Chapter 200
The next day, Tenku left for school feeling lethargic and had dark circles under his eyes because he didn't sleep. He practiced techniques to change his body structure from night to morning. Unfortunately, Tenku still can't master it because it is difficult and painful.
Tenku still feels pain all over his body, including his face until now. But he was confident he could master the technique within a few days. When Tenku passed through the gate, he saw that the student council and the disciplinary committee members had gathered on the school grounds.
They were dealing with the monsters' corpses scattered in the area and clearing up the rubble around it.
Tenku saw Setsuka and Kaede among them. He walked silently so they wouldn't notice his presence. Unfortunately, his actions were in vain because Setsuka saw him. She knew Tenku hadn't arrived at school yet. Therefore, Setsuka periodically checked towards the gate to wait for him.
Setsuka smiled and silently waved her hand at him. Tenku subconsciously returned a wave from her. After that, he quickly left the place. Initially, Tenku intended to avoid Setsuka so he would no longer imagine something strange like he did yesterday. But it turns out he can't do it.
Tenku will run into Setsuka because that girl will give him a bento on the rooftop. He wanted to avoid Setsuka but didn't want to lose the food she had made. Tenku felt that he was already addicted to Setsuka's cooking and had no appetite when he saw other food because it tasted bland.
"Why does he look a bit pale? Is he not feeling well?" Setsuka said with concern. She was worried when she saw Tenku's face.
"What's wrong, Sesuka?" Kaede approached Setsuka and asked. She had heard her friend's voice but did not know what she had said.
"Ah, I noticed that Tenku's face was a bit pale. He might not be feeling well right now." Setsuka answered.
"Tenku? Where is he? I have to convey my apologies in person to him." Kaede looked around but couldn't find Tenku anywhere.
She knows Setsuka came to Tenku's apartment yesterday but doesn't tell anyone about it, including Hideo and Koyuki. Even though Setsuka had conveyed her apology to Tenku, Kaede couldn't get rid of her guilty before she apologized directly to him.
"He had entered the school building in a rush. Didn't I say that Tenku has forgiven you? So you don't need to think about it anymore. Most importantly, don't repeat what you've done because he will be angry and me too." Setsuka looked at Kaede and said seriously.
Kaede was surprised when she saw the seriousness on her face. She knew that Setsuka wasn't joking with her words.
"I understand. I know that what I said to him was too much yesterday. I shouldn't accuse him without proof. I apologize. But I did it because I didn't want to see you and Kohana get hurt. This is the first time you two have been that close to a guy. So I have to make sure that he is a good person." Kaede said in a low voice, and her face looked sad. She became even more guilty after hearing Setsuka's sentence.
"Whatever the reason, you can't accuse people without proof. After all, I believe in Tenku. I'm sure that he would never hurt Kohana or me." Setsuka said confidently. Kaede was dumbfounded because she could feel blind trust in Setsuka's statement.
(What happened to Setsuka yesterday? Why do I feel her love for Tenku getting deeper? I feel her level of affection for him drastically increase to unimaginable levels)
Kaede didn't know how to respond to her best friend's words. He could only sigh and pray in his heart that Tenku was according to what Setsuka said.
"I understand. I will never do that again, no matter what the reason. I'm sorry." Kaede replied weakly and bowed her head to Setsuka.
"That's good. Anyway, why is that girl still here? Wouldn't she only be performing at a cultural festival? Wasn't the contract supposed to have expired yesterday?" Setsuka pointed at Kirika, not far from them. She was surprised that Kirika and her manager had arrived at the school since early morning. But Akihiko didn't come with them because he had other things to do.
Setsuka is curious about Kirika's purpose for coming to Suisei High School after her contract ends. If that girl still hasn't given up on approaching Tenku, then Setsuka won't hesitate to act. But Setsuka couldn't do anything to her because Kirika was helping the students deal with the monster corpses.
She had to admit that Kirika's ability was helpful in the current situation. The girl could control multiple corpses of wyverns at will to deal with the corpses of other monsters.
"I don't know about it. She arrived in the morning with her manager and was helping the students deal with the monster corpses. She says that she has got permission from the principal.
According to her, she was partly responsible for cleaning up the mess in this school because he was at the scene yesterday. But I don't know whether the words are true because she's good at hiding her expression." Kaede answered.
"I'll keep an eye on her. That would be great if her purpose were to help the students. But if she has ulterior motives for coming here, I must talk to him face to face." Setsuka narrowed her eyes at Kirika.
