were dealing with another young genius?
Tsuna must have turned an especially harsh glare on her, because Kurumu could spot the slight tremble that went down the girl's frame before she suppressed it, giving a slightly uneasy chuckle as she held her hands up.
"No need to rile up. Cases like these are pretty normal at this school. Just like students, teachers have a relatively high rate of dying, disappearing, or simply fleeing like headless chickens, so the administration is not particularly picky about who they hire. As long as they don't act way out of the norm, draw too much attention or make ripples that end up reaching the Headmaster, they practically got a green light to do as they wished. At this point, I doubt there is even a single 'clean' teacher at this school." the girl explained, her nerves settling down, her words and body language turning more animated the more she talked.
In the short silence it followed, Tsuna let out a rather absentminded hum, as Kurmu heard the shuffling of papers. As if taking his silence as permission the cloaked girl continued talking, the flashing of a grin visible beneath her hood.
"The art teacher, for example, was not an outlier. She was just simply a bit too greedy, too visible, and ran into trouble she couldn't handle. I mean a couple of kids disappearing here and there? No one would have batted an eyelash. But after that club of yours investigated her, caught her red-handed, and beat her up?" she let out a high-pitched, amused laugh and Kurumu almost yelped in surprise. It was much louder than she expected from a tiny girl like that."That was priceless. Of course, she had to go after that. A teacher of monsters who couldn't even deal with a couple of kids? She lost all credibility with that blunder."
That made sense, Kurumu silently agreed, while very much trying to not think about the whole debacle surrounding the medusa. Might makes right, was a philosophy and way of life as long as humanity, and youkai existed. Even now, both purebloods and those of mixed blood followed this line of thinking.
Their age might be a time of relative peace, the era of the Three Dark Lords as some called it, but their fundamental nature hasn't changed at all. To live is to fight and to fight is to live.
"I see." was all the comment Tsuna offered in response, seemingly deep in thought before he released a sigh.
From the corner of her little opening, Kurumu saw him move toward the door, causing her to fearfully back away. Thankfully for her, he stopped after a few steps and turned back to the cloaked individual.
"I hope you understand that if the information is accurate, Himitsu, I am probably on a bit of a timetable. I will arrange your payment as soon as I-" Tsuna started to explain, his voice and demeanor turning more emotionless by the minute.
Kurumu was tempted to call it cold but while it lacked any warmth, it was controlled, and calm but, that part was only a feeling on her part, also reasonable. It was what she, Tsukune, and Yukari dubbed Tsuna's battle mode.
That he was using it right now, was just another reason for Kurumu to start worrying. Considering recent events, as well as Tsukune being the only one among them called a trouble magnet, she had a really bad feeling.
Both the eavesdropping succubus and former mafia boss got a surprise of their own when Himitsu cut Tsuna off with a simple wave of her hand.
"Don't worry about it, Fluffy Spikes." she said with a grin, Kurumu almost choking on air at the strange and fitting nickname."This one time, let's just say I worked for free. Just don't forget good ol' Himitsu when you make it to the big leagues.
"Explain." Tsuna was quick to come over his shock and presumably sent a glare at the grinning woman.
"It's nothing nefarious, don't worry." She was quick to explain with a confident grin."But I didn't get as far as I did in this business by not reading the writing on the wall. You are gathering a fair deal of attention, by the gathering of popular first years around your inner circle, having access to the school's newspaper as well several friends and acquaintances in higher years. Not to mention your deals among the shadier side of the school economy and the way you are subtly amassing a powerbase, I reckon you will be making some big waves soon."
"Get to the point." Tsuna rudely cut in but to Kurumu's shock, there was a begrudging mote of respect in his voice.
"As I see it, sooner or later your growing network will clash with the 'real' rulers of the school. Something like that promises to be very, and I mean very bloody no matter which way it will go." Himitsu explained, sounding giddy at the prospect, while Kurumu paled and had to fight down the urge to quiver in fear."You can say that what I am doing right now is making a sound investment that also had the smallest risk of backfiring on me. It's simple business sense."
