85: Secret

"Thank you" - nodded Ichika while looking at the new boy.

"If you want, I can help you too" - proposed Cloud as he folded his arms.

"No, thanks" - snorted Ichika as he rolled his eyes at him - "I don't want you to have an excuse to kick my ass."

"It was thanks to me that you managed to hopefully defeat Cecilia" - Cloud said as he gave him a blank stare.

"Yes, and it was also thanks to your training that I am now afraid of stones" - replied Ichika while shaking his head.

"It was just a fake threat" - Cloud said as he let out a sigh - "I didn't think you'd take it seriously."

"What are you two talking about?" - Charles asked as he looked at the two boys.

"It's simple, I told him that if he didn't comply with the training regimen, then a five-foot stake would be driven up his ass" - Cloud replied simply.

"He wasn't lying, behind me there was always a stone stake" - Ichika added as he trembled at the memories.

"We'd better start with the training" - said Rin while holding the bridge of her nose.

An hour later, Ichika was on the ground, breathing heavily while Rin and Cecilia looked at him with a frown.

The training had been effective, but at the same time they felt it had been for nothing.

"You guys are monsters..."" - Ichika muttered as he stood up weakly - "My whole body hurts."

"The thing is, this idiot is still using the standard moves" - said Cloud while shaking his head - "He's doing it just like you guys said, and that's why he's predictable even though he's improved considerably."

"Oh, I see why I felt something was missing" - muttered Rin as she thought carefully - "Thank you for pointing out the problem."

Cloud simply shrugged - "By the way, the training schedule ended 15 minutes ago, so we have to vacate the arena."

"So soon? I was planning on training for 30 more minutes" - Rin replied as she frowned, ignoring her beloved's pale face - "A real pity"

"Can someone help me?" - Ichika asked with difficulty - "My whole body hurts, and I can't move."

"Can you take him to my room, Cloud-san?" - Rin asked as she looked at the young blond.

"How much are you willing to pay?" - Cloud asked as he stroked her chin.

"I can introduce you to my cousin" - proposed Rin as she folded her arms - "It's a win-win, you get a date with a cute girl, and she can hook up with you after seeing your picture in the paper."

Cloud was silent because he honestly didn't expect this proposal.

"Her name is Huang Luanyin and this is her picture" - Rin said as she handed him the picture of a cute girl with light brown hair combed in a single ponytail on her left side.

"Are you sure you're not sisters?" - Cloud asked as he looked at a small part of the girl's anatomy in the photo.

"You didn't have to look at her breasts to say that!" - Rin exclaimed as she opened her mouth menacingly, in such a way that she looked like a cat about to bite.

* * * * *

"That was fun" - Charles said with a smile as 'he' and his roommate walked towards their room - "I didn't expect this kind of relationship between you two."

"It's the usual, Ichika is someone easy to tease, that's why it's fun to do it" - Cloud replied as he shrugged - "Although I have to admit that you're acting a bit... strange, Charles..."

"What do you mean?" - Charles asked as he cocked his head to one side, confused by the young blond's strange words.

"No, it's nothing," Cloud replied as he decided to change the subject.

Charles' body tensed slightly as he felt a shiver run down his back, more so when he noticed the strange look the blond boy was giving him.

"Has he figured it out?" - Charles thought with a pale face.

Cloud for his part, decided to walk a little faster so that his companion wouldn't notice that he was smiling slightly - "It's amusing to see how this 'boy' is squirming as he struggles with coming to a conclusion, unaware that I'm mentally playing with 'him' to get him to reveal the secret he's hiding."

The duo continued to move forward until they reached the room.

"Is something wrong, Charles?" - Cloud asked as he noticed the discomfort on his roommate's face.

"It's nothing" - denied Charles as he blushed - "I just feel like you're treating me a little differently, and I wanted to know why."

"Different?" - Cloud repeated as he cocked his head to one side - "I don't think I'm acting weird, in fact, you're the one acting weird, that's why I wanted to ask you if you wanted us to go take a bath together, so we could talk more personally."

