Blazblue: A Delightful Sensation

So... did anyone miss this story?

Well, yeah sorry about the delay. I been studying Games Programming for the past half-year and I love it!

Learnt more about C++ programming there than I did in Uni!

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Yes... I know... how did no one hear Jin call Ragna "Brother!"?

Well, don't worry, I explained briefly in this chapter. Oh don't worry, you people will see it.

Freaking hell guys... I was scared to write this... After the 26, 000 word monster I wrote, I felt pressured to do another.

I managed another 26,000 words monster, but I my goal is no chapter length, but reaching a satisfying end to a chapter.

Enough about that! Here's chapter three of Delightful Sensation!

Chap 3: The Best medicine

Amidst the slowly forming flow of students and NOL Academy staff whom most were drawn to where the epic showdown between two powerhouses had ended not to long ago. It was the two individual heading the opposing direction of the aforementioned masses who are of our interest; Ragna and Taro.

Ignoring the questions and other annoyances along the way, Ragna had chosen to remain quiet and let Taro do the talking, as it was obvious to him that Taro was an extroverted personality. However, he was at this moment strangely silent and there was only so much silence even Ragna could take, especially when it was from someone who seemed so talkative.

He broke the silence, "Hey."

However, Taro didn't respond, scrunching his face he called out to him again.

"Hey, Taro!" Ragna almost spat.

Taro jumped, "Oh, um yeah Ragna?" he responded with much less enthusiasm than Ragna had heard him use compared to earlier this morning.

"Are we anywhere near the infirmary yet?" he asked. The sooner he laid his head on a soft surface, the better.

Taro thought about that question for a minute, then suddenly, he looked around and jumped, "Oh! Sorry we just passed it! It right behind us!"

Ragna didn't say anything, instead, he just let Taro lead them both into the infirmary room which was free of occupants. There were three beds up against a wall, the closest bed was near the room entrance, the furthest was right next to the window and the middle bed was of course in between. They were separated generally with curtains for some visual privacy.

Ragna immediately brought himself close to the middle bed and dropped himself onto it.

"And that's my bed, ahhh~" Ragna sighed a breath of relief.

A few minutes later, Ragna looked to his left where Taro was huddled into a ball of sorts on the bed next to the window. He seemed to be thinking hard about something and it was honestly bothering him.

"Hey, what's up with you?" he asked him.

Taro looked at him, "Oh, it's nothing serious, just thinking that's all!" he gave his usual grin.

Ragna raised an eyebrow at him and continued talking.

"Really? Then I won't bother then."

This seemingly ended the conversation between the two men until Taro asked Ragna out of nowhere.

"Actually, Ragna, is it okay if I speak to you?"

Ragna rolled back to face him, "Sure, go ahead."

Taro looked down in depression, "It's just, ever since we fought Jinny, you know I was meant to protect him and all… But, after trying to fight him I could barely do anything against."

Ragna listened closely.

"I always knew Jinny was super strong, but never that strong… then you showed up and protected me. Not to mention, you fought Jinny head on and even won."

"Uh huh, so what are you getting at?" Ragna became increasingly worried, but never let his expression show otherwise.

"I'm just realising, that you and Jinny are amazing… whilst I'm barely even close, I couldn't do anything… I'm just so… weak..." Taro ended solemnly.

Ragna sat up and replied, "Look, true, you didn't do anything to Jin, but if you didn't show up when you did, then Mai would have definitely died. So don't beat yourself up so much, you at least did something I would have not been able to not at that time."

Taro's eyes regained a bit of light from his words, however, he was still dejected.

"Thanks Ragna, that helps a bit. But still, I'm…" Taro droned on.

Ragna got out of bed finally causing Taro to look up at him.

"Eh? What's up Ragna?" he asked.

Ragna told him, "I can't fall asleep, I'm not even tired or hurt anymore. As much as I'd like to keep you company, I'd rather not waste time here."

"No, I understand, sorry for making you hear me out." Taro said.

"Don't mention it, anyway, I'll see you around." Ragna walked out of the infirmary room leaving Taro to his lonesome.

"Alright, seeya Ragna." Taro replied in turn as Ragna closed the door shut. Taro then took this time to slowly contemplate his own self worth.

Outside the infirmary, Ragna had already began heading back to his dormitory room. As he was walking he was busy running through some annoying thoughts of his; most of it now concerning Taro.

'Damn it… Way to get me worried about somebody.' Ragna muttered within his mind as he walked..

As he was in the midst of his thoughts a pair of footsteps stopped before him demanding his attention. His sights now set upon a buxom blonde he had come to associate with being a 'bitch'.

"Hello Ragna, I see that you've already gotten yourself into trouble again." Emma began the conversation.

Ragna narrowed his eyes in a tiresome manner before saying,

"So I'm guessing you heard about me and Jin earlier then?" to which Emma nodded.

"That's right, I'm going to check on him now and perhaps have Seifer deal with Jin." Emma revealed her intentions.

Ragna nodded in agreement, "Yeah, do that. The little shit needs it, but what's this Seifer guy going to do to Jin?" he asked warily.

Emma replied, "Oh, Professor Seifer Albar, he's an Academy lecturer and a genius in alchemy. He isn't someone you see often, but he's a nice guy that everyone seems to like. He'll know what to do with Jin and his sudden outburst so it doesn't happen again."

Ragna's glare suddenly disappeared and exchanged a few words of gratitude, "Okay, that's not so bad, make sure he gets better and all that. Now then I'll be on my…"

"Hold on for a second Ragna, I have something for you." Emma reminded him.

"And that would be?" Ragna waited impatiently for an answer.

Emma pulled out an A4 sheet of paper with a 4 by 5 table grid on it.

"Your full time table, there are quite a few blanks just as all College students have."

Ragna took his timetable and looked over it quickly only to say in slight shock.

"Holy crap, I only have classes two days a week! I've got so much free time."

Emma gave him a slight glare.

"You mean study time, right?"

Ragna stepped back a bit before exasperatedly replying "Yes ma'am, study time. So, anything else I should know?"

Emma informed him,

"Although you only have about two days of class time, you can choose some electives that interest you, there's a list of them on the back of your timetable. However, be quick, the census date is only a month away."

Ragna thanked her and put his time table in his pocket,

"Alright, I'll check it out later, thanks Emma. Now can I go? Doesn't Jin need some attention?"

Emma nodded and excused herself, "Yes he does, I'll see you around Ragna." as she walked off into the distance.

As Ragna watched her walk off towards where Jin should still be, he remembered Mai's words about Emma not being too bad. He hated to admit, she may have been right.

"Argh… I guess she's alright."

He resumed going over his time table once more and saw that he only had one class left for today; the Armagus Lab subject where he had to do that stupid light assessment. However, the college student, being himself, shrugged since on the bright side, he'd be hanging out with the girls he had recently befriended. Along with lingering thoughts of Taro's mood and his last battle, which made going to the Lab class a few hours early seemingly more appealing.

With that, Ragna began taking steps with a hasty stride, which made it very clear to the other students. Who wanted to approach him about his victory over Jin that he had nothing to say. With rough shoves reinforcing his desire to be left alone.

With each dozen or so steps, many thoughts running amok within the young man's head threatened to burst his head open.

'Damn it all! Jin is still batshit crazy! It's all that friggin' Nox Nyctores' fault'. A vision of Jin's sadistic face brimming with joy as he sliced away at Ragna, flashed through his head.

Then Taro, a friend he made recently had been hurt in a way he couldn't stop.

'... I couldn't do anything… I'm just so… weak…' Taro's judgement of his self worth ate away at Ragna's mind.

'The feeling of being weak… not being able to protect something you value… I understand that pain…' a deep part of Ragna's being resonated within.

With that last thought, Ragna had just arrived at the front door where he had just grabbed the door handle with his right arm. His right arm… the Azure Grimoire which was said to be the greatest power of them all. He could barely use this thing yet, sure he had defeated Jin, but what? He had done it barely, even with it's help. Was he actually getting stronger?

He shook his head and slammed the door open to reveal the empty classroom. That brought some comfort, he could at least have time to think and relax before the hours passed.

He approached the table where he and Mai had finally met each other again. He found his seat and sat upon it whilst thinking about how far he had come from the day he lost his right arm.

Screw thinking he thought. It was just making him more agitated and frustrated than he already was. This lead him to just keep his eyes shut and eventually nod off.

1 hour later, at a special infirmary.

At another location situated much closer to the site of battle than where our white-haired grump as of the moment. The detectives of Remix Heart and Emma were accompanying a man who was dressed in a white lab coat over a rather formal set of suit pants, a vest over a white button shirt and over his eyes, a pair of glasses. His hair was styled back and his face was quite thin and sharp, however, he eluded a very calm and respectful aura which earned him the respect of all students who met him.

"Excuse me Mr Cypher, will Jin be okay?" Tsubaki asked him with worry and trembling evident in her voice due to her earlier crying fit.

Seifer turned his head as much as could towards the redhead and gave her a reassuring smile.

"You have naught for worry Miss Yayoi. Jin Kisaragi will be better than he was before. As long we get him immediate medical assistance that is." he assured her.

Tsubaki's face brightened enough to cause even blind people to cover their eyes.

"That's wonderful to hear! Thank you so much." she gave her utmost gratitude.

Emma however stepped in, "Don't thank us yet, we still need to give him some treatment."

Tsubaki hopped a bit, "Y-Yes Emma, of course, please do it right away!"

Makoto put a hand on Tsubaki's shoulders, "Hey chill Tsubaki~ Your man Jin is going to be all~ fine!" she gave her redheaded friend some happy-go-lucky charm.

"B-B...But I've never seen him be hurt so badly before. Not to mention psychotic." Tsubaki mentioned.

Noel stepped up to comfort her with Makoto, "He'll be okay Tsubaki, we know how strong Jin is, he'd never be down for long."

Tsubaki looked up at her two friends, she saw in their eyes a pair of powerful flames which refused to believe that Jin's radiance would ever burn out. This made her feel silly, hence she chuckled whilst quenching any doubts of Noel's and Makoto's.

"Hehe! You guys are right! Jin will definitely get better!" Tsubaki glowed much to her two best friends joy.

Seeing the interactions of the three girls put a warm smile upon Mai's face.

'Even in the worst of times… girls can always smile and bring the best out of anything…' Mai mused over the amazing traits of the female sex.

Mai stepped up to them which got their attention and suggested,

"How about we help out in getting Jin better like this morning?"

Makoto winked and gave her the thumbs up, "Way ahead of you Mai!"

Noel nodded enthusiastically whilst Tsubaki nodded with a sparkle in her eyes causing Mai to grin with determination to help Jin. However, when she took one step closer to Jin, he began to tremble and grunt in pain.

"Urgh! Darrh!" Jin tussled in the stretcher which had belts to restrain him for any other outlashes.

Seifer pushed up his glasses and said, "I figured as much, Mai get away from him."

"Y-yes" Mai complied with his command and saw that Jin slowly returned to laying unconscious.

"But why is he trembling so much?" she couldn't stop herself from asking.

Cypher explained "Emma gave me the details about your condition…" Mai shot up at this.

"... I suspect that he's reacting violently to the traces of Azure that are within you. So your presence won't help at all."

Noel spoke up, "B-But can't we do something to Mai so she being here won't make Jin react?"

Cypher told them, "There is…" causing the girls to look up in hope.

"But it'd involve activities that I don't think Emma and you girls would appreciate." Cypher told them with a smile.

"What do you mean by that?" Makoto asked.

Emma answered for the professor, "For that to happen, the process involves stripping her naked."

At this, all the girls flushed a deep red.

"Oh~ Um okay, then, I guess you three can go on with me. Seeya later."

"We'll see you soon Mai!" Noel said.

"Too you as well." Tsubaki to her.

"Laters!" Makoto said to Mai.

They all waved goodbye one last time before Mai walked off into the long hallway. The blunette's expression transitioned from a smile to one of deep concentration; one akin to a buddhist's monk. Her thoughts were now focused on her room mate Kajun.

Mai wondered aloud "Now where did Kajun disappear to? Someone must have seen her."

Mai went about giving a brief and careful sweep of the rooms she passed. So far, after a 10 minutes which seemingly flowed at a snail's pace, she halted her search when she noticed the infirmity room.

"Infirmity? Maybe I'll ask those two if they have seen Kajun. " she said as she opened the door whilst preparing to greet two people, only to instead find one.

"Eh? Hey Taro? I thought Ragna was with you?" she asked the man who was busy playing with a vase of flowers.

Taro turned around, "Oh!? Hey there Mai-Mai! Yeah he just left a few minutes ago, I think I bugged him out a little. Hehe!" he told her.

Mai nodded but noticed something off about him.

"Hey, Taro, what's wrong?" she asked in worry.

Taro feigned confusion, "What do you mean? I'm fine!" he tried to laugh off.

Mai stepped forward and reprimanded him, "Taro, we're friends, you can tell me."

Taro continued laughing until he piped down.

"Heh… You saw through me too…" Taro said.

Mai tilted her head in confusion.

Seeing this Taro informed her,

"Ragna could somehow tell I wasn't being myself. I think that's why he left."

"But what are you so down about?" Mai asked which made Taro recap his weakness against Jin and how useless he was.

Mai told him, "Taro… Ragna was right, you saved me when he couldn't, doesn't that count for something?"

Taro smiled, "Thank you, really, but that still doesn't change the fact I…"

Mai bit her bottom lip in increasing worry for her fellow guy friend, if she was still a guy. Although she had never spoken to Taro that often, she could understand Taro's depression of insignificance.

"I think you just need some time, okay. Anyway, I'll catch you later." Mai waved goodbye.

Taro gave her a ghost of a wave, "Yeah, seeya later as well Mai."

Mai sweat dropped, he didn't even call her a nickname he usually gave to people he considered his friends.

Just as she was about to exit the infirmary, she jolted,

"Hold on, sorry, but have you seen Kajun by any chance?" she asked.

Taro replied, "No haven't seen 'Jun in a while."

Mai nodded and gave him her gratitude.

"Thanks man, I'll leave you to it"

"Seeya." Taro waved before looking out the window.

Back in the hallway with Mai, she closed the door to the infirmary before she continued her search for Kajun. However, we each iteration of rooms she had passed, her energy to press on has diminished along with the, the young lady sighed in defeat.

"*yawn* This is getting nowhere… I

I might as well just get to class and try to work on the assignment." Mai told herself.

Turning around to face the corridor which happened to be the one where her Ars Magus Lab class is held, she walked into it for not even 6 steps and she bumped into someone.

The short auburn haired figure look up,

" Oh, Mai right? Tsubaki's friend?"

Mai blinked before nodding.

"Yeah, that's me, you're Akane, what's up?" she inquired.

Akane put his hands to the side and simply said, "Just looking for where that goofball Taro went. That's all."

Mai's mood went down a little and broke the news to him.

"Well about him, he's in the infirmary near where the incident happened. And he's a little depressed at the moment." she told him.

Akane stopped smiling, "That guy? Depressed, damn, that's impossible. Ah, never mind, I think I'll go see him right now. I think maybe some donuts will cheer him up." Akane suggested.

Mai smiled, "Yeah, that might work, now seeya later"

Akane walked passed, "Bye." leaving the area to search for his friend.

As did she, passing two more rooms and then bingo. The room for her next class was just before her. Her hand then reached for the handle and she slid it open.

Armagus Lab, Classroom

What she saw before her shocked her, there was the person she was looking for staring at seemingly nothing.

"Kajun!? Where were you? I was looking all over for y-" but Mai was shushed.

"Shh~ Sorry about that, but I had something important to do." Kajun told her.

Mai was a little miffed at what she was told and had to ask.

"Like what?" her eyes beginning to twitch.

Kajun pointeda delicate finger in front of her.

"Like watching him sleep." she ended with a giggle.

Following her eccentric roommate's finger, her gaze eventually fell upon Ragna which made her almost burst into a fit of giggles like Kajun.

"Oh man, he looks so angry even when he's asleep." Mai commented.

Kajun made a sound of agreement.

"Mmhm! I know, he looks so grumpy." she added

They noticed Ragna's face crunch up into an even more hilarious face. At least to them.

"Now it looks like he's holding in a big one." Mai laughed a little along with Kajun giggling.

Ragna's eyes suddenly opened, "Probably because I was awake this entire time." he scared Mai whilst Kajun still giggled.

"Oh so you were awake, I knew someone couldn't look that angry whilst sleeping." Kajun smiled.

Ragna sneered, "Hey, how I look while sleeping is my concern. Now what the hell were you two doing?" he asked expectantly them as he crossed his arms.

Kajun replied, "Watching you sleep, not sure what Mai and the others were doing?"

Mai spoke up, "Well the others are with Jin and are helping out in his recovery. I was looking for you the whole time, where were you?"

Her eyes brimming with curiosity.

Kajun looked in her direction and gave her a grin.

"I became a little nauseous seeing Ragna here all cut up and ran as fast as I could to find some medicine." she gave them the short story.

Ragna's eyebrows rose whilst Mai's eyes opened wide in slight disbelief.

"Really?" Mai said out loud.

