“Well, well well, I’m glad to see that our new students are energetic this year.”

Standing in the office room was a tall man wearing a Victorian era butler’s attire. His voice and his appearance, seemed charming and witty with those red eyes and somewhat flowing grayish white hair.

He had just heard both Ikki’s and Itsuki’s stories of what happened at the dorm. After suffering their injuries, they healed quickly but their pride was another case.

“Joel. Don’t misconstrue this. It’s already troubling as is.” Itsuki said seriously.

Out of himself, Ikki, and Joel, who stood in this room, he was the most pissed at how flippant Joel was being. As headmaster of the academy, Joel should've been taking this conversation with some amount of deep concern but was instead finding more amusement from their story.

“Well, what do you expect? One of my new students suddenly starts stripping in front of two girls as an apology since he saw them naked, but also forgets that his buddy is lying unconscious on the ground in front of him. Am I not supposed to laugh?”

“Headmaster! Please, I was only trying to set things straight!” Ikki protested.

“Oh yeah? And how does stripping in front of two fair maiden seem anything but crazy. Try to think of it in reverse, but also minus the unconscious friend on the floor.” The sarcasm in Joel’s tone made Ikki grimace at how out of line his conduct really was.

He bit his lip in guilt, and it didn’t help that Itsuki leveled his blank black-eyed glare on him. Ikki had failed to acknowledge the crime scene-like event due to his flustering and had left Itsuki out to dry.

Thinking on it again, if Ikki was put in that situation in reverse and was met by someone who started stripping in front of him, he too would find that person more crazy than sane, especially at how the situation had probably already looked like a crime scene with Itsuki passed out on the floor with his head bleeding.

Just how did he miss that of all things?

“I-I guess I was a bit crazy. I must’ve lost my composure.” The beautiful figure of the red girl was on Ikki’s mind, and he recalled how he felt his heart skip a beat. Rubbing the back of his head, he bowed a bit to Itsuki.

“Sorry about that, Itsuki. I don’t know what came over me, I should have noticed you were injured first.”

“I don’t think you need to apologize to me Ikki. I let my guard down when I was thinking about other things, so it's my fault I let myself get knocked out, but what I wasn’t expecting was to find girls in the male dormitory, just what happened Joel, why did those girls have access?”

To Itsuki’s knowledge that dormitory was previously under his jurisdiction to manage which was his job, and he distinctly remembered it being only for boys when he left for his short winter vacation.

“Well, I—-” But before Joel could explain, they heard a knock at the door. “Oh, good timing. Come in you two.”

At his call, the door to the office opened. Opening it themselves, Stella and Amanda walked in with glaring eyes. This time, unlike before, they wore clothes. In fact, all four students wore the standard issue academy uniforms.

Ikki and Itsuki wore black pants and a white buttoned up shirt with a black colored blazer with silver trim. For Itsuki’s uniform, it was shorter and smaller in comparison to Ikki’s. Stella and Amanda had the same but wore black knee-high skirts with the standard girl-sized short heels and black leggings.

They all filled out the uniforms nicely, especially Stella, whose breasts were pushed up by the attire, unintentionally showing off their magnificence. But detracting from her beauty, Stella was giving Ikki a look of disgust while Amanda was more wary of Itsuki. A fire seemed to have sparked in their hearts and it was unforgiving.

“I’m sorry for my actions. Please forgive me!” Suddenly offering a bow to both girls, Ikki gave the deepest apology one could muster while on two feet. He could grovel on the ground, but he still had his warrior pride to uphold.

“Hmph!” Stella huffed, still finding Ikki disgusting but tolerable since he showed deference. “Ikki, Was it? While your conduct earlier was most untasteful, I guess you somewhat understand your faults, but what about him!”

She pointed to Itsuki, who was not willing to do anything remotely like an apology and had the gall to glare back at them.

“Why should I? Aren’t I the victim here?”

“No you aren’t!” Amanda accused, getting up in his face as she stood tall over him. “You snuck into the dormitory with a deadly weapon, just what the heck were you trying to do in there?”

“Yeah!” Stella added. “And both of you still saw our naked bodies, you better be willing to pay us both back. I was going to bring in the duchy of Crimsonia to make this an international incident, but after this one showed his respect, I’m willing to compromise!”

