Rumi raised her nose and refused to answer, which in turn made his brows twitch.
~Kill... Kill... Kill~
Tenji stared at Rumi with confusion and worry for his sanity. He began to question if he could handle it if it persisted.
He wondered why he would kill Rumi for such trivial matters.
'Grandfather, did you endure all these before your demise?' He questioned in his heart as a new interest developed.
Getting to his feet, he opened the veil over his window and looked out to the luminous moon.
There was something that didn't feel right, he hadn't taken into account what it meant during his grandfather's death, but thinking clearly, he started to have doubts about the real cause of his death.
"Do you do this to all your students?" Rumi coughed out, holding her chest and maintaining a grin.
"Did I ever say that I interact with most of the students?" Tenji retorted, looking over his shoulder.
Rumi hyperventilated, concerned that she couldn't even teleport out of his presence or his room.
'Damnit! This doesn't look good!'
"It's pointless trying to go against my will, except I am distracted or in a critical condition. The latter I doubt could happen with the majority of our finest in Meiji and neighboring cities." Tenji clicked his tongue and shook his head.
Pulling herself up, using the wall, she had nearly gotten to her feet when she tripped on her right leg and saw everything play out in slow motion, hoping Tenji would come in for a save.
Bam!
Her collision with the ground was cushioned by her arms.
Pushing up and glaring at Tenji, she had tears brimming in her eyes.
"I didn't expect you would think I'd help in that." Tenji shrugged and walked closer to her and offered a hand to pull her up.
Slap!
Tenji smirked and retracted his hand before she could retaliate.
"Now I try to help, yet it looks like you would rip them off if I got closer to you."
With another glow in his eyes, Tenji had the majority of her grade score returned but withheld her ability from returning so she wouldn't escape.
"How do you feel now?" He spoke softly, squatting to watch her.
Rumi felt her muscles relax and subconsciously had a weak smile gracing her lips.
"I don't have anywhere to go." She mumbled with a trail of tears running down her right cheek.
Quickly wiping it as soon as it was felt, she pushed back and hid her face with her hair in embarrassment.
Tenji was left stunned, realizing his words after she had touched the Artiquem had an impact on her.
Taking steps back after recovering from his initial shock, he wasn't accustomed to sentimental feelings, and seeing her tear up from that specific information made his heartache.
"I- I'm sorry for treating you like shit a while ago." He began, realizing his mistake.
Rumi sniffled and pushed back her hair and wiped hard on her face before forcing a smile.
"I am sorry for barging into your home like this..."
"It was quite foolish of you, though." Tenji cut in with a nod of his head.
Glaring daggers at him for his response, Rumi exhaled as she continued. "Since you knew about my status and clan issue I thought that I could stay here for a while."
"In a male's territory–my room to be exact." Tenji deadpanned with a raised brow.
Rumi's face flushed at his comment, realizing where he was headed with his words.
"I don't mind–"
"Just... stop!" Tenji raised his hand, cutting her off.
He had nearly reconsidered his action on her merely because he had gotten a fair share of her background and knew more about her from her training with the Artiquem.
Listening to anything other than what had brought her to his room would only trigger his distaste for having a female other than his family in his room.
"You shouldn't get all flirty with me," Tenji warned coldly.
Rumi gulped and pulled back strands of hair that had fallen on her face.
Before she could speak, Tenji cut in once more.
"I can't let you stay here, I'm uncomfortable as it is currently. Since you have no problem teleporting to a dangerous territory, how about going to a more friendly one?"
Rumi's interest was piqued by his suggestion. "Who would that be?"
Tenji frowned, disturbed that she couldn't guess who he was trying to reference.
"A certain blonde would do." He hinted, hoping to pass on the message.
"Asahi?!" Rumi did a double-take at the suggestion.
Nodding his head, he leaned on the wall and smirked. "He would be happy to have you around."
Rumi scrunched up her face and dropped the bombshell, "why would he be happy to see his best friend who might have hurt his feelings? Besides, I don't know where he lives."
Tenji sweat dropped at her response, realizing how wrong he was for suggesting such–recalling the expression given by Asahi when he had mentioned Rumi.
'These two are hopeless, why the hell am I playing matchmaker?' He internally facepalmed.
"Never mind that, I had misunderstood the situation." Tenji shook his hand.
"I am truly sorry for barging into your private space, but your room surprisingly looks nice and neat." Rumi praised while her eyes glanced around her surroundings.
Tenji had a bright smile at the praise but immediately shook it off, "don't try to sweet talk your motives."
Rumi tried to get to her feet after so many attempts, "did you have to cripple my cultivation like that?"
Shrugging at her accusation, he held no regret for what he did and had hoped Rumi would rethink her decision on her strange interest in him.
Knock!
Knock!
"Old man, open up!" Aki's voice could be heard shouting from the other end.
"Old man?" Rumi coughed, stifling a laugh at the nickname given by his sister.
'Why now?' Tenji cringed at her persistence on the door and the handle.
Rumi stared at Tenji with wide eyes, there was no way she could leave without having her ability returned, and even if she did get it back, she had nowhere to go.
Bang!
"What the hell is going on?! Why can't I hear or see anything inside?!" Aki hissed through the keyhole.
Caught in a dilemma, Tenji stood frozen, unsure about what tricks Rumi could pull if her ability was returned.
Then there was the issue of deactivating the barrier around his room and Aki was sure to burst into his room without a knock as a warning.
If he needed to respond to her, he would need to deactivate the barrier.
If she was to continue knocking and trying to get in, it was only a matter of time before his parents dropped by to check on the disturbance.
"I know you're in there!" Aki spoke through the keyhole in a sing-song manner.
*****
A/N
¶ What decision do you think Tenji would take?
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