10.2

part 2

"Good morning, Ōe-san!" A trio of girls greeted me as we cross paths. They giggled at my confused reply as they left.

Oi…

"Ossu!" Some guy saluted me from his place leaning over one of the corridor's windows. Another random dude gave me a silent nod minutes later.

Wait a minute…

"Hey! Hey man, here's your notes back, really saved my ass." Another guy from my class handed me the notebook that I vaguely remember lending to him early this morning.

Something's wrong here…

"Not with Saotome today, Ōe-san?" A guy laughed.

Isn't everybody being a little too friendly!?

The first thought the crossed my mind was mind-controlling drugs, then I considered some kind of mass hypnotic event, then some manner of parallel world shenanigans; all valid possibilities when dealing with the craziness that was Ranma ½. Luckily, my common sense pointed out that this was not a singular event; throughout the week, the Furinkan's student body has been slowly warming up to me for some weird reason.

I've been too focused on secretly protecting the girls of the Rhythmic Gymnastics club to notice— Secretly, because of an incident on the first day involving the girls' locker room, a bored cowgirl monster, a plate of chocolate pancakes, and an angry Tendo Akane that almost got us killed by a crowd of half-naked girls with plot-armor— but today my focus was divided between the girls and the butler-shaped doom I may have unleashed upon Nerima, so in my confusion, I managed to see it; for some reason, I wasn't the scary, unapproachable delinquent anymore.

Honestly, I can't tell what changed.

"My, my, thank you, young man. My back isn't what it used to be." Said the old-ass janitor as I handed the mop back to him and collected the Exp of this little side-quest. This guy really needs to retire if he's gonna keep getting cramps this bad.

A few steps later, I stumbled into another side-quest in the form of the class prez struggling to carry a pile of documents. Having a bit of time, and not caring about making who I agreed to meet wait; I moved to help her out.

This was an awful time to make that phone call. I'm already on edge because of Rin's mission and the fact that the Rhythmic Gymnastics club will be without ninja protection for a while, so adding a bunch of childhood traumas to the mix was making me positively jittering.

Ranma's right, I am obsessing over this a little too much.

I let out the excess tension through puff of air and tried to concentrate on other things— like everybody's sudden friendless.

"Thank you very much, Ōe-san." Class prez said formally but with a smile on her face, an actual freaking smile. Shit, a few days ago this girl was whispering around her group of friends while casting worried glances in my direction.

Weird.

After that, I stumbled my way from brief side quest to brief side quest until I was out of the building and the First Years' dominated areas. With fewer people recognizing me, I managed to make my way to the sport field in the back of the school, right in the middle of an intense soccer game.

A few students watched from the grassy slope around the fields, including the one I was to meet.

"You're late." Complained the pretty girl with chocolate brown hair as I approached. Though the sarcastic look told me she was expecting it. "I almost left, you know."

"You're the one who called me here. It'd be your loss." I countered.

Now, I know that the reality I'm living in is different from the Ranma ½ anime; there are too many inconsistences, tiny differences, and small nuances to be the same. So while everyone I've met does act remarkably like their anime counterparts, they are not exactly the same. Because of that, I decided not to judge people too heavily by my metaknowledge, and instead form my opinion as I get to know them better.

Tendo Nabiki, however, is a special case. I vaguely remember an interview where the authoress straight off said that Nabiki is the one Ranma1/2 character she considers truly evil, and years and years of fanfics portraying her as literally the devil had me a bit apprehensive when it came to dealing with the girl.

As things stand… I've not interacted with her enough to form a concrete image. Going by first impressions alone, I'd say she's a laid back girl who's very aware of her way-above-average looks and is not afraid to use it. She has yet to show any of her worst qualities. I mean, she did come off as a little greedy in our first meeting, but considering the subject discussed it was only natural.

This is our third meeting, the first one she called me for. I admit I couldn't keep the thoughts of debts and blackmail from popping up in my head even though she held literally zero sway over me.

"Come on don't be like that, Ōe-kun." Nabiki smiled, climbing to her feet and patting the back of her skirt. "Ah, you're not with Ranma today."

"I'm not his babysitter; the guy can function without me."

She giggled, "You wouldn't think that, the way he talks about you."

Yeaaah, I'mma call bullshit on that. Despite seeing like the boisterous, open type, at Ranma is actually a pretty private guy. There is a possibility that he talked about me, but I doubt it is how Nabiki implied.

