The boy’s legs brings him up to the fourth floor, the soles of his bare feet gradually becoming blacker and blacker from stepping in the thick dusts of the abandoned building.

I really should wash my feet thoroughly before stepping inside Rolfe’s manor, the boy contemplates. Something about how the diligent student keeps her house spotless seems to tell the boy that she won’t tolerate some stray trudging in mud and dirt throughout her house.

Rolfe must be getting impatient by now, thinks the boy. He had promised the entity that he will return before the breakfast she made gets too cold, and currently he is running extremely late. The business with that smug bastard Joze Acanthus had taken the boy longer than he anticipated, thanks to Headmaster Joss' tardiness.

Truth be told, the boy could have sat down and have a nice breakfast with Rolfe before going out to deal with the unpleasant business that required his immediate attention this morning. There was still some time, and those blueberry muffins Rolfe had made really look inviting. But the boy knows those muffins would leave a bad taste in his mouth if he sat down to enjoy them while Marven and Athorius were lying bounded, gagged and unconscious on the floor of some abandoned building.

He could never do that to them, not after they had sacrificed so much for the boy in the past. Which is why he didn’t shower or have breakfast and went straight to the business of rescuing them.

Another reason why the boy didn’t feel like eating breakfast first is because he didn’t feel starved at all. There are pangs of hunger here and there, but compared to yesterday morning when he woke up absolutely famished and can barely think due his stomach being empty, in the boy’s current condition he could tolerate being hungry for a bit.

Whatever Rolfe did to my body must have worked, the boy contemplates as he recalls the memory of the diligent student plunging her hand into his chest and crushing his heart. Even though it was extremely painful, the boy feels his body has been upgraded in order to keep up with the powers the little girl had blessed him with.

I really should get Rolfe something as a thank you. The boy briefly searches for things the diligent student might like to receive. Besides books and fighting, there’s not much that interest the entity.

I’m sure I can come up with something later to show my appreciation to her, the boy thinks as he arrives outside the classroom where Marven and Athorius were being held hostage earlier. For now, there’s someone else the boy needed to thank first before he could go back to Rolfe’s manor.

“Sorry to have kept you waiting, Synnove.” says the boy as he opens the sliding door to the classroom. His maid who is sitting on a chair in the middle of the empty classroom immediately stands up, her face filled with joy. She starts moving towards her Master with a light spring in her steps.

“It’s no problem, Master. I-“ the beautiful pigtails maid suddenly stops short in front of the boy, her face contorting into a weird expression. Alarm bells and warning signs starts ringing and flashing in the boy’s mind, just like the time his right arm broke for real during his fight with Rolfe Primero.

“Synnove, what’s wrong?” the boy asks worriedly.

The maid doesn’t answer her Master. The joy that was shown on her face just moments ago has all but disappeared. Instead a gloomy expression begins to set in. Her eyebrows are deeply burrowed while her eyes seem glazed over.

The boy is tempted to use his power to find out why his maid is behaving strangely, but a gut feeling prevented him, telling the boy he won’t like the answers.

Synnove abruptly turns to her left and heads towards the front of the classroom, her steps no longer have a natural spring in them but is replaced with a slow and heavy movement. The boy sees her pulling out a knife that has been imbedded in the blackboard and putting the blade in her pocket. He also sees the pigtails girl picking up a broken leg of a wooden table that has been leaning against the wall underneath the blackboard.

The boy suddenly becomes deeply aware of the dried blood on Synnove’s face and uniform, he noticed them before but he had barely given any thoughts to it. But now in this dark classroom with this foreboding atmosphere, the dried blood seems to give the impression that standing in front of the boy is not his devoted maid, but a battle-crazed warrior covered from head to toe in war paint.

“Master…” the fragile silence is pierced by the soothing voice of the beautiful pigtails girl in a blood-splattered maid uniform.

“Yes Synnove…” the boy tries to will his frozen legs to move, but every instinct in his body is telling him that running would only make it worse.

“Would Master mind telling me why you reek of sex with another girl?” say Synnove with a smile that oddly reminds the boy of his own wife.

********************

The boy half stumbles, half crawls as he makes his way towards Rolfe’s manor. It had taken everything he had to survive his battle against Synnove. The boy’s right arm that was on its way to recovering is broken again, while his clothes are in tatters.

The boy feels this is the second time he had come close to experiencing death, the first one being his fight with Rolfe yesterday.

The only reason why the boy managed to escape relatively unscathed (except for the reoccurring injury to his right arm of course) was because he managed to take the knife away from Synnove, pushing her on the floor while restraining both her arms that was holding the makeshift bat over her head and kissing her deeply until she calms down.

The boy also had to promise Synnove several things, enough to soothe her wrath and stop her rampage. The maid left after bowing and apologizing profusely for attacking her Master, kissing him on the cheek and telling him she is looking forward to their outing later on that night.

Synnove left the classroom with a light bounce returning to her steps, no doubt to prepare for their midnight rendezvous, leaving her Master sitting on the floor trying to regain his lost strength after a hard battle. It was some time before the boy managed to stand up and make his way back to Rolfe’s manor.

As he approaches the front door, the boy thoughts continue to revolve around Synnove. The boy is surprised how a girl could smile in one moment, unleash hell in the next, then act like nothing had happened afterwards.

