Hana was stunned into silence, but around her, her classmates were shrieking and clamoring.
They were abuzz over the fact that a fifth-rank practitioner had come and that they were going to be taught by him.
Not to mention that he was the successor to the Sankourou clan.
The triple whammy had the students whooping in joy.
“I can’t believe it. This is awesome!”
“We’re going to be taught by an Obsidian practitioner? Talk about extravagant.”
“Not to mention that he’s hot!”
“Do you think he has a girlfriend?”
But unlike her overjoyed classmates, Hana was in turmoil.
“Master, are you okay?” Azuha asked, her voice only audible to Hana in the din filling the classroom.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
The bruise Yukizasa had left on her had faded long ago.
However, that didn’t mean that her anger was gone as well. Hana glowered at Yukizasa.
When break time rolled around, Kikyou came running to Class C. “Hana, are you all right?!” She was very worked up.
Kiriya trailed behind her, laid-back as always.
“I came here as fast as I could after hearing Yukizasa is the special instructor for your class! He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?!” Kikyou cried.
“I’m okay. He hasn’t tried anything,” Hana replied levelly in order to calm down her hysterical friend.
Kikyou knew that Yukizasa had hurt her last time and had wasted no time coming to check on Hana.
Kikyou’s fervor finally cooled. Kiriya, having arrived a second later, took his place beside her.
“Neither of you knew anything?” Hana asked.
“Not at all,” Kikyou replied. “The request probably went through the Association. Students like us who have no affiliation with the Association wouldn’t be told anything. Especially since we’re not from the same clan.
“Makes sense.”
“Anyway, it’s unprecedented for an Obsidian practitioner to be an instructor. Sure, he only passed his trial recently, but it’s amazing that the Association agreed to this. The same could be said of him taking on the assignment.”
“…Do you think he had another reason for coming?” Hana asked.
Considering the awful way they had met, she couldn’t help but be suspicious.
She hoped she was just reading too much into it, but her intuition said that he had an ulterior motive.
“I can go investigate, Master. What do you think?” Azuha suggested, fluttering in front of Hana.
Hana looked at her shikigami. That was certainly an option, but Yukizasa’s rough handling of Azuha was still fresh in her mind. She didn’t want Azuha anywhere near him.
“No. I’ll wait to see what he does. Thanks,” Hana said.
“Mmkay.” Azuha flew back to perch on Hana’s hair.
Hana had been wary of Yukizasa ever since her run-in with him and had been taking precautions to avoid him.
Yukizasa looked the part of a regular ladies’ man, and he looked pleased by the excited shrieks of the female students. The guys were watching him with an air of respect because of his rank, too.
To Hana, the smile that had been plastered on his face since the beginning seemed fishy for some reason. Was it because she remembered his icy gaze from their first meeting? The Yukizasa she knew was an entirely different person.
Yukizasa had been Saku’s friend in the latter’s days as a teenage rebel, but you wouldn’t know from his appearance that he had a wild past. In addition, he treated Hana’s classmates with kindness and courtesy.
However, because of the dark memory of their first encounter, Hana made sure that she never had to interact with him. Nonetheless, she couldn’t run forever, and one day…
“Hana Ichise,” Yukizasa called to her from behind.
Hana automatically grimaced. She adjusted her expression as she turned around.
He was wearing a shady smile.
Hana put everything she had into keeping her features still and placid. “Do you have business with me?”
“Your tone sounds barbed, or am I imagining it?”
“Who’s to say?”
There was no way she could keep the venom completely out of her tone, but it was surprising that he had picked up on it.
She glared at him with eyes full of wariness.
“You don’t have to be so cautious of me. I won’t do anything,” he said.
“You want me to believe you? After what you did when we first met? With no apology, either,” she sneered viciously, making her distaste for him clear. She was still holding a grudge.
Yukizasa shrugged as if he couldn’t be bothered. He squared himself to face Hana and bowed without any prelude. He apologized while Hana was in shock. “I was wrong. I’m sorry.”
