Rat in the Room

Monday morning.

In the backseat of the car, I was reading the papers that the Facold family had prepared for me regarding the task I had given them.

Other than a few details here and there, most of the information was things that I already knew from reading the novel.

I wasn't disappointed however as I knew it would take time for the spies to get any information that was worthy of my attention.

Tossing the papers off to the side, I closed my eyes, trying to sneak in a few more minutes of rest.

My weekend was far busier than I imagined it to be.

I had planned to simply explore the dungeon with the Three Stooges and then spend the remaining time playing with Rubi or going to the cinema to watch a new movie.

Instead, I discovered my sudden engagement, had to deal with a vampire, deal with my perfect but also flawed fiancée, and then just when I thought I was going to get some sleep, Peaches texted me, trying to understand why Diana wanted my number.

When I finally got her to leave me alone using the best excuses I could muster, it was three hours past midnight.

Considering that I hadn't slept in over two days, it was a shock that I was able to wake up in the morning for school.

Then I remember that I'm a superhuman in a superhuman world with magic and swords.

'Earth logic doesn't matter over here.'

Just when I was about to drift off into a short rest, my phone buzzed.

'What is it now?' I groaned.

Picking the phone up from the seat, I looked at the name of the person who just texted me.

'Diana? What does she need?'

Opening her text message, she had given me a time and a location. If I didn't know any better, I would've assumed this was a duel challenge of some sort.

'Is this for another drinking session?' I pondered, rubbing my healed neck. 'But why at school grounds?'

I tried to find the answer but was unable to so with a shrug, I closed my eyes hoping to drift away once and for all.

Then my phone buzzed again.

'Who is it this time?' I clicked my tongue.

See it was Mother who texted me, I immediately tossed away any irritation I had. She was informing me that the Asano family would be staying in this city for another week.

I thanked her for telling me and closed my eyes for the third time.

'Surely I'll get some rest this time... right?'

Obviously, the phone buzzed again.

Not even angry, I was just disappointed.

'Back to back to back? What is this? A comedy skit?' I questioned, reading the text I just received.

It was from Asano Ichiko and she was asking if the two of us could have dinner tonight.

I wanted to decline because I honestly just wanted some alone time but with no plans after school, I might as well accept and get to learn more about my fiancée.

We were going to be engaged for many years. Nothing wrong with getting closer to her.

'Master, I can't help but feel sorry for you,' said Liona, pitying me and my situation of endless unrest.

Urisha chimed in, 'If you just use me, you can get a few hours to yourself.'

That was her ability. To stop time but it wasn't overpowered because I was unable to move, only think.

I was tempted to accept but I reminded myself of how Gon was still asleep so I needed as much firepower in case of emergency.

'I know you want to be used by Master so that you can stretch your legs and whatnot, but... Urisha, you're too useful to be wasted at a time like this,' Kimi responded, conveying my inner thoughts without even needing me to tell her.

'Whatever,' said Urisha, rolling her eyes.

'Speaking of using, master, when are you planning on using those codes of yours?' asked Yanari.

'When the time is right,' I responded.

'When will that be? It's been over a month and you've just been letting those codes gather dust and cobwebs,' said Yanari.

As the artifacts began speaking amongst themselves, occasionally insulting one another, I ignored all the chaos inside my head and fell into a state of rest.

Finally.

That rest lasted about a minute because soon after, we arrived at the academy's main building.

'For fuck sake. Should I just ditch class?' I pondered as I stared at the front doors, not feeling like walking inside.

'I can just come back for the meeting with Diana later,' I thought to myself as I looked off into the distance.

Then as I turned my head back onto the building, I shook it, refusing to let my efforts of being a perfect goody-two-shoes student go to waste.

'I'm a protagonist,' I reminded myself. 'Protagonists don't ditch school because they're tired. They only ditch school to deal with enemies or to help their comrades aka their harem with an issue.'

So with heavy legs, I dragged myself inside.

In between classes, I was able to sneak in a few minutes of rest before the teachers arrived.

