"You really spent a lot of money on those two idiots?" Himiko walked beside me, grumbling and looking unhappy. "You even bought two revolvers and only used one for the wrong purpose and gave me one for show? What's wrong with you???"
"Capitalist slaves are usually the most loyal all the time, my dear." I calmly replied, opening the car door for her to get in and then getting in the other car as well. "Besides, those two dumbass can completely leak information about both of us, so we should have them under our control to have an advantage later, right? Sometimes we can ask them to hack the surveillance cameras so we can go out and play?"
"Well... that's true... Oh, and the method you taught me earlier... The one about 'holding your breath and keeping your mind clear' to eliminate the presence... how did you know about this technique?" Himiko asked me with a surprised and slightly expectant expression.
"It was yours from the start, I just helped you use it early." I said, hugging her waist. "Let's go home now, the later it is at night when you swim, the easier it is to catch a cold. Tomorrow I still have to go with the class for some stupid training trip..."
Seeing Himiko's face turn a little sad after that, I immediately lifted her chin up, turned towards me and took the initiative to give her a wet French kiss, then encouraged her.
"Don't worry, I promised I'd be back on time no matter what. Just wait for me, it won't be more than 7 days."
"But..."
"That variable is definitely going to happen, but you've always handled it well up until now... Besides, we have those two "allies", you know?"
My current words of comfort don't seem to have much effect. Her face was still downcast, to the point that when I looked at her, I could only feel pity and hug her...
There was no other way, I had to turn around and prepare to comfort her, but then she moved to sit on my lap, grabbed my collar with both hands, passionately kissed my neck while groping all over my body as if she wanted to feel my body more...
This is not good...
The same wild flower scent, along with a bit of sweat on her body, very "adult" sounds and the fact that this car doesn't have air conditioning in the back seat made us dreamy and drift away from reason faster...
"I know you two are having a romantic time together, but please, don't do that in my car, okay? I have another customer tomorrow!!!" The detective who drove the car sighed, not forgetting to honk the horn to wake us up from our lust at the right time and sit still in our current position - with both of us looking embarrassed and ashamed
Remember that detective who I asked to find out information about Himiko and got stuffed into the trunk by her? Yes, it was him, and because he owed me his life, he still agreed to take us to the meeting point, waited for us to finish and continued to drive us back to U.A discreetly and leisurely. And yeah, having sex in a car is the worst thing to do at this time, especially when there's another person in the car...
"Forget it..." He said. "I'm just saying that so you two won't get caught on the road..."
"I know. It's just this...kinda..."
"It's okay. Everyone has experienced that feeling." He said as he got down to us, driving and turning up the radio afterwards.
Damn, luckily this guy still keeps me from sinking deeper, otherwise I would have... Wait, did this guy just turn on the radio to try to ignore us?
Damn, is this helping me or killing me?
...
Luckily, after an hour of sitting in a car that was as hot as a crematorium - and not being able to open the windows while Himiko bit and made over a dozen hickeys and bite marks on my neck and chest, we finally arrived at U.A. at 10 p.m.
The teachers' meeting - according to my information - was held almost overnight, so it was inevitable and understandable that no one was watching us.
Entering from the academy gate with Himiko - with both my and her parkour abilities, we quickly and stealthily infiltrated the swimming pool area. There was no one at school now, but the feeling that someone was watching us was still somehow effective...
But I have to admit that the current scene is beautiful.
The sky was clear, the moon was bright enough not to overshadow the stars, the still surface of the pool reflected the night sky perfectly, with the chirping of crickets the only sound breaking the silence of the night.
Beautiful. Very beautiful. Very poetic. But damn the smell of chlorine, it was not poetic at all.
"Do I really have to do it?" I sighed, looking down at the blue water with an undisguised hesitation.
Swimming had never been my strong point, and having to teach someone else was much more troublesome...
"You promised, Ryuu-kun!" Himiko said, her voice full of excitement.
She had now changed into her school swimsuit, a simple design that still couldn't hide the curves of her body. In contrast to her usual confidence, there was a flicker of worry in her golden eyes as she looked down at the pool.
"If you go back on your word, I'll bite you."
"You've already done that before," I muttered, taking off my uniform, hanging it on a nearby chair, and changing into a pair of swimming trunks. "And yeah, I'm not a professional instructor, I'm telling you."
