Editing BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 2 (section)

===Part 3===

"The world is so unfair," Naoto murmured, sitting cross-legged on the living room floor, his gaze fixed downward. He was savoring the cruelty of the world.
On the other side of the low table, Raquel was sitting on the sofa. She looked quite subdued. Wrapped in a bath towel as a makeshift cover by Haruka, she was sitting shallowly in a slightly better state than before—though it was only a slight improvement.

In front of Naoto, there was Haruka. She was sitting upright, with her back straight, her hands folded on her knees, looking at Naoto with a fixed smile that was almost too cheerful. Her temples twitched, and her gaze was cold and accusatory.

"Okay. Then please explain." Naoto's stomach twisted at the calm, judge-like voice. Although he hadn't been asked, he felt compelled to respond and lifted his face cautiously. Haruka's accusatory gaze pierced his chest. He wanted to protest his innocence, but the undeniable fact that he had pushed the defenseless girl down on the sofa and laughed, "Hahaha," made it all the more awkward to voice any defense.

"Um... well, her name is Raquel Alucard..." His tongue stumbled as he struggled to explain, and his gaze faltered. He wasn't feeling guilty, but it felt as though he were sitting on a bed of needles. At that moment, Raquel moved. Until then, she had been silently sitting like a statue, but suddenly she stood up and went to Haruka's side.

"Hayami Haruka."

"Huh?"

"Hey, Raquel, stop it now..." 

Naoto tried to stop her from saying anything more, but Raquel turned and faced Haruka, her voice sharp as she ordered, "Look me in the eye." At her words, Haruka's body jumped, her eyes widening and her mouth slightly open. She stared at Raquel as if mesmerized, unable to look away. Returning the gaze, Raquel looked straight at Haruka and began to explain calmly, "I'm Raquel Alucard. As you know, I'm Naoto Kurogane's cousin."

"What?!" Naoto exclaimed, taken aback. But Raquel ignored him and continued.

"Actually, I had to come to Japan on short notice, but I couldn't arrange for a place to stay in time. So, for a while, I'll be staying at Naoto's house. But on the way here, I had an accident and lost all my belongings."

As Raquel smoothly delivered her "introduction," Naoto was left speechless. How could she come up with such a convenient lie on the spot? He was both impressed and exasperated.
Of course, Raquel was not Naoto's cousin. In fact, the real cousin was Haruka, the one Raquel was now speaking about, and Haruka knew that Naoto didn't have a cousin like Raquel. Besides, even if she had lost her belongings in an accident, she should still have the clothes she was wearing, so there was no reason for her to be wandering around naked.

(Does she really think she can convince her with such a ridiculous story? Even Haruka is going to snap!)

The 'sharp knife' that Haruka had been clutching until a moment ago, now resting on the low table, might be swung. Naoto cringed, waiting anxiously for what would happen next.
But then, he heard words that were almost too good to be true.

"Oh... I see. You must have had a hard time, Raquel!" 

"Y-yeah!"  Naoto's voice cracked, higher than he thought it could go, as he repeated the word. His face contorted.

Haruka stood up, took Raquel's hands in hers, and, surprisingly, her eyes welled up with sympathy. Nodding repeatedly, she spoke to Raquel as if she were a younger child. "But you should have told me. You should have told me about your clothes sooner. Just wait a minute, I'll go get you something to change into right away." With a small nod of determination, Haruka quickly left Naoto's room. It didn't feel like she waited long at all. Hurried footsteps returned almost immediately, and she burst into the living room as if it were her own home. 

"Raquel, come over here. Naoto, let me borrow your room!"

"Hey, wait!" Before he could finish, Haruka grabbed Raquel's hand and practically dragged her into Naoto's room. Even though he knew it was pointless, Naoto couldn't help but call out, but his voice was naturally ignored, and he was left alone. Why did she have to use his bedroom as a dressing room? She could have used the bathroom, or he could have stayed in the bedroom while Haruka and Raquel were in the living room.

Despite his many complaints, he didn't have the courage or energy to go to his room and protest to the two girls through the door.
He sighed loudly and reached for a teacup, as if to do some cleaning. As he reached for the 'very sharp knife', his hand slipped.

"Ouch..." He had accidentally grazed his finger on the blade, cutting the tip of his little finger. The smooth feel of the blade sliding against his skin sent chills down his spine.
But what happened next made his hair stand on end.