With a yawn, I walked to the end of a hallway during lunchtime and after looking all around to make sure that no one saw me, I entered a science room that no one was using at this hour.

Already waiting for me inside was Diana who was pacing around back and forth until she noticed me.

"Hey," I greeted her. "What was that text about?"

She didn't answer. Instead, she closed the door behind me, locked it, and turned the light off.

"Don't want anyone to see," she said.

'Do you think a wall and a door is going to prevent those that want to see from seeing?' I chuckled.

That was one thing I didn't really like about this world. With the existence of mana, enhanced senses, and whatnot, it was hard to get true privacy unless you created a mana bubble and even then, it was flawed because it was possible to break into.

"What did you call me here for?" I asked.

Bashfully, she muttered, "I need to drink some of your blood."

"Why do we have to do it here? At school?" I asked as I began to undress myself.

"Because I'm grounded," she answered, walking around in circles as if preparing herself for what she was about to do.

"Grounded? For how long?" I questioned.

"Two weeks."

"Two weeks? That's not very long," I said, using a clean napkin to wipe my neck.

She pointed to a chair, suggesting for me to sit down which I did.

It was dark inside but because I was wearing my glasses and she was using her mana like how a bat would use echolocation to see things around her, the two of us were able to treat it like it was bright inside the room.

Standing behind me, I could feel the strands of her hair touching me as she leaned forward.

"I'm going to do it now," she told me.

"Go ahead, Diana."

A little more familiar with the sensation of having vampire fangs stab into the area between your neck and shoulder, I almost didn't have a reaction to the momentary pain that struck me.

Regardless of how embarrassing the situation was, Diana was unable to hold back the occasional sounds of pleasure.

In a silent room by ourselves, these quiet sounds felt loud.

I tried to keep a tranquil empty mind as all this was occurring when I noticed something strange.

Perhaps because it was dark inside the room, they didn't expect me to notice but my magic glasses were expensive for a reason.

I didn't see them but in the corner of my eyes, I noticed subtle changes in the room as the invisible person moved around.

'Maya,' I thought to myself, cursing the fact that I caught her attention again.

She leaves her victims alone after finishing her report. That means she must've felt like there was another story to tell for her to stalk me again.

'Or was she stalking Diana and I was caught in the middle?' I asked myself.

I had been keeping up with the chats of the secret club and she didn't give any clue or hint that she was still following me or Diana around.

'Did she notice one of us entering the room?' I wondered.

I couldn't look directly at her because then it'd give away my knowledge of her abilities which she kept secret from even the academy.

She was a First Class student just on her other talents alone.

What was I going to do now?

There was now a third person who knew Diana's secret, excluding the headmistress.

If I didn't do anything, no doubt that this news would be released to the world. Regardless of her friendship, Maya will always prioritize her articles.

The evidence was so clear that I doubt she'd even wait a few more days to observe us.

I believed that she would print and pass around this revelation to the academy within 24 hours.

'I need to stop her,' I sighed.

At least for the moment, she couldn't leave without opening the door so she would have to wait for the two of us to leave before she could.

I knew that Maya was the biggest danger to any plans that I could have at the academy and already, she was proving it to be true.

Even in the novel, many of the villains' plans were foiled by her because, like the rat that she was, she was always listening in on people's conversations without their permission.

'Maya, the invisible rat,' I scoffed.

As Diana finally pulled her fangs out, she exhaled and that same strange aroma from two days ago reappeared.

I now had an idea of what that aroma might be.

It was a vampiric pheromone that a vampire releases that will slowly brainwash the second individual to begin to find pleasure in having their blood sucked.

At least that was my theory.

Nowhere in the textbooks or in the novel did the way of the vampires get explored too deeply.

"Are you going to head to lunch?" I asked.

Diana nodded her head. "Why? What about you?"

"No. I have something to do after this," I said, trying to make it sound as mysterious and intriguing as I could.

'Please bite on the hook,' I prayed.