Anna took statements from everyone on what happened, she wanted to administer fairness to the new students. Ryuji grumbled at having the bracelet on his wrist, he was lucky he wouldn't be expelled since the school rules stated fighting on campus was prohibited unless authorized for training or demonstrations. Afterward, Anna introduced herself to the new arriving class. She was solid in her presence, from her tailored suit and heels, her short-styled hair, and her handling of herself, definitely not the image the students would have of a Head Master as young as her.
"Welcome to Kamui Academy everyone. For those who already had their schedules handed out, you can make your way to your assigned homerooms to begin class. To our arriving gentleman, we have your uniforms ready. We'll escort you to the area to change and lock up your personal effects. I trust there'll be no more fighting up till then."
She said with a dark aura emanating around her, asserting her authority over not having any more shenanigans she hoped wouldn't take place.
With everything calmed down now and the information being passed out, the female students went about getting to their assigned homerooms as instructed, and the boys went to the locker rooms to pick up their school uniforms to change in.
All the boys who saw the fight earlier looked at Koutetsu, he was becoming the main interest of gossip after his little scuffle with Ryuji.
"Hey, that guy is pretty dangerous right?"
"I mean yeah, he completely destroyed that guy's armor like it was nothing. And blue flames. Aren't those rare now to use cause of the difficulty in keeping them under control?"
"Who cares, compared to those two who fought before he showed up, he must be the one we shouldn't piss off." Koutetsu could hear them, he didn't care for their unimportant words. He had his reasons for coming to the school and they didn't need to know any of it.
The boys continued to change into their uniforms. Hiro examined Koutetsu's body after he saw him take off his shirt, Koutetsu had multiple scars and burns on it, the type that looked self-inflicted from lack of control over his power. His muscle stature was incredibly developed, Hiro could tell that Koutetsu focused on specific muscle groups that worked in tangent with that martial arts style he displayed earlier. From his back muscles like his rhomboid and trapezius, core muscle, quadriceps leg muscles, and shoulder deltoids, each one had been painstakingly worked on.
"Hmm, seems you've been through hell. Wonder what you had to do to get all that." Koutetsu ignored Hiro. He wasn't interested in satisfying his curiosity. Ryuji glared at Koutetsu, he was simmering from the earlier loss. He couldn't wait till the bracelet was off to start fighting him again, his pride as a man wouldn't let it go out like that.
Ren was the only one who didn't bother him, he was not interested in getting involved in unnecessary drama that would bring shame to the Mizuno family. Koutetsu viewed Ren as nonthreatening unless they were going to have a disagreement sometime soon in the future.
Koutetsu saw Ren had scars on his back as well, his seemed from years of training in perfecting his sword style, only a few that could be recognized as a form of punishment.
"If you have a question to ask then ask I'm not into people staring at me for no reason," Ren said with a faint tone of annoyance in his voice.
"Sorry. No disrespect. Your scars, seems we both have some baggage we wear on the outside."
Ren examined Koutetsu's scars and burns. He could tell looking at him that they were similar in how they both carried tremendous weight on their bodies.
The boys finished changing and began to head to their homerooms, they were excited to start the year with all the girls in the school, common now for those of them who wanted to live out a harem-like fantasy. Koutetsu had to turn in his gloves to the security office as promised, the same as Ren for his sword.
On his way to class, Koutetsu heard footsteps running toward him, his instincts almost made him want to get into his fighting pose, but he stopped once could tell who it was without turning around, he recognized the scent from anywhere, keeping his promise not to forget her.
"Koutetsu!!!"
Koutetsu jolted his body around, he saw Itsuki running toward him teary-eyed.
"Wow wait."
She leaped at him in a rush, and practically tackled him at that point. His back hit the wall saving him from hitting the ground instead. He could feel the tightness of her hug and tears on her face, she was more than excited to see he actually came to the school like she hoped for.
He wanted to hug her back, but he wasn't ready yet at the moment, it wasn't the right call to make with him being as he was now. He instead rubbed his hand on the top of her head.
"Yo, Shirayuki-Hime."
"I told you a hundred times to stop calling me….yep no doubt about it. It's really you." She gave a bigger smile happy to hear that nickname that used to annoy her. Nobody else ever called her that but him. It was the confirmation she needed to know that was the real Koutetsu in front of her.
"Hey, not to ruin this touching moment, but can you let go now? Only have a few minutes left till class starts."
Itsuki wouldn't at first, wanting to cherish every second she was getting back for those lost times, but she finally did after realizing they'd both be marked late if she didn't stop. Itsuki wiped her eyes with her handkerchief, she really couldn't believe Koutetsu was standing in front of her.
"So we're going by first name basis now. I thought we weren't that friendly yet." He said to her with his old sarcastic jokes, still being able to push her buttons.
"Jerk, still as antagonistic to people's feelings as ever. But I'm glad, you're still you after everything." Koutetsu wanted to respond to that, there were changes to him she wasn't aware of yet. Ones he wouldn't tell because he was working through them.
Both of them made their walk to their homeroom class together, since they had the same class it was easier for them to catch up on the time they missed.
Itsuki commented how her family worked hard to repent for the incident that happened all those years ago. They started looking into the pale lady, and any incidents similar to what she did of likeness of her. Their efforts roused the suspicions of the other families who were also worried about future attacks, an incident like that was a first, and precautions were made to protect the children who were potentially future targets should they end up in the same Koutetsu.
Koutetsu revealed in small detail how he lived at the military boarding school after he left. He went through hell with training trying to control his powers, broke his bones multiple times even burned himself badly with his own flames, never disclosing to Itsuki about him keeping the damage on his body save for the ones on his face, which he brushed off as a training accident. Eventually, he got the hang of it with the help he received, he mastered the basic skills and combat training, eventually finding a special person who taught him his style.
