Chapter 203 ( Hypocrisy )

"Rino-sama..." - Megu said as she saw her leader back at her home base.

"Shū, Megu, Iyo, I want you to gather all the girls" - said Rino seriously - "We have someone to capture."

"?" - Megu and Iyo were silent as they frowned when they heard this but still followed their leader's instructions. Shū was the only one who knew what was going on, after all she was the one who informed Rino about the suspected culprit.

"As if I'd pass up this opportunity..." - Rino muttered while frowning - "The one responsible for the attack not only made me look bad in front of the other dragons with how easily he defeated my subordinate, but he forced me to lower myself in order to resolve this matter..."

Rino narrowed her eyes as she watched the girls begin to gather in the room, only to shiver at the cold look on their leader's face.

"We're all here, Rino-sama" - Shū said as the others positioned themselves behind her.

"Ok, the mission this time is simple, I want you to follow a first year boy with a slim build, messy black hair and glasses" - ordered the Dragon as she watched her subordinates carefully - "If you have knowledge about him, then things will be much easier."

"Marokichi?" - One girl asked in surprise as she earned a look from all of them.

"That's the boy's name?" - Rino asked as she looked at the aforementioned one.

"I'm not sure if it's really him, although according to one Kouhai it's possible that it is since he matches the characteristics you're saying, Rino-sama" - replied the girl.

"Ok, I want you to follow this Marokichi and when he is alone I want you to capture him so we can interrogate him" - said Rino seriously - "If he is the one guilty of attacking our companion, then he will be punished as he deserves but if he is not, then I will personally apologize to him."

". . ." - the girls were silent as they frowned because they never expected that they would discover the alleged perpetrator of the attack on their friend.

"Ok, we'll do it right away" - nodded Megu as she looked around - "I hope you'll don't fail".

"Hai, Megu-sama!" - exclaimed the girls as they retreated.

"Iyo, Megu, I want you guys to go with them too because it's better to be safe than sorry" - said Rino seriously - "Shū, you will keep spying on Cloud Strife in case he tries anything during our operation."

"As you command" - Shū said as she retreated.

"Let's see who was right... You, or me, Cloud Strife" - Rino said as she closed her eyes and waited for news from her subordinates.

* * * * *

"Do you really think it was a good idea?" - Chifuyu asked as she looked at the relaxed blond boy.

"Not a good idea, not with Rino's way of being" - Cloud replied calmly while squinting his eyes - "But... it's more fun this way.... don't you think so?"

"There are times when I think you really are a child" - said Chifuyu while shaking her head - "Although now that I remember, you showed up to the battle with an entrance with music playing in the background."

"That was the thrill of the moment" - smiled Cloud while shrugging his shoulders - "And you have to admit, that was great, especially the song!"

"Cloud! We need to talk!" - Rintarō exclaimed as he walked into the room where Cloud and the others were.

"Oh, hello, Rintarō-san" - smiled the blond as he looked at the boy who just entered the room - "What is it that you need?Is it about Marokichi-san, by any chance?"

"Huh?" - Rintarō was surprised when he heard this because he didn't understand how the blond boy in front of him, had found out about his new friend.

"Surprised?" - smiled the blond - "You shouldn't be, not when that boy is acting so strangely in front of Asuna and Chifuyu-san."

". . ." - Rintarō was silent as he looked at his blond friend with complexity - "I..."

"Relax, you don't have to worry or anything" - Cloud said as he shrugged - "You're not my slave like you have to tell me everything you do."

"Not to mention that you weren't sure if he was the culprit or not" - Chifuyu added as she shook her head - "There's a little problem though."

"Problem?" - Rintarō asked in surprise.

"Exactly" - nodded the black-haired girl - "This idiot here, he told Rino about your friend being the possible culprit of the attack."

"Why!" - Rintarō exclaimed in surprise as he looked at the blond.

