Editing BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===

A light brown dining table was set with a placemat embroidered with vegetables, and a colorful dinner was laid out on it.

Tonight's menu was hamburgers. An oval-shaped hamburger with a lightly browned crust was topped with homemade sauce, and it was served with warm vegetables like potatoes and carrots. In addition, there was corn cream soup in a soup mug, a small bowl of marinated mushrooms, and a Caesar salad in the center of the table, all of which were Western-style dishes. It was a menu that Haruka had prepared for Raquel, who had only recently come to Japan. Haruka usually cooked Japanese food, but even her occasional Western dishes were undeniably delicious. Impressed, Naoto sat down at the Sawaki household's dinner table and began eating with gusto.

It was a peaceful and warm moment, thanks to Haruka.

"Speaking of which, Haruka, weren't you a student council member?" As he stabbed his fork into the hamburger and cut it into bite-sized pieces, Naoto asked, remembering something. The hamburger, filled with sautéed onions, was soft and easy to cut. The meat juice that oozed out mixed with the sauce on the plate. 

Haruka, who had been drinking from her soup mug, nodded. "Yeah, why?" 

"What's Kirishima-senpai like?" 

"Eh!?" As soon as he asked, Haruka jumped in surprise. She almost spilled her soup and quickly put her hand over her mouth as she put the cup back on the table.

"Wh-what do you mean, what's she like? Why are you so surprised?" 

"Why are you so flustered? Did I say something wrong?" 

"N-no, not at all! It's just, I was a little surprised. You know, it's rare for you to be interested in a girl, Nao-kun..."

"Why are you raising your voice?"  And her eyes were darting around. Naoto scratched his head with the fork he was still holding, tilting his head.

"I just happened to meet her today. She's the vice president, right? But I didn't know her at all. I was just wondering what she was like."

"Oh, I see... um..." Having calmed down, Haruka looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment. "She's strict, but she's a good person. She's beautiful, and everyone looks up to her." Haruka must have been included in that 'everyone'. Her tone was soft, and there was a hint of pride in her voice.

"Hmm. A popular vice president. She's so accomplished." 

"But I don't think she's very interested in younger guys, is she? Yeah, I don't think so. Definitely not."

"Yeah?"

"Well... I'm not really interested in stuff like that anyway."

In fact, when it comes to a person’s kindness, preferences for older or younger people shouldn’t matter.

Haruka gave a nervous laugh, as if trying to avoid the subject, and placed her hamburger on top of the rice in her bowl.

Doing the same, Naoto opened his mouth again. "Do you know anything else about her?"

"She's from a wealthy family, she's academically excellent... I don't know much else besides what everyone already knows. I only talk to her about student council stuff, and she doesn't seem like the type to talk about her personal life."

"I see." Nodding in agreement, Naoto stuffed a mouthful of hamburger and rice. He thought it was quite like Kana to keep her private life to herself. He didn't know much about her personality, but based on her appearance, it seemed fitting. Just then, Raquel, who had been quietly eating while listening to their conversation, put down her fork and knife.

"Isn't she involved in magic?"

"Magic?" Haruka looked puzzled at the sharp question, and Naoto was startled.

(Wait a minute...)

He was about to retort, "Why are you asking so directly?", but he managed to swallow his words at the last moment. It would only make Raquel's question sound more meaningful.
Fortunately, Haruka came to his rescue.

"Magic, like tarot cards or black magic? Things like that?" 

"Y-yeah, exactly!" Tarot was a safe enough word. Naoto jumped on Haruka's remark. He silenced Raquel with a look and a brief gesture, trying to stop her from correcting him. Seeing their exchange, Haruka smiled amusedly.

"I don't know. I've never heard of it, but since Senior Kirishima has a bit of a mysterious air about her, she might be into tarot cards."

"Yeah, I think she could do fortune-telling." He tried to imagine it, and it was so fitting that it was almost creepy. Even if she couldn't actually do fortune-telling, if she looked at you with those piercing eyes and that appearance, she could probably make you believe any future she described.

(Well... in that sense, Raquel might be even better.)