'Where do you get the word sense from any of this?' Kurumu wanted to yell at a loud voice and only by physically keeping her mouth shut did she avoid revealing herself. To her, this was insane beyond sense, most of all Tsuna's silent admission of actually working behind the scenes too, what she gleaned from context, basically taking over the school.
Though in retrospect, she could kind of see him doing just that. Tsuna was a secretive enough bastard for that, to slip all of that under their noses. Didn't make the whole thing any less surreal though.
"I see." Tsuna said after a long moment, presumably nodding along."After the eventual clash with the as of now undisputed authority, either I will crash and burn, in which case, you can play dumb and deny any connections to me. The other possible outcome is that I come up on top and will be poised to put significant leverage over most of the 'underground' of the school. At that point, you are free to collect your favor and claim to have supported me even before my rise." he concluded, apparently sounding just a tad impressed. Coming from Tsuna meant a lot.
"See? I knew it was right to place my bets on you Fluffy Spikes. Nothing gets past me." Himitsu chuckled in her high voice, genuine amusement radiating from her. She went even as far as to loudly clap at the face of Tsuna's deduction.
Kurumu was getting a feeling similar to whiplash with the different attitudes of the two speakers, her job made harder that she had to rely more on her ears than her eyes to judge what was happening, lest she wanted to be discovered.
"Well, at the very least I can see how you earned your reputation, yet managed to slip under the attention of really big fishes." Tsuna said, the tone of his voice telling that the discussion was over."Now if you would excuse me."
"Yeah, don't have to kick me out, I can see when I am not wanted. It was a pleasure doing business with you." Toward the end, the last traces of her seriousness disappeared as her smile widened to a Cheshire grin."Though probably not as much pleasure as the young girl hiding in your room had, you dog. None of my info told me how much of a player you are, especially with that cute vampire girl already hanging around you all the time."
Himitsu cackled madly as she left, while Kurumu let out an indignant and embarrassed shriek as she tried to loudly deny that anything was between them. On the other hand, Tsuna only let out a tired sigh as one hand pinched his nose, apparently not caring enough to speak up and correct the misunderstanding.
By the time Kurumu calmed herself down, her face still red, the door was opened fully, Tsuna's deadpan eyes meeting with the kneeling and still flustered succubus' own. Because she was also leaning against the door, the move almost sent her face-first into Tsuna, and she had to brace into the doorframe to catch herself.
"Hi," she said nervously, not knowing how else to react. She would have probably waved at him dumbly, if not for the fact that her hands were needed to balance her.
Tsuna looked decidedly unimpressed before he let out a quiet groan and simply walked past her, almost bawling her over in the process. Apparently, her spartan trainer wasn't in the mood for gentleness.
"Hey, what's gotten into you?" she asked in an indignant tone as she stood up, absentmindedly dusting down her skirt. After all, just because Tsuna was moody, it wasn't an excuse for her to look anything but her very best.
Of course, Tsuna ignored her at first, walking to the other end of the room and pulling out a long case that had more locks than Kurumu could count. He kneeled down in front of it and started fiddling with said locks.
"Get yourself ready." was all he said, not even bothering to turn around."We need to hurry if we want to make it on time."
"Make it time for what?" She asked back with a slight frown, only for her to gape in shock as Tsuna pulled out a really big gun out of his case, acting as if it was no big deal.
Giving a quick once over to the sniper rifle in his hands, Tsuna let out a positively wolfish grin as he holstered it on his back, grabbed a few things from his desk, and motioned for Kurumu to hurry up.
"Knowing him, either to save Tsukune's ass or to clean up after him," he told her cryptically and Kurumu felt a shudder run up her back at how ominous he sounded right there.
Why did it feel like she could never catch a break?