The day I brought Izumi back from the afterlife, we sat and talked the whole day. I didn't want to think about the afterlife, or the horrible things that went on there, or how I'm supporting law enforcement there when I don't want to be. I talked the day away with Izumi, to distract myself from what I had seen. The day after I returned to school. During homeroom, Ayumi made an announcement.
"Class, this is our new transfer student, Amari Suzu. Please treat her well. Uhh, you can have the empty seat over there."
That empty seat was to the right of my desk.
She walks over, and without sitting down, turns to me and says "Hey there handsome. What's your name?"
She was definitely trying to control me by manipulating my emotions, but I wasn't going to waver that easily. My mental resolve for dealing with women spiked when three of them moved in with me. She was thinking "If I can make him fall for me from first contact, I can play with him however I want." While I was thinking "I don't need another crazy."
"My name is Yuji."
Suzu still hasn't sat down at this point. Instead she was hovering over me and it was pissing me off. She was also being very loud and obnoxious, making sure that the whole class could hear our conversation.
"Hey Yuji, do you want to go somewhere with me after school?"
I couldn't see her, but somewhere in the school Tamae had just spit out her coffee.
Suzu thought she had this game of seduction in the bag. She was wrong. I was immune to the advances of women unless I choose not to be. Since she was being loud, I wanted to make sure that the whole class could hear me as well. They were waiting for my response anyway.
"I'll pass. If you need me for anything else, I'll deal with it later. Sit down please, you're being disruptive."
She was playing checkers, while I had been playing chess way before she came to the board to play. Looking at the mixed shock/despair expression she made, it was obvious she had never been turned down by a guy before.
Ayumi said "Yuji, can I have a word with you?"
In response, Suzu said "No, you can not."
In response to her, I said "Be quiet. I'll make my own choices. You're pissing me off. I'll be there in a minute, Ms. Hasegawa." Harsh? Yes, but I was necessary. She clearly wasn't used to things not going as planned. But there's a first time for everything.
As I was walking down the hall with Ayumi, she said "So, why are all these girls attracted to you?"
"You jealous?"
"Maybe a little, but not really. It just seems unnatural that girls flock to you."
"Maybe I developed a seductive charm when I died."
I was joking, but even if that was feasible, it was unlikely since both Noriko and Rin were after me when I was alive. I guess I just already had that seductive charm.
"Maybe, Yuji. Maybe. Hell, you've even used it on me."
"Joking aside, that Suzu chick doesn't really have any feelings for me. She probably just wanted a toy to wrap around her finger and use as a plaything. That, or she has some other ulterior motive."
"I wouldn't worry about it too much, it seems you already put her in her place. Although, you might have to apologize if you by chance ruined her reputation on her first day."
"Doubtful. She'll find plenty of other guys and girls who can't see through her deception."
As we were walking, Tamae came around the corner.
"Ms. Hasegawa, what are you doing with Yuji?"
"We're just having a little talk. Why are you so concerned, Ms. Shibata?"
"Because Yuji is min-"
I quickly fixed this.
I said "'He's my favorite student' is what she was trying to say, Ayumi."
"Yeah, that's what I was going to sa- wait, you two are on first name basis? You've got some explaining to do, Yuji."
Ayumi said "Calm down, Ms. Shibata. You're acting like a jealous girlfriend."
Shit.
I said "Ms. Shibata, we just know each other really well because she gives me extracurricular lessons."
"I told you, I'm Tamae, not Ms. Shibata."
Through gritted teeth, I spoke "Not at school."
That was enough to make her take a hint, so she said "Alright, just keep teaching him well." and walked away.
Ayumi said "Oh, I will. I teach him lots of things." With emphasis on "lots". Luckily Tamae didn't hear her.
During lunchtime that day, I went to the courtyard, hoping that Izumi would come even though I knew she was resting at the inn. Someone did come though. It was a very uninvited guest. Suzu walked straight up to me and sat down. She also put both of her hands on my left arm.
"Hey there Yuji."
"What do you want?"
"I need you to come with me."
"No."
"Then i'll make you."
"I don't see how you would do that."
"Like this-"
Before Suzu could do anything, Tamae had spotted us and came into the courtyard saying "What are you doing to that young man? This is indecent behavior for school."
Suzu said "Go away. I don't need you interrupting me."