“Like what?” Ikki asked as he raised his head. “If it will help, I’m willing to do what it takes for your forgiveness.”

“Well, I’m not.” Itsuki refused adamantly, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave the two irritated girls an uninterested look. “I got a concussion from the blue haired kid here, shouldn’t I be sueing?”

Amanda tensed at his nonchalant words, but not in fear, but from intense anger. Never had she been addressed in such a way, she was no kid, she was a beautiful budding youth, unlike him of all people.

“Who are you calling a kid, have you looked in the mirror? You’re younger than I am!”

“Noooope.” Itsuki emphasized. “I’m over 20 years old, and going by all our records here, I'm the second oldest, behind that guy over there.” He pointed at Joel, who was about to comment but stopped himself as he rather enjoyed the intriguing commentary.

Amanda looked around the room, comparing everyone by how old they looked. She herself was 16 and Stella was 17. They look somewhat their age, but when Amanda looked at Itsuki, all she saw was a troublesome kid of short stature with glaring black eyes.

“Itsuki! Come on! Don’t bring up your height right now, let’s just hear them out, we did see them half naked and while it wasn’t on purpose on our part, can’t you cut them some slack?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“We’ve been over this!” Itsuki sighed heavily. “I don’t cut slack! At all!! And this wouldn’t have happened if the blue kid here didn’t try to bash my head in.”

“Come on, Itsuki! Just this once, remember what I said before? You’ve got to try to make some friends.”

Remembering what Ikki said, Itsuki thought, yeah, I know, but do I have to? He closed his black eyes and frowned, but at the end of his short brooding, he let out a reluctant sigh.

“Hah! Fine! Just what the heck do you want in return then. I’m a busy guy and have a lot of other things to do, so don’t waste my time.” As supervisor of that dormitory, he had many obligations already, like getting the incoming students in order before the first day of school.

“Ahem! Very well then.” Stella crossed her arms while puffing up her chest in pride. “In light of your kind offer to pay us back, I am willing to let things go if you perform seppuku. So please, kill yourselves to wipe away the stain you have put upon us.”

Stella said this with an overly extreme amount of pep in her tone, which made Ikki tremble and Itsuki almost pop a gasket in his head.

“Wait Wait Wait, isn’t that too much?” Ikki blustered, his hands waving in front of him in denial.

“Of course not.” Amanda said in an equally cheery tone. “In fact, I still think it's too little. We should roast them first.”

“Jesus Christ.” Itsuki groaned. “This year's batch of students are starting to seem like they're all bonkers. Just kill me now.” He mumbled, wishing this was a bad dream.

“Hehehe.”

“Headmaster! Can you not laugh in this situation, your students are about to die. Don’t you have an obligation to protect us?” Ikki turned to reason with Joel, but Stella approached him, a red flaming aura surrounding her.

“You aren’t trying to weasel your way out? Right? Now hurry up, you said you both would do anything right? Or are you not man enough? From what I can see, you two have eastern blood in your veins. So be like a true samurai and take your punishment with honor. Truly, I am magnanimous. As a noble, I will give you one last chance to mend your wrongdoings and draw a compassionate line in where your punishment will end.”

Stella's friendly voice continued to make Ikki shudder while Itsuki only glared back at Amanda, creating sparks between their black and blue eyes.

“But that ending will literally kill us, you have to reconsider.” Ikki argued as he backed away from Stella’s encroaching aura. If he got too close, he thought he’d be smothered in her pressure.

“Bwahahaha, this is such a fun day.”

“Joel! Can you please not be such an ass right now!” Itsuki turned and yelled curtly at him.

“Oh, come on, it sounds like a fair trade, and we can always regenerate your wounds in the hospital. It’s that or risk international backlash from the European Block. So, take one for the team, will ya?”

“That isn’t helping!”

“OH, he’s helping just fine.” Amanda said eerily, giving Itsuki a deeper glare. “Maybe I can cut you to bits and then do it all over again after we put you back together, should be fitting for a criminal like you.”

“Just what the heck is going to sate your bloodlust already!” Itsuki truly felt like Amanda had something against him and while he knew the reason laid with his shady looking eyes, he couldn’t help it, he was born with this face.

“Well? Come on?” Shrugging, Stella doubled down as she cornered Ikki. “Hurry up and do it already.”