The cut, which had been bleeding, seemed to rewind, as if in a slow-motion video, and closed up.

Unable to understand what had happened, Naoto put down the cup and touched the tip of his finger, where he had just cut himself. There was no wound. He could only feel the smooth texture of his skin. It was as if the fact that he had cut himself had been erased.

That’s when he realized. It was his right hand.

Memories of the night before flooded back - the abandoned apartment building, the strange man in a suit, and the sensation of tearing off the man's extra arm.

"It can't be..." he muttered unconsciously. He touched his arm over and over, trying to confirm its shape and feel. No matter how he touched it, his arm felt like his own. But then, on a whim, he pressed his thumb against his wrist and his body stiffened.

(No pulse...)

Normally, when he pressed his finger there, he could feel the blood pulsing with my heartbeat, but he felt nothing. Panicking, he pressed his hand to his chest. Holding his breath, he searched, and he could faintly feel his heartbeat in the palm of his hand. He tried taking his left wrist's pulse. It was there. Perfectly normal.

(Only the right hand...)

It looked exactly like a normal arm, but somehow, this part was different from the rest of me. Even though he could feel sensations, he suddenly felt like he had a prosthetic arm. He couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't his own arm, and a vague sense of unease settled in his chest.

That's when it happened. The door opened, and it sounded so sudden, at least to Naoto. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong, I instinctively looked up. There, in my line of sight, was a cheerful Haruka, with Raquel being pulled along by her arm.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Naoto!"

"O-Oh..." He shifted his gaze from Haruka's cheerful voice to Raquel behind her. Naoto flinched slightly.

Raquel, who had resisted getting dressed after being pushed onto the sofa by Naoto, was now properly clothed. She was wearing a white blouse and a black mini-skirt. A red tie at her chest was a nice accent. Was it because of her pale skin? Or was it because of her striking blonde hair? Somehow, from the bottom of his heart…

"It suits you," He thought.

Suddenly, Raquel, who had been looking down awkwardly, tilted her chin up and glared at him intensely. Confused, he tilted my head. he didn’t understand why she was glaring at him.

"I'm glad we found something that suits Raquel-chan!" It seemed that Haruka had brought a few options, as she placed another bag with more clothes next to the sofa. It seemed that she had completely forgotten about her anger earlier. That was convenient. Naoto decided not to say anything more and stir up trouble.

"I didn't know you had clothes like that," Naoto said admiringly, looking at Raquel. Both the blouse and skirt had a casual design, but on Raquel, they exuded a certain elegance, almost like a dress. However, it seemed different from the clothes Haruka usually wore, reflecting different tastes. Haruka shrugged and laughed.

"Actually, these are my mom's style."

"Yuki-san's!? Seriously?!"

"Surprising, right?" Naoto could only nod at Haruka's words. Yuki was a straightforward and bold person. Mini-skirts didn't seem like her style…

"Well, shall we go out then?" Haruka clapped her hands once and looked at Naoto and Raquel in turn.

"Go out? Where?" Naoto tilted his head, confused. He hadn't heard anything about going out. Haruka looked at him as if wondering why he didn't understand.

"What, you didn't hear? Raquel-chan has to go to the city hall to submit some paperwork. And Nao-kun is going along as her guarantor."

"Oh, really...?" This was the first he'd heard of it. And what was a guarantor anyway? There were so many things he wanted to question, but he kind of understood Raquel's intention. She was probably trying to create a situation where they could be alone.

It was annoying to be manipulated by her, but it couldn't be helped. If Haruka was around, they wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation.

"Oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot." His voice might have been a little too flat, but fortunately, Haruka didn't seem to question it. Instead, she pointed to herself with concern.

"Should I come with you?"

"No, it’s fine. I’ll just give her a quick tour while we’re at it." Since she was pretending to be a newly arrived relative, this was a good excuse. It felt really uncomfortable lying to Haruka like this, especially since he had to keep making up stories, but there was hardly anything he could be honest about.

After tidying up the living room table, Naoto went back to his room to grab his wallet. He confirmed that Haruka wasn't following him and dragged out the tattered uniform he had hidden under the bed. He had hidden it reflexively, thinking that he couldn't let anyone find it. He wanted to pat himself on the back for his foresight. For now, he just needed to extract the information he wanted from Raquel, and then he’d have to get rid of this.

He felt a bit depressed thinking about having to buy a new uniform. Naoto pushed the uniform further back under the bed.