Kajun just smiled like she normally does,

"Yes, really."

Ragna interrupted, "Okay, glad you're better then, Princess. So ah? Are you two going to get changed or not?" he pointed out their attire; their P.E uniforms.

They both did a double take and gave it a thought. However, Kajun voiced both their decisions.

"No dice, this lady would rather prefer a nice long break, wouldn't you agree?" Kajun asked Mai with that look which expected you to know what they were thinking.

In this case, Mai agreed, "Yeah, so much has happened this morning and my legs are numb from that fight."

Mai stretched out her legs and back as she finally realised how exhausted she was.

Whilst she was doing that, Kajun found herself a seat on a desk just to the right side of Ragna. She called Mai over,

"Then how about we taking seat Mai, we can talk about what we will probably do after break." Kajun suggested.

Mai nodded lazily and plopped besides her room mate.

"Yeah sure, why not? Got nothing better to do." Mai replied as she let out a tired sigh.

Ragna who was just observing then added his two cents, "I will just be right thinking to myself."

Kajun then smirked, "Sure, you do that. Whilst I~" her fingers wiggled as they scanned for their "targets". Those aforementioned fingers were then thrust into the pillow caverns which must been gifted from the heavens. The keeper of the said gift let out an alarming squeak which cause our white haired protagonist to look in the direction hence it came. What he saw made him ask himself two questions.

'Do I stop this, or keep watching?' Ragna questioned.

As he thought this, the girl being assaulted by Kajun's hands squirmed and flailed her arms in 'resistance'.

"Kajun!? Stop! Please not now!" Mai begged.

Kajun however, just whispered into Mai's ear with a sultry voice.

"Oh come on~ Don't act like you don't like this~ Ahh~ So relaxing playing with you~" she mused.

Mai's face burned due to her voice and the face that she was doing this in front of Ragna. Which reminded her.

"Please… j-just stop! Ragna is watching!" Mai told her.

Ragna blinked before coughing and looking away.

"I'm not now." he replied making Mai's face show gloom.

"Please help me Ragna." she tried to ask but Kajun bet her to that.

"Hey Ragna, why don't you join and double team Mai with me?" she suggested.

Ragna coughed uncontrollably whilst Mai's face became even more red.

"Ah! What did you ask me?" he questioned with disbelief.

Kajun slyly smiled, "Why not join us? I think we'll all enjoy it."

Ragna gained a hint of pink on his face and politely decline.

"I'll pass, I don't want to add to her suffering."

Kajun countered, "She isn't suffering, I recall that she didn't mind when you grabbed her chest." she tittered.

Both Ragna and Mai spat at the same time.

"It was an accident!" Ragna defended.

"I didn't notice it!" Mai defended

Kajun just giggled at the two people's reactions, enough to allow Mai a quick escape. She fell forward and leaped to the seat next to Ragna's then she leaned over the desk they share as she caught he breath.

"Ha...ha… wuah, I… survived… the onslaught… of… Kajun…" Mai told Ragna who was looking at her with worry.

"You alright? That was… a pretty damn powerful attack she used on you." Ragna replied as a joke, or not giving at how he didn't dare look at a giggling Kajun right behind him. There was this weird aura coming off of her that gave him the chills.

Mai looked into Ragna's eyes with her own filled with dread as if she had seen a horror flick.

She waved her arms around whilst telling him, "You have no idea… I don't understand… I'd rather be cut up by Jin's attack that ever be caught by her." she described the immense power Kajun's groping hands.

Ragna nodded along adding in his own comments.

"I could see that, glad I don't have huge tits." he added.

Mai nodded, "Yeah you're so lucky that… huh?" her face froze as her mind just processed what he said. She wasn't alone, Kajun even stopped laughing to look at Ragna.

Ragna noticed this sudden silence, he took a quick look at both girls before realising what he said.

He waved his arms in defense whilst telling them,

"Hey come on! It's true! If you can harass them Princess…" he stressed as he eyed Kajun.

"Then I can point them out!" as he looked back at Mai who was still reeling from his comment about her bust.

A few seconds after he said that, Kajun shrugged, "Well, he does have a point."

Mai slowly nodded, "Y-Yeah, I guess why can't blame him." she begrudgingly agreed.

Ragna took a deep breath, "Okay" he turned to Mai.

"Look I'm sorry about what I said, I just saying the truth." Ragna apologised but Mai smiled and waved him off.

"It's alright! Compared to what Makoto, Kajun and even Noel say about my chest, what you said is tame. I'm used to it." Mai laughed it off.

Ragna let out a small breath, "Phew, I thought I was going to get slapped."

Mai laughed at his comment, "Hey, it's not that bad, besides, you're right, you should be glad you don't have these yourself."

Ragna nodded, "I know, feels weird to be talking about a topic like this with a girl, but…"

Mai flushed, "Yeah… let's do something else." she suggested before they ended up talking about things only guys would talk about openly… even though she was a guy at heart.

Therefore, to pass the time, the trio of Ragna, Mai and Kajun all worked on the light spell they had to do. The two girls were still struggling with the spell, so Ragna had to give some advice here and there.

Mai tried to make the spell last longer, but it never did.

"Damn it, why is it so hard to maintain? At this rate I don't think we'll ever finish that last part of the assignment." she gloomed.

Ragna scratched his head, "Yep, I think this assessment is just to mess with us." he replied.

Kajun popped in, "Agreed, that's why I'd rather use the power of science to do this instead." she told them whilst popping out a small little tube that looked like her lipstick.

Mai looked on curiously, "Um, Kajun, what is that?" Ragna's attention was also on what Kajun had in her possession.

Kajun smirked whilst explaining with an enthusiasm only she was capable of.

"It's special light ars magus tool I made in my spare time, it does the spell for me and I don't have to put in any more effort than just a click." she exclaimed as she turned on the 'Lipstick light'.

The device emitted an almost blinding light, just like the one Mai had created earlier, only this one stayed lit for much, much longer that her own.

"Wow, that's amazing Kajun! Is this how you're going to pass the assignment?" she asked.

Kajun nodded, "That's right, the assessment only requires us to 'create' the spell, but doesn't say how?" she smartly explained.

Mai laughed at Kajun's genius whilst Ragna cracked a smile.

"Cool, wish I was good with gadgets. Instead I'm stuck where I am until Mai finally gets her Arsmagus down." Ragna said. Mai slumped a bit whilst laughing half-hearted.

"Um… sorry?" Mai replied.

Ragna told her, "No offense, lets just keep practicing until you get it down."

At this Mai agreed, however, before they could continue, the door opened to reveal the teacher along with a few students, two of which they were acquaintances with.

"Oh! Hey! Tsubaki! Noel over here! I found Kajun!" Mai called to them.

Tsubaki smiled at her and bowed a bit whilst Noel cheered back at Mai.

"Mai! Good to see you!" Noel greeted, but the teacher raised his voice.

"Quiet! Everyone! I appreciate your enthusiasm, but only when you're all using towards your work. Now get started!" the Arsmagus Lab teacher ordered.

"Yes sir!" the students obliged.

Half an hour into the class, many of the students were scratching their heads in frustration. While they all now know how to produce the light arsmagus, how to combine each other's own light into some sort of weaponised beam had just escaped them.

The frustration could be felt in the atmosphere, so the teacher stepped up and told them, "Everyone, I can see you're all struggling on the last part. Anyone what to ask for some advice?" he questioned.

The students all looked up in hope, but they were all too scared to ask out of pride or nerves.

The teacher face faulted, "Guys! Like I said, it's okay to ask for help and admit you don't know something. Even I myself don't know everything." at this, a random student raised his hand.

"Yes, Evan, what's your question?" he asked.

The student, Evan asked, "Well, me and my friend both got this spell down to a T, but for some reason, whenever we put the spell together, it just doesn't work."

The teacher responded, "Have any of you tried to mold the armagus to match the other person?"

At this Ragna and Mai perked up along with Tsubaki, Noel and Kajun.

The teacher continued, "This armagus is very delicate, to combine each of your own together, you both have to match each other's wavelengths or understand each other well. For instance, your best friend is an ideal partner." he informed them.

At this, Tsubaki had to ask, "Wait, but, what if the person we end up using the spell with we don't really know? Maybe even dislike?" she added as a point to which many of the students all spoke up about this assignment being a dud.

The teacher shuushed them, "Hey! That's the point of this assessment, to see if you guys can overcome that. Because in the NOL, you're going to be paired up with many others you might not like, even hate. But when push comes to shove, you may only have each other to rely on, what choice do you have?"

He looked around and saw many of the bewildered and shocked faces of the students.

"Exactly, you have to at the very least, respect your fellow comrade. That's the purpose behind this Armagus. Now, any other questions?" he looked around, then he let the students continue their work.

With Mai and Ragna, they began to discuss what they had just learnt.

"Okay, I think we get along well enough, so maybe we just need to match… wavelengths?" Mai suggested.

Ragna shrugged, "Well yeah, but like the guy said, it might be more that we only just became friends yesterday and don't really know how to match wavelengths. Heck this is all new to me, this cooperative armagus. I mean" he admitted.

Mai let out a breath of defeat, "Oh man, we're not going to be finishing this soon are we?"

"Took the words right out of my mouth…" he replied, but he insisted they might as well practice anyway.

1:00 PM: Early afternoon, Lunchtime

The bell that signaled that the long loved breaktime had gone, telling many of the NOL Academy students that lunch was awaiting them.

Ragna and Mai, got up whilst stretching and cracking a few sore spots on their bodies.

"Argh! Damn, I hate these friggin' chairs, they make class worse than it already is." Ragna growled lowly.

Mai agreed, "Yeah, I feel that, *pop* now that feels better!" she perked up.

She was about to suggest to Ragna that they should head to the Cafeteria, however, a bunch of students swarmed Ragna.

Ragna held his hands up, "Whoa! What the fu-!" he almost swore.

"Dude! How did you beat Jin!" a random student asked.

Another called out, "Yeah! You're so strong! How did you do it?"

And many more comments like that were made, along with the random.

"Go out with me!" a random girl called out to him.

Ragna tried to move out but they were pushing into him from all directions.

"H-Hey! One at a time and ow! Who stepped on my foot!?" Ragna yelled.

The swarm had almost swallow him if it wasn't for hi redheaded friend.

"Ahem! Excuse me! All of you! Can't you see that you're bothering Ragna?" Tsubaki scolded them with a fierce voice that made everyone stiffen up.

The random students immediately felt ashamed and moved away from Ragna who finally got a breather.

Tsubaki and Noel came up to him and asked if he was okay.

"Um, Ragna, are you okay?" Noel asked him with worry evident in her eyes.

Ragna looked up at her and stood tall again.

"I'm fine, just… as long as I don't get swarm again.. Jesus, I thought it was a rape attempt for second." Ragna chose the 'right' word for the right moment.

Many of the people who heard this laughed. Tsubaki and Noel turned red at the blunt description he just worded, but found themselves laughing wholeheartedly.

Mai and Kajun also found themselves laughing at Ragna's unique way of describing the situation he was in.

"Oh my, Ragna you have a way with words that no one else does." Tsubaki giggled along with her friends.

Ragna looked back at the girls he befriended only a day ago with a horrified face, "Hey, you guys wouldn't be laughing if it were you."

Mai joined in, "Well, you're safe now, that counts for something." she said.

Ragna nodded, "Alright, now can we go somewhere else where I'll actually feel safe?" he requested.

Noel jumped up, "No problem, let's all get lunch! Makoto is probably already getting dessert for us!"

Tsubaki's and Kajun's eyes twinkled at this, they were excited for that what they had for today.

"Oh yes, the special triple chocolate brownies they make, oh yes let's head off there now." Tsubaki suggested with her student council act slipping for just this occasion.

All the girls except Mai herself cheered for it and began marching towards the cafeteria.

"Hey Mai, what's the deal about these chocolate brownies they make? Are they any good?" Ragna asked whilst he walked behind her and the girls.

Mai waved her hand to say no.

"I wouldn't know, but I heard that it's one of the most infamous items in the Academy cafeteria that they only make 3 times a year." Mai informed him.

Ragna nodded, "Really? Then it mustn't be that good if they don't make it that often, otherwise they'd be selling it everyday." Ragna reasoned with logic.

Mai nodded in agreement, but she still wistfully replied, "Yeah, you're probably right, but… still… one day I'd like to try one when I get my taste fixed."

Ragna didn't say anything, but did narrow his eyes a bit when she said that.

The journey to the cafeteria, was fortunately over by that time, they were greeted to the massive golden chandeliers hanging well above the well polished wooden tables which were already brimming with hungry students, with more going to and from the food buffet area.

"Wow! There are so many people here already! I don't think we'll get the special triple chocolate chip brownies at this rate!" cried Noel.

Tsubaki however, turned Noel around, "Don't lose hope Noel, we can definitely get our share. But there's always a next time." Tsubaki comforted her, but her eyes showed the same desire for those brownies as Noel's.

Ragna just voiced his opinion, "Whoa, they're determined to get those brownies, maybe they are good if it can make them like that."

Mai replied, "The girls are always like that when it comes to these desserts." she giggled at the two.

Whilst they were talking, Kajun who was kept her calm was looking into the crowd and spotted a wiggling hazelnut tail poking in and out of the crowd.

"I don't think you two need to worry, I think someone gave us hope after all." Kajun informed them with a smile and a glint in her eyes.

They heard the half-beast yell out, "Hey, make way, make way! Nothing is taking these precious babies away from me!" Makoto warned the crowd in the buffet area.

Noel waved to Makoto, "Makoto! Over here!"

Makoto looked up and saw her friends, "Hiddy ho! I'll be right there! Hiyah!" she jumped high into the air causing her friends to watch in amazement.

"Wow! Makoto sure is strong." Noel admired her friend.

Tsubaki did as well,"Yeah, she's always had so much energy!"

Kajun smiled at her furry friend and added, "I believe she just had something to fight for, those brownies I suppose." she jested.

Makoto landed right before them with a goofy grin on her face, "Hiya y'all! I managed to get these super intense, tasty sweet chocolate goodness of waistline destruction for all of us!" Makoto drooled on about the special brownies of legend making all the girls besides Mai to gain twinkles in their eyes.

"Oh my… I can't wait to eat them!" Noel exclaimed.

Kajun smiled and admitted, "I'm trying to keep myself prim and proper, but maybe just for these occasions." she decided to indulge.

Tsubaki held up her hands and told them, "Hehe! I'm excited too, but let's find a place to enjoy them first." she suggested despite her desire to just dig in where they are right now.

However, Ragna who was just looking around happened to spot two familiar guys he had met earlier today. The auburn hair guy and the tall dark haired, tan guy.

'Huh? Those two again? Akane and Taro, Akane seems to be trying to cheer Taro up with some treats. But it doesn't seem to be working.' Ragna noted.

Then he responded to Tsubaki's suggestion and told her, "Hey, um, not to disappoint, but all the tables are taken, where are we going to eat?"

The girls looked around and saw that the tables were indeed not an option, however, this wasn't anything new to them.

Makoto answered, "Don't cha worry pal, we got our own special spot for our special meal now don't we guys?" she reminded her friends.

"Yep, we know the place." Tsubaki replied.

Noel cheered, "Alright! Let's get over there now!"

The group began rushing towards the exit and headed off to the awaited destination.

"Hey, wait for us!" Mai chased after the girls as Ragna followed suit.

"Urgh! These girls are going to be the end of me." he said to himself.

On that, Ragna was right.

1:10PM: A hilly field

After a good 5 or 7 minutes of chasing after the excited girls holding the brownies. The Remix Heart pretty girls detectives, plus one boy found themselves at small hilly field bathing in warm, rays of sunlight that gave the flowers that enchanting charm. All this, followed by a cool breeze and a group of happy teens and one adolescent.

"We're here, yay!" Noel cheered as she knew that the moment of truth was about to come.

Makoto follow, "Oh yeah! The moment we've all been waiting for!"

Tsubaki giggled, "Settle down now, we'll get to it soon."

Kajun replied, "Yes, the legendary brownies." with that sparkle in her eyes that never seemed to have left.

Ragna on the sidelines, just said to himself, "It like they discovered gold or some shit."

Mai chuckled at his comment, "I think that as well."

Then the girls all took a piece of their brownies before popping one into their mouths. A few seconds passed and they all squealed in delight.

"Mmmm! It's so good!" Noel moaned in ecstasy.

Makoto howled in pleasure, "My tongue~ This is heaven on a plate~" she chimed.

Tsubaki's reaction was more formal, but just as joyful, "I can't even begin to describe this sensation I'm feeling." whilst she rubbed her thighs together for some reason.

Kajun let out a breath of happiness, "Ahh~ It's so warm and gooey in my mouth~ This is sensational~" in a rather sultry voice.

Watching and hearing the girls eat the brownies, Ragna began to feel his own excitement build up. Except…

"Now I'm getting excited, but I don't think it's for the brownies." he admitted to himself.

Mai herself had to agree, the sounds these girls make when they enjoy desserts was something she had to get used to when she became friends with them.

"But, look at how happy they are… *sigh* I wonder if I'll ever get to experience that someday?" Mai said to herself.

