Hitoshi was making his way out of Principal Ayuka’s office, his new ‘mission’ in mind.  He had been given something that was far more important than anything he could have imagined that meeting with the Principal would have been about.  He was guessing that she was going to reprimand him for something, not give him a mission of utter importance and secrecy.  It was a lot to take in at once, but he knew what he had to do.  Since he’d been given something so important, he needed to head out for this.  He had a strange feeling that something very important was about to happen.

As he turned and made his way down the hall, the girl from earlier rushed by him again.  She went by a lot faster than before, burying her face in her shirt.  Hitoshi just walked on by, not realizing just how much she was embarrassed from a simple screw-up from a greeting, on her part.  He may never know how hard that girl was trying to say hello to him, too much on his mind at the moment.  Making his way down the West-End stairs and out the door, he headed around the school building and headed towards the back.

On the way there, however, he felt something weird.  He looked over towards the Training Course and thought to head back there, for some reason.  Not that he wanted to be put to work again, but it might be good for him to train up a little more for this mission.  He figured he could spare a moment or so to do so.  He quickly hustled his way over there for a quick Chat with Moriko.

As he came into the Training Course, he found her, and she immediately put her hands on her hips, asking him what he was doing out there, now that the ‘chore’ she had for him was done with.  He, jokingly, spoke to her, saying “Hey, I’d do your ‘chores’ anytime, sensei!”  This gave Moriko an odd smile as she shook her head towards him, speaking back to him about what he’d just told her.

“Be careful, Hitoshi.  I’m not that proud to REALLY be putting little ol’ you to work.  Are you volunteering yourself to be my personal student assistant?”  As she watched him, her intimidating gaze made him think carefully.  He eventually gave in and nodded towards her.  “Absolutely, Ms. Moriko!”  His professor quickly let out a sigh and talked about how that was a brave action for him.  She went on with the conversation, asking him how far he’d go, even to kiss the dirty she walked on.

The idea of doing that was a little much, but he didn’t want to upset her.  He didn’t really think she’d make him do that, so he nodded back, again.  “Sure!  No complaints!”  Moriko let out a chuckle as she spoke to him again, sealing their deal.  “That’s cute, for a student.  Alright, it’s a deal.  I’m not going to forget about this, you know.  You are now at my every beck and call, no matter the circumstances.  Remember that.”

Hitoshi slowly turned around and shuffled his way out of the Training Course, amazed at how forward Moriko was with him just now.  He had a strange feeling that he could regret that action in the future.

As he made him way from the Course and to the back of the school, he saw the campus pool and the Hole-Digging grounds.  By the pool was that white-haired girl that was always seen, hanging around the pool in a tradition pink dress.  As they went by, she was looking down at the water, smiling.  Hitoshi got a grin on his own face as he passed her by.  She was, no doubt, considering a swim later on.  If there was one thing that girl loved, it was hopping into the pool for a nice, cleansing swim.

As he passed by the pool and the digging area, where the students were, without a doubt, wondering why they dig so many holes, Hitoshi approached the closed gate at the back of the school.  He grinned and chuckled as he saw that it was just as Ayuka had told him.  In front of the gate, waiting for him, were that white-haired mage from before and the Purple-haired student, Sei.  Tarou greeted Hitoshi with a blank stare, making it apparent that he knew that this wasn’t going to be a happy-go-lucky mission, in the slightest bit.

“I knew it,” said Tarou, welcome Hitoshi to their little meeting.  “I knew you would get the two of us mixed up in some sort of uncomfortable circumstances.”  Hitoshi shook his head for a second and gave Tarou a grin as Sei stepped forward and seemed to congratulate Hitoshi for receiving his new mission.  “Hah, sounds like you’ve really done it this time, Hitoshi.  You got a private mission, straight from the Principal herself?  You definitely don’t hear that every day.”  The guy’s cool attitude made Hitoshi well aware that they didn’t know the details of the mission he’d been given.  “You don’t even know the half of this, Sei.  You can trust me on that.”

Sei spared no time to continue the conversation and inquire more about what they’d gotten involved in.  “That’s precisely what I want to know, the half of it.  I’d prefer the whole of it, considering I don’t have a choice, but I’ll take what I can get.”  Hitoshi let that grin come across his face as he worded his statement carefully to get Sei a little more interested in this mission.  “Oh, it’s not much.  A trip to the beach is all.  Satisfied?”

Just as Hitoshi expected, Sei immediately changed his attitude.  His eyes widened, he started sweating, and he was clearly getting excited about all of this.  “T-The beach, you say?!”  He started mumbling to himself, no doubt wishing he’d better prepared himself for everyone he’d see at the beach.  Hitoshi knew he was a ‘ladies man’, so to speak, which he just confirmed as he spoke about agreeing to this.  “Alright, I’m in this to win.  Whatever you are doing, let’s go and do it, provided I can partake in some, well…recreation with any and all beach-going girls that are currently spending their personal time out there.”

As Sei took a place next to Hitoshi, Tarou came forward again and asked him about the mission.  “Unlike our friend, I would prefer some amount of detail in terms of what, exactly, this mission entails and it’s purpose, Hitoshi.”  Hitoshi, being the clever talker, continued to make Tarou think that it wasn’t nearly as big of a deal as it really was.  “Oh Tarou…like I said before, it’s nothing big.  We’re just checking something out that Principal Ayuka was concerned about.  It involves speaking with that old, pervy geezer who lives up on the beach, ya know?”

Tarou tilted his head, an expression of confusion on his face as soon as he heard who they were going to see.  “You mean Old Man Houjo?  I admit, I’ve heard some things about him, and most of them were less than pleasant.  What could he possibly have that would spark Ms. Ayuka’s interest?”  Hitoshi took a moment to wait and think before he tried to respond to Tarou’s question.  “You know, Tarou, I’m sure she would not be very impressed if she knew that you were questioning her instructions and snooping your way through her business, right?”

Tarou almost immediately stopped and changed his tune, worried about what Hitoshi had said.  “W-w-what?!  I was not!  I’ve done nothing of the sort!  Okay, fine!  You know me to well, Hitoshi.  To the beach, it is!”

As the three of them stood together, they all looked at each other.  Taking a look back at campus, he looked back at the Training Grounds and began to ponder something.  Looking at the three of them, he realized that this could be a rather difficult task.  He suggested that they go and train, just for a little while.  The others nodded and followed as he headed back to see Moriko again…