I stepped into the water first, the sudden cold making my body shiver slightly. Himiko hesitated for a moment, then slowly followed, her hands clinging to the edge of the pool as if it were her only lifeline.
"The water...is too cold," she said timidly.
"You'll get used to it," I replied, moving closer. "Okay, first things first, try to relax and float."
This was easier said than done. As soon as I tried to guide her to lean back, her whole body tensed, her hands clutching at me.
"No! I'll sink!"
"I'm holding you, you won't sink." I tried to keep my voice patient. "Take a deep breath, hold it, and relax your body. Trust me."
She looked at me with a doubtful look, but then took a deep breath and slowly leaned back. I used one hand to support her back, the other to hold her gently under her head. For a few seconds, she was still tense, but as she felt the lift of the water and the stability of my arms, her body gradually relaxed.
"See?" I whispered. "Nothing to be afraid of."
She didn't answer, just opened her eyes and looked up at the sky, a smile of amusement slowly spreading across her lips.
Seeing her like that - a rare moment of innocence and vulnerability - made a strange warmth rise in my chest. Maybe it was the "normalcy" I was fighting to protect, a fragile normalcy in the chaotic world we lived in.
We stayed like that for a while, teaching her how to swim, letting her get used to floating, and I enjoyed this rare moment of wholesomeness with the comfortable silence that surrounded us.
But then, Himiko suddenly became cold and murderous, and her voice broke the silence around us.
"Who's there?" She turned her eyes to the end of the pool.
I only really noticed when she pointed, because I didn't know when someone had been there, and above all, I couldn't feel any presence from that person.
He looked older than us, probably a third year, with crimson hair and striking amber eyes, and a tall and toned body, sitting leisurely with his feet dipped in the pool. He was wearing swimming trunks like me, but his hair and body were unusually dry, proving that he either had no purpose in coming here to swim, or he had just arrived not long ago. His face, somehow... strangely familiar...
And above all, he looked at us, looked straight at us without any reserve, making us wary and leave the pool and ask him.
The stranger didn't flinch at our vigilance. He just shrugged nonchalantly, a half-smile playing on his lips.
"Oh, it looks like the pool has more guests tonight." His voice was low and a little lazy. "I'm just a third-year student looking for a quiet place to practice."
"Practice at this hour?" Himiko spoke up, her golden eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You know the school rules don't allow this, right?"
"What about you two?" He chuckled lightly. "It's not like you're on a mission or even allowed in here properly, is it?"
His words made me pause. He was right, and his composure was suspicious. A normal student wouldn't be so nonchalant when caught breaking the rules.
"Who are you?" I asked directly, ignoring his sarcasm.
He looked at me for a moment, his amber eyes as if assessing something. "Just call me Guren. If you want, you can both go to class 3-C to meet me..."
First name? No last name? What kind of crazy person would introduce himself like that to a stranger? This oddity caused my already high level of alertness to skyrocket even more. This guy was definitely not simple at all.
Guren's gaze then shifted to Himiko, who was still staring at him. His smile became a little wider, carrying a flirtatious meaning. "A late night date? How romantic."
Immediately, I took another half step forward, and Himiko's gaze became as sharp as a knife.
Guren, seemingly realizing something important right away, raised both hands in a fake surrender gesture.
"Okay, I get it," he said, his smile still intact. "I'm not that kind of scum, don't worry." He stood up, his dry body not even a drop of water from the pool. "I came here to practice in peace anyway, not to ruin someone's date like this."
He paused for a moment, glancing down at the water and us with a slight look of annoyance and menace. "And I don't like people seeing me practicing swimming either. Consider myself unlucky today..."
With that, he turned around, leisurely walked away, and disappeared into the darkness while humming some song, leaving us with countless questions in our heads.
"That guy..." Himiko muttered, her murderous aura still lingering. "How annoying..."
I didn't say anything, but in my head, everything that had been going smoothly was now in disarray. That guy named Guren. He wasn't a normal student. He seemed to know quite a lot, and the combination of his calmness and his odd, incongruous actions made me feel even more uneasy. And that familiar face... I was sure I had seen it somewhere before, but where the hell was there anyone named Guren in the original story? Maybe HE was a new variable, a dangerous variable that needed to be investigated, even eliminated in the future...
But now, in front of me was Himiko, still waiting for her lesson. I put my thoughts about Guren aside for a moment.
"Alright," I sighed, trying to regain the peaceful atmosphere from earlier. "Let's get back to the lesson. Let's try kicking this time?"