“So that about sums it up.” I said as I looked at Grace and Olivia. They both wore concerned expressions. “Are you certain that neither of them will reveal your identity.” Olivia asked. I nodded, “Yes. I have everything under control.” Yea right. I was walking on pins and needles. Oliva lowered her head and said, “I apologize to the two of you. I was aware that Angelica had enrolled in the school but I had no idea she would be placed in the same class as you. I can have you moved to a separate class if need be.” As tempting as the offer was, it would be better if I stayed in the class I was in. “There’s no need. If anything, it’s better if I can stay close to them.” Grace puffed out her cheeks and frowned. “In order to keep an eye on them,” I corrected.

Olivia, frowning slightly said, “About that. Last night, the security officer for the girls dorm informed me that several girls had seen a boy entering. While I know you were only doing it in order to ensure nobody discovered your identity, If the reports continue, I’ll have no other option but to take action.” I sighed as I wondered what I should do. April seemed genuine about wanting to draw manga and Lia sincerely wanted to help her. While I certainly wasn’t a fan of blackmail, Lia seemed to have done it out of a warped sense of kindness and concern for her friend. “I won’t visit their dorm again, I’ll figure something out.” I promised

“I know how hard you’ve worked for this so don’t worry too much about your Identity. If it ends up getting revealed, we’ll still continue to support you.” Grace said. Her smile was just as comforting as her words. Olivia placed a hand on my shoulder and said, “You still have a match in two weeks so just keep your head up and hang in there. Your contract isn't dissolving, even if people find out your real identity. I left the impromptu meeting and headed back to class. The two of them had assured me that things would be fine if my identity got out there but I was less than certain. Judas was a misogynistic, racist, vile, asshole. The lowest of the low. I had no desire to share with the world that we were one in the same.

While many people might present the argument that you can simply separate the art from the artist. Judas was the only character I played and there was something utterly terrifying about that loss of anonymity. The last thing I needed was for people to come up to me in the streets and ask me to quote some horrendous line or take a picture of me stepping on them. (It happened at a fan meet several months back.) After returning to my dorm, I played a few games with Serenity.

She was quickly growing addicted, mostly for the hack and slash element. Her small body was nestled in my lap and I struggled to focus on the game as she writhed against my back whenever she became frustrated or excited. I felt like a wolf, gingerly holding a small lamb in its jaws, despite the fact that Serenity could probably kill me in several seconds. I still didn’t know what my relationship with the girl was. She was a female catkin bodyguard working undercover as a male student. In some regards, I looked at her like a little sister but in others, not so much. After beginning to confuse myself as my thoughts ran rampant, I decided to just ask her. “Hey serenity. What am I to you?” She cocked her head slightly and her ears twitched. “Chair,” she said as she settled her back against my chest.

___

The next day, I flagged down Lia and April after class in order to talk to them. “Hey, we need to talk about last night.” I said, April immediately bowed her head. “I’m sorry if I went too far. I was so excited to finally have a model that I lost sight of myself, please don’t hate me.” It seemed like her initial enthusiasm had worn off and the girl had reflected on her actions. “It’s fine. I still intend to help you.” I said as I shifted my gaze towards Lia. “It’s just that we can’t meet up in the girls dorm.” April’s eyes lit up. “Then your dorm.” I shook my head. Somehow, I feel like getting caught sneaking girls into the boys dorm would be even worse. “I’m afraid he’s right. I overlooked things yesterday because April was my friend but as the student council president, It was unbecoming of me to request that you visit our dorm” Lia chimed in.

“Exactly, that’s why we should make a club.” I told the two of them. “If we have a clubroom, than that would give us the perfect place to meet up and work on your manga. “I hate to say this but there already is a manga club.” Lia said. “Perfect, then we can just join that club right?” I posited. The expressions on the girls' faces however told me that things wouldn’t be so simple. “There is a manga club, however, there are quite a few members, most of whom are boys who use the clubroom to trade and look at dirty Manga,” Lia said. The slight blush on her face painted a pretty clear picture of how that meeting had gone down. “Lucky bast- I mean, damn perverts. Then I guess we'll just have to make our own club after all,” I told the two.

Lia frowned slightly saying, “The only problem is, you need four members to qualify for a club room and as the student council president, I can’t join a club in any official capacity” That certainly threw a wrench in my plans. “But there’s only two of us.” April said, disenhearted. “I can make Sam join our club, that brings us up to three” I said. “Make me?” A sudden voice behind me said nearly causing me to jump out of my skin. “I can beg Sam to join our club.” I corrected myself. “Ok but we still need one more.” April said. Lia offered a smile, “Then we can all split up and look for another potential member.”

We hung a flier on the school bulletin. It sported a drawing by April of Judas alongside the words, “Join the Manga Creation Club. I was pretty sure that was copyrighted but considering I was the face of the brand, I decided to allow it. Afterwards, the four of us began to ask around. One day passed. Then two, and three. I sat clutching my head in my first period class on Friday morning. We still hadn’t had a single person bite. Time was of the essence because there were a limited number of clubrooms available for use. Lia had also forgotten to mention that we would need a club advisor which set us back even further.

I left class wondering if it was all worth it. Maybe, if I apologized to Lia, she would drop the whole thing and still continue to keep my secret. She seemed reasonable enough. Speak of the devil, or rather the elf, the blond girl approached me after class. “I wanted to apologize to you, and thank you. I never meant to force you to go this far, but I just wanted to help my friend. She was my roommate when I first moved to earth, and started attending this academy. April has taught me so much about this world and introduced me to so many wonderful things. I only wanted to repay her by helping her achieve her dream of making a manga. If you want to - “ I placed my hand on her shoulder cutting her off. “There's no way I'm bailing now. I want to help you guys as well. After all, why would the great Judas stop a devoted fan from creating a tribute to himself.” She must have found the disconnect between my words and face funny because she began to laugh.

After school was over, I headed into the small town downhill from the academy. There were a number of small cafes and stores around. I quickly found what I was looking for and entered a large bookstore. I walked up and down the aisles but couldn’t find any students that suited my fancy. I walked down a few blocks and found a Manga shop. Once again, most of the students there were ones we had already asked and been turned down by. I kept searching until I found a corner bookstore that I had hardly noticed.

I went inside and quickly found the manga section in the very back. There was a girl crouching by a bookshelf reading a manga. The cover illustration of a handsome brown haired man holding a black haired girl in his arms gave the impression of a shojo manga. I wasn’t familiar with the genre but I had seen more than enough volumes in Lia and April’s room to recognize them.

The girl was wearing the freshman uniform and had long black hair that two thick and callus horns protruded form. It was hard to tell how tall she was because of her position but the size of her chest was apparent. She was absolutely stacked. I tried to ramp up the ole charm as I approached her and asked, “Do you want to join the Manga  Creation Club”