Raquel was more mystical than mysterious. Her eyes, which felt like they were exposing everything, made you feel like she could predict the future rather than just tell it.
Naoto thought about how the weight of those words might be felt. Chewing on his salad, he glanced over at Raquel, who was holding her mug with both hands, trying hard to blow on its contents to cool it down.

(Not that it matters.)

At least while they were sitting at the table together, she was like an awkward kitten.

“Oh, by the way, I’ve heard something about Kirishima-senpai!” Haruka suddenly raised her hand to the level of her face, as if she were in class. Naoto nodded, encouraging her to continue. "There's this alleyway behind the station. Someone saw her going in there. And it's been happening a lot lately."

"An alleyway... you mean the one with that really old arcade?" 

"I'm not sure about the exact location of the game center. It's a bit dark and scary at night, and there are shady people hanging around. It's deep inside that alley. It's not a place where someone like Kirishima-senpai would go, is it?"

Naoto hummed in thought. From what Haruka had said, it was probably near the alleyway where he had been attacked by Valkenhayn.

"Thanks. That's helpful."

“Anytime.” Haruka shrugged slightly, sounding a little bitter. She didn't seem to think she had provided very useful information. But for Naoto, it was much more helpful than knowing her birthday or hobbies. Naoto glanced at Raquel. She seemed to have been listening to Haruka's information as well, and her golden eyes were serious as she nodded slightly. He needed to investigate as soon as possible.

"...What's wrong, Haruka? Did you get some sauce on you?" As he reached for his chopsticks to focus on his meal again, Naoto noticed that Haruka had put down her chopsticks and was fiddling with her hair. Snapped back to reality by Naoto’s comment, Haruka let go of her hair.

"No, it's just... I was wondering if you like girls with long black hair, Nao."

“What? Where did that come from?”

"It's not sudden at all... no, nothing. Don't mind me!" Laughing it off, Haruka picked up her chopsticks again and put a piece of marinated mushroom in her mouth. It was a side dish that went surprisingly well with rice, with a strong flavor of garlic and olive oil. 

While eating some of the mushrooms, Naoto glanced at Haruka’s hair. Her bright brown hair, not dyed but slightly wavy and soft, reminded him a lot of Yuki. In moments like this, he could feel the strong familial resemblance. 

(Long black hair, huh? Is she thinking of getting a hairstyle like Kirishima-senpai’s...?)

That kind of hair texture seems like it would be a strong point of admiration among girls. However, even imagining it, Haruka with a hairstyle like Kirishima-senpai’s just didn’t seem right.

“It’s fine as it is. I actually prefer the vibe you have now, Haruka. It’s more composed.”

“Really!?”

“Yeah.”

Haruka leaned forward, slapping both hands on the table, and Naoto nodded, slightly taken aback. Was it really such a surprise? He didn’t think there was anyone around Haruka, including himself, who thought she should change her hairstyle.

“Come on, eat up! You don’t want it to get cold! There’s a second helping of soup too!” With her cheeks completely relaxed in an overwhelmingly happy smile, Haruka encouraged Naoto and Raquel to eat. Naoto, a bit bewildered by her exuberance, decided to ask for a second helping of the soup. Her unusually high “Yes!” response made him tilt his head in confusion. What was going on?

Above Haruka’s head, the number “8” seemed to bounce up.



She walked through the dimly lit alley, making herself as small as possible, wary of the surrounding eyes. The time was approaching dinner, and the area was... The neighborhood, lined with old apartment buildings and office buildings, was completely shrouded in darkness, despite the fact that there was a residential area nearby. Several of the streetlights that should have illuminated the night path were left broken and unmaintained, far from their intended brightness.

Carrying a large Boston bag that seemed to hold something she wished to hide, she walked through the darkness and finally stopped in front of a single apartment building. It was an old, eerie-looking apartment building that blended into the surrounding darkness. Perhaps it would have looked a little better in the bright sunlight, but when looking up at night, the dirt caked on the exterior walls gave it a dirty impression, and its gloom seemed to weigh down on her.

None of the rooms were lit, making it look abandoned. But there was still a resident, and that resident was the reason she was here. With her lips tightly pursed, she entered the apartment building.