"That fighting style you used, it was martial arts, right? What kind was that, never seen it before."
"It's called Hiyou Ryu, it means Secret Weapon Style. It was originally developed in China by Martial Artists who wanted to practice in the shadows to hide their techniques from the public. It eventually progressed around the world to Thailand, Korea, and Japan. It's only taught to a select few to keep the training hidden and evolves from being passed to a new practitioner"
Itsuki's face looked confused at hearing the explanation, she wasn't too knowledgeable on Martial Arts styles, so it was too much information for her at once. Koutetsu saw her face and chuckled a bit at how adorable she looked confused.
"Basically it's like a bonus character you meet who gives you a one-of-a-kind moveset no one else can have without difficulty"
"Oh. I think I understand It better a bit. Kinda like those old fighting games where all the characters had super moves who had to play forever to get."
Koutetsu nodded. That was the best answer Itsuki could have with her basic understanding. Koutetsu racked his brain hard trying to master it in the beginning, he could see how hard it must have been for her to understand with the explanation he gave.
The two made it to homeroom, the teacher called down the roster of the students. Only one was not present, the other name besides Koutetsu's came last to be registered. The class began with a basic history of the country discovering magic, the evolution of the Espers, and the start of the Ghast virus. Koutetsu was bored out of his mind, he already knew this from his boarding school days. Also, because he was a good student it felt redundant to hear all this again. Itsuki wrote notes meticulously like always, while everyone tried different ways to pay attention or kill boredom.
After class, the students were allowed to register for clubs and other activities at the school. Being a part of them helped with credits and getting more use for the life goals they wanted outside of school. Itsuki and Koutetsu watched everyone go to the multiple booths set up for the students to examine, from cooking, theater, and fashion, even ones for magical theory, and self-defense, among others. Everyone wanted to sign up for their desired clubs, but Koutetsu and Itsuki didn't know where to go
"Haven't decided yet?" Itsuki asked.
"Not sure really. If I pick any of the martial arts clubs I'm pretty sure everyone would be afraid of sparring with me after that fiasco this morning. Not looking for another reason for people to think of me as some kind of monster."
Itsuki understood. Koutetsu was strong, more than that he had skills to back it, he may be more advanced than most of the students unless the instructors were on his level.
The two saw Natsume approaching them, she had her tablet with her looking over information on it, still having her bubbly personality with her.
"There you two are. I've been looking for you guys."
"Hmm, us? Did you need something Class President?" Itsuki asked.
"Yes, I wanted to inform you that we have two spots open for you two to join in if you want. Miss Shirayuki, I'd like you to join me as Vice-President of the student council, you're scores are exceptional and be a big help in writing reports and helping with the budget issues. And Hayashi, we like you to be the head of the disciplinary committee to keep the students in check if they start acting out like Sakurai did this morning."
"HUH????" Koutetsu was bewildered. He did not see that coming at all. He thought for sure maybe he got picked for something meaningless, but the head of the disciplinary committee. That was a gut punch.
"Well, what do you say...Ha…ya…shi," Natsume asked in a playful tone trying to look cute.
Koutetsu blushed a bit, he didn't have that treatment in his old life. Most women were disgusted with his smug attitude, even the ones who did take interest he shoved aside to focus on their studies.
Koutetsu rubbed his cheek with his finger nervous. 'Well she did ask and I don't think that be a bad job either, not like I have much of choice here in the matter.' As he pondered his thoughts he felt a cold chill go up his spine. He turned his eyes to look at Itsuki, she looked annoyed at him for falling for Natsume's cute charms. He could see her facial expressions were blank but felt like a reaper mentality behind them ready to kill him.
'Gah, crap I think I pissed her off. Typical, I fell for the rom-com stereotype. Way to go idiot.' Koutetsu stopped the blushing act and smartened himself up. He didn't want to further annoy Itsuki.
"Yes Class President, I'll take the job." He said in a shaken tone.
Natsume smiled and handed him and Itsuki their booklets and tickets for their official jackets at the tailors to pick up later. Committee members had different attire setups than regular students, the jacket Natsume wore was an example.
School finally ended, Koutetsu changed back into his regular clothes quickly, and he started making his way to the parking lot to his motorcycle. He saw Hiro entering his personal limousine, Hiro looked at Koutetsu before entering, his curious smile was really infuriating for Koutetsu. Koutetsu shrugged him off not wanting anything to do with him, it wasn't important at the moment.
Koutetsu made it to his motorcycle, he was ready to start it up till he smelt Itsuki's fragrance from earlier.
"You know, you can't sneak up on me, right? I can smell your perfume from ten feet away."
Itsuki stood there behind him, she was impressed at his sense of smell.
"Are you heading home?"
"Yeah, I'm heading to my home." Koutetsu's voice broke a bit. He had yet to tell Itsuki the truth of his living situation.
"Well if it's not a lot of trouble, can I come with you? I really want to catch up more on what you've been up to since you were gone."
Koutetsu was quiet. He didn't want to, not because it was a bother, but more so he didn't want her to feel sad for him. He also didn't want to hurt her feelings either, he did enough of that by not contacting her back all the time he was gone.
"Sure, hop on." Itsuki blushed, she didn't think he said yes that fast. Koutetsu handed her his helmet, Itsuki put it on as she climbed on behind him holding onto the bike. Koutetsu started up the engine and rode off, Itsuki was caught off guard a bit, holding onto the bike wasn't enough. She leaned forward wrapping her arms around Koutetsu's waist. Koutetsu blushed a bit but focused on the road. Itsuki smiled, even if she was afraid of the fast bike, she was enjoying the ride with Koutetsu.