Editing Leviathan:Volume 1 Chapter 4 (section)

===Part 3===

"That should be enough practice by now, shouldn't it? Haruga-kun, please read out your reflection statement for us."

"Uh, 'I am truly sorry for worrying everyone. I will refrain from this type of neglect henceforth, always remembering to report back, make contact and discuss with you at all times, to act with self-awareness as a teammate'..."

"Totally unacceptable. Lacking in both sincerity and ardor."

"This proves that you still don't understand your position. Oh, Haruomi, please don't relax your sitting posture without permission. You've been sitting formally in seiza for merely half an hour. How undisciplined."

Although he finally made it back home, Hal still did not have permission to enter the house.

He was forced into kneeling outside his own home&mdash;in seiza posture in front of the entrance&mdash;enduring scolding from both Orihime and Asya, then having to write a reflection statement and recite it.

According to the girls:

'If you were safe and sound, why didn't you inform us swiftly in detail!?'

After sending out the brief text to report his survival, Hal had switched off his cellphone and gone to sleep. He was in no mood to talk to anyone because too many things had happened.

This careless act had apparently offended the girls greatly.

Hal kept his head down while listening respectfully to the double serving of lecturing. He had no other recourse. In any case, he was constantly urged to reflect on his own behavior.

Soon after, seeing Hal acting obediently, Orihime sighed deeply.

"No matter what, I am very glad you're safe and sound, Haruga-kun. Also, I really must thank you."

"Huh?"

"Thank you for yesterday. The fact that I am standing here alive right now is partially thanks to Asya-san while the other half is thanks to you, Haruga-kun."

Orihime suddenly stopped lecturing and switched to expressing her gratitude. This unexpected attack instantly rendered Hal speechless. To be thanked so directly by someone&mdash;It felt very awkward.

Unable to come up with a good response, Hal could only scratch his head while pretending not to hear.

"I'll only say this here, but actually, I cried a bit once I found out you were safe and sound, Haruga-kun. I really was very worried, so please don't do something like this again, okay?"

Orihime's honest attitude surprised Hal.

It felt like she was giving him both the carrot and the stick with great finesse. At this moment, even Asya started talking frantically:
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"I-I'll only say this here as well, okay? Actually, once I found out you were safe and sound, Haruomi, I also cried on the bed until my pillow was completely drenched!"

"Who are you kidding, Asya? That's totally impossible for you."

"Why are you able to respond so calmly to me!?"

"We go way back. By this point, you're not going to cry over something like this, right..."

Hal answered like this precisely because he knew that his childhood friend possessed incomparable courage. However, Asya seemed inexplicably indignant while Orihime chuckled with a smile.

Hence, the atmosphere relaxed and Hal was finally allowed to enter the house.

After opening the front door to enter the western mansion that resembled a haunted house, Orihime was the first to frown and remark, "What a messy home you have, Haruga-kun."

"Really? I'm quite comfortable living here."

"After all, Haruomi is someone completely foreign to cleaning and tidying..."

"Just for the record, if that describes me, Asya is not much better either."

After entering the entrance hall, many stacks of cardboard boxes could be seen.

This included belongings Hal had sent back when returning home for the first time in three years, his late father's possessions and collections that he still had not organized, as well as various objects and articles that had accumulated from inhabitants of the Haruga household before his father.

All such articles were piled up everywhere in the house without any organization.

Hal made his way to the living room with Orihime and Asya following behind.

"By the way, Haruomi, how did you escape from that elite dragon called Soth?"

"I'd like to know too. Everyone says that survival is normally impossible."

Hal was suddenly confronted with two additional queries pointing straight to the heart of the matter.

Hal stepped past the mess of cardboard boxes that made the living room look like a storeroom while answering fluently. He had already prepared an explanation beforehand.

"Another dragon showed up after that. Those two dragons apparently rubbed each other the wrong way and started fighting among themselves. In the end, Soth got injured and fled while the other dragon... died. The giant pillar of fire happened during the battle."

Hal simply glossed over the details without revealing the entire truth.

He wanted to conduct an investigation and get more information out of Hinokagutsuchi first before telling others. Also, he did not know if anyone was going to believe him even if he came clean with the truth.

Asya was shocked after listening to Hal's convenient explanation.

"I can't believe something like that happened!?"

