I am not a monster

Stepping out of the study, Rumi and Asahi stiffly tried to move their legs as soon as the door was shut behind them.

There was a pin drop silence right after.

Tenji thought about how he could address their first experience with the Artiquem.

'Did I go too far on the first try?' He worried as he switched glances between the two, his heart pounding with guilt.

Placing his hands on their shoulder, he felt them shiver and get a jump scare from his touch.

They slowly turned around and still stared at him with wide eyes.

"I deeply apologize for going a bit overboard with the training process, the overwhelming information would never go the way it did again." Tenji pleaded with a forced smile while trying to comfort them.

'That was more than my spellbook could contain.' Rumi replied in her thoughts when her lips couldn't keep up.

'A life-changing experience.' Asahi summed up his experience and blinked a few times.

Stepping into the corridor, Aki paused as soon as she saw the students and their attention on Tenji.

Storming up in his direction, she stopped once more when she got closer to the three. "Are you trying to kill them? Do they look like some sort of experiment?!"

Tenji raised his head and frowned at his sister's comment. "You jump to conclusions so fast that it's downright sad."

Shaking his head, he took the students by the hands and led them towards the living room.

"Stop!" Aki screamed at the top of her lungs, her body shaking with suppressed rage.

Taking one more step, Tenji stopped and turned around, "I can tell it would be the same whining you do, but could you mature a little bit and start acting like a 20-year-old? Just because you have no magic doesn't mean you take out your anger on me."

With that, he turned back to leave.

"Just because you inherited grandfather's ability, you see yourself as high and mighty. Remember you are still the despicable–"

Rumi and Asahi sensed something was wrong which prompted them to immediately look behind.

To their shock, they saw a green glow outlining Aki and stopped her from talking or moving.

She had her fingers pointed at Tenji and suspended in motion.

They quickly looked back at their professor struggling to regain control of his emotions as he let go of their hands.

"I am not a monster!" He muttered to himself through gritted teeth, holding his head and having his brows continually twitching.

~She doesn't deserve to live, how about teaching her a lesson?~ A smokey voice snickered in his head.

"No!" He muttered, frantically shaking his head at the emergence of the voice.

Rumi looked back at Aki and could see a quick vibration of her body due to an unknown force and panicked.

"Professor Tenji," she called out to the teacher who had his attention on the wall to his side, muttering incoherent words and punching at the wall.

Asahi jumped back in shock at how easily a dent was made in a concrete wall.

Persistent in her words, she took a step further and gently placed her hands on Tenji's shoulder, at that moment she could feel an overwhelming force overcome her which forced her to her knees.

It all came rushing to her on what had happened to professor Fiku, she had a frightening reason to act in such a way.

Her eyes wide with horror, she was pulled out with Asahi's hands on her shoulder shaking her to get back to her senses.

"Rumi speak to me!" He called out in worry.

Giving a nod of thanks for what he had unintentionally done, she requested he let her go.

Reluctantly, Asahi stepped back, feeling dejected by her rejection.

His mood only dropped further when she opened a portal and got in without a word to where she was headed or if she would return.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed and took steps back from being in the middle of the siblings.

****

In the headmistress's office,

Knock!

Knock!

Maiyu frowned at the unprecedented knock on her door and chose to ignore it, she had made no reservations to see anyone and she was going to keep it that way.

Knock!

Knock!

Slam!

She slapped her pen on the table and got to her feet in irritation at the persistent knocking.

'Who could it be?' She wondered.

Secretly enabling the door to be transparent for only her to view through, she was shocked to see it was none other than Rumi.

'What is she doing here?' Maiyu furrowed her brows and let her curiosity get the best of her.

With the snap of her fingers, the door opened which allowed Rumi in.

Stepping over the threshold, Rumi watched as the door slammed shut behind her and had a smirk the moment she faced the headmistress.

She hated the fact that no student could break through the barrier set in her office, nor could her teleportation work there.

Glad that she had made a bit of progress by getting in without a word, she folded her arms and waited until she was asked what had prompted her to get into the office.

"Have a seat." Maiyu offered with a ruse smile, trying her best to calm her nerves as she stared at Rumi.

Constantly reminding herself she was much older and needed to be mature about the strange situation that had led Rumi to her office.

Taking the offer a little too seriously, Rumi pulled on the chair by one of the armrests and jumped in for a seat, placing both legs on the right armrest of the swivel chair and took a spin before dropping her legs so she could face Maiyu.

Rumi's grin only widened as she stared at Maiyu's voluptuous chest that was covered by a black turtle neck top with a white fitted long-sleeved shirt with three of its buttons free.

Maiyu frowned at the gesture from Rumi and cleared her throat, "ahem!"

"Tell me, what brings you to my office?" She questioned, placed her elbows on the desk, and leaned forward.

*****

A/N

After my brief break due to my illness, I have to admit it feels good to be back and I appreciate those who had sent comforting words at the time of the announcement here and on my discord server. It's also fascinating that some read this book up until now.

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.

¶ Any idea on why Rumi is at Maiyu's office?