2.27: Don’t Walk Home AloneThe rooftop door creaked open as Aoi bumped it open with her shoulder, bancing her own lunch and a bag of drinks for us that she’d collected at a vending machine on our way. She had insisted on paying this time. It was always ‘this time’, but we hadn’t gotten to my time yet, no matter how much I tried to insist. The sky stretched overhead now, clear and pale azure blue. The city spread beyond the fence in yers of concrete and trees. A truly breathtaking view!

  We weren’t alone. There were other groups using the rooftop too, but Aoi steered us toward a tucked-away corner where the concrete wall jutted behind the door, shielding us from most angles.

  I was surprised that the spot wasn’t already taken.

  She sat down cross-legged and I remained standing, my back against the wall as I looked at the city around the school. The streets were neat and somehow extremely nostalgic.

  After a moment, Aoi patted the space beside her insistently. “Sit, princess.”

  I blinked. Okay.

  I sat where she patted and rexed.

  As I settled down, she leaned over a bit as she handed me a drink. Our shoulders brushed.

  My heart did a weird little flutter-kick at the contact.

  Aoi popped open her bento box, revealing neat rows of rolled omelette and grilled chicken, obviously purchased from a convenience store on her way to school. Mine was a little messier, but it was clearly homemade with love and care by mom. There was a portion of rice, pickled vegetables and small cute meatballs.

  “Here,” she said, picking up a piece of omelette from hers with her chopsticks and holding it near my mouth. “Say ah, Susu.”

  Heat rushed to my face.Wha? But…“I-I can feed myself, you know…”

  She grumbled at me. “I woke up and you weren’t waiting outside your gate like you promised,” Aoi said casually, her eyes fixed on mine. “I worried all the way to school. You owe me some interest, Sumire!”

  “But… I don’t see how this repays you for anything,” I muttered, still unsure how my earlier mistake connected to her feeding me. Despite my confusion, my mouth opened anyway—mostly because I was stumped and my jaw dropped.

  The omelette touched my tongue. Sweet, savory, still faintly warm.

  “Mm…” I froze in pce. Even if it was store bought, it was good.

  She watched my reaction closely, her lips quirking up. “Good?”

  “…Yeah,” I admitted.

  “Thought so.” She took a bite herself, then snapped her chopsticks toward my bento. “Trade.”

  “Mou… bossy.”

  We fell into a rhythm: a bite from mine, a bite from hers, easy chatter about midterms, club rumors, Kurosawa-sensei’s thrilling PE outfit. Our knees touched sometimes, and each time, I felt a weird thrill. The wind tugged at Aoi’s ponytail, strands of dark hair brushing my cheek when the wind blew my way.

  My chest felt full and warm.

  At some point, I realized we were still mostly alone in our corner. I wondered why that was the case.

  The other groups around us had drifted back inside.

  We’re completely alone. Well… not that that matters or anything. I leaned back, digesting… but my heartbeat picked up for some reason.

  Without anyone around, whenever I gnced at Aoi, my pulse increased.

  Aoi cast a look around carefully, looking like there was something in her mind.

  BADUMP

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked me quietly.

  “…Um… That this feels… really, really nice, the wind feels great and the food was really good…” I admitted, staring down at my rice, my eyes filling with little tears.

  “What’s wrong?” Aoi asked me, surprised by seeing tears in my eyes. “Why are you so fragile today?”

  “It’s too nice,” I muttered.

  “Too nice, like you don’t like having lunch with me?” Aoi asked.

  “No… not that!” I waved my hands, flushing slightly. “I didn’t mean it like that. It’s like… Like… if I blink too hard all this will just disappear.”

  The words slipped out before I could stop them.

  What would disappear? Why would my school life go anywhere before I graduated?

  “I know that makes no sense!” I grabbed my hair.

  Aoi studied me for a long moment with her startling blue eyes. They were weirdly sharp.