"I definitely wouldn't have survived if things weren't that fortunate."

Hal commented helplessly on purpose instead of belaboring the point.

"Indeed that's true..."

The childhood friend murmured, perhaps feeling convinced.

"But I'm really happy to hear that Soth is injured. That means he might have run off to other lands to wait for his wounds to heal."

Hal secretly recalled in fear: 'I swear I shall revisit again, to have you drawn and quartered!"

He remembered Soth's ominous declaration.

"Actually, Hiiragi-san just called me to make a request. As a precaution against the elite dragon that appeared yesterday, she hopes that I could stay inside the Mansion on standby."

"I heard that Hazumi is there too."

Orihime nodded. The trio sat down on the sofa for now.

The room was covered in dust and things were in an utter mess. Natural lighting was insufficient due to the tightly drawn curtains. Although it was nowhere near comfortable, at least the living room had a sofa to sit on.

"Hazumi?"

Hearing the name mentioned by Orihime for the first time, Hal could not help but tilt his head in puzzlement.

"She's my younger cousin and the only witch at New Town&mdash;or rather, the entire Kantou region. Minadzuki, who saved us last time, is her partner."

"To give rise to two witches from a single clan, your family line must be particularly blessed with this type of natural aptitude."

"I don't really know about that, but Hazumi has been working for the past two years, ever since she was twelve. But she's a very gentle person with frail health as well, so it seems like she's not quite suited for 'battle'..."

"Would she be very similar to you by any chance? I mean in terms of personality."

From Hal's perspective, Juujouji Orihime's temperament was not suitable for a witch.

Was her cousin one of the same mold? However, Orihime refuted Hal's speculation with a shake of her head.

"Completely unalike. Because she's an angel."

"...Huh?"

Hal could not help but question Orihime's strange description.

"I said angel. She is a girl with a personality as wonderful as an angel's. Kind, gentle and not calculating. Although she's a bit introverted, her smile is very dazzling. A very likable child."

"Oh."

"Any old man, no matter how eccentric or obstinate, would treat her tenderly like a beloved grandchild."

"Juujouji, what you've said is physically impossible. In our filthy realm of humans, the creature of fantasy known as 'an angel' does not exist."

Hal firmly raised his objections against Orihime's murmurings.

"The depths of that girl's heart must be seething with pitch-black and negative emotions like lava, waiting for a chance to explode. Heed my advice. It's not good for a girl to suffer during the prime of her teenage years by projecting her own bias onto others through delusional rose-tinted glasses."

"Let's see if you can still insist on your twisted logic after you actually meet her."

Confidently dismissing Hal's opinion, Orihime took out her cellphone.

"See, this is Hazumi's photo. Isn't she cute?"

"A-A pretty girl huh..."

Taking the cellphone to have a look, Asya murmured.

Displayed on the LCD screen was a young girl smiling demurely with delicate and proper-looking facial features. Her silky hair was shoulder length.

Her uniform was that of Kogetsu Academy's. Indeed, she was very cute.

And that was not all. There was a certain sense of transparency in her facial expression. That vigorous gaze was deeply memorable.

Hal could not help but feel attracted to her eyes. Hence he nodded vigorously and said, "Later, could you tell me what photo retouching software was used and who did the editing?"

"This photo was taken by my cellphone without going through any editing at all. My, you're really on guard, Haruga-kun... Anyway, she is a gentle girl and I don't want her to do too many dangerous things."

Orihime made a melancholic look as though worrying.

"After finding out I had the talent to be a witch, I was thinking I could finally reduce her burden&mdash;But the ritual ended up failing."

" "Ugh..." "

Hal and Asya groaned in unison. Seeing as this was a special exception where an elite dragon had shown up, it could not be helped even if the ritual failed.

But even so, it was still an experience that slightly wounded Hal and Asya's pride.

"By the way, Juujouji, let me return this to you."

Hal handed over the intact white copper mirror which Orihime received using a handkerchief before wrapping it up and putting it away in her bag.

"Thank you, Haruga-kun. By the way, can this be used again to perform a covenant ritual&mdash;to create my 'serpent' again?"

"It's basically possible... But I think it'll take some time."

Orihime asked with a solemn expression and Asya replied equally seriously.

