One Year Later

11 | Animal Assembly

The gymnasium was surprisingly quiet. With the amount of pens and cages set up around the room, Kiyotaka would have expected a great deal of noise, but Gundham was nothing if not a master of his craft. In his presence, most animals behaved themselves.

"Behold!" He threw out both of his arms to gesture at the many creatures. The now-fatigued shelter employees that had helped him with the transport gave him weary looks. "An army of demonic beasts, fit for a king of hell!"

"Regular students will do, Tanaka-san. Still, thank you for all the help." Kiyotaka moved one of his hands in a placating manner, as if to apologize to the employees for Gundham's eccentricities.

"Koizumi-chan? What brings you here?" Asahina asked. Kiyotaka had only just then noticed her, nearly hiding behind the cages.

"I wanted to tag along. So I could get some surprise shots."

"Surprise...?"

"You have not forgotten the second chapter of the oath, have you, fiend?" Gundham asked accusingly, jabbing a finger into Kiyotaka's chest. "These beasts are nothing without their masters. Their full power can only be unlocked by the appropriate sorcerer."

"The... oh, yes! The delivery! Of course I didn't forget, I-I was only... Well. A bit distracted with getting ready for my anniversary."

"Delivery?" Asahina poked her head around the pen she'd been looking into. "What delivery?"

"What do you think?!" Mahiru scolded. "Did you just assume all these animals would find their ways to their new owners by themselves, or what?"

"We shall need as many hands as possible to make quick work of the task," Gundham said. "The headmaster was kind enough to gift me with the records of the seals." I have the list of which animals are supposed to go to which students and could use help delivering them, he meant.

"Why do WE have to help with deliveries?! We're supposed to be going someplace!" Asahina protested. Kiyotaka didn't mind the delay, as he'd known this would be a part of it, but that was before he'd known what the girls had been up to all this time. Kirigiri managed to calm Asahina before long and lowered her voice to speak to her directly.

"Now, now, Asahina-chan— it's likely that the others are still preparing everything, isn't it? Besides, don't you want to see the way that some of the others react to receiving their new pets?"

Asahina paused, arms crossed, to contemplate that.

"Hmm... I guess I have to admit that I'm curious. Taka-kun has been so tight-lipped about this whole thing!"

"I had to be," Kiyotaka insisted. "I couldn't jeopardize the project by blabbering about it to anyone who would listen!"

"You know that he takes his work quite seriously," Sakura reminded her. "In any case, this task shouldn't take long. Lifting the cages should not pose much trouble for me."

"Of course not," Kiyotaka said. Sakura could easily lift... well. Most things, probably.

With that decided, Kiyotaka was handed the clipboard and the pen he would need to lead and finalize their mission. He divided the building into sectors and concluded that they'd have to make multiple trips. Then, he stood at the front of an impromptu troop. Sakura was able to carry just about all of the crates and leashes and supplies and things while Gundham, Asahina, and Kirigiri grabbed the crates containing the animals themselves. Mahiru trailed behind everyone else with her camera. She did, at least, have the courtesy to hold the special box for Mondo's present so that it wouldn't get crushed.

Kiyotaka knocked politely on the first door. Celestia Ludenberg, already fully dressed in her vampiric garb, was quick to answer.

"You have my dear kitty? Oh, at last!"