PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter5

Chapter 5 Majnun of Lunacy

Against the dark night sky, the pale full moon shone clearly.

It was eleven o’clock…still one hour before the designated time. In the dead of night, the school grounds were gravely silent. With all the lights out, it was absolutely dark.

"How strange."

It was the first thing out of Jin’s mouth as he whispered, looking at the school.

Sierra had gone home once, then some time later, returned again. If something should happen, the fluttery dress would have been a problem, so she had changed into leggings that were easier to move around in. Jin was also wearing street clothes. For fear of ghosts, Sierra was clinging to Jin’s back.

He was a bit troubled as he could feel her slender body against his back, but if he were to point it out, he could just see her saying "How can you think about such things now?! You lech! Pervert! Commoner!". Actually, he felt like he could practically hear her voice. However, he kept silently telling himself to ignore it.

Still clinging to him, Sierra asked.

"What’s strange?"

"Even if it’s the middle of the night, there should at least be guards patrolling the halls. And you should be able to see the beams from their flashlights through the windows, but…"

When he placed a hand against the bars of the school gate, it opened easily. Surprised, Jin retracted his hand.

"It’s open."

"Because someone’s expecting us?"

With a gulp, Sierra swallowed. While remaining wary, Jin entered through the school gates. Sierra held onto his hand and timidly followed along behind him. As expected, it made it hard for him to walk, and Jin told her as much.

"Hey, don’t cling to my arm."

"I, I’m not clinging!"

"Well then, you’re curling your fingers and holding on tight, right? I can't walk like this, so let go."

Jin tried to shake Sierra loose from his arm, but refusing to let him, she gripped his arm like a koala. Sierra’s slender yet soft body was pressing against Jin’s stiff arm. It was making his heart race.

"Sorry, but all I’m doing is holding onto you!"

"Ah, geez, it’s really hard to move!"

As the two argued back and forth, the gate closed with a bang behind them. Startled, they turned around; however, they found no one there. They tried pushing the gate open, but it wouldn’t budge.

"…I considered something like this might happen, but it seems like we’ve been trapped."

They heard a deep laugh coming from somewhere. Frightened, Sierra clung even closer to Jin. With the clearly shining moon at his back…Atop the school roof, a human figure could be seen. Long hair fluttering in the wind, the long slender figure was standing motionless. It was Konoe Ukyou. Jin squinted his eyes in disbelief.

"The dorm head…What is he doing?"

Actually, he hadn’t been present during dinner. The staff residents, Yuuya, and a number of others hadn’t returned even though it was past curfew, Jin remembered. Uykou was still dressed in his uniform.

"Just as I surmised. Always leaving things to the servants, you’re a girl who can’t do anything alone…I just knew you wouldn’t come alone."

As he spoke clearly from afar, he took the magic lamp and held it up high.

"Ah, the lamp! Then, you’re the one who called me earlier!"

From behind Jin’s back, Sierra pointed at Ukyou atop the roof.

"You, I’ve forgotten your name…but, I’m sure you’re the student president, I think! Are you saying it’s okay for the student president to go around stealing things?!"

"Dorm head, what’s the meaning of this?!"

Jin also spoke fervently. Ukyou just smiled coolly.

"By midnight, come up here. If you can make it, I’ll return the lamp, but if you don’t…"

"You’ll make me your slave, you mean, right?"

Sierra scowled up at Ukyou steadfastly.

"No way! Just you wait, we’re going to drag you to the edge and drop you off the side of the roof!"

"You’re suddenly energetic, huh. Are you over your fear of ghosts as well?"

While hiding behind his back, Sierra declared to the interjecting Jin.

"Of course you’re the one going, you commoner."

"I’m seriously shocked by this surprising turn of events. You still plan on making other people do things for you?"

"Naturally. Right now, I haven’t been called out from the lamp, so it’s not like I’m your servant or anything. Actually, I’m the kind to give orders, you’re the type to follow them."

"You know, I get the feeling you sidestepped the question rather cleverly just now."

"Whatever, just go!"

"You dare to ignore me? Looks like you two've got some guts."

Ukyou suddenly snapped his fingers. Just then, a mob of more than a hundred students shuffled out onto the school grounds. High schoolers and middle schoolers were present, boys and girls alike, although most of them were boys from the high school division. Taken aback, Jin and Sierra looked at the mass of people nervously.

"W, what’s with them?"

The guys from the football club, wearing their armor-like protective gear, were standing like a wall in front of them. The eyes staring out from within the helmets had were completely unfocused.

"Si…Sierra…Zadou…So cute…So…cute…"

Shuffling like zombies, they had their arms out in front of them and were heading towards Sierra. Sierra was creeped out and clung tight to Jin’s back. Regardless of how selfish Sierra was, as a man, there was only one acceptable course of action he could take. A bit reluctantly, Jin spread out his arms and stood to meet them. As Sierra watched him, she started to blush.

"Ghrahh~!"

Suddenly, those giants roared like wild-beasts and tackled Jin. Hit by those nearly two meter tall brutes, the relatively average Jin was blown away.

"Wahh~!"

"Kyaah~! Commoner!"

Crying out as she watched Jin get tossed aside, Sierra tried to rush to his side. However, they came from behind and caught Sierra by the arm, then started fighting over her. Sierra angrily fought back, but her opponents were too much. With her slender feminine arms, no matter how much she might struggle, she simply couldn't break free.

"What is wrong with you all?! Let me go, you insolent wretches!"

"Zadou…Cute. Zadou…Love!"

The guys swarmed all over her.

"Kyaahh~!"

Sierra's cry was swallowed up as they piled on top of her. It looked as if they were in the middle of a scrum. Holding his head in pain after that terrible blow, Jin picked himself up and desperately rushed over.

"Hey, what do you think you’re doing?! Get away from Zadou!"

He could hear Sierra pitiful cry full of pain from beneath all the bodies. In order to save her, Jin pushed and pulled as hard as he could to remove the giants. However, the averagely built Jin stood no chance against such large guys. The moon at his back, Ukyou laughed.

"It’s futile. Those guys don’t have a shred of sanity left."

"What do you mean?"

"They’ve been driven mad by the moon. Their restraints have been lifted, and their true desires manifest. Discretion, sympathy, kindness, all that has vanished...Now they are driven only by human instincts such as jealousy and hatred. Those boys longed for that girl, but tied down by the fetters of reason, they never allowed themselves to act upon their feelings. I have cut them free from their chains."

In addition to the moon, Ukyou's body itself gave off a bluish white light. Jin scowled.

"Did you use hypnotism on them or something?"

"It's the light of the moon…I already told you that, didn’t I?"

"I didn’t understand a single word out of your mouth!"

Jin took hold of a tonbo used for the soil that had been left in a corner of the grounds and started whacking the pile of guys on their backs, but it had absolutely no effect on them.

"Like I said, it's futile. Those guys are madly in love with Sierra Zadou. Their stifled hearts have been set free...They won't be stopped with just that."

"Why would you want to do this to Zadou? You like Zadou too, right? So are you just going to leave her in those guys’ hands?"

"Like…you say? Hmph, I may certainly seem the same as those other guys, but…Hmph."

Ukyou laughed derisively. Unable to understand what he was saying, Jin was confused. Sierra's cries were getting fainter. What was happening to her under there...Jin couldn't help but worry, sticking the handle of the tonbo into a gap between the giants' backs and attempting to pry them off. However, before he'd even made an inch of headway, the handle broke. He couldn't even hear Sierra's cry anymore. The blood drained from Jin's face. Things were looking beyond bad...