'She' was still a girl. She was wearing a red coat that was a bit early for the season, and with her hood pulled deep over her eyes, her body shape and facial features were not clearly visible, but she was still a high school student. The legs that extended from the hem of her coat were long and slender, and the fine texture of the skin visible around her knees suggested a well-proportioned figure. Glossy black hair peeked out from under her deep hood.

She climbed the stairs in her black loafers. The apartment building had an elevator, but she knew it was broken and unusable.

Slowly and carefully, she climbed the stairs, trying not to make a sound. She reached the fifth floor, the top floor of the apartment building. She stopped in front of one of the rooms and hugged the Boston bag she was carrying tightly. Only one room had a faint light coming from under the door. It was where the only resident lived.

The girl pressed the doorbell with a trembling hand. The broken, raspy sound was distorted and unpleasant, perfectly suited to the eerie apartment building. After a brief silence, a small sound of a key turning could be heard, followed by the creaking sound of a door opening.

A man greeted the girl. He was of medium height with a sturdy build, wearing a worn-out shirt and worn-out chino pants. He had a square-framed pair of black glasses on his sagging face. He did not have a friendly, gentle face. Rather, he had a stern expression that seemed to severely criticize others, but as soon as he saw the girl, he smiled wryly.

"You're late... Kana-kun."

"... Mr. Isa. I'm sorry, I was late because of the student council." The man who greeted her was Tadayuki Isa, a geophysics teacher at Shinkawahama First High School. The female high school student who had come was Kana Kirishima. Peeking out of the half-open door to check the outside, Isa stepped aside and motioned for Kana to enter.

"Come in."

Without resisting, Kana slipped into Isa's room. The room was a chaotic mess, and it didn't look like the room of a man who was supposed to be educating students. It was filled with a suffocating atmosphere of neglect. Standing there, waiting for the door to close, Kana, with her coat hood cautiously removed, presented a morally ambiguous contrast.

"I was surprised when you called me so suddenly..." Holding the Boston bag to her chest, Kana looked at Isa inquiringly. There was none of the sharp, intimidating look that she had when she stared at Naoto and Shinnosuke at school.

"You were the one who said I could come anytime, weren't you?" Isa turned around, his face slack with lasciviousness, and closed the door. The sound of the lock clicking shut echoed heavily. Kana bowed her head at Isa's words. Isa reached out and touched the shoulder of her red coat, leading her into the depths of the room. There was no hesitation in Isa, and no hesitation in Kana. The room had the smell of lazy familiarity.

"So, are you ready?" Isa's voice asked lecherously. Kana clenched the Boston bag she was holding, her fingers digging into it. She averted her gaze from Isa and lowered her chin gracefully.

"If I go buy it... someone might see me, and that would be a problem." Her voice was weak and thin, as if she were asking for permission. Her weakness only added to the perversity of Isa's voice.

"I can prepare it here, but... then the 'size' will be up to me. Is that okay with you?" With a knowing smirk, he taunted her, delighting in the humiliation that would follow. Kana bowed her head deeply. A hand with square nails ran along her shoulder like a snake. "Besides, isn't it you, Kana, who would quickly make it 'unusable'?"

His voice, smooth and seductive, sent shivers down her spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, but it was no use. His lips were almost touching her ear. "Now, about Hayami-kun..." A hand rested on her shoulder, but Kana quickly swatted it away. 

“P-Please don’t talk about Haruka right now!” With a sudden outburst that belied her previous meekness, Kana shook off the hand on her shoulder and pleaded accusingly. Her eyes immediately flinched. “Ah... I-I'm sorry, sensei. But I...”

"No, it was my fault. This was supposed to be our time together." Again, Isa placed both of his hands on Kana's shoulders, as if to confine and capture her in his grasp. "And it's not 'sensei'. You know how to address me when it’s just the two of us.”

“Y-yes.” Kana lowered her head, her expression glistening with suppressed shame. Her face, different from usual, seemed to entice the man. Isa’s hand slid down Kana’s shoulder, unbuttoning her jacket one by one. Once all of the buttons were undone, Kana took the coat off. She folded it and placed it in the corner of the room. While watching Kana turn back around, Isa reached for Ko’s clothes.

"Well then... let's begin." As Isa spoke in a husky voice, his words tainted by lust, a strange, insect-like sound seemed to writhe from deep within his throat.