[September 11, 2418 - Tuesday, 12:00 PM]
"Are you guys ready for the most epic festival ever?!" Naomi beamed, pulling in Emma and Rebecca into a huddle with a wide grin.
"What the heck—" Emma grunted in shock, holding onto Naomi's wrist and looked up at her with confusion. "Just last week, you were brooding over this festival..."
"I was? Hm, I guess I'm just over whatever I was going through~! Now, I'm ready to spend time with my fellow princesses~!" Naomi giggled, letting go of Emma and Rebecca then skipped over to Aisha and Lotus.
I watched from a distance while sitting at a table with Heido, Kaido, and Kenji, chuckling softly as I noticed Nanako lingering around the girls with excitement. I let out a soft exhale while petting Nachah, the air around Matsugaya High seemingly more freshening than before.
After my encounter with The Lord, it felt as if a massive weight was lifted off me. I haven't thought about Kabetori or MHI-30 since I met Him in The Border, my mind more focused on making sure this week went by smoothly.
"So, I see you and Naomi have become some form of thing. I thought Tsubami was joking when she said you had an actual harem," Kaido said, nudging me with his elbow teasingly.
My cheeks lightly flushed with light embarrassment, my train of thought immediately broken as I looked at Kaido. "It's not a harem, it's actually...very complicated. Borderline unexplainable."
"Yeah, yeah, we all know you're kicking with with those five, and Lotus? Geez, Soloman, save some women for us, big dawg," Kenji teased, leaning back in his seat and laughed lightly.
"Bruh, you're literally dating Ara and Kaido, you're dating Hanna and she's deemed an idol around here. My group is of humble beginnings, except Naomi," I replied, pointing at my group of girls.
Heido chuckled softly at us, shaking his head then glanced over at Madam K, leaning forward on the table and pointed at her. "Look over there at your 8 o'clock, boys. While you fight over small fish, I'm trying to catch a pretty shark."
"Oh, you mean the megalodon? Brother, she barely heals my wounds with love and you think you have an inkling of a chance? You'd literally need God to divinely change her heart for you to get a glance," I said, looking at Heido with doubt.
"You're better off taking easy bait like Bellatrix. Then again, that woman would go after anyone..." I added, shrugging my shoulders.
Kaido glanced at Madam K then hummed, looking over at Heido. "She does look like she would kill you for even having the thought."
"Yeah, you're better off going after Hisumi over there, but then again I don't even think she likes guys. She's always with those group of girls," Kenji said, pointing over at Hisumi.
I hummed softly and glanced over at Hisumi then grunted, nearly choking on my own breath. "Nagini and two other Valkyrias..?! Why the heck is Nagini here..?!"
"Who the fuck is Nagini?" Kaido asked, glancing at me with disbelief.
I stood up from my seat then looked at Kaido. "One woman you don't want to get to know. She's genuinely dangerous, and that's why I'm gonna drive her away."
Heido, Kaido, and Kenji watched as I rushed over to Hisumi's table with a Flash Step, the only thing left behind being a light blue silhouette. Heido blinked a few times and looked at Hisumi's table, now curious about how dangerous Nagini was.
{Chapter 39: Matsugaya Princesses!}
Cerebral rose her left ear as she heard footsteps nearby then rose her head, noticing Nachah marching toward the Black Hound. She moved aside with confusion, wondering where this confidence is from. "Uh, Hisumi?"
Hisumi looked down at her Living Stigmata then turned her attention upward, noticing me standing at the table with crossed arms and a judgemental stare. "Oh, hi Motosaki. What's up?"
"What's up?" I asked then scoffed, pointing at Nagini with my thumb. "Why is she here out of every Infinity Council member you could've picked? You know, I kinda liked Alan and Liao Ru better."
"They're unavailable, busagi. Plus, I literally live at St. Fraskia. It's not too far from Matsugaya. Is there an issue?" Nagini asked, looking up at me with a smile.
"Busagi? Why do I feel like that's a crazy insult? Nevermind that, who are these two?" I asked, looking at the two Valkyrias at the table.
The Valkyria with cherry red hair, flipped her hair with sass and scoffed at me. "My name is Cherry! Cherry Gemina, B Rank Valkyrias of Squad V, led by the legendary Orishi Ashikaga!"
"My name is Berry," The blueberry haired Valkyria said calmly, lowering her head into her palm.
"These are Gamma and Beta, also sisters of mine when we were Judgement. Very strong Valks. You know, cause I led them. Top Agent, Enforcer stuff," Hisumi said casually, nudging my stomach playfully.