They were in the middle of the hallway. The students streaming past gawked at the spectacle.
The one bothered by the stares was Hana, who had demanded Yukizasa apologize in the first place.
“W-wait a second!” she stammered.
“I won’t do it again. Please forgive me,” he added without raising his head.
Hana was greatly agitated. “Stop it!”
“I will if you forgive me.”
“I do. I forgive you!” she shouted, unable to bear the icy looks from onlookers.
Yukizasa straightened, a wide grin on his face. His expression was exactly the same as Saku’s when he had fun at her expense.
Hana’s eyes narrowed. “I think I understand why Saku used to get along with you.”
“Hold up. It’s not ‘used to.’ We still get along,” Yukizasa retorted.
“If you say so. Hope it’s not just your delusion,” she said coldly. She turned to flee, but he grabbed her arm.
The way he had manhandled her last time was still fresh in her memories, and she shook off his hand violently. This time, he let go immediately, but that did not make her feel any better.
“Will you stop pawing me whenever you please? You already have a previous offense on your record.”
Yukizasa raised his hands in surrender. “My bad,” he apologized with a grimace.
He was acting sincere, but Hana was still watching him with suspicion.
He squirmed under her unflinching gaze.
“You’re acting like a completely different person. Did you eat something weird?”
“Saku tore me a new one after the last time I saw you. He told me not to mess with you again.”
“Oh, really? I’ll have to praise him when I see him at home.”
“You don’t understand. He was terrifying. My stomach still hurts from his punch.” He rubbed his abdomen gingerly.
Apparently, Saku had sucker punched him in the gut.
“You get what you deserve.” She snorted disparagingly.
“You have an awful personality.”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m leagues better than some guy who would hurt a girl he just met. Be grateful I’m holding back from giving you another punch to the stomach while you’re still hurting.”
Hana made to leave again, but he blocked her way.
His repeated attempts to thwart her escape pissed her off, and she glared up at him in irritation. “What? What do you want?”
“I apologized, right? Make sure you report that to Saku.”
Her fed up gaze stabbed into him.
“I thought you actually felt bad for what you did to me, but it turns out, you’re just afraid of Saku. Pathetic.”
“He’s terrifying when he snaps, you know.”
“Who? Saku?” Hana tilted her head in puzzlement.
What was he talking about? She had never once felt scared of Saku. Yukizasa’s words were incomprehensible to her.
“Have you never seen him blow his top?”
“It’s a little different, but I’ve seen him angry before,” she said. “He’s so expressive, it’s a piece of cake to tell when he’s happy, sad, angry, what have you.”
“What?!” he burst out, shock painted across his features.
“What?” she asked.
“Full of expressions? Easy to read? Are you serious? Poker-faced robots like him are one in a million.”
“I should be the one asking if you’re serious. Poker-faced? That doesn’t describe Saku in the slightest. Who are you mistaking him for?”
“You’re—…” Yukizasa suddenly cut off and looked at Hana fixedly.
“What?” His eyes were boring holes into her, and she grew uncomfortable.
“Right, okay. I see. I get it.” He nodded to himself like he had figured something out and tousled her hair roughly.
“Hey!” she protested, brushing her hair back into place.
Their eyes met. His eyes were solemn.
“I can’t wait to see what you’ll do,” he said. His lips curved in a smile cold enough to give one chills.
Hana was startled by his sudden change in expression. “What do you mean?”
“You’ll understand soon enough.” He turned away. “Make sure you tell Saku I apologized,” he said and left.
She watched him walk away. Maybe he’s not such a bad guy after all, she thought, revising her opinion of him.
Perhaps she had been a little excessively cautious because they had gotten off to a bad start. He seemed to have reflected on his actions, too.
Hana decided there was no reason for her to purposefully avoid him anymore.
The thought that she would be betrayed didn’t cross her mind.