Ragna looked towards her for a while, that was the second time today that she said something like that.

'Hm, so she misses enjoying regular food. I think most people would have gone crazy if they were in her place.' Ragna thought to himself.

However, Ragna was knocked out of his musing when someone got his attention, "Ragna! You haven't had a piece yet, you've got to try this!" Makoto pestered him.

Ragna leaned back quickly, "Okay, I will just let me get a slice."

Noel joined in, "Yes, please do! You don't know what you're missing out on if you don't try this." she got in his face with her own smothered in chocolate.

Ragna stared at the brownie in his hands with harsh critique in his eyes. So far, it looked like a really gooey and sticky chocolate bar with extra choc chips.

"Is it really that good?" Ragna asked.

Tsubaki answered with firm look in her eyes, "Yes, it is very delicious."

Kajun added, "One of the greatest creations of all time."

Ragna looked at all the girls one by one, noting all their smiles and anticipating his moment to have a bite.

"Okay, I'll try it. Ah~ *chomp*" Ragna took a small bite out of his brownie and chewed.

All the girls leaned forward, waiting for his verdict.

"Well, isn't good?" Kajun asked.

Ragna swallowed before opening his eyes.

"Hey, this is pretty good." Ragna admitted with an impressed smirk on his face.

However, the girls besides Mai herself gained a flaming aura. Something that Ragna took note of and backed away slowly, "Um… did say something wrong?"

Mai answered, "I think they expected you to say something along the lines of.." she took a deep breath and mocked in a higher pitched voice.

"Oh wow! This is amazing! So good!" she finished her line and ended with "Or something like that."

Ragna blanched at Mai's impression and announced, "Hey, it's really good alright! But not that good I'd be all ga-ga goo-goo over it."

The aura of the other girls intensified causing Ragna to feel true fear. Meanwhile Mai just winced, "Oh, bad move Ragna, may you find peace." she jested.

Ragna however began to creep back and said to the girls, "H-hey, we can talk a-about this, besides you guys… well um… Overhyped it."

This however was the last straw, Noel, Makoto, Tsubaki and Kajun looked at each other with militant looks before facing Ragna once more.

They then each grasped their brownies.

"Maybe you didn't take a big enough bite Ragna?" Noel smiled sickly sweetly before she broke a chunk of her brownie.

Tsubaki also agreed, "That's right, you did have a very small piece. Don't be shy." she broke her brownie which made a sound akin to metal snapping causing Ragna to pale and sweat.

Ragna tried to formulate a sentence, "Hey… Hey, what are you?" but Makoto interrupted.

"This stuff is heavenly… It'd be a waste if you didn't try it the way you were meant to." Makoto said to whilst breaking a chunk of her own which emitted a echoing crack.

Ragna finally questioned the logic behind that, "Okay! What the hell is up with those brownies!?"

Kajun however, just snapped hers and looked towards him, "I don't really know what's happening but it seems fun."

Ragna replied, "Don't think it will be for me…"

Then those for girls reach over towards Ragna's trembling mouth, "Now open wide!" They all chanted demonically.

Ragna almost shit his pants the same colour as those brownies and looked towards Mai. The triple choc chip brownies with literally one nibble was sweet enough to make one sick, but four bite sized chunks? That would be overkill!

"H-hey! Do something! Anything!" he begged.

Mai sighed in amusement and stepped in, "Hey, guys, how did things go with Jin? She asked them before any 'harm' was done.

They all paused, Tsubaki hearing anything about Jin immediately answered,"Oh, yes Jin! They said he'd make a full recovery within a week, but Professor Cypher said the restraining ars he's making for Jin will take some time." Tsubaki informed them of earlier.

Mai and Kajun smiled at this information, "That's great to hear!"

Whilst this happened Noel and Makoto both looked around the area before saying,

"Hey, how did I get here?" Noel wondered in confusion.

As did Makoto who did a double take for them, "Yeah, we weren't here second ago. Wait a minute?" Makoto noticed both her hand and Noel's that they had their brownies in Ragna's direction.

With his heavy breathing, it seemed to Makoto that he was about to take a bite out of their brownies. She and Noel recoiled.

"Hey! You were trying to take a bite out of our brownies!" Makoto accused.

Ragna sputtered, "W-wha um… No! You guys were-"

Noel gave Ragna a little glare, "No, you can't have any of mine! You already have your own." Noel told him.

Ragna looked in disbelief, "You were all holding me at gun point with those brownies."

Makoto shoved that off, "Yeah, yeah, keep lying buddy, we know just how scrumptious these things are!"

Ragna let out a breath of defeat, this was never going to be a battle he'd win.

Suddenly, a commanding voice they had all come to recognise as Emma had called to them.

With her hands on her hips, "There you all are! I was looking for all of you girls. Ragna? You're here too? That's even better." she exclaimed.

Makoto waved, "Afternoon ma'am!" followed by Noel who greeted her, "Hello Emma!"

Tsubaki slightly bowed where she sat and asked her, "Good afternoon Miss Emma, what did you need from us?"

Emma gave them a harsh look as she normally did and told them,

"Well, earlier today, you saw how much damage Jin caused to the academy with his Ars Magus and Yukianesa. Now the school is trying to melt the ice by turning up the temperature throughout level 7."

Kajun asked, "That's good, but what does that have to do with us Miss Emma?"

Emma put on a slight smiling putting them at unease, "Well, since you are Jin's friends, it's only fair that you'll have to clean up his mess."

Noel and Makoto whined whilst Kajun looked a bit displeased.

"But why? We didn't…" Makoto tried to talk back, however, Tsubaki jumped in.

"Yes! We definitely will!" Tsubaki glowed whilst the other girls fall over.

Ragna looked at Mai, "Well sucks to be you guys, hehe"

Emma looked to him, "Your not off the hook sir, you gravely injured Jin and your punishment is to help these girls with melting the ice." she told him.

Ragna frowned, "Grr, why? But I just got here yesterday and need to catch up." he argued.

Emma crossed her arms under her chest, "I said it before, Jin is injured because of you and besides, don't you have plenty of free time on your hands?" she smirked deviously.

Ragna being a smartarse, replied, "No I don't, didn't you say it was 'study' time?" he grinned cockily.

Emma glared and leaned over him, "Don't play smart with me you punk! Or else you'll be punished severely." she threatened.

Ragna blew her off, "Yeah? With what, a bad report?" he smirked.

Emma smirked in return, "I see, a tough guy huh?" she then looked to Noel.

"Noel Vermilion!" Emma yelled her named.

Noel sat up quickly in fright, "Y-yes ma'am!"

Emma commanded her, "For the duration of the ice melting task, you are to cook Ragna his meals for that time."

All the girls besides Mai turned green.

Ragna paled and sweat dropped, "Oh hell no! Anything but that!" he exclaimed.

However Mai looked to him and admitted her envy.

"Oh boy, you're so lucky! Hey, maybe you could share it with me." Mai suggested with a twinkle in her eyes and drool dribbling out of her mouth.

Ragna looked at her and thought out loud, "Hey that's a plan-" but Emma stepped in.

"And only you can eat Ragna, no sharing with others, especially Mai." Emma foiled Ragna's getaway plan.

Mai slumped and was comforted by the other girls whilst Ragna looked back and forth between Emma and Noel.

Ragna admitted defeat, "Fine, I'll help melt the ice! Just don't let her cook anything for me."

Emma smirked and straightened her posture. "Glad to see we're on the same page, now then, enjoy your lunch." she bid them goodbye.

Ragna let out a strained breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Oh God… Why would she put that pain onto anyone?" Ragna asked no one in particular.

Kajun and Makoto gave him their condolences and sympathy.

"Well, Noel's… cooking is, well… not from this world." Kajun answered.

Makoto went next, "It's basically a secret weapon only known to the NOL academy."

After that was said, they heard Noel sobbing a bit.

"You're so mean. My cooking isn't bad." Noel claimed.

Ragna added, "Yeah guys it isn't."

Surprising them all that he came to Noel's defense.

Noel flushed at his actions, "Ragna… You?" she said with a happy glow.

Ragna ended it with, "It's even worse." causing a few to hide snickers.

Noel return to whining, "You are so mean! Wahaha!"

Seeing this Mai and Tsubaki comforted her.

Tsubaki gave Ragna a rare glare, "Ragna! That was too much."

Ragna ignored the surprisingly menacing stare and replied, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

However, Tsubaki and Mai were already telling Noel that her cooking skills were actually good. At least the things she was good at like…

"Noel, don't listen to the mean man, your knowledge of cooking and ingredients are better than everyone else's in the cooking class." Tsubaki reminded her.

Noel looked up, "R-Really?" at this both Mai and Tsubaki nodded.

"Yeah, literally, I would never eat anything else unless you make it. It's that good!" Mai told her with the utmost sincerity.

Ragna quietly said in the background, "That's because you can't eat anything else…" But no one heard.

Noel perked up and smiled brightly, "Oh~ You guys, thank you so much!" she giggled in joy.

Ragna sighed, "This is the reason why she won't get better, you all spoil too much."

Makoto informed him, "Trust me pal, when Noellers is depressed, it's impossible to watch."

Ragna nodded and took her word for it. He took a bite out of his brownie, which again, in his opinion, was overrated. At that time Kajun decided to ask a question that everyone had been wanting to ask, and I mean 'everyone'.

"By the way Ragna, if you don't mind me asking, what were you and Jin saying to each other?"

Ragna almost choked on his meal, but managed to swallow it, "Um wha? You girls were watching weren't you? Couldn't you hear anything?"

They all shook their heads.

"No, you and Jin were releasing so much pressure that we couldn't hear anything even if we tried." Tsubaki informed.

Ragna stared at them and was inwardly relieved, his relation to Jin wasn't a headache he wanted to add to his already pounding one.

Ragna got up and told them," I gotta go do some catch up work, see you guys tomorrow on clean up duty." he began walking away from them.

Makoto called, "Hey! You didn't answer the question, what did he tell you?"

Ragna replied, "He was just be psycho and saying crap like how I needed to die, nothing else."

"That's all?" Tsubaki doubted.

Ragna nodded, "Well, he said some other gibberish and shit, so there's that." he lied.

They Remix Heart detectives all looked at each other, a few of them shrugged and just accepted his answer.

"Okay, that's good to know. We'll see you around Ragna." Tsubaki told him along with the others.

"Yeah, seeya later." Ragna replied as he headed back towards his dorm.

Then it suddenly occurred to Mai, "Oh crap, I forgot to ask for his time table."

Kajun reprimanded Mai, "Now Mai, language, now then, why do you need to know his time table?"

She asked much to the curiosity of all the other girls.

Mai answered, "Well, we really need to work on that assignment and I'm not sure when he's free."

Noel popped in, "Oh, too bad Mai, Ragna's already gone." she told her and made everyone look in the direction Ragna left.

"Damn! He's quick, he's already out of sight!" Makoto admired.

Looking around, it was true, Ragna was already out of sight.

Mai sighed, "Oh man, who knows when he'll be around." but Kajun comforted her.

"Don't worry Mai, you can ask him tomorrow, if not, on ice duty." she reminded her.

Mai's eyes lit up, "Oh yeah, I forgot Emma threatened him into ice duty." she recalled making the girls giggle openly.

Makoto then began yelling, "Hey, did you guys see the look on his face when she threatened him? It was priceless! Buawahahaha!" she laughed wholeheartedly.

This eventually became how the Remix heart pretty girls detectives came to spend their lunchtime before they had to get ready for class.

8:30PM: Later at night

Skulking around the boys dormitories, Mai was currently amidst reflecting upon her day. The events with Jin being her primary concern.

'Things have been getting really crazy. First we get Ragna who beats Kazaki like nothing, then Jin goes psychotic. Not to mention that Shiori girl…' her thoughts ended on the Kirihito girl.

Just as soon as she remembered her, the said girl appeared out of nowhere.

"Well, well, what is a lady like yourself doing sneaking about the boys dormitories?" Shiori who was seated in a nearby tree mocked.

Mai looked up to her in surprise and exclaimed, "Shiori!? Where were you!? Everyone was worried about you."

Shiori gave her an evil snicker in response which made Mai's skin crawl.

"Why should you care since you're going to forget anyway." Shiori replied.

Mai found herself confused until a pair of paws had managed to lock her in place.

"What the!?" Mai gasped before a familiar chuckle resounded behind her ears.

"Hehehe! Got'cha neow!" Chachakaka proclaimed.

Mai then gave Shiori a glare and told her, "So you are here to assassinate Jin!"

Shiori tilted her head feigning confusion as a way of mocking the restrained girl.

"Hm~ It seems you know too much about me when you shouldn't. Not that will matter, since I'll make you forget along with your friends." she revealed her intentions partly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mai asked in between slight struggles in Chacha's body lock.

Shiori put on a dark smile whilst she chuckled in sick delight, "I won't have to assassinate Jin, I can get that friend of yours to do it. What was her name? Tsubaki?" Shiori wondered.

Mai listened intently, becoming a sponge for any information she deemed important to know.

Letting the blonde continue, "From what I saw, that girl is in love with him. Kuku! I wonder… If I made her forget her memories and have her murder Jin, then give back her memories, what kind of reaction will she have to seeing Jin's dead body?" Shiori let her dark imagination out for the world to know.

Mai looked down with her bangs covering her face, the things Shiori had revealed caused something in her heart to snap and she wouldn't stop until Shiori's plans were put to a grinding halt.

Mai lowered her weight into Chacha making her question, "Huh!? You giving up neow already?"

Mai spoke, "You… I won't…" she quickly threw Chacha off balance before sliding out.

"Whoa!" Chacha exclaimed in shock.

Mai began to rush towards Shiori in a ducked form of running.

"Let you hurt my friends!" she let out a battle cry as she surprised the Kirihito girl with her sudden boost in speed.

Shiori took a step back and tried slashing at Mai, only for it to be redirected slightly which saved Mai from any harm.

'These moves…' Mai thrusted her right hand towards the blonde assassin as if it was a blade.

'... They're the same as the Kirihito assassin style.' she finally recalled where she had seen Mai's fighting style.

Mai herself had proven to be more proficient at the art than the said assassin and had quickly made Shiori take many steps back.

"You won't ever put them through that pain!" she promised her a world of hell if Shiori went through with her plot.

Those words had struck a deep chord within Shiori, it had impacted hard enough that her facade had broken.

"What do you…?" Shiori struck back, but her repressed emotions made her attempts sloppy and telegraphed.

Mai easily dodged and noticed the sudden change.

"What do you know about pain!?" Shiori struck again only for it to be blocked. This ended up causing her knife to flip back and cut her hand.

Mai saw this and immediately she took Shiori's hand.

"Your hand! The poison!"

Shiori thought to herself, 'Is this girl stupid? My body is immune to this compound. I'll use this chance to kill her.'

Whilst Shiori prepared to stab Mai, Mai saw all of Shiori's childhood memories, all the times she had been harshly reprimanded for her mistakes, being who she wanted to be and how much she had been denied her right to be herself.

Seeing all this, Mai brought the blonde into a deep embrace whilst whispering her sympathies.

"It was hard wasn't it? To be hated and punished for just being you? I know that pain… it's unbearable." Mai let out tears for her.

Hearing this, Shiori struggled with trying to say she didn't understand and that no one would know. But her words, her sincere and honest words had caused the cold hearted girl to feel the warmth she had secretly desired.

Unable to stop, she wailed in Mai's embrace letting out all the tears she held back for so long.

Eventually her tears faded along with the night.

The next morning

Within the domain of Kajun and Mai, the latter had begun to awaken from her slumber. Akin to a cat, she stretched out her body in an attempt to ward off the pain of stiffness.

"*Yawn* Man… Phew, last night was exhausting." Mai thought aloud, then she felt something clutch around her just beneath her ample bosom.

"Then allow me to rid you of your pain Lady Mai." A familiar voice rang into her ear.

Mai jumped, along with Kajun who had also been awoken by the sudden presence of the intruder.

"Shi-Shiori!? What are you doing in our room!?" Mai questioned.

Shiori giggled, "I just want to spend time with Lady Mai~"

Kajun asked, "And why is that?"

Shiori sat up and gave an earnest smile with a heartfelt answer. "Cause I'm in love with Lady Mai."

"Eh?" both the rightful occupants of their dorm voiced their confusion.

However seeing this, Mai found some comfort and had to ask, "Does this mean you won't kill Jin?"

Shiori shook her head which disappointed both Mai and Kajun. But Shiori washed them away with her other reply.

"But that can wait later, for now, let me serve you Lady Mai!" Shiori emphasised with a big smooch on Mai's lips.

Kajun let out a sound of curiosity, "Oh~ This is an interesting development."

Whilst Mai's face burned with flattery and embarrassment.

"Wha-Wha-What in the?" Mai tried to process the situation, but could only think about the blonde girl's smooth, wet lips on her own.

Shiori smirked, "I think we'll be spending a lot of time together, lady Mai"

A week later, level 7 swimming pool

"... And that's pretty much what happened." Mai finished telling Ragna the story.