I blinked at Hisumi then looked at Nachah, noticing him look up at my with the dullest expression on his face. I looked up at the sky then heard a 'mmcht' and closed my eyes.
"Do not look up here, Son..."
"Nobody told her to expose that..."
"So you just willingly expose yourself like this? What kind of anime bullshit is this plot bro?" I asked, letting out a groan and looked back down at Hisumi.
"Look, I thought we were close and I joke like that with the other Valkyrias," Hisumi said, looking at Cherry and Berry, the two of them nodding in agreement.
"Girl. I am damn there a regular dude with borderline witchcraft if the Author isn't careful. I do not know a thing about Judgement other than Nagini started it. Please, I'm just gonna go back to my boys. Forget I was even here," I said, walking backwards.
"He broke the fourth wall so hard..." Nagini said with a scoffing laugh and pushed up her glasses, stretching her arm out to grab me and pull me back to the table. "Listen, I have a reason for being here."
"No, you're not gonna experiment on anyone here. No, you're not gonna experiment on me. No, you're not gonna..."
"Just shut up for a second," Nagini said, wrapping her arm around my mouth with a coiling hold. "Jesus, finally..."
I pulled Nagini's coiled arm from around my mouth to breath and speak, letting out a deep exhale. "Alright, I'm listening now that I'm forced to..."
Nagini looked at me before looked back over at the girls, watching as only Aisha and Naomi nodded their heads to the music Amon was playing from his phone. To their right, Rebecca, Emma, and Otsuki were sitting at the courtyard table unamused while Lotus waited for Amon to go away with a yawn.
"Amon is killing the vibe with his terrible beats, so I need you to go over there and play this," Nagini said, taking a MP3 player out of her pocket and handed it to me.
I took it from her hand then rose an eyebrow, looking at Nagini with confusion. "An MP3 player? What could you possibly be listening to?"
"MmarchTeam, something you already know. They come from Qutsade, so that's why their music doesn't sound like from here," Nagini answered then uncoiled her arm from around me.
"Now, go. You need to get them to dance," Nagini said with a push forward and chuckled.
Stumbling forward, I sighed and pressed on with prayers in my mind that the music player was filled with joke music. Instead of waiting, I decided to test my luck as usual and played a song at full volume then looked at the MP3 player with slight surprise.
Nanako turned her head first to the sound of the music, her head nodding to the rhythm. Naomi looked back and noticed me with an MP3 player then smirked as she rose to her feet, the music immediately hitting her body.
"Hold on, where did this music come from?" Aisha asked, stepping toward me in rhythm to the music.
Amon watched as Aisha and Naomi walked away from him then looked at me, watched as the three of us danced to the music Nagini provided. The small dancing group began gravitating toward the courtyard table, Aisha hopping over to Otsuki and brought her to her feet.
"C'mon, everyone! You have to dance too! This music is awesome!" Aisha laughed, pulling Otsuki toward the group.
I looked over at the group and set the phone down on the table, watching as Nanako planted her feet on the ground and danced with the music. Upon the drop, she really began to show her moves, each girl around her now dancing with more energy.
"What is this music..?" Amon scoffed, glancing at my group and noticing each girl dancing with joy and happiness.
"It's something called Ezusha Worship Music. A legion of Marching Angels named MmarchTeam runs the music business in Ezusha," Tenshi replied within Amon's earpiece.
"Smash it. It's just music at the end of the day," Tenshi ordered.
Amon let out a scoff and grinned, licking the inside of his cheek. He nodded and walked to us held out his hand, dark energy forming the shape of a hammer then materialized into one as he gripped it. With a swing of animosity, Amon slammed his hammer against Nagini's MP3 player, smashing the fragile screen and breaking the device.
"What the heck?" Naomi asked, glancing over at Amon then scoffed at him.
"Genuinely no way you just did that!" Emma chastised, shooting a heated glare at Amon.
Amon chuckled, looking up at us with a soft exhale. "Sorry, didn't mean to ruin your little dance party."
Nagini was about to stand up, but sucked her teeth and sat back sound, remembering this wasn't St. Fraskia. "That's alright, I'll just buy another one..."
"Dude, that wasn't even mine. Why would you even do this?" I asked, holding up the broken MP3 player and looked at Amon.
Amon looked at me and puffed up his chest, pointing his hammer at me. "Ever since you have come to this school, everything has been going astray. You've been ruining the best moments of my life, so I will have to repay the dues."
