But not on his own.

The second the door closed Mason pulled his phone out of his pocket. The signal in the storage room was quite crappy. But he didn’t think that would matter for what he wanted to do. He opened Luxuria, barely paying attention to his new updates.

Barbara Rosso offered to escort you off campus! What a gentlewoman! You earned 75 silver for Barbara Rosso!

Whoopsie daisy! Barbara Rosso tripped and pulled you (and your pants) down with her! You got a nice whiff of pussy! And She got a wonderful face full of cock! You earned 500 silver for Barbara Rosso and 250 gold for yourself!

The towering teen clicked the speech bubble in the bottom right corner and furiously typed.

Mason: Was that you?

Lilith: Was what me?

Mason: Seriously, someone could have been hurt!

Lilith: Jeez, you’re such a worrywart… If you keep that up you’ll end up with wrinkles by twenty-five. But no it wasn’t me.

Mason: Really?

Lilith: The whole point of this little experiment was to sit back and let the perversions happen on their own. If it’s not in the app, it’s not me. Well, I made sure your phone didn’t break. But other than that this one was all Lady Luck!

Mason: An actual entity named Lady Luck? Or just the expression Lady Luck?

Lilith: Probably the second one? I forget whether or not she’s real in your world. I’ll look into that! Maybe we can make this a ménage a trois!

Mason sighed heavily. That was the last thing he needed, another powerful entity meddling in his life. He locked his phone and tucked it back into his pocket. He leaned back and took a deep breath. If there was an upside to accidentally sexually assaulting one of the most dangerous individuals he had ever personally known, it was that the stress was quite the boner killer. Despite the app working against him, he quickly went flaccid.

Once he was presentable Mason grabbed his hoodie and his backpack. But as he did the dorky teen couldn’t help but notice the muscular woman’s blazer hanging on the corner of a shelf. With a heavy heart, he grabbed it. He had hoped to give the ex-soldier a chance to figure out how she felt about what happened. Maybe give his Oh, You Rapscallion trait the chance to work its literal magic. But he couldn’t just leave her jacket there. The teen would have to drop it off at her office.

But when he opened the door, Mason was surprised to see Ms. Rosso was still there, leaning against the wall with her hand in her pocket. But as usual, she locked eyes on him before he noticed her. With easy, long strides she walked up to him, and without really thinking he held up her jacket.

“Thanks,” She said. The veteran caught him off guard when she didn’t take it from him. Instead, she slipped her arm into the unrolled sleeve. Mason quickly realized why she had done that, and that he hadn’t really made it easy for her. Feeling a little guilt prickling in his guts, Mason grabbed the right side of her blazer and draped it over her shoulder. Though as he did it he wondered if that wasn’t a little presumptuous.

Once it was in place, Ms. Rosso straightened out the lapels and looked back at her student over her shoulder. Her handsome face was the stony mask as always, Mason had the distinct impression he was being evaluated. He really hoped she saw him in a favorable light.

“Thanks again,” Ms. Rosso said. “Where are you meeting your friends?”

“Oh,” Mason said as he remembered her offer. But he wasn’t sure that was the best idea anymore. “It’s okay you don’t… have… to…”

Mason trailed off. While his vice-principal didn’t change her expression, it was clear she wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

“They're in the library,” He admitted.

“Let’s go,” Ms. Rosso said. She turned on her heel and led him out of the gym.

When the two reached the hallway, Mason dropped his busted belt into a nearby trash can. As he did the bespectacled nerd noticed an ache in his left forearm. It turned out the muscular woman had quite the grip. He could feel some bruises forming beneath his sleeve.

He fell in beside the brawny administrator. The two walked together in silence. The teen wondered just how mad the brunette next to him was. She was as stoic as always, but not in the same way as earlier in the day. He didn’t feel the indignation in the air like before. But even a saint had limits, so the nerd decided to act preemptively.

“Sorry we didn’t get everything done,” Mason muttered.

“It’s alright. I’ll finish up later,” Ms. Rosso said in an offhand way.

Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. Or maybe he was just hopeless when it came to reading the former soldier. But whatever the case he tried again.

“I’m sorry about the other thing too,” He said quietly.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” The tall woman stated calmly. Was she trying to reassure him? “But you should be wearing underwear.”

“Sorry,” Mason apologized. “Viv stole all my boxers this morning.”

Ms. Rosso looked over at him. For a moment confusion flashed across her lightly scarred face, but as quick as it came it disappeared.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” The retired captain asked. Mason felt a little confused as to why she would expect him to tell her that. Until he remembered that his vice principal had told him to let her know if his sister messed with him again. Still, she should have realized why the tall teen wasn’t keen on telling her stuff like that.

“I didn’t think it would come up,” Mason said awkwardly.

“I don’t want you getting in trouble for something that isn’t your fault,” Ms. Rosso explained firmly.

Mason was about to answer when he heard the click click click of a pair of high heels around the corner. Ms. Rosso heard it too. Even though her expression remained unchanged a switch seemed to flip for the veteran. An intensity permeated her form as they rounded the corner.

It could have been any female member of the staff wearing those heels. Or any student with a taste for feminine taste in footwear. But of course, it had to be Priscilla Skinner walking towards them. As the blond had suspected, the black-haired was clearly in an especially foul mood. Her beautiful face was twisted into a scowl. And when she spotted her gigantic student, her purple eyes turned positively venomous.

Mason readied himself for the tempest that was about to be unleashed. But before it could come Ms. Rosso took a few faster steps ending up a pace ahead of the tall teen.

The two women locked eyes, staring each other down. A chill swept down the hallway. As the two approached each other the rest of the world seemed to fall away. Mason could almost hear the dramatic boss battle start to play.

“Ms. Rosso,” Priscilla said politely.

“Mrs. Skinner,” Barbara said back calmly.

As they walked past each other, the former soldier slowed her pace until she was once again walking next to Mason. Once they were out of earshot he looked at the utterly unperturbed brunette next to him and spoke.

“Thank you,” He said earnestly. He shuddered to think what would have happened without his one-armed guardian present.

Ms. Rosso gave him a nod. The tall teen felt an odd sense of camaraderie with her. It was comforting. After all the craziness she still liked him enough to stand up for him. But they didn’t have much more time together.

Before too much longer the two reached the library. Mason spotted Yumi and Vina sitting together and working on their homework. Ms. Rosso looked at them and then at him.

“Have a good afternoon Ms. Rosso,” Mason said.

“You too,” She said. Before walking away without another word.