Suzu turned and looked at Tamae with the most deathly glare. At that instant, her eyes turned completely blue. Tamae quickly became enveloped in a large ice crystal from the bottom up.
I turned to her and said "Is she going to be okay?"
"She'll thaw out."
"What are your intentions?"
"To get you to come with me."
"No."
"Then I'll force you."
Her nails extended into large claws, made of ice crystals. Her eyes became fully blue, even the white part. Her purple hair developed blue and white highlights on the ends like it was natural. Most importantly, she started attacking me. She clawed at me, to which I evaded those attacks by jumping backwards off the bench. Her next attack was most likely her strongest. She went from clawing attacks to conjuring a blizzard in the school's courtyard, during the month of May. Since I learned that a sprit can still die if its soul does, I counterattacked. No incantations or chants are needed for me to cast spirit magic, but I like to be flashy sometimes, so I said "Come forth, flame of eternal wrath, and dispel the winter before you." Then, my own blizzard of flames appeared, and got rid of all snow and ice in the area except for the crystal Tamae was in.
Perhaps the magic I used was too strong, because her blizzard got wiped out, and so did she. She was on her knees, panting.
"Who knew you were so strong?"
"You came here with knowledge about me, and attacked me in broad daylight, at school? How dumb are you?"
"It was good a chance as any."
"You could've hurt innocent people."
"But I didn't."
"That's not the point."
I turned to Tamae and thought about how I was going to unfreeze her. I guess wanting to unfreeze her was all it took, because as I was watching her, the ice around her shattered.
"Tamae, don't worry about it, tell the nurse you're sick and go home. As for Suzu, what the hell? What do you want from me?"
"To capture you."
"Well no shit, you made that very clear already. I have almost had it with you. Say you captured me, what then?"
"I would take you to the War God Faction headquarters."
War God Faction. That's a name I heard before, from Izumi's killer.
"What is the War God Faction?"
"They're a faction ruled by royalty from Europe, that has immense military power."
"And what does a large military force want with me?"
"Their military ranks don't want you. The royal family does."
"What for?"
"I don't know."
"Well, they didn't have to send someone to kidnap me. An invitation would have been just fine. Anyway, what are you?"
She explained to me that she wasn't human. She's a snow woman. This was my first time dealing with someone who wasn't ever human at some point or another. It wasn't the last, though. I was surprisingly calm, considering I had no idea that other races besides humans(living and dead) existed.
"So you being a new transfer student was just a cover?"
"Nope, I'll really be attending this school. And you know what? I think I've taken a liking to you. I think we'll be seeing each other a lot."
Another pain in the ass, just what I needed.
"That's wonderful. Anyway Suzu, tell the royalty of the War God Faction that they can just request my presence by sending an invitation."
"Will do." She gave me a smug smile and left.
After school, I stopped at Tamae's house to calm her down after being frozen alive, then I went to the inn so Rin and Noriko would verify that I'm home and make sure that they don't try to kill anyone I was with that day. I was also relieved that they haven't found out that I had a girlfriend. I feared that if they found that out, then there would be no stopping their murderous instincts. After spending a little time with the yanderes, I went to bed. The next morning, there was a letter in the mailbox. The letter read
"Dear Mr. Sasaki Yuji, you are hereby invited to the War God Faction Japan headquarters and resort, at the request of the royal family. Please arrive at your earliest convenience. I was extremely bored, so I skipped school that day. One of the many perks of dating my teacher was that she could cover for my absences so Kazumi didn't have to. I arrived at the location on the letter. Just as it said on the letter, it was more a resort than a headquarters for a military faction. As I entered, I walked between two rows of maids who said in unison "welcome, master Yuji." That was a welcome surprise. I took the elevator up to the top floor. The elevator was all glass, and was placed in the very center of all the floors, meaning I could see all around the room from inside the elevator. The place even has a large indoor garden on the seventy-second floor. I gazed at all the place had to offer, until I made it to the normally off limits, impossibly high two hundredth floor. Waiting there for me was a very tall, beautiful girl with long, straight, snow white hair and red eyes, similar to my spirit form. She was wearing a formal yet casual type uniform, with medals pinned on her left breast, presumably earned from military accolades.
After giving me a few seconds to look her over, she spoke.
"Hello, Sasaki Yuji. My name is Princess Alice Cheverie. I'll cut to the chase; I want you to marry me and have my children."