"Repay the dues?" Aisha asked, stepping forward and scoffed at Amon. "We will not just sit here and let you ruin the festival!"
Amon shrugged his shoulders then glanced down at my feet then shifted his, his shadow extending forward and merging with mine. "You don't have to. There won't be a festival to be had."
I tried to Warp, but my body wouldn't move as if I was glued into place. Looking down, I noticed Amon's shadow was merged to mine. "What the heck..?"
"There are things you don't know around here, Motosaki. Rules that you don't have knowledge of since you haven't attended this school until the start of this semester," Amon said, looking at me then reshaped his hammer into nail bat.
"One rule around here...is you don't fuck with a Mato," Amon said, stepping forward then grunted as a blast of light struck him and knocked him backwards.
Looking up, Amon noticed Lotus standing behind me with her hand held out, sparkles of light flowing from her hand. Otsuki, Rebecca, and Naomi looked at her in awe, noticing the energy particles flowing from her palm.
"Oh yeah...I forgot that you were also part of that Kabetori mishap. You must've forgotten that you're only free to roam around because Judgement allows you to," Amon said, standing up straight with a low chuckle.
Lotus let out a soft huff and lowered her hand. "I am not defined by Judgement, not since Obachan Hisu saved me from their grasp. You need a savior as well, Amon."
"Savior? I'm already saved. It is you all who needs to be saved! Saved from this boring lifestyle. Why do you all choose to defend someone you just met? Rebecca? Emma? Naomi?" Amon asked, looking at the girls with animosity in his eyes.
"Because he isn't a raging douchebag like you are! He might be annoying, but at least he sees us as human beings and not just another sell!" Emma replied and stomped forward, shooting a fiery glare at Amon.
"I agree with Emma. Besides, we have dated before and it was a time of my life filled with the most trivia and tribulation. You have little decency, Amon," Rebecca said eloquently, her demeanor more reserved as Amon's gaze landed on her.
Naomi walked forward and balled her hands into fists, scoffing at Amon with a fierce expression, her eyes flashing magenta. "You seem to have your ego placed too far up your mediocre ass. You genuinely seem to believe you're in the right here..."
Amon broke out into laughter, resting his bat against his shoulder. "It's not about right or wrong... After all, you're hiding behind a guy who has no Clan to back him up. He's no avenger. Not even his God will allow him to hurt me."
Naomi scoffed loudly, stepping in front of me in a protective manner, faint rose gold energy flowing around her body which caused her skirt to flow. "You're not untouchable, Mato. The reason you are still alive now...is because of pity. You're a sad little boy who things selling dope on the corner is cool."
"That died out about 400 years ago, sorry to break it to you. You're just a small squire thinking he has the aura of a king," Naomi berated, gesturing with her hand how small Amon's aura was.
Amon smirked at Naomi, noticing Nanako hovering behind Naomi then felt the air around the courtyard growing colder. 'Hmph...that sky blue silhouette...who exactly is that..?'
"Things are looking serious, Boss. Should we jump in?" Kaido asked, looking over at Heido.
Heido watched with his arms crossed and let out a low hum. "Nah, Oto's got that. Plus, if things get out of hand, we got Tsubami and Hisumi here. Let's see how things pan out..."
Amon laughed at Naomi's insult, and without words, rushed forward with a swing of his nail bat to Naomi's head. Pushing myself to move under my entrapment, I broke free of Amon's shadow hold and pushed Naomi out of the way before she could be hit.
"Hmph! You might've saved your Princess, but how about the rest of your friends?" Amon asked, reshaping his bat into a handgun and pointed it at Aisha and the others.
"Motosaki!" Aisha yelled out, backing away toward the other girls with fear in her eyes.
Otsuki grunted softly and unleashed her aura from around her body, dashing forward at high speeds and leaped forward with a downward roundhouse kick toward Amon's shoulder. Amon dodged her attack then grabbed her leg, pulling her toward the ground hard.
Otsuki grunted as she hit the ground, but pushed herself up for a donkey kick upon Amon's side before rolling forward back onto her feet. Amon grunted as he staggered then looked over at Otsuki with a grin, rubbing his side and huffed.
"So, you can fight as well. A small group of trainee Valkyrias in Matsugaya. Well, then again this is starting to become a Valkyria School," Amon said, reshaping his handgun into a katana.
"This guy is insane..." One student said, taking his girlfriend to a safe area of the courtyard.
"Come on girls, let's go..!" A girl said, running from the cherry blossom tree with her friends.
