Tokyo Ravens - Volume 4 - Chapter 3.5

Short - Chicks In The Nest Prologue 
Touji later explained his reason for assigning Harutora to deal with Suzuka at the start - the so-called 'repairing the house before the rain' [7] . He had prepared in advance for fear that the truth would be exposed. 
"I said it many times, right? There's only one crucial factor to the problem this time, which is whether Dairenji remembers Natsume's appearance or not. If she doesn't remember...... We just need to reduce the opportunities where the two of them meet as much as possible, and then dressing like a male as always won't be a problem. But, if she remembers Natsume's appearance, the male facade will be exposed sooner or later and there's nothing we can do about it. In that case, the important action this time is what safeguards we take 'after the exposure'." 
At the time, Suzuka had already clearly expressed interest in Natsume. With that, stopping Suzuka and Natsume from coming in contact would be incredibly difficult. Even if they stalled for time, it would just be delaying the inevitable. 
The main family's 'tradition' - the Tsuchimikado family successor had to act as a male towards outsiders. Bound by the rules of this 'tradition', Natsume was disguised as a male and had entered the Onmyou Academy to study with a male identity. But, there were people like Touji who had long since known inside information, exceptions who broke the 'tradition'. Even if the tradition was clearly defined, actually strictly complying with it in real life indeed had its difficulties. 
Hence, if things became helplessly exposed, it was important to ensure that this fact wouldn't be spread around arbitrarily. In other words, they had to make perfect precautions beforehand to prevent Suzuka from spreading this matter. 
"In the end, it's hard to say if this is a success or not." 
After noticing Natsume's true identity, Suzuka indeed had not spread the truth, but Harutora believed that this outcome didn't count as a success and was simply a downright disaster instead. After grasping Harutora and Natsume's weak point, Suzuka had revealed her nature, not just an arrogant attitude, and had completely turned Harutora and the others into her own servants. 
One week had passed quickly after Natsume's true identity had been exposed. Simply put, this week had been a living hell. 
After school let out that day, Suzuka had called out Harutora and Natsume like usual. She had asked them where they usually met, and after moving to the emergency stairwell where Harutora and others had often gathered before, she instructed the two to kneel in the stairwell side by side, while she had sat on the stairs, looking down on the two 'senpai' to her heart's content. 
"You should know your own positions, right?" She proudly declared. Harutora and Natsume's faces shuddered when they heard that. 
It was truly a nightmare. They had been stunned to meet Suzuka again, but who would have expected that this reencounter would bring about such a tragic situation. 
Kon's regretful moans were faintly audible, and Harutora could only warn her to suppress her temper as much as possible. He was grateful inside for his shikigami's feelings, but he didn't want to make things even more convoluted. That was the situation he wanted to see the least right now. 
"Alright, what should we do today." Suzuka looked down at them with a cold gaze, asking leisurely. "Darling, do you know about any interesting topics?" 
Since the matter had been exposed, 'Darling' had become Harutora's nickname. Harutora thought that this was to annoy him - he didn't notice that it was actually to make Natsume mad. 
"Uh......" After worrying for a long time, he said: "There's nothing interesting." 
"You useless person! Darling, you're really no use at all!" 
First an unreasonable demand, then becoming angry after hearing the answer. This person's personality was really incredibly bad. 
Why exactly had things ended up like this? Harutora felt unusually nostalgic about looking up at the cherry blossoms, full of confidence and expectation, while walking on the road to the academy one week ago. He was almost unable to return from his thinking. 
"And Natsume-chi? Do you have any interesting topics?" 
"......No." 

"What the hell, there's no saving you, useless Tsuchimikado family." 
"............" 
Natsume couldn't exert herself even if she was remorseful, her shoulders drooping listlessly. 
"Ahh, damn." Harutora couldn't help but rise. "I can't take it! I really can't take it!" 
"H-Harutora-kun!" 
"What is it Darling, you're not afraid of what defying me will lead to?" 
"I don't care! I can't tolerate this any more! Who cares what will happen!" 
"......Hmph, impatient guy......" 
"H-Harutora-kun, no! Please calm down!" 
"I, I can't. Natsume, don't stop me. I'll take responsibility, but I won't be able to cool off until I hit her a few times!" 
"Calm down, I'm begging you!" 
Natsume pulled Harutora, and the impulse that had nowhere to be vented made Harutora's body inadvertently shake. 
Suzuka coolly watched his actions. Once she saw Natsume tightly holding on to Harutora, she frowned unconsciously to replace her original mocking smile. 
"......Ah, whatever, this is so annoying." She cursed impatiently. "Then...... Right, Darling, I remember that you were an outsider before transferring into the Onmyou Academy, right? Did anything interesting happen after transferring?" 
"I, Interesting?" 
"Right, there should be at least one or two interesting things." 
Suzuka raised her legs, propping her face on her palm and staring at Harutora and Natsume. The two of them looked at each other, thinking of the events that had happened in this past year. Then, their gazes crossed, quickly reaching a conclusion. 
"......There's nothing interesting." 
"Let me hear about it." 
"Didn't I just say? There's nothing interesting!" 
"It's alright, I just want to hear." Suzuka grinned like a cat playing with a mouse, as if she had seen through his thoughts. 
Exactly how much shame would he have to endure in the future? Harutora's heart sank and Natsume was completely despaired as they endured this incomparable humiliation. 
It was after school let out and the day's classes had already ended. No matter how ardently they hoped, the bell sounding the start of class would never ring to save the two from this hell.