"Why are your hands bleeding?"
Kai instantly dropped to his knees in apology.
"Sorry, I forgot about our class."
Seeing Kai try desperately not to offend her, she couldn't help but chuckle softly. "You're weird, kid."
Kai smiled back as he raised his head slightly. "So I'm forgiven?"
"I think I overreacted a little bit." She paused, resting her back on the wooden reading chair. "You do have the right to not attend classes."
Kai shook his head in disagreement. "No, why would I not attend classes? I love magic and its history."
Neko sensei's face beamed with joy; she quickly put down the bag that was draped on her shoulder.
Kai looked at the strange design that was on the tote bag before asking, "And this is?"
"Hmm..." She pondered for a moment. "Let's say it is for training."
Kai tilted his head in confusion.
------
"Relax your posture when gripping a spear," Neko-sensei said as she leaned on his back.
Kai flinched slightly. "I think I get it."
"You do?" she asked.
"Yes, so you can let me go now," he said, his voice flustered.
"Huh?" Neko sensei's eyes widened. "Sorry, I sometimes forget you're a boy."
Kai felt tears roll down his cheeks.
With a clap, Neko sensei dismissed the gravity stand that Kai stood on.
With the sudden loss of balance, Kai fell on the cold floor of the courtyard.
"Ouch," Kai blurted as he gripped his hips.
"That's part of the training," Neko sensei said confidently. "You have to know the exact time I want to dismiss the gravity stand and react."
'Yeah, right, this is just your excuse for constantly abusing me.'
No matter how much Kai complained, he couldn't dispute the fact.
Neko-sensei was an amazing teacher.
During the two days he had stayed at home, she was present at least fifty percent of the time.
Either he was sharing information about the outer world, or she was teaching him about magic and combat.
And since he wasn't planning on being only a swordsman since his weaver trait would most likely make him a master of different arts, he too had to adapt before then.
He raised his gaze to Neko-sensei, who wore tight gym clothes that showed her entire figure and held a tablet while mumbling to herself.
'She's really pretty no matter how many times I see her.'
Kai waited patiently for Alpha's sarcastic comments, but nothing came.
It seemed as though she was updating her system or something like that, so Kai had no reason to worry.
"Now on to the next task," Neko sensei proclaimed, making Kai's mind return to reality.
"What task?" he asked.
Picking the bag from the building's front door, she said in a loud tone, "Fix your house."
"Fix?"
Soon both Kai and Neko-sensei entered the building and began renovation.
Neko-sensei did most of the work since Kai knew literally nothing about fixing a house.
From the ground floor to the first, up to his room's floor, Neko sensei left no single spot untouched.
Kai now stood in front of the Gothic building he called home, and even he couldn't recognize it.
Neko-sensei had done something that even trained engineers back on Earth couldn't complete in a week.
The once-haunted house was now painted grey with trimmed grass and a well-tiled courtyard.
The wood board that separated floors had been replaced with cement, which was later tiled.
The interior was spotlessly clean with grey painting too; the chairs had been replaced by a leather cloth, and other necessities that Kai didn't have before had been installed, including baths and heated showers.
"Damn, I want to marry her right now," Kai said as tears of joy were forming at the end of his eyelid.
"Marry who?"
Kai looked up at Neko-sensei, who wore an apron over his shirt and trousers, which were way past her size.
"Nothing," he answered, moving closer to where she stood. "But what were you doing while I left?" he asked as he raised the bag of drinks in his hands.
"I was cooking," she said as she raised the knife clenched tightly in her hand.
"You can cook?"
"Yes, of course I can."
"Teacher, no. Miss Amy, are you engaged or in any relationship?"
"What?" she asked, moving a few steps back.
"I just wanted to know..."
As if trying to interrupt his next words, the doorbell rang.
'Why is the new doorbell so loud?'
He moved to the door before opening it.
Behind it were five figures.
"What are you doing here?" Kai asked.
"Did I interrupt something?"
"Yes, you did," Kai said as he looked Elia in the eye.
"Ha... Who cares?" she responded by shoving Kai to the side and barging inside.
She bowed her head slightly as she saw Neko sensei. Without even pausing to analyse the strange pair, she made her way to the ground floor's living room.