I looked at Amon then scoffed, my eyes flashing gold as I began to use Insight upon him. 'I couldn't Warp while I was trapped in his shadow. He seems to have good control over his abilities...'
I smirked to myself then swiped under my nose with my thumb, the memory of the decoy pawns playing in my mind. I began walking forward and took off my blazer then tied it around my waist. "Doing this all a day before the actual festival. I guess I can see why people like you pregame.."
Amon watched I made my way in front of Otsuki with a smirk on my face and smirked as well. "You're a funny guy, you know!"
Amon charged toward me with an overhead slash which I phased through with a sidestep. I dodged his side slash then sidestepped another slice before catching his wrist after his next missed attack. Amon looked at me in my eyes, noticing I was actively analyzing him militantly.
He grunted as I pushed him back then looked back at Naomi and Otsuki behind him. "Hm, getting serious aren't we?"
I tapped my forehead with my eyes closed then snapped my fingers. "Naomi, flank his right. Otsuki, his left."
Naomi, who was on Amon's left side, looked over at Otsuki, who was on his right, then the two nodded. Both of them began sprinting in opposite directions, crossing each other's paths and both went for an attack toward Amon. Amon dodged both of their attacks, causing them to stop before hitting each other.
Amon laughed as he prepared his counter attack, but noticed me leaping over both girls with golden eyes. I threw a cotton ball toward Amon then warped toward it with a tornado kick, my attack missing as Amon weaved.
"You fight as if you really want to save this festival!" Amon taunted, slicing downward toward my shoulder.
I threw a curveball around Amon then warped behind him before warping back in front of him with a body knee strike to my light blue silhouette behind him. My silhouette caught him and judo tossed him over his shoulder, setting him up for my Warp Strike to launch him backwards.
"Lotus!" I called out.
Lotus warped above Amon with her shinai and came down with a swift slice. Amon barely blocked the attack in time, but pushed her back and followed with a circling high slice. Lotus parried his attack, struck his chest with an open palm, and released an energy pulse to knock him back and knocked his katana out of his hand.
Ms. Okabe walked to the window of her office and rose an eyebrow at the commotion in the courtyard, noticing the skirmish below. "What in the world? Why are they fighting?"
Tsubami stood up from her seat then walked to the window as well, crossing her arms and hummed softly. "I don't know, but I can tell who started it. I wouldn't intervene just yet.."
While Amon was recovering from Lotus's follow up, I kept a close eye upon him then looked back at Nanako and noticed her glance over at me. I gestured over to Aisha and she noticed my gesture before looking over at her.
Aisha grunted softly as she felt a chill run down her spine, her desire to protect me intensifying. She looked over at Amon and clenched her fists while taking a step forward, small gusts of wind generating around her body.
"That was good, but the games are over! My only target here is you, Izuna," Amon exclaimed while pointing a darkened finger at me. "You've been quite the talk around here, so how about I give everyone a reason to talk about you!?"
Amon fixed his fingers into the shape of a gun then fired a shadow bullet at me, the speeding bullet striking me upon my arm before I could react. Aisha grunted at the sight of my pain, her eyes glowing as she turned over to Amon.
I grunted as I held my arm, feeling an increase in Aisha's spirit energy. I looked forward at Amon then let go of my arm, smirking at him as my eyes flashed gold. "The games are over, Amon! For you!"
Amon laughed while rushing toward me, using his shadows to shape gauntlets upon his hands then launched a punch toward my face. "Great joke! However, once I get rid of you, there will be no festival to be had!"
I dodged Amon's strike then shifted into southpaw before parrying his jab downward for me to land a straight upon his face. Once his was pressured, Aisha rushed forward with body knee then followed with a spinning heel kick. Amon staggered to the side and held his cheek, his surprised expression landing upon Aisha.
Aisha took upon her mother's bear stance, her feet firm against the ground with her hands in claw shape. Small wind gusts fluttered around her body, producing small cyclones around her body. "Like I said before, you won't be ruining this festival!"
Amon pointed at Aisha then at Naomi, Otsuki, and finally Lotus with a scoffing laugh. "You all circle him like he's some kind of Guardian to you all. You fake Valkyrias, and you fake Guardian... For four years I've been dealing on this campus, now suddenly it's an issue?"
"It's always been an issue, someone just finally spoke up! It's time to drop this act, Amon. There's no room for your schemes here. Either leave now, or I'll force you out. This has become official," I said, pulling my SPA Badge out of my pocket.