  Then her expression softened in a way that made something inside me tremble.

  “You’re such a weirdo,” she murmured. “But… yeah. I get it. I don’t want these days to end either. I want them to st forever…”

  Her hand slid over, resting lightly atop my thigh.

  A shiver went up my back and my eyes widened.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  My breath caught. My whole body went completely still.

  Th-that probably means nothing… Um…

  “A-Aoi… I…”

  “Look into my eyes, Sumire,” she said softly.

  I looked away, but she gently grabbed my chin and guided my eyes to meet hers.

  I gasped. “Ahm…” I was getting really flustered.

  Why, why… why…

  I couldn’t resist her beautiful eyes.

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP

  “Um… Um… You know… I was… Um… C… Club…”

  Her eyes were clear and fierce and so full of her feelings that my own vision blurred a little more. I lost myself in them.

  She leaned in.

  Our noses brushed.

  My breath caught and my skin tingled with goosebumps.

  “Keep your eyes right here,” she teased softly, gazing into my eyes. “Don’t get lost.”

  “Ummm…” I mumbled.

  And then she kissed me.

  It wasn’t a hesitant kiss at all. It wasn’t soft or tentative.

  It was completely confident like she knew what she wanted and…

  And…

  That was me.

  I couldn’t gasp without drawing her tongue into my mouth.

  Her tongue…

  Our tongues danced. Mine evaded at first, but my eyes went hazy and I lost control. I couldn't stop my tongue brushing against hers. This kiss was too addicting.

  Her lips pressed firmly against mine, tilting my head back slightly. Her hand squeezed my thigh, stroking it just enough to give me something extra to focus on, not enough to hurt. The whole region tingled. My whole body did. My eyes fluttered closed. I was free falling. The world narrowed to the warmth between our bodies and the faint taste of soy sauce and orange juice and the taste of Aoi’s mouth.

  My heart skipped beats wildly, fluttering like butterfly delicate wings with a soft ache.

  I made a tiny sound into her mouth, whimpering.

  She smiled against my lips, deepening the kiss, not caring that we were at school.

  Ah…

  I was nervous… but… no one could see us from this angle. Or could they? Did it matter? My ears were radiating heat. No one had any more reason to come here right now… because the break was very nearly....

  I wasn’t thinking clearly at all.

  No one—

  The rooftop door clicked.

  We broke apart with some difficulty… Hopefully in time.

  I heard footsteps.

  Tachibana Riko had appeared around the jutting wall, holding a convenience store bento and a bottle of tea.

  Her eyes flicked from me to Aoi, to the space between us, to my extremely flushed face.

  It wasn’t very long before Aoi noticed her. For one long second, the three of us froze.

  Riko’s expression barely changed.

  Her gaze dipped to my slightly parted lips, how hot I felt, then to Aoi’s hand on my thigh that she’d forgotten to move. Her brows arched the smallest fraction.

  “…Oh,” she said.

  My heart jumped into my throat. “T-Tachibana-san, this isn’t—”

  “Rex, Shinohara-san.” Her mouth curved into a faint, amused half-smile. “I didn’t see anything that I’m obligated to report.”

  Aoi’s shoulders rexed slightly, but her eyes were guarded. “You need something, Tachibana?”

  Wow! But she…

  “I come up here to eat, the same as you. But I can find another spot today.” Riko turned slightly, gncing out at the view. “I didn’t realize this corner was reserved or anything. I’ll… be more considerate next time.”

  There was a glint in her eyes now. She was curious… interested.

  I didn’t get a sense of anything malicious from her, but…

  “Enjoy your lunch,” she added, her tone light. “Don’t let it get cold.”

  She pivoted smoothly and walked away, her long legs carrying her back toward the main part of the roof, away from us.

  I exhaled shakily. “We almost got caught…”

  “Yeah,” Aoi murmured, and giggled.

  Her hand squeezed my thigh again.