He nodded, whilst looking at the little blonde girl who was clinging onto Mai and glaring at him.

"I see, at the least shorty is being more honest with herself." Ragna approved of Shiori's new development.

However, Shiori didn't seem to take too well to Ragna casually conversing with Mai.

"You! Stay away from Lady Mai!" Shiori warned, causing Ragna to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what are going to do about it?" Ragna in a rare moment of amusement, taunted the assassin.

Shiori's ear blew out steam, she took out her poison needles and leaped towards Ragna.

"I'll give you the slowest and most painful poison!" Shiori threatened.

She delivered her attack, much too the shock of Mai and the other girls who were in the area.

"Shiori!? Stop!" Mai pleaded.

However, too late, Shiori's attack barely hit Ragna who underestimated Shiori's speed and ended up with a papercut on his cheek.

"Oh my God! Ragna! You need immediate medical attention." Tsubaki insisted.

All the girls were even more worried when Ragna shrugged them off, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Noel appeared and told him, "No you won't, the poison will take effect!" she worried.

Shiori smirked, "Hehe! They're right, you know, pretty soon, you'll be feeling pain like nothing else. In three, two, one…"

All the girls in the area held their breath waiting for the worst, instead Ragna just looked bored at Shiori.

"And what was meant to happen?" Ragna asked as if there wasn't a thing to worry about.

Shiori began stuttering, "I'm-impossible how!? That poison is designed to kill an elephant!"

Ragna looked in shock, "The heck, why would you use something that powerful. Besides, it won't work on me. See?"

Ragna wiped his formerly cut cheek and a wet substance coated his pointing finger.

Kajun looked at it closely, "Hm? Is this the poison that was in your system?"

Ragna shrugged, "Maybe, I don't know what poison looks like. But yeah, I don't get affected by poisons."

Kajun nodded whilst pulling her notebook out, "I see, this is curious." she said her hands wrote furiously into her notes.

Makoto, Noel and Tsubaki expressed their amazement at Ragna's immunity.

"Wow! You have some incredible abilities Ragna!" Tsubaki complimented, followed by Makoto.

"Holy cow, it'll take a whole lot to beat ya!" Makoto exclaimed in excitement.

Noel told him, "So you never get sick? Oh, you're so lucky!"

Ragna scratched his cheek showing he was obviously flattered by their compliments, but it was what the girls around him were dressed in that amplified his discomfort.

"Yeah, thanks but um… aren't you guys suppose to wear clothes you clean with?" He pointed out their unusual clothes.

Makoto blew her lips, "What are ya? Crazy!? Don't you feel how friggin' hot it is out here!?" she reminded him. Ragna closed his eyes whilst she spoke, Makoto wearing a Bikini and moving around wildly like she normally does, made it difficult to think.

Ragna shrugged, "Well, yeah, but, did you all have to wear swimsuits?" he really had to ask that question.

Noel piped up, "Yes we did, it's way too hot and not to mention, it's a nice day for a tan!" she cheered. Fortunately, Ragna wasn't affected by Noel, not one bit.

Tsubaki, who was dressed in an olive swimsuit with a skirt, nodded and spoke up, "It is to, Noel, besides, we don't ever get the opportunity to wear our bathing suits that often." she reasoned.

Ragna gave up trying to low-key get them to cover up, "If you're comfortable in your own skin, I guess you can do whatever."

Kajun then said to him, "Besides, just look at them over their, they're in their swimming trunks. Why not join us?" she suggested with a smile.

Ragna looked up and saw three guys he had come to know Taro, Akane and of course Jin, the one being a creep who was just staring at him and somehow, no one noticed.

Ragna clicked his tongue, "Like hell I'll join that asshole." he muttered.

Everyone caught this, especially Tsubaki who frowned, "Ragna? Can you please just get along with Jin. You've been like this to him ever since he was cleared yesterday." she scolded him and pleaded, hoping that maybe he'd get along with Jin.

Ragna turned his back and resumed melting the ice.

"Maybe if he stops staring at me, then we'll see what happens." he replied as he continued melting the ice.

Tsubaki wore an upset look upon her face; Ragna and Jin had once again met through a proper introduction yesterday.

Flashback, Yesterday afternoon.

All the girls were at the swimming pool trying to melt the ice. But they halted when Tsubaki noticed a familiar face that she had come to 'admire'.

"Jin! You're okay! How are you feeling!?" Tsubaki asked with joy clear as day in her eyes.

Jin gave her a gentle smile he only gifted to her.

"Tsubaki, you sure are chipper today, and don't worry I'm fine. Professor Cypher gave me some special treatment to make sure what happened to me won't happen again." Jin promised as he walked within arms length of Tsubaki.

Tsubaki glowed and told him how wonderful that was to hear. Eventually Makoto called out to those two.

"Hey! Over here, Jin! You didn't get to meet Ragna properly last time!" Makoto reminded Jin.

Noel appeared and nervously called, "T-that's right, this time you two can be friends!" she brightened up the atmosphere. However, Jin gave Noel a haughty look causing the poor girl to shriek. Fortunately, Ragna chose this moment to intervene.

"Hey, Jin, the hell are you staring at Noel like that for?" Ragna stepped forward allowing Noel to some form of protection.

Seeing this, Jin's glare intensified but he gave Ragna his usual smile, but Ragna could see the strain behind it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but where were we? Ah yes!" he offered his hand.

"Pleased to meet you… Ragna Mitsuyoshi." he said with his eyes closed with a gentle smile hiding sinister glee.

Ragna mustered up a grin with clenched teeth whilst taking the offered hand and accepted a battle of crushing grip strength contest.

"Nice to meet you too… Mister… Jin ice-cold popsicle up his ass, Kisaragi." Ragna sarcastically replied causing everyone in the area to gasp.

"Ragna! That was uncalled for…" Tsubaki tried to scold however, Jin interrupted.

"It quite alright Tsubaki, everyone has their unique way of expressing their affection. Don't you agree?" Jin said making everyone nod and approve of his point.

Until Jin said, "Mister, Ragna dark, mysterious badass wannabe, Mitsuyoshi."

At that moment, everyone's jaws dropped.

Tsubaki shook in place, "J-Jin?" until Jin gave her a smile making her swoon again.

Whilst with the others, Kajun and Mai said to each other,

"They aren't going to get along anytime now, right?" Mai told her.

Kajun nodded, "Yes, someone who actually gets on Mr Kisaragi's nerves. This is… curious…" she wondered upon the meeting of these two.

Current time, 8:30AM

However, it seemed that no matter what, Ragna and Jin weren't going to on friendly terms with each other. Tsubaki sighed in defeat before returning to melting the ice.

Makoto bounced up next to Tsubaki due to having witnessed the redhead sighing.

"Hey Tsubaki! What's up with you?" Makoto asked with concern.

Tsubaki looked towards Makoto and told her, "I don't understand what's with Jin and Ragna. Normally Jin gets along with everyone besides Noel, but never does he act out. And Ragna just seems unable to stand the sight of him."

Makoto nodded with her eyes closed and hummed in agreement and understanding, "Hm! Hmph! I get cha! But it's not that hard to see, those two first met fighting each other to death. Just remember that, then it's easy to see why they might not get along with each other at first. Besides, just look at me, before I couldn't stand everyone until you and Noel became friends with me." she reminded Tsubaki.

Hearing the half-beast woman's words of reason and logic, Tsubaki suddenly gained a sliver of hope for Jin and Ragna before she smiled at Makoto. She gave her squirrelly friend her gratitude.

"Wow, I never thought of it as… thanks you Makoto. I needed to hear that!" Tsubaki illuminated with hope. Makoto hearing this, put her hands on her chest and jumped a bit in satisfaction.

"No worries! You're my friend after all!" Makoto told her but was interrupted by Noel's girly squeal.

"AWWW! It's a panda!" Noel announced her finding which made all the girls within the area move towards her to see it.

"Oh let me see, holy! It's so adorable!" Makoto swooned at the tiny Panda who was clutched onto an iceberg.

Tsubaki looked at it and her eyes glossed over at the adorable thing.

Kajun stepped up closer to it and said, "Aw, what's this little guy doing here? Did you lose your parents?" Kajun asked in a rare moment of being girly in Mai's knowledge who giggled at the girls.

"Hehehe! That's girls for you." Mai thought aloud, unknown to her, Ragna had caught this again, but chose not to point this out and instead kept his mouth shut. He thought it best to not make the assumption that all girls were the same.

As he working however, he heard all the girls behind him scream.

"Look out! The panda is falling!" Noel screamed.

Ragna turned around only to see that the tiny Panda's lips had made contact with Mai's. After that, the Panda suddenly gained a red, angry aura and began leaping from Mai to the other girls.

First, it leapt into Makoto's cleavage and struggled to get out.

"N-No! You dirty little… get out of there!" Makoto panicked. Fortunately for her, it escaped, but Tsubaki was next to suffer as it's paws gripped tightly where her nipples would be.

"Eep! Don't do that! No!" Tsubaki's face burned in embarrassment at the Panda's actions. Like last time, it went after Noel next, she fell on her butt and the Panda dove right between her legs and did… who knows what.

Noel moaned and screamed, "Ah! No! Not there! Ah! Get off me!" she threw the panda off into Kajun's direction.

Kajun simply stood where she was and smiled thinking she could catch it. However, not being the most coordinated person, it came at her quicker than she calculated. The Panda somehow got behind her and into the valley in her bottoms.

"Oh my! This is surprising!" Kajun yelped in surprise at where the small animal wound up.

For her luck, it left and leaped high into the air towards Mai who began to sweat in fear at what might happen to her.

'Oh no! It's after me! This like when Shiori and Chachakaka groped me and Kajun the other time!' Mai thought, however, a gloved hand catch the little bugger before it could continue it's assault.

"And that's enough of that." Ragna stated as his right hand which was clutching the Panda glow faintly.

"Now what was up with that Panda!?" Makoto glared at it along with Tsubaki who sent the little thing a stare full of hatred.

Ragna shrugged, "Don't know, ask the smart girl right there." he pointed his head in Kajun's direction.

"Well, I think it's because Shiori had kissed Mai before the Panda did which gave it Shiori's attributes." Kajun theorised.

They all absorbed this before glaring at the little Panda who was returned back to normal due to Ragna's spell.

"Still… we are watching you little guy." Tsubaki spat towards the Panda, forever engraving the image of Pandas being evil in her heart.

Ragna's forehead became drenched in sweat, not due to the heat, but at the intensity the girls glared at the poor Panda. He moved it closer to his torso.

"Hey ease up on the stares guys, this little guy probably doesn't even know what he did." Ragna told them as the Panda jumped off of him and crawled away to a safer location. Much to Noel's disappointment.

"Oh… little Panda…" Noel whined. Ragna looked to her and said, "Yeah, yeah Noel, too bad, let's get back to work." which reminded everyone to continue melting the ice.

A few moments pass by, Ragna suddenly slowed down and looked at the other guys besides himself. Noticing this, Mai stopped and asked him.

"What's wrong Ragna? Are you tired already?" she incurred and got a shake of the head as a response.

"No, just that guy Taro, is he still depressed about himself?" Ragna wondered aloud.

Mai traced Ragna's line of sight and same the same scene as he did, Taro standing besides Akane and Jin, but seemingly hasn't said a word or even do something stupid to get Akane to tease him.

"Yeah, I hope he gets better… he's been like for a week." Mai hoped the best for one of her guy friends.

Ragna however dismissed that and gruffly said, "Meh, if he wants to be like that, don't bother worrying about him."

Mai's eyes widened before narrowing into a somewhat angry stare, she told him, "Ragna!? How could you say that? Don't you see how upset he is?" she asked.

Ragna nodded and replied, "I can see the obvious, but he obviously wants to be left alone." in a tone that sounded as if he cared about nothing.

Mai grew more upset with her real male friend and retorted, "That doesn't mean we can't help."

Ragna stopped his part on cleaning and fought back, "I tried to cheer the guy up and he's still upset, so why should I waste my breath again?"

"Ragna!" Mai almost yelled. Fortunately, with Kajun being close by, she intervened.

"Excuse me you two, but can you two please keep it down." Kajun asked.

Mai and Ragna looked to Kajun, before they both looked around and saw that everyone was staring at them. Flustered and embarrassed, Mai bowed and apologised for disrupting everyone. Ragna on the other hand began to leave the area.

"Hey, Ragna! Where are you going!?" Noel called out to him.

To which he said, "Walking back to my room, I still need to find some other things I want to do."

Makoto piped up, "Hold it buddy! You're not going to leave us with a half-assed job!" she pointed out the barely melted iceberg Ragna was next to.

As a response, Ragna charged up his right arm with seifer before thrusting it into the iceberg and unleashing a black substance that enveloped the iceberg.

The girls and the other guys who witness this took a step back at Ragna's power before they saw the black substance disappear showing that the iceberg was now gone.

"That's all my work done, see you all next time." Ragna hurried off to his room.

"Ragna…" Mai silently said his name.

Kajun moved up to her and asked, "Are you okay Mai? You and him seemed to be having quite a heated argument."

Mai let out a tired breath, "Oh it's nothing, I was just saying that we should still cheer Taro up despite our efforts." she told her.

Kajun nodded in agreement and replied, "I see, Taro does seem a little down lately. Hopefully we can eventually do something that can cheer him up."

Mai smiled at her quirky friend, "Finally, someone who agrees with me! For now, let's get back to work, can't have Ragna outdo us." she exclaimed in a brighter mood.

Kajun smiled, "And that, we shall." she along with everyone else continued trying to melt the ice for the next couple of hours until they managed to melt as much ice as Ragna did.

Late afternoon, with Ragna

True to his word, Ragna had indeed found himself in his room, at this moment, he was agonisingly going over his day so far and couldn't help but feel quite ashamed with himself; his heated argument with Mai over Taro.

Sitting in his chair, he was trying to look through his list of extra-curricular classes and clubs he wanted to do, but his frustration with his own attitude made that a challenge. He stood up abruptly whilst scratching his head furiously, he almost pulled his hair with how hard he pulled, and walked around his dorm for a while.

"Argh! Why do I even care?" he questioned no one in particular. At that moment, a refined voice he was familiar with hit his ears.

"Who knows? Only you know the answer to your predicament." Rachel floated down onto the desk Ragna had just left.

Ragna turned to face her and told her, "Hey Rachel. What's going on?" he addressed her by name which surprised both Nago and Gii as well as herself.

Rachel pointed this out, "Calling me by my name, are you? I'm terribly humbled that I have seemed to have found myself at a crossroads for words." Rachel teased in her unique aristocratic way.

Ragna growled a little but didn't bite back, "Look Rachel, I'm just not in the mood alright. I just think I did something that I regret and I'm not sure why." he admitted his confusion with his emotions.

A heavy silence filled the air, almost thick enough to choke someone, eventually it became too much for the little red bat Gii.

"Okay then Ragna, so what happened to ya then?" Gii asked just for something to fill the suffocating vacuum mankind named silence.

Ragna clicked his tongue in reluctance, but all this wondering and thinking had led to nowhere with an answer. He spilled his guts.

"Okay, you see, I was on ice melting duty with the girls I made friends with. And there's these two guys I also speak with from time to time. But ah… Remember that chick with the ribbons? We ended up fighting over this guy Taro." Ragna he told them.

Nago chose this moment to tell a joke," Hm!? A man and a woman fighting over a man!? This Taro must be quite dashing if you have him in your sights!" Nago teased making Gii laugh.

Ragna grit his teeth,"Hey! It's not like that!" he told them, but the stuffed animals kept laughing at his expense. However, to his surprise, Rachel wasn't laughing, but actual stopped the laughter.

"Gii! Nago! Enough!" she commanded her companions.

They stopped and listened intently to what Rachel had in mind. If she didn't want to pick on Ragna, which is almost never, then there was nothing to laugh about.

"Ragna, from what I can see, you're upset with yourself and don't know the solution to your problem." Rachel spelled it out to which Ragna nodded.

"That… Sounds right I guess, but something about seeing that Taro guy all depressed over his weakness just bugs me." Ragna told her.

Rachel took this in before replying, "Well, you have your answer. Tell me Ragna, why do you seek strength?"

Ragna was taken back by her question but thought carefully about it, "I want strength so I could defeat Terumi…" however he saw that Rachel wasn't satisfied with that answer.

This made him think more thoroughly and deeply about his dilemma, why did he want strength in the first place.

'I wanted strength… because I lost everything once since I never had enough strength. I wanted to be strong so I could protect what's precious to me.' Ragna's eyes opened with true clarity to see that Rachel gave him a sincere smile.

"You finally realise it Ragna. Why you want strength, and why this Taro bothers you. You and he have been at that same place where it dawns upon one how weak and powerless they are." Rachel explained to him clearly.

But Ragna didn't need Rachel's words to understand any more.

"I know how he feels right now because I felt that way before. Well, uh… Sorry Bunny Leech, but I got things to do. Seeya later." he waved farewell and didn't get one back as he had already rushed out of his room.

Nago decided to question her lady, "Madam Rachel, you sure are helpful today, may I ask why you are helping that scoundrel so much?"