Amon looked around the campus, hearing the murmuring of the other students then reached in his pocket. A dark light began to shimmer dimly in his pocket. "Is selling cigarettes really that bad? This guy has been harassing me for weeks! This is all self defense!"
"Self defense? You took a bat to Naomi's head! If anything, we're neutralizing the threat...like I'm gonna do now!" Aisha yelled, dashing forward with a wind boosted step.
Amon glanced at Aisha then dodged her claw strike then blocked her overhead claw strike with his forearm. He went for a body uppercut to Aisha's stomach, but Aisha pulled his arm down to cause him to lose balance. As he leaned down on one foot, Aisha threw an explosive right hook to his ear.
A burst of wind blew upon impact, blowing Amon away and temporarily deafening him in his right ear. He groaned as he held his ringing ear, standing up quickly and looked forward at Aisha with contempt, seeing her taunting smirk which only angered him more.
"What's wrong, Mato? Our words entered one ear and out the other, so I made sure it won't happen next time~" Nanako said tauntingly through Aisha then giggled softly.
"Maybe I wasn't clear enough, but let's try this again. You leave freely of your own volition, or I'll drag you through those gates myself," I said in a more serious tone, white lightning crackling around my body.
Amon grunted softly as he felt immense spiritual pressure washing upon him then glanced up, noticing Shogi hovering behind me. Goosebumps grew upon his arms, his body paralyzed in place once Shogi met his gaze.
"You have no friends here, Amon. No real support if it isn't bought with drugs. You'll have a better shot in Hojin or Kabetori, but here...it won't work. Leave now," I said once more, stepping forward with white lightning surging around my hand.
Amon scoffed and looked at me, taking his hand out of his pocket then took a step backwards. "Alright, I'll go...but just know that I'll be back here soon. I've got something for you..."
We all watched as Amon left the campus, some students letting out cheers while others let out large sighs of relief. I looked around at Aisha and the others, making sure each of them were okay before taking them back over to my table.
"Hm, his little cheerleaders has some moves on them, especially the one with the shinai. Oh, to have to be this patient..." Nagini said with a low chuckle, her mind filled with potential experiments she could run on us.
"I'm not too sure if Mama will let you do that to them, Doctor. But, aside from that, did you sense what that guy had in his pocket? It felt like an Ark," Hisumi said, looking at Nagini with interest.
Nagini scoffed loudly and crossed her arms, looking at Hisumi with offense. "That shimmering black light? I'm appalled that you'd even think that's something Holy Spirit inspired. That's more like a Power Gem if anything."
"Besides, I'm more curious about the Izuna and his friends. I wanna keep watching my new guinea pigs," Nagini chuckled mischievously, getting up from her seat and walking off.
"This can't be good..." Cherry said, looking over at her sister.
"Not one bit..." Berry sighed, shaking her head.
[September 11, 2418 - Tuesday, 1:45 PM]
"I don't even know why you're in here again. At this point, just walk it off since it's not a real bullet," Madam K said as she massaged my arm. "If I should check anyone, it should be your group of girlfriends."
"Come on, how long are you gonna drag this on. I technically only have one girlfriend—" I began.
"Who shares you with her friends. They're not even fighting over you which is surprising," Madam K interrupted, leaning back to look at Aisha and the others as they gossipped together.
I hissed lightly as Madam K began squeezing my arm tighter and tighter, my gaze lowering to her manhandling my arm. "I think... you're squeezing a bit too tight...! I don't know, just...a feeling..."
Madam K glanced at me and scoffed at me. "Be a man. You want me to heal your arm right?"
"I think it's healed enough.." I protested through my teeth as she continued to playfully squeeze my arm tightly.
Heido sucked his teeth as he watched from the window of the closed door, sighing softly and crossed his arms. "Man, Oto's so lucky. It should've been me..."
"I dunno, Boss...She seems to be doing more damage than soothing," Kenji said as he watched as well, shaking his head as he watched me tap on her arm repeatedly to let me go.
"What are you two hooligans up here doing? Snooping on some girls? Disgusting creatures," Nagini scoffed from down the hall, walking up to Heido and Kenji.
"Dang, Doctor, let them get a moment to reply first. Besides we're still down the hall, they probably only heard—" Hisumi began.
"Hold on...Disgusting creatures?" Heido asked, glancing back to see Nagini and Hisumi then scoffed. "Was that you who said that?"
"It was. Move aside, I have business here," Nagini said, staring at Heido with her hands in her lab coat pockets.
A low hum rumbled in Heido's throat as he stared at Nagini, unable to sense any energy coming from her then he rose an eyebrow. He glanced at Kenji and saw he was studying Nagini as well, but couldn't figure her out either.