  Ahhhhh… I was already hot again.

  “Want to kiss some more before we have to go back?” she asked, her voice low and teasing… but there was a tiny tremor under it all. “We’ll have to be more careful about the door.”

  DOKI-DOKI-DOKI

  “I—”

  She didn’t wait for words.

  She leaned in again, slower this time, giving me every chance to pull back and away.

  I couldn’t. I was hooked.

  Our lips met again, softer but no less intense. My fingers dug gently into her back. Time stretched. We were warm and selfish children together, enjoying a precious summer moment.

  Please don’t eat this dream of a life, Baku-san…

  Trouble didn’t start until after the first of the final chimes.

  “Remember to not walk home alone, Sumire-chan,” Aoi’s warning echoed in my head as we packed up.

  “I’ll be done with my club activities as soon as I can,” she’d said, gripping my shoulder. “Wait for me by the shoe lockers, maybe?”

  “Okay, boss,” I’d promised, saluting and blushing.

  I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss that we shared on the rooftop.

  As I moved to leave the cssroom with my bag, Kondo Daichi cornered me with a stack of handouts.

  “Shinohara, Kurosawa-sensei asked if you could take these to the equipment room on the third floor,” he said briskly. “Do you know where it is?”

  “Eh? I…?” I trailed off, thinking. Where was it? It was something I should probably know.

  Memories obligingly filled in, helping Kurosawa-sensei once with PE forms, the dusty smell of old mats, the slightly creepy mannequin in the corner dressed in an outdated uniform.

  He was talking about the abandoned wing of the school. There was conversation over the school having a lower student body this year than usual. Instead of shutting down the school, they id off some teachers and the cssrooms in half of the building were unused.

  “Right, okay,” I said. “I’ll hurry up and drop these off… but why me?” I asked.

  “Most of the others have drifted off already and you don’t belong to a club,” our css rep insisted. “Thanks, Shinohara-san. I’ve got to get the attendance reports to the office myself.” He had a hand behind his head.

  I took his papers and left the room, shouldering my bag.

  “He’s right. I don’t have all that much to do now anyway.” I mumbled as I walked to the staircase and carefully walked upward, watching for anyone that might be following me. I firmly clutched the handouts to my chest as I climbed.

  I was relieved that there wasn’t anyone around to peek up my skirt as I went up.

  Mom had warned me about that from personal experience early on, like any good mother would.

  The hallway was quiet. Club members had moved to their respective rooms and spots. Most other students had already gone home. I didn’t mind that, knowing that I’d get to go home with Aoi-chan. I had a feeling that that was another highlight of my day.

  When I reached the top I turned right, leaving the thin crowds in the left wing. Everyone up here were third year student senpai. This wing was even quieter and kind of creepy.

  It’ll be fine, I told myself, despite how nervous I felt. I’ll drop these off quickly and hurry back downstairs. It almost felt like this wing of the school was haunted, even though the wing was in use st year.

  Aoi won’t even notice that I’m not waiting at the shoe lockers. She’s always busy for a while. That made me wish that I’d accepted Megumi’s offer to join a club. Waiting would at least be a lot less boring.

  The equipment room in question was at the end of this lesser used corridor.

  I slid the door open with my shoulder, my arms full.

  Dust motes swirled in the te-afternoon light. I sneezed, almost dropping my armload of papers. It was annoying that I couldn’t wipe my nose. I hoped that I hadn’t gotten spittle on Sensei’s papers. The room was filled with old mats, folding chairs, nets, racks of balls, and that weird mannequin with the old uniform with an extremely long skirt that went down to the ankles.

  It was filled with the scent of rubber and chalk dust.

  I stepped inside…

  The door slid shut behind me with a decisive clicking.

  My heart lurched as I turned quickly.

  “…Hello?” I asked.

  Two older boys leaned against the door.