Fishing for information, hum? That… surprisingly made me relax a bit. Tendo Nabiki is acting like Tendo Nabiki would; I guess the expectation was freaking me out more than reality.

"You want to talk to me, Tendou-senpai?"

She cocked her head to the side in a cute display. Her casual smile started to turn into a smirk.

"Senpai?" She chuckled, "You're a lot more formal than you appear, Ōe-kun."

Japanese formality can be used as a distraction and a weapon, especially if you don't particularly care about it. It's an excellent way to surprise and control a conversation. I was about to comment on this when I decided on a "Does that have anything to do to what you wanted to talk to me about, senpai?" Instead.

Got to work a hell of a lot more if you want to get me talking, sweetie.

"You're no fun." She said, almost pouting. I think she'd realized I could just leave if she presses too much.

And just like that, she straightened her back and dropped her smile, her expression still casual and in control, but the air she gave was a lot more professional.

"Remember our deal? I have some new information that might interest you." She said.

"Let me guess, Kuno Kodachi's gonna hunt down and attack the gym girls tonight, isn't she," I commented with a shrug. "Feels like something she would do."

My plan to protect the Rhythmic Gymnastics club was simple; get Nabiki to tell me all she knew about Kodachi, her methods, and the teams she'd previously attacked, then give this information to Rin and have her protect them. Ranma and I would be patrolling the sidelines in case something else happened. It turned out like this after the first day when I realized doing everything on my own and almost getting killed and branded a pervert for it wasn't going to cut it. It worked, and Rin spent the time she wasn't with me disarming various traps and making sure the girls got home safely.

I can't imagine all these failed attempts were good to Kodachi's inflated ego, so taking matters into her own hands was only a matter of time.

Nabiki grinned, "Oh yeah, this is certainly something she would have done..." She spoke slowly, not even being subtle.

I considered the girl for a long moment before clicking my tongue.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Ah, ah, ah." She intoned, deliberately showing her open hand.

Of course.

At this point it's impossible to stay under Nabiki's radar. I sincerely doubt she won't look up who I am, if she wasn't already, and knowing what she's like, she wouldn't simply let me be after figuring out my family was the very definition of filthy rich. So I pulled up one of my spare wallets and made no attempt to hide the multiple notes of 10k yen as I pulled one of them.

Oh yeah, that's what I call a hungry look.

"Thank you~." She sing-songed, picking the 10k between her fingers, her current grin realer than any of the smiles she showed to me before.

In a second, she was on my side, leaning close as if to tell me a particularly juicy gossip, she even did the whole hand-to-mouth thingy.

I didn't miss the way her soft curves brushed against me, and I doubt she did either.

"Ne, ne Ōe-kun. You know about Kodachi's teammates of the St. Hebereke's School's Rhythmic Gymnastics club, right? Aonuma Katsu, Naegi Mayumi, Nishioka Azusa, and Ose Sachi." She paused a second for dramatic flare. "All of them have been admitted to the hospital over these last couple of days."

Hold on.

What?

"What?" I put my surprise into words.

"That's what I heard. Naegi Mayumi, Kodachi's second, was admitted just yesterday. All of them showed sights of extreme exhaustion, but there weren't any injuries or even signs of overexertion." I was only half hearing Nabiki's report at this point.

There is something wrong here: Furinkan's team should have been the one hospitalized; that was the whole point of me protecting them. They would've been incapacitated, and then called Akane for help, kicking off the entire arc, I didn't even consider Kodachi's team…

Has this happened in canon? Akane and Kodachi's fight was a 1-v-1 after all, maybe— wait no, Kodachi's team was there, right beneath the ring, if I remember correctly, helping her cheat. But how can that be when they are…

This goes against canon.

"What about Kodachi? Is she in the hospital too? Is she going to participate?"

Nabiki had a smile like a cat that cornered a particularly large canary.

"Hmm, I wonder…" She said, wiggling her now empty fingers.

Of fucking course.

I frowned, but before I could reply, the city of Nerima decided this was a jolly good time to pull a fast one on me.

"RANMA!!!"

And sent me an eternally lost annoyance dramatically shouting to the skies in the middle of the soccer field.

"Ah, it's that guy!" Nabiki blinked.

And that was just the time a soccer ball cut Ryoga's lamentation short. I sighed as I watched him going down.

"He's earlier than I was expecting," I mumbled under my breath before turning to Nabiki. "You should probably get Ranma. He is here for him, after all."