"I didn't know you brought a pharmacist here, Hisumi, but we don't need another medic. I think there's a local clinic hiring right now," Kenji said, taking his lollipop out of his mouth and pointed it at Nagini.
"Oh! Sick burn!" Heido laughed, covering his mouth his fist.
Hisumi lowered her face into her hand, hiding her smile and her laughter. "Please don't do anything, Doctor..."
Nagini smirked at Kenji's retort then let out a chuckle. "Yeah, that's funny. You know what else is funny?"
"What?" Kenji asked.
"This," Nagini replied, pointing above Kenji's lollipop and formed a small gravitational pull to yank his candy and crush it in the air. Nagini began laughing and stomped her foot down. "Now that's funny!"
'Ohhh...she's mad petty...' Heido said mentally, looking at Kenji's crushed lollipop on the ground.
"Now, step aside! I have to speak to busagi and his bunny troop," Nagini said, pushing her way past Heido and Kenji and opening the infirmary door.
All activity in the infirmary stopped as Nagini entered, everyone looking at the door to see her standing at the entrance. Nagini looked at the room and rose an eyebrow, seeing Aisha and Lotus trying to get Madam K to break her submission hold upon my arm.
"Seems pretty lively in here," Hisumi said, walking into the infirmary and chuckled.
Madam K let me go, allowing me to hit the floor and smoothed out her clothes while clearing her throat. "Ahem...I wasn't expecting more visitors. Hisumi, who is this woman you've brought here?"
"Miss Kanna, meet my...uh I guess Scientist from St. Fraskia, Dr. Nagini. I wasn't planning on bringing her, she just followed me here," Hisumi answered, walking forward and looked back at Nagini.
Madam K hummed then looked at Nagini and approached her with her hand extended to her. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Nag—"
"Tah! It's Dr. Noxius to you. Only privileged people get to call me by my first name," Nagini interrupted, holding her nose up with a finger in Madam K's face.
Madam K rose an eyebrow then glanced over at Hisumi then back at Nagini. "A-Alright, Dr. Noxius..? It's nice to meet you..?"
"Yes, now then. Ah, my new Lab Rat," Nagini said, walking toward me and grabbed my arm, inspecting the area I was shot then noticed it was healing quickly. "Well, it seems the school nurse here does have C Rank healing here."
"Excuse me? My Soothing Touch is measured at A+ Rank by the official Valkyjian Ratings," Madam K said, her tone full of offense.
"Yeah, maybe back in 2026. Times have changed, lady," Nagini said, looking back at Madam K.
"Ouu shiii...it's getting spicy in here," Aisha said, glancing between her friends and Madam K.
"Some adult action this time?" Emma asked, glancing at Aisha with slight excitement.
Madam K held her arms and scoffed loudly, her cheeks flushed with annoyance at Nagini's comments. "Who the hell are you to judge? My Soothing Touch not only heals wound but also relaxes my client's body and spirit. Just ask my other patients."
Nagini looked over at the girls.
"I mean, yeah... although I wasn't in the fight," Emma said, looking at her friends and covering her mouth to hide her grin.
"Yeah, yeah! Me too, all healed up!" Aisha beamed, giving Nagini a bright smile.
These two did not convince Nagini.
"Yeah, I'm not convinced," Nagini said, looking at Madam K again with an unimpressed face.
Madam K sucked her teeth and shrugged her shoulders. "They were just put on the spot! Ask my main reoccurring client."
I grunted and looked between Nagini and Madam K. "Uhm, I was just put in some behind the back, arm hold bullshit. It actually does hurt, so I can't answer it."
Hisumi lowered her head and bit her lip. "This day is just unreal..."
Nagini smirked at Madam K and clapped sarcastically. "A+ Ratings, well I suppose anyone can be Support Class in the Valkyria world huh?"
Madam K rolled her eyes at Nagini then placed a hand upon her hip. "What do you actually want?"
"I wanted to check up on Busagi and his coup, and it seems they are still unharmed. I want to be sure they are ready for their big day. It's going to be exciting," Nagini hummed, rubbing her hands together.
I sighed softly and walked back over to the medical bed then sat back down. "I just want to make it through the week."
"Well, since I know they're okay for now, I'll be on my way. Nothing interesting is happening anyway," Nagini said, turning around and walking out of the infirmary.
Hisumi bowed toward Madam K. "I apologize for her..."
