2 02

As I was venturing toward the location disclosed in the letter, I stumbled upon my destination faster than I expected. I found myself in an incredibly thick forest, in which I was in the center of. In the center was a large clearing, where trees were sparse, the reason for this being the expansive campus that had been built there. Polished cement brick lined the paths on which the students were treading. Scarcely scattered amidst the walking paths were ornate fountains, which were so intricately detailed, not even the devil himself would dare tarnish the beauty of the fountains by tossing in a coin. After spending too much time standing in one place and ogling the fountains, I glared at the unbelievably large series of even larger buildings before me. It was certainly fitting to be in a city, and it made no sense for a place like that to be built in the middle of a random forest that I had to travel six hours out from the main city to get to. Deciding not to question it, I looked up at the students walking around. And I noticed the peculiarity that they were all female. Such a discovery led me to infer that I had stumbled across an academy for the awakened.

I looked around again to confirm what I was seeing. One second glance later. Yep. Not a dude in sight. All girls. Suddenly, I felt out of place for many reasons. I felt lost, even. Perhaps the old hag gave me the wrong location. Maybe she was pranking me after two years of radio silence. She's sly, and sometimes a bitch, but part of me wanted to believe she wouldn't do something as childish as ruining a two year streak of not contacting me just for a shitty gag. But I couldn't deny the possibility. More than anything, and more than my questioning her dignity and maturity, I felt like I shouldn't be there. I thought to myself, "I'll leave and send her a letter back about this. Going any further feels like it would be a mistake. Then again, seeing her again would also probably be a mistake. Still, I came all the way out here expecting that to be a possibility. But this place is massive, and likely has tight security. Also, no guys. I'll do what my gut tells me to do. It's a shame these six hours have been for nothing, but better safe than sorry. I'll just send her a letter."

I prepared my body to turn around and go back the way I came before someone spots me and mistakes me for an intruder with bad intentions. As luck would have it, I didn't get to turn around and go back, as my fear had been realized. I could feel an ominous presence looming over me, getting closer. Quickly, I sidestepped out of the attack, staying unscathed as my attacker landed on the coarse dirt.

"Watch out. That could've killed me, you know." I spoke.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" the mysterious assailant violently asked. On a good look, the attacker was a girl, but not one I saw wandering around before. Her hair was glossy back, and neatly tied in a single ponytail. Her eyes were a jaded green, and quite pretty. She herself was somewhat tall as well. Her right hand was an empty clenched fist, but she held a staff in her left.

"Kagami."

"What are you doing here?"

"I got a letter from someone I know saying to come to this location as quickly as possible. I mean no harm."

I pulled out the letter to show her I wasn't bluffing, and also as a hope that she wouldn't attack me again since she saw it for herself. Though, I didn't actually show her the contents of the letter, so it was possible she would think it's a blank sheet of paper, and I'm lying. Luckily she didn't. Assertively, she said "A letter from who? I know almost everyone at this academy, and not a single one would ever ask a man to come here. It's unheard of."

I solidified my idea that this is a female only establishment as fact.

Again, but more violently than her last line, she asked, though it was more of a command, "So who sent this? A student here sending such a request is improbable."

She was right. it wasn't a student who sent the letter.

"Sarasvati."

"The headmaster?" She asked with a surprised expression.

"So that's what she's been up to these days." I nonchalantly said, almost as if I was talking to myself. The girl aggressively yanked the letter out of my hand. She looked, or rather inspected the letter for a solid minute before finally saying "How do you know the headmaster?"

A simple question to answer. I didn't even need to give it any thought.

"We're ex-lovers."

The girl's jaw dropped as far as the human structure allowed.

"You, and the headmaster, ex-lovers... but you're so young! And she's so... Oh no, no, no! I'm not insinuating she's old, it's just that she's much older compared to the age you seem to me, and...-"

"Kidding. We were never lovers. We're just really close, er, we were, and for a while she took care of me."

It was a lie. Never had I thought of Sarasvati in a romantic way, but I wanted to see what kind of reaction I'd get from her. I was sufficiently entertained. But I noticed her jaw had seemingly dropped below the length the human body allows it do, completely agape in shock. What's got her making that face?, I wondered. Then, I found out. In what sounded like a completely dumbfounded, and out-of-it tone, she said 'S-such a terrible joke..."

"That's what astonished you?"

It seemed the joke was not received well.

She shook her head to set herself straight, and once returned to reality, she said "This handwriting and signature are definitely hers, but no one gets to the headmaster without going through me, especially men! You cannot see the headmaster until you prove yourself worthy!"

"Uh, I'm pretty sure you made that up just now, because we got off on the wrong foot."

"S-shut up! I do this for all who wish to visit the headmaster!"

Doubtful.

"Please keep in mind that I am here because Sarasvati asked me to come ASAP, and you're really holding me up. It would be bad if she actually has a reason for needing me right away, and I end up being too late when I get there."