She raises an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"

"Girl, didn't you hear him screaming. Anyway, I'mma make sure he doesn't hurt anyone." I said and began making my way towards the fallen boy.

I was pleased to see that the soccer team had more foresight than the crowd of students from when Ryoga first showed up; they were already evacuating the premises. Perhaps they heard a rumor or something, Ryoga's first appearance caused quite the stir.

"Hey, Hibiki Ryoga, right? You still alive down there?"

The martial artist stirred with the sound of my voice. He did look quite ragged now that I'm seeing him up close, maybe it was an –heh!— long trip.

His eyes blazed when he noticed me.

"You!"

Wait what?

New quest: Dealing with the lost boi.

Hibiki Ryoga has a bone to pick with you and will literally never stop until he does so. Deal with him now and spare yourself the stress!

Rewards:

1.000 exp.

Decrease closeness with Hibiki Ryoga.

Failure:

Injury or Critical Injury.

Decrease closeness with Hibiki Ryoga.

Accept/Refuse.

Wait What!?

This was definitely not the time to have a gamer screen blocking my vision, as a rampaging Ryoga came barging through the screen in a full-body tackle that had all his weight and power behind it.

A little more than a week ago, about the time Ryoga first showed up, that would have fucked me up, I would've suffered the full brunt force of Hibiki Ryoga directly on my torso, and if that didn't outright kill me, it would definitely have put me out of commission.

But now it was a week later, a week of grinding, of no stop questing, of tireless martial art training and, more importantly, a week of level-ups.

You do not face The Gamer and expect him to be the same as a week ago.

My hands snapped forwards, and I gripped the lost boy's wrists in a vice grip, the only move I could make at such short distance. Sure, the guy's monstrous strength still meant I was pushed backward in a terrifyingly fast speed, but a little trick I got from pushing my Endurance above 50 ensured I kept my balance rather than being flattened by the guy.

Perk: Stable posturing.

+ 15% resistance against staggering.

Simple, wonderful, disgustingly effective.

Before Ryoga could change tactics, I took advantage of another wonderful little perk I've gotten from pushing past 50 Agility, and used my position and solid stance to smash my forehead directly against his, only to feint at the last second. Now, Ryoga was skilled enough to notice the trick, but he definitely didn't expect the honest-to-god after-image to continue forwards.

Perk: Fake velocity.

+ 10% chance of producing after-images.

Ryoga, like Ranma, wasn't used to dealing with after images that were created not by speed but by sheer gamer bullshitery, so he flinched. Exactly like Ranma had the first few times I used this tactic against him (Before he got used to it, the damn genius.)

I used that stumble to push into his guard, shifting my hold to one of his arms, and flipping him over my shoulder in a textbook perfect Judo-throw. The insane momentum that carried over only made the move more effective.

Ryoga hit the ground, hard, like, cracking concrete and blowing up dust hard. Of course, I immediately felt him moving, so I let go of my hold to prompt his body to back away rather than push for a grabbling match that I had no illusion of winning.

He just started clambering to his feet, when I rocketed forwards again, capitalizing on his confusion to demonstrate my last, and by far, the most straightforward perk gained from passing 50 of Strength.

Perk: Athlete Body.

+ 5 Str, +1 Cha

My fist cracked against Ryoga's jaw and made his whole head snap to the side with a meaty sound. After allowing myself a moment to revel in the fact I managed to punch Hibiki Ryoga in the face, I immediately leap back, flipping my body in the precise, fast circles the Saotome's style uses to gain distance. There is no way he's going down with a single punch.

And sure enough, while he did stumble backward in two uneven steps and, to my immense satisfaction, his eyes went numb for a second as his brain rattled inside his skull, he soon regains his composure. He was now standing more alarm and more dangerous than ever.

I could see his anger building up again, and this time it wasn't the kind of anger that would make him blindly leap on an attack, but it was just as intense.

Yeah, nope.

"STOP!!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Trying to make him double take with my sudden outburst. Thankfully, that was precisely what happened. "Alright then, would you please be so kind as to tell me why in the motherfuckering fuck are you attacking me!?"

My tangle of Japanese sentences and English cursing gave him pause, but he soon set back into his furious glare.

"Silence, thief! I've got nothing to say to you!" He growled.

"Thief!? I stole nothing from you, cunt!"

"As if!" He snarled, throwing his arms from his stance in anger, before pointing an accusatory finger at me. "You stole my umbrella!"

… Realization clicked in my mind so hard it nearly made me stumble.

But it didn't make me any less angry.