  They were uppercssmen. Their uniforms were basically the same as the first and second years, but their ties were a different color and theirs were loose, their shirts untucked. I recognized them vaguely from passing them in the halls.

  Tadashi Iwabe and Nakamura Koji. They were third-years from 2-C. Known for ughing too loud and flouting uniform regutions. The two were always at the center of rumors of some kind of mischief. But they were senpai, as disreputable as they looked.

  Am I actually in the right storage room?

  Considering how hazy I had been today, it wasn’t surprising that I’d gotten it wrong. I was very embarrassed.

  “Kouhai,” one of them drawled, straightening. It was Iwabe who had spoken. His hair was dyed a light brown against school rules, his grin wide and zy. There were rumors that these two were delinquents.

  “You’re pretty popur tely, huh?” Koji added, pulling a phone from his pocket. “Kurobane Aoi’s girlfriend?” That wasn’t actually a question.

  Girlfriend.

  The word hit like a sp. I hadn’t really thought it through.

  Did that kiss on the rooftop make us… us…

  I blushed brightly, trying hard to stop, but I was really bad at lying. Now that they made me think about it, I couldn’t stop thinking that she might really be.

  “I—I don’t know what you’re—” I stammered.

  “Don’t py dumb, kouhai.” Iwabe flipped his phone around in a too casual movement.

  My breath caught.

  There, on the screen, was the rooftop.

  Me, blushing furiously, Aoi’s hand on my thigh, my skirt hiked up just enough to nearly expose my panties. She was gazing passionately into my eyes.

  He swiped again. Our faces were even closer. And again… our lips were pressed together, our heads tilted at the right angles. Although it was slightly blurred, we were unmistakable in the pictures.

  Blood drained from my face.

  “When did you—”

  “We were eating nearby and heard you,” Koji said. “You two were really into it, weren’t you? Kind of rude, honestly, not checking your surroundings enough before doing dangerous things like that.”

  Iwabe leaned closer, his smile sharpening. “If the teachers saw this, there’d be a huge scandal, I bet, not to mention all the students. Kurobane would probably get suspended. Maybe you too. Your parents would be called in, bh, bh…”

  He let the implication hang.

  “But we’re nice guys, though,” Koji said. His gaze slid down my body in a way that made my skin crawl. “We’re not gonna spread it so easily. Not if you… help us out a little.”

  My hand clenched tighter around the papers.

  “Help you… how?”

  Iwabe’s grin widened. “Nothing big. Just some pictures. You doing some cute poses for us is enough. Maybe sitting on our ps. Touching us a little. We’ll keep it between us. No one has to know.”

  “If you say no,” Koji added, “this goes to everyone in your css group chat.”

  My stomach did flip flops.

  Noooooooo…

  It was an isoted storage room. Two boys. Me. No witnesses.

  My breath shortened.

  Move, I told myself. Say something! Hit them. Run!

  But my legs wouldn’t obey.

  I couldn’t fight. I didn’t have any way to… And they were two big guys…

  Something cold brushed the back of my mind.

  A bnk, pale face. A feeling of slipping....

  My fingers twitched.

  And then the image was gone, like a dream slipping away too quickly.

  Why did I think about something creepy like that?

  “I—”

  Iwabe stepped closer. I retreated, bumping into a stack of mats. The papers in my arms slid, fanning across the floor, stirring up clouds of dust. I sneezed again, wiping at my eyes.

  Was I just crying because of the dust? Probably not.

  “Don’t be so nervous, Shinohara-san.” His hand reached for my wrist and seized it. “You’ve already done more interesting things than this with your girlfriend, right? Think of this as… practice for her.”

  My throat closed.

  I couldn’t even scream.

  “Don’t touch me,” I managed, my voice breaking as I fought to run. He had me blocked and held in pce.

  Koji’s hand lifted his phone higher. “You sure you want to go, kouhai? Last chance before these go viral.”

  My heart pounded against my ribs.