Rachel put on a small smile, "I have seen too many timelines where Ragna pits everyone against him. This time, I hope him being here will change that." Rachel revealed.

Gii then asked, "Arh? Okay? But isn't that like, against the rules?"

Rachel smirked, "Well, the observers deem it fit to alter timeliness when it suits them. So what I'm doing is fair in comparison."

Nago and Gii agreed, "Yeah, you go Princess!"

Rachel then had a roses envelop her, "Now then, it's time for my late night tea." she disappeared back to her mansion.

The boys dormitories, High School section

The boys dormitories in the high school section, whilst still lavish and spoiled with rich furniture alongside stylish decor. It paled in comparison to what the Seniors such as Ragna and the other college students like himself were given. But that wasn't what Ragna was here to do, in fact, the location he was currently at wasn't his destination.

"Let's see, where was the Library again?" he looked around the corridor for a bit, but after a half-hearted two head turns, he just continued onwards with hope that wandering around will eventually lead him to the library.

Unexpectedly, he noticed a familiar figure wandering about the corridors which caused him to pause.

'Taro? By himself?' he noted, thinking about how down the guy had been all week and Rachel's earlier talk, Ragna approached the tall man and called to him.

"Hey Taro! You got a minute?" he called after him.

Taro who was surprised jumped and replied, "Ragna? Whoa, I don't see you around that often, what do you need me for?" he asked still surprised by Ragna calling for him.

Ragna shrugged and said, "Well I was wondering where the library is and thought maybe you would know."

Tari nodded, "Oh sure! It just in between the gym and classrooms to the left of it. So what are doing in there? Studying?" he inquired.

Ragna shook his head, "No, I hate studying."

"Then why do you want to go there?" Taro asked hoping to clear his confusion.

Ragna told him, "I heard a few rumors about the Library having something in there. And I kind of want to see what if it's true or not."

Taro nodded, "Hmhm, I see, I heard the stories, but the ones I heard says it only appears at night… unless…" Taro's brain started to realise Ragna's plan.

"Wait, you don't plan on going to the library at night? It locked at those hours, any intruders will be punished severely by the council." Taro informed Ragna.

To which the albino haired man replied, "And that's why you're going to help me get in."

Taro took a step back, "Eh!? Me? But why?" he questioned.

Ragna put a hand on his head and explained, "I still don't know this school very well and I heard you always in there."

Taro nodded, "Well, that's because Jinny is always studying there and I'm just keeping him safe… Not like he needs me to protect him…" Taro mood dipped again.

Ragna almost wanted to scream, but kept his mouth shut, "If you were useless, then I wouldn't be asking for your help now would I?" he asked rhetorically.

Taro looked up in shock and couldn't argue with the white-haired man's logic.

Ragna gave the tall guy a grin, "So what do you say? You wanna help me?" he asked once more.

Taro thought over Ragna's words about himself not being useless and eventually came to a decision.

"Sure! I'm in, so when do we meet up?" Taro asked. Ragna gave him the details.

"At 8, around the library entrance. Anyway, nice talking with ya, seeya later." Ragna took off.

Taro waved back at him, "Seeya Ragna!" with a bit of his cheer back into his system. When all was said and done, he left for his dorms and waited until the agreed time.

Girls Dormitories, High school section

Within the dorms of Kajun, Mai and to some extent, Shiori's. The detective team of pretty girls had busied themselves with some homemade dinner courtesy of everyone's contributions, save Noel's who tailored her dishes to Mai.

However, the ponytailed girl had done nothing but stare a hole into her plate of 'cake' which had a miasma to cover the contents of it. Normally, Mai would gladly chow down on anything Noel made, especially when she was upset, but this time, she doubted eating would solve her problems. Noel noticed this and asked.

"Mai, what's wrong? You haven't had a single bite of your food yet." Noel looked at her with genuine worry in her eyes, which translated to her voice.

Mai returned a nod of acknowledgement, "Yeah, sorry Noel… I

I just don't feel like eating today." much to the surprise of her friends.

Tsubaki nitpicked, "That's odd, normally you would demolish anything that Noel makes. Are you feeling unwell by any chance?" she expressed her concern tenderly.

Mai waved both her hands defensively, "No nothing's wrong, I'm just not hungry today."

Makoto tilted her head, "Huh? But you haven't had anything all day besides Noel's mousse." she recalled accurately.

Mai shrunk back further into her couch and at that moment, Kajun hit the nail on the coffin.

"I believe I know what's going on, it's about Ragna isn't it?"

Mai looked up with slight shock in her eyes before nodding.

Noel shuffled towards Mai's couch before she placed a hand on her shoulder, "You two did seem like you were arguing about, you don't mind telling us what it was about Mai?"

Mai took a deep breath, "Well, all of know that Taro has been a little down lately, it was about whether or not we should help cheer him up."

Tsubaki nodded, "I see, but where does this lead exactly?" not sure why they'd argue over that.

Mai's eyes narrowed before continuing, "He kind of just blew Taro off in a way that ticked me off and then you know what happened? He left early and haven't seen him since." Mai concluded.

This got all the girls thinking about Ragna, before Kajun insisted, "Who knows, maybe he's just putting up a front and does care about Taro. But just doesn't want to admit it."

They all agreed at her point.

"Yeah, she does have a good point, we thought Ragna was a bully until he apologised to Makoto about throwing her off." Noel spoke up.

Tsubaki nodded, "That's right, maybe he's just acting tough and doesn't what to show how much he cares, you saw how he comforted Noel on his first day, remember?"

Hearing this, a small, yet warm smile appeared upon Mai's face, "Yeah, maybe you guys are right! But we'll still have to see about that." Mai returned to which they all gave a small nod of agreement.

Makoto bursted out with, "Okay, enough about the touchy stuff! How about we go explore the library together later tonight!?"

A flicker of light appeared in everyone's eyes.

"That's right! We never got to finish exploring the library, why not!?" Noel cheered much to everyone's amusement.

Tsubaki added to the happiness, "Maybe we could use the Truth Grimoire to discover any more secrets in there!"

The girls all laughed or giggled in Kajun's case. The scene warmed Mai's heart.

'Girls… They always make your world brighter no matter what.'

They looked towards Mai.

"So what do ya say, you in Mai?" Makoto asked.

Mai put on a bright smile before agreeing.

"Yeah! I'm in!" which made everyone cheer one last time before their curfew.

7:55PM - Kajun and Mai's dorm

Kajun who was still dressed in her uniform because of tonight's plan, was just conversing with Mai who was struggling to not moan at Shiori's snuggling between her clothed bosom. At the moment they were discussing about tonight's plan and other future related events.

"So Mai, what do you think we might find in the library tonight?" Kajun inquired.

Once Mai, who had managed to keep the blonde assassin in place, she gave it some thought.

"Well it wouldn't be the Azure Grimoire, that's for sure, but if we're being realistic, then maybe something amazing we have never seen before." she wondered in awe.

Kajun chuckled at the girl. "That's quite a broad spectrum of things Mai. But let's say one of those 'amazing things' turns out to be something that can cure your super taste. What do you think you'll do then?"

That was a serious question that Mai had often contemplated and always had difficulty answering. However, there was one thing that was certain.

" I'm not completely sure about what I'll do, only that I want to spend most of life with all of you." Mai answered.

Kajun smiled at her answer, "I see, me too. I want to spend more time with everyone as well."

Shiori who was silent between Mai's bosom, spoke up, "Lady Mai! I want to spend more time with you too!" as she molested the poor girl.

However, Mai along with Kajun only laughed as they all agreed on that one thing; being with your friends for life.

This was soon brought to an end when a knock on their door was heard. The occupants all looked to the entrance of their dorm before Kajun said.

"It's time… Shall we get going?" Kajun asked.

Mai and Shiori, who let the former free, both nodded their heads in agreement. They all stood up before walking to the door and opening it to reveal Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto who was doing her best to stay quiet.

"Hey guys, are you ready?" Noel asked in a hushed voice.

Mai replied to her, "Yeah, before the day we were born." causing the trio on the other side of the door to grin.

"Alright then, let's getta move on! Tsubaki will fill y'all in." Makoto informed them in a hushed voice.

The group of detectives began to march towards the library doors, whilst Tsubaki was explaining the plan to everyone.

"Okay, so the plan is, Noel is going to disable all the Ars security locks and alarms on the main entrances before we sneak in. Then we all search the areas we didn't get to explore before." Tsubaki explained the plan.

They all nodded, Noel almost cheered,"Leave it to me! I'll unlock the doors."

They all shared a slight giggle, "We're counting on you Noellers." their bushy tailed friend encouraged.

It was only a second later that they arrived at the main entrance to the Library.

Mai told Noel, "Alright Noel, you know what to do." Noel smiled before reaching to the door.

"Huh?" Confusion spread upon Noel's face.

"Noel what's wrong? Aren't you going to disable the Ars Magus?" Tsubaki asked.

Noel turned to face the rest of the group, "That's the thing, it's already been disabled."

Gasped we're heard from the group and they wandered through all the possibilities.

"Could someone else have been here before us? The librarium perhaps, or cleaner." Tsubaki thought.

They kept thinking twice about this mission of theirs until Makoto scoffed, "Nah! Unlikely, they probably forgot to set the thing up. Come on let's go right in." she Walt's right through the door.

Seeing Makoto enter the library without a care in the world. They all thought why not? So they all followed after Makoto who was just waiting for them.

"Alright, so do we split up or do we…" Mai was about to finish until they heard footsteps.

*Step* *Step* *Step*

Noel and Makoto jumped at the sudden sound. Kajun looked to Tsubaki and said, "Looks like we're not alone, should we turn back?"

Tsubaki looked at Noel and Makoto who were frightened, but determined to explore.

Facing Kajun she shook her head, "No, we've come too far. We'll just have to not get caught." she insisted.

Kajun nodded and Mai took it upon herself to keep them safe.

"Don't worry, we'll take them on together." she assured, then Shiori who had sparkles in her eyes stated "And I'll protect you Lady Mai!" to which the said girl grinned and thanked her.

Knowing that someone may be in the library with them, they chose to stick together whilst they searched for anything using the Truth Grimoire.

So far nothing of interest popped up.

"Guys hurry, I can feel those footsteps coming closer." Makoto edged them on.

"We're trying, but this place is huge, don't rush us." Tsubaki pleaded.

However, they heard the footsteps stop immediately before them.

"They… Are…on the other side…" Mai stressed each word.

A few moments passed, they eventually heard footsteps coming around the corner along with a light. Fear was evident in the detectives' eyes and their breaths hitched.

Mai however, dash around the corner and thrust her hand out towards whoever it was.

"Whoa!? Huh!? Mai-Mai?" a shocked Taro replied recognised her.

Mai's eyes widened in surprise, "Eh? Taro? What are you doing here?"

To which the guy replied, "I could ask the same of all of you, but uh… Ragna told me to come with him and we heard footsteps."

Tsubaki approached him, "Wait, Ragna told you to come here? Where is he…"

"Hey Taro, did you find who those footsteps belonged to… Oh, uh? Hey guys, weird seeing you here." Ragna expressed his surprise.

The girls just looked at him, "Ragna? What are you doing here?" Noel asked.

Ragna scratched the back of his head, "I heard there was some stuff that goes on here at night and asked if this guy wanted to help."

They blinked at this and Makoto asked, "Wait why did you ask Taro for help?"

Ragna looked at her before saying, "Cos I needed someone who knew the area and someone to watch my back."

They took a while to absorb this information, but eventually they all accepted it.

"That's fine I guess, for a second we thought you two were the clean up crew." Tsubaki jested.

Ragna smiled a little, "Yeah? Me and him thought so too. So what were you guys doing here again?"

Makoto answered, "Well, we're here to find more secrets this place is hiding, hey, since you two are here, why not join us?"

Ragna clicked his tongue, "I don't know, I was hoping to…"

"Yeah, sure, why not, this place is creepy at night." Taro accepted the girls offer much to Ragna's chagrin.

Noel cheered, "Yay! The more the merrier!" which put a smile on everyone's faces excluding Ragna.

The group continued to search the library whilst Ragna stayed behind, however, Kajun and Mai stepped up to him.

"So let me ask you again, why did you ask Taro for help?" Mai asked with genuine curiosity.

Ragna refused to look at her and Kajun, "I was getting annoyed by how much he was mopping and thought maybe taking him along would make him stop."

Kajun however, giggled, "So… In other words, you wanted to cheer him up and so you do care about him." causing the white haired man to growl.

"No I do not, just… take it however you want." he walked ahead to ignore the giggles towards him.

Kajun then whispered to Mai, "See, he does care, he just doesn't like to admit it."

Mai laughed at herself as well, "Yeah, wow how do all of you girls guess things so accurately?" she wondered.

Kajun smirked, "A woman's intuition is more accurate than a man's educated guess, something that you still don't quite have." she playfully teased.

At this Mai wholeheartedly agreed, no matter how much she thought over situations with as much brain power she could muster, these girls' guesses had always been closer to the answer than her own.

Eventually, they caught up with the rest of the group whom were discussing about covering more ground by splitting up.

"Let's see, Noel should definitely stay with Makoto along with the mirror as well as I, since I doubt Shiori will leave Mai's side." she turned her sights on the aforementioned blonde molesting Mai.

Ragna agreed, "So then, Noel, Makoto and you makes a group of three, so does shorty, Mai and Kajun. What about me and Taro, we just stick together?"

Tsubaki nodded, "Exactly as you two were before, you two can check the west wing, Noel, Makoto and myself will investigate the East wing whilst Mai, Kajun and Shiori can go check the Northern wing."

However, Taro mentioned, "Wait, what about the South wing? Aren't we going to check that part?"

Makoto shook her head, "Nah! We already checked that part out ages ago and found nothing. Now let's go treasure hunting!" she marched towards the East wing.

Noel squeaked a bit, "H-Hey Makoto! Wait for us!" she chased after the squirrel girl.

Tsubaki quickly looked back and forth between her two best friends and the two boys. She gave a polite curtsy before rushing after Noel and Makoto.

This left the boys and the other group of three girls who were now telling each other that they see them later.

"Well that's that, guess we'll see you three later." Ragna told them.

Mai nodded, "Yeah that's too bad, I was hoping to speak to you again soon. Well seeya."

Ragna nodded and turned to Taro who got the message to begin walking to the West wing. However, Ragna stayed behind for a minute catching the attention of the three girls.

"About earlier today… I just… look I'm sorry… I didn't mean to get all pissy with ya." Ragna tried to apologise but Mai interrupted him.

"It's alright! Seeing you here with Taro makes things much better, just promise me that you won't be afraid to admit you care." she asked of him causing him to blink in confusion.

Kajun continued, "What we mean is that we know you are a good person, so why not show it more often?"

Ragna scratched his head while he struggled to find a valid response, but gave up.

"I… never mind, I'll think about. Laters" he told them one last time before he caught up with Taro.

"Yeah, seeya soon." Mai replied before venturing off into the Northern Wing.

10 minutes later, Taro and Ragna

The two men spent this time skimming through shelves of books that they thought might have something strange about it. But so far, nothing new other than a few kiddie books and much to their prolonged interest...

"Um… Ragna… could this be the amazing secret that the Library has?" Taro asked him with uncertainty.

Ragna shrugged, "Who knows… but I can't deny that it does seem amazing…" he agreed.

Taro then suggested opening it, "I know I shouldn't but I think we must open it."

Ragna stopped him "No, that thing is definitely not what we're looking for."

"But maybe the secret is in here." Taro fought back.

Ragna held one hand up and shot back, "In a porn magazine? Why would it in there, a better question is… why is it here?" he asked.

Taro thought about it, "Hm… maybe one of the past students brought it and left it here. Just maybe, this could be what we're looking for."

Ragna wanted to say something back, but couldn't. There wasn't anything else that looked out of place and just allowed it.

"Just get on with it, I can only imagine what the girls reactions would be if this turned out to be the secret." Ragna mused.

However, when Taro tried to open it, the magazine wouldn't budge.

"Wah? The pages… they're, stuck together?" Taro told him of his findings. Ragna turned green and told Taro.

"What!? Ew! Let go of that thing now!"

Taro blinked a bit before his mind processed what Ragna was telling him and did the same as Ragna.

"Yuck! I can't believe I touched that?" Taro expressed his disgust.

Ragna took a step back and pointed to him, "You don't touch me until you wash your hands." he stressed each word as if he was trying to make it seem more important.

Taro got the message, "I promise, I will not touch you until my hands are clean."

"Good, now let's get going…" Ragna was about to suggest when a piercing scream had penetrated their ears.

"What the!? Was that Noel?" Taro said.

Ragna nodded, "Sounds like it, come on, let's go!" he commanded with Taro right behind him.

After following the source of the scream, the two boys found Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto huddled together with the Truth Grimoire in hand.

"Noel! Makoto! Tsubaki! What happened!?" Taro called for answers.

Noel slowly spoke with fear evident in her voice, "I… used… this… and a…. G-g-g-g…"

Ragna had enough of her stuttering, "Yeah, just say it, what did you guys see?"

