In the end, Arata never actually slept. After sending Katsumi off, the oni, refreshed from a meal that was tasty if not filling, returned to the Tower. He could hear the shenanigans happening within the Tower simply by closing his eyes and focusing, and he was disappointed with it. Sure, he had seen it coming, but that didn’t mean it was any less sad to know of. The bat-girl had a man over and was most likely planning on fornicating with him later on into the night, like the stereotypical rule-by-sex King that she clearly was.

He looked upwards at the incandescent light that spilled from the windows, before turning away. The tools were all present, and Arata didn’t look forward to spending his night staring up at the sky with only his thoughts as company. So, all things considered, he might as well get to work patching up the holes.

…

This was harder than expected. The stone-glue couldn’t be applied too thickly or too thinly, and it was a job that required precision and patience. Arata could do the former, but the latter? After a few too many mishaps while walking along the side of the tower, he finally got into the rhythm of things, right as the day broke, the sun rising once more. Squinting from the scenery he could see from halfway up the tower, Arata spared a small smile. The world may be full of disgusting cretins, imposters, and honorless dogs, but at least Amaterasu’s glory was as brilliant as ever. With that, he placed the first stone brick, the first of many that will fill up the holes within the Tower.

The birds sang, the clouds drifted, and the coldness of the night was chased away by daylight warmth, until a shadow descended upon Arata, passing down moments later. Looking down at the sight of Sorcha alongside another, unfamiliar male, he felt a sudden burst of hatred, a flame that licked at coals once more. The queen bitch of the dogs must have had a nice night, huh? The boy was young and weak, and Arata spat to the side, a foul cloud descending over his features once more. The bat-girl was literally a cradle-snatcher now, huh, looking for lackey-servants instead of comrades who could fight alongside her.

Disgusting, filthy slut.

The brick in his hand crumbled to dust, and he pulled out another one from the box he tied around his waist. Regardless of whoever the fuck she was fucking, there were other things for him to pay attention to. Like the holes that he had patch up, and work that had to be done before then.

He turned away from the spectacle that laid below him, and got back to work, clearing his head of unnecessary thoughts.
[hr]
Sometime later, the foreman arrived, and, after being called off the Tower, Arata leapt off, landing in front of the man. The man was middle-aged, a more modern, simple person that the colorful individuals that populated the Academy, and was also many times weaker, but the oni could tolerate that. After all, unlike those training to become the warriors of the nation, this man was a working man, one who had a job, had his own, ordinary happiness, and had no place on the battlefield. The raven-haired man was a creator, and Arata had a certain amount of respect for that.

[i]“So, Arata, didn’t recall asking for you to pull a graveyard shift,”[/i] the man said, whistling at the work that had already been completed on the tower.

The oni shrugged. [b]“Don’t really need to sleep, and I didn’t want to think too much.”[/b]

He smiled, looking up at the tower. [i]“Girl problems?”[/i]

[b]“Yeah, fucking disgusting shit just left with another man.”[/b]

[i]“Oh wow,”[/i] the foreman remarked, [i]“Watch your language, kiddo. And no need to get so jealous. There’s always others.”[/i]

[b]“But there aren't others! She’s the first I found, and now she’s just dilly-dallying with these fodder? Couldn’t even have a proper engagement with her the first time I saw her.”[/b]

[i]“Arata, my boy, relationships take time. You need to understand this, alright?”[/i]

The oni’s hands flipped upwards in frustration. [b]“But time wasn’t even made! How do I eve-”[/b]

[i]“Shush, shush, enough about that.”[/i] The man turned back to the construction material stacked up around the tower, before saying, [i]“Anyways, you wanted to build a storage shed, right? What were the details again?”[/i]

Changing the subject? Fine, whatever. [b]“Three stories high, made of stone, and large enough for each floor to have all the basic necessities that modern-day whelps require to live comfortably.”[/b]

[i]“Pretty big for a storage shed.”[/i]

[b]“There’s lots of tools here.”[/b]

[i]“Well, alright. You’ve already patched up the holes, so just give me half a day to draw up the blueprint. You’re fine with working around the clock then, right?”[/i]

Arata grinned, flexing his bicep. [b]“I’m Arata, the sole survivor of the Night Parade. My strength is divine and my stamina is legendary. Of course I’ll be able to.”[/b]

The foreman scratched his scruffy face, wondering why he always got the chuuni ones, before laughing. [i]“Alright then, my boy! I always liked the can-do attitude that youngsters have. Head to the library, go look up those architecture designs, and tell me if you want anything super fancy, yeah?”[/i]

[b]“Got it…but where’s the library?”[/b]

[i]“Fuck if I know. Never went to this magical academy. I was more of a trade school person myself.”[/i]

[b]“Alright, I’ll see you in the afternoon then.”[/b]

[i]“Yeah, be teaching you proper techniques then as well, so eat a big meal!”[/i]

Arata jumped off, heading towards wherever the library was. Should be fairly obvious. He just needed to follow the smell of musky books to a large-sized building. A crater was left in his dynamic, and the foreman scratched his head. His crewmen were going to come in half an hour later, and he supposed that he could do some real work for once. With that, the man began to patch up that hole in the ground.
[hr]
From the sky, Arata dropped dramatically from sky, a dust cloud rising from his impact as he landed before the building that smelled of books. Cracking his neck and shaking the dust off his pants, the barefooted ogre breathed in deeply, and shouted out, [b]“THIS IS THE LIBRARY, RIGHT?!”[/b]