Summoning my inventory screen, I flicked my wrist in a now familiar sleight of hand to make it seem like Ryoga's umbrella simply slid from my sleeves, hoping that the cheap trick would hold back his attack a few more seconds. With quick movements, I rolled Ryoga's ultra-heavy umbrella over my arms and torso in a display of skill, maneuvering it with a single hand most of the time.

I won't say I took advantage of every ounce of training I could from my time with the umbrella, but the results of what I did manage to train spoke for themselves. I certainly wasn't at the point where the thing felt like a feather to me, but I could bear its full weight in a single arm and not only move around but also battle with it. Frankly, this fact still scares me sometimes, as back in my old world, this kind of weight was literally impossible for a normal human to bear.

The umbrella flipped on my side, opening with a low boom that shook some dust away, then, with a war cry, I launched the thing spinning towards Ryoga, just like he did when he first appeared.

Unlike then, it had none of its deadly precision, anyone could see that it would veer up midway, and pass harmlessly above the target before flipping to a stop, but precision was not the point. Ryoga caught the umbrella in a movement that mirrored my own when he put me in the exact circumstance.

"My move!" He barked. "You tried to copy my—"

"It was a killing move!" I snapped, the strength of my tone shutting the boy up. "Do you remember where you were when you used it, Hibiki Ryoga!? Let remind you: A school courtyard." My teeth grind together. "Ranma would've been fine, me, I could've managed it, but the people behind us, how the fuck do you think they would've fared!?"

Ryoga paused as enough common sense finally pushed past his anger to have him consider my word. Then, to his immense credit, a flicker of honest shame flashed in his eyes.

I swear to god if it had been apathy, I would have attacked him and damn the consequences.

"I did not steal from you," I said, finally lowering my volume but keeping my tone firm. "After I stopped your attack, the umbrella simply stayed in my hand while you fought Ranma, got too much into it, and disappeared. I did not steal the umbrella, Hibiki. You left it behind with me." I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves, and then gestured towards his hand. "And now, I'm giving it back to you, so you're welcome."

A silent stretched between us as Ryoga processed what I said. I could see he was still angry… but I couldn't feel any aggression towards me anymore.

"So what you're saying is…" He chewed his words, working his ideas. "It was because of Ranma that I lost my umbrella!"

…What.

"What the- No, no, it wasn't Ranma's fault. You left it behind if anything that's your—."

"Damn you, Ranma! Do you have any idea how much harder my journey was without my umbrella?!" The lost boy growled apparently to himself. A trembling fist raised close to his face as his emotions started to flare again. "It was hell, I said, absolute hell!"

"Oi, are you listening!? I'm trying to tell you this time it wasn't Ranma's fau—

"I'm gonna make you pay!" Ryoga angrily snapped his arms upward, screaming dramatically to the sky. "YOU HEAR ME SAOTOME RANMA, I, HIBIKI RYOGA, WILL MAKE YOU PAY!!!!"

"I hear' ya."

It seems that during my brief altercation with Ryoga, most of Furinkan High's student population had decided to gather on the grassy slopes around the field and were watching the confrontation with avid interest. And of course, perching over the tall fence that separated the audience was none other than Saotome Ranma, fully armed with his Chinese shirt and cocky grin.

"Saotome Ranma!" Ryoga growled in a seething tone. And right then and there, I gave up trying to make him see reason.

"Yo, Ryoga. You're late." Ranma commented.

"Come here and fight! You coward!"

The taunt and the use of the C-word closed Ranma's expression right away. But he relaxed when he caught my aggressive eye-roll. Seriously, Ryoga is so one-note that it reaches the point of parody.

Ranma leaped forward, gliding through the air like gravity was his submissive little bitch. He landed close to me and approached, his eyes trailing on Ryoga.

"Normally, I'd say you got this Hiro, but he did kinda, send me a challenge letter, so I gotta respect that… Even if he's late by a week." He muttered the last part, raising his hand in my direction. "Switch?"

"Yeah, fuck it. He's all yours if you wanna." I conceded with a sigh, leaving Ranma was a high-five before making my way to the audience. Frankly, fighting Ryoga is a tiring endeavor in more ways than one.

Quest completed!

Oh yeah, there was this thing.

1.000 exp.

Your closeness with Hibiki Ryoga has decreased.

Bonus objective fulfilled: You used logic and reason! It was super effective! Ryoga is confused!

500 exp.

Your closeness with Hibiki Ryoga has increased.