“You can’t expect us to kill ourselves to resolve this, this is our lives you're playing with. And you expect us to give it up just because I looked at you in your underwear, Jeez, who cares!”

“HOW DARE YOU!”

Stella didn’t take too kindly to that, and flames erupted from her, making Ikki jump back to avoid the raging fire around her. He got slightly singed by the licking tails of fire and Joel immediately exited, the sound of the office’s side door closing behind him, making Itsuki facepalm at the escalating situation and Joel’s flaking attitude. He too backed away but found his feet covered in ice.

“You’re not going anywhere! Not until you answer for your crimes and submit!”

Amanda had frozen the ground around him, trapping him in place.

“Yeah, what she said. NOW, you little insignificant commoner.” Glaring at Ikki, Stella’s eyes glowed a fiery red that could burn a hole through him. “I can’t believe this is how you treat me and my friend after spoiling us with your filthy eyes.”

“NO! I wasn’t trying to look. I didn’t spoil anyone!”

“Liar! You saw something not even my father has seen and for your actions of defiling me, I will roast you alive you creepy pervert. Come to me, Ignaria!”

It was then that Itsuki and Ikki recalled about the foreign exchange student on the news. Stella von Crimsonia, the first ever S rank core affinity student in all of history. She had a level of power only talked about in fairy tale stories of the Starfall Calamity War, yet here it was, on full display.

Stella’s flames even melted the ice Amanda had conjured and they all backed away to escape the increasing heat in the room. Amanda found herself overwhelmed and she marveled at Stella’s power.

“Wait! Stella! If you use your power here, you’ll burn the whole building!”

Wielding her manifested weapon, Stella held a large switch axe, its metallic edges-tinged crimson red and hilt of volcanic black and gold stone in a pattern of a pillar of black fiery flame. Not heeding Amanda’s words, she leveled her weapon at Ikki, pointing it at him with killing intent.

“Steel yourself you sinful men, I will burn you alive!”

“What the hell!” Itsuki yelled, he was about to move in to subdue Stella but found Amanda pulling him back.

“Are you crazy, you’ll burn up if you get close.”

She was right and while Amanda would love to see that, she truly didn’t want anyone to get hurt and had just wanted to set the pecking order. Ikki, feeling that he was backed into a corner, stumbled his way through possible words he could say to diffuse the situation.

“Miss Stella, wait! I–”

“Don’t speak another word! I must cleanse myself of my dishonor to my chastity, you touched me, you pervert!”

“I did not touch you!”

“Yes, you did, your eyes did. You lecherous perverted piece of commoner trash. Both you and the shrimpy little guy are going to burn.”

“Y-Yeah, I saw you, but I- I.” Ikki had no clue if what he was going to say would help but pushed it past his lips in earnest.

“It’s, it’s because I-I was charmed by your beauty. I’m sorry for looking but you were just so captivating!”

“Huh?”

Immediately flabbergasted, Stella’s face blushed at Ikki’s pure and innocent words. They were like a child confessing to his first crush and it was touching deeply to her maiden-like heart.

Itsuki and Amanda on the other hand stared at Ikki with blank eyes as if telling him, wow, smooth move idiot.

“J-Just what are you trying to pull, you commoner! I won’t be easily swayed by the words of an idiot. And this tiny guy still has to pay for invading the girl’s dormitory!”

“Wait! What?” Hearing Stella declare his dormitory as the girl’s dormitory, Itsuki felt as if something was off.

“The girl’s dormitory? Wait a minute, that was the boy’s.” Ikki stated. “How did you two even get inside? The doors only work when you have the right credentials. It’s not like the AI security system would fail, right Itsuki?”

“Correct, I’m sure since I have jurisdiction over the security system, that’s why I was able to come through the restricted lodging area.”

“Huh?”

All four students let out a sound of confusion, they all thought that the dormitory was for their respective gender, but upon review, perhaps this was some kind of mistake or that some piece of this situation was missing.

“Teheheheh!” Hearing that pestering laughter, Itsuki felt the gasket in his head break apart. His voice rose to a commanding and raging tone.

“JOEL! IS THIS YOUR DOING!”

Noticing the mischievous head of grayish white hair peeking through the office door, Itsuki swore Joel had planned this.

“Oh, I’ve been caught red handed, what will I do?”

The students looked admonishingly at their sarcastic headmaster as he sighed and finally explained.