Women are scary, the boy contemplates as he knocks and opens the front door to Rolfe’s house. It’s a good thing I live with a man.

No sooner than the boy could finish his thoughts, something grabs him by the collar and flips him. The boy finds himself flying upside down in the air for the briefest of moments before he lands hard on the floor.

The front door closes with a slam. The boy tries to get up but something mounts him and pushes his shoulders back onto the floor, forcing the boy to continue lying on his back.

“You’re late.” the entity growls at him.

“I’m sorry, something came up.”

“Remember what I told you about lesson number five?”

“It will never happen again.”

“You bet your sorry ass it won’t.”

“Cold blueberry muffins are better than no blueberry muffins at all.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve kept them warm for you…”

“Thanks Rolfe. You’re a godsend. The light of my life. The song in my heart-”

“…in my stomach.”

“…oh you’re a cold-hearted bastard from which there is no escape.”

“I got tired of waiting.”

“No, you wanted to punish me.”

“Yes, you’re right.”

“You didn’t even leave me one, not even one tiny morsel of a bite?”

“I think I have some crumbs left near the corner of my mouth. You’re welcome to them if you want.”

“Yeah, kind of hard to do that when you’re constantly pushing my shoulders down like this.”

“If you stick out your tongue, you could almost lick them off my lips.”

“The operative word here is almost. Even though you have your face right in mine, you’re deliberately holding your position out of my tongue's range.”

“You know, with your increased healing factor, we could try extending your tongue.”

“Something tells me the process would be very painful for me but fun for you.”

“Oh come on, you’ll be a hit with the ladies.”

“Thanks, but the ladies will have to find something else to amuse themselves with. I already have my plate full with trying and failing to save the world like you said.”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself in the process. You’re no fun at all.”

“It’s okay. You’re having enough fun for the both of us.”

*laughs “That is true indeed. Anyway, how was work this morning?”

“Back breaking. But it’s nothing that I couldn’t handle.”

“Why do I suddenly feel like I owe you a favor?”

“I took out Joze Acanthus.”

“Who?”

“Some smug bastard who was holding my friends hostage.”

“I think there’s more to that story than you’re willing to let on.”

“It’s nothing really.”

“Tell me.”

“He’s kinda the guy who was responsible for your death in the future.”

“…”

“Rolfe?”

“Did you do this because you wanted me to be in your debt?”

“No, I did it because the guy was a piece of shit and the world is an infinitely better place without him. I did it because he was going to murder Marven and Athorius, then go out for pancakes like it was no big deal. But mostly, I did it because I could.”

“Atta boy. Looks like there’s a small chance you might save the world after all.”

“I have a nice upperclassman giving me guidance.”

“That is also true. And from the looks of it, you need some more guidance. How did Joze Acanthus manage to injure you to this extent?”

“Erm, these wounds I got today were made by Synnove.”

“Your own maid? Why?”

“She kind of went berserk when she smelt I had sex with another girl.”

*laughs “Oh, please do tell me who was this girl you had sex with?”

“Don’t laugh, okay. I nearly died for a second time this week.”

“I’ve told you there’s more to that girl than meets the eye.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Besides being yandere for you, there’s something else lurking underneath that girl’s surface. It’s something oddly familiar but I can’t just put my finger on it.”

“Yandere?”

“Axe crazy in love.”

“Great. Like I didn’t have enough on my plate as it is.”

“Want me to go out right now and take care of her for you?”

“No. It’s my own mess. I’ll clean it up. Besides, you can’t leave this house or the area around it. You’ve been put under house arrest for three months. Master Joss’ orders. Breaking it would lead to your immediate expulsion from this academy.”

“I guess I can’t really blame him. I hit Master Wes in front of so many people. And some of them are constantly looking for ways to get me thrown out of school.”

“Then don’t make it easy for them. I’m prety certain you have a lot of ways to pass the time at home.”

“Yup, there are some books I’ve been meaning to read and some half-finished inventions in the workshop that I need to complete.”

“I’m sure three months will pass by in a blink of an eye.”

“Besides, I’ve got a brand new toy to amuse myself with.”

“Suddenly the three months seem like three millenniums.”

Rolfe Primero suddenly leans down and kisses the boy deeply.

“What was that for?” the boy asks after their lips have finally separated.

“Thanks for taking care of Joze Acanthus for me.” says the diligent student as she looks into the boy’s eyes.

“It’s not like I did it for you or anything.” the boy smiles in return.

“Gods…” the entity laughs. “You really are a quick learner.

“I have a nice upperclassman showing me the ropes.”

“I’m hungry.”

“But I thought you’ve just ate.” the puzzled boy asks. Actually, he’s a bit hungry too at the moment.

“Not for food.” Rolfe Primero leans down and kisses the boy deeply again.

And the boy discovers he’s no longer hungry for food as well.

********************************************************************************************

Saw this at work today.

http://postimg.org/image/d8jckcmx7/

Thank you Jamerax. I will try to address the issues you've brought up.

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To the rest of you who are also kind enough to spend your time writing a review and commenting, I would like to let you know that I greatly appreciate them.

Daily tribute will resume tomorrow if I'm not too tired.

Thanks again and may the odds be ever in your favor.