"Bathe together?" - Charles exclaimed with a red face - "N-No! I'm not a homosexual!"

"What are you talking about? I'm not asking you to come with me to the bathroom to do anything improper, I'm simply inviting you, so we can talk" - Cloud replied as he gave him a blank stare - "Seriously, you're acting like a girl"

Charles was silent as he noticed how his roommate seemed to be trying to annoy him with his strange words.

"If you don't want to do it, I'm not going to force you"- Cloud finished as he walked into the room.

Charles was silent as he felt the blush on his cheeks intensify.

"I'm sure he knows" - Charlotte thought as she frowned - "However, I feel it's still too early to confirm it, because if that's not the case, then he's just smelling something fishy in the way I'm acting..."

Charlotte was silent as she prepared to enter the room, though when she did, she quickly let out a cry of surprise and embarrassment because Cloud was half-naked - "What are you doing!"

"Changing my clothes?" - Cloud replied as he gave him a blank look - "By the way.... Was that a girl scream?"

Charlotte quickly covered her mouth as she calmed her heart, she had used her natural voice without realizing it due to embarrassment, so she quickly reverted to her slightly more masculine voice - "Sorry, it was just the surprise, though I don't understand about why your lack of clothes."

"I said it, I'm changing, in fact, now I'm going into the bathroom to take an icy shower" - Cloud replied while shaking his head, although inside he had more or less deduced what Charles was hiding, or at least one of the two possible answers.

"Charlotte is not a boy, but a girl" - Cloud thought simply - "That would explain why another boy can use the [IS] as Ichika does, though if this hypothesis is correct, then there has to be a reason for this to happen, and it is likely the fact that the [Dunois Corporation] is after my private information, as well as Ichika's personalized [IS] information."

Cloud was silent as he ignored the embarrassed look on his roommate's face.

"The other option is that Charles is a homosexual, although that's not very feasible because I've noticed some movements typical of a girl, especially when he goes to relieve himself, as well as his relationships with other girls" - Cloud thought as he narrowed his eyes - "I'll have to get a little closer to find out the truth, although now I'm going with the mindset that Charles is actually a girl..."

Without realizing it, Charlotte was slowly falling into a trap.

* * * * *

"Heh, heh, heh ~" - Tatenashi's teasing laugh echoed in the student council room.

"Does anyone else have a bad feeling?" - asked the vice president as she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"No, I feel it too, Utsuho-san" - replied the secretary as she frowned - "It's obvious that Tatenashi-sama has something bad on her hands."

"The question is... what is it that Tatenashi-nyan~ is up to?" - asked a girl with brown hair, combed into two small pigtails held in place by two fox-shaped pins next to sleepy yellow eyes - "Nyaahooo ~!"

"Honne-chan!" - Utsuho exclaimed upon seeing the girl - "What are you doing here!"

"I came to see you, Onee-chan~!" - said the girl with a smile, she was Honne Nohotoke, Utsuho's younger sister and Cloud's classmate.

"That doesn't explain why you came" - said Utsuho while giving her a blank look.

"I called her" - said Tatenashi calmly - "Relax, she hasn't done anything wrong."

"What did you call her for, Tatenashi-sama" - said Utsuho curiously. She knew that her mistress only called her sister when something important was about to happen, such as when she was modifying her IS.

She, along with her sister, were not only the Sarashiki sisters' childhood friends, but they were also their servants, even though they didn't like to refer to them as servants.

"Because I need information about Cloud Strife" - Tatenashi replied while shaking her head.

"Oh, you mean Kuku ~" - Honne smiled slightly as she lifted her long sleeves.

"I'm not even going to ask about why such a nickname" - sighed Utsuho as she looked at her younger sister and shook her head.

The other girls of the student council, simply smiled at the cute nickname Utsuho's younger sister had given to [Tyrant].