  If they send that picture to my css chat—Aoi… would be bmed. We would both get in trouble, but I worried more about her.She might get hurt because of me.

  My uselessness wrapped around my lungs like tightly twisted wire.

  The door smmed open.

  I barely had time to turn before someone was already moving.

  Then I saw her face—and the expression on it made my stomach drop. Whatever she’d seen when she came in had stripped away all restraint, leaving something cold and terrifying in its pce.

  Aoi-chan…

  In three long strides she crossed the room.

  Her hand shot out and seized Iwabe by the colr, the fabric bunching in her fist as she yanked him backward so violently his feet left the floor for a split second. The sound he made cut off into a choke as his airway closed. Before he could regain his footing, her knee drove hard into the back of his leg, striking just above the joint.

  His leg buckled.

  Iwabe crashed down onto the floor with a sharp cry, one hand spping against the tiles as he tried to catch himself.

  Koji barely had time to gasp before Aoi was already on him.

  She snatched the phone straight out of his hand, her grip cmping down on his wrist for leverage as she smmed her shoulder into his chest. The impact drove him backward into the wall, the breath bursting out of him in a wheeze. His forearm came up instinctively across his chest, bracing against the impact as his back struck hard.

  “What are you fucking trying to do to my girlfriend, scum?” she said, her voice low and tight with rage that sounded barely contained.

  My heart skipped and melted at the same time.

  She’d said it herself... Out loud. There was no room to deny it now.

  I was bawling, wiping my eyes furiously so I wouldn’t miss a second of what was happening.

  “Aoi-chan…!”

  DOKI-DOKI… BADUMP… DOKI… BADUMP…

  Iwabe wheezed behind her, one knee still on the floor. “Kurobane… what the hell—!”

  “Let’s have a look,” Aoi snapped.

  She turned her attention fully to Koji and tapped the screen awake with her thumb. The image came up instantly—the picture of us kissing.

  “I see…” Her eyes narrowed.

  “I—I can’t, I need my—”

  She didn’t let him finish.

  Aoi crushed the phone in her hand on the spot. Literally… She crushed a smartphone with her bare hand…

  My eyes widened.

  The pstic casing cracked. Smoke rose from the wreckage immediately and the faint scent of burnt electronics filled the air. The screen shattered. She squeezed until the circuits snapped and the light inside died, the pieces dropping like dead beetles to the floor. The battery cttered to the floor, the only remaining recognizable component.

  She had crushed a smartphone with her bare hand.

  “Oops,” she said ftly. “Guess my grip slipped.”

  Koji stared in horror at the mangled remains on the floor.

  Aoi still held something between two fingers. She raised it slightly. “You’ll have to get a new one of these too.”

  With a quick flick, she snapped the micro SD card cleanly in half.

  “That’s—!” Koji spluttered, fury overtaking his fear as he lunged forward. “Now you’ll have to pay for that!”

  “You can invoice my fist,” Aoi replied calmly as she sidestepped him with complete ease. As he stumbled past, she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him upward, pulling him off bance. Her fist drove straight into his guts, driving deeply.

  Koji doubled over with a strangled sound.

  Aoi seized the back of his head immediately, fingers tangled in his hair, and hauled him upright again until his face was inches from hers.

  “Listen carefully, you little creeps,” she said, her voice deadly quiet. “You took pictures of us without permission. You locked my girlfriend in a room with you scum. If you ever try anything like this again—”

  She shoved him backward.

  His back smmed into the storage cabinet behind him. Before he could even slide down, she struck again—her fist smashing into the metal door beside his head.

  The cabinet shrieked.

  Metal buckled inward with a massive dent inches from his skull.

  Koji went pale, frozen in pce.

  “—If you don’t get out of here right now,” Aoi finished softly, “I’ll make you apologize in front of the whole school. In costumes I choose. With props I choose. And then I’ll make sure every club knows exactly what kind of garbage you are. Got it?”

