Your Protector

Chapter 30

After Ayato ended the life of the snake, he kept her mostly hidden behind the hedges, but he still wanted someone to eventually notice her worthless, dead body, so he left her feet hanging out.

The bell then rang for class, and Ayato waited for most of the students to already be in their classrooms before he did the last couple of steps in his plan. Everything was going as planned, he couldn't get sloppy now.

He waited for the members of the Martial Arts Club to leave. Once they were gone, he quickly went in and found a place to hide the murder weapon. The club had these small cubbies that held every member's individual gi and sweat rag. He opened Budo's and placed the knife inside.

He took off his gloves and burned them in the school incinerator. It's very fortunate that he didn't get any blood on his uniform. He smiled as he saw the smoke from the incinerator disintegrate into the air. The evidence linking him to the crime was gone; Budo was the only potential suspect, and frankly, who would be surprised to learn Budo had lost it and killed the pest who ruined his reputation? It was all too perfect.

With Budo gone, now was the matter of convincing Taro to give him a chance. Only then would he see just how perfect they truly were for each other.

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Few hours later, it was lunchtime. One of the student council members, Shiromi, spent her lunchtime walking around the outside perimeters of the school. Today was rather gloomy and chilly, but she didn't care. She would walk outside in a lightning storm if the school allowed her.

Whistling on, she walked past the hedge maze. No one in their right mind dared to enter that place. Some students actually believe you'll lose your life if you get lost in that maze. It was an absurd thing to believe—after all, the maze isn't all that big. Only an idiot would actually get stuck in there for a long period of time.

Shiromi usually walked by the hedge maze without thinking much of it, but today she spotted something odd in her peripheral vision. She stopped and looked closer and realized what she saw was not a small animal like a rabbit or a squirrel, but a pair of shoes.

Confused, she walked closer, expecting to see a couple of the students hanging out at the entrance of the maze. Oh, if only that was what she saw.

She turned the corner and frighteningly gasped at the sight. Laying face down, in her own blood, was Musume Ronshaku, deader than a doorknob. "Oh no..." the girl whispered, before turning on her heel and racing to the teacher's lounge.

When she got there, she was almost out of breath. "There... is... a dead... body... at the... hedge maze..."

One of the teachers shot up when she heard this, looking alarmed. "Lead me to it!" she demanded.

Blissfully unaware of the horror that was happening at their school right now, Taro and Budo were sitting and cuddling behind the pool. Budo was staring off into space, thinking, as he rested his head against Taro's, who was resting his head on his shoulder. Their hands were linked together; Budo often rubbed his thumb against Taro's hand in a circular motion.

"Taro?"

"Yes?"

Budo looked over at his boyfriend, who peacefully had his eyes closed, resting them. He rubbed his nape with his free hand. "This is probably too early to ask, but... do you want to have kids?"

Taro lifted his head to look at Budo, his eyes looking a little panicked. "Later you mean, right?"

Budo held back a chuckle. Taro looked so adorable with his eyes looking like that. "Of course. But I just want to know if... you're willing to have my children one day..." It was a dream of his to have kids with his one true love, but he realized that basically forcing Taro to bear and raise his children would be considered overstepping boundaries.