Makoto finally cracked, "We saw a Ghost!" she exclaimed.

Hearing this, Taro gasped whilst Ragna began sweating profusely, "D-d-did you say g-g-ghost?" hoping that he heard them wrong.

Tsubaki confirmed, "She's not lying, a ghost just popped out of a book after Noel used the Truth Grimoire on it."

They all took this in and Taro looked at Ragna and noticed he was a little jumpy.

"Hey Ragna, you seem a little sweaty, are you okay?" he asked.

Ragna spoke at a rapid pace, "Y-Yeah! I'm fine! I'm not afraid of ghosts or anything, that's right. Ghost aren't scary, haha!"

Taro tilted his head in confusion, "What? What did you say? I couldn't hear you."

"Nothing! I said I'm fine!" he replied hastily and Taro dropped it.

It was at that moment the other group showed up, "Ragna! Taro! What happened!? Is Noel and the others okay?" Mai worried.

Taro replied, "Yeah, she's okay, just a little frightened. They told us they saw a ghost." But Ragna interrupted, "Don't say that!"

Taro blinked, "Huh? Why? What's up with you?"

Ragna tried to play it cool.

"Nothing, I… I just don't want to talk right now, especially about ghosts, yep that's right haha." Ragna said.

Unknown to him, a white apparition began to phase through the bookshelf behind him much to the fear of the others watching.

Mai called out to Ragna, "Ragna! Behind you!"

Ragna looked at her, "W-What's behind me? Ghost? No, no, you're joking there's no way that ghost are…" he turned around as his words faded.

What he saw was the figure of a girl dressed in a frilly white dress, she had long flowing hair done in curls that reached the small of her back, but what stood out to him was her lack of feet.

'She's levitating? A ghost!?'

Ragna let out the girliest and highest pitched scream to be ever recorded in history.

"AHHHHH! Oh my god! A Ghost!" Ragna screamed.

After he had his moment, a few awkward seconds of silence passed by until laughter could be heard.

"Pfft! Pfft! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Did you hear how he screamed!? OH HO HO… HO!" Makoto began dying of laughter.

Soon Tsubaki and Noel joined in, "That was... You have some… *kekeke* Ha! Impressive vocals Ragna… hehehe." she tried her best to be polite.

Ragna began to feel heat reach his cheeks. Before he could defend himself.

"You should have heard yourself Ragna, hehehe! Your voice was even higher than mine! Da hahaha!" she giggled.

Ragna got a little pissed, "H-Hey! Shut the hell up!"

However, Kajun's giggled began to resound, "Oh my! To scream that loud, is most *Fufufu* curious!"

Ragna's face burned and he couldn't find anything to say.

Shiori continued, "Hahaha! I finally know your weakness!" she laughed at her 'sworn' rival's fear.

"Hey! I can still kick your ass halfway across the field Shorty!" Ragna shot back hoping to preserve some of his manhood.

Mai however, said her part, "Oh boy! Hehehe! You should have… haha! I wish I had a camera! Haha!"

Ragna glared at her, "Glad you don't."

Then much to his chagrin, Taro laughed like he hadn't for the past week, "Buwah Hahahahaha! Oh man! I'm crying! You, hehe, you just made my day man! Hahahaha!"

Ragna covered his face with his right hand and just wanted to die.

Then another set of laughter ended the others. They looked at the ghost, with Ragna shifting back quickly which only caused the ghost to laugh further.

"Teehee! Hahaha!" the ghost girl giggled which made Ragna's spine shiver.

"N-No! Please, don't possess." he begged, but the ghost only laughed more.

"I'm… hehehe, I'm sorry! It's just, I haven't seen anyone in so long and you just… oh you don't know how happy you made me, haha!" the ghost told them.

Setting their laughter aside, Kajun approached the ghost, "So, you're a real ghost?"

The ghost nodded, "Yes, I've been dead for over 50 years with no one to talk to… can't blame anyone for not finding me since I was stuck in that book for so long."

They nodded, however, Shiori demanded, "Hey, tell us your name Ghost."

Mai chided the blonde who immediately became an innocent child once more.

The ghost smiled, "It's alright, I'm Luna Becker, as you see, I used to be a student here until I died."

Mai approached Luna and asked, "So, can you please tell us how you died here?"

Luna agreed more than happy to tell her story, "Sure, I loved the library more than any other place in the Academy… it wasn't just because of the books that had everything I wanted to learn, but also as a place to escape the hard parts of Academy life." she ended wistfully.

Noel who was already beginning to understand this girl asked her to continue, "Yes, Luna, please continue."

Luna lifted her face up revealing her hidden beauty; her lightly tanned oval face, sparkling purple eyes hidden under long lashes and full pink lips.

"Of course! Anyhow, I ended up falling asleep in the library just when they decided to do extension work on the Library. And before I knew it, I was trapped. The place I saw as my personal haven, became my prison and long before they finished upgrading… I had already died of starvation and thirst…" she ended solemnly.

All the girls were openingly crying and sobbing at Luna's story.

"Oh! Luna, to have died horribly like that… I don't know what to say." Tsubaki wiped her tears like everyone else.

Luna replied, "That's okay, all of you already gave me my deepest desire."

Mai inquired, "And that would be?"

Luna smiled at Ragna who paled at her stare, "Having people to talk to and that man that there, with the white-hair, hehe! You made me happier than I ever was when I was alive!" she admitted.

Ragna nodded, "O-Okay, I made you laugh, so can you stop creeping towards me."

Taro playfully jumped to his defence, "Don't worry Princess Raggy! I and my female companions will protect you! Hahaha!"

Ragna swore at him, "Don't call me that you asshole!"

Which only made everyone laugh louder.

The ghost girl Luna said to him, "Oh I'm sorry if I scare you… it's just that I never thought I could laugh like that, I never had any friends when I was alive."

Makoto jumped up in surprise, "Wait!? You never had friends!? But you're like smoking hot! Not even an admirer?"

Luna shook her head, "Oh no! Thanks for the compliment, but I was a very weird girl long story short… but that doesn't matter! This man here however, made me happier than I could have ever dreamed."

She then flew close to Ragna who was pinned against a wall with no escape.

"W-What are you doing!?" he asked with fear.

Luna smiled at him, "I really like you! You made me feel something I always admired my peers who I watched over the years. Thank you for making my dream of being able to laugh along with others a reality."

Ragna replied, "No! I don't want you to like me!" we made everyone giggle once more.

Ragna closed his eyes thinking she was going to possess him, but instead, felt something soft against his cheek.

"Chu! Thank you mister for making me happy!" Luna told him before she was slowly assimilated into Ragna's right arm.

Everyone watched the development before them.

"Does anyone know what's going on?" Tsubaki asked hoping for an answer.

Within Mai's mind, she knew what was happening as it had happened to her only a week or two ago. But it was Kajun who explained.

"It's only a theory, but I think Luna is giving Ragna her power." Kajun answered.

Noel piped up, "Wow! Does that mean Ragna is going to get even stronger?"

"Oh! If that's the case, then me and him have got to spar sometime soon!" Makoto exclaimed.

However, Luna gave her parting words,"I'm giving you a protection Grimoire, what it does depends on you, goodbye now." she eventually faded into Ragna's arm.

Once all was said and done, Ragna dropped on his behind and let out a strained breath he had been holding.

"Huahaha… I'm… not possess am I? Oh no, did she do something to me?" he asked everyone present.

They all stifled their giggles at the discovery of Ragna's fear of ghosts.

"Calm down Raggy! Nothing bad happened to you! Hehe!" Taro ensured him and offered to pick him up.

Ragna rejected it, "Hey! Remember, you still need to wash your hands!"

Taro blinked before remembering, "Oh right! I forgot! Still… you should have heard the way you screamed! Buahahaha!" he erupted into endless laughter, which set everyone off.

Frowning, Ragna stood up and exclaimed, "You assholes… just shut up."

Mai spoke up, "I don't think we'll be forgetting this anytime soon." and everyone agreed making Ragna's face burn even more.

Makoto replied, "Yep! To think you were afraid of ghosts is… pfft!" she couldn't finish her sentence.

Ragna had enough and began retreating to his room, "Screw you guys, I'm going to bed."

"Bye Ragna! Are you sure you want to go alone? There might ghosts." Kajun teased.

Ragna stiffened, but ended up rushing for his room while he heard the rest of the group laugh. A few more minutes laughing, they all calmed down.

"Oh man! I'm glad Ragna took me on this adventure, he made my day!" Taro told the Remix Heart group.

"MmHm! Glad you enjoyed yourself Taro, you seem to be feeling better now." Tsubaki asked to which the male grinned.

"With what just happened? How could I ever stay depressed!?" Taro asked them and they all giggled.

Eventually Mai spoke up, "As funny as it is, I don't think he'll like it too much if we hang it over his head."

Makoto however blew her lips, "Nah! This one staying as a big part of Remix Heart's archives!"

They all laughed once more before Kajun realised the time.

"Oh my! It's already 9:30, we should head back now." she suggested.

Without any resistance, they all agreed.

"Yeah! Tonight was the biggest adventure we had so far! Let's call it a night!" Noel cheered.

"As you said, let's get to bed." Tsubaki agreed as well as Makoto who let everyone know that she was tired by the way she yawned.

Mai looked to everyone one last time and said her part, "That was fun while it lasted, see you all tomorrow!"

Everyone in turn said goodbye before they all headed off to bed and they looked forward to seeing Ragna tomorrow.

Next Morning - 6:30AM, with Ragna

The awaited day had come, Ragna woke up early hoping to clear his mind of last night's events which only made him groan.

"Oh, why did that have to happen?" he questioned the event whilst he exited his dorm with dread, a clear contrast to the hopes of his friends who had witnessed the event.

Travelling down flights of stairs, he noted the absence of many people along corridors as he stopped to look left and right each floor he had reached. To his comfort, there wasn't a soul in sight but he wasn't surprised, during his first week here, he had picked up of the fact most of the Academy students never liked to wake up before 7:30AM.

Soon he was out the main entrance to the senior dorms and was making his way to the cafeteria area; he hoped maybe a good meal would help him forget the embarrassing moment with the ghost girl, Luna.

The thought of her made him shiver, not only was she an actual ghost, but she was now residing in his right arm. Which reminded him…

'So that Luna girl or whatever, she said she gave me a Protection Grimoire? But I don't feel any different, maybe this is one of those things that take time to kick in.' he wondered.

As he ran through his thoughts, he let his eyes become lazy and observe his surroundings. On both sides of the walkway, he was treated to the gift of seeing long blades of grass blowing in the wind, which was spoiled with sunflowers, Dandelions and puffy spores he didn't know the name of. Their vibrant colours flickers between dark and bright as the morning sun slowly cast it's invigorating rays upon the Earth.

The sight put a smile on Ragna's face.

'Just like when I'd sneak off and lay under a tree… Some things don't change, no matter how I do I guess.' he spoke to himself.

Inevitably, this had to come to an end with that being his arrival at the Main building entrance. From there, he traced the path his mind had mapped to the Cafeteria. Once he was at the Cafeteria, he took a good look to find where the little Kitchen area was until he found it in the centre of the massive room.

Grinning, he was looking for to finding whatever there was to use for cooking until an unexpected presence almost spooked him.

"Hey there Ragna! I haven't seen you all week, how've you been?" a rather short Auburn-haired guy called to him.

Ragna turned almost instantly to face him.

"Gesus, you almost scared me, and I do not need that again. And yeah, I've been better, what about you?"

Akane waved his hands off to the side, "Same-same! Except for the fact that Taro last night seemed like his regular-self, said you made his day. What did you do?" he asked.

Ragna clenched his teeth, "That… I'd like to have be kept a secret."

Akane nodded, "Hey, no worries! I won't push! Just, whatever you did, you deserve a big thanks from me, it's just not the same when that big-idiot isn't being an idiot." he explained.

Ragna nodded, "Yeah, I can imagine, so what are you up so early for?" he asked knowing that Akane never gets up at this time due to an encounter of this nature has never once happened in the past week.

Akane snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah! I forgot to mention, you and I are on food duty!"

Ragna blinked, "Ah… food duty?"

Akane leaned forward and explained, "Oh right, food duty is something that the Academy has students do under the guise of teaching us to find our own food. Pretty much, we make breakfast for not just ourselves, but for everyone in the Academy minus the Juniors."

"So you're saying, we get to find our own ingredients and cook with them for everyone?" Ragna spelled out for himself. Akane nodded and clicked his tongue playfully.

"You got it, now let's get going before anyone gets here. Last thing we want is some hungry mob after us." Akane warned him.

Ragna agreed with a nod and followed him, "Okay, lead the way Akane."

Then off they headed into the forested parts of the seventh level and any higher if they desired.

Speaking of the forests, they were exactly as one would think of a forest, a collection of trees playing host to a variety of flora and fauna; to Ragna and Akane, this meant ingredients.

"Hey, Ragna look at these berries, you think they're good to eat?" Akane asked him.

Ragna took a look at the small wild berries, he picked one off and crushed it between his fingers before rubbing it onto his wrists and elbows. A second later, he let out a small hiss as the berries' residue began to give him a small, but noticeable burning sensation.

"Nope, these things are poisonous, don't touch 'em, but these things on the branches on the other hand are okay." Ragna plucked at few wood-like buds off the bushes' branches.

Akane nodded impressed, "Hey! Not bad! I'm guessing you've done this before?"

Ragna replied, "Yeah, all the time before I enrolled, thought it wasn't this easy to navigate. These woods aren't as dense as the ones I'm used to, does the Academy grounds have something to do with that?" he asked hoping to learn more about the Academy.

"Well, I'm no expert on these things, but I'm guessing it's just the controlled amount of seithr and the nutrients here aren't as rich as the outside." he told Ragna who was just stood there absorbing the information.

"I see, guess we won't find that much compared to the outside, but that makes things a little easier. And… Oh! That plant over there." Ragna exclaimed his discovery.

Akane became curious as to what he found and asked, "So what did you find Ragna?"

Ragna was busying himself with plucking the leaves of the plant he had found.

"This thing here is called Moringa, a really bitter herb, but is pretty good for you. But if we want it to taste good, we gotta keep scavenging." he informed.

Akane nodded even more impressed with Ragna, who began to lead the foraging and eventually overfill their baskets with an array of wild vegetables, herbs and spices.

"Wow! I have never seen this much stuff in a basket before! And to think you could eat this thing!" Akane examined a root Ragna had pulled from the ground.

Ragna shrugged, "Of course you can eat that, it's just a different type of ginger, just the taste is much stronger, but with citrus flavours so it balances out."

Akane nodded, "Man, I have to say it, I'm glad I got paired with you, normally me and Taro are together, but we end up never knowing what to pick. Sure the big idiot is a great cook, but he can't forage even if his life depended on it." he revealed.

Ragna chuckled, "Hehe! At least the guy can cook, but um… anyway, I think we got enough vegetables and shit. We should probably head back." he suggested.

Akane nodded but sighed, "Uwah~ Guess we won't be finding any meat today."

The two began to head back to the Main building, however, Ragna stopped them both. It was at this moment that Akane decided to ask the taller male a question he had been meaning to ask for a while.

"Oh yeah, I heard you fought Jin and beat him when he went crazy. So, how did you do it?" Akane asked.

Ragna paused for a minute, "Um… I'm not sure, I just did whatever came naturally to me and wanted to beat his ass real badly."

Akane nodded, "Okay, but Jin is really strong! Heck, even some of the NOL's elites don't want to piss him off. And the fact that you bet him makes you a very popular guy."

Ragna looked at him, "So beating him was that big of a deal? Damn… so much for the quiet life. Anything else you want to say?"

Akane put his hand under his chin before saying, "Well… Nothing much, just that now that Jin's been beaten by someone, maybe his family won't try anymore assasination attempts on him."

Ragna stopped right there, "What? Jin has people trying to assassinate him other than that Short blonde girl?"

AKane nodded, "Yup! Kind of sad really, but now that you've beaten Jin, his jealous family members might no longer think he's worth the attention. But if I were you, you better be careful, those other Kisaragi relatives of his don't like it when commoners outdo them. They might come after you." he informed Ragna.

Ragna narrowed his eyes before looking back in front of him.

"Just let them come at me. I'll kick their asses even harder than I did to Jin."

Akane sighed, "For some reason, I thought you'd say that." he ended the conversation there and continued making way back to the Academy Main building. That was until Ragna stopped them...

"Huh? What's up Ragna?" Akane questioned the abrupt pause.

"Shush… Look, tracks." Ragna quietly pointed towards the ground, which Akane traced and saw footprints.

"Animal tracks? What animal though?" Akane wondered.

Ragna answered his thoughts, "The base of the foot is slightly round and the tips are pointed and get wider as you look up… this is a wild boar track and fresh too."

Akane blinked in shock at Ragna's deducing skills, "You can tell all that by its tracks?

Ragna groaned, "When you do this for a long time, you learn some things. But that doesn't matter, right now, we need to follow this thing." he reminded his companion.

Akane agreed, "Right."

They both followed the tracks with Ragna pointing out new signs like trampled grass and recently eaten plants; the last of which taught them both some new potential sources of ingredients.

