Lesson Twenty One: The Grumpy Protector

The Hidden Campus buzzed again on the last day of the interschool meet. After the confrontation, the speeches, Maria dragging Shigure away like a misbehaving puppy, everyone assumed the rest of the event would be uneventful.

They were wrong.

It started subtly. Kishin’s bat quivered in his hands. Mon’s hat twitched. Sumire’s tea rippled, even though her fingers weren’t anywhere near the cup.

Honey pressed close to Mutsuki and whispered, ‘Sensei! The air is mad.’

Kojiro nodded in agreement.

‘I’d hate for something bad to happen when we are all out in our cute human forms!’ Gon protested.

Mutsuki tried to feel it too. ‘Youchan? Anything?’

Youchan closed her eyes. Her expression shifted. ‘Something is… off. But faint.’

‘They’re coming,’ Kojiro said, like a prophet announcing a flood.

Mutsuki paled. ‘Not today. Not now. Please, dear deities, not during a school event.’

But destiny hated Mutsuki.

The bamboo fence behind them rustled, and three figures stepped out as if they’d been waiting for their dramatic cue. Dark silhouettes at first, then fully visible. All donned respectable robes, magically covered faces and carefully groomed hair. 

Bureau adults on paper. Bureau pests in reality. Some members of the fondly hated Anti-Mutsuki faction.

Mutsuki didn’t know their actual names. They never introduced themselves. They just appeared like glitchy NPCs programmed entirely for irritation. They had one motto written across their souls.

‘‘Ruin Mutsuki”

After seeing Shigure’s stunt earlier in the week, they’d decided to copy and adapt a new strategy. Target the children.

‘It’s perfect,’ one of them said.

‘Wonderful,’ another agreed. ‘What could possibly go wrong, right?’

One stepped forward and smiled at Mutsuki with the friendliness of a crocodile wearing reading glasses.

‘Mutsuki,’ he said. ‘How unfortunate to see you.’

‘I see you’ve fully tamed these monsters.’ The lady in the middle said.

The third smiled at the children like he was about to grade their souls. ‘Are these even the same ones who attacked us last time?’

Mutsuki stepped in front of the misfits immediately. ‘Do not involve them.’

‘Oh? We wouldn’t dream of it,’ the first replied sarcastically . ‘We only want to observe their instability.’

The children bristled like a single creature.

Akashi’s ears popped out. Honey readied himself to fight for his teacher’s honor. Gon’s charm magic sparked like fireworks trapped inside a glass jar. Mon’s fingers twitched toward his hat. 

Meow hid behind Youchan, where she hissed in solidarity. Kishin clutched his bat harder. Sumire’s aura turned feral. Kojiro stepped forward like a knight prepared to duel demons.

‘Don’t,’ Mutsuki whispered.

But the children were already growling like tiny wolves.

One of the men crouched slightly and smirked. He clearly enjoyed bullying kids.

‘You must be the unmanageable ones. Tell me…’

He tapped Kishin’s trembling knee with a single finger.

‘Do you always shake like this? Or is it only around strangers?’

Kishin’s eyes widened with shame.

Honey grabbed Kishin. ‘Leave him alone!’

‘Oh?’ another man smirked. ‘And you, little human bear. Are you always this aggressive? Quite dangerous, considering your lineage. You guys are technically demons. More than that Oni boy.’

Honey’s ears flattened. His tiny fists trembled. Meow shrank as the third man leaned down toward her.

‘And you,’ he whispered, ‘the cursed one. Tell me, how many things have you broken today?’

Meow’s breath hitched. ‘I… I didn’t… I didn’t break…’

‘Yet,’ the man added smoothly.

Mutsuki’s aura flared so sharply everyone in the venue felt it.

‘Enough,’ he snapped. ‘Step away from them.’

‘Why?’ the first man asked mildly. ‘You are a danger, Mutsuki. These children are case studies. Evaluating their weaknesses is necessary.’

‘Weaknesses?’ Gon spat. ‘We’re not weak!’

‘Prove it,’ the man said calmly.

A spell circle ignited beneath the children’s feet. A destabilization field manifested. It was enough to trigger disaster.

Meow gasped. Kishin yelped. Honey grabbed Mutsuki’s sleeve. Akashi fought his shifting instincts so hard he looked like he was having a seizure. Sumire floated involuntarily, water gathered around her in reflex. Kojiro’s wings burst out with a snap of wind. Mon’s hat began sparkled and was about to sneeze a cannonball.

Mutsuki lunged forward to counterspell but the lady in the middle threw a strong vampire seal to trap him and Youchan.

Wind cracked. A talisman sliced through the spell circle like a thrown scalpel. The destabilization field sputtered and died with an angry little hiss. The children dropped harmlessly back onto the tatami. All was stunned, but safe.

