Chapter 10 - Sit Down

Professor Kirisu stood paralyzed in the doorway of the shed, her eyes wide. Basara couldn't blame her. She was watching him stand over Moka with one of his hands under her bra, which only made the situation worse.

"W-WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!!?" She asked.

"I... we... this isn't what it looks like!" Basara finally stammered, but as he looked down at his hand still under Moka's bra, he felt the heat of embarrassment rise even higher. "No, what I meant was... that was an accident!"

Professor Kirisu's face was flushed, and she frowned. She sighed deeply, clearly trying to keep her composure before speaking again.

"You two... come with me now. This is unacceptable."

She turned abruptly, walking out of the front of the shed and leaving them standing there, stunned.

Basara stood up first, and Moka quickly did the same. She grabbed her PE uniform shirt, put it on and adjusted the rosary that hung from her chest, not daring to look him in the eye. The two of them walked in silence to the teachers' room without exchanging a word. When they got there, the room was empty, as all the teachers were still in class. Professor Kirisu hit her hand on the desk, drawing their attention.

"Sit down." She ordered.

They sat down on the chairs in front of her desk.

"You... can't do that sort of thing on school premises, even if you're... boyfriend and girlfriend." The last word was said with a certain hesitation, and Professor Kirisu's cheeks blushed slightly. Despite her stern tone, the situation also embarrassed her. "There are limits in this academy, and your behavior was completely inappropriate."

Basara opened his mouth to try to say something, but no sound came out. The shame was so great that any attempt at an explanation could make it worse. He glanced at Moka and saw that she was keeping her eyes fixed on the teacher, also aware that explaining what had happened would sound ridiculous.

The teacher sighed again, clearly frustrated. "I expected more from both of you, especially you, Basara-kun. I know you're young and that sometimes things can get out of hand, but please be more careful in the future."

He nodded, unable to say anything. The lecture wasn't unfair; on the contrary, she was even being too kind, considering the circumstances.

"Now, I suggest you go back to the classroom and reflect on what happened. And remember: you must not repeat what happened today, understand?"

"Yes, Kirisu-sensei..." muttered Basara, and Moka did the same.

The teacher dismissed them, and the two of them stood up slowly, leaving the room with the same heavy silence that had accompanied them since the shed.

Outside, Moka turned to Basara and said:

"Basara-kun..." She used the honorific again. "... I'm sorry. I really didn't want that to happen."

He shook his head, offering her a weak smile. "Don't worry, Moka. It was largely my fault. Let's try to forget about it, okay?"

So they went back to the classroom. The rest of the lessons went smoothly, but Basara was sure that someone had locked them in that shed on purpose, because the teacher had said, before seeing them on the floor, that someone had informed her they were there. He just needed to find out who had done it. Surely it was someone from their class, as they were the only ones in the area.

Despite this doubt, the end of the day arrived. As they walked together to the exit, Moka asked him to wait for her, which he did. Basara kept her company in front of the academy until a black carriage, adorned with silver details, approached and stopped in front of them.

"Thank you for staying here with me. I have to go... See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yes, of course."

Moka got into the carriage and, before setting off, smiled at him as she waved. Basara watched the carriage disappear down the road before starting his walk home.

"I guess she felt that what I did was fair, otherwise she would have fought me, wouldn't she?"

When he arrived, he found the place empty. His father had probably already gone to work on the city walls.

"Did he say 'see you in a month'? What kind of fucking job is that? It's worse than working on those oil rigs in the middle of the sea."

Tired, Basara took advantage of the fact that his father wouldn't be back soon and left his backpack by the door. There was no point in taking it to his room if he had to go to school the next day, anyway. He went straight to the bathroom, urgently needing a moment to relax.

The warm water of the bath filled the room with steam. Soon, he took off his clothes and immersed himself in that calm water. It was a relief. It had been a long day.

He closed his eyes, emptying his mind of everything that had happened. For a few moments, he could switch off. However, he got bored easily after ten minutes in the tub. Well, when he said that he used to be a fussy child to explain his scars, it wasn't really a lie.

'How boring... What am I going to do after class here?' Basara thought as he blew bubbles with his mouth in the water.

In this world, there were no cell phones, television, or comic books. How could he entertain himself? The most obvious option seemed to be to stay in the tub a little longer.

Minutes later, the hot water no longer so inviting, and the temptation to blow bubbles with his mouth came back to haunt him. However, before he gave in to the impulse, a more interesting thought came to mind.

'The Naughty System.'

Of course, as the day drew to a close, the system came back to Basara's mind. He knew he needed to check out the possibilities of it, better understand how it worked and, perhaps, discover something that could help him. He settled into the tub and said:

"Open Naughty System."

Immediately, an invisible screen appeared in front of him. Floating in the air, it had a dark blue hue. Impressively, the interface didn't have any attributes, inventory or things he might expect from a video game, just a balance section.

[Balance: 95 Naughty Points.]

"Okay... That screen that appeared for me earlier said that I could create, modify, and evolve skills. What skills do I have at the moment?"

[You don't have a skill that lets you see all your skills.]

"Urh... If I don't have one, can I use you to create a skill to help me with that?"

[Yes, you can create a skill to let you see what your skills are for 10 Naughty Points. Do you want to complete this action? YES/NO.]

Two options appeared to him, but rejecting them seemed unreasonable considering that the cost was low. So he tapped [YES].

[10 Naughty Points were debited.]

[What do you want the Skill in question to be called?]

"How about 'Fan of Skills'?"

[Skill "Fan of Skills" has been created.]

[Congratulations! You've received a bonus of 50 Naughty Points for creating your first skill!]

[+50 Naughty Points have been added to the Balance.]