Tap. Tap. Tap.

The sounds were hard, sharp, and precise. Sanji wasn’t sure that he wanted to open the door, but he also knew that if he did not the knocking would just continue.

He gulped and moved to open the door, almost wincing as he pulled it aside.

Outside stood a surprisingly normal looking girl, no cat ears, no fake vampire teeth, even her clothes were plain. The gray skirt and white blouse were very reminiscent of the uniforms at Sanji’s own school. When Sanji looked into the girl’s eyes he immediately understood why she was grouped in with these others. Rose, Eva, and Niya all wore their issues on the outside, this girl was different. Her eyes were cold, distance, looking at Sanji as if he were something less than human. In fact, the expression on her face when she looked at him was similar to how one might look when faced with a particularly unpleasant pile of garbage. She sneered past him at Niya, “I do hope you have managed to keep your legs closed for at least the past ten minutes.”

Niya scoffed, “What would you know about sex?”

“I know it is loud and obnoxious when you bring home unwelcome guests, so come on we are leaving,” The girl then spared an icy glance for Sanji and he did his best to hide behind the door.

Niya walked out the door, casting a sidelong glance and a sultry wave at Sanji, “I think I’ll be seeing more of you. A lot more…”

“Are you seriously still wearing that stupid tail?” The cold girl asked.

“Yes, Rey,” Niya replied as Sanji began to close the door. The last thing he heard was, “I like how it feels.”

With the door shut Sanji was able to take a deep breath, but one problem still remained.

Rose stood in the middle of the room, fiddling with the belt that held her blanket in place. Sanji noticed her pile of clothes on the floor. The cat girl had been an unwelcome guest, but she did provide at least some insight in dealing with Rose. Sanji gestured towards the clothes, “Hey, Rose, I think those are some pretty rare garments. If you wear them under your robe they should help you a bunch.”

Rose nodded, “We’re going to need every advantage we can get. With how easy it is for people to get into your home we’ll certainly need extra defense.”

“Hey, wait, what?” Sanji began to protest, and when she began to undo the belt on the blanket he managed to guide her into the bathroom, throw in her clothes, and shut the door. He would not take advantage of a mentally confused girl.

That lead him to think about what Niya had said, about Lema Academy. A school for girls with behavioural problems? That was all well and good, some people just don’t mesh in well with society and it is good for them to have a place designed to cater to their needs, but shouldn’t a place like that have its own housing? Sanji decided to check his email, maybe he had missed some sort of posting.

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Sure enough, after loading it up he found a message from the building landlord:

Dear Tenants,

A new academy will be opening up nearby, it is meant to cater to a specific type of person. We will be taking some of their overflow accommodations, but have been assured that all of these tenants pass the school’s qualifications for safe, independent living.

Thank you,

Management

Two seperate people had barged into his home practically uninvited, and they were considered safe to live independently? Sanji shook his head in disbelief.

The bathroom door opened and Rose came back into the room, her blanket was slightly askure, but it thankfully showed she had managed to get dressed underneath. She saw him at the computer and asked, “Are you looking at porn?”

“No!” Sanji exclaimed. He sighed and stood up, getting ready to put on his shoes and jacket, “Come on, we need to get you to a hospital.”

“I’ve already told you,” she took a few steps back and pulled the blanket over her head like a hood, “Places like that will be watched, it is not safe.”

Again Sanji considered calling emergency services, and again he realized how difficult it would be to explain the situation. So he was back to trying to get her to go to a hospital. He sighed, “Fine, I didn’t want to tell you this…”

Rose moved closer, leaning a bit forward, “What?”

“Actually, I’m not sure I should even say,” he continued, making a show of thinking.

“Tell me!”

“I wanted to get you to a hospital to get better so I could take you to find… it.”

“Find what? Find what?”

Sanji paused for a second, not for effect, but to think of what to say. “To find… one of the runes? Of course!”

The depth of her following inhalation was quite impressive, she was truly amazed. “But if you found a piece of the rune that means that we would only need to find sixteen more pieces to get to the High Commander’s hell palace, but how did you even find it? To get to a rune piece you first have to find the thirteen map pieces, and each of those map pieces can only be obtained through a rare drop from a-”

As she sent on and on explaining Sanji decided that no, Cycle of Runes did not sound like a fun game at all. It was clearly just a grind fest.

She finished, “And you can only get one of those by killing fourteen-hundred Galrops. You really did all of that? You know where a rune piece is?”

“Yes,” Sanji replied with a nod.

“Now, let’s get you to a hospital. If we’re quick about it you should be able to get out before any of Ritten’s minions can find you, right?” Sanji held out a hand to the crazed girl.

She took it and they made it to the door, just as he was about to open it that same horrid knock from before filled the room. Tap. Tap. Tap.

It was getting late, Sanji had school early in the morning, he just needed the day to be done. He opened the door.

It was the cold eyed girl. She looked just as disdainful as before, but surprisingly she held out a hand for Sanji to shake. “I’m Rey.”

“Hi, um, I’m Sanji.”

“I’m here to make sure you don’t do anything unsavory to that girl.”

“What?” Sanji exclaimed in genuine surprise.

There was a malicious glint in Rey’s eyes as she continued, “Yes, I bet you’re some creep. Maybe I should call the cops, tell them you’re taking advantage of some poor mentally ill girl.”

“We’re going to the hospital so we can go find a piece of Rune!” Rose exclaimed, in what might have passed as her attempt at being helpful.

“What do you want?” Sanji asked.

“Oh, nothing yet,” Rey replied, “I just want you to know who to respect around here.”

Sanji frowned at that, the girl gave a wicked grin and then turned to walk away. He had a feeling she didn’t care in the slightest what happened to Rose.

“Come on,” he said, “Let’s go.”

They left the apartment, Sanji was very sure to lock the windows and door, and they made their way down toward the hospital.

It was a few block walk, and there was no end to the number of odd looks they received- although that was understandable considering Rose still wore her improvised blanket robe. Finally they arrived, and Sanji brought her up to the emergency room reception desk. The first question the woman asked was, “What is your name?”

And Sanji should have known it wouldn’t be so easy. Not with how the day had been going. Because, of course, in response to being asked her name Rose, in a very serious tone, replied, “Rosewarrior4706”