Madam K watched as the two left then scratched the side of her head. "My sister is not going to believe this nonsense..."
Lotus looked at her watch then hummed, her gaze shifting up to the girls. "We should all meet back up at the cat alley after our classes! I wanna tell you all more plans for the festival."
The girls each collectively agreed before departing from the infirmary and headed to their next class. I watched as they left then exhaled softly with a smile, happy to see that none of them were truly harmed in the Amon incident.
"Not going to class?" Madam K asked, looking over at me.
"Not at the moment. Can I request something from you?" I asked, looking up at Madam K.
Madam K noticed a hint of neediness in my eyes then sighed, closing her eyes. "What is it?"
"Can you come to the bunny garden with me? I want to investigate the area, but...I just don't want to go alone," I requested.
Madam K opened her eyes and met my gaze then looked off into the distance. A moment passed then she clicked her teeth. "Alright, sure. Let's go. I don't have anything else to do other than sit in here."
Heido and Kenji parted ways as they noticed Madam K approaching the door and opened it, the two of them encountering the megalodon before them. She looked at the both of them then rolled her eyes, walking past the both of them with me following behind her.
"Come on, not even a hello?" Heido asked, following behind the two of us.
Kenji chuckled at Heido and shook his head. "You're too thirsty, my man..."
Madam K walked outside the building and looked back, noticing Heido continuing to follow. "You don't even know what we are doing, so why are you still following?"
"Because I gotta make sure Oto remains safe. That's the main reason anyways," Heido said, resting his arm upon my shoulder, weighing me down.
Madam K stared at Heido's grin and noticed his eyebrow move up and down then sighed. She walked away and continued down the path to the bunny garden. "Yeah, I'm sure."
"Sometimes, we gotta count our losses, Onii," I said with a chuckle, taking Heido's arm off my shoulder and followed Madam K.
"Nah, lil bro, she looked me up and down again. I think she might want me," Heido said with a playful laugh, following behind us.
I laughed softly and looked back at Heido. "Yeah, maybe in one of your dreams."
-----------------------------------
We finally reached the entrance to the Bunny Garden, a gated area within Matsugaya once filled with beauty now replaced with the sight of fallen caution tape and silence. I walked forward and stared at the open gates, realizing no one has been here for decades.
"It all just...has a sad energy. Is there anything here..?" I asked, watching Nachah hop forward into the Bunny Garden.
Madam K stared at the Bunny Garden as well, holding her arms as she felt dreadful energy within the area. She looked at me and noticed I had entered the garden as well. "Motosaki, hold on."
The three of us were now inside the garden, a place where the grass was once green, but now every visible patch of grass was brown and dry. The trees within the garden were without leaves, some trunks curved over as if they were sad, some completely withered away.
I walked around and took a good look at my surroundings then looked at the ground, noticing very few bunnies remained in the area. Glancing at Nachah, I watched as he tried to comfort a few rabbits, but it was as if their spirits were killed, as if they were waiting for someone to return.
"Oto! Come look at this!" Heido called out from across the field.
I looked over at his direction then hurried over to him. I noticed Heido was looking down at a glowing object in the ground then looked down at them myself, seeing a warm green light within a crater in the ground.
"A crater with an object?" I asked, looking around more closely then noticed a large fried trail of grass as if an energy beam ran through the path.
"I don't think it was a simple kill...I think Nanako fought Jeht and lost. After all, they supposedly went missing during the festival," Heido said, looking over at me then noticed Madam K approaching.
I crouched down and picked up the glowing object, noticing it was an Ark. The Ark was a smooth light green pearl with wind particles flowing around it, the sounds of laughter echoing from it as if a memory was contained in it.
"Come on Usagi! You've gotta run faster! Fast as the flowing winds that gives life!" Nanako's cheerful voice echoed.
"Slow down! I can't run that fast!" Usagi panted, her voice echoing from the Ark as well.
I heard their voices and looked at the Ark, grasping it tightly in my hand and closed my eyes. "This had to have been one of Nanako's Arks...one with a memory of her and Usagi. To lose this must've hurt to her..."
"You probably can't tell, but there's a dried blood trail that leads to a different opening in the path...but it's blocked off by this thick wall of fog. I couldn't get through it," Madam K said, looking down at me.
I looked down at the ground, noticing the dried trail Madam K mentioned then stood up and took out my phone to take a picture of the evidence. "We might need a forensic scientist to come here and investigate, but the evidence is so old...who could possibly dissect this?"
"Maybe ask that stuck up doctor Hisumi brought in earlier? Obviously, she knows her stuff," Madam K said, crossing her arms.