Behind her, Ikenna, Lilith, and to Kai's surprise Anica and Joshua followed her example, bowed then entered without taking the consent of the owner of the house.
'Damn kids.'
"Wow, your place is really beautiful. Why did they even call it a gutter?" Elia screamed from the room.
"Don't touch anything," he responded immediately.
"Why? I can bet you didn't pay for any of it."
"Tsk." He clicked his tongue.
"Is that frustration I feel?" Elia said with a taunting tone.
"So what are you doing here?"
"Nothing; I just wanted to see our fan-favourite hero." She said in a sarcastic tone.
'I knew she didn't come here for anything important.'
Elia continued, "And I thought it might be a good idea for us to have a quick spar."
Kai placed his hands on his jaw as his mind drifted into thoughts; after some time, he responded, "What do you think, Miss Amy?" he said, addressing Neko sensei.
"I don't think it is a bad idea, and don't call me Miss Amy."
"Master Amy?"
"No."
--------
Not long after, Neko-sensei and Kai entered the room with trays filled with omelette rice and drinks that resembled Earth's cola.
Placing them by each of his guests' sides, Kai sat on the bean bag on the left.
Seeing the figures stare at the food, Kai couldn't help but take offence. "What are you doing? Dig in."
The five looked at him before devouring the food.
Lilith, being the first to finish, said gently, "Thank you for the food."
Neko sensei nodded in reply; soon the rest chorused behind.
That left only Kai and Elia, who were almost done with their food.
Their gaze locked as if a telepathic message was sent, and they both increased their pace by two times.
'Faster!' Kai thought
Elia soon dropped her spoon and took in a deep breath. "You're doing the dishes."
Kai clicked his tongue, but the remaining just watched them in astonishment.
Kai and Elia simultaneously muttered, "What?"
Joshua shook his head, his cute voice ringing like a song through their ears. "Nothing, it's just that I never knew either of you had such a side."
All the remaining nodded in unison.
"See, I am not the only one," he said as his green hair swayed to the side.
"That's probably just in your mind," she added. "And thanks for the food, Neko sensei."
"Why do both of you call me such a weird name?" Neko sensei asked.
Elia tilted her head. "What name?" she asked, glancing at Kai, whose thumb was moving from left to right in front of his neck.
'What does he mean...'
Only at that moment did she realize that Neko sensei was a fan-made name, not an actual name in the novel.
------
Kai was once again standing in his usual spot in the courtyard, only that now it was clearer and looked luxurious.
Lilith, Neko sensei, Ikenna, and Elia sat on a bench that Neko sensei had found a way to bring all the way there.
Ikenna was supposedly asking Neko-sensei for the recipe for the omelette rice, while Lilith and Elia looked straight at the centre.
At the centre, Kai, Joshua, and Anica were facing each other in a circle.
"Why exactly are we doing this again?"
"Anica brought up the idea," Joshua said, turning over to her.
Anica, who had been quiet the entire time, nodded gently.
'I remember; she wasn't much of a talker. Maybe that's why she was the first to die during the pre-midterms incident,' Kai thought as he faced the blue-haired girl.
Her sky-blue eyes flickered with light as if reacting to her mana; Joshua's grey eyes grew brighter.
Kai wasn't stupid; neither was he a pushover.
The reason he agreed to their silly request was because of two reasons.
First, to practise his new fighting style and ability, since he didn't want to enter into an official match with an ability he wasn't used to.
And secondly, because of Alpha's words when he saw them fight. Maybe it was because of a strange competitive spirit, but he wanted to know how he would fare against them now that he had trained a little.
Because he knew it, if he couldn't surpass them before the start of the midterms not just he but the entire Noctis was going to die.
And it was less than two months before midterms started, so that meant that in less than a month, deaths would start occurring around the academy.
That would signal the prelude to one of the most chaotic arcs and the arc that would start the main plot of ICUWSA.
The unredeemable villain and the sin of sloth, 'Professor Deerheart', one of the high priests of Roleca; those who serve the drifters called 'Demons'.
The religion that was also known for their dangerous fellows: 'The demonic humans'.
Kai gritted his teeths as Anica and Joshua lunged forward towards him.