Your closeness with Saotome Ranma has increased.

Oh well, I suppose what I did could be considered a way to 'deal' with him. At least I got the sense I got rid of the grudge he had against me before it could properly settle.

Or used it to add fuel the massive one he has against Ranma. That guy's complicated.

-0-0-0-​

The amount of cheers I received when I got to the audience weirded me out a little bit. I wasn't swarmed by squealing fangirls or anything like that, but a considerable number of First Years congratulated me, and/or patted me on the back, while people from other grades just looked impressed. To my amazement, I found myself recognizing most who come to talk, and I had a sudden realization of the number of acquaintances I ended up making over these last couple of days.

I mean, I was a lot more sociable now in my second life, but damn, where did all these people come from?

After snarking a bit with a much colder Nabiki— Apparently, I ruined her betting pool with an inconclusive result— I made my way to the top of the slope and the very back of the growing audience. Not the best place to see any details of the duel, but I didn't need to, I already knew who's gonna win.

And this wasn't even because of canon certainty, just looking at the two I could tell; Ranma had recently broken past level 30, but Ryoga still on level 24, the same level he was when he first showed up. Now, I am the last person who's going to preach about level gaps, but the implication was clear: only one of these warriors improved since the last time they've met.

So I just hang back, slid my hands inside my pocket, and turn to face my stalker, who has decided to approach me today for some reason.

Himiko Kenji

Vegan Werewolf

Level: 11

"Hello there, Kenji-san, nice day we're having!" I greeted him with a smile. "It's great to see you decided to actually talk to me today!"

He gave me a weird look, and I could see an elongated canine poking out from his lips. A grunt was apparently enough of a response for my greeting.

Well, he's less hostile than before, that's something at least. "So, what can I do for you today."

His expression furrowed, but it was less out of irritation and more out of effort, like he was working to form the right words… Or any words at all, really.

Isn't he a bit taller? More muscular? His hair definitively looks wilder than before, and this says a lot. Maybe its something to do about his condition… no, I bet it's something to do about his condition.

Finally, he opened his mouth.

"There are… bombs in the school."

"What?"

-0-0-0-​

Well, this afternoon certainly took a wide ride straight to a left turn, wasn't it?

I was standing in the school's infirmary, feeling the orange light of the setting sun warming my face as I smiled at the giant-ass hole where a wall was supposed to be.

Man… someone will have to pay for this…

"In summary!" Declared class prez, no, Isayama Suzue— It feels like a disservice not using her name after I dragged her in my little afternoon adventure. "You and the rest of the members of the chemistry club have purloined from the budget of the oncoming Cultural Festival to purchase materials and parts that aren't allowed by the school and used them to build these explosive devices!" She triumphantly held up one of the, now deactivated, homemade mines we'd found. "All so you could eliminate one Saotome Ranma and free the way to Tendo Akane heart!

"Scandalous!" Exclaimed Fujimori Yuka with a delicate hand over her mouth, she's the other girl that ended up being dragged into this silliness. Fujimori-san was the only girl in my class that matched Akane in term of looks— And actually surpasses her in terms of bust, being close to the size of Ranma's girl form— the only reason she wasn't pursued just as much as the Tendo girl is because her admirers tend to mysteriously disappear rather than stick around to bother her. I think her title of 'Yakuza Princess' has something to do with this.

"Frankly, I'm just glad this is all over." Kuroba Daisuke commented from the corner where he had dropped on his ass. Kuroba-san wasn't exactly dragged along into this, as he was already involved, being the only student who discovered the chemistry club's plan and tried to stop it. I found him tied up in a chair in an empty classroom, and was surprised that he's still wanted to keep going. I guess his title of 'Aspiring Superhero' wasn't just for show. "But I'm glad I was able to help." He finished with a broad smile.

Honestly, I think they are enjoying this a bit too much.

'This' being rubbing the failure of his plans in the face of one Koba Satoru, the chemistry club's president who now lies on the infirmary bed recuperating from his baseball bat beat down of justice.

His purple, swollen face twisted into a snarl. "And I would have succeeded too if it wasn't for your meddling punks!"

The rest of the chemistry club groaned apologetically from their own infirmary beds. Most looked genuinely remorseful after I painstakingly put their little plan into perspective, and laid out all the things that could have happened and the real consequences they would be facing if they did, all excerpt a ratty guy named Sato Igoru, which had the title of 'High Minion' and seems to look up to Koba Satoru for guidance for every little thing.