Standing between the misfits and the Anti-Mutsuki Trio was Saegusa Shigure.

Her arrival was hero like. Her aura was sharp. Her expression was cold enough to end a dynasty. And most importantly, her curly hair remained unfazed. The misfits stared up at her in awe. Except Kojiro, who looked at her with disdain.

Shigure’s eyes were locked on the three pests.

‘If you lay a single spell on children again,’ she said sweetly, ‘I will decorate this courtyard with your internal organs. In alphabetical order.’

The men recoiled. ‘Saegusa huh? The useless one?’

‘She’s pretty! She’s alright!’ The children screamed words of support that could double as insult.

‘Shh.’ She held up a finger. ‘Adults are speaking.’

‘Shigure…’ Mutsuki whispered. Youchan freed them both from trap.

‘Don’t worry. I’m currently channeling my “professional educator persona”. This is me being nice.’ Shigure said as she kept a watchful eye on the three.

Deities help them all. Shigure being nice was an apocalypse warning label in human form. In the same line as Maria. Mutsuki suddenly found himself worrying for his haters.

The children peeked behind Shigure’s legs like ducklings behind a very violent swan.

Shigure stepped forward. ‘Harassing Mutsuki is one thing. Touching his students is crossing a line.’

‘We didn’t touch them,’ the first man muttered.

‘You tried to destabilize them,’ Shigure said. ‘On Bureau property. Without cause. Against minors.’

Silence.

‘Do you know what we call that?’ She leaned in. ‘A career-ending mistake.’

They paled.

The children saw Shigure not as Mutsuki’s rival anymore, but as a very pretty dragon who had decided to guard her treasure today.

Shigure flicked her wrist. A gust of purification wind slammed into the trio and sent them stumbling backward.

‘Scram,’ she said.

They scrambled just second before Maria could come over herself. When the courtyard finally stilled, the misfits stared at her like she had just performed a Broadway show.

Honey gasped. ‘You’re so cool!’

‘I am aware,’ Shigure replied dryly.

Mon’s eyes sparkled. ‘Can you teach me how to threaten people politely?!’

‘Absolutely not.’

Sumire bowed deeply. ‘You protected us. Thank you.’

Shigure froze. Actual gratitude? From small magical gremlins? Just give me cash.

‘Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t do it for you.’ She croaked.

Kishin tugged her sleeve shyly. ‘You saved us…’

‘I saved Mutsuki from paperwork,’ she corrected. Nobody believed her.

‘If you all exploded, he would drown in incident reports. Then he wouldn’t have time for me.’

Kojiro stepped forward with narrow eyes. ‘You helped us. Why? What is the truth?’

Shigure felt eight pairs of eyes drilling into her soul. These are still actual yokai who can put curses on humans…

She panicked. ‘Because… you’re Mutsuki’s.’

That was met by silence. Her face went red. The kids looked at each other. Gon grinned like he’d been handed forbidden gossip candy.

‘So you do like Sensei!’

‘I DIDN’T SAY THAT.’

Honey hugged her leg. ‘It’s okay! We like you now!’

‘STOP THAT.’

Shigure twitched. Don’t get me infected with your bad luck…

Meow looked up shyly. ‘Thank you for… saving us.’

Shigure patted Meow’s head awkwardly.

‘Fine. Whatever. Stay alive. I suppose. I don’t hate you.’

They all decided unanimously to adopt her emotionally. Kojiro alone was unconvinced. He stepped between Shigure and Mutsuki like a guard dog.

‘If you hurt Youchan-sama, or even Sensei’ he warned, ‘I’ll know.’

Shigure raised a brow. ‘Noted, birdboy.’

When the children wandered off to look at displays, Mutsuki approached her quietly.

‘Shigure… thank you.’

She crossed her arms. ‘If anyone destabilizes children at a school event, I’m legally obligated to stab them.’

‘That’s not a law… Is it?’

‘It should be.’

They both share a laugh. Mutsuki’s smile was enough to ruin her entire emotional equilibrium. Youchan watched them at a distance with a thoughtful look. No hint of jealousy whatsoever.

‘She’s trying,’ Youchan murmured.

Maria sipped tea beside her. ‘Trying what?’

‘To be a better person.’

Maria hummed. ‘She’ll fail half the time.’

‘We all do.’

Maria sipped again. ‘Still. Mutsuki could use another adult in his corner.’

Youchan smiled softly. ‘I think so too.’

Conclusion for the day, Shigure gains eight new tiny fans. The misfits smiled and waved at her whenever she passed by. Shigure pretends not to see them. She walked faster around them while blushing furiously. When it was Mutsuki’s turn to smile at her, she trips on nothing.

Shigure flicked her head away, followed by a resounding “HMMPP!” Did I just get adopted?