"Hee... What do you mean by ulterior motives? Does she want to steal your sweetheart, Setsuka?" Kaede grinned when she heard that.
"What are you saying, Kaede? I mean, she has evil intentions toward the students in this school. Of course, one of them is Tenku." Setsuka replied shyly and blushed.
"Ahaha... I understand. But weren't you who told me not to accuse others without clear evidence? Then why are you doing it now? Are you assuming based on your jealousy?" Kaede teases Setsuka.
"Yes, you are right. I'm jealous. This is my intuition as a woman. So I will act if he tries to get close to Tenku again." Setsuka said coldly, and the temperature around her dropped drastically.
"Alright... Alright. You better retract your powers before the whole school grounds freeze." Kaede broke out in cold sweat because she didn't expect Setsuka's reaction would be that extreme.
"You don't need to worry. I didn't lose control of my power. I purposely released it to tease you." Setsuka smiled slightly and retracted her power.
"You! I don't want to talk to you anymore!" Kaede pouted and looked away from Setsuka.
"Okay. We should clean up the school grounds immediately so this place can be used again. The longer we deal with it, the long learning activities at school are disrupted." Setsuka patted Kaede's shoulder gently.
"I understand. Then, I'll ask for help from the third-year students to clean up all the monster corpses for today." Kaede replied.
"That's good. By the way, isn't the cost of the monster's corpses quite high? Do we have a buyer yet?" Setsuka looked at the pile of monster corpses around her and asked Kaede.
"That matter has been taken care of by the principal. The three organizations will buy all the monster corpses in Suisei High School without exception. But I find it strange that many high-level monsters lose their cores, and that reduces their price." Kaede said in confusion.
"You don't need to think about that. All the missing cores from high-level monsters must have been taken by the person who killed them, and you should be able to guess who that person was." Setsuka responded to her words.
"Do you mean Tenku?" Kaede asked to confirm her guess.
"Yes." Setsuka nodded and replied curtly.
Even though she didn't see it directly, Setsuka knew that Tenku must have taken the core from the monsters' corpses. After all, it was of great value even to Setsuka. So there was no way Tenku would ignore it.
"He acted very quickly and efficiently. Not only did he find Kohana and kill the monsters, but he also managed to get their cores. I wonder how strong he is. Do you know that, Setsuka?" Kaede muttered in awe and then glanced at her best friend.
"I don't know much about it. But he is powerful. You can ask him directly if you are still curious about his strength." Setsuka didn't want to discuss the matter too deeply with Kaede because he feared she would accidentally reveal Tenku's secret.
After all, Setsuka and Kaede had been friends for a very long time. They often share their problems. Setsuka was worried she would slip her tongue when chatting with Kaede.
"Hmm... he definitely won't answer, and maybe he'll be angry with me. Our problem has just been solved with your help. If I asked him that, I would have a new problem with him.
If it were in the past, I would have directly asked him since I didn't know he was that strong. But now I don't dare to do it. He looks scary when he's angry." Kaede pouted as she recalled her conversation with Tenku on the school rooftop.
"That's good. Therefore, you no longer need to be curious about his power. Tenku is Tenku. No matter how strong he is, Tenku will treat us the same as usual as long as you act normal too." Setsuka felt satisfied when she heard Kaede's words.
"You seem to know him very well. So how is your relationship with him?" Kaede drew closer to Setsuka and grinned.
"Our relationship has become closer even though it has not reached the stage of lovers. But I'm sure that before long, my feelings will be conveyed to him." Setsuka said confidently.
"Is that so? What have you done with him? Have you two ever held hands or even kissed?" Kaede asked curiously. She whispered and made sure no one heard their conversation.
Setsuka's face immediately turned red because Kaede's words reminded her of last night's accidental kiss.
"We used to hold hands because it didn't cross the line as friends. But we've never kissed. We can't do that because we are not a couple." Setsuka replied with a bit of panic. She couldn't say they had kissed last night, even by accident.
"Ooh... what a shame. I thought you had gotten to that stage." Kaede continues to tease Setsuka.
"Okay. We should stop our chatter. We must continue our task and immediately clean up the schoolyard from the monsters' corpses." Setsuka left the place because she didn't want to show her blushing face to Kaede.
"I understand. I understand." Kaede giggled when she saw her reaction. She quickly followed Setsuka from behind. After the two left, a shadow suddenly appeared from behind a tree. They did not notice that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation.