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"Why is it I should be scared of you with your side hurt?" Tabitha chuckled,"I am just out for a walk! I suffer of insomnia. I have no idea what you are talking about. And dear me; being called cruel? That's just unfair~! "
"You don't look particularly innocent, Tabitha, And we are looking for an attempted murder," Nora grumbled at the Basketball player. She put a hand on Samantha's shoulder, as if trying to calm her done."I suggest you fess up whatever know."
"Mh, I didn't think of you to be the kind to wear glasses~"
Noraneko seemed to mentally cringe. She patted Samantha's Shoulder," Come on. let's go. Its useless to go looking for a fight or to let her bother us-"

The black haired girl went off on her way back, leaving Samantha out of her vision for a split second. "Cowards. But you know of being a coward, uh, White head~" Tabitha chuckled,"I will see you around. Sleep well, and don't let the monsters bite, They got big bad Seijin, they'd make a snack out of you~"

___

"Yes that!..." Seijin tried to take a small respite still holding her leg," There is something inside that beast that is still human. If we can catch it human, it will be weaker and easier to handle. We should have the students keep an eye out for any one out of the ordinary! --... If... if it can return to human..."

The teacher deflated further into her chair,"It was such a monstrosity. It would be hard to believe it human. The person trapped inside my be already large framed? " She sat up leaning on her cane,"These cards are pushing their boundaries, Yuuka. Who knows what they will do next? "

"Don't fall to her games. Anyone can see she is crazy and neurotic. Its obvious she is up to something but we can't risk her coming after us quite yet. If she is behind all this its best we keep our cool and let her lose it, before we do."

Noraneko turned around in time to have Samantha cling to her and scream. Unsure what to do, Nora simply patted her head. "Ah... No... problem?" She smiled best she could in the situation," You did what you had to do. You will get your chance to-" The taller student trailed off. "Did you hear that...?" There was silence, though, and so she shook her head. "Nevermind, come on let's go-"

Noraneko turned to head back to their rooms when a mass of black landed on her, or rather tackled her. Samantha was spared because she was a bit behind when the baseball player had started walking. The two tumbled. The beast, however, had not foreseen Nora's supernatural force, and though it had a huge claw over nora's body possibly suffocating her, the girl was struggling with it's muzzle, using both hand to keep it from ripping into her. "What the ******** is this thing?!?!" She managed to pry it away and leave enough space to punch it across the muzzle.

It yelped and reared... onto to two hind legs. It stood between both Samantha and Noraneko, though the latter was trying to crawl back. The razor sharp fangs bared in a snarl , it flexed its claws and roared menacingly. "It can walk on two?!" Noraneko's glasses were missing, and her orange eyes were truly frightened and confused. This was what had attacked Kazuko? She may have not known it, but it was what the teacher had described almost perfectly.

____

Seijin nodded along to key facts as Yuuka spoke about the students, "Ah Heidi. That's right, she is in my calculus class. I doubt she could hurt a fly.... But you are right she is a friend of Tabitha's. It might be our best shot. If it proves not to be her, then we will move along. She should be in her room unless she went out ? I don' know... my brain is getting fuzzy now." Seijin sighed and stood leaning heavily on her cane as she tried to walk once more to the bed. She chuckled sadly,"I think I just tired myself out-"

She sat down on the bed and pulled her leg up onto the bed with a cringe, "Its obvious I can't do much till my leg heals-" A wolven ear twitch," Yuuka did you hear that?" Unconcerned with her leg all of the sudden she moved her feet off and moved to her window. "There it is! Its that thing again!" Her wolf ears were perked ,"I can hear it, and its angry!"

The teacher squirmed in her place, then limped to her cane picking it up in a swipe and hurrying to the door, flinging it open,"I am going after it; if Samantha and Mo are out there, I can't trust it isn't targeting them!"

The beast had been leaned towards Noraneko, until the pipe hit its leg. It wasn't unlike a child trying to hurt an adult; it wasn't without a bit of sting, bit definitely no real harm. It still enraged it , though, and as Samantha reeled for the second blow, it smacked a claw across, trying to throw her to the side, a good ways away. While that happened Nora regained her barings and her nerve.

Whether the beast managed to knock Samantha to the side, it had trained its claws on her. As it tried to rake her to shreds with a claw, Nora came from behind, jumped and pulled down its paw. Twisting with her card given strenght she managed to land the beast face first down before, with a few grunts spinning it 180 degrees by the claw and throwing it to the side.

The beast slid to the side, scraping across the cement while the baseball player breathed heavy from the feat. "That thing is-... heavy-... and *gulp* strong- Samantha-- We need to get out--!"

____

Seijin stopped as Yuuka got in her way. Quickly her mind began to process what her fellow teacher had said, which in reality, was very true. She was, with no way around it, severely injured; she could hardly walk at half the speed she usually did! Tengu or not, her leg could not withstand the stress of battle much less of a similar injury. Kazuko had no choice but to sigh and lower her cane,"I understand, and you are right; I would be more burden than help in my current state."

"Please be careful Yuuka, I promise to wait in my room till you return safely with Samantha and Mousets," Seijin sen her cane down to once more lean upon it," Do go, and with haste, god knows what trouble our student has gotten into!"

Noraneko kept an eye on the beast as it started to get up and didn't take her eyes off it till Samantha ran ahead of her. She saw it get up on its four legs and roar with its mouth full of jagged dagger like teeth. "Its comiiiiing!" She turned and dashed after Samantha, and she was only so far behind when Yuuka came into view ready to blast that thing.

