Somewhere inside the hall of the special building’s fourth floor, was a clattering noise that went on about, as if experiencing excruciating pain and agony. It voiced out its pain for around five seconds, rested for two, and continued for another five. This cycle probably repeated itself for a good two to three times before finally coming to a halt.

“Looks like the door’s locked.” Segawa murmured with a troubled expression.

“You don’t really have to point out the obvious here...”

As our journey had come to an end upon reaching our destination, our expectations were immediately betrayed by the adversary up front, towering over the two of us as it kept us from finishing our quest. In other words, the clubroom's locked door prevented us from starting club activities.

I find it hard to believe that the day would come where my efforts would be easily put in vain by a measly piece of wood. It was somehow irritating to think of in a way. Well, I guess this much wasn’t that bad. There were more brutal ways of putting your efforts in vain. Like getting dragged along against your will, only to be welcomed with such cold reception in the end. And by cold reception, I meant a locked door.

I sighed.

“Why the hell did you drag me all the way here without thinking of grabbing the key first..? Are you retarded or something?”

“Sensei told me that she already left the door open for us. That’s weird…” Segawa paused, placing a hand on her chin as she dived into thought. “Did we get the wrong room by mistake.”

“Nah, we didn’t get the rooms wrong. This is definitely it.” The blank doorplate would suffice as evidence.

After silently staring at the door for a good two seconds or so, Segawa turned to me with a sincerely clueless expression, crossing her arms with a slight tilt of the head. “What should we do about this?”

“What the hell is with that stupid-sounding question…don’t ask a question you already know the answer to.” I murmured in response, averting my eyes from the person up front. “We’re obviously going to go and get the keys ourselves. It’s not like there’s any other way around it, is there.”

“Ehh..I’m surprised you know how to handle things in these sorts of situations.” Segawa praised with a light nod of the head, a small smile playing on her face. “How reliable.”

“Oi. You’re making a fool out of me here, aren’t you?”

“Don’t ask a question you already know the answer to.” She replied with a thousand-watt smile.

“Ugh..”

Damn this girl and her uncalled-for banter…it made me feel the urge to unleash the dragon of the darkness flame. Although, I don’t think a burnt arm would be worth the payback. The spirit gun or spirit sword could probably suffice.

In response to this woman’s blatant remark, I readjusted my bag with a shrug, letting out a resigned sigh as I began to walk ahead. “I’ll go and grab the keys from sensei for a bit, you can wait here for the mean time.”

“That can’t do,” Segawa interjected with a slight tug on my sleeve. “I’ll have to come along, you might leave school otherwise.”

“Like hell I would..”

Seriously, do you really think I’d bother skipping club after receiving a death threat from a lethal source? Get your act together woman. And would it kill you to drop the whole sleeve tugging thing? You’re gonna send a guy to his grave here, seriously.

“I won’t take no for an answer,” Segawa paused as she let go of my sleeve. “I also want to have a word with sensei in regards to all this, which serves more reason for me to tag along.” She added with a dead-serious look.

“A word..huh?”

For obvious reasons, it’s hard to imagine a teacher getting scolded by a mere student. It just doesn’t go hand-in-hand with the norm of society. But as soon as you substitute Segawa and sensei into the equation, a seriously realistic scenario would begin to play in your head. It didn’t seem to be too much of a stretch of the imagination with the girl in debate. Looks like the norm gets voided once it’s touched by this woman’s right hand. That’s the imagine breaker for you.

“Well in that case, why don’t you just go there yourself while I wait here?”

“That won’t do,” She paused. “You’ll have to come along, you might leave school otherwise.”

So there’s seriously no way out of this huh..?