  Iwabe had managed to drag himself partway toward the door, clutching his leg where she’d struck it, his breath coming in panicked gasps.

  “Y-Yeah! W-We get it!” he babbled. “We were just joking—right, Koji?!”

  Koji nodded so fast his hair flopped. “Y-Yeah! Sorry! We’re sorry! We won’t tell anyone! I swear!”

  Aoi released him.

  They didn’t wait for permission.

  Both of them scrambled for the exit, tripping over each other in their rush. The door banged shut behind them as they fled down the hall, their footsteps pounding away like their lives depended on it, and judging from the look in Aoi-chan’s eyes, it probably did.

  Silence fell on the room.

  My knees gave out.

  I slid down the stack of mats to the floor with my legs spyed behind me, my arms crossed under my chest. I was shaking so hard that my teeth clicked.

  I gazed up at Aoi.

  She turned to me.

  For a second, I expected another scolding voice. You idiot. Why’d you let them corner you like that? Why didn’t you fight them? You’re probably tougher than that.

  Instead, she crouched in front of me, her hands hovering for a long moment.

  “What’s with that girlfriend line?” I blushed, quivering.

  “Aren’t you?” Aoi asked.

  My heart skipped a beat. Then her palms cupped my cheeks.

  “Sumire,” she said, her voice rough now. “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  I shook my head.

  The tears overflowed.

  My heart was pounding.

  “They… they took pictures of us,” I whispered. “If you hadn’t come when you did… I don’t know what I…”

  Aoi’s fingers trembled against my face.

  “Don’t walk alone,” she said quietly. “Ever. And especially don’t come to the abandoned wing without me. I told you that this morning, didn’t I?”

  “I’m sorry,” I choked. “Daichi asked me to come here— I thought it’d be quick— and I—”

  “I’m not angry at you,” Aoi said.

  I blinked at her through wet shes.

  Her jaw clenched. “I’m angry at them. At this whole stupid school. At… all of it. You shouldn’t have to be scared.”

  DOKI–DOKI… BADUMP

  “If I hadn’t come,” she whispered, “if I’d been just five minutes ter…”

  Her voice broke.

  She pulled me into her arms.

  I buried my face against her shoulder, sobbing quietly as the adrenaline bled out. Her gym shirt smelled like her sweat, under that, she smelled like roses… a hint of grass from pying volleyball in her club… but there was also the faint spice of the bento we’d shared at lunch.

  Her hand slid up to cradle the back of my head.

  “You won’t feel this helpless again,” she whispered into my hair, holding me tightly. The words came out like a vow. “Not ever.”

  I swallowed, gazing into her eyes.

  “How? You can’t always be with me…” I mumbled.

  Her blue eyes burned.

  “I’m going to teach you how to fight,” she said. “I’m not asking this time, Sumire-chan. This isn’t weak stuff like running in PE. No kidding, no joking. I’ll teach you how to knock down anyone who ys a hand on you if you need to. Even me.”

  “Even you?” I sniffled. “I can’t imagine ever fighting you!”

  “If I ever hurt you,” Aoi said, “Or you got sick of me, I want you to be able to punch me in the face.”

  Despite everything, a strangled ugh escaped me.

  “I don’t… want to punch you, not ever, Aoi-chan,” I whispered.

  “Too bad.” Her thumb brushed my cheek, wiping away my tears. “We’re doing this right away… the right way. I’m not letting you live in a world where you have to beg creeps like that for mercy. You know? Sumire-chan. You’re mine. My idiot. My princess. I’ll protect you forever… but you’re going to need to learn to protect yourself for us both.”

  DOKI-DOKI-DOKI. BADUMP.

  My heart thundered.

  “Okay,” I breathed. “Teach me how to fight, Aoi-chan!”

  Her shoulders rexed a fraction.

  “Good girl,” she murmured.

