If it means I stay close to you

Asahi had his arms wrapped around Rumi's waist and his head placed gently at her back.

'Are you crazy?!' Rumi's brows twitched at the sudden touch.

"Get your hands off me!" She muttered through gritted teeth and her eyes glowed with fury.

He had been traumatized by whatever he had witnessed, she had originally blamed herself for leaving him trapped in this house.

'Touching me this way is going overboard.' Her brows twitched as she wished he could speed up the process of letting her go before she goes ballistic on him.

Asahi's heart sank at her threat and could feel her anger resonating in her body reaction even though he couldn't see her face with her back towards him.

Retracting his hands, he looked at the floor in despair since his plans to keep her with him couldn't even appeal to Rumi after the gesture.

"Why him?" He muttered in self-denial, sick and tired of keeping his feelings for his best friend.

Even though he wasn't told about the relationship between the headmistress and their professor, he could see some sort of chemistry–yet Rumi was still trying so hard to get his attention.

Rumi refused to answer and got to her feet, "it's best you get treatment in the infirmary."

Raising his head in confusion, his eyes widened when Rumi opened a portal behind him and kicked him in.

Zzzp!

The portal closed and Rumi had her hair obscuring her face and her teeth clenching in guilt at what she had done to her friend without his consent.

'It's for the best, he would get the care of the best healers in the infirmary to calm him, yes that's it!' Rumi repeatedly convinced herself and nodded to her new notion.

Raising her head, she watched as Maiyu reached Tenji slowly.

"Tenji, it's me–Maiyu." She soothed while taking little steps closer and a smile and tear-brimmed eyes.

"I know she didn't mean what she said and you do have good intentions but you have to st–"

Tenji looked to his side at Maiyu, the moment he did, he grabbed her by the neck in a blind rage.

Cough!

Rumi gasped in shock at how quickly things had changed and different from the visions she had seen when she touched him.

Preparing to attack her professor before he goes on a rampage like she had seen when he lost his grandfather, she opened up several portals in hopes of trapping him in one of them and saving Maiyu.

Saving her headmistress was the priority after realizing she was the only one who could calm Tenji if only she was in a calmer state than the shock she was put in.

"No!" Maiyu coughed out and forced a smile.

She dreaded putting Rumi in danger and a futile attempt at trapping him in one of her portals that would only open to a place in Meiji because of her current grade score.

Doing so would put the citizens in danger.

The house of the Hisato's was specially modified because of Tenji and the only thing that could trap him before he loses total control.

Rumi hesitated and felt uncomfortable when Maiyu smiled at her. 'You shouldn't make me feel guilty for asking for your help!'

Maiyu's eyes glowed as she was forced to use her special forbidden ability. "Please return." She whispered and held onto Tenji's hand that had gripped her neck.

Tenji hissed in pain and let go the moment he felt her mana trail embed itself onto his skin, in his subconscious was the smokey voice materialized dark mist with slit glowing green eyes pulled by a red string.

~Nooo!~

It had tried to pull it off, but the more it struggled, the more red strings wrapped and spun around the dark mist and forced it to the gray cloudy ground.

Tenji held his head and yelled loudly as he had been able to gain a bit of control of his sanity and fought to get back control.

Maiyu dropped to her knees after the brief contact, coughing out blood with the remaining trailing on the corner of her mouth.

Her vision began to blur and the corner of her eyes clouded. She had a smile as she saw Tenji struggling and when he had gained the control she was ecstatic for a moment. "I'm glad."

Unable to hold her weakened body, she swayed to her right and watched as things slowed down with her inevitable fall to the ground.

Rumi opened up a portal on the floor and prepared herself for her headmistress to drop onto her. Without calculating her weight, she had her eyes widened at the approaching limp body.

'Fuck!'

Thud!

Rumi let out a groan in pain, her hand had been sprained by the collision, had hit the ground, and couldn't move it. She struggled to get free from her headmistress's body weight laid on her.

Not giving Tenji any time to get acquainted with what had happened, she screamed at him in frustration. "Get her off me!"

Tenji snapped out of his temporary trance and dashed towards them and scooped Maiyu in his arm.

"What did I do?!" Tenji asked in a panic, quite aware he must have had some connection to the whole commotion that had happened.

Rumi forced herself up with her right hand and tried to clench her sprained left and cried out in pain.

"Can your portal still work?!" Tenji questioned hurriedly seeing the two who had been injured.

Rumi glared at him and snapped, "I should have let her hit her head hard, maybe you would have known your mistake, dear professor!"

Harrumphing, Rumi looked to her side and refused to look at him. "I don't have my two hands broken or a demerit slapped onto me so the answer is yes!"

Tenji let out a sigh of relief and watched as she opened up a portal behind him.

Rumi had a smug look on her face as she gave a condition to opening the portal, "I would keep the portal open for the three of us to go through safely if it means I get to stay close to you, only then would I accept going along with you two!"

*****

A/N

I would really appreciate your comments and support of this novel with your power stones. Your active comments would motivate me to write more chapters.

¶ Do you think Rumi was being selfish with this request?