"Whatever! I don't care! No man is getting past me!"

Traumatic past involving men detected.

She moved to grab her staff, with both hands instead of just the left, and begin spinning the staff around in front of her body. Such rapid movement created a whirlwind that was quite potent. Potent enough that even though she was twirling her staff away from herself, the wind gust blew in her direction as well, waffing her skirt upwards.

Number of girl's panties seen today: One.

But that's not what I cared about. I'm not a pervert, womanizer, or anything of the sort. I'm in fact quite chaste. But raunchy situations do happen, and when they happen to me, I'm quick on the uptake, and I resolve said situation in a way that benefits everyone. What I don't do is be indecisive, space out, ruin the atmosphere, or say stupid things to make people upset at me, all of which are the trademark moves of people like the Mecha pilot with an international harem or the brown haired laws-of-physics-defying high schooler with a bride from another planet.

The wind allowed me to ascertain a look at her panties, but that means nothing compared to the other thing I saw. I could see clearly for just a few moments the sigil in the form of a number on her upper right thigh.

"So that's where hers was", I thought. I had quickly recalled again what I had seen. White with pink polka dots. But more importantly, the other thing.

350.

She was tougher than most, but I was confident I could get past her with minimal effort. I noticed that her spin wasn't to create a disorienting blast of wind, but she instead planned to apply the accumulated momentum and wind pressure along the edges of her staff as she delivers a swift devastating blow to, I guessed she was aiming for, the ribcage. People who fight with staves, polearms, and such tend to focus on getting a nice jab on the rib area, since their weapons are long, and allow them to do some serious damage to all of the many vital areas from a distance. A rib strike with anything pokey might not kill you, but if the strike is hard enough, you would be out of it for a good while. Also, the look in her eyes told me she really wanted to hospitalize me. It was better for me not to get sent there, So I jumped high and far backwards as she swung straight at me.

"Can we stop this? I really shouldn't disappoint Sarasvati if she needs me right now."

"No one gets to see her without my permission!"

"I'm not getting through even with this letter, huh?"

"Never!" Several more times she attacked me with her staff. The subsequent strikes were, however, lacking. Her one wind attack clearly consumed most of her energy, and her face was proof enough. Her posture, technique, and form for her first attack were all fantastic. But this was not so much for the strikes after. I was able to either dodge or block the attacks with my arms. As I wiped the dirt particles off my face, the girl muttered out loud, as if she was at a loss for words. "S-S-Si-Sig-You-"

I took a look at my right hand, then my left, on which the glove had fallen off. "I guess the secret's out." I calmly but aggressively said. I began to approach her, now with a different goal than meeting that hag in mind.

"Hey, what are you-", she cautiously began to ask.

I placed the hand that was no longer gloved gently on her forehead. Within an instant, she was asleep.

"Sorry I had to do that. But this is to protect you, and everyone else. Now, enjoy your sleep."

And forget all about me.

As I gave my feet way to move into the campus grounds, I didn't get to take even one step before I was interrupted, and also amicably annoyed.

"Oh, so you're the one who was causing a ruckus on my campus." A chill flew down my spine. This voice didn't belong to that girl- she was asleep behind the tree I put her at. The voice was familiar. Refined, dependable, respectable, and mature. All of which the owner of the voice are not. I glanced at the nearby bushes. She stood in front of them. Very tall, long, flowing silky white hair, beautiful face, mature curves, youthful skin and body, as if she was fresh out of college, or maybe a few years older than that. And a considerably large bust. Not bad at all for someone who is 693 years old. She looks about age range 30-35 despite her real age, but it's a damn shame she's a devilish woman. Though it makes sense that she is one.

"Oh, hey Sarasvati. What's uuuuuuuppp?" I said in the flattest, most unenthusiastic tone I could forcibly muster.

"Having this much fun with another girl? Jeez, you cheater. I looked at her. It seems you put a lot of effort into defeating her. The only woman you should fight using such strength with is me. You know I get jealous when you give it your all fighting other women." She continued.

"You know I've got a complex. If I'm not one hundred percent sure that I'm the only woman you need to exert yourself to fight, how can I live on?" She chuckled after finishing.

"I wonder how you'd react if I told you I've spent the past while really giving it my all in duels, fighting girls on girls on girls with everything I've got? Hehe. But no actually, I didn't even try with her. Didn't need to."

"I see. Well, to me, it looked like she took a nasty beating that you worked pretty hard to deliver. While she is a student of mine, personal reasons make me happy you beat her so easily. Anyway, did you miss me?"

"Not one bit, you old ha-"

Before I could finish, she leaped from her spot, using what seemed to be mach 3 or mach 4 speed to fly out, to invade my personal space- and she gave me a kiss. A long kiss. On the lips. And she tried to use tongue.