"Looks like it made a stop for some snacks, we're getting close." Ragna analysed the situation with Akane following close behind.

Eventually, after many stressful minutes of tracking, they both saw their target; the wild boar whom was in trampling a downed deer.

"Oh, poor guy, that deer never stood a chance." Akane winced at the brutal beat down the wild boar was delivering.

Ragna however, just looked around the surrounding area, "Good, looks like more for us, now Akane, here's the plan, you dig a hole around that side and I'll lead it to it." he pointed to the side with large rocks scattered about. Akane agreed without question and went around the other side of the clearing.

Meanwhile, Ragna simply stood up and approached the wild boar making enough noise to get its attention. The boar roared then charged at him thinking he was after his game, we it guessed right.

Ragna began to lightly step backwards waiting for the boar to almost ram into him before he moved out of the way. The result? The boar smashed it's skull hard against the trunk of a tree.

"Come on, is that all little piggy?" Ragna taunted needlessly as the animal would have attempted to charge into him regardless.

To add to the mix, Ragna sometimes kicked the wild boar's face just to kill time and practice his skills.

'Hm? I'm getting sloppy, I need to find some place to train without anyone to judge me.' he thought to himself. Conveniently, Ragna just happened to jump over the hole Akane had dug using some Armagus and the wild boar had found itself stuck in their trap.

The wild boar began whining and struggling to climb out.

Ragna and Akane met up and exchanged words, "Nice work with the hole."

Akane returned the sentiment, "Thanks! You too! You barely tried with this guy chasing you. So now what?" Akane asked for further direction.

Ragna pointed towards the other recently trampled deer, "You can drag that thing back to the Cafeteria and I'll carry this thing back."

Akane agreed, "Alright, let's hurry back before people show up." he proceeded to cast some Armagus that carried the deer for him.

Ragna on the other hand picked up a head-sized rock and raised it towards the sky.

"Sorry… thanks for the meat." before he struck the boar in the head, effectively killing it.

"That's that, time to drag this thing back" He looked up at Akane and saw he had no problem using that Armagus of his to bring the deer back with him.

"You're definitely okay, alright, let's get back to the kitchen." Ragna called the foraging to an end to which Akane agreed wholeheartedly.

20 minutes later - Cafeteria Kitchen - 7:10AM

After a long excruciating time carrying the baskets and the game they hunted, the two both let out breaths of relief.

"Phew! These guys were heavy weren't they Ragna?" Akane tried to make some small talk. Which succeeded,

"Yeah, man I could eat a horse right now, let's get these guys prepared so we can finally eat." Ragna exclaimed with a slight smile on his face.

Following Ragna's comment, the two immediately began skinning the boar and deer carefully. Draining the blood, removing the bladder and taking the meat. However, per Ragna's request, they kept all the organ meats under the guise of "So we don't waste anything."

As soon as the animals were all finished being carved out, they were about to start preparing the vegetables until they heard a familiar group of voices.

"Huh!? Hey, Ragna! Akane! Good morning! Are you two in charge of cooking this week?" Noel called out to them, the two boys did the same in turn.

"Oh! Hey there Noel! You too Tsubaki and Makoto! What's up?" Akane greeted them.

Tsubaki did a polite curtsy whilst Makoto waved energetically.

"Heya Akane! Oh Ragna! Good to see ya!" Makoto cheered out to him.

Ragna nodded, "Good to see you three… I guess." he added at the last bit.

Tsubaki caught that last part and inquired, "Oh Ragna, what's wrong with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

Ragna narrowed his eyes more before risking it, "So… you guys aren't going to laugh at me?"

Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto looked at each other for a moment before Noel replied, "No, why would we laugh at you?"

Ragna was taken back by this response, "Huh? I swear you girls were going to mention last night to me…"

"Hey! Raggy! Did any ghosts haunt your dreams!?" Taro joked as soon as he saw him.

When the girls heard that, they couldn't suppress the laughter that they had been holding back when they saw Ragna.

The Albino scrowled, "Just when I thought you guys were decent."

Tsubaki wiped a tear from her eyes before replying, "Oh please, we're sorry if we upset you in anyway, but still… hehe"

Makoto continued, "The way you screamed when you saw Luna! That's not being wiped from our memory anytime soon!"

They all continued laughing at his expense.

Confused, Akane asked Taro for the details.

"Hey, what are those girls laughing about?" Akane wanted in on the joke.

Taro cleared his throat, "Oh! Um… hehe! Our buddy over here is afraid of ghosts."

"TARO! Don't tell him that!" Ragna yelled.

But it was too late, Akane heard enough and turned to face Ragna, "Really!? You don't like ghosts!?"

Ragna looked between the two guys and the three girls who were still giggling. He gave up and admitted it.

"Yes… I'm scared of ghosts… you happy?" Ragna shamefully admitted.

After a few more giggles, the girls finally settled down and Taro remembered his other friend.

"Oh yeah! Jinny! You're late! What took you so long!?" Taro asked.

As soon as Tsubaki heard that Jin was here, she immediately turned to face where her target of affection was.

"Huh!? Jin! G-Good morning! How are you?" she greeted him with that shine in her eyes.

Jin smiled at her, "I'm good, how are you Tsubaki? I'm just here to see what they have for breakfast."

In the meantime, Noel and Makoto who were watching, stifled their laughter at Tsubaki.

"Ya know, as funny as it is to hear Ragna scream. It's more hilarious how obvious it is that Tsubaki likes Jin and she tries to deny it." Makoto said.

Noel giggled whilst agreeing, "I think so too! They should just become a couple already."

The blonde and squirrel girl nodded together.

However, the room became silent when they noticed that Jin and Ragna were now glaring at each other.

"Oh no… Jinny and Raggy are at it again… haha." Taro laughed quietly.

Akane sighed, "I swear, what's with Jin? Whenever he's around Ragna, he just gives him a death stare and does things I've never seen him do before."

Such as how Jin gave Ragna a grin similar to the one gave him when he became psychotic and greeted him with a tone that sent shivers down everyone's spine aside from Ragna's.

"Good morning Ragna, how are you doing?" Jin managed to not sound like a complete psycho.

Ragna replied through clenched teeth, "I'm doing well Jin… what about you?" with as much sarcasm as he could muster up.

Jin smiled seemingly as he normally does, but according to both Taro and Akane.

"Look! Look! That face, you can see he's pissed!" Akane in hushed whispers into Taro's ears, who was chuckling at the scene for some stupid reason.

"Yep! That's Jin! He's never honest with his feelings!" Taro whispered back. As these two were whispering, Jin continued his tense conversation with Ragna.

"I'm doing quite well! In fact, I look forward to whatever you are making Ragna." Jin expressed with his eyes closed and smiling, but his voice had a hint of excitement that was foreigned to the ears of his long-time Academy friends.

Noel sneaked up to Tsubaki and asked, "Hey Tsubaki, don't you think Jin is being a little… different than usual?"

Tsubaki nodded and replied, "Yes, I'm not sure why he's like this around Ragna. He always gets along with even the worst people."

Ragna nodded, "Okay! Then sit tight then why don't ya? I'll cook you something real good." he put on the fakest happy tone he could muster up.

Jin smiled even more, "I'm sure it'll be a pleasure, take your time! I'll just be waiting outside until you're finished." he told him as he turned towards the Cafeteria entrance he was headed towards. On the way, he stopped by three girls who the group were well acquainted with.

"Oh good morning you three! Our friend Ragna is cooking for everyone today." Jin greeted Kajun, Mai and Shiori who was giving him a calculating gaze.

"Oh uh, hey Jin! You seem… rather excited today? And what's this about Ragna cooking?" Mai returned.

Jin swiftly stilled his features and resumed as he was known for, "I'm fine, I just had a really good night's sleep, that's all! Now, if you'll excuse me, have a nice day you three." he exited the room.

Mai blinked in confusion before expressing it to Kajun, "That was weird, wasn't it?"

Kajun agreed with her, "Yes… he's been a little more… excited these days." she described Jin's new personality."

But a loud voice interrupted them, "Hiya guys! What took ya slowpokes so long!?" Makoto's booming voice resounded in their faces.

Mai laughed apologetically, "I'm sorry, but Shiori was being a handful and you know…"

Makoto's mouth became the shape of an O and nodded in understanding, "I see~ But I can't blame her, who wouldn't want to play with your boobs?" she said nonchalantly.

Mai's face burned, "Can you not say that so openly please?" she pleaded.

Makoto scratched the back of her head in slight guilt, "Sorry! Haha!"

With Jin, outside the Cafeteria

As soon as Jin exited the Cafeteria, he immediately found himself lying on a wall for support as he breathed heavily. The feeling he normally experience whenever he was around Ragna had almost made him completely break his Honour Student facade.

'Brother… You're really here! I want to spend more time with you and... ' Jin paused his thoughts as he remembered that Ragna was cooking for everyone today.

'Big Brother's cooking? Oh how I missed it…' Jin's eyes gleamed over with nostalgia.

Taking another deep breath, Jin concentrated on the charm Professor Cypher had placed on him.

"I need to stay calm… I can't lose myself to these temptations… not now at least." Jin reminded himself as he re-entered the Cafeteria only to see the girls conversing with Ragna.

"So what are you going to be making Ragna?" Makoto asked.

Ragna shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Anything that tastes alright I guess."

Hearing this, Noel replied, "So in other words, nothing too fancy or extraordinary?"

Wrong choice of words Noel… Ragna gave her a glare which made her jump, especially with what he said, "I'm sorry, but were you trying to say I can't cook?"

All the girls looked nervously at each other before Kajun stepped in, "Well if I may be blunt, you don't seem like the type who knows their way around a kitchen."

Ragna scrowled and shot back, "Hey! I can cook at the very least better than Noel!"

The blonde girl shouted indignantly, "H-Hey!"

Tsubaki however turned that down, "I'm sorry to say it, but that isn't too difficult to achieve…"

"W-Wah!? You're all so mean!" Noel began to whine, which caused Mai to leap towards her side.

"Oh don't listen to them Noel, you're cooking is amazing! You're the only one who can even get me to eat anything!" Mai assured the emotional blonde.

Noel sniffled before putting on a bright smile, "Oh Mai! You always know what to say~"

However, the other blonde; Shiori added, "Lady Mai~ You're so amazing to be able to conquer Noel's concoctions of death~"

But she was mostly ignored, much to her chagrin, before she could explode Taro approached her.

"Hehehe! You were ignored Shio-Shio!" Taro called her by her new nickname which only caused her to direct her anger towards him.

"Don't call me that! How dare you!? Why would you even give me one of your horrendous nicknames!?" Shiori demanded to know.

Taro was confused and replied as a result, "Eh? I just thought it'd be a cute name for you, you know!? You're cute as well so I thought why not!?"

Shiori's cheeks gained a scarlet complexion before erupting even more, "Don't call me cute either!"

"Then what do I call you?" Taro desperately wanted to know.

Shiori screamed in his face, "Shiori you idiot!"

In the meantime, Ragna rolled up his sleeves, "Oh just you guys watch, I'll make all of you something that'll have you all begging me cook all the time."

Mai came up and gave him her best wishes, "Well, good luck! You'll need it!"

Ragna scoffed, "I don't need luck… Akane, are the vegetables ready?" to which the guy replied, "Yep! They been ready since a while ago actually. So what are we going to make?"

Ragna took a chef hat and covered his hair with it, "Just follow my instructions, and I'll take care of the rest. Chop up the vegetables into big chunks and leave half of them in a bowl somewhere."

Akane nodded, "I got it!" he proceeded to slice whatever wild vegetables they had gathered.

Whilst Akane was doing that, Ragna took all the spices and dunked them into a massive wok. He began to move the wok and the wooden spoon he was using to toss them around for about a minute until a fragrant smell hit everyone's noses.

"*Sniff* Wow~ That smells amazing~" Noel stated the obvious.

Mai agreed, "It sure does! Though I'm not sure if it'll taste good." she added.

Kajun nodded, "That's right, many dishes can smell good, but rarely taste that good."

While the girls were making those comments, Ragna poured the now dry-roasted spices into a grinder which did it's work.

Working quickly, he took the wild ginger, lemongrass and herbs he and Akane had gathered before deep-frying them into a pot of hot oil.

Tsubaki blinked, "Huh? I've never seen people do that before? What's he doing to those herbs?"

Noel explained, "Oh! He's cooking them quickly in the oil to bring out the best flavours of all those ingredients! So, whatever he's making is going to have a strong flavour profile."

Mai, Kajun, Tsubaki and Makoto all listened in awe, "Noel… her knowledge of cooking is second to none yet…" Tsubaki mentioned.

"In practice… she's barely a novice." Makoto ended quietly. Mai chuckled lightly, "Come on, she isn't that bad right?"

Kajun and Shiori both placed there hands on both Mai's shoulders.

"Mai… you don't know how lucky you really are?" Kajun expressed her envy,

"It's nothing we want you to ever experience." Shiori told her.

Mai blinked and chuckled nervously, "I'm guessing it is huh."

Back to Ragna, once the herbs were nicely golden brown, he took them out and placed them in the same grinder where the spices were recently powdered. The result was a golden spice paste which was immediately place into a big pot with some of the oil that was used to fry the herbs earlier. As he sauteed the paste, he dumped half the meat he and Akane gathered.

Speaking of Akane, Ragna made sure he was busy, "Hey! Get working on the rice! We need as much as we can get!"

Akane nodded, "I'm on it! Wow, you sure know how to cook!"

Ragna smirked, "Yeah, yeah, I know, just get to work."

Eventually, his smirk became a smile, as the meat he used became brown and coated in the paste, which meant he could finally fill the pot with water. Just to make sure the contents weren't going to be blandm he added the moringa herb on top to make sure it was getting flavour. He then added a few wedges of onions before closing the pot.

After that, he looked to Akane and saw he had already finished making the rice.

"Okay, so now what Ragna?" Akane asked.

"Take this whole pot of rice, saute the half the organ meats in a pot with some of the leftover ginger and onions. Then add the rice to it with a lot of water.

Akane clicked his fingers, "Oh! You're making a rice porridge! I see, I know how to make that!" he went on to make the rice porridge.

As for Ragna, he took all the leftover ingredients, the last bits of meat, liver, heart and intestines, the last batch of wild vegetables, ginger and spice mix. Ragna smirked before he mixed the liver and heart with some spices and pepper. He blitz it in a blender before stuffing the intestines with the paste he made and chopped the long intestine into bit sized pieces.

Makoto's head began to hurt, "Okay? Does anyone know what Ragna just made? My head hurts trying to figure it out!"

Tsubaki shook her head, "I'm not sure what he's done either! But it looked interesting" he admitted.

Noel nodded, "Yeah, and that smell is amazing! I can't wait to try it!"

Kajun nodded, "Hm… interesting, this will be something to look into."

Mai chuckled at her friends' reactions, "Yeah! Ragna sure is amazing!"

As soon as Mai said that, Ragna was already stir frying the intestine sausages with a few pinches of salt and then added the vegetables until they started to wilt.

Ragna turned the heat off and walked up to the other two pots.

"And they should be done by now." Ragna spoke as he lifted the lids off the two massive pots, releasing the most pleasant aromas everyone has ever smelled.

"Ahh~ That smells really good!" Tsubaki admitted.

Noel nodded, "Oh! I'm getting satisfied just smelling it!"

Kajun told her, "Don't be hasty now Noel, be sure to save your appetite for the actual dishes."

Makoto however, cheered, "Oh boy! I can't wait! Let's dig in!"

However, they weren't alone.

The other students who were still asleep up until now had arrived in droves and all commented on the pleasant smell.

"Hey that stuff smells good!" a random student pointed out.

"The food is already done! Heck yeah!" another student pointed out.

Mai looked around and turned to Ragna with a bright smile on her face, "Now for the moment of truth! Let's see if they enjoy it!"

Ragna untied his apron and hat on his head.

"Yeah, they will. Trust me." he replied with a cocky smile on his face.

Taro approached Ragna and said, "You seem confident there Raggy! Let's hope it's actually good!"

Ragna blew his lips, "Please! Just sit down and eat, then you'll see."

Eventually, Ragna and Akane began to serve a decent portion of all the dishes they made equally to everyone in three separate plates and bowls on a tray; a plate of stir-fried Pate intestine sausage over white rice, a big bowl of thick rice porridge and a golden brown boar and deer meat soup curry.

Once everyone was served, our main focus, the detective of pretty girls who were among the first to receive their portions.

"Okay, this is it! Time to chow down on Ragna's cooking!" Makoto cheered.

Tsubaki chuckled at her antics, "It definitely looks good! So, shall we begin?"

Noel eagerly nodded, "Yes! Let's eat!" she cheered already having a spoonful of curry heading towards her mouth.

Likewise, Tsubaki and Makoto did the same as she did.

Once the food touched their tongues, their eyes widened and they sat petrified.

Seeing this, Mai became increasingly worried, "I'm guys… are you still alive?" believing that Ragna's cooking may have killed them

However, the girls began shoveling their food.

"This is so damn good! I can't stop! I must keep eating!" Makoto exclaimed.