"Because the ritual was interrupted, the leviathan's 'shadow' born for you, Orihime-san, was unable to materialize. Searching for that shadow which is wandering the present world in spiritual form and summoning it would require quite a troublesome ritual. It needs a lot of time and patience..."

"Then after that, you need to wait for an unknown number of months before the new 'serpent' can be born..."

Like his childhood friend, Hal's tone of voice had also become very gloomy.

The synthesis ritual for creating leviathans required the Grandmother Immortal&mdash;namely, the mysterious magic device kept dormant in the underground of Istanbul.

But it could only be used every one or two months, so waiting in a queue was necessary.

"...I understand. I will wait patiently."

Orihime sighed, perhaps feeling disheartened. However, she immediately looked up.

"Then let's shelve that matter for now and decide what we need to do today. Next, I'd like to give this home a thorough cleaning and tidying. May I? Haruga-kun."

"Why do you want to clean my house, Juujouji?"

"Although it might sound a bit much coming from myself, I am someone who loves cleanliness and I like to clean... It'd be a true shame to miss out on a home that needs cleaning as much as this."

Orihime swept her gaze around the Haruga residence's chaotic and messy living room with heartfelt emotion.

"Since there's a bit of time right now, I hope you'll indulge my cleaning obsession. May I?"

"We were just talking about how the ritual cannot be held immediately. How did things suddenly lead to cleaning?"

Also, in Hal's view, he did not find his home uncomfortable at all.

As a teenage boy who had no desire to live in a house resembling a model home, Hal felt that leaving things the way they were would be fine&mdash;But Orihime simply said, "Oh, it has nothing to do with the ritual. I just happen to be free today. Haruga-kun, could you tell me the time right now?"

"It's currently 10:28am."

Hal confirmed the time on his cellphone. Orihime smiled deliberately and nodded.

Only then did Hal realize that Asya was wearing a very short one-piece dress with black leggings. For some reason, she was also wearing a khaki military parka on top, which looked quite out of place.

However, Orihime was dressed in school uniform. It was clearly past the time for lessons to start...

"Umm..."

"I wanted to check on your situation before going to school this morning, Haruga-kun, so I picked a time to meet up with Asya-san. But you still had not returned home then, Haruga-kun, and your cellphone was off. Left without any choice, I decided to skip school to confirm your safety."

"..."

"Consequently, I am free for the entire day. It would be a bit strange to go to school at this hour, so allow me to occupy myself here. Thanks for having me."

As far as Hal could remember, Orihime seemed to have maintained perfect attendance with zero lates and absences.

In the absence of unexpected events, this perfect attendance would probably have persisted matter-of-factly until the end of the school year. However, the exalted Princess with her exemplary standards of conduct had decided to skip school on account of Haruga Haruomi...

Orihime had not said anything that resembled complaining.

However, Hal definitely felt like something was stuck in his throat&mdash;

"...Sure, thanks."

"Really? Wonderful. This kind of place, which could serve as a gathering venue, really makes me want to clean it up. May I bring stuff over in the future? Like tea or snacks for example."

"Uh, did you say gathering venue!?"

"Yes. Haruga-kun, Asya-san and me. Shouldn't we make effective use of this place to hold the aforementioned gatherings? Also, we don't have to be concerned about others if we meet here. Oh right, I'll be bringing Hazumi, the one I mentioned earlier, to visit in the near future."

Orihime explained her plans with an easygoing rhythm.

It was a blueprint of the future that Hal would stay away from, given his plans to retreat from Tokyo, but&mdash;

"Right... I believe that it's better for Haruomi to be assisting us more proactively. Isn't this a great idea?"

Asya nodded on her own. Judging by her tone of voice, she seemed to be emphasizing "assisting me" more than "assisting us." This was probably not Hal's imagination.

"Then please tell me where the cleaning equipment is kept. If there's anything missing&mdash;although this house feels like it's definitely missing something&mdash;I'll buy it later."

"Orihime-san, why don't you leave matters like purchasing to Haruomi?"

"No, Haruga-kun is probably very tired so we must let him rest. If it's okay with you, Asya-san, please head over to Hazumi's side for me."

Ignoring the master of the house, Orihime and Asya were getting to work harmoniously. The two girls had apparently become good friends after merely one night. This was probably thanks to sharing a battlefield experience together.

Despite being in his own house, Hal experienced an outsider kind of feeling.