Isayama-taichou flicked her glasses; it flashed with a bright light of pure malice. "So, you plead guilty, kukukuku."

"Yeah, I'm just gonna go now." On the corner of my eyes, I saw that Kenji had the same idea but didn't bother voicing it. The werewolf was already at the door.

"Indeed. Ōe-san, your services were invaluable today, but they aren't necessary anymore. I'll take it from here." Isayama-taichou nodded at me and immediately went back to threatening the wounded nerds with her flashing glasses of menace.

With some last goodbyes from the rest of the improvised party, I made my way into the corridors, walking fast to catch up with the retreating werewolf.

Turn out he was faster than I'd imagined, it wasn't even a few steps before I saw his form through the window, exiting the building.

No biggy, it's only two floors down.

"Hello, Kenji-san," I said as I landed into a crouch beside him. My sudden appearance made him tense, and for a moment, my instincts screamed for me not to approach. "A moment of your time, please." I continued, ignoring the spike of aggression.

"Do not do that!" He growled, taking a few breaths to regain his composure. "I got nothing to say to you."

An underline growl made him stumble in his delivery, but it was still mostly understandable.

"Why did you call me for this? I glad that you did, don't get me wrong, but I know you could have dealt with this on your own."

His teeth clicked together. They were definitely more pointy and elongated than they were when we first met. He shifted his weight from side to side as he once again worked on his sentences.

"I couldn't… If it was just me… I'd have killed them." He rasped out.

"The chemistry club?"

He grunted another response and started walking out. I followed.

"You don't have to keep watching me from the corners, you know, that's kinda creepy. If you just walk up to me and Ranma we'll let you hang."

He gave me another one of his grunts; this one sounded more like a groan and a growl mixed together in a bowl of irritation.

"Why the hell are you so insistent in following me anyway?"

"Grrn… Aneue told me… to keep an eye on you." He made a grunting confession.

Aneue? Another piece of information related to the stalker werewolf. That and the fact I've gathered the interest of another possible werewolf, one of higher ranking given how Kenji refers to her.

"Really now. You know, I wouldn't mind meeting this—"

"Too many… words." This last growl scraped the limit of what is possible for a human throat. He craned his neck to the east, seemly snarling at a particular part of the orange sky. "Shut up. Stop following me."

I took a moment to decide and stopped in my tracks, watching him disappear inside the growing shadows between the trees of the patch of vegetation behind the school. It wasn't a forest proper, so I have no doubt he will jump over the wall on the other side and get lost in the spiderweb of low alleyway formed by Nerima's buildings.

Himiko Kenji, the vegan werewolf, I admit he fascinates me a little bit, not because of who he is, but because of what he is; he is the first friendly supernatural creature that I've met, one that is almost certainly involved with some kind of non-human, supernatural side of the world. I'm hoping to use Kenji to peek into this world by my own terms before someone inevitably drags me into it. Also, I'm very curious about the werewolves as a race; they were always my favorite of the famous monsters after all.

But alas, he will have to wait; there are other matters I will have to look into tonight.

I made my way over to the front of the school, dodging the damage caused by Ranma and Ryoga's duel and the literal minefield that was prepared against them. I wonder how exactly that duel ended up; I know that Ranma won, but they took the fight somewhere away from the school while I was running around keeping any bystanders from stepping on explosives, so I don't know how it went.

… I feel like I'm forgetting something about this particular duel, but I cannot, for the life of me, remember what.

"Hey, master!" Minon was leaning against a tree, her leg having just regenerated enough to let her stand. Luckily, there weren't any students around to question the presence of an injured Minotaur in skimpy bikini armor. "Did you see how wild I was back there!? I was like, 'Take that!' Pow, Pow, Punch!" She punctuated her enthusiasm by punching the air with her bulky gauntlets. "Totally showed that explosion who was the boss, minon!"

"Only you could be so happy after being blown up." I shook my head with a smile. "Anyway, Minon, I need you to stand guard for the Rhythmic Gymnastics club tonight, and accompany them home after they finish training."

"Ah man, guard duty." She grumbled dejectedly.

"I remind you that the girls train in very tight leotards."

"Ah man, guard duty!!!" She threw her arms up in glee.

Minon's protection was a 'just-in-case' kinda deal, as I don't think anything will actively threaten them anymore. Plus, having them protected frees me to address the chip on my shoulder I've been feeling since this morning.

Alright then, let's see what's going on with Kodachi and her team.