Tsubaki in the midst of her onslaught, managed to stop between bites, "Never in my life~ Have I ever tasted anything this amazing! What did he do to it!?" she wondered.

Noel added, "Oh! This is way better than anything we've ever made! Mn!"

Hearing the three girls in front of Mai and Kajun say this, the latter became more curious, "Is it really that good? I guess there's no harm in trying." she spooned a portion of her rice porridge.

Once she ate it, she immediately began to shovel down her food.

Mai's forehead began to drip with sweat.

"Um… Jun? Are you alright?" Mai stared in shock at her eccentric roommate who's usually so reserved and ladylike.

Kajun stopped and gave Mai a look with a big twinkle in them which startled her for a moment.

"Yes, of course I am! Why wouldn't I be?" Kajun replied with a smile, but her glossy lips were dripping with porridge.

Mai chuckled and scratched her cheek, "W-Well, uh? You're not eating… very ladylike." she reminded Kajun.

Kajun gave out a deep chuckle, "Oh please, it'd be unladylike of me if I didn't show how much I enjoyed this meal. Oh my goodness, this is so good! This is curious!" she resumed munching her meal.

Mai chuckled one last time before looking at her other side, where Shiori was sitting.

"Hey, Shiori, what about… nevermind." Mai gave up trying to say anything when she saw that Shiori was also taken by the meal that was cooked up by Ragna. Except she was swearing curses.

"Damn you *munch* Ragna! This is good *munch* You won't *munch* win Lady Mai from me!" Shiori swore with conflict between admiring Ragna's cooking, or plotting his demise.

Mai looked around for a little while and saw Akane and Taro eating their portions with Jin.

"Oh man! I've never had anything this good before! Akane, what do you think?" Taro asked.

Akane nodded and agreed, "Definitely! Never had a rice porridge with so much flavour to it."

Whilst they were talking, Jin was silently eating his portion which Tsubaki, who was seated between Noel and Makoto, happened to be near where Jin was sitting. She noticed that Jin's portion didn't have any meat in it.

She chuckled a bit gaining Jin's attention, who smiled in response, "What's wrong Tsubaki? Did Ragna's cooking set something loose in you?"

Tsubaki's face became scarlet as she realised she ate like an animal around Jin.

"I-I-I I didn't mean to eat like that… I-I" Tsubaki tried to cover, but Jin reassured her, "Don't be ashamed Tsubaki! I'd rather see you like that more often!" Jin admitted.

Tsubaki's heart soared, "I-I see, I guess I will do that then, anyway, looks like Ragna's plan backfired, he took the meat out l=just the way the way you like it!"

Jin paused for a bit and observed his portion, only to see that she was right. His tray didn't contain a single trace of meat in it. This was exactly how he did like his meals.

"Yes? You're right, Ragna didn't put meat in mine, but that's okay, I don't like meat dishes anyway." Jin smiled whilst continuing his meal.

Mai chuckled at Tsubaki and Jin's interaction, before hearing a grunt from a gruff voice she had come to know.

"Tch! Old habits die hard, I guess" Ragna scrowled as he glared at Jin enjoying his meat-free meal.

Mai looked up at him and greeted, "Hey Ragna! You weren't kidding! Everyone here is falling over their heads for your cooking!" she pointed out how everyone in the Cafeteria was praising the gods for whatever forces brought this divine meal upon them.

Ragna looked to her and smirked, "Heh! This was nothing! But um… aren't hungry? You haven't eaten anything have you?" he noticed her untouched meal.

Mai laughed a bit before reminding him of her supertaster.

"I can't eat anything other than Noel's cooking, so I'll just wait!" Mai insisted until her stomach growled.

Hearing this, Noel spoke up from across the table, "Come on Mai! You should try it! After all, maybe Ragna's cooking might taste good to you!"

Mai's sweat dripped down her chin, "I'm not sure…"

Makoto piped up, "Do it Mai! If not, then you can give it to me!"

Looking around to her friends, she noticed them giving her that look that just demanded she try Ragna's cooking. Giving in, she hesitantly took a spoonful of stir fry and painstakingly brought it to her mouth.

Once the journey to her tongue had been completed, she faintly tasted how much Ragna secretly enjoyed cooking.

Mai's eyes brightened, maybe her days of eating only Noel's food had come to an end.

"Hey this is actually… *Cough*" Mai coughed like a plague patient.

The aftermath of Ragna's joy in cooking was suddenly replaced by a ferocious wave of hatred and gruesome memories, that could have only belonged to Ragna.

She saw from a small boy's perspective, a grown man in a Lab holding the said boy by the throat while he screamed bloody murder.

"You useless little! No matter how much time we invest in you! You produce no results!" the man screamed.

A flash of white noise skipped over that and she saw the scene of fire and heard a maniacal laughter. Whilst the same boy who looked in the source's direction screamed in his mind.

'J… Saya… Sister…. Give them back to me!'

Then nothing, Mai's face became blank as she managed to stop herself from fainting or spewing her stomach from what she had just witnessed.

"Mai? Mai? Are you okay? Can you eat it?" Kajun's voice brought her back from that horrid experience she just saw.

Mai reluctantly swallowed the food before sadly laughing, "I'm sorry Ragna, but I still can't eat this. Hehehe."

The girls were brought down by this and Tsubaki commented, "Not even Ragna's amazing cooking could bypass Mai's supertaster."

Makoto shrugged, "Oh, that's too bad, but, what are we gonna do with your portion, we can't just throw it away. It's too good for that." she exclaimed and everyone agreed.

Looking around, she noticed that everyone had a portion except for Ragna himself. Mai picked her tray up and thrust it towards Ragna.

"Huh!? What the!?" Ragna was taken by surprise.

"Here you have it! You're the only one who hasn't had anything to eat, so here!" Mai told him.

Ragna wanted to rebut, "But um… okay, since you can't eat then I will." He grabbed the tray and took a seat between her and Kajun.

He took a bite out of eat one and frowned a bit as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah I can see why you didn't like this, I've definitely made better." Ragna expressed his disappointment with his cooking.

Noel along with many of the others were shocked, this divine meal he cooked disappointed him? Just what was Ragna capable of?"

At this, Noel slowly made her way around the table towards Ragna and she said his name.

"Um… excuse me Ragna?" Noel played with her fingers whilst rubbing her knees together shyly.

Ragna looked up at her, "Yeah? What is it Noel?"

Noel bit her lip, before asking him, "Well… I was hoping you could teach me how to cook? Is that alright with you?" she held her hands in a prayer just below her face. This action caused Ragna to see his younger sister, Saya who had once did this exact same action when she wanted to become a better cook.

In a moment of weakness, Ragna grunted whilst he stood up and placed his right hand on Noel's head, "Okay I will, someone needs to make sure you stop killing people with your cooking." he grinned at his joke, but Noel only puffed her cheeks in anger.

"What do you mean by that!?" Noel exploded.

Ragna smirked, "Well, with that pile of shit you always give Mai, I'm worried she might be suffering from what did the health classes call it? Poor nutrition?"

Noel's face became red, "It's not that bad! Why does everyone say that!?"

Everyone began to laugh at Ragna's and Noel's interactions, but Jin who was watching couldn't help but feel incredibly jealous at the scene. Due to this, he quickly stood up and began to walk for the Cafeteria exit.

Taro got up as well, "Jinny? What's up!? You only ate half of your meal!"

Jin without looking back, replied in a strained voice, "I'm fine! I'm already full!" before he disappeared beyond the doors with Taro following closely behind.

Akane looked on with interest before he turned to face the Remix Heart group.

"Well, I'mma head off too! Gotta check on those two, ya know! Seeya all later!" Akane dismissed himself from the table and ran off after Taro and Jin.

The group waved goodbye to him before focusing on each other once more.

"Alright Noel, I'll teach ya how to cook. Besides, you got the book smarts about cooking, you might as well get the skills." he told her.

Noel looked a little miffed but didn't do anything other than agree.

"Y-yes Ragna, thank you so much!" Noel thanked him.

However, the two were interrupted by Kajun's interference, "Excuse me, I don't mean to invade on your conversation, but did anyone else notice that Ragna's right arm didn't harm Noel?"

That's when it clicked, Ragna's arm didn't do anything to harm Noel.

"What? But why? Can you somehow control it now?" Tsubaki questioned.

They all thought this over until Mai spoke up, "Hey! Maybe it's the same thing that happened to me! Remember that ghost Luna? Didn't she give him something? The protection Grimoire?"

Then it all suddenly made sense, Kajun theorised, "Oh! I see, that ghost girl must have done something to Ragna's right arm so that he doesn't harm anyone accidentally."

The Remix Heart girls cheered for their sole male member, "Hooray! Now you're one step closer to healing that 'condition' of yours buddy!" Makoto told him.

Ragna was a little confused by what she meant until he remembered his cover up story; his right arm had a terrible 'condition' that harms others if he touches them.

"Oh right, hahaha! I guess that's a good thing." Ragna replied.

The laughter and cheers continued, Mai looked up at Ragna with envy and a smile.

"Ha... You can touch people with your right arm now, I sure do hope I can fix my supertaster…" Mai looked down.

Everyone became silent at this sudden development, but Ragna took a long look at the girl, with his sights flickering between her and the food next to her. Closing his eyes, he put some effort into forming what he wanted to say to her and just decided to go for it.

"Ya know, listen Mai, you've been nothing but a good friend to me for a while now and… I admit! I was a bit of an asshole, but you and everyone else still called me their friend… so…" Ragna paused and flushed a bit when the girls of the Remix Heart group gave him surprised stares.

With Mai's gaze penetrating him most deeply, he swallowed, "What I'm trying to say… maybe I'll make you something so that even with those bullshit tastebuds of yours. You'll enjoy the best food you've had in a while." he finished.

Mai blinked slowly as she formed a few words, "Was that… a promise?"

Ragna scratched his cheeks in embarrassment, "Well… technically yeah it is. Just take it however you want."

The rest of the girls giggled at Ragna's embarrassment and told him there's nothing to be embarrassed about for promising a friend something.

Mai began to smile brightly and agreed, "Yeah! Okay! I'll wait for that day to come! No matter how long it takes you."

Ragna stared at her for a bit before smiling, "Yeah, I won't let you down, now anyway… I'm just going to check out some of the clubs and stuff, since I've literally got nothing better to do. Anyway seeya guys later."

He showed himself out.

"Seeya Ragna!" They all waved him goodbye.

However, Mai watched his back with her smile slowly fading; the memories and feelings she had felt from his cooking earlier had piped her interest.

'Ragna… Just what kind of life did you have before you came here?' she wondered and subconsciously set her own personal mission to learn more about Ragna; he was by far the most mysterious lifeform she had ever encountered.

And she was always fond of the mysterious….

OMAKE: Ragna has to have other friends too!

Now as with many fanfiction writers, this author was well aware that readers dread OC's more than any other character.

But for god's sake! Ragna can't just go through the years of the Academy in his short College years by only hanging out with the Remix Heart Detectives.

So he was, out on his on searching threw many clubs and activities to spend his time wisely.

Ragna skimmed through the short-list he made himself during the one week he had spent here.

"Let's see… I narrowed it down to the cooking clubs... For training, the boxing club, sword clubs and huh? The Pradal Serey Rahu gym? That sounds interesting. Let's see where was that place."

Ragna looked at where this 'Pradal Serey' club was and saw that it was conveniently in front of him.

"Talk about lazy plot convenient! Oh well, I'm not complaining." Ragna muttered as he entered the room, only to see two people in it.

One of them was a rather short guy, with thick fuzzy black hair and sun kissed skin. However, the guy was super lean and jacked. He was right now holding the pads for some other guy of the same height, but this guy was weird in appearance.

His body was normal, he had a dark complexion, wore the school uniform and all that. But his head was that of an echidna, with red fur locks drooping down the sides of his face and down the back of his neck. Instead of a mouth, he had a tanned snout with a shiny black nose and his eyes… oh god.. His eyes bulged out with his pupils looking sideways.

These two stopped what they were doing and looked in his direction. Ragna straightened up and approached them.

"Hey guys, I'm here to check out the 'Pradal Serey' club you guys offer." Ragna told them.

The normal looking man smiled brightly looking at his strange companion before offering his hand for a handshake, "Oh! You want to try out the club! Yes! You're more than welcome! My name is Somnang Teah! You?" he introduced himself with a slight accent.

Ragna smiled, "Yeah, I'm Ragna Mitsuyoshi, pleased to meet you, and he is…?"

The red headed… literally red-headed man came up to him and introduced himself in the thickest and funniest accent he had ever heard.

"Hello dere mah Bruddah! Mai name is Ebo *cluck* L.A! Welcome to de Bra-Darl Sir-Ray Club!" Ebo-L.A introduced himself.

Ragna nodded, "Okay, nice to meet you two Ebo, so what martial arts do you guys do? I saw all this wrestling, striking and throwing. What's it called?" he asked genuinely interested.

Somnang took over and explained, "Well, it's called Pradal Serey for those who speak English, my people in Sok-Khmai, or Cambodia, say it like 'Brahdahl Serey'. It's pretty much like Muay Thai, except my master's style is one of the few genuine versions still around."

Ragna nodded getting more invested into this story, "Okay, then well, I kicked some guy named Kazaki's ass who uses Muay Thai, so show me what you got then maybe I'll join." he challenged.

Unexpectedly, Somnang smiled, "Okay! Let's do it!"

Ragna blinked a bit, "Um… aren't you afraid of losing?"

Ebo L.A spoke up, "Master Teah says that no matter how good you are, you can always lose to a beginner if you do not know 'de wae' of battle."

Somnang nodded, "So if I lose, no worries, I try harder then fight again!"

Ragna smiled, he liked these guys already.

"Huh!? Is that so, alright then, give me your best shot!" he relaxed his posture ready for battle.

Somnang lowered himself and brought his hands which were wrapped in ropes in front of his face. He moved around cautiously making some shifty movements which threw Ragna off.

So far, Ragna wasn't impressed and thought he might as well knock the guy out in one punch. He threw out the fastest jab he could pull, but to his shock, Somnang pushed the blow to the side before moving under his arm.

Ragna managed to bring his left arm back and used the momentum to do a switch kick to push the guy away.

But the guy's posture was in the prime position to lock his leg and drag his ass towards him. Before Ragna knew it, Somnang had delivered a haymaker which slammed Ragna on his back.

Just as soon as he was about to string back up, Somnang had already secured a position on top of him and made the motions that told Ragna that if this was a real fight, he would have had his neck snapped.

Somnang eventually got up and so did Ragna.

The former bowed and thanked him.

"Thank you for the spar! You're welcome to join at anytime you want! We won't force you!" Somnang told him.

Ragna stared in shock at this guy. If this is what an Academy student could do if they focused on their training, then he'd see why his Master Jubei and Rachel sent him here.

He recalled his master's words.

'Them Academy students ain't no pushovers!'

Ragna told them, "No worries, I'm in!" much to their happiness.

"Yay! We got another sparring partner Ebo!" Somnang cheered along with the red head guy.

"Yes mah Bruddah! It's a good day to today!" Ebo agreed.

Thought Ragna had to ask, what are their stories?

Somnang replied to him, "Oh! Me, when I was too young to remember anything, you know, me a dumb shit! My parents died during the Genocide in Cambodia. My Uncle, took me in and raised me and taught me the Rahu style of Pradal Serey. And then I ended up here, my dream is to spread Pradal Serey all over the world with the Academy as a start."

Ragna nodded, "That's a nice goal and you Ebo?"

Ebo L.A took his turn, "Oh me and him similar. That is why I joined his gym. In a world foreign to this one, a place we called home… my beloved Uganda! We were a rowdy bunch, but we knew the wae… the wae of the devil… the wae of spreading love and respect! Through Ebola…"

Ragna nodded slowly becoming unnerved, "Okay… why would you guys want to spread Ebola?"

Ebo L.A quickly explained, "Oh no! My Bruddah you misunderstand! We wanted to show people that even in de worst of times… such as having Ebola or coming from Zimbabwe, you can still find de wae to happiness… and love… but, but…. *sniff* our true purpose was lost."

Ragna stayed silent wanting to know more but couldn't help but think.

'This is going to be sad in a hilarious way.'

Ebo continued, "Through the next generations, our purpose to spread joy and love, was ruined by our so-called 'Bruddahs' who spat on people and ruined the wae! So… I thought through Master Teah's teaching… I will discover the wae… the wae of redemption! And bring joy and love to the world! *Cluck* *Cluck* *Cluck*"

Ragna couldn't help but sigh.

You know, maybe the readers are right? OC's do ruin a story….

Author's note

Hey guys! Sorry for the massive delay! I've been at school for this first half year and for the first time I can honestly say… I love my school!

Unlike High School and University, I can relate to everyone! They're all introverts like me who love video games and memes.

So for those who do bother to read this.

Please understand, this school I'm going to teach future games developers and I dream of one day making video games that everyone can enjoy.

Thank you for reading, please review to tell me if you enjoyed this or not.

I hope this will get better with time.

SoulsVeteran, Praise the Sun.