"For two reasons, one, because he has an 85% chance of being the culprit and thus has the ability to defend himself, and two... hmm.... that's a reason I can't say" - Cloud said while looking at the black-haired boy - "What I can tell you though, is that if you really want that boy to get out of this trouble, then you better get in the middle, Rintarō-san."

"Why do you want me to join in?" - Rintarō asked while frowning.

"Because you have the power to do it" - Cloud replied as he looked at the boy - "I'll be honest with you, ever since I came to.... Nangokuren, my body has been begging to fight against strong opponents."

"But you already defeated me" - Rintarō said while rolling his eyes at him.

"True... but it wasn't just because of my martial arts skills, but because I used my... secret arts" - Cloud said while frowning - "You can say that my pride doesn't make me take that victory well."

Cloud wasn't lying because using a power far above the level of the world he was currently in, made him feel annoyed because it was practically announcing that his abilities were inferior to those of the 'natives'.

"A victory is a victory" - Rintarō said as he shook his head.

"True, but as I told you before, my pride doesn't allow me to accept that kind of victory, that's why I wish for you to enter this battle" - Cloud replied calmly - "And before you say anything else, I just ask you not to be hypocritical because I can feel how you wish to join this one to the party."

". . ." - Rintarō was silent for a few seconds because really the blond wasn't lying. Ever since he had been defeated by Cloud, he had wanted to fight the blond again in order to return the favor.

"You can use this opportunity as an excuse to enter this war" - smirked the blond as his pupils teared slightly.

". . ." - Rintarō frowned because he honestly wasn't enjoying that even though he wanted to, he was being controlled to enter the dragon war.

"Cloud," Chifuyu said as she looked at the blond. She had been reading a message that had come in on his personal communicator.

"What's wrong, Chifuyu-san?" - Cloud asked curiously - "Did something happen to Shizuka-chan?"

"No... it's a message from Erin-san" - replied Chifuyu seriously - "As she was walking back to communicate something to us, she saw how a group of second year girls, were walking towards the first year's classrooms and the boys' rooms."

"!" - Rintarō's eyes widened in surprise when he heard this as he walked out of the room at full speed.

"You're acting like a jerk, Cloud" - Chifuyu said as she looked at the boy who had recruited her - "I guess the Dragon Blood is slowly making you change."

"No... I haven't really changed much" - Cloud said calmly as he shook his head - "It's just that I'm trying other methods to reach the same result."

"Other methods?" - Chifuyu asked with surprise.

"Exactly" - replied the blond while looking at the black-haired girl - "Not to mention that with Rintarō-san in the equation, it's possible that we'll improve even more because of the pressure, after all, he has a mastery in Martial Arts that is equal or superior to my current mastery."

"Do you want to use it to keep breaking your limit like you do with Kyōka-san?" - Chifuyu asked seriously.

"You could say it's something like that, although my relationship with Kyōka is very different" - the blond replied calmly as he walked towards the door - "Are you coming with me?"

"To see how it all plays out?" - Chifuyu asked calmly.

"Exactly" - nodded Cloud as he walked out of the room with the girl.

* * * * * *

"Isn't that Rintarō-san?" - Ayane asked as she saw the boy running in one direction. They had just gotten out of the shower after training together with Chifuyu and Shizuka, though the former had decided to leave before training.

"From the looks of it, it looks like it's something serious" - Makoto said with surprise.

"Sorry, Ayane, I have to go see what's going on" - said Keiko as she ran after the boy she liked.

"Shall we follow her?" - asked Ayane curiously as she watched Makoto nod - "Ok, let's go".

The three girls quickly ran after the Rintarō, after all, they were more than leader and subordinate, they were best friends.

"Although I'm curious to know the reason why, Rintarō-san is acting so erratically" - Makoto said in confusion.

"I'm curious to know too but I guess it has to do with that guy who seems to be her new friend" - replied Ayane while frowning because that seemed to be the most logical option - "Though we better keep running and find out".

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