(PROFESSOR UZUMAKI) IS THIS WHAT THE KIDS CALL RIZZ?

Tammi hated her new assignment.

Her hatred was not the vague, half-hearted way she hated most things Kaiser made her do, but the deep, personal, soul-level way that made her want to phase through a wall and never come back. Winslow High was a dump, everyone knew that. Even the Empire kids who went there joked about it, and they were not exactly known for their sense of humor.

She had transferred from Arcadia for this.

Arcadia, with its clean halls, functional lockers, and students who did not treat the floor like their fucking trash can.

All because of Naruto Uzumaki.

Stupid Naruto. Stupid chakra bullshit.

She still did not even fully get what the fuss was about. Yes, fine, chakra was real, apparently, and yes, people were suddenly punching through concrete and running up walls and doing all sorts of cartoony nonsense. Great. Fantastic. Life-changing revelation. That did not mean she wanted to spend her afternoons trying to befriend some random teenager who happened to be one of Naruto’s precious little students.

She had better things to do with her time.

Like eating.

And sleeping.

Ideally both, in that order.

Instead, she was walking through the halls of Winslow High School, trying not to breathe too deeply and actively questioning every life decision that had led her here. The walls were graffitied, the lockers dented and plastered with old stickers, and the general atmosphere felt less like a school and more like a holding pen for future criminals.

This place sucked ass.

She had barely made it five minutes inside when her foot slid forward unexpectedly, her balance shifting just enough that she windmilled her arms and let out an annoyed shout.

“Arrgh, what the hell—”

She caught herself before she fell, heart pounding more from indignation than fear, and immediately looked down at the sole of her shoe.

She regretted it instantly.

The substance clinging to it was dark, sticky, and absolutely not something that should exist in a public building. It smelled faintly metallic and rotten, like something had died and then ignored and left to decompose.

Tammi gagged.

“What the actual fuck,” she muttered, lifting her foot away from her like it might try to infect her.

“Yeah, that happens on a weekly basis here.”

The voice came from her right, close enough that she flinched and turned on instinct, the image of whatever was on her shoe forcibly erased from her mind as a matter of self-preservation.

The guy standing there looked… average. Annoyingly so.

Blond hair, blue eyes, and a build that suggested he had started working out recently, the kind of fit that still had traces of baby fat in places. There was a slight awkwardness to the way he stood, like he was not entirely sure what to do with his hands, but he was smiling at her with a friendly expression. And honestly, he did not seem like much of a threat.

She could take him if need be.

“It’s way better than it used to be, though,” he added, nodding down the hallway. “Trust me.”

Tammi narrowed her eyes slightly.

Who was this supposed to be? The hall monitor or something?

Apparently, curiosity was written all over her face, because his smile widened.

“Well, the name’s Greg Veder,” he said, sticking out a hand casually in the middle of the grimy hallway. And unlike what she expected, no one tried to shove past him. Even the bigger kids gave him a wide berth, their expressions wary. “Short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it.”

She stared at his hand for a second before looking back up at his face.

Greg Veder.

Oh.

Right.

That name actually rang a bell.

Kaiser had mentioned him. Or Hookwolf had. Or maybe it was Purity. Someone had, at least. A former friend of a friend’s kid, connected to Naruto somehow. One of the easier possible points of contact, supposedly. A way in.

This was him?

Tammi slowly lowered her foot, still refusing to acknowledge what was on it, and looked Greg over again with new interest.

Blond. Fit. Slightly awkward. Naruto’s student.

Well.

Okay.

Maybe Winslow was not quite as bad as she had initially thought.