Chapter 60: Head Patting...

"Hehe~ Feeling moved?" Shichen raised his brows, grinning playfully at Natsuki Minamiya.

"… …" Natsuki rolled her eyes in exasperation.

This guy never lets anyone be touched for more than three seconds.

"Are you sure it's all right?" She couldn't help asking again.

"It's fine, and compared to me, shouldn't you be more worried about your own troubles?"

If Shichen's identity was exposed, it would be more troublesome for Natsuki, who had harbored him all this time. The upper echelons would certainly interrogate her.

After all, plenty of people had already found out about their relationship. In an environment like Itogami Island, you had some who thought they could suppress her by flaunting their rank for pleasure, and others who wanted to leverage Shichen's power to satisfy their ambitions.

"It's none of your concern. If you're not worried about yourself, then so be it. Anyway, no one can do anything to you," Natsuki replied calmly, not concerned for herself.

"Well, if someone tried to get to you… oh, right, no one could do anything to you," Shichen thought of Natsuki's situation, then smiled.

"Mhm. So I'll be off then?"

"Not going to stay a bit longer?" Shichen looked regretful, glancing at her.

When meeting like this in a situation that wasn't exactly appropriate for a rendezvous, he found himself wanting to spend more time with Natsuki.

She, however, had no such notion: "What's the point of staying? I'm not close to your student."

"All right…"

"I'm leaving."

"Wait a minute!" Shichen suddenly called out just as she turned away.

"What do you… w—?" Natsuki had just turned around when she felt a hand pressing on her head, giving her hair a gentle rub.

"…What are you doing?" she asked calmly.

Shichen suppressed the grin tugging at his lips and replied, "Ahem, actually, I've been wanting to do this for a while."

"Oh? Really?" Natsuki's tone was icy and her expression turned dangerous. She couldn't see Shichen's face with his arm blocking her, and he similarly couldn't see her expression.

But he didn't care. He was more interested in the smooth sensation under his hand.

Tiny Natsuki, with her stern face—such a strong contrast made him want to try the ultimate move: a head-pat.

Spending so many days with her and holding back his impulses, today he finally gathered the courage. He felt emboldened!

He couldn't help it. Having gained more power, he was feeling inflated.

If he could easily devour even the Fourth Primogenitor, then getting somewhere with Natsuki would be no problem.

This was the proper use of strength after all—no point in randomly beating people up. Being able to do a bit more with those close to him was the real joy.

"Sigh, Natsuki-chan's hair is so smooth," Shichen went on, getting bolder, the corners of his mouth splitting into a bright grin.

"Pfft—so, your power's made you quite daring!" Natsuki's voice suddenly went ice-cold.

Yet Shichen remained unafraid. "Natsuki-chan, what can you do to me?"

"You think I can't handle you?"

Just as she finished speaking, Natsuki vanished from his grip. In the next instant, she reappeared behind him, floating in midair.

He had also mastered spatial control, so Shichen was extremely sensitive to shifts in space; he sensed her presence in a flash, but before he could turn around, something clobbered him on the head—her lace fan, delivered sharply.

Smack—!

The crisp sound rang out, an excellent strike.

"Ow— Natsuki-chan, that hurts!" Shichen clutched his head, turning to face her and backing up a step.

"Hmph~" Natsuki snorted, satisfied, crossing her arms. "Since you're immune to magic, I can just physically whack you."

"Ugh, guess you caught on." Shichen, feigning surrender.

"Next time, be more respectful," she said triumphantly. "Otherwise, I'll whack you every day."

"I wasn't being disrespectful at all," he grumbled. "I'm obviously older than you."

"I don't care. Right now your status is my otouto—so you're younger." Natsuki quite willfully refused to reason further.

"But earlier, you told me only outside of home I had to be your otouto. Don't tell me you're going back on your word?"

"We're outside right now, aren't we?" Natsuki smiled faintly.

"… …"

"Heh~ Now behave yourself." With that, Natsuki disappeared from the ward.

Shichen had noticed that her face lit with delight, like she'd just won a battle. He too was rather pleased. Not only because Natsuki was happy, but also because he'd finally gotten to ruffle her hair.

With the first time done, how far off could the second time be?

He cleared the lingering magical energy from the room, then opened the door for the anxious Akatsuki Kojou and the rest outside.

"Sensei, Nagisa… how is Nagisa?" The moment the door opened, Kojou seized him in alarm.

"Relax." Shichen pried off Kojou's hand, patting him on the shoulder. He gave Kojou a reassuring smile.

"Your sister's perfectly fine now."

"Really?!"

"Go on in and see for yourself." Shichen stepped aside.

"Nagisa!" Kojou dashed into the ward.

Yase Motoki followed him in.

"Sensei, did you fix Nagisa-chan too?" Asagi didn't enter, but quietly asked him at the door.

"Well, I couldn't just leave her suffering, could I?"

"Sensei, you really are a kind person." She gave him a genuine compliment without pressing about Nagisa's condition.

"Aren't teachers supposed to do that kind of thing?"

"So, is it because Nagisa-chan is cute that you helped, or that she's Kojou's sister?" Asagi suddenly seemed serious.

"Hmm?" He blinked.

"N-never mind, Sensei. Just pretend I didn't ask." Asagi abruptly lowered her gaze, then hurried in to see Nagisa, leaving behind only her swiftly retreating form.

Shichen, watching her flustered figure, chuckled.

Inside, Kojou rushed to Nagisa's bedside. She was still unconscious, lying curled on her side.

"Nagisa? Nagisa, are you okay? Don't scare me, Nagisa!" Kojou cried in alarm, shaking her gently.

"Nagisa, you're scaring us…" Motoki reminded, worried.

"Sensei…" Kojou, at a loss, glanced toward Shichen, eyes full of hope.

Shichen calmly said, "No worries—Nagisa-chan's fine now. You can try waking her up."

"For real?!"

"Believe your sensei." Asagi chimed in.

"R-right. Nagisa, wake up." Kojou lightly shook his sister's shoulder.

Soon enough, she stirred under his call.

"…Mmm… Kojou… you're so noisy," the girl mumbled, rubbing her eyes and slowly sitting up.

"Nagisa! How're you feeling? Sensei said he already cured you."

"What do you mean 'cured'… Eh? I feel so light. What's going on?"

Nagisa stood up, bouncing a couple times on the bed, feeling far better than ever.

"W-what? Kojou, I think I'm seriously fine now… so awesome!"

"Yes, great!" Kojou beamed with relief. "All thanks to Sensei. That's wonderful, Nagisa!"

"All thanks to Sensei…?" Nagisa repeated. She then turned toward Shichen and bowed. "Thank you, Sensei."

"No need to thank me. It's what I should do. I can't bear seeing Kojou all gloomy—makes me miss playing basketball with him," Shichen joked.

"Sensei…" Kojou looked moved.

Shichen added, "Kojou, Nagisa-chan should be 100% fine now, but get her a final checkup just to be sure. Then she won't have to stay bored here."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Nagisa leapt up, excited.

"Sure, I'll go get my mom. She'll give a thorough examination."

"All right then. I've got other stuff to handle, so I'll head out now." Shichen turned, heading for the door.

"Bye, Sensei!"

"Thank you, Sensei!"

Figuring it best to linger no further, Shichen left with Asagi. Motoki Yase, glancing between the siblings and the departing pair, chose to remain. After all, there might be gossip to overhear, but it could be dangerous. So he stayed put.

~~~

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