  Then, in the quiet of the equipment room, with dust floating zily through the air, Aoi leaned in and kissed me.

  Mine. My idiot. My Princess.

  DOKI-DOKI. BADUMP.

  My breath caught and I felt myself floating away as she kissed me, pressing me against the old gym mat that we’d ended up on.

  Her chest pressed against mine, her gym shirt brushing against my bzer.

  It wasn’t fiery like on the roof.

  It was a very gentle kiss, filled with her worry for me, like I might break at the slightest pressure. A steady warmth poured into my shaking frame.

  Her hand cupped my jaw. My fingers tangled up in her gym shirt. The terror that had been lodged behind my ribs cracked and ease, being repced by fierce and fragile emotions.

  A blooming love.

  When she finally drew back, our foreheads rested against each other, our breathing heavy.

  “From tomorrow we’ll get serious,” she said softly. “Even though it’s getting kind of te today and our emotions are running high… I’d like to establish some things tonight. We’ll do it behind the gym. Be there when I’m done with my club activities and don’t be te… and we’ll go home together.”

  Do it? More than we just did?! Though I was fairly sure that she didn’t mean it that way, I couldn’t help blushing.

  I nodded, breathless.

  “Yes!”

  Far away from that equipment room, in a chamber carved from stone, lit by foxfire and the glowing of the embers in his firepce, wooden shogi pieces clicked softly against a board.

  Baku sat with his legs folded neatly beneath him, his trunk resting along his arm as he studied the board. Opposite him, Natalia-sama reclined gracefully, one hand hovering over a nce, the other holding a teacup.

  Between them, in the air above the shogi board, a faint mirage shimmered.

  It depicted a school hallway. Its rooftop. A fsh of a skirt and a dark ponytail.

  From time to time, an image sharpened… images of Sumire ughing on the roof, Aoi leaning in close, Yuna peering over a clipboard in the nurse’s office, Riko gncing back over her shoulder at the stairs as Sumire went up.

  Baku’s eyes flicked up to the vision and then back to the board, his expression amused.

  “So far it’s just kisses and drama,” he said lightly. “Ah, youth. She even prayed that I wouldn’t take this dream from her. I heard her prayer clearly. Ah… if only I could be part of the dreams I create as they are. They have no idea how good they have it.”

  “How are things progressing?” Natalia-sama asked, pcing her piece with an elegant clicking noise.

  “Smoothly,” Baku replied. “They’re living perfect high school lives as requested. Your girl is adapting… very slowly… And yet she’s taken the first steps on her very first day. Her emotions are truly vibrant. The bonds are forming as you wished.” He rolled a pawn between his fingers thoughtfully. “The conditions for her training are excellent.”

  Natalia-sama’s eyes softened as a vision of the rooftop moment flickered. “Good.”

  By the cssroom window, in one brief, unnoticed instant, Pon-chan the ferret lifted his head from his hammock.

  His tiny bck eyes narrowed, focused on a spot high above the bckboard where no one was looking.

  For just a second, the air there seemed… thicker. Like something pale and bnk was watching, pressed against the surface of the dream from the other side.

  Pon-chan’s fur fluffed.

  He stared.

  The feeling faded.

  The ferret shook himself out, scrambled back down to his food dish half filled with pellets, and shoved his face in with gusto, basking in the delighted coos of nearby students.

  Baku didn’t notice everything in his dream.

  Relwing

  If you like Shinrabansho, please rate and/or review to help keep me motivated writing this story!

  <3 Now's the time to show your love! <3

  Scribblehub's outage sure was annoying this morning wasn't it? I wanted to upload today's chapter because it's a really good one. So good that I generated a ton of pictures despite my depression. I even had surprising good luck with generating too.

  Whenever I post images, please do not evaluate whether a chapter should be faved or not based on the images!I make them sometimes because I like them and know that there's some others that appreciate them too.

  8 pictures in linear order. Click to open them rger.