I hummed softly and looked back at the Ark in my hand. 'Nagini probably could investigate this...after all we need evidence that Jeht did do it since some people still believe he didn't.'
"Alright, I'll bring her back here another time. If we can't explore more of this garden right now, we might as well leave it at this," I said, slipping the windy Ark into my pocket and looked at the two.
"Yeah, plus this place gives me the creeps," Madam K said, walking away quickly from the area.
[September 11, 2418 - Tuesday, 2:30 PM]
Aisha and her friends each laughed and talked with each other as they each walked up to the fourth floor of the building, the area reserved for club meets, seminars, and hangout areas for the seniors. Walking into an unused classroom, they noticed me sitting in one of the desks.
"Saki-kun?" Aisha asked with surprise while walking inside the room, noticing me holding up the green Ark up in my hand.
I hummed softly as I inspected the Ark underneath the florescent lights of the classroom, my gaze shifting over to the girls and a smile formed on my face. "Oh? You all hang out here as well?"
"Yeah, sometimes. Nevermind that, why are you here, Private?" Emma asked with crossed arms, walking toward me and noticed the Ark in my hand. "What's that?"
"Yeah, it looks really pretty," Naomi added, hurrying over to me and looked at the Ark closely with sparkling eyes. As she reached forward to touch it, a small repulsive force pushed her hand back. "Whoa! It totally just rejected me!"
"Girls, it's an Ark! Where did you find this?" Lotus asked, inspecting the Ark closely and heard the low sounds of joyful laughter coming from the gemstone.
"In the Bunny Garden. I don't think we should hang out there for right now. I went there with Miss Kanna and Heido, it's all gloom and dread now. Wait, why are you all here?" I asked, looking at each girl curiously.
"The Cat Alley is closed off right now. Presumably, it's for the festival. We were thinking the Bunny Garden, but since you've said that I don't know anymore," Rebecca answered, holding her hands in front of herself.
I hummed softly and looked back down at the Ark in my hand then glanced at Aisha, noticing her growing curiosity of the Ark. I watched as she reached forward to grab it, the Ark allowing her to do so and letting her take it out of my hand.
"What? How come she gets to touch it and I can't? That's not fair," Naomi huffed, crossing her arms with a small pout on her face.
"Maybe it likes Aisha more? I've never heard of a selective relic before. Something about Aisha just resonates better with it," Lotus explained, smiling while watching Aisha admire the Ark.
"You think I can do what I did before against Amon with this thing? I've never felt so much energy before!" Aisha exclaimed, holding her hands up and looking at us with excitement.
"Maybe! Try it out now!" Emma said with excitement, rushing to one end of the classroom to give Aisha some space.
"Oh! Good idea!" Aisha giggled, nodding at Emma.
The rest of us cautiously gave Aisha some room to demonstrate her newly realized wind abilities. She took a deep breath then exhaled slowly, calming her nerves then thrusted her hands forward with a focused expression.
A weak gust of wind blew out of Aisha's hand, winds only strong enough to blow a dust particle away from her. "Eee?! Nandasu? What the heck is going on?"
"Maybe try again! You were probably moving too stiffly!" Naomi suggested.
Aisha nodded at Naomi's suggestions then took another deep breath and exhaled, adjusting herself for another attempt. This time, she loosened her body and flowed her arms forward, yet the same weak gust was produced. Aisha lowered her head with a deep sigh, her hopes crushed by the weak winds.
"Maybe it was just in the heat of the moment? It was really intense earlier," Otsuki asked, looking at the rest of us.
"Maybe. If Aisha has her abilities now, does that mean we will get an ability as well?" Rebecca asked, pointing to herself.
"Oh, I hope we do! I want fire abilities so I can incinerate anyone who dares mess with the Great and Mighty Emma Chisaka!" Emma declared, placing her hands upon her hips with an arrogant laugh.
"And this is probably why you don't have yours yet. You're too violent for such a snack size girl," I said, shrugging my shoulders then grunted as Emma slapped the back of my head.
"You will be the first on my list actually!" Emma said, pointing a fiery finger at me while feigning a scowl.
I grunted softly as I held the back of my head, wondering how such a petite girl could carry so much power in such a basic strike. "I will keep that in mind..."
Each of the girls decided to hang out here in the unused classroom with Nanako joining them and inspecting the Ark as well, wondering if it could be one of hers. I watched as Nanako lingered around Aisha, just as curious as she was about the Ark that was discovered.