"I certainly don't take it for a stray puppy!" Nora jested trying to rub off her anxiety as she came up to Yuuka. She knew better than disobey her teacher, so she picked up Samantha in a bridal carry before cradling her in an arm and moved back into the building, but remained watching her dear friend. . .

The beast had turned to pursuit, but once Yuuka came in its way it stop, snarling and growling deeply. It paced behind a sort of imaginary line, its fur heavy with the droplet that had weighed down the students' hoodies. At last it stopped pacing, ears perked, and it ran down further west, away from Yuuuka, Nora, Samantha and the dorms.

"It just...left? " Nora said a bit incredulously.

Noraneko moved back and out of Yuuka's way as the teacher went ahead and locked the door. "Yeah, ah, Samantha may be hurt, that thing hit her into a wall," Nora responded, allowing Yuuka to take the smaller girl from her arm. She went to her face as if to push her glasses only to realize they were missing," Ah-... my glasses are outside-..." Deciding to dismiss them she hurried after Yuuka.

"That thing came out of nowhere! It jumped on me--- Ah we saw Tabitha. She ... she was outside for no good reason, Yuuka, I think she is up to something!" Noraneko began to retell, she was still a bit shaky from the experience, but the fright in her orange eyes had melted away,"Its big and strong, and its damn scary. I swear it was aiming to get a chunk out of my neck!" The student continued to walk by Yuuka as they went back to Kazuko's room.

The door was open, as if the teacher had heard them coming. Inside, she was walking with her cane's aid, and despite the inhibition, she had already pulled in the medical kit , a few extra chairs and had already begun warming water for tea or coffee or whatever!
"Mrs Kazuko- Shouldn't you be resting?!"
"Noraneko? What are you doing here?"
"Ah...?"

Of course, Nora had gone with Sammy, but "Mo" had arrived to help the teacher!

"Ah, I see." Seijin saw it as highly unlikely, but seeing as how she hadn't seen Mousetsu herself, there was no need to make a riot. There certainly could "have been a misunderstanding on Yuuka's part. Given the day had been long and a bit terrifying." End quotes. The teacher instead turned to Samantha, quickly looking over the small girl. "Her side was injured from last night, but is there anything else?"
"That thing threw her at a wall," Nora quickly pipped in, closing the door, "She hit pretty hard with her shoulder I think."
Seijin nodded and started to feel about the bone. Nothing seem fractured, but the muscle was already tense and bruising. There was real damage," It would seem her bones are stronger than average but her flesh isn't. Her side was attacked heavily , and her skin seemed to show severe trauma; however her bones were in perfect condition. This leads me to believe that is one of her abilities. Similar to our healing, or Nora's lack of pain receptors."
"Heeey I don't lack anything!"
"You seem to be ignoring the gap in your stomach quite well." The teacher pointed at Noraneko's abdomen. It was hard to see, but her shirt and hoodie were torn. Blood was seeping from the claw marks in her stomach. "Oh. Well, I didn't see that one..."
"Just don't return to normal," Kazuko warned, "Yuuka, do you think you could bandage her while I work on Samantha?"

Seijin set her cane to the side and began to take Samantha's hoodie off, so as to bandage her shoulder in place to prevent any further damage and diminish the pain a bit. Nora had , meanwhile taken a sit in a chair and was idly poking at her wound through the tears of her own sweatshirt.

"Alright, alright," Noraneko chuckled nervously as Yuuka went about binding and closing her wound. She made a small face as the thorns went into her skin, but otherwise she was okay with the procedure even as it was pressed against her with the gauze. "Okay, got it," She nodded lowering her torn shirt and relaxing in her chair.

Seijin did her best to work quickly and efficiently. She muttered this or that attempt at comfort for the small student. It began to crawl into her mind that Maria and Lucy were still alone. She hoped Lucy had obeyed. "She is taken care of, for now she needs rest," Seijin tucked Samantha in, taking her cane and limping to another chair. Once she sat down, her exhaustion landed on her too.

With her cane between her knees, Seijin interlocked her fingers over the sculpted handle. She slumped a bit, back into her chair, "It seems the beast is a bit of a concern now isn't it?"
"That thing is huge, Ms! And strong," Nora said, leaning forward. "I had trouble wrestling and I'm a-... wait what am I?"
"An oni. A absurdly strong troll of japanese folklore," Seijin had straightened out her back , closing her eyes as if meditating, "It is strong, no doubt, but all creature has a weakness. We will have to think of this critically, lest we want it beating and eating every other student."

" Right ... " Seijin nodded, though it seemed she had half dozed off already. Noraneko was busy taking her two shirts off, she put the bottom one backwards and slipped the sweatshirt on the right way. That way her stomach was at least covered by the thinner sweatshirt," There... We will behave Ms. Kazuko-... Ms. Kazuko?"

The teacher had fallen asleep seated as quick as she had stopped talking. Noraneko chuckled softly, as her bangs began to darken into black , and her eyes faded to blue. She cringed as she felt the pain from her abdomen, but that lasted little. She tried to get comfortable on her chair. "Good night, Yuuka. . ."

_____ The next Morning

Seijin was the first awake, who knows how early she was up, but by the time anyone else woke up, she had made a small breakfast , hot chocolate and coffee for her guests. She was still heavily leaned on her cane but she pretended as if she wasn't.

Noraneko was curled up on her chair. It would appear her abdomen wasn't really bothering her anymore. The room was decently quiet. Another day had begun.